BLT: Unit View Classification

[GrnMtnMan]

Question: who/what decides what view a unit has in the BLT? Is it something that is in the 'governing documents' of the BLT or is it something DVC can revise unilaterally?

Background: I just got back from my trip to the BLT on rented points. I was disappointed/surprised with the view from my room. I had a lake-view reserved and I was assigned unit 7535, which is on the interior directly facing the north side. Yes, I could see the lake, but only to the far right....my primary view, encompassing the vast majority of my field-of-view from my units was of other units of the BLT.

Now I've found the thread with the unit-by-unit view classification....that's not the issue. I'd like to know who/how the view was 'decided'.

Yes, I felt a bit mislead when I was told this was considered a lake-view room...and again felt mislead when I saw the actual view. They offered me the option of moving to a north-side exterior unit the next day, but we choose to stay put....being on the same level as the bridge and the entranceway set-up in the unit outweighed the few nights we might have been in the unit to watch fireworks.

Was overall a good vacation and the unit suited our needs nicely. But the real-estate/timeshare wonk in me wants to know if this is another way that the management company is looking out for itself (my prior two visits were as a cash-paying lake-view hotel guest and I got a north-facing unit both times with a decent side view of the MK) or if its just another thing that is 'caveat emptor' because its buried in the fine-print of the documents that were signed by the owner when s/he bought from Disney.

 

[rlovew]

All of the units above standard on that side of the building are considered lake view- so it was the luck of the draw- since you have had 2 stays were you got the most desired lake view rooms I would say that it was simply your turn to have one of the less desired ones. It has nothing to do with the type of pay as many member recieve the more desirable views as well. It would have more to do with your requests than anything else as well as the requests of other guests checking in in the same time period as you as well as which rooms were vacated on the day you were arriving.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

All of the units above standard on that side of the building are considered lake view- so it was the luck of the draw- since you have had 2 stays were you got the most desired lake view rooms I would say that it was simply your turn to have one of the less desired ones. It has nothing to do with the type of pay as many member recieve the more desirable views as well. It would have more to do with your requests than anything else as well as the requests of other guests checking in in the same time period as you as well as which rooms were vacated on the day you were arriving.

Thanks.

Any insight on my main question?

Question: who/what decides what view a unit has in the BLT? Is it something that is in the 'governing documents' of the BLT or is it something DVC can revise unilaterally?

 

[disneynutz]

DVC says the views are identified by the resort and the resort says that DVC decides what the view is. Disney tends to up the view at all of their resorts. If you can lean out and see water, it's a lake view.

We had a Savanna view at Kidani that was a view behind the pool. If you looked far right from the balcony you could see the fence for the Savanna. We complained to the Front Desk and was told that if we wanted to change rooms, there would be a fee. Another CM stated that Guests complain about that view/area daily but that DVC is in control. I emailed Member Satisfaction and they said that they would look into the issue.

Bill

 

[DenLo]

Originally Posted by GrnMtnMan
Question: who/what decides what view a unit has in the BLT? Is it something that is in the 'governing documents' of the BLT or is it something DVC can revise unilaterally?

Only the POS for Aulani spells it out as to which villas are which views.

For all of the other resorts DVD determines which rooms are which views and only they know which is which. That is why work2play started her BLT view thread. So we would know what the view is for each room and what we really will see based on the photos submitted.

If the DVCMC decides to change view a room has been assigned, they would also have to a point reallocation to make up for any increases in standard view rooms. So the point per night for Lake view and Theme Park (formerly MK views) would have to be increased.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Thanks, these answer my questions.

If you can lean out and see water, it's a lake view.

I wonder if the hotel-inventory has the same standard. If I had been a cash guest on this trip I'd have requested that my rate be lowered to standard view rates.

If you looked far right from the balcony you could see the fence for the Savanna.

Maybe the 'view assigner' only has peripheral vision to the right: the lake was also to the far right for me.

Only the POS for Aulani spells it out as to which villas are which views.

I wonder if this is in response to the situation at BLT.....DVC's only other high-rise.

 

[CarolMN]

It's too bad that Disney names the various booking categories with "view" in the description For example, it would set expectations better if they just called "Lake View" "Lake Side"

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks, these answer my questions.


I wonder if the hotel-inventory has the same standard. If I had been a cash guest on this trip I'd have requested that my rate be lowered to standard view rates.

Maybe the 'view assigner' only has peripheral vision to the right: the lake was also to the far right for me.

I wonder if this is in response to the situation at BLT.....DVC's only other high-rise.

As you just discovered, LV rooms comprise the majority of BLT, and some of those rooms are more desirable than others.

The ones you got, as a cash paying guest (partial MK view) are the ones that I believe are most requrested for a LV room. Since there are only so many of those rooms, not everyone who gets a LV room is going to get those rooms.

I have not yet understood how they decided the views for specific rooms because there are rooms on the 3rd floor that cost MK view points when a room with the same view, 2nd floor, is considered SV. And, those that get that room on the 14th floor, are certainly getting their "points" worth over those 3rd floor guests.

Unfortunately, I think they should have done a better job in how they term the rooms as some are considered great and some are not. But, I agree with Carol that Lake View may be a bit misleading when the bulk of the room is the other side of the resort.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

They could simply split the lake view into 'Partial Lake' and 'Partial MK' categories...AKV has 4 room categories so 4 is not unprecedented.

 

[Brian Noble]

I wonder if the hotel-inventory has the same standard.

In general, yes. Disneynutz gives the standard they apply at most of them---if you can see any sliver of water anywhere from the balcony at any angle (or at Mods, the front door) it's usually a "water view". For example, here's what the Unofficial Guide has to say about View classifications at Yacht and Beach Club:

Although the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts are arrayed along Crescent Lake opposite the BoardWalk, a relatively small percentage of guest rooms actually overlook the lake. Many additional rooms have an oblique view of the lake but face a courtyard or garden. To complicate matters, the resorts don’t differentiate between a room with a lake view and one overlooking a swimming pool, pond, or canal. All are considered water views. We receive letters each year from readers complaining that their “water view” was a distant, sidelong peek at a swimming pool.