Marriott's Grande Vista

[undertheradar]

We just returned from 13 nights(broken into 2 stays)., and do not think that we will ever return. This was our 4th stay at MGV and the rooms are showing the wear. The grounds are getting dirty and a lack of attention to detail is evident.
Our first dates:6/13-18 we were near the bridge to the new pool. This location was both noisy and crowded, as there were many guests who chose to drive near the pools, rather than walk from their respective rooms(LAZY!). The new pool complex is very hyped and very toddler oriented. My 6 yo commented that it was a baby pool. Many parents sit at the bar and drink while their children play and jump into the pool. We witnessed several close calls where children jumped off the wall dividing the pools and almost didn't clear the concrete. Marriott is waiting for problems before taking action here.
Our second stay was 6/24-7/2 and our room was horrible. We walked into a NS room that had been vacated by the cigar club. The walls were marked from luggage hits. The DR table light was down so far as to be 14 inches from the top of the table. The MB bath area had a hole in the wall the size of a man's fist. The MB shower had a head that was completely blocked. Two outlets in the DR were broken(kicked-in). The phone didn't ring and the kitchen was missing most of the utensils and dishes. We were paying a rewards rate of $143/nt++ and the room showed why.
We did do the Timeshare presentation and even invited our sales rep to view our room after viewing the brand new units- she declined. Our timeshare presentation(Chris Lyons-Johnstown,PA on nametag) was almost 2 1/2 hours when we finally said that time was up. Marriott has a great system, but someone has not been paying attention to details at Grande Vista. Every other day we needed to call for shampoo/towels/toilet paper, etc. Unfortunately, MGV continues to grow and the quality is getting less and less. In 4 stays we have stayed here for a total of 45 nights and I can state that we will never go back.

 

[wuv tigger]

Just curious. Did the engineering fix everything in your room when you notified them? What did the general manager say about your service and the things you complained about? We are Marriott owners and would have demanded a new room, a refund, or a boatload of points if that happened to us.

David

 

[undertheradar]

Engineering fixed the obvious things. We never heard from the GM or offered any type of discount or reward points. We never heard from anyone at the resort after notifying them of the problems. Attention to detail is severely lacking at this property.

 

[Lorix2]

I can't believe my eyes! That's horrible and inexcusable.

Did you switch rooms? You must have..

It's obvious that this particular room was trashed by whomever stayed there last. I don't think it's indicative of every villa on the property.

We have only stayed there once, but our villa and it's location were perfect. We're going back again in April and now I'm a little nervous about it.

You must write to the highest authority at Marriott about this. Maybe an owner here can help you with that information.

I'm very sorry you had such an awful experience with you're family. I hope you will get some sort of offer for another week or some type of compensation for what you paid.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

All I can say is WRITE, WRITE, WRITE!!!!!!!!! THE TOUR IS 90 MIN AND THAT IS ALL THEY ARE GETTING FROM ME!! If it is a dump then write and tell management. I do not care what you are paying. If indeed you thought you were getting a deal then it is not a deal if the place is below par. YOu could go to an AmeriSuites and experience that for half the price. I say WRITE and use snail mail not E MAIL

 

[undertheradar]

Switching rooms was not an option as we checked in on a thursday and the resort was gearing up for the busy July 4th Holiday. Having stayed here before, we were shocked at the condition of this villa. We stayed in the same court when they were brand new 6 years ago and were amazed at how trashed the villa had become. We spoke to the front desk priority line to notify them of the problems with the villa and after reporting them, never heard from anyone again. This resort is showing that it does not receive the attention that it needs. Trash in the parking lot and around the grounds layed in the same places for days. Unfortunately, Marriott has tried to cut costs and it shows. It was obvious that the staff did not care or else a follow-up call would have been made. Perhaps the senior management staff needs to be shaken up to return this resort to a 5* status.

 

[debbie655]

Oh boy, we have this booked for 3 nights in August and so far have been more than pleased with everything we've read about this resort....until now. Now I'm not sure I've made the right decision or not.

 

[Lorix2]

debbie = pm on the way

 

[maciec]

My parents just stayed there in January and said that the resort as well as their room was impecable.

We are booked for a week in October and I am not worried at all. While I appreciate the OP's opinions I am taking into consideration other extenuating factors that may have happpened that week. Just like us I am sure resorts have good days and bad months due to unforseen circumstances.

I myself would have requested to meet with the manager prior to departure to share in the unpleasantness of my stay.

I guess that I am a little more optimistic because I live and work in a resort town and this place can get trashed very easily and it takes a lot of people to clean it up.

For those who have their ressies already I wouldn't be so worried after just one posting. This actually is the first post that I have read where someone gave the resort a thumbs down.

 

[undertheradar]

Having stayed here on 3 other occasions, I feel qualified to provide a fair comparison. The resort has a great location and nice villa layouts. My most recent stay was less than satisfying and convinced my family(between business and leisure, we stay in hotels over 70 nights per year) that MGV is not the quality product that it was in the past. While I agree that any business can have a bad day, the lack of follow-up solidified the conclusion that things aren't up to past standards. These views are solely based on personal experience. The new buildings are very nice, but have safety flaws. As a "heads up," the new balconies are not screened in. The 2 bedrooms have a ledge that unsupervised children could climb on to see over the railing. The older buildings have the screened larger balcony. I asked the TS rep why this was done and she had no reason for the change. We also inquired about DSL(MGV has none) and the rep had no idea when it would be added. We were unhappy to learn that the resort lacks a business suite. Instead, they send guests to the Renaissance(?) Orlando Resort at Sea World. While this is not a long drive, it is inconvenient.
This resort is fine for a family vacation. It just isn't the pristine/well maintained resort of our 3 prior stays.

 

[2Disneybuggs]

We stayed there in October and had a wonderful room, grounds wre clean and no problems.Im surpised mgmt didn;t do more.

 

[undertheradar]

Still shocked at the lack of concern by management.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Familyofive,

Did you write letters and mail them?? I KNOW that when I was unhappy with Sheraton they bent over backwards after I put it in writing. Send it to the head of the corporation and cc it to the manager or visa versa.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

familyoffive, saw your review on tripadvisor. Then I saw other reviews and I gotta say I am a little leary here. I think it was the review with the roach that really got to me. I know, I know in
Fla they are "Palmetto Bugs" but lets call them what they are. Please tell my you did not see any bugs.

 

[Lorix2]

Here are some replies from owners at MGV from another board when I told them about the experience that Familyoffive had here. It is not my intention to make light of their complaints at all, what they experienced was inexcusable. This is just to give those going some perspective:

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As a former Marriott Grande Vista employee I will try to explain what I think is happening, but not to defend Marriott. Orlando has become crazy busy. I own at HGVC in addition to Marriott and the Sea World property is showing alot of wear and tear. It has become very hard to get good housekeeping help in Orlando due to the sheer number of rooms to clean. The piece I can't understand is the broken unit stuff. That is unacceptable. As for the pool, I have noticed a lack of parental supervision myself (I'm 50, 3 kids) with the younger generation these days. Not everyone, just some and that is all it takes to disrupt an area. The comments about the towels, shampoo and tp give me the impression that these folks may be regular hotel users as opposed to timeshare.
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posted 07-10-2004 14:25
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I was there the week of June 20 and can tell you that my unit was great, the pool was top notch, and everything worked.
I will also say that GV is going through a regular round of refurbishment and mine was just re-done. I was told that the priority was 1) owners, 2) owners exchanging back in, 3) marriott owners exchanging in from other properties, 4) hotel reservations. I can promise you that the hotel guests get whatever is left over. It doesn't explain the disrepair.

IP: Logged

posted 07-10-2004 19:10
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I would be complaining directly to Marriott but I would also make sure that I got the name and address of the Board of Directors and complained to them also. These people are elected to make darn sure these sort of things do not occur.
IP: Logged

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Okay am calmed down a little. I am leaving in 7 days and after the 4 days at Liki Tiki last year I do not want to sleep with one eye open. I can understand the problem with finding people to clean. As I said I will post from the room when I get there but gotta say, I was so surprised by last year's bad experience that I hate that I would even have to question this and most likely in the past I would not even have thought about it.

Saw a piece of one of the prime time news shows on how gross the some rooms are that appear clean. They used a blue light at Liki Tiki they did not even need the light.

 

[madscrapper]

We last stayed at MGV about 2 years ago. On our first night my then 3 and 6 DD wanted to take a bath in the jacuzzi tub. After the tub was filled my DH turned on the "bubbles" and my 3yr's hand was sucked into on of the jets. DH immed. shut off the jets. The screen covering the jets was missing and because it wasn't the side facing us we didn't notice. Her hand was very bruised but thankfully she was otherwise fine.

We notified management the same night. Then the next day. Then the next day.

Not until we did our Sales presentation and we told the sales rep about the incident was the screen replaced. No one apologized or contacted us. I guess large companies are reluctant to apologize because that indicates responsibility=lawsuit....but one would have been nice.

Jeannine

 

[debbie655]

Bella- Have a great time! Hope to hear your impressions when you return as we are staying here Aug 25-28.

Madscrapper--You can bet my 10 y/o daughter will not be using the Jacuzzi. This reminds me of a story I heard a few years ago about a childs hair being caught and sucked in, you can guess the rest. A terrible story.

 

[madscrapper]

Debbie655...we'll be staying there Aug 27-Sept 1....we still love this resort....and I remember the story you referenced...very sad and that was the first thing I thought of as well.

Jeannine

 

[debbie655]

madscrapper--Maybe we'll see you there! I am a little concerned about the weather with end of Aug. being hurricane season and all. We normally go earlier in the summer. We are driving down from NY, are you driving down too?