Are DVC guests second-class citizens?

[VGCgroupie]

I wonder how much our dues would go up if they swapped out towels for each room every day, they'd have to hire a team of people just for towel swapping.

Every cash hotel I’ve stayed in does this… daily fresh towels isn’t a foreign concept that would require hiring a new team of people.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

Every cash hotel I’ve stayed in does this… daily fresh towels isn’t a foreign concept that would require hiring a new team of people.

I don't necessarily think it would require a new team, but it would have some increase expense, which would be passed on to all members.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I don't necessarily think it would require a new team, but it would have some increase expense, which would be passed on to all members.

Not everyone wants them. Im just glad I can get them when I ask.

 

[davidhr]

We usually use them for a few days. Even in hotels with daily housekeeping. If you can request them on demand I don’t see the necessity to make it daily for everyone.

 

[juxtapose]

I’ve found that for most resorts, they are great at dealing with “minor” needs like more plates, more towels, rooms not being clean at check in, etc. Where they struggle is on rarer requests like your fridge not cooling sufficiently. I had the same issue at VGF and I almost had to put on my warpaint to get it resolved. I’m not sure if there is just no solid procedure because it doesn’t happen often enough or if there is a shortage of fridges, or what the issue is, but oddball issues really seem to frazzle the front desk and housekeeping. Same thing with bell services- they are great when everything is normal, but one hiccup and you have basically exposed the rotten underbelly underneath. They put a delivery bag marked refrigerated on a shelf and it spoiled, and after 3 days of promises of replacement by no less than two different managers and it never resolved until I got home.

They are very good at fixing minor run of the mill issues, but if you have a real issue you are gonna see some unpleasantness. Riviera still has the best service of any of the dozen or so resorts I’ve stayed at the past few years. They must have a good GM.

Yeah, agree. We stayed cash on Boardwalk and had flooding on the ground floor, like water seeping up through the wood floors in the bedroom part of the room. They were unconcerned at first and though we just flooded the bathroom ourselves or something. They sent 4+ maintenance people in one day and finally we were like can we just move rooms when we came back at midnight and the entire floor was wet, so at midnight we had to switch to a new room. They gave us a $300 room credit though, but to answer the OP no I think DVC and cash are treated equally.

 

[Judique]

I wish they would provide fresh towels every day and remove the used ones. They simply don't dry in between uses.

Exactly! Once we had the extra set and the ones we laundered ourselves we were able to stay ahead for the rest of our stay. My family guests still wanted to wash towels but at least we could start it and let dry when not in the room. The machine is not only inefficient but also noisy. Some resorts, Hilton Head for example have full sized dryers that do a great job, and I 'think' I remember full size at OKW as well (in Room).

 

[toesmom]

Housekeeping doesn't look at the guests' affiliations or memberships before addressing an issue, if that's the question from the thread title. One's "attitude" is usually subjective, based on the receiver. It sounds like the issues were resolved. What's the problem?

I agree, I think OP ran into housekeeping staff who was not polite at all. Who knows why but this is not typical response.

 

[Judique]

The closest I've experienced to a useless beverage cooler was the tower studio at Riviera, but it is an actual fridge. Just a very small dorm fridge.

Did you have the one with the see thru glass front? For some reason I thought those were the beverage coolers? I had that on my stay at Riviera tower and it was too small for just me storing leftovers and water in my room. I only kept food from lunch (a big salad) to dinner and other than it had to go in sideways and barely fit, it was cool enough.

 

[Huskerpal]

First thing to understand is that staying at a DVC resort is not the same as staying at the Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Conard Evermore, or Waldorf Astoria. They are not Luxury Hotels.

Of course staying at one of these hotels doesn't always guarantee great service. Our last trip we spent two nights at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Lakes before moving to DVC. There were no Nespresso pods left in the room for coffee in the morning. Wife calls down to tell them that and the staff basically accused her of lying. Insisting that such a thing just was not possible, and that she just didn't look hard enough. Of course she was right and they eventually brought some pods to the room, but the whole interaction left a bad initial impression of the hotel for her. We had a fantastic time otherwise.

 

[muppets3d]

Did you have the one with the see thru glass front? For some reason I thought those were the beverage coolers? I had that on my stay at Riviera tower and it was too small for just me storing leftovers and water in my room. I only kept food from lunch (a big salad) to dinner and other than it had to go in sideways and barely fit, it was cool enough.

I don't think it had a glass front but honestly I don't remember, it's been over a year since I stayed in the tower studio. But those are what is used in Big Pine Key (the glass front). They are refrigerators, they just don't have freezer compartments.

 

[Genie+]

The beverage coolers were a mistake. I’m pretty sure they are phasing them back out as the opportunity comes. Some wishful thinking was involved with that decision.

 

[KPeterso]

To the question asked, no, I do not think we are treated as second class citizens. Over the years, I have had issues at both DVC and non-DVC resorts.

At BWV, we had a microwave that I swear was possessed. It would just keep beeping and beeping or would just not work at all. Maintenance came by several times. They were super helpful and tried resetting it which only helped a little. The next day they were back because it was still not right. Tried resetting again and it would not work. So they planned to change it but could not do it that night (probably 9-10 PM), so they brought one in for the time being for the counter that worked. The next day we come back to the room and the possessed one is still there and the counter one gone. So another call to maintenance and a visit to the front desk to chat about it. This time they got it replaced that night. The maintenance guy got to my room and looked at me and said "microwave? Was it not replaced" because he had been there twice before. He said he would not leave until fixed and started making calls (although since it was 2021 and still covid times, he always went in the hall to wait or make calls even though I did tell him I was fine with him staying in the room. I did end up with a credit I did not need and was honestly happy when the possessed microwave left.

Another time at All Star Movies (I think), I had a 1 night stay prior to a DVC stay. It was around the time they were refurbishing and my room had not yet been refurbished. I arrived super late (around midnight) and went straight to bed after a long day (work and then long flight). I got up the next morning and while in the shower, there was absolutely no products (like shampoo, conditioner, body wash) and no tub mat in the room. I did a good rinse and found what I could in my bag (which was not much since I do like the H2O products) and threw a towel down on the ground to step out of the shower. I did stop at the front desk to let them know on my way out as it should have been better checked (especially since I left CA at 3ish CA time - so 6ish WDW time and did not have a room ready text when I left) so it was cleaned very late day. That CM gave me some any time fastpasses which were nice and offered to have products brought up for me to take another shower.

I mean both were annoying at the time and I do remember them, but the trips themselves were always amazing and those were just small blips on the radar.

 

[Judique]

I don't think it had a glass front but honestly I don't remember, it's been over a year since I stayed in the tower studio. But those are what is used in Big Pine Key (the glass front). They are refrigerators, they just don't have freezer compartments.

We've stayed in BPK three times, last Easter week in 2024 and then a couple of short 2 night visits previously right after opening. I remember glass front on our Easter visit but not on the first couple. That brings to mind the BPK Keurig/no Keurig situation. First visits Keurig and pods, Easter 24 visit no keurig or pods.

 

[muppets3d]

We've stayed in BPK three times, last Easter week in 2024 and then a couple of short 2 night visits previously right after opening. I remember glass front on our Easter visit but not on the first couple. That brings to mind the BPK Keurig/no Keurig situation. First visits Keurig and pods, Easter 24 visit no keurig or pods.

Yeah I still don't understand why they took the Keurigs out?