Riverside - Never going back!!!

[Flesner]

First I have to tell you that I have stayed at Riverside twice before and LOVED it both times. I really thought I would never stay anywhere else. We checked in Saturday, May 28th (my birthday). We had lunch and walked around a bit until our rooms were ready. We were given keys and when our rooms were ready, we headed straight there. We had ajoining rooms with the other family we were traveling with. Our 8 years were playing around and all of a sudden my daughter found a pair of dirty undies under the bed!!! I was sooo disgusted! Our friends found used QTips on the floor and then we found a toy and candy. It was obvios that our room had not been cleaned well. We called Front Desk and were given new rooms. This time between the 2 rooms we found a razor blade, feminine hygeine products, crushed cheetos and tons of hair on the floors. This time we marched straight to the front desk to speak with a manager. We were personally escorted to new rooms. The manager knew as soon as he walked in that the rooms were awful. This time we found food on the floor, the toilet had been used and not flushed and there were wet washcloths and towels hanging in the shower. We asked to switch resorts immediately. We had to stay one night in Riverside and then moved to Caribbean Beach for the rest of our visit.

I just wanted to share our experience. I hope this was an isolated incident....but unfortunately, we were told by a bus driver that there have been a lot of problems at Riverside lately. That's really too bad - it's a beautiful resort.

 

[Nolcrest]

I hope you had a decent trip in general. How was CBR? Any positive thoughts for us?

 

[C.Ann]

Just wondering.. Considering all of the resort hotels are run by the same company - Disney - what makes you so sure that the same kind of thing wouldn't happen in another resort? Just because it didn't, doesn't mean it "couldn't"..

I wouldn't swear off Riverside based on one visit during an extremely busy holiday weekend.. If it were to happen again, you could always make a request to be moved..

 

[slimplaw]

How disappointing for you. Were you in AB or the Mansions? We were there 2 weeks ago in Oak Manor and everything was fine in our room. I hope your trip ended better than it started.

 

[cowtownmom]

Since the manager got to witness how bad the housekeeping was (or wasn't!) at the time, I imagine he will be making sure that changes. At least I would hope so. Sorry you found your rooms so dirty. Hope the rest of your trip was good!

 

[LvsTnk]

Just wondering.. Considering all of the resort hotels are run by the same company - Disney - what makes you so sure that the same kind of thing wouldn't happen in another resort? Just because it didn't, doesn't mean it "couldn't"..

I wouldn't swear off Riverside based on one visit during an extremely busy holiday weekend.. If it were to happen again, you could always make a request to be moved..

Yes, it could happen anywhere, but 6 rooms is a little much. I wouldn't want to take the chance for a while that this could happen again, maybe give them a little time to straighten things out.

Also, who wants to take time out of their vacation to keep calling a manager and switching resorts. My vacation time is valuable to me.
Just another opinion.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

All resorts are managed independently. Yes they have a certain Disney magic and code to follow--but how management oversees that implementation varies.

For them to go to THREE separate rooms and for that to happen is horrible (6 if indeed both rooms were affected each time--even worse).


Seems like they must have had a lazy maid that day or someone didn't show up or something.

I'm sorry--I've worked mousekeeping before--though I cleaned only public areas and didn't have the time crunch that the room mousekeepers had--but it is inexcusable as cleaning is really and truly a basic skill--not rocket science. Color coded cleaners even. Change beds, empty/remove trash, scrub bathroom, wipe/clean surfaces and mirrors and television and vacuum the floor.

There is no valid reasons for the mousekeeping management to sign off on a room when it isn't clean. Busy holiday weekend or not. They don't allow a room in inventory to be checked into until a mousekeeping manager has inspected the room and notified inventory that it is satisfactory. Busy weekend or not--trash left behind...soiled towels are all very visible signs that the room is not clean.

 

[lovethattink]

We had the same type of thing happen to us twice. Once at POR July 2004 and once at All star Movies, just May 13, 2005. All our other stays have been great!

 

[whacked]

Thank you for pointing it out to the manager. I doubt it will be happening again.

I'd hate to be the housekeeping manager for those buildings.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Dirty rooms can happen anywhere. We had a disgusting room at the GF once... dirty socks in the drawer, food under the bed, used kleenex crumpled up on the floor, it was really bad. Also had a dirty room at BCV... beds weren't made, towels piled everywhere, etc. Unfortunately this can really start a vacation out on a sour note. I can't believe you guys had 6 dirty rooms!! That is really bad. I have to say that POR is my least favorite of all the moderate resorts. Sometimes I think they just don't have enough mousekeepers to clean all the rooms. And I feel bad for them because they are probably rushed and overworked. WDW should pay them more!

I didn't even put in our trip report... because I didn't want it to be negative... but our first full day and night at the Poly they didn't even come and clean our room at all. Can you believe that??? DH was so mad that night when we got back... it was late and the kids were so tired. We ended up getting a partial credit for that day and a sincere apology from the manager. We had similar problems last year at POFQ, our room was typically not made up until 6:00 pm or so almost every day.

I think this is becoming a major issue... there has to be a way for Disney to get more staff so that they can take time to make the rooms as clean as they should be.

 

[NCombs]

Just wondering.. Considering all of the resort hotels are run by the same company - Disney - what makes you so sure that the same kind of thing wouldn't happen in another resort? Just because it didn't, doesn't mean it "couldn't"..

I wouldn't swear off Riverside based on one visit during an extremely busy holiday weekend.. If it were to happen again, you could always make a request to be moved..

I don't think anyone mentioned it couldn't happen at another resort.

But, obviously, someone isn't doing their job at that particular resort. To be moved that many times and not find one room that is clean is ridiculous and a busy weekend is no excuse. People should expect that their room will be just as clean on a busy weekend as a slow weekend.

 

[krismom]

Just curious- we saw the Travel Channel special the last time it was on and loved it. Your family is beautiful! How did you get on the show? What a cool experience it must have been?!

Kris

 

[vegasnw]

Yes, it could happen anywhere, but 6 rooms is a little much. I wouldn't want to take the chance for a while that this could happen again, maybe give them a little time to straighten things out.

Also, who wants to take time out of their vacation to keep calling a manager and switching resorts. My vacation time is valuable to me.
Just another opinion.

I have to agree with you... What makes anyone think that not once, not twice but 3 times is okay. I would have done the very same thing, demanded to move to a different resort. That means that the rooms were signed off as being cleaned and the room inspectors also signed off the room as being clean.. 2 people not doing their jobs. If someone would have said it's so busy that sometimes things happen... I would agree except it happened 3 times and that just doesn't work and to be honest, I wouldn't want to waste any more of my vacation time waiting for someone to get it right atleast once.

Now I wouldn't write the place off all together but it would be a while before I'd go back.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Hey there!

Here are a couple of posts to read all about it:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=493061

http://130.94.75.33/showthread.php?s=&threadid=606868

 

[C.Ann]

Yes, it could happen anywhere, but 6 rooms is a little much. I wouldn't want to take the chance for a while that this could happen again, maybe give them a little time to straighten things out.

Also, who wants to take time out of their vacation to keep calling a manager and switching resorts. My vacation time is valuable to me.
Just another opinion.

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Wasn't saying your opinion isn't valid.. I'm just wondering about the "whys" of the situation and the thread on CM wages might shed some light on a possibility.. (I guess Disney had had huge hiring fair because they're so short staffed and didn't get a fraction of the applicants they were hoping for..) My guess would be that Riverside was short-staffed (a situation that needs to be corrected as soon as possible obviously) but were this to be an on-going situation, I would assume (hope) that by the time I made my next trip to my favorite resort it would be corrected..

Six times is definitely a problem, but I think the odds of that happening again would be extremely low - especially if your next trip is months or years away.. To "never" return is a long, long time! I once said I would "never" go back to WDW in September - due to the heat, humidity and rain - but with some extra cash and that free dining offer, I could easily eliminate "never" from my vocabulary.. LOL

 

[FamilyGuy]

Checking into POR for the first time in a couple of days... this story really makes me wonder....... guess it could happen anywhere though

I am sure I will be more suspect when I first enter the room. We'll see how it goes!

We stayed at the CR and I would say that the room was wonderful. One light bulb was out. That was the only negative room related thing that I experienced.

 

[jenjen212]

i am sorry for your experience. i was actually there that weekend. we checked in on the 25th and out on the 31st. i know that have a bad experience can sometimes leave a bad taste in your mouth and will prevent a re-visit to that resort.

we had a great time. our room was very clean, and mousekeeping that we had was very good and helpful. not that i am excusing what happened, because there is no reason why a room should be checked off when it is not clean. but, it could be that since the resort was booked to capacity that week, that mousekeeping was trying to rush and get the room cleaned for the next guests.

i hope that if you do decide to come back, that you will have a better experience.

jen

 

[tlbwriter]

Just wondering.. Considering all of the resort hotels are run by the same company - Disney - what makes you so sure that the same kind of thing wouldn't happen in another resort? Just because it didn't, doesn't mean it "couldn't"..

Under the circumstances, I would assume this was a "someone ain't doing their job at POR" problem, not an "any Disney room might be dirty" problem. Yes, it can happen anywhere. But to happen so many times at the same time at the same resort is indicative of a problem, not just the luck of the draw. Luckily, I'm sure they'll have it cleared up by the time I get there. Maybe someone will light a fire under the staff or realize they need to hire more people and it will be extra clean for me!

 

[C.Ann]

i am sorry for your experience. i was actually there that weekend. we checked in on the 25th and out on the 31st. i know that have a bad experience can sometimes leave a bad taste in your mouth and will prevent a re-visit to that resort.

we had a great time. our room was very clean, and mousekeeping that we had was very good and helpful. not that i am excusing what happened, because there is no reason why a room should be checked off when it is not clean. but, it could be that since the resort was booked to capacity that week, that mousekeeping was trying to rush and get the room cleaned for the next guests.

i hope that if you do decide to come back, that you will have a better experience.

jen

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That's pretty much the point I was trying to make.. They're understaffed, it was a holiday weekend, and "stuff happens.." Look hard enough on these boards and you'll find complaints about EVERY Disney resort..

 

[C.Ann]

Under the circumstances, I would assume this was a "someone ain't doing their job at POR" problem, not an "any Disney room might be dirty" problem. Yes, it can happen anywhere. But to happen so many times at the same time at the same resort is indicative of a problem, not just the luck of the draw. Luckily, I'm sure they'll have it cleared up by the time I get there. Maybe someone will light a fire under the staff or realize they need to hire more people and it will be extra clean for me!

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Well from what I understand, they're trying VERY hard to hire more people, but it's just not happening.. Maybe they could start holding guns to the heads of the guests and make them clean their own rooms..

If the staff isn't there, then they aren't there.. (I also wonder how many workers "called in" for the long holiday weekend..) I just don't agree with taking a "never again" attitude over something that may well have already been corrected.. In my situation I used the term "never" due to heat, humidity and rain - but now I realize how silly that was.. This September could actually be wonderful!!