Disappointed in OKW room assignment.

[hockey mom]

I booked 3 studios for our group of 9. I phoned several times to ask that we be placed somewhat close together.

We could not have been further apart if they tried to do it on purpose.

While I understand that they cannot guarantee 3 rooms close together I really have a hard time believing that not even 2 groups could have been close. Little hard to have a family vacation when we were so far apart.

 

[Sammie]

When you booked the studios did you have Member Services link them together?

 

[n2mm]

Sorry to hear that. That happened to us at the BWV one year. We were at opposite ends of the resort.

I agree with the PP. Did you call MS and get transfered to someone who could set up your reservation to have it noted that you are traveling with others? We are traveling with other family in April and earlier this month when making the reservations, the CM told me that she could transfer me to another special CM who would process my reservations to a "traveling with" category so that the resort would try to keep us near each other when assigning rooms. We have a 1 bedroom and a studio, but separate as the parties are changing/coming/going. We are hoping for a lock off, but know it's not guaranteed. The 1 bedroom is for 5 nights and the studio is 16 nights. It will be nice to just move our stuff to the studio when the family leaves. I was surprised that there is now a different division handling the "traveling with another party" function. Hopefully it will work out for us.

I'm sure it was a pain at different parts of the resorts, esp. OKW since it's huge.

 

[Chuck S]

Much also has to do with time of year, and day of check-in. If the OP checked in on a day when not too many people were checking out, then there simply may not have been nearby rooms. DVC and all points based timeshares, run at near capacity for most of the year. Add special events, like marathon week, EPCOT Food & Wine, Holidays, etc. and if the resort is near or at capacity they simply can't move other guests already in place to put people "near" each other.

That said, I have always been fairly close, but often not in the same building, when traveling with others at OKW. Once we were in different "neighborhoods" but that was during a particularly busy DVC booking time, and we arrived mid week, a day when few guests were departing.

Also, if some of the group were booked into the Near Hospitality category, and other were not, then there is no way to be "nearby."

 

[hockey mom]

Yes they did link all of our reservations together and I even called a week before arrival to double check.

We checked in last Sat. The guy checking us in said they were swamped with check ins that day.

Our 3 rooms formed a perfect triangle. That's how far away we were.

Our Cm checking us in did feel bad- he seen how upset we were but in the end there was nothing he could do.

My lesson learned is when traveling with large group pick a small resort.

 

[Chuck S]

My lesson learned is when traveling with large group pick a small resort.

Or consolidate rooms, if possible. For instance a two bedroom lock-off would have put a one bedroom and a studio next door to each other, leaving only one lone studio. But it takes more points. This time of year, with both MNSSHP and Food and Wine running, weekends are packed.

 

[hockey mom]

Yes. good point. Thanks. It may be more points but would make for a better vacation.

 

[KBoopaloo]

I was about to post and ask when you arrived at OKW but I see you arrived the same day as we did, last Saturday. We were actually moved from our room on Sunday night because of a fire in the room next door earlier in the evening. They were moving the people in the rooms below us as well because of fume/smoke issues so I thought perhaps that could have affected your room assignments but you arrived the day before so I guess not. The person at the front desk on Sunday night when we were getting our new room assignments told us it had been a nightmare weekend for them so I wonder if there were other things going on.

 

[DenLo]

. . . . We were actually moved from our room on Sunday night because of a fire in the room next door earlier in the evening. They were moving the people in the rooms below us as well because of fume/smoke issues so I thought perhaps that could have affected your room assignments but you arrived the day before so I guess not. The person at the front desk on Sunday night when we were getting our new room assignments told us it had been a nightmare weekend for them so I wonder if there were other things going on.

I'm glad your family was safe from the fire and smoke and they were able to find you a new room. That night alone sounded like a nightmare. If the rest of the weekend was that bad--wow!

 

[KBoopaloo]

I'm glad your family was safe from the fire and smoke and they were able to find you a new room. That night alone sounded like a nightmare. If the rest of the weekend was that bad--wow!

Thanks! It was quite a night. We came back to the resort around 10:15 pm to find caution tape blocking access to the room next door. Then we entered our room and found all of our belongings had been move to the bed closest to the door and piled up, the patio door had been left open and the room stunk of smoke/fumes. Before we noticed the smell, we actually thought the room had been broken into. It was not fun. We went down to the front desk and they got a manager who explained everything to us and they moved us right away.

I was pleased with how quickly we were moved but we were not happy about walking into a room in that state without any notification. The manager at the desk said she left a message on one of our cell phones, but no one had received a message. The only message we did get was one left on our home phone the day after we moved rooms to see if the new room was to our liking.

I emailed member satisfaction today to let them know that they need to come up with a better notification system when something like this happens because it was an awful feeling walking into that room and seeing everything moved and a door left wide open.

 

[DebbieB]

What time did you arrive?

 

[hockey mom]

Wow glad to hear no one was hurt. We didn't even notice anything unusual.

 

[hockey mom]

We arrived at 6:30 pm.

 

[Rest&Relax]

I was about to post and ask when you arrived at OKW but I see you arrived the same day as we did, last Saturday. We were actually moved from our room on Sunday night because of a fire in the room next door earlier in the evening. They were moving the people in the rooms below us as well because of fume/smoke issues so I thought perhaps that could have affected your room assignments but you arrived the day before so I guess not. The person at the front desk on Sunday night when we were getting our new room assignments told us it had been a nightmare weekend for them so I wonder if there were other things going on.

What building was the fire in? This is the first I heard of the fire. Do they know what happen and how many rooms were damaged? OKW is very special to us!

 

[KBoopaloo]

What building was the fire in? This is the first I heard of the fire. Do they know what happen and how many rooms were damaged? OKW is very special to us!

We were in room 2820. We were told the fire took place in the room next door, 2821. I know that room was the one that had caution tape blocking it off. The folks in the room below us and 2821 were both moved but I don't know about any other rooms in the area. Our room had no damage, just an intense odor of smoke/fumes. The front desk manager said it was a small fire but the bell services CM who moved us said that there had been a lot of smoke that he could see from other parts of the resort. I have no idea what actually happened. I couldn't see any actual damage to the outside of the room but it was 10:15 at night so it was pretty dark.

 

[Brenle]

I can't imagine walking into my room and seeing an open patio door and our belongings moved around. Not a good day on vacation certainly! Hopefully they moved you to another room with a location you enjoyed.

 

[DebbieB]

We arrived at 6:30 pm.

I bet they did not block your rooms and by then it was too late, most people had already checked in so there were not alot of options.

 

[Sammie]

Thanks! It was quite a night. We came back to the resort around 10:15 pm to find caution tape blocking access to the room next door. Then we entered our room and found all of our belongings had been move to the bed closest to the door and piled up, the patio door had been left open and the room stunk of smoke/fumes. Before we noticed the smell, we actually thought the room had been broken into. It was not fun. We went down to the front desk and they got a manager who explained everything to us and they moved us right away.

I was pleased with how quickly we were moved but we were not happy about walking into a room in that state without any notification. The manager at the desk said she left a message on one of our cell phones, but no one had received a message. The only message we did get was one left on our home phone the day after we moved rooms to see if the new room was to our liking.

I emailed member satisfaction today to let them know that they need to come up with a better notification system when something like this happens because it was an awful feeling walking into that room and seeing everything moved and a door left wide open.

I am so glad no one was hurt. Just curious what method of "better notifcation" would you recommend?

 

[KBoopaloo]

I am so glad no one was hurt. Just curious what method of "better notifcation" would you recommend?

In my email I suggested that they should have left a message on our room phone. Once we had realized that the room had not be broken into, we figured out that *something* had happened but we didn't know what. The first thing I did was check the message light on the room phone to see if some message had been left about what had happened. As it was, NO message was actually left with any of us, anywhere (either on our cell phones OR our home phone) about what happened that night, despite what the front desk manager said. Even a note left inside the room would have been helpful.

Fortunately we had a room near the Hospitality House and there were three of us traveling so two of us walked down to the front desk to figure out what was happening while the other stayed behind to keep checking that everything seemed to still be in the room.

 

[KBoopaloo]

I can't imagine walking into my room and seeing an open patio door and our belongings moved around. Not a good day on vacation certainly! Hopefully they moved you to another room with a location you enjoyed.

They did a great job of finding us another room that was still near the Hospitality House which I really appreciated. And the Bell Services staff were excellent at getting us moved as soon as we had packed up and were ready to go.