I've learned that Members should not complain about Mousekeeping...

[idratherbeinwdw]

Well I guess I'm middle of the road on this one. I don't think it's OK to be a total inconsiderate slob because we pay dues for housekeeping. But I also have no problem with those that make a "normal" mess and leave it for the mousekeepers to deal with.

However, I don't think it's fair to say that those who do the job knew what they were getting into, and consequently to have no sympathy for them. They're doing a dirty job that I bet most everyone here is glad they don't have to do, and I doubt it's by choice. I don't think it's anyone's dream job.

And maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't mind if the mousekeepers watch TV while they clean. It's probably about the only perk they get.

 

[DebbieB]

I noticed in the BWV budget for 2005 that housekeeping went down slightly from 2004. Front desk went up considerably. I hope they are not short staffing housekeeping to make up for it.

 

[lodgelady]

We try to remember the golden rule.......we leave a reasonable mess!

We would not feel right leaving a slobby mess, but we don't vacuum or clean the bathroom either- after all it is our vacation and mousekeeping's job to clean.

However, we always, always leave a tip on checkout day with a "thank you" written on a notepad.
After enjoying the magic for a week- why not spread some around?

 

[jarestel]

Sure things might even out, but if everyone picked up after themselves and Mousekeeping didn't have to do as much things might be a little cleaner. Or maybe our mousekeeping dues won't go up and heaven forbid maybe our dues might go down? Some people think they are paying for things, but doesn't give them a right to be a slob. Some times people think they should get everything for nothing, be real people.

I'm not encouraging slobbiness, but everyone's idea of cleaning is probably different. Some take out the trash, some vacuum, some run the dishwasher, heck some might even clean the toilet and shower for all I know. Bottom line is the housekeepers are still obligated to do these things anyway, regardless of what the previous occupants may or may not have done. I sure wouldn't want housekeeping to start saying, "this room looks clean enough, I'll just move on to the next one". There's a good reason many members pull all of the supposed clean dishes out of the cupboards and wash them as soon as they arrive. If they had a warm fuzzy about the previous guests cleaning abilities, I don't think anyone would bother with this.

Bottom line, do what you think is right. If it works for you, that's all that matters.

 

[lllovell]

A basic set of guidelines given to DVC members upon check in would be a FANTASTIC idea.

Please...put trash here....dump towels and linens here (or leave on your beds)....please dont leave ANY food (or if the housekeeping staff really is allowed and does keep items, then leave unopened food here)...Please put all dishes in the dishwasher and start it (or clean them all and put them back in the cabinet or whichever....another area where there seems to be lots of questions as to what is the best)....etc.etc.etc.

I personally bet that leaving food behind for housekeeping just leaves them more to toss. I dont see them having anywhere to store it or carry it with them, so I bet it just goes in the trash (along with the trust issues that seems to prevail in our world...would you let your child take a cookie from a stranger? even a sealed package of cookies....for me - it would depend on the stranger I suppose). Same thing with the dishes. Does it help them to have them ALL in the dishwasher. Many people have said they must wash them all before the next guest comes (which implies that they spend over and hour in the unit - at least if the dishwashers run like mine at home do).

I for one and all for guidelines to make things easier. The big picture here to me is if the rooms are reasonably straight, then real cleaning can occur between guests and the "downslide" that many have noticed would start moving back upwards as more time was spent actually CLEANING than picking up trash and other items that should not have been left behind.

 

[todsue99]

According to the 2005 SSR dues, $.7363 per point goes toward housekeeping services.

If I use 125 points to spend 5 nights in a 1B, I get one full cleaning (before I check-in) and one Trash & Towel service. For that I am paying $92.03. I'd say that's far from getting "everything for nothing."

This may sound harsh, but frankly it gets a little old hearing the housekeeping staff portrayed as victims. They know what they job is and they accept the job. If the wages are poor, they need to take it up with their union. If we, as members, feel they are underpaid, the easiest way to remedy the situation is to leave a tip. (I kinda doubt that trying to influence Disney's union negotiations will have any impact.)

Many guests choose to go above-and-beyond in straightening-up their room before departure. Some choose to tip the housekeeping staff, although it is not required nor expected. Those are personal choices.

Until Disney or DVC publishes standards for the check-out condition of a room, none of us has any right to cast stones at other guests. However distasteful housekeeping may seem to some of us, it's all part of the job.

Besides, if a housekeeper walks into a room that has the linens stripped, garbage emptied, floors vaccuumed and dishwasher running, I wouldn't be surprised if she spent the next half hour watching Days Of Our Lives. To automatically assume that time not used vaccuuming is then spent scrubbing tile floors or working on other rooms would be naive.

You maybe correct on all your points(even the days of our lives), but that still doesn't mean people need to slobs when leaving any kind of hotel room. I was not trying to defend mousekeeping either. All I was trying to do was have people think about things. Last I heard when we check in they say Welcome "Home" and if everyone treated it accordingly then maybe things could get better or cheaper. As to being naive, can we trust anybody in this world anymore? Sure maybe some people might watch soaps, but maybe not all of them. Have to start somewhere. I guess being from the pixie dust community I try look at things a little differently.

 

[robinb]

I'm not encouraging slobbiness, but everyone's idea of cleaning is probably different. Some take out the trash, some vacuum, some run the dishwasher, heck some might even clean the toilet and shower for all I know. Bottom line is the housekeepers are still obligated to do these things anyway, regardless of what the previous occupants may or may not have done.

Very good point. Even if you've cleaned up before you leave the housekeeper will have to re-do most of your work. For instance, I would hope that the housekeeper wipes down the couters even if they look clean and for all we know they may have to re-run the dishwasher anyway.

I guess I'm one of the slobs then since I won't clean for Housekeeping. I don't take out the trash, I don't strip the beds, I don't vacuum, I don't wipe down the counters, I don't throw away the soap and I don't run the dishwasher. I do make sure the dishes are in the sink or in the dishwasher ready to go. I make sure all my garbage is in or near the garbage cans, not scattered around. I leave a tip when I check out.

 

[lllovell]

What you are describing doesn't sound bad to me at all Robin.

It probably takes a "standard" amount of time to clean up a room left in that condition and that is what seems right to me. I think the real issue is true messes that take much longer. Beyond what I would call "standard".

I travel with young ones and I cannot stand huge messes in small spaces, even though we are not clean freaks by any means. I wouldn't run the vacuum unless we had made some big mess (like a bag of chips exploding in the floor, etc). I do wipe down countertops and load the dishwasher, but I sometimes wonder about running it (since if they are not sure, they would have to run it again).

We rent a house annually on St. George Island on the Gulf side of FL and they have very specific "leave it this way" guidelines that are great and easy to follow and I like that more because then I know I am doing what I should upon checkout. I would love something like that at "home" for the same reasons. Tell me how to leave it so that I know the major cleaning gets done as often as possible and I will be glad to do it!

 

[childsplay]

I'm probably in the minority on this issue, but I think as a general rule, the housekeeping staff at DVC does an outstanding job.... (when all of the variables are factored into the equation)

 

[todsue99]

I guess I'm one of the slobs then since I won't clean for Housekeeping. I don't take out the trash, I don't strip the beds, I don't vacuum, I don't wipe down the counters, I don't throw away the soap and I don't run the dishwasher. I do make sure the dishes are in the sink or in the dishwasher ready to go. I make sure all my garbage is in or near the garbage cans, not scattered around. I leave a tip when I check out.

Yes, but do you have garbage laying all over the place or is it in the garbage can? Do you have a pile of dirty dishes on the tables and counter or are they put in the dishwasher? These are the things that I might consider someone a slob if they did these things. I don't consisder not vacuuming being a slob, unless (as someone else pointed out) you had a bag of chips explode all over and you didn't clean it up. There are different opinions of what people consider being a slob, I personally think as long as you pick up after yourself mousekeeping should be able to take care of the rest. I just don't think it is fair to leave all your park maps and dirty dishes scattered all over for them to pick up. That is all I am saying.

 

[WithFaith50]

Just a thought, but maybe the former occupants checked out on a day designated as a full cleaning day (or paid for a full cleaning).

WithFaith50

 

[jarestel]

Realistically, 90% of the stuff that constitutes a mess in a room are the belongings of the family that stays there. They will be taking this "mess" with them when they leave. So now we're left with garbage and dirty dishes as the main contributors to a housekeeper's workload after a guest checks out. Unless we're dealing with a family who was happy to wallow knee-deep in trash and unwashed dishes during their vacation ( possible in extreme cases, but not likely to be a high percentage of DVC members ), then it's not going to take the housekeeper all day to pick up a few leftover trash items and load the dishwasher. 10 minutes? 15?

As we like to do here ( and I as much as anyone, I admit ) we love to envision the most unlikeliest of worst case scenarios and then go off on these mythical member slobs we've made up and convinced ourselves are real. I wouldn't worry about needing to have DVC tell us what to do in the way of cleaning up when we check out. There's probably not any kind of real problem except in our threads.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Yes, but do you have garbage laying all over the place or is it in the garbage can? Do you have a pile of dirty dishes on the tables and counter or are they put in the dishwasher? These are the things that I might consider someone a slob if they did these things. I don't consisder not vacuuming being a slob, unless (as someone else pointed out) you had a bag of chips explode all over and you didn't clean it up. There are different opinions of what people consider being a slob, I personally think as long as you pick up after yourself mousekeeping should be able to take care of the rest. I just don't think it is fair to leave all your park maps and dirty dishes scattered all over for them to pick up. That is all I am saying.

I guess we all have different definitions of slob. Garbage all over the place--agreed. Dirty dishes in the sink (unless they are full of baked on crud that a dishwasher won't remove)--I disagree. While I do indeed feel guilty leaving dirty dishes in the sink or on the counter and I won't do that, I don't think people that do are slobs. That's a really strong word. The dishes are going to get rewashed anyway, so why does it matter if they are put from the sink or counter into the dishwasher vs from the cupboard? In fact sometimes I feel stupid NOT leaving dishes in the sink, for the reason I just mentioned.

 

[DizneyNutz]

I loved your comments---heck, I'd sure hate for someone to come in to my house and look under the bed---heck, I'm scared to look under there! HA!

 

[MikeSquared]

I would say that the biggest problem with the cleaning staff, is the cleaning staff. I know the TV's are on while they're cleaning, I've seen it more than once walking down the hall. How long should it take one person to clean a studio, a one bedroom, a two bedroom? Shouldn't take too long. We have a service that cleans our house once a week, 2 people usually take an hour to clean & dust; 4 bedrooms, 2 full & 2 1/2 baths, living room, dining room, family room, kitchen, upper & lower foyers, stairs with landings, and basement. They usually only have one bed to make at our house, but a single worker at BCV should be able to clean a 2 bedroom in a 1/2 hour or less for a 1 bedroom or studio. Although we haven't had a dirty room problem, we usually have a minor maintenance trouble or two. (dead TV once, light bulbs, faucet drips, ect...) It's a "Home Away from Home", but we are on vacation. If we make a mess we do clean it up just as if we were at home, but we don't "clean house". It's also not a tipped position, although we do leave one. I'm not knocking the cleaning staff, but it's their job and should be done properly.

 

[DrTomorrow]

[...]but a single worker at BCV should be able to clean a 2 bedroom in a 1/2 hour or less for a 1 bedroom or studio. [...]

I disagree that a 2BR villa can be properly cleaned in a 1/2 hour. 3 beds - and possibly a sofa-bed - need to be stripped and remade. Kitchen needs to be cleaned, dishes washed (at least our dishwasher at home won't wash & dry dishes that quickly), 2 bathrooms need to be cleaned & mopped, the jacuzzi needs to be cleaned, carpet vacuumed, all towels gathered and replaced; and that's not counting anything "unusual" - getting jam out of the carpet, etc. Add to that the maintenance checks - lights, freezer, and so on - well over 30 minutes....

IMHO - YMMV

 

[cymomtx]

At our timeshare in Cancun, it is required that your villa be left in order with just the basic cleaning needing to be done. If you leave it a mess, you are charged $250.

 

[MikeSquared]

I disagree that a 2BR villa can be properly cleaned in a 1/2 hour. 3 beds - and possibly a sofa-bed - need to be stripped and remade. Kitchen needs to be cleaned, dishes washed (at least our dishwasher at home won't wash & dry dishes that quickly), 2 bathrooms need to be cleaned & mopped, the jacuzzi needs to be cleaned, carpet vacuumed, all towels gathered and replaced; and that's not counting anything "unusual" - getting jam out of the carpet, etc. Add to that the maintenance checks - lights, freezer, and so on - well over 30 minutes....

IMHO - YMMV

It's done at my house every week, 2 people, 1 hour (maybe 1.5 hr on a slow day). My house is more than double the size of a 2 bdrm villa. Every room in the house dusted and vacuumed along with the stairs, other floors mopped, cabinets and counters wiped down in 4 bathrooms and kitchen, stove top burner parts cleaned along with any dishes in the sink, they usually only have to strip and make one bed unless we've had guests, I don't see how it could take too much longer than 30 - 45 minutes to clean a 2 bdrm villa. Are they suppose to sit and wait for the dish washer to be done? Oh, I see now, that's why the TV's are on. How about do the kitchen first then move onto the rest, if the dishes are still running go to the next villa and come back to put the dishes away. Like I said, "the biggest problem with the cleaning staff, is the cleaning staff". They're just not very efficient.

 

[OneMoreTry]

I agree it's amazing how sloppy some people are. What's there to do

As for how much we actually pay for cleaning: Those of us that make a couple longer trips pay relatively more than those who make more, shorter trips. A one night stay requires the same full cleaning at the end of the visit as a seven night stay.

 

[Synonymous]

Can someone tell me where the rules are posted that I have to clean before I leave my room? I'm on vacation- I'm not vaccuming and I'm not wiping down the counters before I leave. It's Disney's responsibility to make sure the room is clean for the next guest, not mine. If they can't do it, it's a failure in their service, not in my manners.