Housekeeping on DVC is the deal breaker

[BEASLYBOO]

It's easy to say, do your homework etc. to determine if DVC works for you, but that's hard to do if you've never stayed at one on points. A friend let me use hers 3 times, so I then not only knew how it worked, but I knew it would work for us. It's a big decision, I never had buyers remorse and it works for me now just as it did 19 years ago, slight difference the kid's old enough and goes without me now!

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

The DVC Housekeeping always frustrates me and I've been a member for over 20 years now. I always have to call repeatedly for things that are supposed to be replenished on both Trash & Towel Service & Full Housekeeping days. I always am afraid that I will return to a villa that hasn't been serviced at all on the scheduled day since it has happened to me several times. They rarely if ever replenish the plastic utensils & paper plates & bowls in the studio units and usually there is only enough supplied at check-in for one meal so we always have to call for more. The past few years they never ever leave a spare roll of toilet paper in the units so we always have to call to ask for some numerous times during our stays. At least one service day each trip they don't leave any soap or other toiletries they are suppose to replenish necessitating yet another call. Almost every time I've stayed in the one bedroom units they also never replenish the laundry soap and sometimes they don't leave the soap for the dishwasher either. There used to be a list posted in a closet in every unit listing what was supposed to be supplied and what would be replenished during which service. They removed those lists a few years ago. The off hour staff are always quite apologetic and surprised at what basic items don't get replenished when they should be. It just ticks me off that I have to inventory at check-in & after every service to get what I'm paying for. But honestly when I stay any where else multiple nights or even in regular Disney resort rooms there are days that not everything gets replenished or cleaned properly too. If they know you aren't checking out they don't seem to worry about servicing the rooms properly no matter where you stay.

Heck YES! We've had many of these problems. I usually buy toilet paper on arrival night - I shouldn't but not worth the aggravation and interruption if Housekeeping must be called.

 

[Shanti]

Can you PM the name of this travel agency, I know most likly not allowed top post it here.

I'm probably not allowed to do that, either, but the agency isn't hard to find.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

We have always been happy to take out our own trash and wash our towels, as our unit always has a washer/dryer. Like it so much better than working around housekeeping’s schedule every day. We’d actually rather not have someone take our trash every day and just dispose of it on our way out to the parks every morning as we always have done. We will continue to take our trash out in the morning to dispose of the dirty diapers that we don’t want sitting in the room any longer than they need to.

DVC has completely changed the way we vacation at Disney ... for the better. I love having a full kitchen to use to make breakfast before heading out to the parks. I love being able to load a dishwasher with my kids’ dirty cups and bottles at night. I love having more room to spread out but still be immersed in the Disney resort atmosphere as opposed to being in a condo offsite.

We have never regretted joining DVC for a second and much prefer the DVC experience over our stays in moderates and deluxes from before we were members.

 

[lovin'fl]

So we bought DVC cor the 1/2BR villas with washer/dryer. we have stayed in studios upon occasion but I prefer a 1BR and we will just throw towels in washer after 3-4 days. We hang and reuse for those 3-4 days. I also prefer no housekeeping. I can leave our stuff out and about and not feel the need to be organized for them to clean and just don't like strangers in my room. We don't eat in the villa, Disney dining is a big part of our vacay, so not much trash and no rotten food scraps or crumbs. We don't use their shampoo or conditioner, but do wish they'd replace the coffee packs and laundry soap. They used to give two coffees and two boxes of soap...now we get one and they don't replenish. And the 1/2BR villas have real dishes so no plastic wear or paper products to be replenished.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

The more I think about it, it's not like you get a "full cleaning" daily on the cash / hotel side. They empty your trash (which is now included in DVC), make your bed and tidy up / replenish a few things....maybe run the vacuum..... though in my experience at Values / Mods they don't always do this. For a few bucks you could buy your towels, toiletries, coffee, etc. as you need them. They only thing you're not getting is maybe a wipe down of your table / sink and having your bed made. We don't care about beds being made and I can wipe down my sink and table with a wipe in like...less than a minute! I kind of like daily vacuuming, but it's definitely not a dealbreaker.

I'm also a bit of a germaphobe and the fact that they're cleaning up another guest's sink / toilet / used towels and then coming into my room with unwashed hands and touching my stuff kinda grosses me out anyway.

 

[Brancaneve]

Home is where your mess is.......

 

[Dean]

Not sure how to put this but Disney, you suck. This was our 11th year in a row going to WDW and we've gone there at least 2 dozen times since we've been married (6 times the year we were married and lived close by). It has worked out that we've stayed in a different hotel every year except one (free dining was only available in one hotel which was a repeat) and we've stayed on site for every one of those 11 years. All of our stays have been at deluxes or moderates in the last decade. Previously when we were first married back in the 1990's off site made more sense, then on site non-Disney hotel (Doubletree) but when free dining came around that was the deal maker that got us to stay on site every year after that. So this year was a turning point. Disney finally "upped the ante" on free dining that they priced us out and it was time to try something different. We kind of covered all the other hotels so it was time to go the DVC route to try it out. We rented points for OKW and off we go...

Stayed at OKW just last week for 13 days. My oldest daughter had a band competition that started mid-week so that pushed us from our usual 8 days out to almost two weeks. No free dining in April/May anyways so we had all kinds of reasons to try something new. This was our first DVC experience. Trust me we know all about DVC on paper. We've spent time at one of the kiosks, studied it online, etc. DVC would have made sense for us long ago but we never intended to keep coming back year after year. So this was a good time to take the plunge into DVC, and I can say that mostly DVC was OK but the housekeeping? Do you all normally put up with that? It's ridiculous and bad, on top of paying a little more than moderate prices for an almost deluxe. The overall experience was just OK...we weren't wowed by anything but we're satisfied with CB and PO (not so much CS) and love the Poly but can't justify the cost, and love WL and the price although they took away the entire wing we stayed at to turn it into more DVC's...which only made us more interested in trying it.

I can confirm though now what I've read on DIS and elsewhere. During the first week I would say except two days trash was removed every day, as per the new policy. The first day that they skipped us was because we came back from a water park and spent quite a bit of time in the room with the "occupied" sign out. The second day was day 12, the day they decided to do nothing at all.

Towel service was I guess you'd say erratic. We got towel replacements on day 3 and 6. Then...NOTHING for the rest of the stay. Full cleaning was I believe day 3 or 4 as it is supposed to be, but then nothing was scheduled during the second week after day 6 or 7 other than trash service. It is my understanding that DVC for stays of 12 days or more gets an alternating schedule where day 4 is full cleaning then day 8 is trash/towels only, then the cycle repeats again so day 12 would be full cleaning. Called housekeeping and they were adamant that nothing at all was scheduled after day 7 or 8 and that is following policy. I don't know how to put this politely but that's absolutely ridiculous, not what the DVC policy says, and confirms both the rumors I've heard that DVC room cleaning and towel service is haphazard and that they simply don't follow it quite often.

So this has gone from an annoyance to probably a deal breaker with DVC for us. I doubt she will even be interested in renting points again.

While they've made recent changes, ones I don't expect to last, most timeshares get NO housekeeping during the week. IMO that's one of the known compromises of a timeshare and if you're not OK with NO housekeeping during the week and providing certain things on your own, you likely shouldn't stay in a timeshare, any timeshare. But at least you found out now before investing tens of thousands of dollars.

 

[zavandor]

Most people commented about the lack of housekeeping and how this is normal with timeshares and it's possible to pay for more. But that's not the point. The OP didn't complain about not having housekeeping. She said she did her research and she was expecting that. She has been annoyed by the fact that the scheduled cleaning didn't happen when it was supposed to.
I wouldn't let my vacation be ruined by this, but I agree it can be annoying. Imagine havign collected all dirty towels and put them in the tub to make life easier for housekeeping and come back after a log day in the park finding you now don't have any usable towel. If it's a studio you cannot even wash them easily. So personal reactions on this issue can vary, but I agree with OP it shouldn't happen.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I kind of like daily vacuuming, but it's definitely not a dealbreaker.

DVC does supply the vacuum, so you can vacuum to your hearts content. As far as replenishing, I don’t use the shampoos etc., I don’t like their coffee, nor the laundry detergent, I bring my own.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Unfortunately, how and through who the booking was done determines the services you get. As DVC owners we know what we are entitled to, and if given the answer that after Day 8, well you’re in your own, that wouldn’t fly. But, as any guest, DVC or not, if you think you’re getting gipt (not getting the services you’re entitled to)and it bothers you, call/go to the lobby and complain.

 

[Matty B13]

We really like the lack of housekeeping, don't really want or need the room cleaned even with 3 kids under 7 in the rooms. And don't mind taking out our trash.

The washer and dryer really help with letting us only bring carry on for our flight down, with maybe one large suitcase for dry goods and large liquid items that aren't allowed through carry on.

I thought the 2 bedroom unit at BCV that we stayed in April was very clean and housekeeping did a nice job of taking care of anything we needed.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Most people commented about the lack of housekeeping and how this is normal with timeshares and it's possible to pay for more. But that's not the point. The OP didn't complain about not having housekeeping. She said she did her research and she was expecting that. She has been annoyed by the fact that the scheduled cleaning didn't happen when it was supposed to.
I wouldn't let my vacation be ruined by this, but I agree it can be annoying. Imagine havign collected all dirty towels and put them in the tub to make life easier for housekeeping and come back after a log day in the park finding you now don't have any usable towel. If it's a studio you cannot even wash them easily. So personal reactions on this issue can vary, but I agree with OP it shouldn't happen.

Good point.

Although in reading OPs post, there's a little uncertainty on which days they got which services. My first read-thru had me thinking they were counting nights not days and that they got all but 1 days trash service, a full cleaning on time and trash and towel possibly a day early but the real complaint was nothing on day 12. While it seems that policy would be a full cleaning on day 12, it also seems like a complete waste for a guest checking out on day 13 (if that's accurate) to fully clean (new sheets and all) 2 days in a row.

It would be much easier (IMO) if Disney just let you pick your housekeeping schedule at check in. So, for a 13 day stay you get 2 full cleanings and 1 trash and towel.....what days do you wan't them? Also then an opportunity to add-on extra towel packs, etc. I think the provided schedule is dumb anyway. For 13 days, it seems you'd want a trash and towel after 4 days, a full cleaning 3 days later, and then another trash and towel in 3-4 days. For me, I'd add in paid towel packs on days 2 and 9 so for $12 for the extra towels, we'd be pretty well set. But even better yet would be to let you choose $X.XX in services based on length of stay. So, if you're full cleaning and 2 trash and towel services have a "value" of $75 for a studio (2 FC @ $30 and 1 t&t @ $15), you could choose the schedule I mentioned (2 t&t @ $15, 2 t @ $6, 1 FC @ $30) and it would cost me nothing and save housekeeping from a back to back full clean. Really, I'd probably just want a towel pack every day. So, I could get that and skip all the rest for my $75 housekeeping credit. A girl can dream!

I think it comes down to lack of communication and some inconsistencies. OP probably should have just called the front desk when housekeeping wasn't responding with accurate info. If it were me, I'd have just asked for some clean towels and any refills (coffee, TP, etc) and that they talk to housekeeping about the inaccurate info for future improvement. I've had plenty of housekeeping "fails" at all hotels.

 

[crisi]

Most people commented about the lack of housekeeping and how this is normal with timeshares and it's possible to pay for more. But that's not the point. The OP didn't complain about not having housekeeping. She said she did her research and she was expecting that. She has been annoyed by the fact that the scheduled cleaning didn't happen when it was supposed to.
I wouldn't let my vacation be ruined by this, but I agree it can be annoying. Imagine havign collected all dirty towels and put them in the tub to make life easier for housekeeping and come back after a log day in the park finding you now don't have any usable towel. If it's a studio you cannot even wash them easily. So personal reactions on this issue can vary, but I agree with OP it shouldn't happen.

And that has been a frequent complaint from guests who stay for more than a week. We never stay over a week, so we've never experienced a full cleaning. And because we don't really need trash and towel, we don't really notice if its happened when its supposed to or not. We stay in a room with a washer and dryer, and rather than figuring out when new towels are due, if I think they need to be washed (which isn't often, I'm a towel reuser), I throw them in the washer. Same thing with the trash (on the old system)....I don't want to do the mental counting of days - if its full or stinky, I find the trash room. My own house doesn't get cleaned every day, so I can live without the room getting cleaned every day. But if I was staying at DVC for nearly two weeks, it would sure be nice to get that full cleaning without having to call - as so many people here apparently have had to do. And if you are staying in a studio, you are much more dependent on those clean towels showing up. But that does seem to be the nature of DVC - our last trip the coffee maker was missing the carafe. Now, what housekeeper didn't notice that there was no coffee pot under the coffee maker? They brought one up quickly when we called (we got a whole new coffee maker because I said carafe, which wasn't a word housekeeping knew) - and lucky for us we noticed it before we went to bed, because a morning without coffee would have made us all grumpy.

We aren't huge "room fixers" - if a lightbulb is out where we need it, we move one from where we don't rather than having engineering stop up to replace a lightbulb. I don't call for things like broken knobs on drawers - I don't want the bother for something I can live with. But even without calling on 'we can live with it' maintenance issues, I think I make a call about half our trips for something that I shouldn't be part of the regular process of housekeeping, maintenance and repair.

I like daily housekeeping at a hotel. There is something luxurious about coming back to a made bed (even better if they tidy a bit - which some of the higher end hotels I've stayed in do - I come back to find yesterdays clothes draped over the chair when I left them on the floor). But I don't value the made bed enough to pay for it out of pocket.

 

[rg35]

We hate housekeeping. We don't want people coming in our room while on vacation. We normally just leave the do not disturb signs up whenever we go away, no matter where it is.

-We don't care if the beds are made.
-We hang up our towels and reuse them. It's a waste to get fresh towels every day. Do people wash/replace their towels every day at home? Probably not.
-I don't want to worry about things being out of place or missing because the room was cleaned.
-I empty our own garbage every day when at DVC. At OKW each building has a little room for garbage on the ground floor. It takes about 2 minutes out of my day.

 

[DizDaD7]

It's easy to say, do your homework etc. to determine if DVC works for you, but that's hard to do if you've never stayed at one on points. A friend let me use hers 3 times, so I then not only knew how it worked, but I knew it would for for us. It's a big decision, I never had buyers remorse and it works for me now just as it did 19 years ago, slight difference the kid's old enough and goes without me now!

Dreading that day, when it comes....

 

[DenLo]

I always make the bed so it will feel nice when we come back to the room. I learned that lesson in my 20s that it brightened my day a little after work coming home to a bed that is made, after all what does it take 3 minutes to do it? But after DVC instituted the daily trash removal I now realize I really miss the privacy of not having daily maid service. Our room felt more like our home away from the park. Now someone comes in every day. Not so private anymore, but I am still not willing to pay higher dues to get daily service.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The more I think about it, it's not like you get a "full cleaning" daily on the cash / hotel side. They empty your trash (which is now included in DVC), make your bed and tidy up / replenish a few things....maybe run the vacuum..... though in my experience at Values / Mods they don't always do this. For a few bucks you could buy your towels, toiletries, coffee, etc. as you need them. They only thing you're not getting is maybe a wipe down of your table / sink and having your bed made. We don't care about beds being made and I can wipe down my sink and table with a wipe in like...less than a minute! I kind of like daily vacuuming, but it's definitely not a dealbreaker.

I'm also a bit of a germaphobe and the fact that they're cleaning up another guest's sink / toilet / used towels and then coming into my room with unwashed hands and touching my stuff kinda grosses me out anyway.

You've got a vacuum in your villa, so you can also do that if you want it done.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I always make the bed so it will feel nice when we come back to the room. I learned that lesson in my 20s that it brightened my day a little after work coming home to a bed that is made, after all what does it take 3 minutes to do it? But after DVC instituted the daily trash removal I now realize I really miss the privacy of not having daily maid service. Our room felt more like our home away from the park. Now someone comes in every day. Not so private anymore, but I am still not willing to pay higher dues to get daily service.

If you have heard of Jordan Peterson, that's one of his rules for Life. Make your bed (actually, set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world).

 

[DizDaD7]

I always make the bed so it will feel nice when we come back to the room. I learned that lesson in my 20s that it brightened my day a little after work coming home to a bed that is made, after all what does it take 3 minutes to do it? But after DVC instituted the daily trash removal I now realize I really miss the privacy of not having daily maid service. Our room felt more like our home away from the park. Now someone comes in every day. Not so private anymore, but I am still not willing to pay higher dues to get daily service.

Was just wondering....Is there a way of turning this down, or do they automatically just come for the garbage no matter what...Because as you were saying this, & me reading it, I' was thinking the same thing....There goes a lil bit of privacy...