So what do you do if your room isn't ready by 4?

[Shadeaux]

I have some old reservation confirmation papers that state check in is 4pm. Does anyone remember when they changed the wording to say AFTER 4pm?

 

[joandegennaro]

What time does mousekeeping start? Do they stagger staff so that early check out rooms say 5-6 am have staff to clean them. Also do guests notify Mousekeeping? I know for myself last March was our first stay on friends points and we didn't think to notify Mousekeeping of our early departure. Only after reading a post here did it occur to me that I should do this on future trips. Express check out means the front desk doesn't know when you actually vacate the room. A quick call to mousekeeping before you leave does. It may have been the guest before me notifying mousekeeping that allowed us to get our room at 7:45 am. What a pleasant surprise it was to have our room so early. Not something we will expect on future visits. Also I think the size of the villa will also play a major role in turn over. A studio should take much less time to turn over than a 1 or 2 bedroom.

 

[toocherie]

I guess I am in the minority here. I think that it is ridiculous that DVC now has checkin as after 4:00 instead of at 4:00.

Agree completely!

I just checked in on Friday to the Grand Californian villas in a 2-bedroom and got the usual "after 4 p.m." spiel. I actually went and checked in prior to going to work (I'm local). Our issue was that we were going to the Mickey's Halloween Party that night and if we got in at 5 or 6 that was not going to give us time to get changed, get to dinner reservation and get to the party. I know, because the same thing happened two weeks prior and we ended up not wearing costumes. (not the end of the world, but . . . . )

The CM at the front desk made what I thought was the most bone-headed comment: "housekeeping has a schedule and we can't rush them" REALLY? You can't re-prioritize which villas get cleaned first? Really? I even asked if I could pay extra to get moved up on the list and was told they have no system for that.

By 2:15 I had come back to the resort and my other friends who were staying in the villa were waiting in the lobby. I brought back a bouquet of balloons because it was one of my friend's birthday. A CM noticed and came over and we chatted--when she found out we were waiting for our villa, and found out we had checked in at 9 a.m. she took my name and said "I'll go check." She came back 10 minutes later and "voila!" our Villa was ready. (and I know it was the same one because they showed me on a map where it was going to be).

Now, I suspect that our villa had been ready for quite some time. When we went up there were no housekeepers in that area at all--they were at the other end of the hall. For some reason, I just don't think they want people in the rooms "early"--maybe because moving in luggage would be in the way of the housekeepers or for whatever reason. But our 2-bedroom wasn't magically cleaned in 10 minutes (I do know it takes time).

I am checking in Friday to a Treehouse Villa. We get in at 6:30 a.m. (red-eye) and I am completely prepared not to expect to be in until at least 5 p.m. It's one of the two handicapped THVs so unless it was vacant the night before (unlikely) I'm sure it won't be ready early. Oh well--we purposely didn't make ADRs or plan anything so what will be will be.

 

[jekjones1558]

Now, I suspect that our villa had been ready for quite some time. When we went up there were no housekeepers in that area at all--they were at the other end of the hall. For some reason, I just don't think they want people in the rooms "early"--maybe because moving in luggage would be in the way of the housekeepers or for whatever reason. But our 2-bedroom wasn't magically cleaned in 10 minutes (I do know it takes time).

Several years ago I started noticing a pattern like this. The last couple of years we started booking a HA BW view every time. There is only one BW view 1 bedroom so I always know what our room # will be. The mousekeeper there is always the same and we know and love her, so (putting on my flame suit ) I now just go to see if our room is ready, even if I am told it is not. Most of the time it is ready even if we are told otherwise. I don't know where the glitch is in this system, but there definitely is one.

 

[Dean]

But as more guests decide they will go ahead and pay for the extra night, it may mean that more guests will have nowhere at all to stay.

In the short term that's true, but as word gets around, it will be better long term. What will happen is people will ask MS and on check in and call later about checking out late. They'll be told about that charges are actually happening. It'll get discussed around the pool and on BBS and email lists. Plus the charges can and likely will be full rack rates. Trust me, if they do this consistently, it will get better, much better.

I have some old reservation confirmation papers that state check in is 4pm. Does anyone remember when they changed the wording to say AFTER 4pm?

I'm thinking 7-9 years ago. If anyone wants to go through the Vacation Magics to see, more power to them. LOL.

They charged them for the late check out - they did not give them another night in the room. Sorry I was not clear.. Vero was full, as we had already asked at the desk when we had checked in ourselves, so I am sure they were in a bind with guests not vacating at the appointed time.

I suspect the point that Deb was making was that once charged, they have no more incentive to vacate early as I doubt they'll charge them above or call the authorities for the part of a day.

 

[skelooch]

I have some old reservation confirmation papers that state check in is 4pm. Does anyone remember when they changed the wording to say AFTER 4pm?

This is what the member website says on the subject.

When you arrive at your Disney Vacation Club Resort, you'll find a designated Online Check-In Service location at the Front Desk, so you can get your keys and welcome folder quickly and be on your way.

As a reminder, rooms typically are available for occupancy beginning at 4 p.m. Disney Vacation Club Resorts will try to honor special requests, subject to availability.

 

[Shadeaux]

This is what the member website says on the subject.

When you arrive at your Disney Vacation Club Resort, you'll find a designated Online Check-In Service location at the Front Desk, so you can get your keys and welcome folder quickly and be on your way.

As a reminder, rooms typically are available for occupancy beginning at 4 p.m. Disney Vacation Club Resorts will try to honor special requests, subject to availability.

I know what the policy is now. I was just curious if anyone remembered when they changed it. It used to be check in was at 4 p.m.....the wording changed to after 4 p.m. several years ago.

 

[crisi]

I guess I am in the minority here. I think that it is ridiculous that DVC now has checkin as after 4:00 instead of at 4:00. 10:00 PM is after 4:00 so is that okay also? As long as DVC refuses to enforce 11:00 checkout there will be way too many late checkins. I blame DVC management just as much as I blame selfish guests. Slap a $250 fine on late checkouts and pass it along to the guests who are forced to wait past 4:00 for a room. I am usually not a harsh person but this is an issue which really gets my goat (as you can tell).

I agree with you, but the reality is that we plan for our room not to be ready until the evening. Because as much as I would LIKE a guarenteed 4pm check in - or even a guarenteed 2 pm checking when we arrive - I know that there is a chance we won't be in our room until 5 or 6 or later - and all of the standing at the front desk being upset, or wishing Disney would enforce their own rules, or wishing Disney could efficiently clean won't change that. It might get us a credit, or a chocolate basket - but its much better for us just to plan to not be able to check in until late.

 

[dclfun]

I agree that there should be a charge for guests who do not vacate their room on time. Unless there are extreme circumstances such as an illness, then there's no reason someone can't be out by 11 am, esp. since bell services will take and store luggage. I remember though one time sitting around in the lobby at BWV's at 5:00 pm with bags of groceries. We felt really out of place with all six of us sitting there and were getting more and more annoyed with each passing minute. Finally someone came over and said we could head up to our room as he thought the housekeeper must've just forgotten to press the notification button that our room was ready. Lo and behold we got to our room- the one at the very end of the hall- only to find the housekeeper sitting on the sofa with her legs up on the coffee table munching on an apple and watching a soap opera! Later we found more apples in the ice bucket, lol. Needless to say she jumped up really quickly when we came in. I wonder how long she'd been taking her break while we sat in the lobby?---Kathy

 

[nytimez]

Later we found more apples in the ice bucket

She didn't happen to look like this, did she?

 

[twinklebug]

I agree that there should be a charge for guests who do not vacate their room on time. Unless there are extreme circumstances such as an illness, then there's no reason someone can't be out by 11 am, esp. since bell services will take and store luggage. I remember though one time sitting around in the lobby at BWV's at 5:00 pm with bags of groceries. We felt really out of place with all six of us sitting there and were getting more and more annoyed with each passing minute. Finally someone came over and said we could head up to our room as he thought the housekeeper must've just forgotten to press the notification button that our room was ready. Lo and behold we got to our room- the one at the very end of the hall- only to find the housekeeper sitting on the sofa with her legs up on the coffee table munching on an apple and watching a soap opera! Later we found more apples in the ice bucket, lol. Needless to say she jumped up really quickly when we came in. I wonder how long she'd been taking her break while we sat in the lobby?---Kathy

That's a head scratcher. First off, someone should have taken the walk to check out the room before telling you to go up. At first glance it seems she was goofing off, but then, the housekeeper could have been on a legitimate break. I'm not sure if they have a break room for the employees or what the expectations are. I probably would have let it go, but if it was 5pm, I might have asked to speak with the hotel manager (assuming he/she controls the day to day issues in the DVC rooms also) as they should be made aware of what was found in the room on entry.

We came back to our room in VWL around 10pm one night (cash room, turn down requested) to find the housekeeper in the bathroom using the facilities. That was odd too, but things happen.

With late assigned rooms, I'll stand by my statement that DVC needs to own and keep a spare room available to work around problems. 5pm room assignment is not a problem. 10pm is.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I agree with you, but the reality is that we plan for our room not to be ready until the evening. Because as much as I would LIKE a guarenteed 4pm check in - or even a guarenteed 2 pm checking when we arrive - I know that there is a chance we won't be in our room until 5 or 6 or later - and all of the standing at the front desk being upset, or wishing Disney would enforce their own rules, or wishing Disney could efficiently clean won't change that. It might get us a credit, or a chocolate basket - but its much better for us just to plan to not be able to check in until late.

Absolutely, and that's why we always head for a park and wait for the call that our room is ready.

 

[TinklednPants]

I find it absurd that rooms sometimes are not available until after 4P and sometimes as late as 8 or 9.
In fact, I'm of the belief that when this occurs some points should be reimbursed. After all you are only getting 13 or 14 hrs use of the room.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I also do not accept the idea that it is okay to be left hanging with regard to when I get into my room. I don't blame anyone but management.

The idea that I will get my room 'sometime after 4' is ridiculous to me. Why should I pay to get my room at 6pm, while another guest gets one at 2pm???

I checked into BWV after 9pm last night. My room should have been ready and in order. It wasn't. I'm still steamed. I booked 11 months ago.

Every guest who arrives within the rules should get the same level of service. At the bare minimum a clean room at 4. Location(except for booking categories), floor level, style of room - not the issue.

What should they do for me? Don't let this happen to me or any future guest. I'm not willing to compromise to save a few pennies on housekeeping dues. Hire quality help and enough of them to get the job done in the time that is available. If I pay to have a quality vacation in my villa I expect my visit to go well from the start.

I certainly hope you're going to contact the DVC member satisfaction team. It would be interesting to hear what they have to say.
We've only had to wait until after 4:00 once. On our most recent BCV trip, our room wasn't ready at check-in (3:00), so we went to Beaches and Cream. When we came back at 5:30, it still wasn't ready, so the CM (who'd been the same one at 3:00) reassigned us to a room that was ready at that time. I certainly hope you didn't have to wait until 9:00 with young kids, or after a very early flight when you were super-tired. I'd be steamed!

 

[tjkraz]

With late assigned rooms, I'll stand by my statement that DVC needs to own and keep a spare room available to work around problems.

Problem is one room isn't sufficient. Most resorts have multiple booking categories/views. AKV alone has 6. And then you've got 4 different villa sizes, not even counting things like lockoff vs. dedicated rooms where many guests expect to get exactly what is listed on the confirmation.

Reports of extremely late entry are few and far between so I don't think they are nearly as commonplace as some may believe by reading this thread. But they DO happen and many times the resort is caught between a rock and a hard place.

Housekeeper walks into a room at 3pm expecting to be done cleaning by 4pm. But she discovers mud tracked on the carpet or water from a leaky dishwasher. Or perhaps the last guest smoked in the room / balcony and it needs to be put through whatever intense cleaning processes they have.

DVC resorts are designed to run at 100% occupancy--we all know that. The resort has the choice of either allowing a guest into an obviously sub-standard room or spending a couple of extra hours to correct the problem. Having one extra villa available isn't going to help if the spare is a lockoff 2B with a Lake View and the room in need of extra attention is a dedicated 2B with a Magic Kingdom view.

Not to mention that setting aside more rooms for occasional maintenance substitutes means fewer rooms available for members to book.

Charging departing guests is certainly a debatable topic but it isn't going to eliminate the problems. There are plenty of disclaimers regarding smoking penalties but people do it anyway. Dishwashers break.

I really don't know what else we can reasonably expect of resort management.

 

[TisBit]

I agree with the PP's that things will happen and rooms might not be ready by 4 pm. We need to expect this and be flexible. The idea that if one person gets a room at 9 am or 2 pm means all the rooms are ready is just silly. Rooms roll over and there are going to be times of heavy check out/in days that housekeepers can't get all the rooms done quickly. While this issue comes up occasionally, it does not appear to be epidemic in proportion and most members get into their rooms in timely manners.

It sucks to get a later check in, but sometimes you get the short end of the stick. I also find it unacceptable for delayed flights or overbooked flights, but what are you going to do. I have even worked at 5 star hotels that overbook and we had to "walk" guests to other hotels (often times not even same quality) and it sucked, but no system is perfect and no service industy is going to please everybody.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

BWV is the only resort to not have a room ready till after 5pm no matter when we arrive (generally bet. 11-2pm), it's happened 2 out of 4 times, so we either go shopping, hit the pool, or go to Epcot. Otherwise, we arrive around 1pm and the villas at all other resorts have always been ready!

 

[zalansky]

I guess I am in the minority here. I think that it is ridiculous that DVC now has checkin as after 4:00 instead of at 4:00. 10:00 PM is after 4:00 so is that okay also? As long as DVC refuses to enforce 11:00 checkout there will be way too many late checkins. I blame DVC management just as much as I blame selfish guests. Slap a $250 fine on late checkouts and pass it along to the guests who are forced to wait past 4:00 for a room. I am usually not a harsh person but this is an issue which really gets my goat (as you can tell).

Thank you! I am seeing posts excusing DVC for an after 4pm check-in. I don't get that at all! Just because they word it that way does NOT mean they should be allowed to let you check in hours after 4pm. Thats total BS. If a cash paying guest was told that ridiculous excuse, how do you think that would go over? Why should we be treated any differently? We've paid dearly for our points and continue to for our dues and my money is just as good as a cash paying guest. I don't care how their little blurb reads, if they try and put me in any room after 4:00, I will not just accept that and smile. Unacceptable!

 

[kikiq]

Over the last two years, we have used our DVC more than anticipated and have stayed at a variety of resorts. We usually arrive on the red eye from the west coast and are sitting in the resort lobby usually by 8 am. Usually check in, check our bags and head to a park. At AKV, we arrived at 8, checked in and I left for DTD to get sandwiches from EOS. When I returned at 11, my DD had slept a couple of hours and was entertaining a family that had also checked in early. Our studio was ready at 1pm. At SSR, we've been lucky to get in at 3pm but usually sometime around 4pm. At OKW, the studio wasn't ready until 4:30pm and at BWV, it wasn't ready until 5 pm. This upcoming trip will be the first time we will have spent the day traveling, and probably will get to SSR around 5:30pm. The villa should be ready...we'll see.

We rented Colorado timeshares while our DDs were young and I do remember one that had a check in of 5 pm. The condos weren't ever ready before 4 pm.

 

[twinklebug]

VWL has nice couches in the villa lobby as well as a few big leather chairs around the corner in the iron spike room that are comffzzzzz...

Just sayin'