OKW....very disapointed

[Jillpie]

We were disappointed over the past year at all Disney DVC. They are letting them run down. OKW, BWV and BCV all had big issue problems with dirty carpet, wore carpet, old damaged furnitre. We own at Marriott and have never run into such conditions. I think Disney is letting all resorts fall apart before they fix it up. Then when thy do, the don't replace all the furniture. We are very dissapointed. WE go all the time and this is getting worse.

Pete

Oh brother. I smell a rat. Could this poster be any more obvious that he's from the Marriott?

Just got home from the BCV's and couldn't be happier. The place was spotless and beautiful. Good job Disney, keep up the good work.

 

[dianeschlicht]

THis building was just rehabed?? oh my goodness.

Yes, and that's why I find your statement a little hard to fathom. We were just at OKW in building 46, and it was in great shape. Actually, we had the same room we had in January when building 25 was being rehabbed.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I did alert the onsite management and today I sent an email to member satisfaction. I don't know what they'll do, but I do hope they acknowlege the issue. Are any of the DVC resort completely renovated? I know this comment is subject to decorating taste, but it seems that OKW is very outdated. I know they close the regular resorts to remodel occassionally and since the DVC resorts are newer than other regular resorts that have been remodeled, does anyone know how dvc will handle this over time?

OKW is very appropriate to it's theme of turn of the last century Key West. Things are not supposed to "match", and they are supposed to be the soft island colors of Key West. Dated and theme related are two different things. I for one would be disappointed if they changed the decor. In fact, I WAS disappointed when they changed the fabric on the easy chairs! I thought it was too "matchy matchy" compared to the old fabric.

OKW is constantly undergoing renovations. They do the buildings in sections. When we were there a couple weeks ago, buildings 51,52 were being done.

 

[lanand3]

We just went in July and stayed in a 1 br in building 40.I was thrilled w/our room and our stay there.I'm sorry your room was not what you hoped

 

[littlestar]

Oh brother. I smell a rat. Could this poster be any more obvious that he's from the Marriott?

I think this is a legitimate gripe. Disney hasn't done what I call a "hard refurbishment" on BWV or OKW. Marriott Vacation Club usually does one about every 10 to 15 years. My hope is that DVC has some type of hard refurbishment schedule for the older DVC's. But I don't know. We actually sold our BWV points because I had become concerned with the upkeep.

OKW is kind of different in my mind. The quality of the materials used in the first DVC is really quite nice - I know the tiles have a lot of pink, but have you ever just looked at how nice the tubs and the ceramic is at OKW? I kind of wish OKW's carpet was a little less generic looking. The units are huge, too, compared to all the new DVC's. New TV's at OKW would be nice. But I don't know if I would want them to change it too much as far as colors. Maybe the pink countertops in the kitchen, though -

 

[Kim&Chris]

We've belonged to DVC for a few years now...lots of stays at OKW, some of them with rooms that were in excellent condition, others with rooms that were downright dirty. It's hit or miss, depending on which housekeeper cleaned up your room.

During our last trip a few weeks ago, we had a one-bedroom (bldg 53) that was in beautiful shape (except for some bathroom gook that I cleaned up). Prior to that, we were in a grand villa in, I believe, bldg 16 that had cobwebs hanging from the highest ceiling that had probably been there for years.

The best thing you can do is take photos of the issues and let DVC know.

 

[La2kw]

OKW is very appropriate to it's theme of turn of the last century Key West. Things are not supposed to "match", and they are supposed to be the soft island colors of Key West. Dated and theme related are two different things. I for one would be disappointed if they changed the decor. In fact, I WAS disappointed when they changed the fabric on the easy chairs! I thought it was too "matchy matchy" compared to the old fabric.

OKW is constantly undergoing renovations. They do the buildings in sections. When we were there a couple weeks ago, buildings 51,52 were being done.

I agree with the theme at OKW- it is extremely well done. I love to visit the real island of Key West, and DVC did a great job sanitizing the atmosphere and bring it to WDW. I don't want anything changed, except for housekeeping to be as consistently well done as it has been in the past for us.

I too do not like the color of the new couches. They also appear to be smaller than the old ones. There's a lot more room on that wall now than there used to be.

 

[almousefan]

We just returned yesterday from our stay at OKW. We were in building 41 in a 2br and were very pleased. The furniture does look a little dated but overall everything was very clean. Now, if only I had not left some of my clothes in the drawer when I packed up everything would be much better.

 

[Disney_Villain]

That wasn't our OKW experience, but if it was we would have reported it to both the front desk in writing (as we always do at our DVC resorts) as well as to the DVC Member Satisfaction Team via e-mail.

 

[sajetto]

Luckily, we've never experienced any problem during any of our OKW stays so far. However if it were to happen, it would be best to report it while you are actually there rather than waiting until the vacation is over and you've returned home.

 

[hmmerr02]

Luckily, we've never experienced any problem during any of our OKW stays so far. However if it were to happen, it would be best to report it while you are actually there rather than waiting until the vacation is over and you've returned home.

We actually did report it onsite and then to member satisfaction when we returned home.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Bldg 62 is currently under rehab.

 

[katmittens]

We have stayed at OKW many times and have never had any major problems. Sometimes a light bulb or something small and we call and it is usually fixed right away. Once we had a towel bar in the bathroom come off the wall and we called and they were there to fix it. I

I too think that the level of housekeeping has gone down over the past few years. I think OKW needs new tv's and carpeting. I am really upset over the new beds being so hard. I have called and talked to a manager about this and didn't get too far, only to say they will bring me all the egg crates I need if I get a new hard mattress. I'm still not sure what to do about my reservation for Jan. I called today and can still get AKV at Kidani. Some of us in my party want OKW and some want AKV. I would do 3 in one and 4 in the other, but some don't want to switch resorts. Too many decisions. Sometimes the planning drives me crazy.

Overall I love OKW, but I do think it needs some major improvements. I too don't want the theme changed, but tv's and carpets and tiles in the bathrooms and showers need to be updated.

 

[Ksp]

We're here right now at OKW and our room in Building 12 is clean and everything is in nice working order. My husband actually said (and this was a surprise to me, so I'll share it with you) that he would gladly add on points at OKW if we had the chance.

 

[Dean]

Oh brother. I smell a rat. Could this poster be any more obvious that he's from the Marriott?

Just got home from the BCV's and couldn't be happier. The place was spotless and beautiful. Good job Disney, keep up the good work.

I don't get that sense at all. We were down recently and the room was not up to our standards. Not bad, just a lot of small to medium things. Tiles worn, cabinets worn and lose, carpet worn and ripped, tiles broken lose. The housekeeping was generally OK other than there were a few things missing. I sent a note to the member satisfaction team for informational purposes. My suggestion, do a complete redo of the resort over time. Take the theme and redesign the unit. Replace the cabinets, tile, carpet, drapes, furniture, counters, etc. It'd take a few years but it is time to bring OKW up to current standards with flat screens, etc. If it were Marriott they would have had a full refurbishment 6-7 years ago and been getting ready to do it a second time in a few years. There is a major difference in a soft and hard refurbishment, I don't think I've even seen a unit at a DVC resort that has had a hard refurbishment.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Dean, what do you mean by "hard" refurbishment? I agree, the cabinets, bath fixtures etc. ARE ready for refurb at OKW. The only time that gets done now is if someone has trashed it beyond repair. The unit we had in January (and as it turned out, May also) had been trashed by the occupant before us. The front desk appologized about being late at us getting in and also for the missing tile in the master bath. They had replaced the base cabinet in the shower room, and it was quite obvious. The thing that surprised me though, was they did NOT replace the doors! So the cabinet had nice new clean finish on it, and the doors were still the worn old finish. They did indeed come in one day while we were there and replaced and regrouted the missing tiles in the bathroom.

Now, with all that being said....How the heck does someone trash a bathroom so badly that needs to be done?????

 

[Dean]

Dean, what do you mean by "hard" refurbishment? I agree, the cabinets, bath fixtures etc. ARE ready for refurb at OKW. The only time that gets done now is if someone has trashed it beyond repair. The unit we had in January (and as it turned out, May also) had been trashed by the occupant before us. The front desk appologized about being late at us getting in and also for the missing tile in the master bath. They had replaced the base cabinet in the shower room, and it was quite obvious. The thing that surprised me though, was they did NOT replace the doors! So the cabinet had nice new clean finish on it, and the doors were still the worn old finish. They did indeed come in one day while we were there and replaced and regrouted the missing tiles in the bathroom.

Now, with all that being said....How the heck does someone trash a bathroom so badly that needs to be done?????

A soft refurbishment is usually things like cloth furniture, carpet, painting, mattresses and the like. A hard refurbishment is normally that plus appliances, drapes and often cabinets, countertops, furniture, entertainment centers etc. It will vary based on the level of the previous items. Most resorts have either a 5/10, 6/12 or 7/14 cycle with the better resorts being more frequent and the lessor ones less frequent as a rule.

 

[littlestar]

A soft refurbishment is usually things like cloth furniture, carpet, painting, mattresses and the like. A hard refurbishment is normally that plus appliances, drapes and often cabinets, countertops, furniture, entertainment centers etc. It will vary based on the level of the previous items. Most resorts have either a 5/10, 6/12 or 7/14 cycle with the better resorts being more frequent and the lessor ones less frequent as a rule.

Dean, I've wondered a lot about DVC's plans for hard refurbishments - whether they even have it figured out like Marriott does.

We stayed at Marriott's Imperial Palms recently (which was probably built around 1995) and it had been completely redone - new cabinets, granite countertops, beautiful carpet, all new kitchen appliances. It was extremely nice on the inside.

 

[Dean]

Dean, I've wondered a lot about DVC's plans for hard refurbishments - whether they even have it figured out like Marriott does.

We stayed at Marriott's Imperial Palms recently (which was probably built around 1995) and it had been completely redone - new cabinets, granite countertops, beautiful carpet, all new kitchen appliances. It was extremely nice on the inside.

I've asked the question several times and I get the impression there is no master plan for refurbishment. I think it's actually older than that, maybe late 80's to very early 90's but am not certain.

 

[hmmerr02]

I think this is a new issue since OKW is the first DVC and is the one in most need of hard refurbishment. I'd love to see if we can get an answer from DVC management as to the plan they have for the long term care of the resorts. If OKW isn't rehabbed soon, then I think it may tell us what to expect as the other resorts age as well. Is this something for the codo meeting? Any other ways to get it answered?