Disappointed in OKW

[Psychometrika]

I have to say, there isn't much about the Diz I don't like, but Old Key West is one of them. I stayed there once - never again.

The room was a disaster and the one they moved me to, not much better. I could have lived unhappily with the traffic noise or a burned out bulb....I call up and they replace it or move me. My observations included the following, however...

(a) Both rooms, in two totally separate buildings were infested with bugs. Ants and flies mostly. I'm a native Floridian, so I know bug issues...this was unacceptable. I went to make coffee...and there was a bug in the coffeemaker when I came in the room - just after it had been "cleaned".

(b) Mold and mildew - EVERYWHERE. Pink and black mildew/mold in the bathroom, the shower curtain (perhaps to be expected?) but on the WINDOW sill in the bedroom? Hardly. Again, I'm a Floridian - it's a challenge, but that's what CLEANING is for.

(c) Carpets were stained, dirty and smelly. I didn't even want to take off my shoes.

There were other issues with transportation - longer waits for the OKW buses than any other resort I ever stay at, with the exception of the Contemporary. Other minor issues made this stay an unpleasant experience.

Never again. But hey - couldn't have been TOO bad...I keep buying more DVC points! lol.

 

[MiaSRN62]

The room was a disaster and the one they moved me to, not much better.

Wow...sorry for this experience Psychometrika. I can say I honestly have never experienced anything even remotely close to this in 10 stays at OKW since '95. I wouldn't keep going back every year if I did.
Hoping these issues were adequately addressed. (mold/bugs). Never seen either of these issues in any visit over the past 12 years or so. Well, once there were a few ants in the kitchen, but we had left donuts on the counter. Once we had a frog in our bathroom. Never mold and our experience with the OKW busses is usually a wait of 10-20 min. Can't complain there either.
Did management ever get back to you with any explanation/solution for the problems ?

 

[Psychometrika]

They were good about trying, but they were booked solid when I visited OKW and didn't have too much wiggle room. They were all very nice about it of course. I was using someone else's points and back then I didn't know renting a few points here and there was OK, so I didn't want to cause too much trouble for the owner. But like I said, I keep buying more DVC, so either it wasn't TOO bad, or I'm just nuts (the latter being the likely cause!)

I'm so psyched about AKV now that OKW is a distant memory. Transportation wise it was really odd. Buses ran like 25-30 minutes, everywhere, everytime from OKW. Only the Contemporary was worse. I love the Contemporary (rumours of a DVC notwithstanding) and love the monorail, but actually I find the transport from the MK resorts worse than most. Of course the absolute worst is BWV where you stop EVERYWHERE before getting to wherever it is you're going. I really wish they'd take the Swan and Dolphin off the list and make the operators of those hotels run buses. Oh well...I still look at the Diz with rose coloured glasses.

 

[jco_direwolf]

I have to say the times I've stayed at OKW it was always really nice.

And as for housekeeping not telling engineering when there is a problem. Last fall we where at OKW for a few days. And when we got there the fridge wasn't very cold. We thought it was because it had been turned off.

We put our sodas and stuff into the fridge, and go into the parks. When we get back my wife is like "Why did you rearrange the fridge?" "What? who me? I didn't do it" I walk over and there is a note from engineering on the counter saying sorry for the problem with the fridge.

So someone who wasn't me or apparently my wife told them that the fridge wasn't working. Maybe the monitor the fridges with SNMP and the OKW NOC let engineering know.

johno

 

[RAY DISNEY]

One of the tricks is to pre-check in early and ask the CM at check -in if a certain building is available.

 

[TinkOhio]

Can I ask what building to avoid? We will be checking in at around 8 am and have requested nonsmoking. We really are looking for a unit (one bedroon villa) that has a pretty view and is relatively quiet. We don't need to be close to HH, either. Any suggestions?

TIA!

 

[RAY DISNEY]

The best one bedroom I've found is bldg.#55, rm.5511.1st floor. It has a great view of the sassagoula river and the ducks hang out around the porch looking for breakfast.(potato chips)

 

[Lexxiefern]

Sorry you did not enjoy your stay! I stayed at OKW with my mom and then 3 year old DD in 2004. I did not care for the studio at all, but would love to go back and stay in a one bedroom someday. I forget what building we were in, (anyone have a map?) but we were in a studio on the end. Every morning, really early, all we could hear was maintenence, housekeeping or bellmen driving around those golf carts. It was quite annoying. I hope your next stay is better!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Here's a link of an OKW map : http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/okwmap.jpg

Why didn't you care for a studio at OKW Lexxi ? Was it the noise ?