Tipping Mousekeeping?

[rentayenta]

If you're going to vacuum, they should tip you.

With 4 kids and lots of late night popcorn, I'll go bananas if I don't run a vacuum every other day. It's for my sanity not theirs.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We tip according to the size of the room. $5 when we leave a studio, $20 for a 2 bedroom. I think we left more in the Beach Cottage, but that was up to our son. We are usually in a studio. I leave $3 if I remember on trash & towel day in the studio.

Bobbi

 

[rentayenta]

We tip according to the size of the room. $5 when we leave a studio, $20 for a 2 bedroom. I think we left more in the Beach Cottage, but that was up to our son. We are usually in a studio. I leave $3 if I remember on trash & towel day in the studio.

Bobbi

Thanks Bobbi. We'll be in a 2 bedroom. $20 sounds about right. That's total tip at the end? Not per day, right?

 

[Brian Noble]

I don't think HK is doing their job if they ignore obvious maintenance issues most of us have experienced. I was at BCV in July and the dishwasher was falling out.

What do you expect the maid to do about the dishwasher? Unless she is also a member of the Plumbers Local, she's probably not equipped to do much.

Those problems are maintenance problems. Using that as a reason not to tip housekeeping is your prerogative, of course.

 

[CMOORE185]

What do you expect the maid to do about the dishwasher? Unless she is also a member of the Plumbers Local, she's probably not equipped to do much.

Those problems are maintenance problems. Using that as a reason not to tip housekeeping is your prerogative, of course.

I don't expect them to fix it (which should have been obvious), but I do expect them to notify maintenance and have it fixed before anyone takes possession of the room. What they apparently do now is release the room and let the DVC member deal with it, because there is no way they didn't notice it.

 

[Brian Noble]

I can't say that I've ever been in a unit where something was in such disrepair that it should not have been occupied. A loose dishwasher rack, missing kickplate on the fridge, that sort of thing. But, if that is your standard for taking a room out of circulation, DVC would have to own significantly more than 2-4% for maintenance, I'm guessing---especially because that 2-4% also has to cover the scheduled refurbishment periods.

A good example was OKW. Prior to its recent refurbishment, many of the units had these sorts of problems. The only way to avoid them is to refurbish more often. And, as I wrote above, that means higher dues. I'm guessing that not everyone would want to pay those dues, even if it meant not having to deal with these issues as often.

As with most things, this is a balancing act, because the members pay for everything eventually, and not everyone will agree about what is "appropriate".

But, in any event, the refurbishment schedule and maintenance cycle really has nothing to do with tipping (or not tipping) housekeeping for doing their job, which is cleaning the units.

 

[CMOORE185]

I can't say that I've ever been in a unit where something was in such disrepair that it should not have been occupied. A loose dishwasher rack, missing kickplate on the fridge, that sort of thing. But, if that is your standard for taking a room out of circulation, DVC would have to own significantly more than 2-4% for maintenance, I'm guessing---especially because that 2-4% also has to cover the scheduled refurbishment periods.

A good example was OKW. Prior to its recent refurbishment, many of the units had these sorts of problems. The only way to avoid them is to refurbish more often. And, as I wrote above, that means higher dues. I'm guessing that not everyone would want to pay those dues, even if it meant not having to deal with these issues as often.

As with most things, this is a balancing act, because the members pay for everything eventually, and not everyone will agree about what is "appropriate".

But, in any event, the refurbishment schedule and maintenance cycle really has nothing to do with tipping (or not tipping) housekeeping for doing their job, which is cleaning the units.

I am not saying a room has to be taken out of circulation, I am saying make an effort to fix the problem before it is occupied. And I am talking about obvious problems that the housekeeper would notice and are going to need to be fixed even though it is occupied.

I see no reason a housekeeper that sees an obvious problem cannot notify maintenance so they can be proactive in fixing these obvious problems with the room. My gosh this is how good customer service is suppose to work, where everyone works as a team. Instead what appears to happen is housekeeping sees a maintenance issue an just says that is not my problem, my job is to just clean the room.

And yeah I get upset when I walk into a room and no employee of the company has attempted to get an obvious problem fixed.

 

[disneynutz]

The problem is we don't really know what drives Disney and how they decide anything when it comes to the DVC. Do they really take rooms out of service and what is the criteria? Do they instead take the 2% and rent them for cash?

Why don't they do a better job of cleaning and maintenance? At OKW we were missing a kitchen drawer and the dishwasher was broken. When 2 maintenance men showed up, they told me that I should run the dishwasher on the short cycle, they knew that the normal cycle didn't work because they had been there before. The missing drawer they thought was in one of their shops because they had to glue it a couple of weeks before. If they could find it, they would bring it over. We never saw the drawer.

I talked to Jim Lewis in the past about the cleaning issues and he was looking past me the whole time and obviously could care less. DVD/DVC is interested in selling because that is where the money is. There isn't any incentive for them to do a good job of running or maintaining the property.

Bill

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thanks Bobbi. We'll be in a 2 bedroom. $20 sounds about right. That's total tip at the end? Not per day, right?

Yes, at the end.

 

[rentayenta]

Yes, at the end.

This has been very educational.

 

[SamSam]

I am not saying a room has to be taken out of circulation, I am saying make an effort to fix the problem before it is occupied. And I am talking about obvious problems that the housekeeper would notice and are going to need to be fixed even though it is occupied.

I see no reason a housekeeper that sees an obvious problem cannot notify maintenance so they can be proactive in fixing these obvious problems with the room. My gosh this is how good customer service is suppose to work, where everyone works as a team. Instead what appears to happen is housekeeping sees a maintenance issue an just says that is not my problem, my job is to just clean the room.

And yeah I get upset when I walk into a room and no employee of the company has attempted to get an obvious problem fixed.

The problem is that there is no way of knowing that housekeeping didn't notify maintenance about a problem. They very well may have, that doesn't mean that maintenance fixed it.

 

[Dean]

The problem is that there is no way of knowing that housekeeping didn't notify maintenance about a problem. They very well may have, that doesn't mean that maintenance fixed it.

I think we've seen enough information over the years to realize that DVC has not made it a routine expectation of housekeeping to report maint issues. IMO, this is an area where Disney, esp DVC, has performed poorly over the years. Ultimately management is at fault and responsible.

 

[Brian Noble]

I am not saying a room has to be taken out of circulation

Then I guess I did not understand what you are asking for when you said this (empahsis mine):

I do expect them to notify maintenance and have it fixed before anyone takes possession of the room.

 

[CMOORE185]

Then I guess I did not understand what you are asking for when you said this (empahsis mine):

I guess I am assuming most things can be fixed in a reasonable amount of time and the room does not have to be taken out of circulation. Maybe sometimes the problem cannot be fixed before ownership is taken, but it would be nice to know someone recognized it and tried to take care of it. That is not what seems to happens though. DVC appears to completely ignore it and leave the burden to the customer.

 

[rentayenta]

After all of this, I hope we get a well maintained room.

 

[KrisW]

I have read this thread that started out about HK and turned into an intersting discussion about the rooms conditions. It will be my first time ever at Disney, honeymoon gift from a DVC person. We are staying at the Boardwalk Villas a studio room. We have the HK every 4 days...right?
IMO, I've never tipped HK, it's their job, I've also never stayed more than one night. So I wanted to see how it would be staying more than one....but HK won't come everyday. To me that's weird...I guess I'm used to the illusion of being on vacation coming back everyday to a clean room...stupid TV & movies lying to me!
So my question is: What will I have in this room? A dishwasher? Fridge? Utensils? Can you call and request things like fresh or extra towels every day? I'm not doing any laundry while on vacation or extra cleaning.
Any other insights would be helpful, about the resort, the room, Disney in general. Thanks!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I have read this thread that started out about HK and turned into an intersting discussion about the rooms conditions. It will be my first time ever at Disney, honeymoon gift from a DVC person. We are staying at the Boardwalk Villas a studio room. We have the HK every 4 days...right?
IMO, I've never tipped HK, it's their job, I've also never stayed more than one night. So I wanted to see how it would be staying more than one....but HK won't come everyday. To me that's weird...I guess I'm used to the illusion of being on vacation coming back everyday to a clean room...stupid TV & movies lying to me!
So my question is: What will I have in this room? A dishwasher? Fridge? Utensils? Can you call and request things like fresh or extra towels every day? I'm not doing any laundry while on vacation or extra cleaning.
Any other insights would be helpful, about the resort, the room, Disney in general. Thanks!!

Since you are staying on a points reservation, you cannot call and ask for more towels or fresh towels without paying for them. You'll get four bathtowels when you check in and again on your service day. If you are staying seven nights or fewer, you will have your trash removed and towels replaced on day four (day one is check in day). That is all the housekeeping services you will get. If you stay eight nights or more, you will get a full cleaning on day four and trash and towel service on day eight.

Your villa will have a kitchenette - undercounter refrigerator with small freezer section, microwave oven, toaster and coffee maker (Mr Coffee basket style - not Keurig style). You'll have a couple of real coffee mugs, a couple of real glasses, but paper plates and bowls and plastic flatware.

You won't have a washer and dryer in your villa, but you will have access to a free washer and dryer in the BWV laundry room that is to be used by any of the guests in the studios. One bedroom villas and larger have full kitchens and washer and dryers in the villa.

 

[Brian Noble]

We are staying at the Boardwalk Villas a studio room.

Here is a description of the room amenities:

http://www.dvcnews.com/index.php/resorts/boardwalk-villas/guest-room-inventory

 

[kirstenb1]

We go on 1 trip per year, 5 nights in a 2br. We've been members since 93, and always tip $20 at the end of our stay. Since I'm the "maid" for the other 51 weeks of the year, it's worth it to me to do something nice for the people with this icky job.

 

[NicoleLarson]

So I wanted to see how it would be staying more than one....but HK won't come everyday. To me that's weird...I guess I'm used to the illusion of being on vacation coming back everyday to a clean room...stupid TV & movies lying to me!
Can you call and request things like fresh or extra towels every day? I'm not doing any laundry while on vacation or extra cleaning.
Any other insights would be helpful, about the resort, the room, Disney in general. Thanks!!

I really thought that I would miss the everyday housekeeping but I don't...at all. We are not slobs, but just getting up and leaving in the morning and not having to worry about if your purse is in a safe place or if your underwear are all picked up, is kind of nice.
I have called the front desk and asked for more towels and have never been charged. Now I may have been lucky because I know that this is supposed to be a charge but I never have been. I don't do it everyday, but this last time I think we got like 3 regular towels for 3 people for 4 nights. I just called right when we got to the room, so maybe that's why I wasn't charged.
Anyways, congrats on your marriage and have a wonderful honeymoon!