DVC stay and towels

[Lynne M]

Of course timeshare operating procedures aren't common knowledge for people who don't own timeshares. And DVC procedures aren't the same as those for other timeshares.

Here's why housekeeping works the way it does at the DVC resorts.

All operating expenses for a DVC resort are paid by the members who own points at that resort. So, if your home resort is OKW, a big part of your annual fees is for things like landscaping, employees, maintenance...

...and housekeeping. The people, the cleaning supplies, the laundry costs, the linens, etc. All of that costs a *lot*. And many members don't even want daily housekeeping. So, the fair thing to do is to let those who want the room cleaned every day pay for that out of pocket, and not make members who'd rather have less intrusion pay for a service they don't want. There's a base level of cleaning, and if you want more services, you can pay for them.

 

[Deb & Bill]

This comes from the DVC website:

Laundry and Housekeeping Services

Disney Vacation Club Resorts offer laundry and housekeeping services. Daily housekeeping service is not provided for Members.

A 24-hour self-service laundry room is available at each Disney Vacation Club Resort. There are also dry-cleaning and valet laundry services. Villas with one or more bedrooms feature an in-unit washer and dryer.

Trash & Towel Service
For stays of 7 nights or fewer, Trash & Towel Service is provided on day 4, regardless of whether you're staying on a Member-discounted cash reservation, Vacation Points reservation, or a combination of both.

With Trash & Towel Service, Housekeeping will:

· Empty trash and replace liners in trash bins

· Provide fresh bathroom linens

· Replace bath amenities as needed

· Replenish facial tissues, paper towels and toilet paper

· Replenish coffee, sugar, cream and sweeteners

Full-Cleaning Service
For stays of 8 or more nights, Full-Cleaning Service is provided on day 4 and Trash & Towel Service is provided on day 8, regardless of whether you're staying on a Member-discounted cash reservation, Vacation Points reservation, or a combination of both. This cycle repeats for stays longer than 8 days.

With Full-Cleaning Service, Housekeeping will provide everything included with the Trash & Towel Service, plus:

· Change the bed linens

· Vacuum and dust the vacation villa

· Clean the bathroom(s)

· Clean the kitchen/kitchenette and wash the dishes

For all stays regardless of the length of the stay, daily trash removal will be provided. Rental Guests (non-Members or Disney Vacation Club Members not booking through Membership) receive Full-Cleaning Services every day.

For all of the above, additional Housekeeping Services may be purchased.

Additional Housekeeping Service Daily Rates:

· Deluxe Studio: $30 per day requested

· 1-Bedroom Villa: $45 per day requested

· 2-Bedroom Villa: $60 per day requested

· 3-Bedroom Grand Villa: $75 per day requested

Additional Trash & Towel Service Rates:

· Deluxe Studio: $10 per day requested

· 1-Bedroom Villa: $15 per day requested

· 2-Bedroom Villa: $20 per day requested

· 3-Bedroom Grand Villa: $30 per day requested

Pay As You Play
With Pay As You Play service, you'll be provided with the following amenities at no extra charge at the start of your stay and during each Housekeeping service. After that, you may purchase more amenities for the following fees (fees are subject to change):

· Toiletries Package: $5 - includes 1 facial soap, 1 bath soap, 1 shampoo, 1 conditioner, 1 shower gel

· Coffee Package: $3 - includes 1 package of coffee, 8 sugars, 8 creamers, 8 artificial sweeteners

· Towel Package: $6 - includes 4 bath towels, 2 hand towels, 4 washcloths, 1 bath mat

· 2 Bathrobes: $6

· Laundry Detergent (only in 1-, 2- and 3-Bedroom Villas): $1 - includes 1 box for 1 load of laundry

NOTE: Rates are subject to change without notice.

 

[Hopefully]

If you call and ask for more towels the rep on the phone will often just tell you to grab them from the pool. This has been our experience more than once. This is what we do and it works perfectly.

The “rep on the phone” is ina Call Center Anywhere USA. That rep is incorrect. As you can see from the info in post #22 above, from the DVC site, if you need more towels there are towel packs available.
It may work perfectly for you, but not for DVC Owners.

 

[Meglen]

Most of this is typical of a timeshare, which is what DVC is. It is supposed to be a home away from home and you should not expect the services a regular hotel provides.
Denise

I don't think people are being disrespectful just not aware. Like I said most people who rent points are doing so from a 3rd party site and get the info posted above. No where does it have rules about where towels should and shouldn't be. So let's not just lump everyone who does out of character things at dvc into the "asshat" category. Alot of folks are renting due to rack rate being high. So that's alot of education for new folks.

 

[chicagoshannon]

I think the housekeeping and towel issues are the main reasons other timeshares don't allow renting out of your points or week. People renting just aren't aware of the rules and/or don't have the same respect for the property.

It's like a rental property vs. an owner occupied property. Renters just aren't as gentle with the house etc.

 

[cmwade77]

On our last trip we asked for an extra full cleaning, they ended up doing to extra full cleanings (one was pixie dust for my wife's Birthday, but I didn't know that was going to happen when asking) and they ended up never charging us for the one we requested either.

We also found that if we were leaving when a housekeeper was there that they would switch out towels for free, they even asked us most of the time. We also found that if towels we're on the floor they would usually get replaced when they came in daily to "check the trash", which is really their daily security check.

We were also told that we could ask at the front desk for towels with no charge, just like you can do for laundry soap.

So, really I don't see any reason to pay for the towel package unless you really do need it delivered to your room while you are gone.

And of course you should be able to reuse the same towel for a few days like you do at home.

 

[Deb & Bill]

On our last trip we asked for an extra full cleaning, they ended up doing to extra full cleanings (one was pixie dust for my wife's Birthday, but I didn't know that was going to happen when asking) and they ended up never charging us for the one we requested either.

We also found that if we were leaving when a housekeeper was there that they would switch out towels for free, they even asked us most of the time. We also found that if towels we're on the floor they would usually get replaced when they came in daily to "check the trash", which is really their daily security check.

We were also told that we could ask at the front desk for towels with no charge, just like you can do for laundry soap.

So, really I don't see any reason to pay for the towel package unless you really do need it delivered to your room while you are gone.

And of course you should be able to reuse the same towel for a few days like you do at home.

Are you a dues paying DVC owner? Why would you say these things? They just cause our fees to go up each year.

 

[gluestickgirl]

Are you a dues paying DVC owner? Why would you say these things? They just cause our fees to go up each year.

i’m a dues paying DVC member. on our last couple of stays we’ve called to buy a towel pack and have been told they don’t charge for that anymore and what do we need them to bring up. should i have insisted on paying?

disney is, with all things, inconsistent. i find it hard to get worked up about.

 

[Meglen]

Are you a dues paying DVC owner? Why would you say these things? They just cause our fees to go up each year.

How is someone sharing there last stay and what happened a bad thing. If this is "new" policy than you need to take it up with the DVC people not with folks who are being told by cast members.. like why are you guys faulting the renter/owner if the cast members are the ones not following policy.

 

[ScubaCat]

It was quoted above in the policy, but just to reiterate, there is a laundry room you can use at no additional charge. (maybe a buck for a detergent pack). I don't know how busy it gets there or if that's too much hassle, but you could always just throw the towels in the wash, too. That is another option

 

[ScubaCat]

I’m sorry that I wasn’t clear in my question. I meant what if I wanted a full cleaning on Trash and towel day. Is the cleaning fee the same or discounted?

I'm pretty sure you pay the difference. So if it's $30 for full cleaning and $10 for towel, it would be $20 to "upgrade".

Also, in case it hasn't been mentioned already, trash is now picked up every day in DVC villas.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Now I'm wondering why they are charging for towel and trash since they do trash every day? Shouldn't that category be eliminated?

 

[cmwade77]

Are you a dues paying DVC owner? Why would you say these things? They just cause our fees to go up each year.

Yes I am, I am simply pointing out what actually happened.

First off the policy has always been you can request fresh towels and laundry soap for free at the front desk. The same goes for asking housekeeping if you see them, the point behind charging is they are trying to avoid extra labor of sending someone on a special trip to your room for it.

As for dues going up, they will go up either way, so you might as well get as much value out of it as you can.

 

[cmwade77]

Now I'm wondering why they are charging for towel and trash since they do trash every day? Shouldn't that category be eliminated?

I think it is left there for people like some that I have known that wanted a second set of new towels in the same day as they got towels for in the morning. No I don't know why, but I think charging for that is reasonable.

Also, they did have a couple of days where they missed taking trash, so it may not be every single day, but most.

 

[cmwade77]

It was quoted above in the policy, but just to reiterate, there is a laundry room you can use at no additional charge. (maybe a buck for a detergent pack). I don't know how busy it gets there or if that's too much hassle, but you could always just throw the towels in the wash, too. That is another option

Detergent is free if you ask at the front desk for it rather than calling for it and this has always been the policy.

 

[starry_solo]

Detergent is free if you ask at the front desk for it rather than calling for it and this has always been the policy.

It is?! I've been lugging detergent but I don't have to?! Yay!

 

[cmwade77]

It is?! I've been lugging detergent but I don't have to?! Yay!

Yep, that is what I was told from my first stay and we always ask for laundry soap at the front desk, they never even ask for my room number, hut sometimes ask for member ID or room key (at Grand Californian) to make sure that I am a DVC member, but even that is rare.

Obviously you are still technically paying for it in form of member dues, but it is all factored in.

 

[ScubaCat]

Obviously you are still technically paying for it in form of member dues, but it is all factored in.

I'm sure Disney gets it for free or if not almost nothing. They leave you one in the villas with the washer dryer but we use Gain so I didn't realize it was complimentary for more. Good to know!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Now I'm wondering why they are charging for towel and trash since they do trash every day? Shouldn't that category be eliminated?

Because the security check is only supposed to be trash pickup (in reality a check to make sure no funny stuff going on) and not replacement of towels or other amenities. That happens every four days.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Yep, that is what I was told from my first stay and we always ask for laundry soap at the front desk, they never even ask for my room number, hut sometimes ask for member ID or room key (at Grand Californian) to make sure that I am a DVC member, but even that is rare.

Obviously you are still technically paying for it in form of member dues, but it is all factored in.

Where were you told that? And by whom? If it's California, that may be their policy, but it isn't DVC policy at all. Why would DVC implement a Pay for Play policy if it was all just ask at the front desk? Sounds just like misinformed cast members. And you may still be paying for it in your member dues, but I'm also paying for your freebies and I don't want to.

Pay As You Play
With Pay As You Play service, you'll be provided with the following amenities at no extra charge at the start of your stay and during each Housekeeping service. After that, you may purchase more amenities for the following fees (fees are subject to change):

· Toiletries Package: $5 - includes 1 facial soap, 1 bath soap, 1 shampoo, 1 conditioner, 1 shower gel

· Coffee Package: $3 - includes 1 package of coffee, 8 sugars, 8 creamers, 8 artificial sweeteners

· Towel Package: $6 - includes 4 bath towels, 2 hand towels, 4 washcloths, 1 bath mat

· 2 Bathrobes: $6

· Laundry Detergent (only in 1-, 2- and 3-Bedroom Villas): $1 - includes 1 box for 1 load of laundry

You'll find this information under every Destination (Find Destination) under Amenities & Recreation (See Laundry and Housekeeping Services) on the member website, including Grand Californian.