Renting BLT Questions.. Towels & TOTW

[crisi]

Rlove. Are you sure pool towels are in that budget? How do they decide at a resort like bwv who is on timeshare and who isn't? Again we use the pool towels at the pool but frequently take them back to the room as the hallways are crazy cold it seems. I know a different use than the bathroom towels. And for what it's worth I find using a bath towel for four days more than adequate. That's why I love this board. So much info. Thanks!

They allocate pool costs by occupancy on each side of a resort - same as they do for bus services.

 

[supersnoop]

Are you sure pool towels are in that budget?

Yes, pool towels and laundry are a separate budget. DVC pays a proportional cost to the resort based on occupancy. So, taking pool towels moves a disproportional amount of the cost from Disney to DVC members.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Because we are personally paying for them to be washed.

They allocate pool costs by occupancy on each side of a resort - same as they do for bus services.

These two statements look like a paradox to me. Am I misunderstanding?

Anyway, should each DVC member get a quota of how many times they can use Disney transport? Or put a water and electric meter on every unit so DVC can charge people for what they actually use? Should DVC monitor when people come and go from their units, and charge the night owls extra for the cost of the nighttime lighting a resort has to provide because those people stay out late? I could go on and on, but I think the same logic applies: we each use the common amenities differently, and we just have to accept that (as individuals) some things we pay too much for and some things we pay too little.

The bottom line is I get your point that people who grab pool towels instead of buying extra housekeeping are being underhanded. But its the cost of doing business, and this seems like an futile place to take a stand on common expenses. And I don't think there's a 'rule' - common sense/decency/courtesy, yes, but not a rule. The formulas that DVC and Disney use to figure out how much of the resort's expenses are DVC and how much are Disney probably aren't nearly precise enough for pool towel usage to make a material difference.

 

[supersnoop]

These two statements look like a paradox to me. Am I misunderstanding?

I don't see the conflict. Pool expenses are billed back to DVC based on occupancy. Housekeeping and laundry expenses are billed directly to to DVC.

The bottom line is I get your point that people who grab pool towels instead of buying extra housekeeping are being underhanded.

Sure; it's a cost of doing business. But, since we as owners pay that bill, I don't think we should encourage people to be "underhanded." Why shouldn't we discourage the practice?

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Why shouldn't we discourage the practice?

Because its a futile waste of time.

 

[supersnoop]

Because its a futile waste of time.

It's an exercise in education. People don't realize the impact. We're going to disagree on the futility of it.

 

[Andyman33]

i will say I agree with grnmtnman -- however, I for some reason have to keep going here...(i know dumb)
but how in the world would disney know if i took a dozen pool towels to my dvc unit or a cash paying guest on the BWI side took 3 dozen towels.
your point that taking extra towels from the pool leads to higher dvc costs doesnt' make sense to me. there is the pool bill. and the pool towels are in that bill whether they were used exclusively at the pool or in a room in dvc or in a room in the deluxe resort. they get washed with all the other pool towels. so in reality that bill goes up and dvc pays their share and disney resorts pay their share and if its based on occupancy then it has nothing to do with how many towels dvc uses.
and if everyone paying cash used an extra dozen towels the bill would sure be higher for laundry but it would be highly unlikely that anyone could separate if this was a dvc or a disney resort problem


again I agree with grnmtnman that common items are all used differently and I just cannot and still dont' understand why towels have become the hot button issue they have been for years on this forum.

 

[supersnoop]

how in the world would disney know if i took a dozen pool towels to my dvc unit or a cash paying guest on the BWI side took 3 dozen towels.

What's more likely? A hotel guest who gets new towels daily, or a DVC guest who gets new towels every four days? We're not talking about the pool expense, but the housekeeping and laundry expense, which is completely separate between the hotel and DVC.

 

[Minniesgal]

can I ask why many dvc members(and I am one) make a big deal out of taking towels from the pool area? I understand that a rule is a rule, but there are MANY rules bent around here but people continue to bring this one up like you personally are paying for them to be washed. It would be my assumption that if a pool towel was found in a room that it would basically be sent with the dirty pool towels from the pool to be washed and wouldn't be part of housekeeping's budget that DVC would have to pay anyways. Am I wrong?

Just sayin'...

Because you are taking more towels than you have paid for thus increasing costs to the resort and thus dues.

If you want extra towels you can buy them at $6 a pack.

 

[crisi]

How would they know - because most people leave them in their room - creating separation labor at the time of laundering (the mousekeepers don't have seperate bins for different kinds of laundry, so it all has to be retouched and sorted in the laundry room. That isn't difficult if you are pulling out sheets from towels, its a big deal if you are pulling one type of towel out from the other types). There isn't any reason for a cash guest to take pool towels to sub for bath towels - they get new towels every day if they want them.

Disney wants to keep hotel rates low, they'll use any excuse they can to pass expense onto DVC instead of impacting the profit on the hotel side.

Early on, if I remember the stories the old-timers told, OKW got daily housekeeping and towel service, like the hotels. They dropped it because its really expensive. DVC dues are high for most timeshares - understandable when you consider that transportation costs are wrapped in, along with other things non DVC timeshares don't need to provide. High dues makes it hard for Disney to sell DVC and it makes it hard for people to afford DVC. So they started charging for daily housekeeping and towels. If there wasn't a cost, they'd just change your towels ever day.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

We're not talking about the pool expense, but the housekeeping and laundry expense, which is completely separate between the hotel and DVC.

Do they actually send different housekeepers to units occupied by cash guests? If they don't, I'm not sure how the statement "the housekeeping and laundry expense, completely separate between the hotel and DVC" can be true. I'd imagine that the portion of the annual housekeeping expense Disney pays versus DVC is based on some occupancy formula that Disney and DVC negotiate annually.

I guess I'm asking if you have some special insight into how DVC and Disney allocate resort costs, and if so, can you point me to that resource?

 

[living20057]

I just checked out of there yesterday and at the pool know one was monitoring the towels. You can take them back to the room.

Also you can always snag a few towels off the housekeeping cart. I got an extra shower gel.


To get to the top of the world, they did check my band to see if I was a member and then she walked to the elevator. They had to scan it. I guess they are being more strict. I got up there and there was only a few people.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

If there wasn't a cost, they'd just change your towels ever day.

Of course there's a cost, that's not the issue nor what any of us are arguing.

Things like valet parking and daily housekeeping are made optional for timeshare owners because not everybody wants/needs to use those things with the same frequency. The management of the timeshare has to strike a balance between nickel-and-ding people for things normally used during a vacation, and not including things that are not highly utilized. Making people who fly-in pay for valet parking does not make sense to include among common amenities because it can easily be charged to the user of the service. Tracking how much people use a pool and charging them an hourly usage fee to cover the cost of water, lifeguards, maintenance, electricity, and yes, towels, is impractical. So its a common amenity expense charged to all owners regardless of usage.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Also you can always snag a few towels off the housekeeping cart. I got an extra shower gel.

This guy is on the way to take you to jail:

 

[supersnoop]

Do they actually send different housekeepers to units occupied by cash guests?

Yes. Housekeeping for DVC is on a separate payroll. The union contract is available somewhere online.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

creating separation labor at the time of laundering (the mousekeepers don't have seperate bins for different kinds of laundry, so it all has to be retouched and sorted in the laundry room. That isn't difficult if you are pulling out sheets from towels, its a big deal if you are pulling one type of towel out from the other types).

Do you know that this is done manually by a person? I'd assume the Disney would have a machine like the one below that can sort towels automatically, but I haven't ever been to a Disney laundry facility.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Yes. Housekeeping for DVC is on a separate payroll. The union contract is available somewhere online.

This looks like the right place, but I don't see a different contract for DVC....

ETA: Surprised to see OKW and SSR in here, since they were built as DVC resorts:


Your certain that there are two housekeeping staff at resorts like the CR or Poly, one for DVC, the other for the cash guests? Seems wasteful.

 

[supersnoop]

This looks like the right place, but I don't see a different contract for DVC....

There's another contract somewhere that details the number of rooms they're required to clean based on DVC; i.e. "trash & towel" service and different room sizes.

 

[supersnoop]

Your certain that there are two housekeeping staff at resorts like the CR or Poly, one for DVC, the other for the cash guests? Seems wasteful.

Separate payroll; not necessarily separate staff. Check pages 68 and 69 in the contract; they're clearly tracked separately.

 

[Sandisw]

Hi all...looks like we have veered off course in terms of the original question. Since the OP got an answer to the questions...will get towels on Day 1 for occupancy total and will have those replenished on Day 4. In between, the option is to wash or order an additional towel package from housekeeping. In terms of TOWL, its meant for members and a member must be with a guest. However, it is all up to the CM at the desk as to what will happen...I am going to close the thread.