Is it me, or is MouseKeeping slipping?

[A Mickeyfan]

I have just returned from a 3 night stay at the All Star Sports (I have stayed there many times before). I know it is a value, but I was not too happy with the cleanliness this trip! On our first night, after getting into the shower, I noticed that the "dispenser" that holds the soap & shampoo had only one side filled. I had my own shampoo so I was ok with having no shampoo, but there was nothing saying if it was soap or shampoo! I used it as soap, had no choice at that time. I figure, ok, I will just request some soap in the morning for that nights shower (only had the one bar that they supply for near the sink). The bathroom it self was in need of cleaning. The shower/tub ledge & toilet tank lid area had some beige stuff on it...looked like make-up or something. I washed that off & figured I would let housekeeping know in the morning when I called for the soap. That morning after getting up, I was sitting on the bed that is closest to the door & what is under the opposite bed but dried up old GUM! I called house keeping & asked about the soap. I was told that one side is soap & one is shampoo, he could not tell me which was which. When I tried to tell him we only had one side filled he kept saying that one was shampoo & the other was soap. When he finally realized what I was saying, he said that it is really a body/shampoo soap that can be used for both hair & body! I told him I wanted soap in my room. I then told him about the dirty bathroom & gum under the bed. He replys by telling me that the rooms were cleaned by housekeeping & they were vaccumed. That didn't explain why it was dirty!?! Ok, we go off to the parks ...all day. We got back around 11pm to find the gum...still under the bed, the trash cans not emptied, but the beds were made & there were clean towels. The dispenser in the shower was also refilled with what ever it was missing, still never figured out which was which. Last night, our 3rd night there, the gum was still under the bed & the same trash I had in one of the cans (the one near the table area) was still not emptied....so I guess mousekeeping must clean like my kids do, only the area's that you can see when you take a fast glance! I am really surprised that Disney has gotten this way. I may have only paid $49 with a Fl resident rate, but I am still entitled to a daily cleaning or is that only when you pay rack rate Has anyone else noticed this? I stayed at the AS-Movies in December & had no problems at all. Other than that, I had a great weekend. Parks weren't too crowded, weather was great...just felt the room could have been cleaner & not having gum under the bed, no soap in the bathroom & trash in the can for 3 days! Not to mention the cleaning I did on Friday night to the bathroom.....

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We'll be at Pop, but in case it is a trend across WDW I have already packed Clorox wipes, soap, shampoo, and just about everything else I could cram in the suitcase.

I absolutely can not see a reason to leave the trash in the cans. Odd. And the gum is icky. Even if it was stuck to the carpet they should have cleaned it up after you SPECIFICALLY said it was bothering you.

 

[jctwizzer]

Is it safe to assume you notified Disney of your problems?? Telling us may make you feel better; but telling Dis has a better chance of getting results. If enough people let them know they're unhappy, there may be some action. If not, the fall off in patronage might give them a clue....good luck

 

[DAWGPOUNDAJ]

OH wow sorry to hear about the problems you had there. One thing to note though, I dont know if this applies to Disney hotels, but I've done housekeeping at 3 different hotels during high school and college (more up-scale ones) and one of the policies was to not refill the soap and shampoo sides. Its a newer way for hotels to save money, so they don't refill it unless you specifically request it. The gum thing positively stinks though! I definitely would file a complaint about that. At least it wasn't hair in the bed though! We had that at the Grand Floridian, I was little at the time and was traumatized for years, constantly checking beds for non hygenic hair there. Good luck getting it resolved though!

 

[eeyore0062]

We have never had problems with Mousekeeping at any of the resorts, regardless of what price range. Our Mousekeeper was just as good at the All Stars as the ones at the Polynesian. Maybe you just got one having some off days.

Did you say anything to Guest Services at the Front Desk? If so, they should have put you in touch with Mousekeeping Management who would have come to your room personally and inspected it, and if it wasn't to standard, have your room cleaned again.

If you didn't have that chance to say anything, you may still emailto let them know of your service at wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com. Unless they know, they cannot make changes to ensure that other guests don't have the same experience as you. Yes, they do read every correspondence they receive and it is passed on to the right folks. You may or may not hear back, but they do hear you!

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

I think it's fairly common knowledge that the Walt Disney Company has begun cutting full time, long time employees and replacing them with many part timers who are not in line for health and retirement benifits as a money saving precaution. If you check out www.savedisney.com, the employee pages will tell you all about it. While the company's bottom line looks good for shareholders, maybe the weight of the cuts are starting to show at the resorts.

 

[gabsmom]

Two weeks ago, we stayed at POR for 5 days. We were there when the resort was at capacity; end of Christmas week into NYE. We had the same mousekeeper each day. Our room was spotless at all times. Room was always done if we came back in the afternoon for a break. We had brought our own shampoo, soap, etc. We did not use the shampoo or bar soap in the room, but everyday we had new bottles of shampoo and bars of soap on the tub and sink areas. No complaints. I agree with the other posters that Guest Services should have been notified if your room was not up to par.

 

[ncbyrne]

We were at ASMu last November (first time at a value resort), and found the mousekeeping to be the worst I have ever experienced at ANY hotel! I don't think it has a thing to do with the resort itself, but the person hired to do the cleaning! He was an older man! I wouldn't expect my grandfather to be much of a housekeeper and this man was no different. The ONLY thing that was done in our room each of the 6 days, was that the bed was made - sort of! The spread was on crooked on both beds and the blankets were hanging on one side almost to the floor after the first day. And the sheets were never changed. It became a joke to us as we tried to figure out what the room would look like as we came back each night. We didn't complain, it had no affect on the wonderful time that we had on our vacation. I'm only mentioning it here because someone asked.

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

We stayed at the POFQ a the beginning of December and I seem to agree that Mousekeeping is slipping. I found that our room was not as clean as it has been in the past. The dresser and fridge cabinets were dusty and the tv screen looked like someone wiped a wet rag across it. Even though the POFQ had undergone a renovation in early 2004, our bathroom was in serious need of help. There were cracks in the wall that they tried to fill with paint and it was clear the shower wasn't cleaned every day. While we did get new soap & shampoo every day, they did not remove our old bar of soap and just left it (I don't know if they leave it in hopes that you don't open a new bar of soap) and I was disappointed to see that the soaps didn't have mickey on them. I even had to go to guest services one night when we returned from the parks in order to get a roll of toilet paper...is it too much to ask to leave an extra roll in the bathroom when the roll is almost done?? Also Disney doesn't seem to communicate with their Mousekeepers because as we were packing up our last morning and had been in & out of our room with our suitcases etc., the mousekeeper knocked on the door and asked if she could clean our room or should she come back. I advised her that we were checking out today and she said that she would come back later. After reading the thread about the "stains" on the bed linens at the POP Century Resort, I'm beginning to think that Disney needs to re-train some of their mousekeepers.

 

[jeancbpugh]

Our room at the Poly in December was pristine.

In years past, we've had mediocre housekeeping at the Poly, at the BC & YC, at PO-R, and at PO-FQ. It's a big place so I suspect it is luck of the draw. (We had grubby rooms in the early 90s, long before staff cutbacks.)

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Is it safe to assume you notified Disney of your problems?? Telling us may make you feel better; but telling Dis has a better chance of getting results. If enough people let them know they're unhappy, there may be some action. If not, the fall off in patronage might give them a clue....good luck

Mousekeeping was told how I felt. I probably should write some sort of letter to guest services. I don't want them to think I am being petty... however, I did inform mousekeeping & the gum remained..as well as the trash not emptied

 

[A Mickeyfan]

We have never had problems with Mousekeeping at any of the resorts, regardless of what price range. Our Mousekeeper was just as good at the All Stars as the ones at the Polynesian. Maybe you just got one having some off days.

Did you say anything to Guest Services at the Front Desk? If so, they should have put you in touch with Mousekeeping Management who would have come to your room personally and inspected it, and if it wasn't to standard, have your room cleaned again.

If you didn't have that chance to say anything, you may still emailto let them know of your service at wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com. Unless they know, they cannot make changes to ensure that other guests don't have the same experience as you. Yes, they do read every correspondence they receive and it is passed on to the right folks. You may or may not hear back, but they do hear you!

thanks for the fast email link.. just sent off my email!!!

 

[Mickey's B-Day Girl]

We've stayed at AKL, BWV and BCV and never had a mousekeeping problem. I am also a former housekeeper and VERY picky when it comes to cleanliness. If there was a problem,the best way to handle it is to tell management. A desk clerk may or may not pass the message along...

 

[Momto8]

We just stayed at ASMusic from 12/25 through 12/31. Checked in around 1:00am, but when we got to our room, while my DH and DDs were still bringing in the luggage, I went into the bathroom. That's when I noticed the tank top of the toilet had a film of dust dried to it, like it hadn't been washed in a couple of weeks. I then started looking on the floor and noticed hair on it and dirt around the base where the floor meets the wall. I looked at the tub, and there was hair in there as well. The faucet and sink had dried water stains on it like it hadn't been washed as well as crumbs of food on the counter. I told my DH when he got to the room, and he said there was no way he was staying in a dirty room. I immediately called the front desk, and they sent someone up within 10-15 minutes and gave us keys to another room. That one was much better, and they left a gift bag of chocolates and snacks for our inconvenience. I just hope we didn't disturb our neighbors too much with all the moving of luggage. We tried to be quiet, but it's hard hauling suitcases and all. No problems after that.

The next day we were talking to our mousekeeper on our way out the door and told her what happened. She said that some of them just hurry through the cleaning so they can get out of there. She said they each have 18 rooms to clean each day, and said she is usually one of the last to leave because she doesn't rush thru the cleaning. 18 rooms!! Holy cow!! No wonder mousekeeping has gone downhill. I don't know about you, but how do you do a thorough job cleaning 18 rooms in an 8-hour shift or whatever they work??!! That's less than 30 minutes per room with no lunch or breaks. But from what she said, it sound like they can leave when they finish, so no wonder they hurry. When I was a teenager, I did this a couple of weekends to help out a friend at a local hotel/motel across from O'Hare in Chicago, and it was hard just cleaning 8 rooms in a day, let alone 18. And we worked in pairs!

But she did a great job the whole week we were there, always left us extra towels and soap. Of course, we tipped her everyday.

 

[ValerieK]

We had a mousekeeper at WL that didn't come several days, but we had turndown service and they took care of everything.

When we did get it, it was great. We even got towel animals one afternoon.

 

[bavaria]

My first room recently at POR recently was really bad. I had a non-renovated room, which was ok, as I had stayed in a room nearby a few months prior and was happy with it.

This room had sticky stuff inside the drawers, hairs, lots of stains all over the carpet, lint all over the floor. I noticed it when I checked in, and called mousekeeping to have someone do a clean while I was out.

The manager called me back and offered a room move immediately, which I initially declined. While I was on the phone I turned on the lights by the bed and saw the stains under the bed - the manager came up and was pretty embarassed - the carpet was more stain than carpet! Really, it was more a case of the room being in bad shape and needing that renovation.

She did a great job of getting me moved into a brand new room, which I loved.

Having said that, housekeepers are the hardest working people in any hotel. Imagine doing all that hard work and pushing your cart and restocking in 90 degree weather and humidity.

And the ones at POR are consistently so friendly. They often engage me in conversation, and one in December even stopped me to make sure that I was ok since she heard me coughing every morning. Turns out she wasn't even my housekeeper - she just walked past my door each morning and heard me coughing up a lung! (I called mousekeeping and got her name and left her a large Christmas tip)

 

[karensi]

Speaking of Mousekeeping and the hard work they do, or in some cases, are supposed to do, do you leave a tip each day or just wait till the end of your stay and then just leave one larger tip? I heard that you don't always get the same girl so that it might be better to leave a tip every day. Just wondering what others do .

 

[gabsmom]

We tipped at the end of our stay. We had the same mousekeeper everyday.

 

[skiwee1]

Speaking of Mousekeeping and the hard work they do, or in some cases, are supposed to do, do you leave a tip each day or just wait till the end of your stay and then just leave one larger tip? I heard that you don't always get the same girl so that it might be better to leave a tip every day. Just wondering what others do .

We tip everyday. The mousekeepers don'twork 7 days a week so you might have the one that only cleaned your room once get the entire tip which isn't fair to the other one. If you tip daily then the maid that is doing it that day gets the tip.

 

[Docsknotinn]

I agree and always tip everyday. I feel better about my toothbrush that way !