Room ready changed…

[Tigger's ally]

Check in starting at 4 means you can begin checking in at 4 - meaning your room should be ready then.

Oh, everybody can begin checking in at 4 that is true. But there is no end time given for a reason.

 

[muppets3d]

Oh, everybody can begin checking in at 4 that is true. But there is no end time given for a reason.

Sure because you can check in any time you need to, for example if you have a late arriving flight or something. But the expectation is the room is ready at 4PM, and there is really no good reason why it shouldn't be ready at least by 4. Even a trashed grand villa should be able to be cleaned in 5 hours. If DVC and housekeeping are consistently missing the mark then they need to be taken to task. DVC is not a cheap product and our maintenance fees are high as well - we expect a premium product for all that money.

 

[gottalovepluto]

The only consistent is the knocks that start at 8AM on check-out day. That’s what the front desk must feel like when we nag and demand before 4PM on check-in day.

Magical how the don’t disturb signs disappear on checkout morning…

 

[Tigger's ally]

Sure because you can check in any time you need to, for example if you have a late arriving flight or something. But the expectation is the room is ready at 4PM, and there is really no good reason why it shouldn't be ready at least by 4. Even a trashed grand villa should be able to be cleaned in 5 hours. If DVC and housekeeping are consistently missing the mark then they need to be taken to task. DVC is not a cheap product and our maintenance fees are high as well - we expect a premium product for all that money.

The problem is not one trashed villa being ready by 4, it's that there are days when everyone wants late checkout, those that don't get it check out at 11 and those that do at 12 and all of them being trashed. In a perfect world, you have the exact right amount of cleaning personnel at just the right times so everything works out. However, some days when nobody is checking out till eleven, there is nothing for that personnel to do but get paid to sit and wait. I don't think DVC members want to pay even more money to have them sit, so the scheduler does the best they can to have the right numbers at the right times. Sometimes it is great, my experience is 90% by 4 p.m. but like I said we check in on low checkout days. If the scheduler has most of the rooms ready by 4 then that is all they can do. Sometimes things will align where they don't. It's not because they don't want too. Believe me, the schedulers want their cleaning staff out of there as early as possible too. It's a fine line of work force vs. rooms vs. size of rooms vs condition of how they were left. And we haven't even talked about the Maintenance things that come up and need checked off.

Two things that help would be if they didn't allow late checkout at all and if as many of the patrons that can would check out earlier before the eleven am rush. Any rooms they can clear before eleven helps a ton.

Overall though, we never hear about all the people that get their rooms before or at 4 p.m., it's just the ones that don't. If that is an 90-10 split most of the days then I think that is good IMO.

 

[muppets3d]

The problem is not one trashed villa being ready by 4, it's that there are days when everyone wants late checkout, those that don't get it check out at 11 and those that do at 12 and all of them being trashed. In a perfect world, you have the exact right amount of cleaning personnel at just the right times so everything works out. However, some days when nobody is checking out till eleven, there is nothing for that personnel to do but get paid to sit and wait. I don't think DVC members want to pay even more money to have them sit, so the scheduler does the best they can to have the right numbers at the right times. Sometimes it is great, my experience is 90% by 4 p.m. but like I said we check in on low checkout days. If the scheduler has most of the rooms ready by 4 then that is all they can do. Sometimes things will align where they don't. It's not because they don't want too. Believe me, the schedulers want their cleaning staff out of there as early as possible too. It's a fine line of work force vs. rooms vs. size of rooms vs condition of how they were left. And we haven't even talked about the Maintenance things that come up and need checked off.

Two things that help would be if they didn't allow late checkout at all and if as many of the patrons that can would check out earlier before the eleven am rush. Any rooms they can clear before eleven helps a ton.

Overall though, we never hear about all the people that get their rooms before or at 4 p.m., it's just the ones that don't. If that is an 90-10 split most of the days then I think that is good IMO.

I'm not talking about worst case scenarios. I'm talking about the day in day out routine. There is no reason why anyone should have to wait more than 5 hours for their villa to be cleaned and ready for check-in.

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed at BWV twice this year, first time I got the room ready at 11:30am, second time 1:30pm.

 

[emchen]

I contacted front desk a few times when I checked out of the room before 8. I assume they would appreciate that.

 

[TCRAIG]

I'm not talking about worst case scenarios. I'm talking about the day in day out routine. There is no reason why anyone should have to wait more than 5 hours for their villa to be cleaned and ready for check-in.

I don’t think each room has a dedicated person to clean - so yeah - while 1 room may not take 5 hours - if a cleaner (or cleaning team) has 5 rooms to get ready each day - I can definitely see that some of those rooms may not be ready by 4. And don’t forget that even after they’re cleaned - a supervisor has to verify that the room is ready and release it into the system…(or so I’ve been told).

 

[jo-jo]

The problem is not one trashed villa being ready by 4, it's that there are days when everyone wants late checkout, those that don't get it check out at 11 and those that do at 12 and all of them being trashed. In a perfect world, you have the exact right amount of cleaning personnel at just the right times so everything works out. However, some days when nobody is checking out till eleven, there is nothing for that personnel to do but get paid to sit and wait. I don't think DVC members want to pay even more money to have them sit, so the scheduler does the best they can to have the right numbers at the right times. Sometimes it is great, my experience is 90% by 4 p.m. but like I said we check in on low checkout days. If the scheduler has most of the rooms ready by 4 then that is all they can do. Sometimes things will align where they don't. It's not because they don't want too. Believe me, the schedulers want their cleaning staff out of there as early as possible too. It's a fine line of work force vs. rooms vs. size of rooms vs condition of how they were left. And we haven't even talked about the Maintenance things that come up and need checked off.

Two things that help would be if they didn't allow late checkout at all and if as many of the patrons that can would check out earlier before the eleven am rush. Any rooms they can clear before eleven helps a ton.

Overall though, we never hear about all the people that get their rooms before or at 4 p.m., it's just the ones that don't. If that is an 90-10 split most of the days then I think that is good IMO.

I didn’t know DVC had late check outs.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I didn’t know DVC had late check outs.

Don't think they do, but there are people staying there on cash ressies that can ask. We stayed with someone else once that did that for their room and got it. They had a 4 pm flight out and wanted to eat lunch in their room before they left for the airport.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I contacted front desk a few times when I checked out of the room before 8. I assume they would appreciate that.

yes, I always do that too. I travel all the time for work and love the Hilton app where I check out as soon as I leave the room. Dis needs to add that to MDE as I haven't found a quick checkout button.

 

[patm95]

We've only been going for a couple of years, but rooms have been availably around 4pm. Maybe a little after.

 

[Cfabar1]

Only hotel we have not gotten into by 4 PM was Vero. All the others, the room was ready when we arrived or shortly after and well before 4 PM.

I agree the constant knocking on check out day is ridiculous, and we have had it start as early as 8:30 AM...

We try to leave the room as clean as possible. I am a big believer in being kind to those who have to turn over the room.

 

[Disney Spaz]

yes, I always do that too. I travel all the time for work and love the Hilton app where I check out as soon as I leave the room. Dis needs to add that to MDE as I haven't found a quick checkout button.

It is in MDE. For the past year on check out day if you log in to your MDE and the reservation you have the option to click that you have checked out of the room. Or at least we have had that option. I figure it helps the next guest get their room sooner.

 

[muppets3d]

I don’t think each room has a dedicated person to clean - so yeah - while 1 room may not take 5 hours - if a cleaner (or cleaning team) has 5 rooms to get ready each day - I can definitely see that some of those rooms may not be ready by 4. And don’t forget that even after they’re cleaned - a supervisor has to verify that the room is ready and release it into the system…(or so I’ve been told).

Plenty of time for that. Stop carrying water for Disney.

 

[Tigger's ally]

It is in MDE. For the past year on check out day if you log in to your MDE and the reservation you have the option to click that you have checked out of the room. Or at least we have had that option. I figure it helps the next guest get their room sooner.

Will look for it again on our next stay. Thanks.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Stop carrying water for Disney.

Nice original thought there.

 

[TCRAIG]

Plenty of time for that. Stop carrying water for Disney.

I guess I’d rather wait a little after 4 occasionally and know that my room was thoroughly cleaned then pressure overworked staff to get it cleaned ASAP and maybe miss something. I’ve been DVC for 14 yrs - go 3-5 times a year in a1 or 2 BR and really only had a couple of checkins after 4…

 

[lowlight]

I guess I’d rather wait a little after 4 occasionally and know that my room was thoroughly cleaned then pressure overworked staff to get it cleaned ASAP and maybe miss something. I’ve been DVC for 14 yrs - go 3-5 times a year in a1 or 2 BR and really only had a couple of checkins after 4…

It isn’t about a cleaners workload or stress level, and I don’t think it’s fair to put the onus on owners. As is frequently pointed out here, this is strictly business we’re talking about.

 

[zavandor]

I’ve noticed this too. Sometimes we get early check-ins. It is only in recent years that we’ve had late check-ins.

I am not convinced the wording ‘starts’ at 4pm was intended to imply WDW/DVC has the right to give you a room anytime that evening. My interpretation is check-in starts at 4pm so never rely on getting an early check-in. But legally the contract is 4pm check-in and 11am check-out. That is the terms. If they don’t deliver your room until 6, 7 or 8pm… they are NOT protected by that ‘starts’ at 4pm wording. There’s reasonable grounds to request a partial credit and if that fails, escalate via payment source of credit card. Now we can choose to be gracious and accept late check-ins, which so far we’ve done because in the big picture we’ve gotten plenty of early check-ins. But that’s not the same as meaning I must accept all 7pm check-ins. If 6pm check-ins became habit on their end I would start pushing back anytime it inconvenienced our plans.

100% agree.
It was changed a few years ago from "check in at 4pm" to "check in after 4pm" to confuse and misdirect, which makes it even more infuriating. And to give the Disney apologists a way to write on Internet forums: you cannot pretend anything, it's after 4pm.

Let's put it another way, if that means it's ok if we get a room at 11:59pm (which is after 4pm) then it must be changed immediately, it cannot be acceptable.

That said, I once got the room a few minutes after 4pm, often it's ready by midday, so I think they do a good job. But I would expect that for major delays they should compensate somehow the owner affected, in a way proportionate to the amount of delay.