not so magical stay at CSR ( a little long)

[jdkdorn]

I just returned today from a not so magical stay at CSR. I have been to WDW many times and have never had reason to complain about anything. This trip depressed me and I hope that Disney will fix the problems. We checked into the resort and were told that our room was ready and that we were in the Casitas, I wanted the Cabanas but I understood that we have to take what is available, what I did not like was that he told us we had 2 double beds. At CSR you pay more, and we did, for King rooms. I pointed this out to him and he said they only had 50 and didn't know if any were left. I told him he could find me my king room there or they could move us to a deluxe resort and charge Disney the difference. Amazing thing happened, he found our room. There were little things the rest of the trip that by themselves would not have mattered, but together caused me to boil. One day the mousekeeper did not put a lower sheet on, the mattress was bare. When I called on the problem they said everyone ahad left for the day and they would give me a sheet to put on myself. I hate making beds at home, why should I do it on vacation! Another day the Mousekeeper walked into the room at 9 am when we had the privacy sign out, her excuse was that she thought we had forgoteen to take it down. The final straw was that I requested late check-out, because we were there for a conference that let out at noon, and was told they don't do this. Only to find out everyone else in our group received a 1 o'clock late check-out. I called the manager and he said we could get back into our rooms if we needed to, but they had already cleaned them for the new guest and he would prefer we didn't. I had packed that morning, but really wanted to change, so I just went to one of the other rooms.

My husband and I decided to go deluxe from now on. Part of our vacation enjoyment, when we don't have the kids along, is spending time in our room and at the hotel relaxing and could not do that this trip. The staff at the deluxe resorts seem to care more and they take more pride in the hotel. If I am paying 150-400 a night for a resort I want to have a clean room, that gets cleaned, and staff that is willing to fix problems.

P.S. The parks were great and everyone at the parks were great.

 

[epcotfan]

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your stay.
Why the maid didn't complete your bedding is beyond me Very weird.
I should add that I've found housekeeping hit and miss at a number of disney resorts.
As for the maid walking in, the only thing I can suggest is to keep the deadbolt on. This has happened to me at hotels outside of Disney. If the bolt isn't on they don't think anyone is in the room. Better for your safety as well.
Staying in a deluxe does not guarantee better treatment or maid service. If you read the boards regularly you will find similar problems cropping up.

 

[tnkrbell]

Im sorry to hear you had a less then magical experience!! I also find it dissapointing when you get service such as you recieved! I hope your next stay is better.

 

[DisneyFreaks]

I sympathize with you totally. Our stay at CSR was less than magical too. We had a horrid experience checking in and it put a damper on the whole trip. Mousekeeping wasn't good for us either. I am a firm believer that no matter what you are paying for a room be it $200 or $20 it should be clean! Someone is taking home a paycheck each week to do just that so the job should be done. Everyone does have different experiences with each and every resort though so I'm sure there are those who adore CS. Our stay at Wilderness Lodge wasn't all that great either because of all the "little" things that went wrong. Hopefully your next trip to the World will be as magical as it can possibly be. I'm hoping ours will be. We are staying at Port Orleans French Quarter in May and I am counting the minutes.

 

[antkim]

Just wanted to let you know things can happen at the deluxes also.This past trip(dec.)while staying at AKL 2 of the 4 days we were there we had to call to ask for glasses and soap/shampoo!one day the housekeeper even left our dirty glasses on our sink-never even touched them!
We then moved over to the Poly for 4 nights.We encountered a most rude,unaccomodating CM at check-in.We ended up having someone else help us and he was wonderful.
I enjoyed both hotels tremendously but I just wanted to warn you that sometimes the deluxes are not perfect either-although you would expect them to be!
Kim

 

[DisneyFreaks]

I guess it all boils down to the Disney employees. No matter where you are staying if the CM's are going to be rude and unaccomodating it's going to make a difference in how you feel about that particular resort. I read all the postings about how guests are treated so magically. We have been to WDW resorts six times now and I can honestly say I have not felt that magic from the CM's at the resorts we have stayed in. There have been a few who have really gone above and beyond but on the average most of them act as though they hate their jobs. At CSR I went away from the check in desk actually feeling badly that I had to check in. I really hope that particular girl got some anger management training or is no longer ruining people's vacations right at the onset. LoL

 

[Memph1s]

I can't believe they ask you to make your own bed. I don't care if they would have to send the hotel manager to make the bed. Its bad enough to be ready to go to bed and find the mattress bare but to ask you to do it yourself. I understand that thighs happen and people make mistakes but there is a right way and wrong way to correct them! I would definitely let the manager know how disappointed I was in the service.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Sorry your stay at CSR was less than Magical. I would say that you were the victim of a number of unfortunate circumstances that really could happen anywhere. We have stayed at CSR numerous times and never had a problem of any sort. We have stayed at most of the deluxes and have had minor problems with room assignment and getting correct info on a number of things. You stay often enough and you are bound to run into a few problems now and again. While it is unfortunate that all these things hit you on one trip, I don't believe it is a reflection of CSR, rather it is typical of the types of things that hapen at all resorts, deluxe included, whether they be Disney or not. Sometimes people make mistakes (which management should have done a better job of dealing with), sometime you get a CM who doesn't have all the right info, etc. - and it happens everywhere.

 

[Eeyore1954]

Wow, what a very unmagical stay! Yikes -- make your own bed and on vacation?!?! I'm with you -- I hate making the bed at home; I'm NOT doing it on vacation. I pay the hotel to do that for me. I'm at WDW for magic and fun.

But like others have said, unmagical experiences happen everywhere, even at the deluxe resorts. The key is to not let it interfere with your fun. I try to keep a good attitude when confronted with problems, but it's hard sometimes.

I hope your next trip is much, much better! (My suggestion: try the BC. My DW and I stayed there last Nov. for the 1st time and it was the most magical vacation we've ever had.)

 

[>>^..^<<]

The pool at this resort looks so amazing... did you get a chance to enjoy it? or was it too cold?


Sorry about the other problems....

>>^..^<<

 

[CindysGusGus]

Just curious, were you there for the AACC conference?? I work with them and we just had a conference there.

 

[CarrieAP]

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences at CSR. Interestingly it seems out of character for the resort as on our many, many trips there we have had the good fortune of witnessing competent to superb service. In fact, just this Dec. my parents and I were assisted by an overzealous CM. We arrived late in the evening in the middle of a torrential downpoor. The bellhop that assisted us was above and beyond helpful. She would not let us lift a finger and insisted we stay dry. When delivering our luggage she overheard me mention I was hungry. When realizing it was just about 11, the closing time of the Pepper Market, she tried calling to see if she catch someone at the restaurant before they closed. She then mentioned alternative options for us, including room service and availability of box lunches from the lobby. I assured her I was fine and would not perish from starvation. She insisted upon providing us a ride when we mentioned that we would check out the self-serve store next to the PM. She even checked up on us while waiting in line and offered to give us a ride back to our room when ready. It seemed that whatever direction we turned she popped up, ever ready to provide assistance!

So, though it was a miserable night and she was soaking wet herself, this wonderful CM went above and beyond in helpfulness and started off our trip on a very positive note!

 

[kilee]

Did you make a reasonable complaint to the management? I don't believe in getting something for nothing. However, if I am spending money I expect a certain level of service. If I were to spend the money to stay at Disney, which is significantly more than most off site hotels, then I would expect it to be a high quality of service. Everyone is going to make mistakes, and at some point in time everyone will have a bad day and give some attitude. I would think that a significant accumulation of these incidents in one stay would result in some discount. Even if it were just a token discount of 10%. Something to show their good faith in all the mishaps that happened to you.

 

[DisneyFreaks]

This is the kind of CM that makes the magic come alive. It's a shame her enthusiasm doesn't rub off onto some of her co-workers. CarrieAP you were indeed lucky to have found her.

 

[Eyesnur]

The late checkout is the only thing that would really bug me...The rest kind of seems like bad luck piled on a bad start, but there is certainly no call for any of it. It was such simple stuff! I'd definately drop an FYI note to the GM.

DisneyFreaks I have to express amazement. You have stayed at 6 WDW resorts and have yet to have the 'Disney treatment?' I can't believe you'd even go back! But beyond that, as someone who stays at WDW Resorts usually 10-12 times per year I just can't fathom coming away with anything other than magical feelings. Sure occasionally things go wrong but seldom does it multiply or spill over but then my attitude is always upbeat. I still find the CM's in general to be superior!

I'm not saying you didn't get hosed but 6 times is really an anomally, IMO and if this happened to me I would never return to WDW I don't think (seriously) as I'm sure my spirit would be broken. I surely hope your luck changes!

 

[jdkdorn]

Did you make a reasonable complaint to the management? I don't believe in getting something for nothing. However, if I am spending money I expect a certain level of service.

I did not ask the hotel for anything other than the bed being made up for me. I do not believe in asking for money, gifts... when you have bad service. If I had been injured or my room had been a disaster area than I would have expected them to radify the problem and if they could not do it there than I would expect to be moved to another Moderate or deluxe where my reservation could be filled. They gave me the room I requested, but the service fell short of my expectations. Everyone has a bad day or week sometimes. The weather was cold and the CM were not happy about it. I'll file this trip as what should not happen at Disney and move on.

By the way for the person who asked about the pool, it was closed on Jan 25 until mid Feb. I received the letter Monday informing me about the closure. ( I was there already). I have heard that mailings for POR, CSR & BC/YC did not go out right. Some people received the BC/YC letter a month after they returned.

We had a nice trip and my husband & I spent quality time alone. I guess I just needed tovent to other Disney Fanatics and get it out of my system.

Thanks
Judy

 

[kevind65]

I am sorry to hear your stay at CSR was less than magical. we stayed at this resort last year for 10 nights and absolutely loved it. For the most part(as in our stays at every disney resort) we found the CM's to be extremely helpful and friendly. In fact, we also had several cm's go above and beyond the call of duty at CSR. several offered rides to and from El Centro, we had one that gave us door to door transport to the laundry facilities during a heavy rain and we had no problems getting a 1pm checkout time on our last day. I would say the problems you encountered were not the norms at CSR or any other disney resort. I understand that people expect alot from a disney resort because of the extra cost to stay there and rightfully so. These things shouldn't have happened, but, I wouldn't let them ruin my entire vacation.

 

[jaguar9748]

I am so sorry to hear about your CSR stay. How awful for you! You have every right to be upset. I hope that you send an email to Disney to let them know of your experience.

Our first visit to CSR was awful - we had an absolutely horrible housekeeping issue. We have stayed at CSR 2 additional times and the 3rd stay was really nice (we were in the Casitas section). I'm glad we went back the additional times.

Having stayed in all 4 moderates I would rank POR and CSR very close #1's/#2's and CSR a firm 3rd.

However, staying at a deluxe does not guarantee good service. You are at the mercy of the particular CM that day. We stayed one night at the Contemporary this past summer and had the worst experience yet on Disney property!

Be sure to send that email and know that your next stay will be magical!! Ours was!!

 

[DisneyFreaks]

Oh please don't misunderstand me. We love Disney and we're a total Disney family. The CM's in the parks and restaurants are wonderful. It just seems to me the employees working in the resorts could be a bit happier doing what they are doing. We only had really bad experiences at CSR and WL. I sometimes think that maybe the fact we don't have small children traveling with us leads them to think we're not looking for any magic. But actually we all turn into ten years old when we get there. LoL We're trying PO/FQ in May so hopefully maybe we will find some CM's like CarrieAP found. I'm not wanting any special treatment. Just a happy face greeting us when we get to the front desk, and someone who will listen and take action when a problem arises.

 

[bratray]

i can understand your frustration with mousekeeping- we stayed at AKL and on two consecutive days the maid made the beds but didn't put the comforters on- comforters were just in corner and bunk bed comforters were on tv bureau??? i did call the first day and mentioned it to housekeeping and they said someone from night housekeeping could come and put the bedspread on but i felt kind of silly to have the maid come in to just put on bedspread- this happened the next day but i couldn't be bothered to complain- we did tip mouse keeping every day-
turn down was inconsistent- we did leave a tip on mon for turn down but they never came back tues (last day) to turn down???

oh well!!!

lisa