Just back from BLT 2/25-3/4 Housekeeping Horror

[briternik]

Just to clarify, I was not aware that calling the front desk directed me to a call center. I don't guess in my 10+ trips to Disney that I have ever had the need to call them. This trip, I was staying on rented points from a DVC owner. Because of that, I would never be rude or do anything that might cause them any repercussions. I'm not an aggressive type anyway.

Also, I said the room was thoroughly cleaned on Day 4, and I had a couple of comments that it wasn't. Well, mine was. We had the chair bed and sofa bed out, as well as the main bed was a mess. They were put back as original with new sheets, the floors were vacuumed, we had fresh towels. It was certainly more than a trash pickup.

Concerning the bell services-- We drove up to BLT and asked and they said they don't have it. When we asked about the stroller they referred us to the Contemporary lobby. When we pulled up there someone immediately came over and asked if we needed service. We told them we were staying at BLT and they said, "that's fine, we'll hold your luggage until your room is ready". We were not told this at BLT. When we went to leave my sil went down and asked for a luggage cart and this time they referred us to the Contemporary. We were ready to leave so we just made a couple of trips on our own.

 

[fla4fun]

OP I am sorry you had to go through this. It’s a shame that it’s so difficult to talk with many of the housekeepers due to language barriers. It seems like all it should take is a housekeeper quietly knocking, and the guest whispering “You can come in but please be quiet so the baby doesn’t wake up.” It’s totally possible for someone to come in and remove trash and look around, while remaining quiet. But when the guest can’t be understood by the housekeeper, then the issues occur. I just returned from a vacation at a Hilton brand hotel, and happened to be in the room 8 out of 10 days when housekeeping came to service the room. I had a different housekeeper every day and out of the eight I met, only one was fluent in English. I am sure Disney has similar issues, based on the Disney housekeepers I have met. I just wish a solution could be found so that guests can have a more relaxing stay while still allowing the checks.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Just to clarify, I was not aware that calling the front desk directed me to a call center. I don't guess in my 10+ trips to Disney that I have ever had the need to call them. This trip, I was staying on rented points from a DVC owner. Because of that, I would never be rude or do anything that might cause them any repercussions. I'm not an aggressive type anyway.

Also, I said the room was thoroughly cleaned on Day 4, and I had a couple of comments that it wasn't. Well, mine was. We had the chair bed and sofa bed out, as well as the main bed was a mess. They were put back as original with new sheets, the floors were vacuumed, we had fresh towels. It was certainly more than a trash pickup.

Concerning the bell services-- We drove up to BLT and asked and they said they don't have it. When we asked about the stroller they referred us to the Contemporary lobby. When we pulled up there someone immediately came over and asked if we needed service. We told them we were staying at BLT and they said, "that's fine, we'll hold your luggage until your room is ready". We were not told this at BLT. When we went to leave my sil went down and asked for a luggage cart and this time they referred us to the Contemporary. We were ready to leave so we just made a couple of trips on our own.

I forgot you were at BLT. Those housekeepers still don't have a clue about what service they are supposed to provide and when they are supposed to provide it. You got very lucky getting a full cleaning with only a seven night stay. Maybe they felt bad about waking up the baby?

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Hm, we’ll likely be in the room with a napping 2 year old at least once or twice during the afternoon. I wonder if I tape a note to the door that says Baby napping and leave the trash outside just while she’s asleep if that will help

from what I have been reading that will just get security to knock instead. signs out seem to be what gets the knock on door

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Hm, we’ll likely be in the room with a napping 2 year old at least once or twice during the afternoon. I wonder if I tape a note to the door that says Baby napping and leave the trash outside just while she’s asleep if that will help

Don’t leave the trash outside the room. Yuck. And as others said, it’s not really about the trash.

People have left their trash in the DVC hallways for years even though there are places for guests to dump their trash at the DVC properties. One of my pet peeves is walking through a beautifully themed Disney hallway and seeing trash bags on the floor filled with who knows what. I just think it’s gross. Hopefully the daily trash pickup now will stop DVC guests from doing this all the time.

ETA: I would be upset about the knocking and entering despite the DND sign up too. I have a 1.5yo and a 3yo. I understand the need for extra security, but when my kids at WDW need a rest, they need a REST. I wish there was a way to request timing for the check but I guess that would defeat the actual purpose.

 

[OnThisMagicNight]

I have not been back to WDW since this new policy was enacted, but this is very disheartening to read. We've always gone back to the room every afternoon so our kids can nap - it's what makes our vacations enjoyable (nothing sucks the fun out of a vacation like cranky kids!) In the past, we've had success calling housekeeping early in the trip and requesting the cleanings occur at a specific time ("Our kids nap in the afternoon, is it possible to have our room cleaned in the mornings?") I wonder if that would have worked in a case like this? Again, this was prior to the new policy, but we have had instances in the past where housekeeping has come while the kids are napping, but they were always willing to come back later when we explained and normally it only happened once on a trip - after the first time, they were always careful to avoid our naptimes. I hope they are able to work out a better method for handling this, because banging on a door and waking up a sleeping baby just isn't acceptable .

 

[Tksolomom]

I have not been back to WDW since this new policy was enacted, but this is very disheartening to read. We've always gone back to the room every afternoon so our kids can nap - it's what makes our vacations enjoyable (nothing sucks the fun out of a vacation like cranky kids!) In the past, we've had success calling housekeeping early in the trip and requesting the cleanings occur at a specific time ("Our kids nap in the afternoon, is it possible to have our room cleaned in the mornings?") I wonder if that would have worked in a case like this? Again, this was prior to the new policy, but we have had instances in the past where housekeeping has come while the kids are napping, but they were always willing to come back later when we explained and normally it only happened once on a trip - after the first time, they were always careful to avoid our naptimes. I hope they are able to work out a better method for handling this, because banging on a door and waking up a sleeping baby just isn't acceptable .

People have been having mixed success with requesting a time range for the checks.

 

[KellyHonos]

In my experience, the house keepers I have typically seen working at the resorts look to be from another country. They may speak spotty english, but they may not even be able to read. I am not saying that housekeeping as a whole is illiterate, I'm just simply suggesting that with english sometimes being their second language, reading may not be their strong suit. Also, it could be the woman that you corrected the first time was a different woman the second time. Was that the case? If so, that explains her barging in. If it was the same woman, there was clearly a miscommunication. You also have to understand that they service so many rooms and people in a week, it is entirely possible she forgot your request, unfortunately I know we would like to think that anyone and everyone working at Disney is dedicated to giving everyone they cross paths with the best possible experience ever, but you might have been the 3rd or 4th person that day to ask for a special request. Maybe not, just a guess.

 

[ArwenMarie]

As far as walking to the Front Desk, it's not always the answer. I remember going down to the Front Desk at BLT to complain about that housekeeping wasn't coming daily. We were staying through Disney via cash not points. The friendly young woman at the Front Desk proceeded to tell me that these were DVC units that don't get daily housekeeping. I had to explain to her that Disney also rents out the villas for cash, and those reservations do get Daily Housekeeping. She said, "Oh I didn't know that"

Regardless, if you hit a button that says "Front Desk" the person answering should be able to assist you.

With the number of families with young children who travel to WDW, it will be interesting to see how they handle this.

 

[gluestickgirl]

My family has been going every year for the past 6 years. We usually stay at the Poly and this was our first stay at BLT. You can't beat the location. We had a 1 BDRM standard view. I used the room finder on touring plans and requested 7512 based on their suggestions. We ended up in 7304. Wasn't the worst but if I couldn't be on 5th floor, I wanted ground. The CM I spoke with said that standard views are floors 1-3 and 5 wasn't an option.
The only problem I had was with housekeeping. As has been previously stated, housekeeping comes every day to get the trash and does a thorough clean on day 4 when you are staying in a DVC. The problem was that I had a baby that naps from 2-4 every day and that is the time they ALWAYS came. I put out the sign when I laid the baby down. They knocked anyway. I went to the door and told her my baby was asleep. She said she needed to get the trash. I told her to come back later. She said she would come in an hour. I told her to come at 4. She said she was off at 4. I said "sorry" so she said she would get it the next day.
SO- the next day same routine- except I was in the bathroom, doing my personal business and my baby was asleep. Not only did I have the sign out, but had the door stop on. They knock again. I ignore. They knock again. I ignore again. Finally, they use their key and BAM the door against the door stop. I YELL "I'm in the bathroom"!! They BAM again. "I'M IN THE BATHROOM"!!! My baby starts crying, then they leave. I am LIVID!!! I immediately call housekeeping and can't get an answer. I call the front desk and complain. She asks if I had the sign out and I told her I did. She said she will take care of it.
The next day I didn't take the baby back to the room for a nap as we went to Animal Kingdom and stayed there the entire day.
However, the following day- back at it again. 3:00. BAM!!!! UGGGGHHHHH!!! I didn't even bother to call.
The following day was a full clean day, so they serviced the room before nap time.
We had a great vaca at a great location. I hope never to repeat this housekeeping horror.
One last thing that was different than our stays at the Poly was there was no bell services. If you wanted it, you had to drive over to the Contemporary entrance to get it. Upon leaving, you had to call Contemporary bell services to come help you again. No carts available for public use.
Also, I had rented a stroller from Kingdom Strollers and had to go over to Contemp to pick it up.

Please take the time to send an email to guest services. We did, after a stay at the Poly where we ran into a problem with the policy. The GM of the Poly called us and talked to my husband for quite some time.

The policy sucks. There are problems with the implementation. It seems like they're aware of that, and are trying to make adjustments.

 

[bumbershoot]

Also, I said the room was thoroughly cleaned on Day 4, and I had a couple of comments that it wasn't. Well, mine was. We had the chair bed and sofa bed out, as well as the main bed was a mess. They were put back as original with new sheets, the floors were vacuumed, we had fresh towels. It was certainly more than a trash pickup.

Do NOT expect this. This was beyond trash and towel. You got far more than what you should have gotten.

And therefore mentioning it as an “of course this is what we got” in a complaint email isn’t going to get you far, because they will question credibility. That isn’t what T&T service is.

Based on my recent GF villas experience, where tipping on T&T day got the housekeeper to come back and make the bed up fresh (we were in the room when she came back, and as she said she’s the ONE American-born housekeeper there, so we could chat), if you tip some of the Dvc housekeepers think you want something extra.

But it’s still beyond what T&T is.

Concerning the bell services-- We drove up to BLT and asked and they said they don't have it.

Weird. Was it very early or very late?

When we went to leave my sil went down and asked for a luggage cart and this time they referred us to the Contemporary.

Contemporary likely wouldn’t have given her a cart. None of the resorts are supposed to let guests use carts on their own. We’ve never been allowed. Some have been given something extra by being allowed though.

This trip, I was staying on rented points from a DVC owner.

Aha.

If it was the same woman, there was clearly a miscommunication.

Likely not. With this new regime they aren’t listening to requests. And a request gets you more knocks.

Regardless, if you hit a button that says "Front Desk" the person answering should be able to assist you.

Yes they should.

Doesn’t always work like that though. It’s been like this since I first started planning for our first trip which we took in late 2010. Doesn’t seem to be changing.

If you want someone in site to help you fast, walk to the front desk. If you want someone to tell you what’s going on with the situation on the property, go to the front desk. They are there on site and have the best chance of knowing.


That’s why so many of us bring it up so often. So that others know.

I’m the biggest “dig in my heels for the principle of the thing” person I know, but even I’ve given up on this one.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Yes they should.
Doesn’t always work like that though. It’s been like this since I first started planning for our first trip which we took in late 2010. Doesn’t seem to be changing.

If you want someone in site to help you fast, walk to the front desk. If you want someone to tell you what’s going on with the situation on the property, go to the front desk. They are there on site and have the best chance of knowing.

That’s why so many of us bring it up so often. So that others know.

I’m the biggest “dig in my heels for the principle of the thing” person I know, but even I’ve given up on this one.

Yes, but if someone hits the Front Desk button, they should expect assistance. The call center does know how to transfer calls to the actual hotel.

I agree, there is a way to tell people who may not know otherwise and that can be helpful. I just don't think that when people post on here that they hit the Front Desk button, that they should be told, oh well, you should have *known* to walk down.

And walking to the Front Desk doesn't always get things done either. In this particular case of the OP and these room checks in general, I'm not sure it would have mattered.

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

I really think the way to solve this problem is to have housekeeping continue to honor requests and separately have security still come by and do checks. When a house keeper knocks on a door a guest is expecting them to service the room and vacuum and things that are by nature loud and especially with a sleeping child. No parent I know is going to let anyone come in and service the room with their kid asleep. I also highly doubt that housekeeping is trained on what to look for in regards where as security is. And they're less likely to make noise and be an actual disturbance to a sleeping child. Disney also needs to do a better job of informing guests of what to expect with this policy. Because I have heard stories for housekeeping or security just entering and not even announcing themselves. When we're in the room we don't always put the sign out unless we're sleeping or showering, but if we're just in there hanging out or someone is sick which does happen rarely I don't want to look up expecting to see my sister and have a stranger standing in my room. I'm so sorry you experienced this. And if you had the latch on the door they should have either waited for you to come to the door or radioed down to security and waited for them to come up. And the fact her response to you was "I'm off at 4" isn't acceptable. She may be off at 4 but there are other housekeepers that stay later and if all she had to do was pick up the trash (which I realize it's more about getting in the room) you could have handed it to her or she could have stayed the extra 5 mins and come back to get it.

 

[Moliphino]

It's pretty clear after reading a number of these reports that the new signs do not mean "come back later". They just mean "knock before entering".

One would think they should knock before entering even without a sign on the door, at least in my opinion. And that was my experience before these changes went into effect (haven't been since this started).

 

[briternik]

Like some have mentioned, I really had a hard time communicating with the housekeeping staff. I hope this room check issue is corrected before my trip next year. I will definitely make my concerns known when I check in from now on.

If I hadn't had the door stop on, they would have barged in on me in the bathroom. How awkward!!

 

[mom2rtk]

One would think they should knock before entering even without a sign on the door, at least in my opinion. And that was my experience before these changes went into effect (haven't been since this started).

One would think. So we're left to wonder. Just what is the point of the door tag? Maybe it's just to keep everyone from calling to complain that they don't have a "do not disturb" sign any more. I do think it's misleading though. "Room Occupied" seems to imply to me that I'd prefer you check back later when the room is not occupied. Apparently that's not what it means at all.

 

[KellyHonos]

I'm not exactly sure of the schedules for housekeeping. Do they come by once a day at the same time? Do they have multiple shifts where some hotels get cleaned at 3 whereas others get cleaned at 5? Reason I ask is because possibly having an option at check in for when housekeeping could come by would be helpful. I haven't put much thought into this idea, so don't bite my head off if there are a million obvious reasons why that wouldnt work. But I'm just saying in this woman's situation, having had the option for house keeping to come before or after her baby's nap would have alleviated this entire situation. When my sister and I go, we are up at 'em early, so a good time for housekeeping to come for us would be the morning. We like to take a break sometimes midday, others we go all the way thru. Then again, on our day of rest, we wouldn't want to be woken up too early for housekeeping. Maybe if the hotels would give options of the housekeeping shifts, for exampleif there were 3 shifts, give the guest the option to pick 1 and that be the time the cleaners come consistently. Then they can avoid you, and you can avoid them and plan for it.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

That's exactly what the new door sign means. It means they will knock instead of just entering - not that they will forego knocking and come back later. It no longer matters whether you are in the room or not. They will be trying to enter. The only difference is whether you get any notice that they are entering.

If you don't have the sign, they will likely just enter without knocking.

I don't know how successful guests have been trying to schedule a specific time for housekeeping or security to come to their room around naps, but apparently not very successful.

Leaving the trash in the hallway won't help. This policy wasn't initiated to take out the trash. Someone is going to enter your room daily, whether you want them to or not.

I agree, there is a way to tell people who may not know otherwise and that can be helpful. I just don't think that when people post on here that they hit the Front Desk button, that they should be told, oh well, you should have *known* to walk down.

Not that they should have known, but it is really very helpful to know that when you call, you are not talking to the actual front desk, but to someone who isn't even at the resort.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Next time you may want to consider putting the baby down for a nap in the bedroom with a closed door to muffle the sound of normal knocking and allowing them in to quietly remove the garage. Also, be aware that it will also happen at the Poly as they are also part of the same "security" program.

It's a shame that the OP has to do this-think of the interruptions she's GOING to have, and act accordingly.

When you say you called the front desk, you didn't call the front desk (unless they confirmed it). You called a call center somewhere off-site, hence why nothing was done. You more than likely should've gone down TO the front desk when you had time.

Then I always wonder, why does the button on the phone say "Front Desk"? The OP seems correct in assuming that her call was going to where the button said. Perhaps, in the spirit of honesty, the wording on the button should be changed to "call center which acts as the front desk".

 

[SharonZ]

Although I agree that the current situation with housekeeping/security isn't the greatest, keep in mind that they can't accommodate everyone's schedules.