The good the bad the ugly of OKW renovations (update pg 13)

[dianeschlicht]

Hmmmm....our coffee table had a slightly different (uglier) pattern.

Yep, that looks like our aqua and cream alligator too!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I think we need to call the ATF and DEA. Someone is doing some really strange drugs at DVC.

 

[JudithM]

That is about what our coffee table looked like, too.

 

[Shadeaux]

That is about what our coffee table looked like, too.

Which one?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Which one?

You mean, Ugly #1 or Ugly #2.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Which one?

ALL of them!

 

[Laurabearz]

I agree with everything you said Diane...

I esp hated the new flooring, both in color and feel.

 

[MELSMICE]

We are here now a in 2BR. We actually like the renovations.

We're not crazy about the color of the valances in the living area & I'm not impressed with the handles on the cupboards, but those are so minor. As far as the floor, I think it will wear much better than the rug did. We like it. Spills will wipe up easily.

I did like the shabby chic look on the bathroom walls previously, but I would think that it's easier to maintain it with the way it's painted now. All they have to do is touch up an area that gets damaged. With the older "design" that would be difficult to do.

I like the darker headboards. The only thing I don't like about the new beds is that you can't put anything underneath them. We always put our empty luggage under the beds.

One of our roman shade mechanisms is already broken. We called engineering but they haven't taken care of it yet.

Anyway, all in all, we are happy with the renovations.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I'm worried about those roman shade mechanisms! They are such a PITA to use, and seem rather puny besides. I finally gave up and just kept ours at half mast so they were low enough to give us some privacy, but high enough to give us some light.

 

[MELSMICE]

I'm worried about those roman shade mechanisms! They are such a PITA to use, and seem rather puny besides. I finally gave up and just kept ours at half mast so they were low enough to give us some privacy, but high enough to give us some light.

I have to agree with you on that. The shades are nice, the mechanisms seem very cheap. We thought maybe if they were longer it would be better because you wouldn't have to pull so many times, but are wondering if they made them shorter for "little hands" that could damage them. With one being broken already it seems that there will definitely be issues with them.

I also have to say that the sleeper chair is for a midget!!!! One of my DD's wanted to sleep in it last night. It's seriously for a small child. She put the foot ottoman at the bottom of it. Maybe that's what you're supposed to do?????

Oh - & they should have repainted the frame of the mirror in the master bedroom. Everything else got painted dark, but that is still blue.....at least in this unit.

Other than a few small details, we like the look of the new renovations. I don't think they're perfect, but it's refreshing to see something different. Everything else was getting very worn & it was time. Oh, hang on, the coffee table..........dumb idea...........it's looks pretty cheesy!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Actually, I too like the dark refinish work they did on the furniture (other than the coffee table), but I don't think the "style" fits the theme. I think the most disappointing thing to me was how cheap it all looks now. It no longer has that "high end" feel to it that the nice tile kitchen floor had. Granted, it would look fine if it was real wood, but I do understand why that is not practical here. On the other hand, I think just having it installed properly would have gone a long way in making me accept it more. All the bumps, hills, valleys and sloppiness of it made it just look that much cheaper.

Oh, and if this was a 90% redo, I'll eat my hat! In my book, 90% means most everything is changed. Since they didn't change the fixtures, hardware, or cabinets, I wouldn't call it 90%.

I'm glad to see them being economical by reusing most of the furniture and recycling it that way, but couldn't they have at least painted the cabinets and changed the hardware to make them feel updated too? My other complaint is that they didn't correct the missmatched hardware. The past few years I've been disappointed that when a piece of hardware broke at OKW, it was replaced with something that was a different metal. That meant we had some chrome door levers on bronze or antique brass escutchens and different hinges etc. I was looking forward to all that stuff matching again, but our unit certainly hadn't done that. We still had antique bronze pulls on the cabinets and closet doors, but our unit had a chrome door level on one side of the bathroom door, and bronze on the other side. That is certainly not the way I would repair and maintain my own home, and I hate to see my vacation home maintained that way. It just looks tacky. Oh, and those painted tiles in the bathroom.....

 

[MELSMICE]

Actually, I too like the dark refinish work they did on the furniture (other than the coffee table), but I don't think the "style" fits the theme. I think the most disappointing thing to me was how cheap it all looks now. It no longer has that "high end" feel to it that the nice tile kitchen floor had. Granted, it would look fine if it was real wood, but I do understand why that is not practical here. On the other hand, I think just having it installed properly would have gone a long way in making me accept it more. All the bumps, hills, valleys and sloppiness of it made it just look that much cheaper.

Oh, and if this was a 90% redo, I'll eat my hat! In my book, 90% means most everything is changed. Since they didn't change the fixtures, hardware, or cabinets, I wouldn't call it 90%.

I'm glad to see them being economical by reusing most of the furniture and recycling it that way, but couldn't they have at least painted the cabinets and changed the hardware to make them feel updated too? My other complaint is that they didn't correct the missmatched hardware. The past few years I've been disappointed that when a piece of hardware broke at OKW, it was replaced with something that was a different metal. That meant we had some chrome door levers on bronze or antique brass escutchens and different hinges etc. I was looking forward to all that stuff matching again, but our unit certainly hadn't done that. We still had antique bronze pulls on the cabinets and closet doors, but our unit had a chrome door level on one side of the bathroom door, and bronze on the other side. That is certainly not the way I would repair and maintain my own home, and I hate to see my vacation home maintained that way. It just looks tacky. Oh, and those painted tiles in the bathroom.....

I do agree with some of these things. I never noticed mismatched hardware. I'll have to take a closer look.

Our floor is OK. No bumps or anything.

I also didn't notice the painted bathroom tiles. I'll have to check that out also.

 

[jodifla]

In the actual town of Key West, the older houses all had wood floors and many dark wood pieces of furniture, so that's actually keeping with the theme.

 

[Inkmahm]

I don't like the new thermostats, they really need a heat/cool switch for this weather.

I agree. I've never had so much trouble with trying to keep a room at a reasonable temperature as at OKW. It would be comfy one minute and then I'd be freezing the next. Or sweating. I didn't get a good night's sleep even one night in the week we were there because I kept waking up due to uncomfortable temperatures in our room.

 

[Shadeaux]

The thermostats at OKW used to work great. Never had a problem until our trip last month. Why the heck did they change something that has worked fine for years? Like Inkmahm, I was either freezing or sweating at night.

 

[jekjones1558]

The thermostats at OKW used to work great. Never had a problem until our trip last month. Why the heck did they change something that has worked fine for years? Like Inkmahm, I was either freezing or sweating at night.

I don't get this either. The old thermostats were left at BWV when it was renovated last year, so why the decision to replace those at OKW?

 

[MELSMICE]

I don't get this either. The old thermostats were left at BWV when it was renovated last year, so why the decision to replace those at OKW?

We're not having a problem with the thermostat. We just set it to the temp we want & either the air goes on or the heat goes on.

 

[JWG]

We're not having a problem with the thermostat. We just set it to the temp we want & either the air goes on or the heat goes on.

We've noticed a couple of things with these thermostats during our stay last week (first we've seen them having been at BWV and OKW prior).

1) They're sensored, so during teh day (and even at night when sleeping) they may kick off causing rooms to get very warm or cold depending. Since it was moderate out (30-65) last week it never meant much to us.

2) The turnover from A/C to heat can be extreme. It seems like (at AKV at least) there is no fan speed other than "jet engine" high. It would be blasting hot air and all of a sudden switch to equally harsh cold air once the temperature hit its point.

That being said, #1 can at least be covered off by searching "thermostat override" here.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We're not having a problem with the thermostat. We just set it to the temp we want & either the air goes on or the heat goes on.

We had the freezing/sweating issue too. I suspect part of the issue was that we were there during some pretty extreme temperature changes a couple weeks ago.

 

[dmoore22]

We are currently in a studio in Building 14. It's a third floor unit with a nice few and convenient to HH. I must concur with many of the previous comments regarding the renovations. Regarding the "dark" wood I can't make up my mind if they are attempting to replicate mahogany, a tropical wood, with a faux aged varnish effect or the dark oak stain so popular in the early to mid-70s. If I think mahogany I can live with it. The paint does reflect the hues in the pictures on the walls however the mat board still has the original colors so it does clash. If the curtains included the tropical pink/peach as opposed to the beige it might have worked. The loss of storage under the beds has been a tremendous inconvenience. The roman shades -- my daughter cut herself opening them. The blinds were more user friendly and allowed more control over the sunlight entering the room. With the blinds you still had a sense of privacy while affording a view. With the shades it seems to be all or nothing. If open, no privacy. The carpeting looks okay but feels as if there is no carpet pad underneath. The acoustic dynamics has changed. In the past we seldom if ever heard the guests in the neighboring units. Now we hear more than we would like. Our neighbors are not rowdy. We hear the footsteps, the washing machine, the doors, everything. I shall assume we can also be heard as we just do routine mundance activities.