Old Key West? Bad Luck or Old Resort

[Cruise_King_MN]

This summer my wife and I purchased 300 points for the Disney Vacation Club. Our first trip was in September where we spent time at Saratoga and Old Key West. Our stay at Saratoga was excellent 9 out of 10. -1 because of the construction mess. Old Key West on the other hand was a different story. The check in process and lobby was excellent. But the long walk to our run down studio gave me a bad impression. We opened the door to a stale odder of mildew. As we unpacked we noticed the bathroom had not been cleaned. There was hair all over the floor and shower. Later that day we also noticed black beetles crawling around in the shower. On arriving back that night from Downtown, a green lizard was on the door. As we approached it crawled into a crack in the siding into the studio (maybe the cause of the strong odder). Please let me know if we had bad luck or if the report isn't being taken care of. In my opinion all DVC resorts should receive the same attention to detail, regardless of its age.

Thanks,

Cruise King

 

[Doctor P]

Sounds to me like you just had bad luck. We have stayed at OKW five separate times over the past 4 years and have never experienced any of the problems you described. Sorry that you experienced them, but make sure your issues are pointed out to DVC and go in next time with an open mind--I think your next experience SHOULD be better.

 

[Doctor P]

I should add--if one was on foot, I can see how you might find the walks at OKW to be onerous. I think most guests either have a car or use the buses (even within the resort) as the resort is somewhat spread out (that, frankly, is part of the charm for us, but it is problematic if you need to walk everywhere). DW can't walk long distances, but has always done well with the transportation system (though it sometimes takes patience).

 

[kathleena]

Unfortunately, each DVC resort has their share of housekeeping issues.

Fortunately, they are not many as DVC/Disney usually do a fabulous job.

Sometimes it is just the luck of the draw, and luck can be good or bad.

 

[spiceycat]

what building were you in?

 

[OKW91]

Sorry to hear about your "bad luck" we have been OKW members from the beginning and have never had your experiences! I hope that you called housekeeping or the front desk and informed them of these problems, I too would like to know which unit you had! We have had small problems "light bulbs burned out and carpet not cleaned" but after a call to housekeeping the problem was taken care of within the hour! As for the long walk the resort is large and spread out, we always have a car so it doesn't bother us. There is the internal resort bus, if you don't mind the wait!
I hope your next visit to OKW is happier!!

 

[lenshanem]

HA! I know all too well about lizards and OKW. Read my October trip report. The link is at the bottom of my sig. Our studio also smelled odd...
We're giving it another shot for spring break. My oldest is excited about the new slide.

 

[AZKathy]

I think bad luck. We have never had a problem with OKW like you had on our stays. Hope you have a better time next time if you choose to stay at OKW again!

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Let me first say, I am sorry you had a bad experience.

Now.... You actually WALKED from check in to your room? Did you have your bags with you? 1st mistake right there. Can't be blamed on OKW though. OKW has an internal bus that goes from the HH to all the units. I always reference my room from point of check in before I leave, to see how far it is (this is at ALL Disney resorts,as it seems Disney likes to spread us out, LOL) The 1st time we stayed at OKW, we were annoyed at how far away we were from HH, but once we understood the layout, it all made sense.

Hair in the bathroom....not an Old resort, lazy housekeeper. Make sure you report it, we need to let the people in charge know we are not satisfied with the cleanliness of the rooms, if we don't say anything, nothing will improve, and could get worse.

Beetles in bathroom....agian, how is this caused by being an older resort? Florida has bugs, and even though Fla may be warmer than most of the country right now, it is still getting cooler down there, and bugs try to come in from outdoors. Again, really not the fault of OKW, just call and let them know of the problem, and they will come right down and take care of it.

Lizard on door outside... Still don't see it being an OKW fault. The lizard scooting under the siding might of bothered me, but as long as it was OUTSIDE my unit, again, we are in FLA, and they have lizards/gators ect.

I don't mean to bash your post, it is just that when you ask if you had bad luck or just an oler resort, I expected to read about how OKW was falling apart. Nothing you posted has anything to do with the age of the resort. But please, make a phone call or write a letter to someone and let them know of the problems.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience also, but I feel it was just a case of bad luck. I wouldn't keep going back to OKW after the past 6 years unless I was enjoying my stays there. My two most recent visits were in 1/2 bedroom villas in bldg 43 and 62. Excellent both times. Well, we did have a small frog in our bathroom in 43 (but we had this during a VWL stay also) and a couple lizards (again....just about every WDW/DVC resort we've stayed at we see these) on our patio in 62, but that's to be expected in FL. I will admit to a couple of very tiny ants on the kitchen counter in bldg 62 this past trip. We had gone to the park and left a closed package of cinnamon sticky buns on the counter. Came "home" to several very small ants. I just wiped the counter off, put the buns in the cabinet and never saw the bugs again that week. We were very happy with bldg 62---we got the new sofa/loveseat and pull out mattress. My kids were much happier with this new mattress.
Also, I've never noticed a stale smell during any of our OKW stays. I hope you report all cleanliness issues to the resort as I feel this was an exception, not the rule at OKW. If it was the norm at OKW, I would think I would have noticed something similar after the past 6-7 years of visiting.
Wishing you a much better experience on your next visit !

 

[dianeschlicht]

Yep, I would say just bad luck too. The internal bus is great if you don't want to walk a few blocks if you happen to be on the farthest end of the resort. Most of your issues were with things that are just indiginous to Florida, and a quick call to housekeeping would have had them up there getting rid of the problem. Hair in the bathroom is poor housekeeping, and a complaint to the person in charge is very warranted no matter WHICH resort you are at. I too hope you complained so things could be corrected for the next guest.

Which building were you in? Most of the oldest buildings have been refurbed recently, so I am surprised you had these problems.

 

[JudithM]

I am sorry you had "bad luck" at OKW, but I don't think it was necessarily the resort's fault as Disney1fan2002 pointed out.

However, who did you call to notify about these problems/concerns while you were at OKW? Housekeeping? Engineering? Front desk? I say it over & over again here ... members & guests must let CMs know at the time of their stay when something is not right. Whatever it is, DVC CMs do want to know about it & try to fix it.

We one time walked into a musty/moldy smelling room at OKW. The housekeeping & front desk CMs worked with us to get us another room. My hsuband & an engineering CM located the source of the problem before we relocated.

 

[Pa@okw95]

There are lizards all over the place at OKW and other resorts but they usually are black. Like the rabbits I look forward to seeing them there. As for the bugs and a unclean bathroom that should never happen. We have not seen many complaints over the years on this site about OKW. There are many issues going on down there right now regarding the help. Your unclean room could be the result of those problems. As far as your walk well OKW is set up for autos, it is not a hotel resort. You can take the bus to get around if you do not have a car, but a car is really what the resort is built for. I want to thank you for your report. I have been a member there since 95 and I want to hear all the negative things I can about the place. If it is going to get like BCV we will have to act on it.

 

[Chuck S]

OKW has a lot of wildlife, including snakes, lizards, ducks, turtles, rabbits, squirrels, tree frogs and lots of assorted birds. It is the South, after all. As far as the beetle in the bathroom, even the most well kept homes and hotels will have the occasional pests...as a previous poster said, the change of season tends to drive bugs indoors. SSR is so very new, and the landscaping not mature, so there is just not the amount of wildlife in the area yet.

As far as the overall cleanliness, I've been staying at OKW since the resort opened. Generally it is extremely well kept, but there have been occasions that the room did not meet "Disney" standards...I'm sure it happens at all resorts.

 

[rocketriter]

I can't disagree with your discomfort. Our home is the BCV, which has a reputation for these kinds of problems (although we've never observed anything less than near perfection on our own visits). But the tropics are the tropics. I recall staying in a hotel room in Tahiti in which we had lizards on the floor, a crab on the ceiling and a scorpion in a shoe. Like everybody else said, report this and the bad smell to housekeeping instantly and they'll take care of it surprisingly quickly.

 

[PamOKW]

I'm not sure about the long walk to the studio -- If you mean you walked from the lobby to your unit with your bags, that's not necessary. If you haven't got a car the bellservice staff will transport you and your bags by cart.

Hopefully, you'll give OKW another try -- sounds like bad luck. Seems like someone always hits a "twilight zone" room at all of the resorts.

 

[The Disney Bunch]

I agree with the previous posters - Lizards run all over Florida - that is going to happen no matter where you stayed. You could have requested your bags to be delivered to your room and taken a bus/shuttle to your room. If the room wasn't clean, complain to Housekeeping. The Front Desk is always very accomodating in helping guests to change rooms if you are not happy with the one you received. OKW is the oldest resort but it has been updated over the years so I am not sure that the buildings are that old any more. Good luck with your next visit! We have stayed every year over the last 10 years & have never had a complaint.

 

[SueOKW]

We had a very bad smell one stay - turned out it was coming from the pond outside the room - it was a real shame, we couldn't keep our doors open or practice our verandah rights as much as we liked.

They did offer to move us, but laziness won out and we stayed! I do know when we call with issues they are responded to quickly - even if some can't be resolved!

I hate schlepping luggage - it's a pity they didn't inform you of transportation options.

What unit were you in?

Sue