Some Still Photos of OKW Refurb Studio

[Chuck S]

Here is a photo of the new Studio carpet. I can't imagine this color will hold up well to stains and spills. There was a blob of hot glue just in front of one of the beds, near where they seamed the carpet together. No doubt from either a messy seaming iron or a careless carpet installer.

Here is the new painted and recovered chairs:

The repainted headboard,new bedspread, blue wall (same color as the OKW Fiesta-ware blue mugs). You can see the headboard is deep brown, as opposed to how dark blue it looked in the video that had been posted. ANd you can see the walls are blue and blue.

The repainted TV stand/chest of drawers:

The new drapes, still using the wooden slat blinds. You can see the two shades of blue used for the walls, with eggshell trim and ceiling:

And here you can see the now useless HSIA outlet that has been sealed with a glued in plug. The internet connection is now behind the bed-stand only. If you want to use a laptop while sitting at the table, you must bring a wireless router. When I first saw that the outlets were sealed, I had hoped OKW had upgraded to wireless...no such luck, and no instructions in the room as to where the connection is now located. It is not marked in any way.

Those are all the photos I took of the room...but you can get a general idea of the major changes.

Bathroom is unchanged, except it had been painted all eggshell. All the original tile on floor and walls.

The only noticeable change to the kitchenette was the granite counter top.

I preferred the original color scheme, as it matched into the theme of "Old Key West" better, the new colors are nice, just better suited (IMO) for a beach theme than a laid back Key West theme.

 

[spiceycat]

thank you!

so do you need to move the night stand to use the internet?

sorry have only used the one by the table and this would be upsetting to me.

really liked the green and peach too. guess DVC got hired of the old comments and went with something completely different.

is there Mickey Mouse hidden anywhere?

 

[Brave teacher]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Chuck S]

thank you!

so do you need to move the night stand to use the internet?

sorry have only used the one by the table and this would be upsetting to me.

really liked the green and peach too. guess DVC got hired of the old comments and went with something completely different.

is there Mickey Mouse hidden anywhere?

I had to move the night stand out to reach the cable, which seems to be permanently attached to the modem/router for the room, attached my router, then pushed the nghtstand back into place putting my router on the night stand. Oh, they are the same night stands, they have been repainted to the lighter shade, like the chairs, and have new handles.

The mickeys are the same, where some, not all buildings/rooms have mickeys in the outside stairway bannisters and patio bannisters.

I wonder if they plugged the HSIA ports in the one bedrooms? If so, the access point will most likely be in the living room, behind the big corner table between couch and loveseat. Of course, they could be planning on eventually going wireless throughout the resort.

I have to say, I'm happy they did not spend the money to buy all new furniture, and instead repainted what was there. It is well built, and it would've probably been lesser quality if they had replaced it. The bed frames no longer have the foot boards, so less toe-stubbing

 

[dianeschlicht]

UGH, I was hoping the bad video was responsible for my not liking the first views, but I have to say I am more than a little disappointed at the "95%" rehab. If they just painted the old furniture, how the heck does that make it 95%? They kept the old furniture, the old cabinets, the old tile etc etc. This looks more like a 50% refurb than 95%. On top of it all, they took away the Key West character to the theme. NOT liking what I see at all. That carpet makes no sense to the theme at all. What does orthoganal tan have to do with it?

I can't understand why they would take away the internet connection by the table either. It makes no sense to put it by the nightstand.

 

[Chuck S]

UGH, I was hoping the bad video was responsible for my not liking the first views, but I have to say I am more than a little disappointed at the "95%" rehab. If they just painted the old furniture, how the heck does that make it 95%? They kept the old furniture, the old cabinets, the old tile etc etc. This looks more like a 50% refurb than 95%. On top of it all, they took away the Key West character to the theme. NOT liking what I see at all. That carpet makes no sense to the theme at all. What does orthoganal tan have to do with it?

I can't understand why they would take away the internet connection by the table either. It makes no sense to put it by the nightstand.

They were starting work on your favorite buildings, Diane. 45 was gutted and waiting for paint on the walls.

 

[Deb & Bill]

They were starting work on your favorite buildings, Diane. 45 was gutted and waiting for paint on the walls.

We walked around the back of Bldg 45 on Thursday and looked through the windows on the villa on the end. The dark brown touches don't look that good, especially since they didn't do anything to the kitchen cabinets or wooden blinds. The carpet didn't look so bad and the fabric on the top of the small bench/chest (where our son gets to store his clothes on our trips) wasn't too bad.

We started to walk to the front door, but someone called us on it. Should have brought my hardhat along on the trip.

I agree with you Diane, about the 50% renovation. They used a lot of paint and fabric and that's about it.

I'm just glad they didn't use the same decorator as BLT, though.

By the way, Chuck, do you have a personalized license plate? Our son saw one with OKW1991 or DVC1991 on it and I thought it might be yours.

 

[Chuck S]

We walked around the back of Bldg 45 on Thursday and looked through the windows on the villa on the end. The dark brown touches don't look that good, especially since they didn't do anything to the kitchen cabinets or wooden blinds. The carpet didn't look so bad and the fabric on the top of the small bench/chest (where our son gets to store his clothes on our trips) wasn't too bad.

We started to walk to the front door, but someone called us on it. Should have brought my hardhat along on the trip.

I agree with you Diane, about the 50% renovation. They used a lot of paint and fabric and that's about it.

I'm just glad they didn't use the same decorator as BLT, though.

By the way, Chuck, do you have a personalized license plate? Our son saw one with OKW1991 or DVC1991 on it and I thought it might be yours.

No, I don't have a special plate, just a plain ol' Texas plate. We were in unit 4010, and left OKW about 8:40 Thursday morning.

 

[Deb & Bill]

No, I don't have a special plate, just a plain ol' Texas plate. We were in unit 4010, and left OKW about 8:40 Thursday morning.

Must have been someone else. We were in 5513 and left Friday morning about 8AM.

 

[dianeschlicht]

They were starting work on your favorite buildings, Diane. 45 was gutted and waiting for paint on the walls.

Aha, so maybe if I request that for my December trip, I might get to experience it first hand and be able to see how we feel about the refurb. If I get the same unit I had two times last year and that same door is still broken, I'm really going to wonder!

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Thanks for posting the pictures. Would you know which units have been completed so far?

 

[Chuck S]

As far as I know, most of the Turtle Pond area bldgs are either completed or currently closed for refurbishment.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Well, my theory about them doing the interior refurb in the same order they did the exterior seems to be holding true. Funny that they didn't start with the oldest buildings, but they started at Turtle Pond, just like they did with exteriors.

 

[castleri]

I really like blue but am among those who are not seeing this change as a good thing. I loved the old colors and light wood. Will reserve final opinion until seeing it in person but am not too optimistic.

 

[dianeschlicht]

To me it looks kind of "standard hotel" instead of Old Key West theme.

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

I'll always love OKW but count me among the disappointed! OKW theming does not mean any ole' ocean theming...it means OLD KEY WEST decor! Just because the walls are now ocean blue & the fabric depicts sea life, that does NOT equal OKW theming!!! What were they thinking?

But thanks for the pix!

 

[CarolAnnC]

LOL @ the toe-stubbing footboards! My one complaint when we stayed in there, so glad they are gone!

The plugged internet outlet is a pain though. DH uses a CP machine so that night table will always be taken up with the machinery. But, we rarely stay in a studio so not important for us directly, but may impact lots of other folks.

Hope they do go to wireless..

Thanks for sharing the pix Chuck!

 

[Deb & Bill]

LOL @ the toe-stubbing footboards! My one complaint when we stayed in there, so glad they are gone!...

Count me as one who liked the footboard on the beds. I use it at night to get back into my side of the bed when I get up to go to the bathroom. I have to close the bathroom door when I exit the toilet room because the light coming in from the frosted window is too distracting for me. So the room is real dark. With the angle in the room past the tub into the sleeping area, I can grab the footboard and find my way back to the bed without running into anything.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I'll always love OKW but count me among the disappointed! OKW theming does not mean any ole' ocean theming...it means OLD KEY WEST decor! Just because the walls are now ocean blue & the fabric depicts sea life, that does NOT equal OKW theming!!! What were they thinking?

But thanks for the pix!

I agree. If they were sticking to the OKW theme, the bedspreads would look like someone's grandma pieced together lots of print fabrics. That at least would be in keeping with the seaside victorian era theme.

 

[Chuck S]

To me it looks kind of "standard hotel" instead of Old Key West theme.

Exactly! It doesn't feel as welcoming and "homey." Might as well be a Residence Inn or any other suite chain.