VDH Build Quality ?

[jjanne]

For folks who have stayed at VDH, I'm curious if your VDH stay reinforced / discouraged desire to purchase ? I have seen some videos/comments that seem to suggest that quality of materials or build is not the greatest at VDH and the wear and tear seem to be greater than expected for a relatively new resort. Would this translate to greater costs for owners, if refurbs need to be more frequent or at bigger scale?

 

[CastAStone]

I can’t speak to the quality part at VDH specifically as I haven’t stayed there.

I can speak to the second part of your question; if a quality issue is due to contractor error or negligence, Disney has demonstrated that they will go after the contractor to fix it; they ended up suing the contractor who did the Saratoga Springs refurbishment, and as a result of being able to pass those re-do costs back to the contractor, dues there haven’t gone up more than any other resort since the issues were uncovered.

 

[DVCNOOOB]

Just stayed in a deluxe studio this weekend and the only thing that looked beat up was the little island/ ottoman thingy. It had a table top side and foot rest vinyl/ fake leather side. The table side was dented and scuffed upped on the edges. Wouldn't be too concerned about it. Im sure they plan to replace them pretty frequently anyway. There were a few hall way lights flickering, but ehh I'm sure that will be addressed in the near future.

There are a few things that may not age well like the white backsplash thingy behind the tv. I can see that just getting dingy really fast with grimy kid hands and dust. Shower glass seemed a little thin, and the hinges were mounted to fixed glass to a glass door. I personally wouldn't pick that set up for a hotel, but I'm no expert. Murphy beds seem like maintenance nightmares to me, but maybe they're way more bullet proof than I expect. Kitchenette cabinets look like run of the mill ikea grade stuff. No cheaper than any other hotel I've been in, but to be honest didn't even bother inspecting them beyond looking at them from the outside.

Overall, way nicer looking than the room I had in the frontier tower or the Grand Californian. My wife loved the laminate floor and didn't stress out that our 3 year old was rolling around in god knows how many decades of grossness caked into the carpet. My wife also liked it so much, she's leaning towards a contract there rather than the Grand.

Personally I don't see how the materials are so "poor quality" that people think they will need more replacing over any other hotel. I think the scuffs and minor issues really stand out because everything is so new and clean. Like I was looking at the grout lines in the shower and nitpicking like"psshh I could have done better", but in reality I'm just looking for something to complain about because the rest was in perfect condition.

 

[kilik64]

I can’t speak to the quality part at VDH specifically as I haven’t stayed there.

I can speak to the second part of your question; if a quality issue is due to contractor error or negligence, Disney has demonstrated that they will go after the contractor to fix it; they ended up suing the contractor who did the Saratoga Springs refurbishment, and as a result of being able to pass those re-do costs back to the contractor, dues there haven’t gone up more than any other resort since the issues were uncovered.

I don't remember seeing this, what were the issues with that refurb?

 

[Rolem]

I have stayed there a few times since the building opened. The rooms are similar in quality to a newer Courtyard or Hampton Inn, with more theming. The tile job in the bathrooms is not great (tiles not lined up properly), which tells me they rushed that part of the build. The workout facility, laundry and BBQ are fine. The pool area is very good. The lobby area was a miss for me. There is nothing about the lobby that makes me want to spend time there.

The bigger issue for me is the theming seems out of place with the rest of the resort. I would have preferred something different, like the Jungle Cruise.

 

[KPeterso]

We stayed there about a month ago. Our room was amazing and I did not see any issues. It just reinforced my decision to buy there sight unseen.

 

[Dobermanns]

Have had 2 stays there, first time in a standard view studio first week of opening, second was a garden duo three weeks ago.
During my first stay, the cabinet door under the kitchenette sink was tight, as was the sliding door for the closet. Figured it would loosen up with use.
The last stay, I did notice the ottomans had some scuff marks on them, that’s under 8 months of usage. Not sure if it’s guests or housekeeping (banging into with vacuums?) being rough or if material is cheap…

 

[VGCgroupie]

Discouraged. Grout was cracking, veneer was showing wear, shower door wouldn’t stay shut. Lobby smelled like sewer everyday. The area above the pull down looked unfinished to me. My husband said that how it should look.. like a signature on a painting, but the writing seemed out of place and that it should be covered.

 

[jjanne]

I can’t speak to the quality part at VDH specifically as I haven’t stayed there.

I can speak to the second part of your question; if a quality issue is due to contractor error or negligence, Disney has demonstrated that they will go after the contractor to fix it; they ended up suing the contractor who did the Saratoga Springs refurbishment, and as a result of being able to pass those re-do costs back to the contractor, dues there haven’t gone up more than any other resort since the issues were uncovered.

Good to know Disney has held contractors accountable and will not pass those costs to owners......

 

[skier_pete]

We just stayed there in two different deluxe studio rooms for a total of 9 nights. The rooms to me were in pretty good shape. I thought the couch was sort of ugly but didn't notice any wear. There was some minor wear in a few places but nothing really unusual for a resort open for a year. I really loved the design and setup of the rooms. We also toured a 1-bedroom but that was a display room so therefore there was nothing there out of place.

We only bought 50 points as we only go out there about once every 3-4 years, but I am not disappointed in the resort in ANY way. The biggest bummer to it is the transient occupancy tax, but you know it's there going in, but getting the bill for the week still kind of stinks. It's still waaaaay better than staying on Harbor, and I just love the vibe of the Disneyland Hotel so much better than the Grand Cal.

Edit: Maybe my comments didn't cover build quality - but I sure didn't see any issues with drawers/cabinets/beds and their quality. In fact I was impressed that they provided a pretty decent amount of storage compared to a lot of studios, and some of the magnets were actually so strong they made the cabinets harder to open than expected.

 

[jjanne]

Discouraged. Grout was cracking, veneer was showing wear, shower door wouldn’t stay shut. Lobby smelled like sewer everyday. The area above the pull down looked unfinished to me. My husband said that how it should look.. like a signature on a painting, but the writing seemed out of place and that it should be covered.

Thanks for the feedback.. Yikes on the sewer smell... Agree, that writing above the pull down seem unfinished / out of place

 

[Royal Consort]

The area above the pull down looked unfinished to me. My husband said that how it should look.. like a signature on a painting, but the writing seemed out of place and that it should be covered.

I'm a collector of original animation art. This is how they look. The Eyvind Earle concept and backgrounds have their designation information and peg holes at the bottom so they can be fixed to the animation desks.

 

[Canchaser143]

Our last stay was in December. The door on the wardrobe/closet broke and was all scratched from people trying to force it open
Other than that the room was still in good shape. I am a bit worried how the cabinets are going to hold up over time. Still happy with my contract though