Guest experiences with daily room checks

[CarolynFH]

Just left VGF this morning after a 7-night DVC points stay in a 1 bedroom. On the first full day we left at 8:30 AM and returned around 3. A housekeeper was in the hallway outside our room and asked whether we had any trash. We let him in, he went straight to the kitchen garbage can, emptied it, put in a new bag, and left.

We never saw anyone after that, and our kitchen garbage was emptied every day except one. When we were in the room, Peter Pan was outside and the door was bolted and flip latch closed; when we left we moved Peter to inside. Some days we didn’t leave until nearly noon, and we came back every afternoon for several hours. No one knocked or tried to enter when we were there.

So all in all, the daily trash collection/security check wasn’t a problem for us.

 

[snappy]

I recently took a Solo trip that included 6 nights in a boardwalk view studio. I had daily trash removal. My only issue and it might have been partly my error was that the housekeeper walked in on me while I was sitting in the balcony with the doors open in the late morning one day. That was the one time I forgot to out the Peter Pan card on the door. I don't know whether the housekeeper knocked or not because I was taking in the sights and sounds of the boardwalk but when I started to go in, there she was. I think she was more startled than I was. Since I was on the balcony I was fully clothed.

So I guess my advice is if you are out enjoying the balcony, don't be surprised if you turn around and realize you have unexpected company.

 

[Mark Cameron]

We stayed at CSR a few weeks ago for 5 nights! It seemed like everyday during our afternoon break is when they wanted to come in a do the room check. We did opt out of mousekeeping and did not put the sign on the door. It was kind of aggravating for us, it also seemed aggravating to the cast members as well. I'm all about the reasoning but they have to know that some people will be resting midday in their rooms.

 

[Lynne M]

Reminding yet again....this thread is ONLY for posting your reports of experiences with the room check policy during your stay. It is not for questions, comments, or discussion. Any post that is not a report of a room check experience will be removed.

There are threads on this topic on the Resorts board. You are welcome to add your questions or comments to one of those threads, or start a new thread.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Sorry, @Lynne M

I haven't posted my actual experience, yet. So here goes.

We stayed at Saratoga Springs, a DVC resort. We are owners, but not at Saratoga. Our "security" inspection was billed as trash day, every day.

We checked in on Wednesday, January 17 and checked out, Friday, January 22.

For the first 3 days, we had a knock on our door between 8:30 and 8:45. Two of those days, I allowed them in. The first day our housekeeper was a woman, she came in with a bag of trash, pulling it along, made eye contact with me and collected our trash. There wasn't much, we had only been there since 8 the night before.

The second day, at 8:35, a male housekeeper knocked. When I opened the door, he never looked up, not once, drug a very full bag of trash through our room gathering our trash and recycling. That day, we went over to the front desk to ask them about scheduling a later visit. They told us that they couldn't help us. We needed to call housekeeping. We asked if we could schedule it through them. No. Oh, and when we schedule it, it isn't guaranteed at all, it is just a request.

The next day, they showed up again. I wasn't dressed. My husband left the latch on, opened the door slightly and told them that we weren't ready for visitors. Please come back later. He then closed the door. Before we left, we contacted Housekeeping about scheduling our visit. They let us know that it was just a request.

The next day, we were gone before they came. But the next day we were not. They knocked early, and we turned them away as we were trying to get out of the door. (I have a scooter, and it takes a bit to get out.

After that, we were either gone before they arrived or, at least once, they didn't arrive at all.

We used our tag every single time we were in the room. We removed it when we left. And we never found the tag on the floor.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, so far we’ve just “let” the housekeeper come in to take the trash at Villas at GF. First day she straightened the bed and sofa. And missed a trash bin, so good job checking things over. Second day I put the bins in a row near the door and she emptied those and didn’t straighten the beds lol (straightening isn’t part of what they are supposed to be doing but I am telling you everything). Today should be trash and towel and we haven’t had any interest from the housekeeper at all.*

I’m not carrying electronics (that concern has been for DH) so I’m not worried about that.

But this requirement will very likely lead to the end of Dh traveling with us, which will lead to other things. What works on my Cousin trip doesn’t translate to what works for other trips. (Making sure it’s understood that this is a problem for me, even if a casual reader thinks what I’m describing is no biggie...it is for my immediate family)


Editing to add...

*The day I posted was trash and towel day.

My cousin had spoken with the housekeeper in the hall, and she could see we were going to the room for awhile after the Half marathon. So she left us alone. Later later after we got out and about she came in.

I left a tip on the bed for the T&T service, and when we got back it was still there.

Not long after there was a knock on the door. Turned out she’s so un-used to a tip on T&T day that to get it means the guest wants something extra. Since it was on the bed she figured it meant we wanted the sheets changed (which, since I’d spilled water on the foot of the bed, that was kinda true). So she sent a helper up to do that and let the helper have the tip.

So...if you MUST experience this new nonsense, might as well be at the villas at GF, since everything is top notch there.

It’s still irksome though, and still won’t work for Dh if he’s joining us before or after a work trip.

 

[scheddj]

We’re at AKL. yesterday and today we had a knock on our door to check on our welfare. Kind of annoying because it’s during nap time and the occupied sign was on the door. I told the guy that we tend to take a break during the afternoon and nap and could he pick a different time to do his check. We’ll see how it works out tomorrow.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Stayed at Poly four nights around New Years (policy had just gone into effect) and three nights this past weekend at BWI. The new policy had zero impact on either stay....we didn't experience anything any different than prior trips. We do use Mousekeeping daily and often nap in the afternoons, especially this past weekend - DW ran both the 10k and Half and napped several hours both afternoons (and to be honest we didn't use the Room Occupied sign either time). Mousekeeping did come early those days, well before the naps.

No issues whatsoever, really couldn't have been more 'business as usual' for the way we experience the resorts.

 

[Cotillard]

I stayed in a Ft. Wilderness cabin Jan 8-12. We took our dogs and this complicates the room inspection. We had housekeeping day 1 and then later that day, a room inspector came by. I had taken my dogs for a walk during housekeeping (and asked just for fresh towels and trash removal) but for the room inspector I just put the dogs in their crates.
Day 2 I waived housekeeping and then waved down a maintenance guy in our loop when we returned from the parks, so that I could get the room inspection over with so that I could rest.
Day 3 I scheduled my housekeeping and got full housekeeping, which counted as my room inspection. Took my dogs for a long walk during this time.
Definitely may be inconvenient if you need/want to spend a lot of time in your room, or are traveling with pups. But the CMs I dealt with were very nice.

 

[missposh]

We stayed at Wilderness Lodge from 2/20 to 2/22, and had no issues (but we were staying club-level, not sure if that had anything to do with the experience). Someone did come in while we were out at dinner at 6:30 our first night (though they were there to arrange complimentary club-level stuff). We started late Wednesday, didn't leave the room until after 12pm and returned around 7 or 8 pm, didn't receive any knocks. Stayed in the room till check-out at 11, and no knocks then either. We usually saw housekeeping further down the hall when we did leave, however, which might just mean their schedule lined up perfectly with ours. Used the door tag whenever we were sleeping/in the room, had no issues with it.

We moved to Old Key West for 2/22 to 2/25, and we saw even less of housekeeping. I didn't see any Room Occupied sign (though I could've missed it), and I only heard housekeeping knock once the whole time, sometime in the late afternoon Saturday. My boyfriend's dad answered the door and said we didn't need anything. The message light on the phone was blinking later (I think) that day, but I don't know if it had anything to do with the security check. I'm assuming they came Sunday around noon while we were gone, because (oddly) all of our towels that were obviously used were gone. They actually didn't take our trash everyday either, which is odd considering we were staying at a DVC resort booked by DVC members, and I thought that was supposed to happen everyday (although maybe I'm misinformed).

I was heavily opposed to this new policy (we never use housekeeping, and I still don't like the idea of it), but we didn't have any issues during our stay.

 

[pamlet]

Staying at BWV now in 2br. We inadvertently left the room occupied on the studio. When we returned had a message to call housekeeping. Not sure why the didn't just check it when they did the one bedroom as the connecting doors were wide open and the reservation was for a two bedroom. Annoying because now they have to come back for the studio . The reservation is for a two bedroom.

 

[georgina]

Stayed at All Star Sports Feb 13-16. There was no room occupied sign in my room. I am one who always kept the do not disturb sign on and previously declined housekeeping. However, this trip I had the housekeepers come in every day. I put my laptop and iPad deep in my suitcase (safes at the values are small!) Housekeeping came in every day while I was out and I never saw them. This, however, was my last on site stay. I am protesting with my dollars. So far Universal resorts have no problem with my do not disturb signs.

 

[DISNEYWITHCHILDREN]

Just stayed at DVC Poly for Princess Half Marathon weekend. Roomed with two good friends. We arrived Wed the 21st. I think on the 22nd or 23rd there was a card that they had been in the room. On the 24th we left the room at 3am with nothing on door. Returned at 11am. Two out of the 3 of us went to sleep. The 3rd was watching a movie. There was a knock. A woman CM said she was here for trash. Ok no problem.

On Sunday we left at 3am again. I came back at 1pm. My two roommates had come back at 11am and left at 12noon. I put room occupied as I was going to take a shower and a nap. As I was sleeping I heard a knock. I thought it was my room mates knocking before entering. It continued. I got annoyed and got up. I figured they probably forgot magic bands? As I walked to the door a male CM entered. He apologized and said he was there for the trash. I said fine and got back into bed. He collected the trash and left.

The day I was leaving a female CM knocked ever 1/2 an hour from 9:30am to 11am until I left.

 

[pigletliz]

I just came back from a week's stay. Person knocked on the door and apologized for the inconvenience. Pretty much a non-event because we were out of the room most days.

 

[aboveH20]

Checked into the Yacht Club earlier today. Due to a hand injury in the fall I have a brace that I wear several hours each day (until I can't stand it anymore). I put it in a small fishing tackle box so I could carry it in my backpack on the plane. When I got to the room I purposefully put the box on the dresser and opened it so they wouldn't call in the bomb squad wondering what was inside. When I got back to the room the box was closed, so I'm guessing security was here!

 

[MsAnniee]

Stayed at Old Key West. First day when out at parks, half of the trash was collected. On the second day, we put the "occupied" sign up when we returned to the room at 2:00pm for a nap. A CM knocked at the door and we requested that he return when we left later in the afternoon. A call them came to tell me that trash needed to be picked up. I responded that we had already put the trash outside of the door and there was no need to come in the room while we were napping. Was advised that room must. be check. I asked that someone come after 6:00pm when were would be out of the room. Knock on the door came at 4:30pm wanting to check the room. I was in the shower and my traveling companion asked that someone check the room after 6pm. At 5:30pm, we repeated the request.

This happened everyday we were there. It is one thing to check the room, but respect the occupied sign that Disney provided. Coming in at housekeeping's convince when I am paying a premium for the room is a bit much for a security measure that is actually useless and is no more an attempt to cover Disney should a shooting occur. Perhaps Disney needs to hire more housekeepers so that rooms can be entered when the occupied sign is not on the door, versus adding additional work to housekeeping's busy day.

 

[jenga1030]

Just returned from 4 nights at All Star Music. This was my first solo trip so I was a little nervous about the room checks.
I usually skip mousekeeping most of the time on our trips and since they’ve been offering the $10 a night to skip, I’ve been taking the gift card.

I decided to just accept mousekeeping this trip instead of wondering if my room had already been checked and worrying about it.

I kept the room occupied sign on when I was there and took it off when I left early each morning. I returned to my room each afternoon and my room had always been serviced.

So it didn’t affect me at all except for the fact that I changed my usual routine of taking the $10 per night.

 

[zillayen]

Just returned from the Yacht Club. Never had anyone knock on the door or had a call asking about room checks. The first day and last day we had the "room occupied" sign on the door the whole time; they either came when we were out or didn't come in at all. The other two days we were out in the morning and evening. Housekeeping came in the morning because the room was made up when we got back for our afternoon break.

 

[OddDisneyFan]

Checked in to POR three days ago. We never decline housekeeping, and never had any knock on the door while we were in the room. We did hang the “Room Occupied” sign out overnight, and the latest we left the room in the morning was about 10:00am. However, housekeeping has to start somewhere, and we did see them in other parts of our building as we were leaving for the day.

With respect to the “Room Occupied” signs blowing off the doors, at least at POR, after personal observation I am not ready to call it suspicious. The signs and door handles aren’t a good match, as signs easily slip off the handles with even the slightest disturbance. I witnessed some signs on the ground outside of other rooms, and ours kept sliding off the handle on the *inside* of the door. A solution seems to be to wedge the sign underneath the door handle fascia on the outside, where it will stick and not let loose in the breeze.

 

[motherof5]

We just returned yesterday from BWV. We were there 1/20/18-1/27/18 on a DVC points reservation. Having read other people's concerns/experiences with this before leaving, I mentioned at check in that I had heard that they would be entering the rooms each day. The front desk CM sold it as solely being for daily trash removal. I told her that we normally are gone in the morning and evenings, but are usually napping in our room between 12-4 and would prefer not to be disturbed at that time. She seemed confused by the request, but asked another CM. The CM told her to call someone (I didn't hear who or what department) with our request. The CM I talked to appeared to write down the times I mentioned on a sticky note or other piece of paper. At this point, I had very little confidence that my request was going to be honored.

Throughout the week, we left our room in the morning anytime between 8-10am. We always kept the room occupied sign on the door when in the room, and dutifully removed it when we left. Everyday we came back at or shortly after noon. On every single day, our trash had been removed before we returned. Even on days when we were only gone from 10-12, it was done in that time frame. They never came before we left in the morning. And they never came while we were in the room. No one ever knocked on our door, unless we had requested something. So for us, it worked out just fine. No one even knocked on our door on the morning of check-out, and we were in our room until 10:50am.

Nice to hear. Last trip at OKW they constantly came in the room even when kids were sleeping.