Mousekeeping getting an 'overhaul'..

[Jennasis]

This is why we love DVC. No mousekeeping for us for our short stays. I don't want strangers in my room. I can make a bed, and we don't make a mess.

 

[markb681]

I actually sent a letter to Guest Relations following our trip to suggest that if something like this happens to a guest in the future that perhaps they could be offered a stay in a different room/resort (same category - not asking for an upgrade here). It was kind of "unsettling" returning to the same room night after night - my kids were constantly checking their things to make sure everything was there. A different room may have felt like a "fresh start", perhaps? I wish that we had thought to ask while we were there, because it really did put a little "black cloud" over the remainder of our trip. Guest Relations followed up with a phone call by thanking us for our input and basically stated that the "goodwill gesture" of the credit was all the compensation we would receive (although we hadn't actually asked for anything). We didn't dispute it any further. Lesson learned - lock up your valuables!!!

I'm NOT disputing what u have said happened to u...But what keeps people from just lying to Disney and telling them they left "XYZ" in their room and it was stolen by housekeeping? That's a very slippery slope for them to just take every guests word for it...IMO

 

[ErinsMommy]

Maybe they will bring back the towel animals! Wife thought it added magic to the resort experience.

DH thinks they stopped this because it took time away from cleaning the rooms faster

 

[Aurora0427]

This is what we do. WE make a point of trying to find our Mousekeepers. It never hurts.

That's fine, but at what you pay to stay on property at WDW, I shouldn't have to track down my housekeeper to make sure my room is cleaned well or cleaned at all. Excellent housekeeping at a resort like WDW should just be the norm. Like it is at the Four Seasons.

 

[bumbershoot]

True - but in your scenario, it WAS mousekeeping that opened the door and left our belongings vulnerable.
Sounds like another topic for training.

Sure. Either the article or someone here said that they now will open Value curtains and keep the door closed while they are cleaning there. I think that's a good sign. But even though it's the housekeeper doing it, it's management making them work so hard and so fast.

Every time we've called the fromt desk (yes I know that is usually a call center) they say they have to talk to housekeeping so we figured that one time we would cut out the middle man and call housekeeping and see what they said.

Huh! Who knew? (other than you LOL)

 

[wilkeliza]

Huh! Who knew? (other than you LOL)

I believe you still have to call the front desk but if housekeeping says ok then management really has no reason to say no as late check out all depends on housekeepings ability to have rooms available by 3pm. We only did it that way the one time just to see if it worked any better. Needless to say you still had to wait for a call back sigh.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Hopefully when a guest notifies the resort about a housekeeping problem it will not go to the main (and useless) call center where the concern gets put at the bottom of a long list of reports for each resort.

Until these changes are implemented, if there is an issue with housekeeping here are some ways to deal with it in real time.

A) If the housekeeping staff is still in your area cleaning rooms find them and communicate your concern. *NOTE THE NAME OF YOUR HOUSEKEEPER. An easy way is to locate their carts. For example, at the Value Resorts Housekeepers are now shutting the room door and opening the curtains. Knock on the door and ask to speak with him or her.

B) if this is not possible, GO to the FRONT DESK and report your concern with the cast members there. DO NOT CALL to report your issue. Your call goes through a call center that compiles a list of every call and your concern gets placed at the bottom of a long list.

The cast members working at the resort want to help you and they can accomplish this much more quickly. IF you should get a CM that does not seem responsive ask to speak with a Manager.

C) If this isn't taking care of the issue GO to the FRONT DESK and ask to speak with a Housekeeping Supervisor. Request that they come out to your room so that they can see the issue for themselves.

~I find that kindness on my part and good communication go a long way towards getting my concerns addressed. Yeah sure I can be really annoyed but when I communicate my problem I keep it kind and considerate. No one wants to help a lunatic.

Finally, if you find that your concerns are not being taken seriously DOCUMENT the names of the CMs you were interacting with. I have a sticky notes app that I have on my phone. It allows me to type out stuff so I can remember the names for later. Then shoot off an email to guest relations documenting the dates and the place and the CM's involved and what happened (or didn't happen but it needed to).

These emails can be used to compliment CMs or to provide feedback about issues you had with them.

Here is the address: WDW.Guest.Communications@disneyworld.com

~NM

These are good tips. It's just sad after saving up for a WDW vacation and paying so much to stay on property, to then have to spend so much of that vacation trying to get your room to be cleaned the way it should have been done in the first place. This makes it more like work than like a relaxing vacation. Unfortunately more often than not, I have found issues with dirt, dust, mold, and/or bugs. In fact, most of the dresser drawers I've looked at, needed cleaning. It would be great if they would improve housekeeping at all the resorts to the point where every guest would receive a clean and mold-free room to begin with.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

There's no denying that the customer service, including housekeeping has eroded drastically at WDW. People who are paying luxury prices are getting meh service & it's infuriating. Now that there are TRUE luxury properties right near WDW, maybe they're feeling the heat? Oh! And I for one am doubtful that "more managers" are going to take care of this issue.

 

[Nancyg56]

That's fine, but at what you pay to stay on property at WDW, I shouldn't have to track down my housekeeper to make sure my room is cleaned well or cleaned at all. Excellent housekeeping at a resort like WDW should just be the norm. Like it is at the Four Seasons.

I do this everywhere I stay. Not just a WDW. No matter what hotel or resort I stay in I make a point of greeting our housekeeper, thanking him or her for the work. I am not excusing any issues that have occurred in housekeeping in WDW, although I have nor experienced them. I am saying that for me, making sure I acknowledge the people who are enhancing my stay is a practice that has never harmed my experience.

 

[Nancyg56]

DH thinks they stopped this because it took time away from cleaning the rooms faster

I think they stopped the practice because not all mousekeepers made them, nor were they required to make them, but folks who did not receive them were angry. I read numerous posts about the lack of towel animals and the complaints when they did not appear. Instead of forcing the mousekeepers to make them, Disney simply stopped the practice. No one was paying extra, and tips were not meant to ensure you got one, but many thought they were paying for them.

 

[mom2rtk]

I do this everywhere I stay. Not just a WDW. No matter what hotel or resort I stay in I make a point of greeting our housekeeper, thanking him or her for the work. I am not excusing any issues that have occurred in housekeeping in WDW, although I have nor experienced them. I am saying that for me, making sure I acknowledge the people who are enhancing my stay is a practice that has never harmed my experience.

I can't even remember the last time I actually saw our housekeeper.

I think they stopped the practice because not all mousekeepers made them, nor were they required to make them, but folks who did not receive them were angry. I read numerous posts about the lack of towel animals and the complaints when they did not appear. Instead of forcing the mousekeepers to make them, Disney simply stopped the practice. No one was paying extra, and tips were not meant to ensure you got one, but many thought they were paying for them.

No doubt there was grousing around online. But did people actually call the front desk because they didn't have a towel animal? Or to hunt down their housekeeper?

At Disney I always follow the money. I'm betting some bean counter realized towel animals take X seconds to make, and if you multiply that by 30K rooms, they could save Y number of hours and Z number of dollars.

 

[Nancyg56]

I can't even remember the last time I actually saw our housekeeper.



No doubt there was grousing around online. But did people actually call the front desk because they didn't have a towel animal? Or to hunt down their housekeeper?

At Disney I always follow the money. I'm betting some bean counter realized towel animals take X seconds to make, and if you multiply that by 30K rooms, they could save Y number of hours and Z number of dollars.

Really? I find them every time I vacation. LOL! I think it depends on timing and intentions.

As to the animals, I think it is more then the money adding up. A company that empowers employees to make little magical moment by talking with guests, offering trinkets, etc may count pennies, but I think they also measure consumer dissatisfaction. Look at the divers at Coral Reef. No more special placards. As soon as something is discussed online people hear about it, and what was something that might happen can turn into something enough people feel they are entitled to, and then complain if they do not receive it, to end the little perk.

 

[Beer Me]

I do this everywhere I stay. Not just a WDW. No matter what hotel or resort I stay in I make a point of greeting our housekeeper, thanking him or her for the work. I am not excusing any issues that have occurred in housekeeping in WDW, although I have nor experienced them. I am saying that for me, making sure I acknowledge the people who are enhancing my stay is a practice that has never harmed my experience.

Nothing wrong with that but you don't often see them. I leave a daily tip with a note saying "Thanks!". Not saying you should have to do this to get good service but I do usually get good service.

 

[shh]

Very glad to hear this. While our housekeeping has been okay nothing stinks worse then being the 1st on the rotation but being late risers. I can't tell you how many times our room was skipped because we had the do not disturb sign on until 9 or 10. We would come back form the parks after a very late night and see the room had never been touched. Several times we would be told it was because our do not disturb sign was up when it was "our turn" to be cleaned. I feel like unless your do not disturb sign is up all day they should be able to come back if you still are leaving with 6-7 hours of their standard shift left. I imagine there are families that leave for park drop who they could have done first and then come back.

This exact thing happened to us on last trip - we were out by 9am with no sign on door, but room was never cleaned. We called housekeeping on phone (call center), mentioned it to a housekeeper still cleaning a room nearby and even spoke with an actual housekeeping supervisor in her office a few doors away from us when we popped back in that afternoon. She promised us the room would be done. Never was. It was a great trip otherwise and I didn't feel like dealing with the hassles of complaining, finding out who I spoke with, etc. But definitely a little annoying. Especially since we tip fairly well every night.

 

[Disneylover99]

I can't even remember the last time I actually saw our housekeeper.

Me too! We stayed at CSR for two weeks in the summer. Not once did I see a housekeeper or cart anywhere near my room and we spent a lot of time at the resort. But our room somehow got a good cleaning every day, so no complaints from me.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

I'm not going to air any dirty laundry (no pun intended) but I will say that we've noticed a significant decline in quality over the past few years and had a situation in 2015. We're not complainers. We roll with the punches and won't typically complain unless something really stands out or directly affects us. In 2015, however, our room was not cleaned to our standard or given the level of quality you'd expect from a $300-$400 per night resort (or even a $100-$200 resort, for that matter.) Long story short, we had an awkward encounter with our housekeeper that left a very poor taste in our mouth. Ultimately, Disney was very good in contacting us and resolving the problem—I have no complaints there—but this could have been avoided had our room been cleaned correctly in the first place.

There has been a steady decline since we started vacationing in Disney. The rooms are certainly livable—you're not staying in a filthy room—but we've noticed little things, like lingering crumbs, dust bunnies and dirty windowsills.

Guests pay a lot of money to stay on-site and as new and luxurious resorts begin to pop up, charging less or comparable rates, Disney will need to adapt and provide reasons outside of the theming and perks like Extra Magic Hours to bring customers in.

 

[Aurora0427]

I do this everywhere I stay. Not just a WDW. No matter what hotel or resort I stay in I make a point of greeting our housekeeper, thanking him or her for the work. I am not excusing any issues that have occurred in housekeeping in WDW, although I have nor experienced them. I am saying that for me, making sure I acknowledge the people who are enhancing my stay is a practice that has never harmed my experience.

Agreed, but that's not what you posted. You said you tried to find your housekeeper, which implied you tracked them down to make sure they knew you left and they could clean your room. I view that as unnecessary, but I obviously misinterpreted your post. I'm sorry.

Acknowledging your housekeeper and saying thank you if you see them is something everyone should do. We sure do. Absolutely.

 

[Nancyg56]

Agreed, but that's not what you posted. You said you tried to find your housekeeper, which implied you tracked them down to make sure they knew you left and they could clean your room. I view that as unnecessary, but I obviously misinterpreted your post. I'm sorry.

Acknowledging your housekeeper and saying thank you if you see them is something everyone should do. We sure do. Absolutely.

I am not sure you misinterpreted my post. I do look for the housekeeper. I manage to see most people who perform services for me, but the housekeepers seem to be a little less visible. It is not necessary, but it is something I usually do whenever I travel.

 

[Annadesu]

I didn't have problem with my room, last visit... Everything was made up, new towels, etc.

That being said, I was a housekeeper once... The fact that they are hiring a lot more staff suggests they didn't have enough to begin with. Probably giving one person way too many rooms to do in one day, resulting in rushing. Glad they're changing it!

 

[Aurora0427]

That being said, I was a housekeeper once... The fact that they are hiring a lot more staff suggests they didn't have enough to begin with. Probably giving one person way too many rooms to do in one day, resulting in rushing. Glad they're changing it!

I think it's as simple as this. They cut staff to save money. Now it's turned around and bit them in the behind!