Room Request Irratation,question & Idea.

[KNWVIKING]

Recently booked 8 nights at VB- first time there- staying at the inn. Requested non-smoking: no problem. Requested upper floors: not guaranteed. Requested king bed: not guaranteed. Requested ocean view: Very limited.

I'm irratated because I don't think my requests are anything un-do'able. Second,I'm using extra points for the Ocean view,not Garden,how can they not guarantee an ocean view ?

Question: If I don't get an Ocean view,do they credit me back the points ?

Idea: I know DVC can't guarantee you any of your requests everytime, but I wish that maybe once every four years or so you get to pick your ideal accomodations and they are guaranteed. Maybe it's a special anniversary that you'd like to be just perfect. Whatever. It just seems like the luck-of-the-draw system is too convienant for DVC. Any time your dissatisfied with your room draw,they just say too bad,no guarantees.

What do ya's think,does that idea sound unreasonable ? Even if it were only a one-time option or every ten years-doesn't matter.

 

[Cap]

If you own at VB and make your reservations at the 11 month window, then you will very likely get all of your requests. They just don't guarantee them. If you are making requests on a short lead time, then there is a much lower probability, since others have made their reservations ahead of you.

If you reserved an Ocean View room at that point rate, then you will get a room on the Ocean side.

 

[Dean]

For an Inn room you should get what you booked. If you book ocean side, you should get that. The trouble is you might get an oceanside room with no ocean view. You'll pay the higher points but not really get what you want. Your other requests of king size bed and higher floors may be difficult but it never hurts to ask, non smoking is not guaranteed but should not be difficult.

 

[KNWVIKING]

... points chart says "Ocean View" not "Ocean Side". I'm expecting to see ocean.

 

[adamak]

My experience is that the reservation windows has nothing to do with your priority in filling the requests. I was told that they fill the request couple days before you arrive, hence has nothing to do with when you make your ressie.

I have the same frustration. I don't understand why these kind of requests can't be first come first serve. At least for the King size bedrooms. Every other hotels did it.

 

[DebbieB]

I learned this from a travel agent when I was booking a room in Atlantic City years ago. "Ocean Front" means your room will face the ocean. "Ocean View" means you will be able to see the ocean, but it may only be a limited view. If you can see one tiny bit of ocean, they can call it ocean view. I've never been to Vero so I don't know what the room view situation is there, these are just general travel industry standards. It seems to me though that since they have 2 categories, you would have to get an ocean view. That would be like booking a preferred view at BWV and they say they can't guarantee a preferred view. Maybe the agent was thinking of other types of rooms where it's not broken down into garden & ocean views.

On the subject of guarantees, they can't guarantee anything because what happens if the day you check-in they only have 1 open room and all the others are filled?

 

[DebbieB]

My experience is that the reservation windows has nothing to do with your priority in filling the requests. I was told that they fill the request couple days before you arrive, hence has nothing to do with when you make your ressie.

I attended the BWV annual meeting last year and this subject came up. The answer from DVC was when they assign the rooms a couple of days before, they start with the first reservation made. So if you made your reservation first, you would have first chance to get your requests filled. If you made your reservation a short time before, you would be way down on the list and would have less of a chance.

 

[RobDoc]

... points chart says "Ocean View" not "Ocean Side". I'm expecting to see ocean.

VB has 2 views for the Inn rooms- Garden View and Ocean View. The Ocean View rooms are all on the ocean side of the resort and do face the ocean, however rooms on the lower floors will not have much view of the ocean since the sand dunes block much of the view.

Guarantees can't be made, but requests are usually met. DVC does make an effort to fill requests in the order in which they were made. A king-bed request can't be guaranteed because- even if one was available for your arrival date the day you made the reservation, it may have been assigned to the guest who checked in 2 days earlier.

BWV has some of the same issues. Preferred View consists of a variety of rooms. Most would like a Boardwalk view, but other Preferred Views include the canal or pool. None can be guaranteed due to the dynamics of the reservation system itself.

 

[Dean]

In timeshare vernacular, ocean side or ocean view mean the same. It does not guarantee a view of the ocean. At Marriott's Grande Ocean and Marriott's Barony, there are many ocean view (side) units that do not have a real view of the ocean. There are even some oceanfront units that do not have a reasonable ocean view. Some of the oceanside units are better than some of the ocean front units at Grande Ocean due to growth of vegatation and the dunes. IF you go in with the idea of no real view of the ocean means you're unhappy, be prepared. Good luck, I hope it works out.

 

[JudithM]

Keep in mind that the more requests one make, the less likely one is to get everything. So set priorities. Maybe we have just been lucky - we have always gotten what we requested.

 

[Dean]

I am curious about the Inn rooms with King beds. I know there are a few wierd layout rooms that have different sleeping arrangements including a few that will sleep 5 or 6. Does anyone know specifics and numbers about these issues?

 

[Regina]

It's not just DVC, it's the entire Disney reservation system that works this way.

 

[lsutigger]

I too wish there was a better way. I requested two simple things, or so I thought. a non-smoking, non-handicapped accessible room. Got the exact opposite! We still had a wonderful time and are ready to go back!

 

[lawgs]

adamak....

what you stated is what i used to think also.....but on our recent visit to the VWL when they assigned us a handicap room without telling us....when we went down to find out why.....they said it was the only room available and that all rooms are assigned according to "booking" dates....we had booked and been on a waiting list for about 2 months.....i guess once the waiting list comes in ....the booking date was adjusted to a "later date"

the only request we had was "non smoking" room...we supposedly talked to the room assigner when we went down to the front desk...

have a feeling that 'they" are not always on the "level" with people.....since about the second day we were there....we had some visitors...( general manager of the resorts and housekeeping heads ) who were checking out the handicapped room......they said on their sheet ....it said the room was not being "occupied"...so go figure....


does anyone out there have "the real scoop" on how they really assign rooms......???

 

[KNWVIKING]

Don't they have to honor smoking-non smoking requests. DW and I could tolerate poor views or ADA rooms or queen beds, but if we walk into a smoking room there will be an unpleasant scene. And if a smoker gets asigned a non-smoking room,doesn't it suddenly become a smoking room, or will the guests be billed a huge cleaning fee if they do smoke ? I know the Sherratons bill $200.00 if you smoke in a non-smoking unit.

 

[Hilary]

I'd also be interested in the smoking / non-smoking policy, as next visit we will be taking my sister-in-law who is asthmatic and cannot tolerate smoke fumes.

I have <b>requested</b> non-smoking, but should I emphasise the medical requirement?

 

[perdidobay]

I don't know if this will answer anyones questions or not or if it even translates to timeshares but I can tell you that I where I own a rental condo on the gulf of mexico,
they use these descriptions:
direct gulf front: nothing between you and the gulf
gulf view: a view of the gulf, however small or large
gulf side: on the same side of the street as the gulf, usually without a view
gulf access: usually across the street from the gulf and accessable via a dedicated walkway
As far as assigning rooms, my rental managment company uses a hotel industry process called packing. With packing you are not assigned a room number because your ressie may be moved several times to completely fill a room for an entire week. That is why they cannot guarentee certain views etc.

 

[Dean]

Timeshare use the terms pretty losely at times. It will vary with the resort. Usually Oceanside and Ocean view are used interchangeably. Usually it means if there weren't any obstructions, you could see the ocean, at least indirectly. The problem with timeshare is that they are new and then things change over time, trees and other vegetation grow and obstruct some views. I used the Grande Ocean example because it's one I'm certain about. At VB, there is no guarantee of an ocean view.

The non smoking requests are just that, requests. If it's for medical reasons, make sure DVC knows that and your confirmaiton says that. Also make sure you don't arrive late when they have no options if there has been a problem with the type of room assigned. It also helps to have as few other requests as possible and prioritize the ones you do have. That's why I shutter every time I see people talking about requesting specific rooms/buildings. I've never heard about them letting people smoke in non smoking rooms, that would make me very upset if true.

 

[DVC-VWL]

Originally posted by lawgs
adamak...
does anyone out there have "the real scoop" on how they really assign rooms......???

Here is the scoop... I am a room assigner at ta DVC property and we "DO" block by creation date. We are very specific about that. We run the due in reports by the creation date and it puts everyone in order by date (and time) the booking was made. Then from there we block requests in order... Smoking/non smoking is just a request and we do our best to make that happen.

Here is where it might get a little tricky. Requests such as pool view... near elevator...ground floor...etc are GOING to be blocked 3 days prior to arrival. However the smoking/non smoking requests are going to be blocked the day you arrive so they have the flexiblity to get you into a clean room when you arrive rather than block them all (unless you have other requests with it that have been accomodated). On the day of arrival the room assigner goes through them again to make sure that they are blocked in order and that nothing has been moved around (at that time they will go ahead and finish blocking the smoking/non requests). However, if you arrive before the room assigner has gotten that far (to blocking every reservation due in that day) the front desk cashier that is checking you in will be actually assigning your room, so you should always verify with them that perhaps you are looking for a non smoking/non handicap accessible room (they don't always look and might just ask you smoking or non and then try and find you a clean room upon your arrival).

I understand the frustration and it does not always work out perfect on our end either (thing do happen that can alter the pre-blocked room) but we do our best to make sure that we are blocking requests by creation date...

Another thing I would like to add is that the order the requests are input into the computer are the order of priority. So if you really really want a pool view, and smoking might be needed but not necessary make sure that they are put in that order as if they can only get one or two requests they are going to block the top requests (if you request smoking. high floor. pool view for instance...that is not possible at VWL as smoking is the 2nd floor and there are not any with a pool view so the only request you will get is your #1 request, which is smoking... Also the requests might not be possible. One that I can think of that doesn't seem to be that hard to accomodate is a dedicated 2 bedroom on the ground floor at VWL (this does not exist...I might seem to be a simple request, but the hotel does not have this...unless you are booked for a lock-off... there are no dedicate on ground floor)

I hope that helps...

 

[jennybobenny]

Last year around this time I called Member Services day by day to make our reservations for a std view 2 bedroom at BWV in Nov. 2001. The only 2 requests I made were non-smoking and to be close to the elevator -- partly because we're lazy ( ) and partly because I knew my mother would be recovering from total knee reconstruction surgery. I didn't claim the request was 'medically necessary' because it really wasn't (she'd be walking around the parks), plus, since I was making the request at exactly 11 months out I didn't think it would be too much of a problem.

Anyway, when we arrived on Nov. 25th we were assigned to a room facing MGM. I can't remember the number (4131?) but I do know there were only 1 or 2 rooms further from the elevators than ours. I about died. Not only was the request not honored (yes, I know it's not guaranteed) but it seemed like we were given the exact opposite! I politely called down to the front desk and asked if there was another room available. We were told to come back down to the lobby so we loaded up the sherpas and off we went. We were then assigned to rooms 1109/1111 which were still a bit of a hike, but the closest we were going to get. When we got to the rooms, housekeeping was still cleaning them, so back to the lobby we went. A mistake in the computer was the explanation. The rooms would be ready in about a half hour, which wasn't a problem - we sat on the veranda for a while and even did some grocery shopping at the Screen Door general store.

Moral of the story? Making a reservation at the 11 month mark doesn't necessarily mean your requests will be given higher priority.

On the plus side - we had a wonderful time. The rooms were in great shape and even though we were on the ground floor we had a fantastic view of the Illuminations fireworks from the patio of room 1111. Also, the convenience of getting to the pools and busstop through the ground floor exits more than made up for the lack of a 'balcony view'.