I assure you that Trip Advisor reviews do not include RCI stays only. I was reading a review of a resort that we were considering and the poster said, very explicitly, that the housekeeping staff was "negligent" and didn't make beds or come in and clean daily. That would be a motel renter observation, not a timeshare observation, as far as I'm concerned.
Just my 2 cents worth.
JudiZ
Before this feature was added I always read the RCI reviews but also checked Trip Advisor too when I was contemplating booking a resort for the first time. And I often also called the resort to talk to someone to find out more. When reading the Trip Advisor reviews I would see people complaining that they didn't get daily maid service and just ignore those reviews. I figured they used one of the travel websites to book their stay, had no idea they booked a timeshare nor did they have any experience with timeshares and they made no effort to find out anything more about where they were staying than the blurb on the travel website before they got there.
While staying in Los Cabos at 3 different resorts, we had daily made service even though we exchanged into them via RCI. So I think it would be hard to tell.
We've stayed at quite a few timeshare resorts through RCI and Wyndham and while the resorts in Mexico might have daily maid service here in the US you would have to pay a high daily extra fee to get it if the resort even offered it. Most resorts do offer a towel exchange, usually on a designated day or days.
My husband and I say we have become spoiled by staying in the timeshares and pity the people whose ideal vacation is staying in a hotel and having someone come in daily to make their bed and bring fresh towels. Unless we are staying longer than a week we usually decline a midweek trash and tidy when it is offered and just ask them for any supplies like more dishwasher packets or trash bags if we need them. We aren't messy or dirty, prefer not to have them in our unit if we aren't there and don't want to be tied to being there while they are in the unit. We can make the bed and hang up our own towels after we use them just fine thank you very much and doing so doesn't detract from our vacations in the slightest.
My husband used to have to travel a lot for his work so staying in hotels and eating all or even most of his meals out is not his idea of an enjoyable vacation. I used to think it seemed so glamorous and luxurious until we had to live out of a hotel for a month while we were waiting to close and get into the house we bought. His company was moving us/paying for everything and they needed him in the new location. It got old real fast and I just wanted to be able to cook my own meals once in a while after the first week. We both love staying in the timeshares and being able to fix our meals whenever we feel like it without having to get ready to go out, drive or walk to a restaurant, wait to be seated, wait to order, wait for our food, wait for the check, wait to for the server to come back with the credit card and then drive or walk back. For some people that is their idea of a great vacation and to each to their own. Over the years of using the timeshares we have a menu of some good but easy meals we really like that we fix on the nights we eat in. My husband cooks too and even cleans up afterwards so it isn't all on me. And yes I do really appreciate him!
