BWV room/trip report - just back

[TimmyP]

I'm not much of a poster, just a "lurker" for the most part. Just got back from a BWV stay 11/16-11/23.

We (DW, DS2 and I) stayed in room 5061, a studio. We had a reservation for preferred view/pool view, but our unit overlooked the boardwalk/courtyard area where the Christmas Tree was setup (looking at the Flying Fish Cafe). Nice surprise & loved the view.

On check-in, we noticed that the rugs were damp and smelled a bit strange and assumed that they had just been steam-cleaned. We left for a while and left the ceiling fan on to let them dry out. When we returned to the room we were hit instantly with a strong odor of smoke - pervasive throughout the unit. It was in the towels, rugs, curtains, sofa - everything. The unit was marked as non-smoking.

I called down to the front desk and they informed me that someone had just recently checked out of our unit & there were no other units available, but they would send housekeeping up ASAP. A very nice manager-type from housekeeping came up shortly and sprayed some deodorizer on the rugs and commented on how bad the smoke smell was, all while apologizing. She said that they would be replacing all the linens, curtains, everything - which they did while we were out that evening. She also commented how much of a problem smoking has been in the non-smoking rooms. She said she had just come from another unit with the identical problem, resulting in a complete swap-out of linens, etc. I now know where our dues are going.....

I'll give housekeeping some credit, they did a fine a job in their attempts to correct the problem. The smell waned as the week went on, although still noticable whenever you entered the room for the first time.

The rest ouf our stay was wonderful - accomodations and trips to the parks, etc. Crowds were sparse for the most part, although picked up Sat & Sun just before we left.

One other note for internet users - in letting my DS run up & down the halls, we noticed many rooms with the doors propped open. Looking inside each, we saw the rugs all pulled back and furniture moved aside. I talked to one guy wearing a contractor's badge coming out of the rooms what was up and he commented that they were installing high-speed wireless access in the rooms and required to pull up the rugs to enable the system - so it's clearly on the way. Great news.

 

[PamOKW]

Thanks for the report. Glad to hear you had a good trip and that BWV did their best to fix the "smoke" problem.

 

[SimbaCub]

It's frustrating to hear that a few people will smoke in non-smoking rooms but it is good to hear that housekeeping did the right thing by responding quickly to your call. It would be wonderful if more people were respectful of their DVC neighbors by not smoking in non-smoking rooms. I hope DVC will in the future charge these people the extra money for cleaning the rooms instead of passing on the the increase in dues to those members who do no such thing.

SimbaCub

 

[MiaSRN62]

Thanks for the report. Sounded like you had a terrific view
Sorry about the smoking issue....it's a shame people can't respect the no-smoking rules. It ruins things for the rest of us.

 

[ilovebwv]

Glad you had a great visit to BWV and I am glad they took care of the smoking smell for you. I am a bit confused though, you did not notice the smoke smell when you first entered the room but then noticed it after you left the room and came back later? If that is the case how could it have been the previous guests who left the smoking smell in the room, maybe it was some workers who were in the room between the time you checked in and when you returned to your room.
This is a problem with DVC rooms. They should make a more realistic number of rooms smoking rooms. There are quite a few people that reserve smoking rooms but are put into a non smoking room and are told by the front desk to just smoke in the room or on the balcony. Obviously they need more smoking rooms to accomendate all guests and stop this problem.

 

[crisi]

We had a non-smoking request and got put in a smoking room - quite a few people have this happen as well - so I think they need fewer smoking rooms instead of more....but then, I'm a non-smoker.

(Our smoking room did not smell like smoke at all - which was cool).

I also wish DVC would be more agressive in billing people for room cleaning "above and beyond." Although smoking is a tough one - some people won't notice it and then the last person in the room may be hit for charges caused by someone a stay or two ago.

 

[TimmyP]

Glad you had a great visit to BWV and I am glad they took care of the smoking smell for you. I am a bit confused though, you did not notice the smoke smell when you first entered the room but then noticed it after you left the room and came back later? If that is the case how could it have been the previous guests who left the smoking smell in the room, maybe it was some workers who were in the room between the time you checked in and when you returned to your room.

As I said, the room smelled a bit strange to us at first, likely from the steam-cleaned carpets that were still wet. We didn't want to make any judgment until they dried out. When we came back later, the rugs were dry and the smell of smoke was pungent. IMO, housekeeping was aware of the smoke smell and steam-cleaned the carpets in the hopes of eliminating the odor. I should hope it was not caused by "workers" who were in my room smoking with all of my stuff in the room - I'm sure that's not what you intended to say.

I would be quite surprised if the front desk told smokers in non-smoking rooms to "just smoke in the room or on the balcony". That would be one hell of a policy. Why have non-smoking rooms at all if that's the best that can be done.

I agree with crisi's comment - smokers who smoke in non-smoking rooms should bear the cost of whatever cleaning in necessary to restore the room to non-smoking condition. That's why I asked if someone had been in the room just prior to our arrival (the answer was "yes").

 

[spiceycat]

MS says that the non-smoking rooms are on the rise - so more people request a non-smoking room than a smoking room - more than 90% request a non-smoking room

there have been times when I have found a smoker in a non-smoker room - why - because they request non-smokers - they have children and did not want their children to be bother by smoking - fine then why don't you quit????? the person walked off at this time....

Yes, DVC should make the smokers who smoke in non-smoking rooms start paying for the priviledge. unless they were forced into one by no smoking rooms availability - but even then - they are told not to smoke in the rooms - just on the balcony - or (in OKW) the front.

 

[DeeP]

I would be quite surprised if the front desk told smokers in non-smoking rooms to "just smoke in the room or on the balcony". That would be one hell of a policy. Why have non-smoking rooms at all if that's the best that can be done.

Well be surprised then because I know for a fact that believe it or not this is exactly what the front desk tells the guests. They will even have housekeeping bring up ash trays to be used in a non smoking room. Unbelievable but true none the less!

 

[spiceycat]

when you check in - were you told that you were being given an upgrade - if not

then these rooms are considered garden view by MS - not BW - garden view is in the pool view

I stated this awhile ago - but someone else that they were BW views - I think to be considered a BW view you have to be directly on the BW - not in the garden area of BW.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I can understand how Housekeeping probably noticed the smell and sprayed the room before you got there, and then when you came back the smell returned.

The same thing happened in my son's apartment. They had an ionizer in the room for weeks and it still smelled.

 

[TimmyP]

when you check in - were you told that you were being given an upgrade - if not then these rooms are considered garden view by MS - not BW - garden view is in the pool view I stated this awhile ago - but someone else that they were BW views - I think to be considered a BW view you have to be directly on the BW - not in the garden area of BW.

No mention of an upgrade, so I guess the view was "garden". I have a picture of the view, but can't quite figure out how to attach it...

 

[DeeP]

Originally posted by spiceycat
when you check in - were you told that you were being given an upgrade - if not

then these rooms are considered garden view by MS - not BW - garden view is in the pool view

I stated this awhile ago - but someone else that they were BW views - I think to be considered a BW view you have to be directly on the BW - not in the garden area of BW.

These rooms used to be considered a Boardwalk view before the new guaranteed boardwalk view policy went into effect. Now these rooms are considered preferred garden views but not boardwalk views. I was in one of these villas around the same time as the OP, matter of fact we were just a few doors away! It is a great location.

 

[Desnik]

We were also at the BWV the 16th-21st. We also had a studio, preferred view. Our room was 3106 and we had a view of the quiet pool. On the 17th we started hearing load noises from the room next door. We had a door that connected to the other room. I assume it was not a dedicated studio? Anyway at one point it sounded like someone was trying to get in through this door!!! Then we heard the room being torn apart. DH does this kind of work and said right away, they are taking out the moulding! It was so loud. Our 8mo was napping and it was about 9:30am. We were using this day as an "off" day to sleep in and relax. Oh well, guess not!! At first we called to find out just what was going on. We got a call back and were told they were putting high speed internet in all the rooms. There wasn't anyone in all the rooms around us. Anyway, the noise got worse and we called this time to complaine. At first we were told it was only going on for a couple of hours. We aren't too trusting and wanted to speak to a manager to find out what the story was and complaine. Now my complaint was why if the other rooms were not occupied, why did they stick us in the middle when on our ressie it clearly states we were with an infant. Also, a phone call or some type of notification would have been nice. I would've changed my plans to be out of the room. DH talked to a very nice manager and he promised the noise was only going to be that day and apologized and understood our complaint. He offered to make it up to us and we declined. He told my DH let me at least buy you dinner to make up for the noise. When DH went down to the front desk, the manager gave him a credit on our room card that we had charging privaleges on.

We otherwise had a wonderful time here and would stay here again. The room was clean upon checkin and all things in working order. The cabinets looked worn, but the room was nice. The noise did stop, well we spent the day out of the room and when we returned the noise was gone and didn't continue.