Are OKW's walls paper thin?

[rutgers1]

I am in a studio (building 14). I assume the room next to me is a 1br, as there is one of those connector doors that I figure is intended to combine the studio and 1br into a 2br lockoff.


Around 6am, you wouldn't believe the amount of noise coming from the villa next door. Kids running back and forth. Kids shouting. Voices of adults shouting and talking like it was the middle of the day. I am an elementary school teacher with two kids of my own, so I am comfortable with background noise, but this is beyond anything I have ever experienced in a resort setting aside from a night in New Orleans.


A moment ago, I heard the mother talking about her room key and figured she was leaving. I peaked out my window and saw a mom, grandma, and two kids walking outside the villa and down the stairs, continuing to talk like it was the middle of the day.


Part of me thinks that this would have woken up the neighbors even if the walls were 2 feet thick, but I am wondering if others have found OKW to be less soundproof than others.


We are about to check out, so I won't be treated to the morning wakeup call tomorrow. All in all, though, it didn't ruin a great trip. We really enjoyed the resort.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

I only stated at OKW in a 1br once, but I don't remember hearing neighbors. Maybe yours were just extra loud?

Sorry you were disturbed.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[AnnaS]

We hear our "neighbors" also.

Walls are thin

Still love OKW

 

[jimmytammy]

We were recently in a 1 bed at OKW with door between to another room. Sounded like a kid trying to mess with our door lock, and you could hear faint talking. Only other time we really heard noise was from our 2nd floor studio when they were cutting limbs at 7am and they were falling on the roof.
I dont think OKW walls are necessarily thin, people can sometimes be loud

 

[Chuck S]

A lot depends upon who your neighbors are. But the units have gotten noisier after they removed the carpet from the living rooms in the one bedroom sides of the lock-off. They need more soft goods to absorb the sound. Drapes in the living room would help, too. I wish they'd put drapes in similar to the drapes in the master bedroom, it would also help insulate the living room on hot/cold nights for those sleeping on the couch or pull out chair. In more extreme weather, when the living room is comfortable, the master bedroom is either hot or cold.

 

[dmoore22]

A lot depends upon who your neighbors are. But the units have gotten noisier after they removed the carpet from the living rooms in the one bedroom sides of the lock-off. They need more soft goods to absorb the sound. Drapes in the living room would help, too. I wish they'd put drapes in similar to the drapes in the master bedroom, it would also help insulate the living room on hot/cold nights for those sleeping on the couch or pull out chair. In more extreme weather, when the living room is comfortable, the master bedroom is either hot or cold.

Ditto! Replacing the carpeting with the laminate flooring and the venetian blinds with the Roman shades has had a very negative impact on sound deadening in the OKW Villas. The impact is somewhat minimized by getting a top floor unit -- no noise from upstairs neighbors! But still a drag all the same.

 

[dvc_john]

As Chuck has said, a lot depends on who your neighbors are.

I stay in OKW 1br's a lot, and rarely have heard the neighbors. Maybe one or two trips. I've also heard neighbors at VWL and BWV. All those resorts have the connecting door in or near the living room.

At resorts like SSR, AKV, and BCV the connecting door is by the entrance door, and neighbor noise is much less likely.

 

[Breyean]

Agree with comments about the new floors adding to the noise levels, but I think a big issue is the door between the studio and the 1 bedroom. There is absolutely no insulation/sound proofing there and as I recall, the door is well into the room, not all the way near the entrance, so it's right there in the living area. Maybe that's because of the odd shapes of the rooms.

I also agree about the need fro drapes in the living area of the 1 bedroom. Our son grew up sleeping on those pull outs and was also complaining about how hot/cold he was depending on time of year. Since he was 8 when we started going there in 1993, we dismissed his complaints since we were always nice and comfy in the master.

But in 2010 we were there for the marathon on some of the coldest days ever there (it snowed on the 1/2 marathon on Saturday and Sunday set the day's record for coldest on record). Well just SITTING on the couch in the evening we could feel how cold it was, even with the heat on, since the windows surround the couch.

We apologized to our son for all those years of not believing him!

Two years later we had a GV at OKW for the marathon. Again, he was on the couch since another family we brought used up the whole second floor. This time we noticed the thermostat was impossible to regulate the master and the living room both to be comfortable - one was either really hot or the other really cold - because of the open design of the living room and the thermostat being in the hall where the ceiling was low.

 

[DebbieB]

My Mom and I were once in a 1 bedroom, sleeping in the master with the master door open and suddenly heard a couple in the studio "getting busy" (vocal). I got up and closed the master door.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The connecting door to the studio is right next to your living space, just opposite the beds. The connecting door in the one bedroom is next to the entrance, far from the bedroom and living area. So the people in the one bedroom don't hear the noise in the studio unless they are standing right next to the door. But the studio hears the people in the one bedroom every time they enter or exit the room and anytime someone runs from the bedroom to the living room or vice versa.

I think that is why in later generations of two bedroom lockoffs, the connecting door is near the entrance of the villas.

 

[BillPA]

If you take a towel and fold it to fit under the connecting door, it will help with the noise. Not a complete fix but it helps.

 

[vandy]

We have always thought OKW was the least soundproof of the resorts and it didn't get any better when they replaced the carpet with vinyl planks.

 

[dianeschlicht]

A lot depends upon who your neighbors are. But the units have gotten noisier after they removed the carpet from the living rooms in the one bedroom sides of the lock-off. They need more soft goods to absorb the sound. Drapes in the living room would help, too. I wish they'd put drapes in similar to the drapes in the master bedroom, it would also help insulate the living room on hot/cold nights for those sleeping on the couch or pull out chair. In more extreme weather, when the living room is comfortable, the master bedroom is either hot or cold.

Exactly! I do think the real issue is the connecting door as well. That is where we hear the most noise if we are in the living room of a 1 bedroom. I always try to make sure I don't make any noise when I am getting breakfast ready, because I always worry that the people in the studio might be sleeping yet.