Most of the DVC units look, well, just outdated

[DVC SSR Owner]

I am glad someone agrees with me that the bathrooms need to be refurbed!

 

[dianeschlicht]

After they did the alligator finish on the coffee table, they didn't have money left to do the bathroom cleaning.

LOL! That allegator table, the repainting of the really interesting part of the bathroom to something less interesting, and those !@#$%^&*( blinds are my biggest complaints about the OKW refurb.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

After they did the alligator finish on the coffee table, they didn't have money left to do the bathroom cleaning.

and we should be thankful they didn't "crackle" anything else!!!

and those !@#$%^&*( blinds are my biggest complaints about the OKW refurb.

I share your frustration! Who ever designed these, though esthetically eye catching, cleary never repeatedly operated the mechanism!

Now let's see how long they last!

 

[Sammie]

I agree that the bathrooms need to be well maintained, even if just regrout the same tiles.

I am not convinced you have to raise dues to do this, I don't think our dues have been managed well in the past.

Sorry but if a DVC President can not manage the situation at Aulani are we sure the rest was managed well. I know BLT was not managed well as far as product selection.

Hopefully all OKW members are letting Member Satisfaction know that the bathroom situation is a huge disappointment. Some of the things they did replace really did not need it, and yet the bathrooms did. Very poor choices made in my opinion.

 

[SLJ6974]

Certainly your prerogative. I could put together figures demonstrating how DVC saves me 70-75% off of cash rates for similar accommodations (Studio vs. hotel room) over the long haul. Probably far more with a resale purchase.

When even the best cash discounts are 25-35% off rack, the disparity is simply too high to ignore.

When you look carefully at side-by-side photos of the hotel and villa rooms, the differences typically come down to minor things like headboards and wall sconces / lighting. Those things are not worth spending hundreds more per trip. Villa guests still have access to all of the same resort services (pools, bell services, room service, etc.)

BEACH CLUB HOTEL

BEACH CLUB VILLA

BOARDWALK INN

BOARDWALK VILLA

The hotel rooms are undeniably nicer in these two examples.

Are the villas dated? Not by my definition. Dated suggests that the furnishings are not up to current standards. For instance, if the DVC villas had old coil stoves, CRT TVs or the old bar-in-your-back sofabeds you could call them dated.

Here it's simply a case of Disney putting extra dollars into the decor of the hotel rooms. In my opinion, the differences are not enough to convince me to spend twice as much money year-after-year for the same amount of space at the same physical building. I just don't value headboards and wall lighting very highly.

The Beach Club Villa does look dated, but SAB would make up for that, but the BWV is much worse. I can't imagine booking one of these rooms through CRO and paying a outlandish rate and getting this.

Note, just went and priced this "deluxe" studio out for a weeknight in January for next year, $388.00, rack rate. I think the rooms at CSR look better than this studio at BWV.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Looking at the pictures of BWV and BCV rooms vs hotel rooms....I think the decorating is a matter of personal taste.....looking at the pictures I like the villa studio decorating better than the hotel rooms...they seem to stuffy/formal to me.......

 

[Deb & Bill]

The Beach Club Villa does look dated, but SAB would make up for that, but the BWV is much worse. I can't imagine booking one of these rooms through CRO and paying a outlandish rate and getting this.

Note, just went and priced this "deluxe" studio out for a weeknight in January for next year, $388.00, rack rate. I think the rooms at CSR look better than this studio at BWV.

My goodness, yes. The BWV and BCV look like those commercials for Febreeze where they bring the unsuspecting volunteers into the trashed out rooms/kitchens. When they take off the blindfold the volunteers are appalled with what they see because that just wasn't what they smelled and envisioned. Total trashdumps.

Not.

 

[SLJ6974]

Do feel bad for a previous poster who did buy in thinking she would be getting deluxe rooms for the long haul and now to find out that will not be the case at all.

 

[tjkraz]

Do feel bad for a previous poster who did buy in thinking she would be getting deluxe rooms for the long haul and now to find out that will not be the case at all.

If you ask 20 DVC owners if they feel BCV is deluxe quality, I betcha 18-19 of them say "yes." Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Given the fact that the villas share the same resort amenities and the differences in room decor are modest (and all non-functional items--it's not like one has a TV and the other does not), I seriously doubt many are regretting their DVC purchase just because the headboards are nicer in hotel rooms.

(BTW, the villa rooms all have balconies while the hotel rooms do not. Chalk one up for BCV in that respect. )

 

[Deb & Bill]

Do feel bad for a previous poster who did buy in thinking she would be getting deluxe rooms for the long haul and now to find out that will not be the case at all.

Are you an owner?

 

[DVC SSR Owner]

People. Wake up and smell the Mickey bars. Just because you can see hidden mickeys in the broken shower tiles or in the carpet snags, that doesn't make the poor maintenance issues nostalgic. Lol

 

[tjkraz]

People. Wake up and smell the Mickey bars. Just because you can see hidden mickeys in the broken shower tiles or in the carpet snags, that doesn't make the poor maintenance issues nostalgic. Lol

Similarly, just because you had a bad experience in one room at Vero doesn't make it indicative of all DVC bathrooms.

 

[DVC SSR Owner]

Similarly, just because you had a bad experience in one room at Vero doesn't make it indicative of all DVC bathrooms.

You are correct and I have never been to okw, but have read similar stories about the same bathroom maintenance issues there. Our bathroom at BCV was in great shape. Maybe just the oldest resorts have these problems? I can't comment since I have only stayed at VB and BCV. I will be at HHI in may, but have read that HHI is in great shape.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I'm sure it has been discussed but what is DVC reburishment schedule?

I own at Marriott and Westin as well. I find at all resorts there are grout problems and I think one the reasons I notice it is because I clean my grout twice a year. I wish I never put in light colored tile because of the grout issue. There is no way to keep it clean looking without cleaning often. I doubt timeshares even think about cleaning them. It is very labor intensive to clean grout whether you use a chemical cleaner or grout steam machine. I've done it all. However, once it is clean it makes the place look new again. Anyways, I don't feel the maids do anything but a surface clean. I can always find things that they don't even touch like baseboards, under the bed, above the refrigerator, under furniture in general, pillows --- I wonder how often they replace them, lamps for dust, behind the washer area, etc... There are many things a maid probably doesn't even have time to look at to do. I often wonder if these things are even on the list or if they are on the list on a rotational basis.

I do think the DVCs are the slowest to replace things and are a little behind the curve ball. Now, will that stop me from visiting not really. I still love my DVC. For example, the old box style TVs when I stayed at Marriott Ford Colony in Williamsburg were being replaced on my visit during July 2004. Even though the other tvs were in fine working order they replace them with newer modern looking tvs. I thought it made the tv area look 10 times better. But I like that "new updated" look. I can see others that would rather wait until it breaksdown before replacing. I still feel Disney is a little slow in refurishment.

 

[WolfpackFan]

You are correct and I have never been to okw, but have read similar stories about the same bathroom maintenance issues there.

We were at OKW about a month ago and had no bathroom maintenance issues at all. In fact our unit was in perfect shape.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

We were at OKW about a month ago and had no bathroom maintenance issues at all. In fact our unit was in perfect shape. I sure would be careful about spreading rumors if I don't have any first hand knowledge.

Actually right after his post I posted having the same issues at OKW, so I coroborated his story. OKW is my absolute favorite resort but I was disapointed that after waiting for the refurb. for so long that the bathrooms remained untouched other than the restaining of a mirror.

The bathroom floors should have been stripped, the grout chemically treated and resealed, giving it a much cleaner appearance. This is not an issue for any of the other resorts that came after OKW and HHI because they have regular tiles, not Mexican tile with 1 inch grout lines. I loved the refurb. at OKW, I just think they missed the mark on the bathrooms.

What's the average time between full refurbs., 9-10 years, maybe they'll get to the bathrooms then!

To tie this discussion back to the "outdated" issue, I love OKW, actually preferred the theming prior to the refurb. but if you want to call anything outdated, then OKW's bathrooms are outdated, compaired to all of the other resorts!

 

[Deb & Bill]

...To tie this discussion back to the "outdated" issue, I love OKW, actually preferred the theming prior to the refurb. but if you want to call anything outdated, then OKW's bathrooms are outdated, compaired to all of the other resorts!

Nah, they are just undermaintained.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Nah, they are just undermaintained.

Clever Deb, you managed to quote me before I actually posted!!!!!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Clever Deb, you managed to quote me before I actually posted!!!!!!

Yeah, I saw that. Weird, huh???

 

[tjkraz]

I'm sure it has been discussed but what is DVC reburishment schedule?

Realistically there are different types of refurbs and no set schedule--at least not one that has been posted publicly. I suspect there is ultimately some collaboration between resort General Managers and DVC to determine how much money in reserve funds is available and which projects are truly needed.

Furniture and other in-room items are replaced when some point of appropriateness / cost efficiency has been reached. In the last 2-3 years most--if not all--resorts have had sofa beds updated, new patio furniture, iHome clock radios new mattresses and flat panel TVs, among other things.

"Soft goods" (drapes, linens) are replaced resort-wide every few years.

And individual rooms will certainly get maintenance on a rotating schedule and as needed. That includes painting, carpeting, plumbing, electrical, replacement of broken furniture and appliances, etc.

As for a "rip nearly everything out and replace" refurb, that doesn't happen often. Resorts like OKW, Vero and BoardWalk apparently had this sort of refurb in the last 3 years. But given the ages of those resorts, there isn't necessarily any rhyme or reason to it. BWV's refurb came before OKW, yet BWV opened 5 years later. Saratoga Springs--of which the oldest rooms have only been in existence for 7.5 years--is supposedly going to get some sort of refurb in 2012.

All-in-all, it's tough to use one room as a barometer for an entire resort. One poster mentioned cracked bathroom tiles at Vero. While I'm not questioning the validity of that report, I also don't think every room at Vero has cracked tiles in the bathroom.

At the same time, I do think DVC resorts could be more pro-active in their in-room maintenance. Seems like they could put better processes in place for proactively discovering issues rather than reacting to guest complaints about burned-out light bulbs and sticky balcony doors.