Disneyhappy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2000
- Messages
- 2,146
Let me preface this post with the fact that we started our trip with 6 nights at WDW with the worst heat I have ever experienced even though we go every July/August. We left BCV at WDW and checked in at RPR 9:30 AM to get our room key cards for FOTL. We were asked when we would be returning to the hotel and I advised DH and I would be returning around noon as I could not tolerate the heat any further. We had a Cabana booked that day so DH & I planned to hang there until the room was ready. We returned around noon and the room was not ready. No problem, we went to the club lounge to cool down and grab some drinks. Right when we walked in, a family was just leaving because they received a call that their room was ready which surprised them since they implied they just got there and were grabbing waters to go to the park. It made me hopeful that our room would soon be ready. DH and I checked to see if our room was ready before we went to our Cabana at around 12:30. The Cabana was great but we would have enjoyed it better if it had not been so dang hot but at least we had the shade and the fan! The fruit and service was great as usual! Our three other family members soon came back from the park and hung out by the pool/cabana. While I was sitting at the pool speaking to a woman, her DH came up and said their room was ready. The woman made a remark that they just arrived at the pool and didn't expect their room to be ready so quickly. I said she should count herself lucky as we checked in at 9:30 AM and were hoping for a call. The woman then remarked that they must have received priority treatment because they are in club level! 
The heat was really getting to me even though I was in the water a lot so I called to see if our room was ready and I was told no but they could put a rush on it. (Not sure what that meant but it sounded great to me!) This was around 1:30 PM. In the meantime, my DN 11 did not want to swim anymore and wanted to go inside. I was happy to take her to the club lounge and wait there where she watched TV, played on the computer and eventually fell asleep while I read my book. The rest of the family joined us by 3:30 PM, hoping to get into the room. By 4 PM, our room was still not ready and during my time in the lounge, 3 other families who checked in after us received calls that their rooms were ready. I was cool and content in the lounge and only slightly frustrated. My concern was that we had ressies for Emerils at 6 PM and 5 of us needed to get showered and dressed with or luggage in storage. Because of the long wait, it made me hopeful that we were assigned a pool view room as requested. This was about our 10th visit to RPR and I have requested a pool/park view and always get a highway view. (Not complaining as I know a view is not guaranteed but I thought this long wait was a good sign!) The club lounge TM called again at 4:30 and our room still was not ready. I then cancelled our dinner ressies and DH and I decided to go down to the front desk to speak with a manager. As we were heading down the hall, a family and their luggage were heading to their room. We saw them checking in at 12:30 PM when we inquired about our room at the front desk. That was when frustration really hit DH. I was frustrated but not still objective. We were waiting in line for about 15 minutes to speak to a manager when my cell phone rang at 4:50 PM that our room was ready. I thanked the TM but conveyed that we were standing in line to speak with a manager and would still like to speak with one. The TM came out to speak with us as the manager was busy but she would make sure the manager would speak with us. DH let me do most of the talking as he recognized he was too frustrated. In what I hoped was a very courteous manner, I explained up front that we were not looking for anything but I felt they needed to be aware of our experience. I pointed out that we were totally aware that check-in was after 4 PM and the hotel was fully booked. They had our full understanding and sympathy for that. I then went to explain that our frustration was that we were aware of at least 5 families that checked in after us (that we were aware of) and were given their rooms before us. I assumed that rooms would be prepared in order by which people checked in, or at least an attempt to do so. The rush on the room means nothing according to the TM. She did acknowledge that they do try to prepare rooms in the order that people check in and she did not know what happened with us, especially since we had made so many calls and were assured that housekeeping was working on our room. We thanked her for listening and indicated that we still felt it was important to speak with the manager as I know how important customer service is to businesses. I told the TM it could be via phone call later or provide me with the manager's email address and I would email later. I understood how very busy they were and did not want to monopolize her time. As we were walking away, the TM caught up with us and made us a very generous offer for the inconvenience. We thanked her and declined but she was persistent until DH accepted. (I prefer not to state what it was.) We made it too our room by 5:15 showered and had a great time at the Studios that evening. The manager called and left a message. We played phone tag but did finally catch each other the next night. She listened and thanked us for our feed back. During this conversation, I mentioned that our Loews gift had not arrived. We finally received the gift at 10:30 pm the night before we were leaving for home and we were all in our jammies watching TV in bed to prepare for our early flight the next day.
Obviously this was not our best stay at RPR but it will not deter us from returning. If we had not had to cancel our dinner ressies because we assumed we would be in the room by 4 PM, we probably would not have said anything. We still love the resort and even with our frustration, the staff we so pleasant that it definitely took the edge off of DHs frustration. I dont know whether our expectation was right or wrong for our room to be prepared in the order of check in (to the extent that is possible) but their listening without making excuses was perfect customer service. This is a very lovely resort and is an incredible value compared to WDW deluxe resorts. The pool and amenities are fantastic and the staff is top notch.
By the way, we again received a view of the highway. I am of the mind that persistence pays off so we am not giving up yet and will keep trying!!!
The heat was really getting to me even though I was in the water a lot so I called to see if our room was ready and I was told no but they could put a rush on it. (Not sure what that meant but it sounded great to me!) This was around 1:30 PM. In the meantime, my DN 11 did not want to swim anymore and wanted to go inside. I was happy to take her to the club lounge and wait there where she watched TV, played on the computer and eventually fell asleep while I read my book. The rest of the family joined us by 3:30 PM, hoping to get into the room. By 4 PM, our room was still not ready and during my time in the lounge, 3 other families who checked in after us received calls that their rooms were ready. I was cool and content in the lounge and only slightly frustrated. My concern was that we had ressies for Emerils at 6 PM and 5 of us needed to get showered and dressed with or luggage in storage. Because of the long wait, it made me hopeful that we were assigned a pool view room as requested. This was about our 10th visit to RPR and I have requested a pool/park view and always get a highway view. (Not complaining as I know a view is not guaranteed but I thought this long wait was a good sign!) The club lounge TM called again at 4:30 and our room still was not ready. I then cancelled our dinner ressies and DH and I decided to go down to the front desk to speak with a manager. As we were heading down the hall, a family and their luggage were heading to their room. We saw them checking in at 12:30 PM when we inquired about our room at the front desk. That was when frustration really hit DH. I was frustrated but not still objective. We were waiting in line for about 15 minutes to speak to a manager when my cell phone rang at 4:50 PM that our room was ready. I thanked the TM but conveyed that we were standing in line to speak with a manager and would still like to speak with one. The TM came out to speak with us as the manager was busy but she would make sure the manager would speak with us. DH let me do most of the talking as he recognized he was too frustrated. In what I hoped was a very courteous manner, I explained up front that we were not looking for anything but I felt they needed to be aware of our experience. I pointed out that we were totally aware that check-in was after 4 PM and the hotel was fully booked. They had our full understanding and sympathy for that. I then went to explain that our frustration was that we were aware of at least 5 families that checked in after us (that we were aware of) and were given their rooms before us. I assumed that rooms would be prepared in order by which people checked in, or at least an attempt to do so. The rush on the room means nothing according to the TM. She did acknowledge that they do try to prepare rooms in the order that people check in and she did not know what happened with us, especially since we had made so many calls and were assured that housekeeping was working on our room. We thanked her for listening and indicated that we still felt it was important to speak with the manager as I know how important customer service is to businesses. I told the TM it could be via phone call later or provide me with the manager's email address and I would email later. I understood how very busy they were and did not want to monopolize her time. As we were walking away, the TM caught up with us and made us a very generous offer for the inconvenience. We thanked her and declined but she was persistent until DH accepted. (I prefer not to state what it was.) We made it too our room by 5:15 showered and had a great time at the Studios that evening. The manager called and left a message. We played phone tag but did finally catch each other the next night. She listened and thanked us for our feed back. During this conversation, I mentioned that our Loews gift had not arrived. We finally received the gift at 10:30 pm the night before we were leaving for home and we were all in our jammies watching TV in bed to prepare for our early flight the next day.Obviously this was not our best stay at RPR but it will not deter us from returning. If we had not had to cancel our dinner ressies because we assumed we would be in the room by 4 PM, we probably would not have said anything. We still love the resort and even with our frustration, the staff we so pleasant that it definitely took the edge off of DHs frustration. I dont know whether our expectation was right or wrong for our room to be prepared in the order of check in (to the extent that is possible) but their listening without making excuses was perfect customer service. This is a very lovely resort and is an incredible value compared to WDW deluxe resorts. The pool and amenities are fantastic and the staff is top notch.
By the way, we again received a view of the highway. I am of the mind that persistence pays off so we am not giving up yet and will keep trying!!!
Good for you!
