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House Keeping and Front Desk for Week Owners

wvacations

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It sure seems that week owners are paying the cost of extra room cleanings and front desk staffing needed to support the DC program. Now that a "week" may have multiple occupants that book with DC points, more staff is needed at from desk and rooms have to be cleaned more often. I don't see a line item on the budget for "INCOME" to offset these cost. Is the DC program paying the fee for the extra room cleanings and front desk staff?

If I book my week, I get the room cleaned once before I check in. I don't believe that there is a mid-week tidy service any longer at Shadow Ridge or Desert Springs where I own my weeks.

If MVC clubs rents out a room it may have multiple occupants for that same week. Are they paying to fully clean the room after each check out during the week.

Since the inception of DC, 2010-2015, the Housekeeping fee has increased from $102.71 to 174.98 which is a 70% increase. If I remember correctly last time I was there, the fee to have a full cleaning was $85.00. So it appears I pay for 2 cleanings each week even though I only get 1. Seems the other one goes to give DC program a free cleaning.

Front desk cost has increase during the DC program life from $$52.43 to $72.76 which is a 72% increase.

I seem to remember that the reason I get 24% less points for some of the weeks in my season than it takes to book the same week in the DC system, was because of broken weeks. Seems like I am already paying for the broken weeks in my fees.

Just my yearly rant on run away MF's. Can't wait to see what we pay when we have real inflation!
 

davidvel

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You should make a written request to your HOA for records that reflect:
- the number/cost of cleanings attributable to DC reservations (beyond one weekly)
- the amount the HOA was reimbursed for the cost of cleanings attributable to DC reservations (beyond one weekly)

The HOA is required by law (in CA) to give you this. It will answer your question.

I still haven't figured out how the DC legally reserves single days, when I can't do this. (If they are reserving the whole week, and subletting certain days, this would be OK, other than the commercial use exclusion.)
 

DEScottzz

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Not that your yearly rant is unwarranted, but here are a couple observations:

  • Points owners do pay maintenance fees that are quite high compared to what many weeks owners pay.

  • My version of Excel says that 72.76/52.43 = 1.388, so the increase in front desk cost would be 39%, not 72%. Did I do it right?
 

wvacations

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Not that your yearly rant is unwarranted, but here are a couple observations:

  • Points owners do pay maintenance fees that are quite high compared to what many weeks owners pay.

  • My version of Excel says that 72.76/52.43 = 1.388, so the increase in front desk cost would be 39%, not 72%. Did I do it right?

I agree that DC point owners pay a high MF. But DC pays the same MF for the underlying weeks to the properties as week owners. This means the DC is paying for the same cleaning cost as a week owner but may get more than 1 cleaning each week.

I did make an error on my Front Desk cost which is in fact only 38.7% but still find that very high with an average inflation rate of less than 3% per year. They obviously need more staffing for daily check ins, and it seems week owners are taking on that cost.
 

davidvel

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I agree that DC point owners pay a high MF. But DC pays the same MF for the underlying weeks to the properties as week owners. This means the DC is paying for the same cleaning cost as a week owner but may get more than 1 cleaning each week.

I did make an error on my Front Desk cost which is in fact only 38.7% but still find that very high with an average inflation rate of less than 3% per year. They obviously need more staffing for daily check ins, and it seems week owners are taking on that cost.
This is correct. The DC Trust (or DC exchange co) pays the same MF to your HOA as you do. The fact that no HOA nor Marriott has expressly disclosed how this process works, makes one naturally question it as you have.
 

Bogeygirl

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Not sure what you mean by extra cleanings. We are weeks owners who have enrolled in DC. Regardless of whether we book our weeks or book on DC points we only get cleaning during our stay if we pay extra for it.
 

BocaBoy

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I have been posting about out of control maintenance fees for a few years now. Perhaps the real explanation is the rapidly increasing costs caused by the DC program's shorter reservations. It does appear that the legacy weeks that have not joined the DC program are subsidizing the enrolled and the trust weeks.
 

TheTimeTraveler

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Not sure what you mean by extra cleanings. We are weeks owners who have enrolled in DC. Regardless of whether we book our weeks or book on DC points we only get cleaning during our stay if we pay extra for it.



I think the issue is not during your stay, but those that use DC points for reservations for one or two nights (or any nights up to seven nights) and causes extra housekeeping duties because the cleaning is less than one time per week (using the traditional week useage).



.
 
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DEScottzz

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I agree that DC point owners pay a high MF. But DC pays the same MF for the underlying weeks to the properties as week owners. This means the DC is paying for the same cleaning cost as a week owner but may get more than 1 cleaning each week.

I see your point. Thanks for clarifying.
 

vacationhopeful

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Any and ALL RCI points reservations PAY for a cleaning fee directly to the resort for ANY stay booked for LESS than 7 nights.

The resorts set and collect the fee from the guest at checkin based ONLY on unit size and that resort's cost to "reset" the unit for the next inbound guest.

Is it fair? Maybe NOT to a guest who seems to think they should on a 4 night stay to get 4/7 of the fee waived; certainly makes sense to the resort who may be trying to cover the additional costs of "broken" week reservations and NOT having control over who shows up and for how long of a stay to a unit that they did NOT have a contact gang of cleaners do a large scale "specialized" cleaning ... one or two individuals who strip the beds and reset is NOT as EFFICIENT as a gang who are specialized to do the whole floor or building.

Yes, other points systems have ways to charge for housekeeping ... Wyndham calls them "housekeeping credits" or HKs.
 

JIMinNC

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It sure seems that week owners are paying the cost of extra room cleanings and front desk staffing needed to support the DC program. Now that a "week" may have multiple occupants that book with DC points, more staff is needed at from desk and rooms have to be cleaned more often. I don't see a line item on the budget for "INCOME" to offset these cost. Is the DC program paying the fee for the extra room cleanings and front desk staff?

If I book my week, I get the room cleaned once before I check in. I don't believe that there is a mid-week tidy service any longer at Shadow Ridge or Desert Springs where I own my weeks.

If MVC clubs rents out a room it may have multiple occupants for that same week. Are they paying to fully clean the room after each check out during the week.

Since the inception of DC, 2010-2015, the Housekeeping fee has increased from $102.71 to 174.98 which is a 70% increase. If I remember correctly last time I was there, the fee to have a full cleaning was $85.00. So it appears I pay for 2 cleanings each week even though I only get 1. Seems the other one goes to give DC program a free cleaning.

Front desk cost has increase during the DC program life from $$52.43 to $72.76 which is a 72% increase.

I seem to remember that the reason I get 24% less points for some of the weeks in my season than it takes to book the same week in the DC system, was because of broken weeks. Seems like I am already paying for the broken weeks in my fees.

Just my yearly rant on run away MF's. Can't wait to see what we pay when we have real inflation!

There is a $1 million line item expense in the DC Trust budget for "Component Services". This reflects the extra housekeeping, front desk, and other services for DC owners' nightly use of the accommodations - i.e. - less than a week stays and the extra cost of supporting that.

I'm not 100% sure how that gets reimbursed to the individual HOAs, but will look later tonight to see if I can find it.
 

dioxide45

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I found post #26 from the MVC Trust Proposed 2016 Maintenance Fee thread rather interesting. The trust seems to pay their share of additional housekeeping costs associated with their short stays. There is a line item for "Component Services". According to the post these are "Component services includes the incremental costs of services provided in connection with Beneficiaries' nightly use of Accommodations which are not otherwise included in Component Expenses or Direct Expenses. These services may include but are not limited to, housekeeping, engineering, loss prevention, and front desk services necessitated by nightly use of Accommodations."

So it seems that the trust is paying the HOA when an owner stays on a short stay using DC points. However, it would seem that this only covers trust owner stays when staying on their trust points.

The BIG question is, who is paying for DC short stays for those using Elected Points? One would think this is coming out of the DC Annual Fee. I don't think it is though. This would be the best way to administer it, at least to a degree. Then at least those that are enrolled in points are paying for short stays. Of course, not everyone enrolled is staying on points or even short stays. It seems that weeks owners are paying the additional costs associated with short stays. I think BocaBoy hit the nail on the head. The weeks owners that have not enrolled and those not using short stays are helping to subsidize those that are.
 

davidvel

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I found post #26 from the MVC Trust Proposed 2016 Maintenance Fee thread rather interesting. The trust seems to pay their share of additional housekeeping costs associated with their short stays. There is a line item for "Component Services". According to the post these are "Component services includes the incremental costs of services provided in connection with Beneficiaries' nightly use of Accommodations which are not otherwise included in Component Expenses or Direct Expenses. These services may include but are not limited to, housekeeping, engineering, loss prevention, and front desk services necessitated by nightly use of Accommodations."

So it seems that the trust is paying the HOA when an owner stays on a short stay using DC points. However, it would seem that this only covers trust owner stays when staying on their trust points.

The BIG question is, who is paying for DC short stays for those using Elected Points? One would think this is coming out of the DC Annual Fee. I don't think it is though. This would be the best way to administer it, at least to a degree. Then at least those that are enrolled in points are paying for short stays. Of course, not everyone enrolled is staying on points or even short stays. It seems that weeks owners are paying the additional costs associated with short stays. I think BocaBoy hit the nail on the head. The weeks owners that have not enrolled and those not using short stays are helping to subsidize those that are.
Which brings us back to my question: what in the CC&Rs allows an owner (such as the Trust) to break up a reserved week?
 

dioxide45

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Which brings us back to my question: what in the CC&Rs allows an owner (such as the Trust) to break up a reserved week?

I am not sure that any specify in the CC&Rs. I certainly am not going to read them all, but I do know that these types of things are covered by the Reservation Procedures. All of the properties actually approved new Reservation Procedures shortly after DC went live. I suspect to cover just this sort of thing.
 

JIMinNC

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I don't see a line item on the budget for "INCOME" to offset these cost. Is the DC program paying the fee for the extra room cleanings and front desk staff?

Per my post above, I looked at the Barony Beach Club Operating Budget for 2015 and there is a line item for "Other Income" that totaled about $159,000 for 2015. There are no notes that specific what is included in this category, but this would seem to be a logical place to book the reimbursement that the Trust pays to the HOA to cover the extra front desk and housekeeping expenses, etc. As I noted above, and as dioxide45 also mentioned, Trust Owners pay $1 million for "Component Services" which must be reimbursed to the HOAs in some fashion, so it would make sense that would go into some miscellaneous income category like this.
 
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