Room comments/complaint/embarrassed

[DeeCee735]

Moderators, this probably needs to be moved, please do so if needs be.

In November I had a 2 bedroom savannah view room at AKV. It was the very last room on the Sunset Savannah and it was gorgeous (real hike though).
This past weekend, I stayed at another timeshare, Vistana Villages, with a friend who owns there. Now, to me - there's NOTHING like a DVC resort. I love every one I've stayed in, they are all gorgeous and there's nothing like being in the World. Which is exactly why we purchased DVC in the first place.
I'm not a complainer, not at all. I see all the "great" on a vacation, but this I feel I should say....

I must must must comment on this (and I hope Disney is reading it). This is the second time in the past few stays I found dirty dishes in our cabinets at our DVC resorts. Once at BWV, and now at AKV. I was mortified.

In November, while our room on Sunset Savannah was beyond impressive, I was so embarrassed (I hosted guests on this trip) when we took out pots to boil up some water and there was crude stuck to the inside bottom, 2 POTS, not one. And then, upon taking out glasses for water, there were LIPSTICK stains all over them. I pulled out about 5 glasses, one after the other, same thing. Same with the mugs!!!!!!!!!!! A couple of forks in the drawers had stuff stuck to them as well!!!!

What's up with that? In Vistana Villages .......IMMACULATE. Every dish and glass and mug and fork and knife was perfectly clean. As I said, this is the second time in the last few trips, so within the last 14 months, that I have found dirty dishes in the DVC cabinets.

Doesn't mousekeeping go through things to make sure they were properly cleaned by the prior guests? Disgusting. We were so grossed out, I hand washed as much as I felt we'd use and loaded the dishwasher with the rest.
The guest shouldn't be the one doing the inspection or the cleaning! Don't our dues cover this.....yuk!

Disney, if you are reading this, PLEASE STEP IT UP! Mousekeeping should be looking through the cabinets, just quick checks would do it, to make sure glasses aren't spotted or soiled with lipstick (or anything else) and that pots are thoroughly washed and cleaned, etc. It wouldn't take much time to find these soiled items, just open the door, take out a couple of dishes, glasses, utensils, pots and look at them.

Other than that, it was a wonderful wonderful stay and an awesome room. I love my DVC, I just don't want reason to walk into my accommodations, leary of what I might find.

Thanks for listening....

 

[dianeschlicht]

I'll join you in this complaint, and I had even worse in our AKV/Kidani villa this trip. When I went to use the coffee maker, something white and gooey was all over the bottom of it and had leaked down the side from under the rim. Closer inspection showed me that the white goo was also stuck under the rim all the way around. Why did it not get washed properly???? BECAUSE THE DISHWASHER WAS NOT ALLOWED TO COMPLETE IT'S CYCLE!!!! When we arrived I heard this annoying beep every once in awhile. Closer inspection led me to the dishwasher as the source of the beep. It was beeping because someone had stopped it with 10 minutes remaining on the wash cycle. As soon as I saw that, I took all the silver ware out of the drawers and put them in the dishwasher. I'm quite sure that's why my coffee pot didn't get clean too.

It's for that very reason that I ALWAYS start the dishwasher when I leave the room. I figure it gives it time to be done before the housekeeper is. I must say most of the bad housekeeping issues I've had at DVC have all been at AKV.

 

[disneynutz]

I would never trust that Mousekeeping finds all of the dirty dishes that other members put away.

After the room inspection, the second thing that we do is wash the dishes.

Bill

 

[Chuck S]

The thing is, we don't know where the problem originates. It could be lackluster housekeeping not properly cleaning the dishes. And it could certainly be other guests putting unclean dishes away.

No matter where I was staying, I would never assume that the dishes/glassware is clean. I always run things through the dishwasher or hand wash them in studios prior to use.

Unfortunately, with lipstick and tea stains, dishwashers aren't perfect either...often these items need hand washing.

The actual full solution would be costly, DVC resorts would need to have duplicate dishware for every unit, and replace the dishware between guests...taking the prior guests dishes to a high speed commercial dishwasher somewhere at the resort. Not only expensive equipment, but time consuming for housekeepers and requiring additional dedicated personnel to run the equipment because of the volume of dishes. Then there would need to be the construction of the washing and dish storage facility.

 

[JimMIA]

I would never trust that Mousekeeping finds all of the dirty dishes that other members put away.

First of all, I'd be AMAZED if they even check. Also, I think a lazy housekeeper is more likely to put dirty dishes away than a lazy guest. The guest would just leave them in the sink or dishwasher for housekeeping to deal with.

We've NEVER had a dirty room at DVC, but obviously others have and the general trend seems to have gone downhill significantly in the last 3-4 years from what I've read here on the DIS.

For a long time, it's been clear to me that most of the housekeeping issues owners see are the result of ZERO supervision of housekeeping. It's obvious there is no supervisor going into rooms behind the housekeepers and checking on their work. Never. And as long as you have that total lack of supervision, you're going to have issues.

 

[JimMIA]

And the obvious question I have for Diane is:

Did you complain to management while you were there? And if so, was their response good?

 

[DonnaL]

We also have had housekeeping issues on our last few stays...the most recent mid October at BWV. Actually, the cleanest room we've had recently was at Kidani last March....room was very clean, however, we did have an issue with the dirty dishes. We walked into our room at BWV (1 bdrm) in October and it SMELLED clean....however, we turned the lights on and quickly found otherwise. The bathroom was anything but clean.......the floor looked clean, but, was sticky......I think what was spilled there had been quickly mopped up, but, not well and left the sticky feeling because the base of the pedestal sink had a lot sticky, gooey spots (think Koolaid or fruit punch) all the way from the floor to about 18 inches up...hadn't been touched with any cleaner and also the wall on the side of the sink. The grouting between the floor and the shower stall door was gross......needed a good shot of a bleaching cleaner for the mold growing there. In the kitchen, we also found not too clean dishes in the cupboards (although several trips ago I began running everything through the dw as soon as we arrive.....because dirty dishes seems to have become the standard) On the front of the frig there were large drips from the handle to the bottom.......looked like iced tea/maybe coffee drips....also hadn't even been touched with cleaner.......so if these VERY visible things hadn't been touched ...I can't imagine ANYTHING was cleaned other than a quick swipe here and there. Also, ink scribbles ALL OVER the top of the painted surface on the dining table.....I actually tried to get that off with the plastic scrubby from the kitchen and a couple squirts from a small travel bottle of laundry stain remover I carry with me......wouldn't budge. First of all, I can't imagine a parent even allowing a child to do that and second, IMO, if a piece of furniture is damaged to that degree it should be swapped out. And, yes.....we did call housekeeping immediately.......they sent up a supervisor......who did apologize and made arrangements to have the room recleaned.....such as that may be and also offered a $50 room credit for our inconvenience. However, that being said.....we explained to her we didn't feel that is the answer to this seemingly ongoing housekeeping issue.....offer a recleaning and monetary compensation to an inconvenienced guest. All we truly want......is a "clean, upkept home" when we check into what we consider our "vacation home". We do not want to call and complain on every visit, nor should we have to. We have the reached the point we have decided to just bank our points and take a full year off (we usually visit at least twice a year....most years three times) and see if the situation improves at all during that time. I certainly hope so because our last few stays certainly have not been what our first 9 years as DVC members were.....after our October stay we were very "disenchanted"

 

[DebbieB]

Moderators, this probably needs to be moved, please do so if needs be.

In November I had a 2 bedroom savannah view room at AKV. It was the very last room on the Sunset Savannah and it was gorgeous (real hike though).
This past weekend, I stayed at another timeshare, Vistana Villages, with a friend who owns there. Now, to me - there's NOTHING like a DVC resort. I love every one I've stayed in, they are all gorgeous and there's nothing like being in the World. Which is exactly why we purchased DVC in the first place.
I'm not a complainer, not at all. I see all the "great" on a vacation, but this I feel I should say....

I must must must comment on this (and I hope Disney is reading it). This is the second time in the past few stays I found dirty dishes in our cabinets at our DVC resorts. Once at BWV, and now at AKV. I was mortified.

In November, while our room on Sunset Savannah was beyond impressive, I was so embarrassed (I hosted guests on this trip) when we took out pots to boil up some water and there was crude stuck to the inside bottom, 2 POTS, not one. And then, upon taking out glasses for water, there were LIPSTICK stains all over them. I pulled out about 5 glasses, one after the other, same thing. Same with the mugs!!!!!!!!!!! A couple of forks in the drawers had stuff stuck to them as well!!!!

What's up with that? In Vistana Villages .......IMMACULATE. Every dish and glass and mug and fork and knife was perfectly clean. As I said, this is the second time in the last few trips, so within the last 14 months, that I have found dirty dishes in the DVC cabinets.

Doesn't mousekeeping go through things to make sure they were properly cleaned by the prior guests? Disgusting. We were so grossed out, I hand washed as much as I felt we'd use and loaded the dishwasher with the rest.
The guest shouldn't be the one doing the inspection or the cleaning! Don't our dues cover this.....yuk!

Disney, if you are reading this, PLEASE STEP IT UP! Mousekeeping should be looking through the cabinets, just quick checks would do it, to make sure glasses aren't spotted or soiled with lipstick (or anything else) and that pots are thoroughly washed and cleaned, etc. It wouldn't take much time to find these soiled items, just open the door, take out a couple of dishes, glasses, utensils, pots and look at them.

Other than that, it was a wonderful wonderful stay and an awesome room. I love my DVC, I just don't want reason to walk into my accommodations, leary of what I might find.

Thanks for listening....

You keep saying "Disney, if you are reading this". You need to report it, you can't just hope that they read the DIS boards. You should have called housekeeping or talked with the manager while you were there. Or send an e-mail now to DVC Member Satisfaction. According to reports, this was brought up at the member meeting and the more complaints they get the more likely something will be done.

 

[JimMIA]

You keep saying "Disney, if you are reading this". You need to report it, you can't just hope that they read the DIS boards. You should have called housekeeping or talked with the manager while you were there. Or send an e-mail now to DVC Member Satisfaction.

Agree, except I'd say whenever anyone has these issues, they should do BOTH. Complain to a manager onsite (and make a point of writing down their name), and then email member satisfaction EVEN IF the problem is promptly corrected.

According to reports, this was brought up at the member meeting and the more complaints they get the more likely something will be done.

You're more of a Disney-optimist than I am. I think Disney makes their money selling DVC and nothing will change until cleanliness issues begin to impact their sales.

A more effective tactic might be to post "Have you seen the maintenance issues at these places" responses (with links to the threads) to inquiries on the DIS from prospective purchasers.

 

[lilpooh108]

I watched them "clean" an overflowed toilet while I was in the room (just water and paper was in the toilet) and trust me, their standards are low.

On the last night of our BWV stay in October, our toilet *finally* gave out. It had been struggling for days. I swear, all that was in there was toilet water and paper. It got stuck, I flushed it a few times and it wouldn't go down and started coming back up. I turned the water main off to prevent the water from getting all over the floor. Some water did spill.

1.5 hours after I called, they finally sent a housekeeper up. I asked him to disinfect the floor after he plungered since there was water all over the floor. He assured me he would. This is how he "cleaned" it.

He had a blue spray bottle, sprayed it over the toilet water already over the floor, then used 2 dishrags and wiped it. No bleach, no mop, nothing beyond swishing the toilet water (already on the floor) around w/the blue disinfectant. He handed me a stack of towels. "Job done." Sure it "smelled" clean b/c of the disinfectant, it well, wasn't.

Other things we found when we checked in: toe nail clippings, studio side bathroom smelled like pee, mildew, dirty laundry line, dirty carpet, unemptied lint catcher in the dryer, ongoing cigarette smell coming out of the bathroom vent (which we talked to management about 3 times) etc.

To the OP---Sorry your stay at AKV was not clean. In our stays, AKV (Jambo & Kidani) had the cleanest/freshest rooms. In fact, the housekeepers are so aggressive there that they frequently knock in the mornings even with our DND signs up.

 

[lugnut33]

No matter where I was staying, I would never assume that the dishes/glassware is clean. I always run things through the dishwasher or hand wash them in studios prior to use.

I guess I wouldn't think it's Mousekeepings duty to wash the dishes, so whenever we arrive and go to use a glass, plate, bowl, or pan we hand wash them. It's really not that difficult.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

<snip>The thing is, we don't know where the problem originates. It could be lackluster housekeeping not properly cleaning the dishes. And it could certainly be other guests putting unclean dishes away. <snip>

It doesn't matter. Our dues pay to have the villas cleaned after each guest leaves. Housecleaning has the responsibility to make sure this is done.

I could leave every sheet off every bed and every towel in the middle of the floor and every dish sitting on the floor and I would have done nothing wrong. It would be housekeeping's responsibilty to fix it.

No need to pass the buck (and I don't think that's what you are doing). It's DVC's responsibility to manage the housekeeping. That's what we pay them for (one of the things). If they're not doing it, they need to be called out and let the flow go downhill as it may.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I guess I wouldn't think it's Mousekeepings duty to wash the dishes, so whenever we arrive and go to use a glass, plate, bowl, or pan we hand wash them. It's really not that difficult.

I understand what you're saying, but it certainly is most definately their responsibility to make sure our villas are SPOTLESS upon arrival, including the dishes.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

<snip> No matter where I was staying, I would never assume that the dishes/glassware is clean. I always run things through the dishwasher or hand wash them in studios prior to use.

Unfortunately, with lipstick and tea stains, dishwashers aren't perfect either...often these items need hand washing.

The actual full solution would be costly, DVC resorts would need to have duplicate dishware for every unit, and replace the dishware between guests...taking the prior guests dishes to a high speed commercial dishwasher somewhere at the resort. Not only expensive equipment, but time consuming for housekeepers and requiring additional dedicated personnel to run the equipment because of the volume of dishes. Then there would need to be the construction of the washing and dish storage facility.<snip>

I totally and fundamentally disagree to the extent that it's not our fault as members that Disney did not properly plan on how to run a kitchen equipped timeshare. Actually, a total swapout of dishware, and the like and whites is not a bad idea. I bet it wouldn't cost any more to do it the way you mentioned above than the time that is obviously WASTED doing it the way it's being done now.

Maybe this needs to be reported to someone besides Disney. I'm sure the OC Health Department would totally ignore it were it reported to them, as would WESH.

 

[ftballfan7]

Although this wasn't at a resort, I had an eye opening experience in a bathroom at Epcot last trip. A CM came in with a bottle of what I thought was cleaner, but probably was just deoderant. He sprayed the sheilds between the urinals (just one sort spray in one spot for each urinal) and then opened all the unoccupied stalls and sprayed one small spot in each stall. Literally leaving a spray about the size of a quarter dripping down from each spot. The bathroom wasn't any cleaner when he left, but it sure smelled clean. I found this to be disturbing, it reminded me that in most public places perception is more important than reality. It doesn't have to be clean as long as customers think it's clean. Yuck!

 

[lilpooh108]

I understand what you're saying, but it certainly is most definately their responsibility to make sure our villas are SPOTLESS upon arrival, including the dishes.

Agreed.

 

[disneynutz]

I totally and fundamentally disagree to the extent that it's not our fault as members that Disney did not properly plan on how to run a kitchen equipped timeshare. Actually, a total swapout of dishware, and the like and whites is not a bad idea. I bet it wouldn't cost any more to do it the way you mentioned above than the time that is obviously WASTED doing it the way it's being done now.

Maybe this needs to be reported to someone besides Disney. I'm sure the OC Health Department would totally ignore it were it reported to them, as would WESH.

That's what happened to the studios and now we get paper plates. It that what you would like to happen?

Bacteria isn't noticeable on dishes, cups, glasses and flatwear so it's just easier to wash everything and not take a chance.

Bill

 

[Chuck S]

I totally and fundamentally disagree to the extent that it's not our fault as members that Disney did not properly plan on how to run a kitchen equipped timeshare. Actually, a total swapout of dishware, and the like and whites is not a bad idea. I bet it wouldn't cost any more to do it the way you mentioned above than the time that is obviously WASTED doing it the way it's being done now.

Maybe this needs to be reported to someone besides Disney. I'm sure the OC Health Department would totally ignore it were it reported to them, as would WESH.

As a previous poster said, this happened a couple of years ago with studios, and Disney simply replaced coffee mugs and glasses with styrofoam/plastic for a while. DO not expect Disney to pick up the tab for a timeshare. Those costs would be born by even higher dues.

Heck, I stayed in a hotel while working out of town here in Texas that had signs that housekeeping does not do the dishes in kitchenette units, and yep, there were filthy dishes in the cupboards.

Also as a previous poster said, dishes can look perfectly clean and still be covered with germs. I always run stuff through the dishwasher (or hand wash) before use.

 

[dianeschlicht]

And the obvious question I have for Diane is:

Did you complain to management while you were there? And if so, was their response good?

Which Diane? Me or the OP? I DID complain and the brought me up a brand new coffee maker. When the housekeeper saw the gunk, she didn't think it could be gotten clean.

I also had an issue with full cleanings at AKV. Both the time I paid for a full cleaning and this time when I got a scheduled one. Neither time did I actually get a full cleaning, but more like a trash and towel with clean sheets. They didn't even wipe out the bathroom or kitchen sinks, and certainly didn't touch the floors with a mop or a vacuum.