Do you do anything to "take care" of your home away from home?

[WolfpackFan]

I'm not sure what is prompting me to post this but I'm wondering when you stay in a DVC resort, do you do anything special to take care of the resort or do you basically treat it as a hotel room that you will never stay in again?

Reason I mention this is when we were at HH a few weeks ago we were having a problem with our shower. There was a gap under one side of the shower door and water kept leaking out and then it would run under the door to the hallway and the carpet kept getting wet. DW and DD25 kept trying to put towels on it, etc to dry it, but it really was sopping at one point. This was in spite of all our best efforts to turn the shower head different ways, use towels on the floor, etc. In fact, I was almost wondering if there was a pipe leak or something. I finally went to the front desk and discussed the problem with them and they said they would look into it and thanked me for reporting the problem. I was concerned about any wood rot that might be occuring. Ordinarily, I would not have thought much about it, thinking I'd never stay there again so why be bothered. But since HH is our home away from home and when you think about it we really do own some percentage (albeit very small), I felt a little more concern about the leak. Also, since we will primarily be staying in 1 BR's when we go to HH, there is a very good chance we would get this very same unit again. In fact, I hope to request it from now on whenever we go down, since it is in a prime location (first floor lodge, right rear corner)

Does anyone else have concerns about keeping "your" home in as good a condition (if not better) than when you checked in? Anything special you've done? I hope this thread will motivate people to take care of the places better and not just treat it as a hotel room.

 

[lllovell]

We don't hesitate to report maintenance issues, but as far as actually doing a repair, no - we wouldn't. I feel like that is better left up to the professionals (ever try to do something minor in your house and before you know it, it has cost you $500? I see this happening if we ever tried to do a minor repair at a DVC).

Hey - we all do things to "keep-up" our home away from home.....we pay our annual fees.

 

[gopherit]

I have been known to do more thorough bathroom and kitchen cleanings...more for my benefit than the benefit of our investment, haha, but I have thought at times, "Future guests shall reap the benefits of my labor..." If something was truly wrong or in need of repair, I would surely bring it to mgmt's attention. I recall fixing a leaky faucet at one of the resorts. Just a simple tweak. But again, not so much because I thought about my "invvestment", per se, as the fact it annoyed the crap out of me! I could hear it calling me at night... "Drip...drip... drip... I'm still heeeerrrre... drip ...drip....drip...." AUGHHHH!!!
<a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008_ZSzeb04242US' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_29_111.gif' alt='Stop The Insanity' border=0></a>
Haven't had the occasion to do anything bigger than that, but doubt Disney would want me to. (One of those liability things, you know.) I know I've had people here at work "fix" equipment and while intentions were good, I reallllly wish they hadn't, LOL! <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008_ZSzeb04242US' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_13_3.gif' alt='Oh Jeez' border=0></a>

 

[patsal]

I treat everything as though it were my own home. I report any thing that is a maintanence issue since it can't be fixed if no one knows it is broken. I go over teh counters with clorox wipes, but that is just a personal preferance.

 

[rocketriter]

Even in an ordinary hotel it's worth the trouble to report problems. If you don't, the next visitor gets stuck with them (and in some hotels you might get stuck with a bill for repairs). At DVC we really do owe each other a bit of care. Yes, one should always report problems as soon as they crop up.

 

[RobDoc]

We always try to leave the room in better condition that we found it- run the vacuum, make sure everything is returned to it's proper location, etc.- but above all, we do report any maintenance issues during the stay. Most are taken care of immediately, but we always feel that such reports do give the resort an opportunity to improve the villa (or building) not only for our current benefit, but for the next guests as well.

I do believe that Disney in general (and especially DVC) tries to maintain all resorts at the highest level. They sometimes fall short of that goal- due to human limitations - but do respond whenever they are made aware of circumstances that will affect the experience of any guest.

Let 'em know when something can be improved!

 

[goldilocks_63]

and tell them my park schedule so they can fix while they are out.

I kinda felt like I should fix things as best I can, for the next owner

If they don't know there is anything wrong, they can't fix it.

Goldi

 

[jimmytammy]

Yes, I do consider that we own a small part of whatever DVC resort we are in. I report maint. issues that need reporting but have on a couple occasions fixed the repairs myself. We have had issues with locks twice at VWL. Once on a bath door, it just wouldnt latch. Another time, a balcony door wouldnt lock. I am a carpenter by trade so these were easy fixes. The bath door, I called maint. but the fellow just didnt fix it. Honest, I think he was new cause he seemed to be making excuses why it wouldnt work.

I have to say, DVC resorts are built pretty well, at least the ones we have stayed in so far, VWL, OKW and SSR. I assume all the others are equal at least in quality. We have a local truss builder in my town who built the trusses for SSR. This company has had a long tradition of top notch workmanship. And trusses arent something the public sees. Disney builds these things right.

So with all thats been said, yes, I feel it is our duty as owners to help to maintain our investment by letting maint. know these things.

 

[debloco]

I treat everything as though it were my own home. I report any thing that is a maintanence issue since it can't be fixed if no one knows it is broken.

We do the same.

We always try to leave the room in better condition that we found it- run the vacuum, make sure everything is returned to it's proper location, etc.- but above all, we do report any maintenance issues during the stay.

And this as well.

Our first VWL stay, the counters and stovetop weren't really clean, so I just took care of that just as I would in my own home.
Plus, it would have driven me nuts to leave them that way!

 

[RumpleMom]

Yes, any maintenance issues are reported promptly.

DH has taken care of a few things himself. He has designed, built and maintained our home, so he really knows what he is doing. Obviously, he doesn't carry tools on vacation, but always inspects the dryer for lint for safety reasons.

 

[CharlesTD]

We always clean our entire room before we check out that includes the tub and shower etc we wash teh counters and vacuum it usually looks better when we leave then it did when we got there.

 

[pmcpmc]

and pick up our tools to clean the hair of the sinks and showers.
Touch up any paintwork that needs doing.
We usually shampoo the bedroom carpets and take down the curtains and run them thru' the washer.
This year I hope to complete a course in air-conditioning as some of the units are in need of maintenance.
I have occasionally refitted the ceiling fans as some times my wife feels they are going to fall on the bed.
My television repair classes have helped our family to enjoy a wider range of cable channels.
My work in computers has allowed me to speed up the computer link to ten times normal speed.

 

[JimC]

We report maintenance items as appropriate, tidy up daily and before we leave. We like to treat it as our own home or what we would do as a guest in another's home.

But that is no different than what we do for hotels either.