Vero beach struggling?

DVCAddict

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 18, 2025
Messages
12
We stayed at Vero beach for the first time and it was a bit of a let down in terms of not feeling Disney-level service. I’m wondering if this is just a strange week or if this is something that’s the norm there.

We love the relaxed vibe and the decor. The people were all kind and we liked the pool. The beach was very small, but that was ok.

Minor thing, but not having towels at the beach was crazy. There’s already someone ay the shack there, why not hand out towels too? And not having bins to bring your towels back to is also nuts. Bringing them to ebb and flow every time to get them and then return is inconvenient and wouldn’t be a big deal to put some towel bins out like they do at the Disney world resorts.

We also were in a room that was super loud and felt like there was no soundproofing. I could hear scraping of what sounded like chairs CONSTANTLY all morning and night. I heard a c-pap machine through the vent so must’ve been the person directly above us, the beds were BRUTALLY hard and we had back problems after sleeping on them

And we were placed in a handicapped Room with a terrible shower head and all of the hanging rods, etc. were wheelchair height. We were right next to the Green Cabin - like to the point where we could say hello to the people on the deck and have a convo. It was super loud until 10pm which was hard with a kiddo. That part can be handled with room placement.

But, the toughest thing we noticed was the service was not Disney-level. The staff was nice and all, but they were incredibly slow … I mean incredibly slow. All food services were terrible to the point where they’d box up some of the food and we’d be waiting forever for the last parts. So the fries would be cold because we’d be waiting forever for a grilled cheese (as example). And this happened with everything. We didn’t get anything complicated - a turkey sandwich, grilled cheese and fries. Then a burger, chicken fingers, fries, and ice cream. In the morning we’d get coffee and a croissant and by the time the warmed croissant was heated, the latte would be cold. Every experience was like this.

Other people asked about food allergy menus and they ran around not knowing what to do. Where to find one or what to ask the chef.

It just seemed like they weren’t trained and were just dropped in there one day being told to figure it out.

Absolutely not their fault, but I do blame resort management.

Anyway, my question is, for those who go to Vero regularly, is this an anomaly or par for the course?

Trying to decide if I want to give it another go in the future or not.
 
It has been awhile since we were at VB, but all the same complaints applied back in the day. The charming part IMO was the porch facing the ocean (even though shrubs somewhat blocked the view) reminding DH of his days as a kid at his grandparents home on the Atlantic. We found the pool awesome. We like the location and get take out. For 3-4 nights it is a different, safe feeling resort. It is love it or hate it, for sure.

:rolleyes1
 
We stayed at Vero beach for the first time and it was a bit of a let down in terms of not feeling Disney-level service. I’m wondering if this is just a strange week or if this is something that’s the norm there.

We love the relaxed vibe and the decor. The people were all kind and we liked the pool. The beach was very small, but that was ok.

Minor thing, but not having towels at the beach was crazy. There’s already someone ay the shack there, why not hand out towels too? And not having bins to bring your towels back to is also nuts. Bringing them to ebb and flow every time to get them and then return is inconvenient and wouldn’t be a big deal to put some towel bins out like they do at the Disney world resorts.

We also were in a room that was super loud and felt like there was no soundproofing. I could hear scraping of what sounded like chairs CONSTANTLY all morning and night. I heard a c-pap machine through the vent so must’ve been the person directly above us, the beds were BRUTALLY hard and we had back problems after sleeping on them

And we were placed in a handicapped Room with a terrible shower head and all of the hanging rods, etc. were wheelchair height. We were right next to the Green Cabin - like to the point where we could say hello to the people on the deck and have a convo. It was super loud until 10pm which was hard with a kiddo. That part can be handled with room placement.

But, the toughest thing we noticed was the service was not Disney-level. The staff was nice and all, but they were incredibly slow … I mean incredibly slow. All food services were terrible to the point where they’d box up some of the food and we’d be waiting forever for the last parts. So the fries would be cold because we’d be waiting forever for a grilled cheese (as example). And this happened with everything. We didn’t get anything complicated - a turkey sandwich, grilled cheese and fries. Then a burger, chicken fingers, fries, and ice cream. In the morning we’d get coffee and a croissant and by the time the warmed croissant was heated, the latte would be cold. Every experience was like this.

Other people asked about food allergy menus and they ran around not knowing what to do. Where to find one or what to ask the chef.

It just seemed like they weren’t trained and were just dropped in there one day being told to figure it out.

Absolutely not their fault, but I do blame resort management.

Anyway, my question is, for those who go to Vero regularly, is this an anomaly or par for the course?

Trying to decide if I want to give it another go in the future or not.
I am totally going to validate you on the super slow service and the service not being Disney level. Also the rooms not being up to standard. We went in September and felt the exact same way. And they pretty much failed us in every department. I wrote a lengthy trip report about it for anyone who's interested. But some small standouts were

The service at Dinner was painfully slow and the food given to us was unacceptable. Like the steak literally bleeding and them not taking accountability or offering solutions. Not to mention the price was outrageous and the food in our opinion, not being good.

The manager at the front desk literally doing nothing after the cms kicked us out of our chairs at the beach because it was our first time here and we didnt know we had to pay.

The room smelling like mold. Calling for something small like towels and it coming hours or days later.

CM being rude to international guests.

My wife commented that it seemed like Disney abandoned the resort all together. It wasnt all bad as I pointed out the fun activities, our server during breakfast was great, nice gift store, etc. And like you, we loved the decor and building.

Some customer service training to bring it up to Disney standards is much needed and we will return during turtle season one day if we hear that that is the case.
 

So a couple of things....

Everywhere I have stayed on the ocean in Florida has a certain smell to it... I would include DVC VB in that. Not sure if it is mold or not, but definitely is not as "dry" as my experience in rooms at DVC in WDW. Maybe it is an issue, maybe it isn't, not really sure.

One of the reasons we do Disney, is that my wife has significant allergy issues - and this includes our recent 3 night stay at DVB. While DVC VB does not have a designated allergy menu, we have had nothing but outstanding experiences there with the allergy chef and team - including (especially) at the Quick Service. No judgement, and they work really hard, and really do care to get it right. The approach to allergies might be the single biggest differentiator between Disney and any other resort operator. It isn't easy to say "I have a gluten, dairy, soy allergy, and don't like fish" and have the team not even bat an eye. So, while they don't have a printed menu (and I'm not sure why), the team is outstanding with accommodating those needs.

My view on the restaurant - particularly for dinner, is they are charging Citricos prices for what would be Grand Floridian Cafe quality in Orlando. But, to be fair, you're not in Orlando, and I find the food quality comparable (or better) than many of the VB restaurants. They do seem to have some off days, and we have had the similar experience with the steak being incredibly underdone that @Girlstar30 seems to have had... Quite appalling...

That said, we love the large size rooms, the layout of the rooms, and the relaxed feel. It truly feels like a "home away from home" for us, in a way that many of the WDW properties do not.
 
I could live with a lot of those things but the mention of the room smelling like mold is dealbreaker for me. I'm allergic to it and by day 2 I'd have to leave.
I did ask mousekeeping if all of the rooms had that smell and she said no. Our room was facing the ocean so maybe something more central wouldnt?

The first time we complained about it housekeeping came ans dropped off some humidifiers but that didnt do anything. We complained again and a really nice housekeeper came and deodorized everything and left air purifiers and that was a great improvement.

Although it smelled like mold I cant say thats what it really was, its by the ocean and it was thunderstorming
 
So a couple of things....

Everywhere I have stayed on the ocean in Florida has a certain smell to it... I would include DVC VB in that. Not sure if it is mold or not, but definitely is not as "dry" as my experience in rooms at DVC in WDW. Maybe it is an issue, maybe it isn't, not really sure.

One of the reasons we do Disney, is that my wife has significant allergy issues - and this includes our recent 3 night stay at DVB. While DVC VB does not have a designated allergy menu, we have had nothing but outstanding experiences there with the allergy chef and team - including (especially) at the Quick Service. No judgement, and they work really hard, and really do care to get it right. The approach to allergies might be the single biggest differentiator between Disney and any other resort operator. It isn't easy to say "I have a gluten, dairy, soy allergy, and don't like fish" and have the team not even bat an eye. So, while they don't have a printed menu (and I'm not sure why), the team is outstanding with accommodating those needs.

My view on the restaurant - particularly for dinner, is they are charging Citricos prices for what would be Grand Floridian Cafe quality in Orlando. But, to be fair, you're not in Orlando, and I find the food quality comparable (or better) than many of the VB restaurants. They do seem to have some off days, and we have had the similar experience with the steak being incredibly underdone that @Girlstar30 seems to have had... Quite appalling...

That said, we love the large size rooms, the layout of the rooms, and the relaxed feel. It truly feels like a "home away from home" for us, in a way that many of the WDW properties do not.
We loved the large size rooms and layout too! The colors, photographs and style felt very homey and we slept really good. I am a light sleeper and cant sleep with lights so for me to pass out during the day for a nap says a lot, I can never do that lol! So I should clarify that by me saying the rooms weren't up to standard was more about the smell, it was just really hard to take a d unacceptable for us, they should probably deodorize more often 🤔

I think next time, because I think there will be a next time eventually, we need to venture out more with a rental car.
 
So a couple of things....

Everywhere I have stayed on the ocean in Florida has a certain smell to it... I would include DVC VB in that. Not sure if it is mold or not, but definitely is not as "dry" as my experience in rooms at DVC in WDW. Maybe it is an issue, maybe it isn't, not really sure.

One of the reasons we do Disney, is that my wife has significant allergy issues - and this includes our recent 3 night stay at DVB. While DVC VB does not have a designated allergy menu, we have had nothing but outstanding experiences there with the allergy chef and team - including (especially) at the Quick Service. No judgement, and they work really hard, and really do care to get it right. The approach to allergies might be the single biggest differentiator between Disney and any other resort operator. It isn't easy to say "I have a gluten, dairy, soy allergy, and don't like fish" and have the team not even bat an eye. So, while they don't have a printed menu (and I'm not sure why), the team is outstanding with accommodating those needs.

My view on the restaurant - particularly for dinner, is they are charging Citricos prices for what would be Grand Floridian Cafe quality in Orlando. But, to be fair, you're not in Orlando, and I find the food quality comparable (or better) than many of the VB restaurants. They do seem to have some off days, and we have had the similar experience with the steak being incredibly underdone that @Girlstar30 seems to have had... Quite appalling...

That said, we love the large size rooms, the layout of the rooms, and the relaxed feel. It truly feels like a "home away from home" for us, in a way that many of the WDW properties do not.
How many hotels, on the ocean in Florida, have you stayed in? I know the smell she's referring to. Like @ruadisneyfan2, I've had to change rooms or leave hotels for that reason. Unfortunately, we've experienced it in several states. As a Floridian who has spent many nights in hotel rooms on the coast, I can assure you they don't all have that smell.
 
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How many hotels, on the ocean in Florida, have you stayed in. I know the smell she's referring to. Like @ruadisneyfan2, I've had to change rooms or leave hotels for that reason. Unfortunately, we've experienced it in several states. As a Floridian who has spent many nights in hotel rooms on the coast, I assure you they don't all have that smell.
Yes! It's a very unique odor but I recognize it right away. We have stayed on both FL coasts and don't always smell it. We stayed at a Hilton in Seattle and it was really strong. It was only a 2-night stay prior to an Alaskan cruise and the whole hotel smelled that way so we didn't bother moving.
Ironically, despite cruise ships being on the water all the time, we've never smelled mold on a cruise ship in almost 40 cruises. (32 on DCL and 7 on 4 other cruise lines.)
I think it's all in the housekeeping. :thumbsup2

I'm surprised a CM would bring a humidifier to a room that smells like mold. That would only make it worse. Mold grows in damp, dark places so if anything, a dehumidifier would help.

We went to Ireland for our honeymoon in 1995 and their mold levels are much higher due to all the rain and I think them burning peat made my allergies worse too. In all the jet lag and day napping when we arrived, I forgot to take my allergy meds. (Seldane, back then.) I woke up at 10 pm, my throat was feeling kind of tight and it wasn't so easy to breathe. A thousand throughts went through my brain about what if I need to go to their ER and how much it would cost. I took my medicine and felt better in 2 hours. I've learned to keep them better under control.
 
I am totally going to validate you on the super slow service and the service not being Disney level. Also the rooms not being up to standard. We went in September and felt the exact same way. And they pretty much failed us in every department. I wrote a lengthy trip report about it for anyone who's interested. But some small standouts were

The service at Dinner was painfully slow and the food given to us was unacceptable. Like the steak literally bleeding and them not taking accountability or offering solutions. Not to mention the price was outrageous and the food in our opinion, not being good.

The manager at the front desk literally doing nothing after the cms kicked us out of our chairs at the beach because it was our first time here and we didnt know we had to pay.

The room smelling like mold. Calling for something small like towels and it coming hours or days later.

CM being rude to international guests.

My wife commented that it seemed like Disney abandoned the resort all together. It wasnt all bad as I pointed out the fun activities, our server during breakfast was great, nice gift store, etc. And like you, we loved the decor and building.

Some customer service training to bring it up to Disney standards is much needed and we will return during turtle season one day if we hear that that is the case.
Yes! It felt like Disney abandoned it. Thanks for putting words to that. The one thing I’ve come to rely on is Disney service is always special and this just fell below standard. Well, well below.
 
My view on the restaurant - particularly for dinner, is they are charging Citricos prices for what would be Grand Floridian Cafe quality in Orlando. But, to be fair, you're not in Orlando, and I find the food quality comparable (or better) than many of the VB restaurants. They do seem to have some off days, and we have had the similar experience with the steak being incredibly underdone that @Girlstar30 seems to have had... Quite appalling...
I know everyone has their opinions but mine is Wind & Waves is no where close to Grand Flo Cafe.

The w&w qs specials and salads are the best options at the resort imo but still not great. Dinner & breakfast has always been a let down for us. We still visit as some nights we just don’t feel like driving to Sebastian or somewhere else to eat.
 
Yes! It's a very unique odor but I recognize it right away. We have stayed on both FL coasts and don't always smell it. We stayed at a Hilton in Seattle and it was really strong. It was only a 2-night stay prior to an Alaskan cruise and the whole hotel smelled that way so we didn't bother moving.
Ironically, despite cruise ships being on the water all the time, we've never smelled mold on a cruise ship in almost 40 cruises. (32 on DCL and 7 on 4 other cruise lines.)
I think it's all in the housekeeping. :thumbsup2

I'm surprised a CM would bring a humidifier to a room that smells like mold. That would only make it worse. Mold grows in damp, dark places so if anything, a dehumidifier would help.

We went to Ireland for our honeymoon in 1995 and their mold levels are much higher due to all the rain and I think them burning peat made my allergies worse too. In all the jet lag and day napping when we arrived, I forgot to take my allergy meds. (Seldane, back then.) I woke up at 10 pm, my throat was feeling kind of tight and it wasn't so easy to breathe. A thousand throughts went through my brain about what if I need to go to their ER and how much it would cost. I took my medicine and felt better in 2 hours. I've learned to keep them better under control.
32 disney cruises is a dream come true, ive been on 9 and have never smelled mold either, actually this is my first time ever dealing with it, but I havent stayed in a lot of places in FL! Thats funny about the humidifier thats what they told me it was and I had no idea it would make it worse 🤣🤣
 
Yes! It felt like Disney abandoned it. Thanks for putting words to that. The one thing I’ve come to rely on is Disney service is always special and this just fell below standard. Well, well below.
Agreed
 
I know everyone has their opinions but mine is Wind & Waves is no where close to Grand Flo Cafe.

The w&w qs specials and salads are the best options at the resort imo but still not great. Dinner & breakfast has always been a let down for us. We still visit as some nights we just don’t feel like driving to Sebastian or somewhere else to eat.
Ive never been to grand flo Cafe yet, but I can imagine! I did like their key lime waffles tho! The character breakfast needs more characters and more days, but I appreciate the effort 😅
 
You all have done a very good job at setting my expectations low for our 4-night VB stay in early April! LOL. I'm still looking forward to it. Will definitely report back.

I do think a lot of people's beach trips are affected, to some degree, by what they're used to. And, beaches can vary greatly both by location and time of year. I've done beach trips in SoCal, NJ, Cape Cod (MA), NC, SC, FL (East Coast, Gulf Coast), Bahamas, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, and Cancun. Each beach has its unique character. From what I've read of VB, I'm expecting something similar to what I've experienced further up the Atlantic Coast, but not too busy or too crowded. I think I'll like it, actually. I guess I'll see.
 
You all have done a very good job at setting my expectations low for our 4-night VB stay in early April! LOL. I'm still looking forward to it. Will definitely report back.

I do think a lot of people's beach trips are affected, to some degree, by what they're used to. And, beaches can vary greatly both by location and time of year. I've done beach trips in SoCal, NJ, Cape Cod (MA), NC, SC, FL (East Coast, Gulf Coast), Bahamas, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, and Cancun. Each beach has its unique character. From what I've read of VB, I'm expecting something similar to what I've experienced further up the Atlantic Coast, but not too busy or too crowded. I think I'll like it, actually. I guess I'll see.
We like the resort just not the food lol. Although we actually prefer HHI although neither compare to the gulf side.
 
You all have done a very good job at setting my expectations low for our 4-night VB stay in early April! LOL. I'm still looking forward to it. Will definitely report back.

I do think a lot of people's beach trips are affected, to some degree, by what they're used to. And, beaches can vary greatly both by location and time of year. I've done beach trips in SoCal, NJ, Cape Cod (MA), NC, SC, FL (East Coast, Gulf Coast), Bahamas, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, and Cancun. Each beach has its unique character. From what I've read of VB, I'm expecting something similar to what I've experienced further up the Atlantic Coast, but not too busy or too crowded. I think I'll like it, actually. I guess I'll see.
This is actually a great thing to have it set low because my expectations were very high based on everyone I had encountered thus far telling me the customer service was above and beyond!

We were very unlucky with our beach experience because it was thunder storming and the waves and drops were scary so not all of our family felt brave enough to enjoy it. The beaches in California are just too cold so we would have loved some beach time here and I think that would have improved our trip tremendously!

Beach def wasnt crowded when we went, only us and another couple braved the storm 🤣
 










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