Back from SSR, a little disappointed

[soozee]

We stayed from 3-24 to 3-31. I had recently injured my back and called them a few days prior to departure to ask if we could be in a room that was on the first floor or near an open pool. When we arrived, they gave us a room in the paddock, on the 3rd floor, as far away from everything as possible. This area was virtually empty, and I think they could have easily honored our requests. I think a better name for this area would be the stables. The carpeting was badly stained, as was the couch upholstery. And on our last day, the room developed an odor that was unbelievable. We were leaving for the airport at 5:30am and called the desk around 6 in the evening to let them know that we couldnt stand the smell in the room. We tried to air it out to no avail. They sent a maid in to spray air freshener, instead of trying to figure out what was causing the odor, and it still stunk. They then had maintanence call and say they would clean the carpets for us the next day, which would not help because we were leaving. I finally spoke with a manager and at 9pm we had to pack up all of our belongings to switch to another room. The last time we stayed here, just one year ago things were great. I am thinking the economy is affecting the cleanliness and upkeep of the buildings. I don't think I would stay here again.
Susan

 

[dianeschlicht]

I wouldn't want to make a snap judgement on ONE bad room in a resort that has thousands.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Calling the resort a few days prior will not get you room requests. Those requests need to be made through MS preferably when you first make your reservation. Even at that they are just requests and never guarantees. Fortunately, SSR has elevators so you did not have to climb stairs to the third floor as you would in most buildings at OKW.

At least you did not have the odor problem earlier in the stay, only the last night. How was the rest of your trip?

 

[pickles]

when you found out they stuck you in the boonies on a top floor did you ask to see if something else was available?

It's a bummer to have a room you were unhappy with. Hopefully, the rest of your trip went well.
The rest of us appreciate you spoke up about the cleanliness issue while there. Hopefully, they next person won;t have to suffer the smell

 

[lah3hh]

I am hoping you voiced your concerns or disappointments to the Manager at SSR. I have found voicing your concerns to them at the time they are happening, they always take care of you. The worst thing to do is sit and brew about it your entire trip and then post dissatisfactions here on the disboard.

I had a little situation when I checked in on 3/17 about our room and when I asked for the Manager....all the 'roadblocks' went away and we were very well cared for.

Hope when it was all said and done...you could enjoy some or hopefully most of your vacation.

 

[David Raguso]

Although it doesnt make the messups right at all, i would have spoken up at check in about the room assignment and the condition of the room.Im convinced the person at Saratoga who does the room assignments doesnt do their job well.

I just stayed at the resort a month ago and they messed up my room assignment too but i put pressure on to have my requests met. at the time of making the reservation i had section preferences of #1 grandstand and #2 the springs and i wanted to have a room close to my friend who had a separate reservation under her name and she also made the same requests of section and to be close to my room. My friend arrived first and they wanted to put us both in congress park and the rooms were not close together. She pushed back , especially since there were tons of rooms available, and sure enough they put the rooms close together in the grandstand. When i finally arrived they still wanted to put me on congress park but i explained our requests and that my friend arrived earlier and was reassigned to the grandstand and they did move me to grandstand too.

The strange part is that i checked several times with member services before i left and the request was in the system. Even after all the confusion, the guy that checked me and wanted to put me in congress park was like....ohh i see your request here thats strange. The problem is that the person who checks you in looks at the room assignment, not at the request but the person who does the room assignment is the one who is supposed to review the requests, therefore, they are the one who didnt do their job.

 

[jbrowna]

And on our last day, the room developed an odor that was unbelievable. We were leaving for the airport at 5:30am and called the desk around 6 in the evening to let them know that we couldnt stand the smell in the room. We tried to air it out to no avail. They sent a maid in to spray air freshener, instead of trying to figure out what was causing the odor, and it still stunk. They then had maintanence call and say they would clean the carpets for us the next day, which would not help because we were leaving. I finally spoke with a manager and at 9pm we had to pack up all of our belongings to switch to another room.

Less than 12 hours before your departure, I'm not sure what else they could have done. Since you didn't call until after 6pm, I'm not surprised they didn't have staff on duty to investigate the smell. And even if the had, did you expect them to come in and start to tear apart the air conditioner or rip up the carpeting or inspect the plumbing to find the source, all while you are still occupying the room? It seems to me moving you to another location was the best they could do on such short notice.

 

[Entropy]

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[soozee]

We did still enjoy ourselves and had a very nice vacation. It just seemed that the maintenance in general, was not as good as it had been previously. The room they switched us too, still had a dirty couch and huge stains on the carpet. Considering that we were staying after the winter low season, you would think things would have been cleaner.

 

[Cmbar]

We did still enjoy ourselves and had a very nice vacation. It just seemed that the maintenance in general, was not as good as it had been previously. The room they switched us too, still had a dirty couch and huge stains on the carpet. Considering that we were staying after the winter low season, you would think things would have been cleaner.

I am sorry you didn't have a stellar trip. Those things can put a damper on your vacation. I hope that was not the case. I will be curious to see if that is the case when we go in August. Was the resort full? How were the parks that time of year? Just wondering if the added crowds since it is spring break may have taken a toll on the housekeeping. And you may be right that things are slipping on that end. I hope that is not true as we just bought BLT today!

Hope you try some of the other resorts and enjoy yourself on your next trip!

 

[BlakeNJ]

If I had a back injury, I would have made sure a room was to my liking before I left the Carriage House. When you get a map, you can clearly see where your room is located--building at least. I am sure if you pressed, they would have accommodated your request.

Sounds like your room was in need a a little TLC. All it takes is one bad occupant to ruin a room. Our last room had tacky dots on the wall where they had hung something. I guess when they took down whatever it was they hung, the dots pulled off the paint. Now, I think housekeeping should have seen this and put in a maintainance report but I also feel it's up to the next occupant to call and complain. Hopefully, your room was cleaned and free of odor for the next person.

 

[sweetinmaine]

We did still enjoy ourselves and had a very nice vacation. It just seemed that the maintenance in general, was not as good as it had been previously. The room they switched us too, still had a dirty couch and huge stains on the carpet. Considering that we were staying after the winter low season, you would think things would have been cleaner.

We stayed in the Springs section from 03/26 - 03/31. I think the "dirty couch" is really just the color of the couch. I thought the same thing at first but after viewing the one in our room and the one in our daughter's room, they were pretty much the same color. I really think it's the fabric. As for being assigned to the Paddocks, I can tell you that while we were at Vero Beach the day before a DVC member was trying to make ressies for 2 nights together at any DVC resort at WDW. I told her to try SSR as there were always openings there. She called MS and was told that all the resorts were pretty much filled. She ended up with one night at AKV and one at SSR. Availability really was limited. And as a previous post stated, at least they have elevators and a bus stop along with a nice pool in that location.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...Sounds like your room was in need a a little TLC. All it takes is one bad occupant to ruin a room. Our last room had tacky dots on the wall where they had hung something. I guess when they took down whatever it was they hung, the dots pulled off the paint. Now, I think housekeeping should have seen this and put in a maintainance report but I also feel it's up to the next occupant to call and complain. Hopefully, your room was cleaned and free of odor for the next person.

Sure would have been nice if the previous occupant of your room hadn't decided to deface the room and not own up to it. If we could all treat the villa the way we would want it to be maintained the best way, maybe we could resolve some of these problems.

 

[iluveeyore]

Sorry about your stay. We were there in a studio from 3/23-3/27. When we checked in, she said there was a pre-selected room for us in the Springs. We had requested Congress Park - she checked and said yes, but it wouldn't be ready until 4pm (it was 1pm). We had just driven all night, and I really couldn't wait to shower and put my feet up, so we asked what was available in the Springs since our pre-selected room had a garden view and we wanted water view (we spend a lot of time on our patio). She had a manager help her, and found us a fourth floor overlooking a beautiful water view with a fountain, and only a minute's walk to the bus stop and fitness center. Our room was clean (although I didn't inspect everything too closely), and everything worked, so we were quite happy and comfortable all week. I think it paid off to have her keep checking to see what else was available, because we spend a lot of time at the resort and we like to be happy with our room location.

 

[nyck]

We did still enjoy ourselves and had a very nice vacation. It just seemed that the maintenance in general, was not as good as it had been previously. The room they switched us too, still had a dirty couch and huge stains on the carpet. Considering that we were staying after the winter low season, you would think things would have been cleaner.

Well I feel your pain. I posted somewhere not too long ago that when I stayed there I walked into my room at 10:30 am (odd that the room was ready that earlry) and the previous renters were still in it! Had not even checked out yet. Room still dirty. Told the desk and management they had ALL DAY to clean the room. Came back at 12:30am and the room was STILL dirty. Had to move like 3 sections to a different building at 2 am. So I will not be staying again. It is so big, takes forever to get back with all the bus stops, and has disorginized management. I hope it improves after time, but I bought at SSR to have extra points to stay everywhere else, so I probably will just do the THV and then be done with it for awhile.

 

[chepic]

We were in OKW same week; it was the tail end of spring break for college kids so apparently the resorts were fairly full.

I think as owners, we just need to be on top of what we purchased and when we find things wrong, we bring it to their attention. I have never stayed at Saratoga so I can't comment on the rooms, however, OKW has its share of issues with keeping things up to par. Our room was pretty good, but there were a few things that needed to be repaired. Just my little 2 cents

cheryl