How to pick a room at OKW?

[MomtoGKC]

My mom is about to book a 2 bedroom and a studio (maybe two studios) for us for a trip in May. I've gone through some of the thread here on OKW but am still confused on how to pick a building to request. She'd like to be semi-close to the main building (for the food for the kids) and I really want to be close to a bus stop. I looked at the resort map and the place is HUGE! It looked to me like maybe #23 would be a good building? We don't care about views, although I've heard there's barely a bad view at OKW!

Thank you for any help!!

 

[MomtoGKC]

OK - my mom got some advice from a DVC friend and she suggested Building 62 if at all possible. Any more ideas?

 

[CarolAnnC]

Building 62 is actually in a separate booking category now "Hospitality House". This category can be secured at booking for those who want to be close to the Main Pool, check in, etc.

You would need to have this booked when you make your reservation, however.

Other than this category, anything else would be a request. For example, you might want to request "close to a pool" or "close to a bus stop", or perhaps areas such as South Point, Turtle Pond, etc.

Again those would be requests and not guarantees but it gives some chance of getting what you want. Only the Hospitality House area would be a guarantee.

Hope this helps...

 

[MomtoGKC]

Hmm... so since we're paying cash and are not DVC members does that mean it would be more expensive to stay near the HH?

 

[dianeschlicht]

Hmm... so since we're paying cash and are not DVC members does that mean it would be more expensive to stay near the HH?

Not necessarily, but if you are paying cash through CRO, it probably isn't an offered request. If you are renting from a DVC owner, it would be a booking catagory.

 

[MomtoGKC]

Thanks for all the information! We're paying cash through the CRO so I guess we better have some back up buildings in mind. Are there any buildings close to the HH that aren't in the special category?

 

[dianeschlicht]

Thanks for all the information! We're paying cash through the CRO so I guess we better have some back up buildings in mind. Are there any buildings close to the HH that aren't in the special category?

Yes, if you look at the map, you can see that most of the buildings along the Penninsular Road bus stop are not part of that catagory. They are very easily walkable to HH. Also, ANY bus will get you to HH, since it is the last stop on all routes before leaving the resort. INHO, I'd rather walk though, because it will probably take less time than the bus (depending on which stop you are at). Remember that request are just that...requests, and nothing is guaranteed. FWIW, we have never had what we would consider a really bad location at OKW, and we have had between 20 and 30 stays there. Our favorite buildings are 45, 46, 55, 15 (easy access to HH). Building 27 would be nearly as close as 23. BTW, one of our LEAST favs is building 64 because it has no parking lot.

 

[MomtoGKC]

Thank you so much! I just called CRO and they basically said that DVC members will get first choice but if there are any available units we can get one of the buildings int he new category at the same price. We're going at kind of an off time (first week of May) so maybe we'll get lucky. If not I'm going to bring your list of back ups! I would rather walk to the HH than wait for a bus - there is so much waiting for buses for my kids already!

Last time we stayed at CSR we didn't get what we asked for but the lady was so nice helping me get another area close to a bus - it turned out the location was even better than what I had asked for in the first place!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Take this map and you can see that there are MANY buildings that are easy walking to the main pool. Buildings 23-29 are easy as are 15, 16, and the 60's buildings. I believe only 11, 12, 13, 14, 62, and 23 are part of the guaranteed catagory, so there are plenty of options.

 

[Mickeygolf]

When does the new HH booking category go into effect?

 

[MomtoGKC]

That is great - thank you again! I just called my mom and gave her all the information. I think she's calling to book tomorrow.

 

[dianeschlicht]

When does the new HH booking category go into effect?

Boy, that's a good question! I thought it was right away for booking, and that requests previous to this would be put into the booking catagory as long as there was available space.

 

[blizzard]

Boy, that's a good question! I thought it was right away for booking, and that requests previous to this would be put into the booking catagory as long as there was available space.

I know this is slightly off topic from original, but my understanding is that the new booking category starts at the beginning of 2008. I have been reading this thread (and others) to see if I could find out if anyone has a reservation that has been switched to guaranteed HH (from requested HH). Sure enough, I just looked at my activity statement online, and yesterday my reservation was changed from dedicated 2 bedroom to HH dedicated 2 bedroom. This reservation is for the last week of January.

If you have been waiting to find out if you get a guaranteed HH unit, you may wish to keep checking, and it will show up on the activity statement. (the ungainly work around to see your vacations, since the website hasn't worked properly in weeks )