Room ready policy??

[Maistre Gracey]

I have been reading many posts recently about the "room ready" policy, vs the old request policy.
I remember a year or two ago we had many threads on this issue.

I stated then, and I still hold firm that VB and VWL do not use a room ready policy.
I have been to both resorts many times since the new policy, and we always check in early. EVERY TIME the CM tells us we have a room that meets our request, but it won't be ready until later.
Several times I have been offered a room immediately if I didn't want our assigned room that meets our requests.

Could it be that not all DVC resorts adopted the room ready policy?

What has been your experience?

MG

 

[Starr W.]

2 trips for us and we haven't waited for a room(not that picky when it comes to views). At, SSR we actually had a choice of rooms, went with the CM's choice at CP with a view, though we could have had the Springs.

At VWL, our room was ready, 3rd floor odd number(what I actually hoped for), but I didn't have any sort of request for either room other than non-smoking.

We checked in both times at about 12-1:30 pm, one time on a Sunday and the other on a Saturday.

The VWL was a recent trip, earlier this month.

 

[Olaf]

We've always had to wait for our room, except at SSR.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Our rooms at VB were preassigned last week. We've had the same experience at VWL. BWV had a preassigned room for us, but we checked in Dec 26 so I'm not sure if that was just because of the busy holiday season. BCV was on room ready.

 

[JWG]

BWV has always been assigned room and a wait. Never immediately ready.
SSR in 2005 for a 1 night stay, we checked in right away (at 9:30am), but it was September, not busy and we didn't have any room requirements.

Don't know if it was room ready or our assigned room as there was NO ONE there.

 

[lisareniff]

Going backwards order...

1- Our latest trip in Feb both VWL and BWV the rooms were pre-assigned.

2- Last winter our trip to VB the rooms were pre-assigned but we were requesting connecting rooms.

3- Not sure about our quick trip to VB, could have been either.

4- BCV was room ready. Our only instance of room ready. CM selected out of a list of rooms.

5- BCV was pre-assigned.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'm wondering if some resorts use room ready at slow times, but preassign at busy times. The reason I say that is that on our last stay at HHI DVC, we checked in on Saturday, and the front desk CM checked and said that "Oh, rooms aren't blocked yet, so you can have either....", then she said something about starting the next day, the resort was scheduled to be at capacity and rooms would be preassigned. At OKW, we were preassigned a room on our last stay(in April). When I commented that this was the first time we were told our room and not given any choice, she replied with something about "well, the resort's at 100% capacity this week". At BCV, I've had some room ready trips and some preassigned trips. I prefer the room ready, that's when I'm usually given a choice of rooms. On one trip there were no rooms available at that time that met my view requests, so the CM told me I could wait, but she also told me several that were available right then. Sadly (since I prefer the room ready choice), it seems that on my last few visits to BCV, my room has been preassigned, as opposed to my first several trips, where I was met with room ready.

 

[lisareniff]

I tend to agree with your assessment Simba's Mom. We normally travel during busy times and therefore the rooms are pre-assigned. I think a CM made a comment to that affect one time.

 

[DebbieB]

I've stayed at BWV many times, all different times of the year, and my room was always pre-assigned. The only time I was given a choice of rooms was one time at OKW.

 

[HockeyKat]

We checked into VWL on May 13th at 9AM... our room was pre-assigned and not ready. She specifically said we have assigned you to a room that meets all of your requests. There was no offer of changing to a room that was ready, although granted, we didn't even ask as it didn't matter to us if we checked in right then.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Thanx everybody!
You have confirmed my thoughts. Overall I read about more room ready assignments at BCV and OKW.
I'm VERY happy to have it the old way at VWL and VB, and keeping my fingers crossed for AKV.

Thanx again..

MG

 

[DVC Grammy]

There have been a couple of times when "our" room wasn't ready and we were offered an alternate (VWL and BWV). In both cases, we accepted the alternate.
I don't think we'll choose that option again; in BWV, it was okay, but in VWL, we were sorry......we wound up with the very last room at the end. The room itself was fine, but by the 2nd or 3rd day, the long walk was an issue for me.
I generally request to be close to the elevators (occasional mobility problems), but since it was our first time at VWL, I didn't know that those hallways are quite long too (I'm very familiar with the BWV hallways, since it's one of our "homes", which is why I make that request ).

 

[keishashadow]

There have been a couple of times when "our" room wasn't ready and we were offered an alternate (VWL and BWV). In both cases, we accepted the alternate.
I don't think we'll choose that option again; in BWV, it was okay, but in VWL, we were sorry......we wound up with the very last room at the end. The room itself was fine, but by the 2nd or 3rd day, the long walk was an issue for me.
I generally request to be close to the elevators (occasional mobility problems), but since it was our first time at VWL, I didn't know that those hallways are quite long too (I'm very familiar with the BWV hallways, since it's one of our "homes", which is why I make that request ).

We too had the very last room down the hallway @ WL, it was so quiet which is a very good thing after a long day in the parks imo.

I had requested a studio near the elevator (ds was in a transport chair due to broken foot). Can see that it would be an issue for others though.

Perhaps a new room designation ala HC, level 2 type (close to elevators) - for those with special needs but not quite needing a HC designation would be a good idea.

 

[momba#9]

Two DVC trips so far as an owner:

1) SSR - room ready, I chose from what was available and they tried to match my requests.

2) Assigned room. We checked in at 3:30 and it was reasdy but I got no choice.


I greatly prefer room ready. Why have to wait for "your" room when there could be 50 perfectly acceptable rooms ready? I realize that BWV will have to continue with assigning due to the categories of rooms offered.

I hope the rest will be room ready. AKV will need to assign as well.


Thanks,


Mike

 

[DISNEYDUET]

We have had a number of trips with DVC. This last trip was the first time we were at VWL. We checked in around 9:30am on a Sunday and were asked if we had any specific room requests. I said no that we would take the first available room. I was then told our room was assigned but not ready yet. Ok, no problem. I asked when it should be ready. I was told it WILL BE ready by 3:00pm. Great, we are travelling with a 5 year old so that would be perfect.

3:00-No room. 3:30 call back-no room. 4:00 call back-no room and it will not be ready until 6:00pm now!!! I asked has the room even been cleaned yet and was told they have no way of knowing. You mean to tell me that it could be sitting there waiting and no one knows because mousekeeping didn't report it ready!! DH was furious! He went to the front desk and demanded to speak with the manager (because the girl on the phone would not let us speak to one) and what do ya know, we had 6 rooms to choose from!!
Room assignments are a crock. I think if you are willing to take whatever is available then it should be on a first come first serve basis.
I do have to add that we have never had to wait past 3:00pm for a room at SSR, BWV, or BCV! Most of the time it was ready at checkin.
I hope this was just an off day at VWL.

 

[owensjro]

We were at OKW over Memorial day weekend (this past weekend). I checked in at 9am. The CM was earning her ears so had someone assisting her. They checked about 5 rooms before deciding nothing was available and just assigning me a room for later. I figure they made a best effort and was fine with that. Our room was ready by 2pm.

OKW was at "near capacity" for the weekend according to another CM who was discussing rooms with another guest.

Jim

 

[HockeyKat]

We checked in at 9 and our room was ready by 12:30 or so at VWL... just kept calling the number every hour.

FWIW, we were the 2nd room from the elevator on the 5th floor and it was SUPER quiet.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I greatly prefer room ready. Why have to wait for "your" room when there could be 50 perfectly acceptable rooms ready? I realize that BWV will have to continue with assigning due to the categories of rooms offered.

I hope the rest will be room ready. AKV will need to assign as well.

Mike, while the room ready policy may work for you and me most of the time, There may come a time when I don't want to leave VB for VWL at 8:00am. I like the stress free feeling of not having to race to the front desk. To some extent that's my decision, but we can't forget about the Members that live out west. They will consistently get the least desirable rooms, as it's hard for them to arrive before 4:00pm.

I think room assignments according to when you booked, is the most fair way of doing it.
This will also provide a home resort advantage for room selections if they book prior to 7 months.

Just my opinion..

MG

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Boy it's hard to say. The first 3-4 times we got our room as soon as we arrived at 10 or 11 am. The last 2 times we have had to wait until 4pm. Each stay was in a different month so I don't know if it is a trend or a seasonal thing. We always arrive on Saturday and Last 2 times were in August and April... go figure.

I prefer room ready beacause we take the Autotrain down from VA and arrive early on Saturdays.