We have only requested a location twice at CBR. The first time, we requested ground floor in Jamaica and ended up in Martinique (building next to the preferred ones). That was the day of or day before Hurricane Katrina came through, and I don't know if it was because of people being unable to leave to due to weather at home, or because we checked in at 7:00 am and got a room that was ready, or what. The location was still good for us, and we did get ground floor.
This June, we requested second floor in Jamaica. DH checked us in, and we got second floor in Martinique. Again, an great non-preferred location, and we had no complaints. He was given a choice of a room that was ready, and he took it (15-hour drive to get there). This was also during the scheduled painting/outside refurb of the Jamaica section, and I don't know if all of the buildings were open or not. He didn't ask, and e don't know what we would have gotten if he had chosen a room that wouldn't be ready until later. Again, arrived early in the morning.