Just back from 8 nights at BCV, thought I'd post some info for fellow owners.
First, let me say we have been going to BCV every September for several years, so I have a pretty good baseline for comparison.
We spent 6 nights in a 1 BR and 2 nights in a Studio (by our choice, not availability problems).
First, know that the Recession has officially hit WDW... yes, September is "off peak", but it was the quietest September we have seen there in years. Even the 2005 hurricane season was busier than this.
BCV was nowhere near full; if I had to hazard a guess, I would say 50% or lower occupancy. I rarely ran across other guests in the halls, and often none even in the main elevator bank.
The common areas of the hotel, the shop and Stormalong Bay, were quiet and underpopulated when compared to previous years' September levels. Cape May seemed busy but thanks to the season's Bounce Back plan, all the free diners pretty much fill up any restaurant with a chair and a plate by people staying at the Value resorts. (In fact, table service restaurants were the only place we saw large groups of people congregated all week - the parks were fairly empty.)
For the first time ever I was offered a choice of Villas when we checked in. Not just one choice, but MANY choices. In fact the Front Desk CM rattled off 8 rooms on various floors with various views. Then, when I hesitated because I was overwhelmed by the number of options, she seemed to think I didn't want any of them, and she offered that she could pretty much put us anywhere in the BCV building that we wanted to go. I've never made special room requests so it was a little odd to be given so many choices!
As for the Villas themselves, we had a much better experience this year than last year. There are some hard-surface issues, yes - cracked tiles, worn carpeting, and the like. However our rooms were much cleaner than in years past. No soaked carpeting, mildew smells, and such this year. And the toilets worked.
After we checked in, we had to call maintenance because I stepped on a carpet tack sticking up out of a huge threadbare patch at the bathroom threshold area. (Thankfully I was wearing slippers, so no tetanus shot necessary!) We also had to have two visits from IT to diagnose and repair the cable modem in the room. But in both cases the requests were handled promptly and with a minimum of fuss, and the CM/IT people were exceedingly pleasant as always.
As far as Mousekeeping, we had no complaints. The rooms were very clean when we checked into them. We had normal trash and towel service on our fourth day in the 1 BR, then for some mysterious reason, they did a full cleaning on our sixth day. We returned from the park to find the breakfast dishes washed, the bed made and all new towels hung. We didn't request this extra Mousekeeping visit, so I am guessing it was done as a Magical Moment - unless it shows up on the room charge bill when it comes in the mail.
It was nice to come back and have it all done though. It really seemed like the BCV building was mostly empty, though, and I guess that bears out if they have time to do "gift cleanings" for guests.
They do seem to be trying to minimize energy use. We noticed that they are now turning off the AC completely in empty rooms, and turning up the ceiling fan instead. They also cut off the refrigerators completely between guests. It is hard to say how many days some of these units are sitting empty between guests right now, so I consider this a good conservation of dues money.
Oh, also, they have replaced the thermostats in the rooms since last year. In both units there were new thermostats. We did not have the problems with the rooms being too hot this year that we have had in years past.
We drive to WDW so we did not use the busing system out of BCV. I can say, though, that I noticed that they seem to be running far fewer buses, in the interests of conserving gas and keeping the buses full, so the waits seem to be longer. I noticed people being at bus stops quite awhile waiting. Depending on your patience for that sort of thing, this year might not be a bad one to drive or rent a car on property.
At any rate, they seem to be taking advantage of their lull to do some extra cleaning in the Villas and such. The hall carpets are looking a bit rough and the carpeting in the rooms is going to need replacement soon too. They were shampooing hall carpeting and had fans on it to dry it during our visit though, so they're trying to make it last.
My only real complaint is still the mattresses. The mattresses in the 1 BRs are better than the ones in the studios, but they all kinda suck. The sofabeds in both Villas were new since we were there last year. The fabric on them's a little weird now, almost like Sunbrella material, but it repels quite a bit and I am sure it's easier for them to clean.
The CMs are still doing games for the children by the pool every afternoon, and also the movie on the beach at night. We did this twice during the trip and as always it was relaxing and fun. The first night we went, they gave away the S'mores for free, as a Magical Moment... said it was the first time they had done that.
Anyway, we had a lovely stay, and are already plotting our return next September. Thanks to Stormalong Bay, we won't stay anywhere else during the summer months.
First, let me say we have been going to BCV every September for several years, so I have a pretty good baseline for comparison.
We spent 6 nights in a 1 BR and 2 nights in a Studio (by our choice, not availability problems).
First, know that the Recession has officially hit WDW... yes, September is "off peak", but it was the quietest September we have seen there in years. Even the 2005 hurricane season was busier than this.
BCV was nowhere near full; if I had to hazard a guess, I would say 50% or lower occupancy. I rarely ran across other guests in the halls, and often none even in the main elevator bank.
The common areas of the hotel, the shop and Stormalong Bay, were quiet and underpopulated when compared to previous years' September levels. Cape May seemed busy but thanks to the season's Bounce Back plan, all the free diners pretty much fill up any restaurant with a chair and a plate by people staying at the Value resorts. (In fact, table service restaurants were the only place we saw large groups of people congregated all week - the parks were fairly empty.)
For the first time ever I was offered a choice of Villas when we checked in. Not just one choice, but MANY choices. In fact the Front Desk CM rattled off 8 rooms on various floors with various views. Then, when I hesitated because I was overwhelmed by the number of options, she seemed to think I didn't want any of them, and she offered that she could pretty much put us anywhere in the BCV building that we wanted to go. I've never made special room requests so it was a little odd to be given so many choices!
As for the Villas themselves, we had a much better experience this year than last year. There are some hard-surface issues, yes - cracked tiles, worn carpeting, and the like. However our rooms were much cleaner than in years past. No soaked carpeting, mildew smells, and such this year. And the toilets worked.
After we checked in, we had to call maintenance because I stepped on a carpet tack sticking up out of a huge threadbare patch at the bathroom threshold area. (Thankfully I was wearing slippers, so no tetanus shot necessary!) We also had to have two visits from IT to diagnose and repair the cable modem in the room. But in both cases the requests were handled promptly and with a minimum of fuss, and the CM/IT people were exceedingly pleasant as always.
As far as Mousekeeping, we had no complaints. The rooms were very clean when we checked into them. We had normal trash and towel service on our fourth day in the 1 BR, then for some mysterious reason, they did a full cleaning on our sixth day. We returned from the park to find the breakfast dishes washed, the bed made and all new towels hung. We didn't request this extra Mousekeeping visit, so I am guessing it was done as a Magical Moment - unless it shows up on the room charge bill when it comes in the mail.
It was nice to come back and have it all done though. It really seemed like the BCV building was mostly empty, though, and I guess that bears out if they have time to do "gift cleanings" for guests.They do seem to be trying to minimize energy use. We noticed that they are now turning off the AC completely in empty rooms, and turning up the ceiling fan instead. They also cut off the refrigerators completely between guests. It is hard to say how many days some of these units are sitting empty between guests right now, so I consider this a good conservation of dues money.
Oh, also, they have replaced the thermostats in the rooms since last year. In both units there were new thermostats. We did not have the problems with the rooms being too hot this year that we have had in years past.
We drive to WDW so we did not use the busing system out of BCV. I can say, though, that I noticed that they seem to be running far fewer buses, in the interests of conserving gas and keeping the buses full, so the waits seem to be longer. I noticed people being at bus stops quite awhile waiting. Depending on your patience for that sort of thing, this year might not be a bad one to drive or rent a car on property.
At any rate, they seem to be taking advantage of their lull to do some extra cleaning in the Villas and such. The hall carpets are looking a bit rough and the carpeting in the rooms is going to need replacement soon too. They were shampooing hall carpeting and had fans on it to dry it during our visit though, so they're trying to make it last.
My only real complaint is still the mattresses. The mattresses in the 1 BRs are better than the ones in the studios, but they all kinda suck.
The sofabeds in both Villas were new since we were there last year. The fabric on them's a little weird now, almost like Sunbrella material, but it repels quite a bit and I am sure it's easier for them to clean.The CMs are still doing games for the children by the pool every afternoon, and also the movie on the beach at night. We did this twice during the trip and as always it was relaxing and fun. The first night we went, they gave away the S'mores for free, as a Magical Moment... said it was the first time they had done that.
Anyway, we had a lovely stay, and are already plotting our return next September. Thanks to Stormalong Bay, we won't stay anywhere else during the summer months.
