Asked to Do More at Check Out Lately?

[Pennytx]

Being honest we do all those things anyway
Do you think they could make a list of those of us that do… and give us early check in

 

[pedro47]

We have not used the jetted tubes in years. I placed all the dirty linens towels on the bathroom rooms.

 

[tamu_bu]

Next thing you know, there will be a housekeeping tip jar next to my printed responsibilities list.

 

[jp10558]

Judging from the volume of "deed" backs on points (see county property records where MVC Trust is based), it appears that many points purchasers come to realize they can stay at similar (or even better) accommodations at a lower cost by just booking/renting whatever, wherever and whenever they want to go on the open market.

I hear this a lot on TUG and I guess I'm just not sure what the points purchasers are paying in MF for a given stay(but I will say that MVC points seem to be way more expensive than many of the competitors and I still wonder why MVC needs to charge that much in comparison to others). However for the "just rent it" I'm not sure that I've ever seen easy availability of rental at what I'd consider competitive prices. If you go to the hotel sites they "wisely" set the rack rate at least a bit above the MF rate for a stay, usually it's closer to 2x the cost. Redweek just doesn't have wide availability - and most of the prices there are still a premium that's noticeable to me - like ~50%?

This tends to leave posting on TUG2 a "wish ad" which idk may or may not get filled anytime soon. And perhaps eBay - I'm not sure how legit the cheapish rentals there are. Many seem to be Wyndham, which I'm concerned would be cancelled out from under me - and are irrelevant to MVC rentals. Is there a place IDK about for less than MF rentals (I'm specifically not talking about Last Calls etc)?

 

[rickandcindy23]

We will always leave a tip because it's the right thing to do. The housekeepers deserve a bump in pay with tips, and I appreciate those extras they do during our stays.

I have an attitude about our owned weeks at Hono Koa because we are overpaying as owners are walking away, dying, etc., and even though Soleil doesn't explain the crazy increase in fees for that very average "resort," we always leave a tip because there are 3 housekeepers that do all of the cleaning for all of the units. There are 27 units, check-in, checkout days are Wed, Fri, Sat, and Sun. They even took away our midweek cleaning because they were short staffed. I still think those housekeepers are probably part time and woefully underpaid. This would be about the same for all of the Soleil properties.

 

[rcdcowner557]

MF for legacy owners at many properties are likely still below rental rates. What we are witnessing is a gradual phase out of deeded week legacy owners. If your situation is still working for you, by all means enjoy it. And were you to care about maintaining that status indefinitely, you could get involved in governance at your property.

 

[rcdcowner557]

However for the "just rent it" I'm not sure that I've ever seen easy availability of rental at what I'd consider competitive prices.

My post above re legacy weeks was meant to be in reply to this.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

We always pull the towels and start the dishwasher. It's doubtful that I will strip the sheets while I change my own bed sheets at home; I just expect the resort to handle that.

 

[pedro47]

We always pull the towels and start the dishwasher. It's doubtful that I will strip the sheets while I change my own bed sheets at home; I just expect the resort to handle that.

Ditto, I will load the dish washer, gather all the dirty towels and placed them in the master bath bedroom. I will also, placed all the furniture on the balcony back in place. But, I will not strip the bed linens.

Finally, we always leads housekeeping a tip.

 

[Eric B]

The guests that were in the room we are in currently had started the dishwasher apparently. They helpfully put the parts from the broken lower drawer in the utensil holder so we were able to locate the wheels that were supposed to be attached to it. The resort engineer was able to quickly replace the entire lower drawer with a new one once we called and reported it to the front desk as being non-functional. IMHO, it does much more for an efficient and effective room turnover if guests report when things are broken or missing than the simple and quick acts of starting a dishwasher, stripping the bed, and removing the trash. Those do help and are quite simple - as many on this thread have noted. They don't strike me as truly being things that make a heck of a lot of difference, though. While it might make a worthwhile dent in the staff's daily tasks when you add up all of the rooms, I believe that getting broken things fixed and missing things replaced would contribute more to the experience of a guest checking in than doing something like taking out the trash so someone who actually has a cart comes by and can do it, doesn't have to.

 

[gerryburguera]

From a recent email from Aruba Surf Club. Stripping the beds is a bridge too far. We are on vacation! What’s next, “Please vacuum area carpets and wet mop kitchen and bathrooms” ?

DEPARTMENT UPDATES Many of our Owners and guests inquire about how they can assist the Housekeeping team before checking out. Here are a few simple tasks you can complete to help the team get ready for the next arrivals: Check-Out Time: Remember that check-out is at 10 a.m. Dishes: Place all dirty dishes in the dishwasher, add detergent, and run the clean cycle. Trash: Remove all trash from your villa. Linen: Strip the linen from all beds and place it on the bed. Terry Linen: Place all soiled terry linen on the bathroom vanity. Keys: If you are not checking out at the Front Desk, leave the keys on the counter and call us to notify our Housekeeping team. Door Hanger: Upon departure, place the “We’ve Checked Out” door hanger on the door to indicate your villa is vacant.

 

[WBP]

RE: Housekeepers and gratuities.

Our personal take: We, admittedly, are Clean Freaks, and start our vacation off on the right foot when we walk into a MVC villa that is clean, and well maintained. This was amongst our Top Ten reasons for buying our first Marriott timeshare, a long time ago. We were accustomed to Marriott service, hospitality, and cleanliness, at that time, and expected the same at MVC Resorts. MVC sold that deliverable as part of their sales process, years ago. Then, MVC was sold to the devil, and its been downhill from there.

We see the work of the housekeeping staff, at the MVC resorts that we frequent, as essential to our vacation experience. We consider it a core value to show “The Underdogs of MVC Resorts,” the housekeeping staff, our appreciation for their work, by leaving them a gratuity. Our greatest concern is that some crooked person enters villas, before the actual housekeepers, and collects the gratuities. We hope for the best, and at Marriott branded resorts, we typically leave a $25-30.00 gratuity, at check-out, following a 7 night stay in a 2 bedroom villa, in which we received no housekeeping services during our vacation. Further, we leave the housekeepers a clean villa, but, we do not/will not strip the beds, at check-out. I believe the first we saw of that bed-stripping nonsense, was at Grande Ocean, about 6 years ago.

 

[TUGBrian]

most stays ive had, load dishwasher with whatever is left dirty...throw all towels and linens in the whirlpool tub...empty garbage.

my last stay at ocean walk the concierge just said to take out the trash. (still threw all the dirty towels in the tub though)

 

[davidvel]

Nothing in 88 posts says any of this is mandatory or any penalty. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.

 

[dioxide45]

Nothing in 88 posts says any of this is mandatory or any penalty. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.

Mandatory or not, it is certainly a change from what they asked of guests prior to this year.

 

[davidvel]

Mandatory or not, it is certainly a change from what they asked of guests prior to this year.

But they only ask because "Many of our Owners and guests inquire about how they can assist the Housekeeping team before checking out." As if that is real.

 

[WBP]

But they only ask because "Many of our Owners and guests inquire about how they can assist the Housekeeping team before checking out." As if that is real.

It’s absolute BS, spoken by the biggest sharks, must unscrupulous people in the business.

They are so deep into their lies, that they do not recognize that they are lying, any longer.

I wouldn’t put it past MVC’s Senior Leadership to frame this “Owner List of check-out To-Do’s” as part of their new, ECO-Friendly, “green,” environmentally friendly, energy-saving campaign.

Remember, these people sell snow to Eskimos.

 

[rcdcowner557]

It’s absolute BS, spoken by the biggest sharks, must unscrupulous people in the business.

They are so deep into their lies, that they do not recognize that they are lying, any longer.

I wouldn’t put it past MVC’s Senior Leadership to frame this “Owner List of check-out To-Do’s” as part of their new, ECO-Friendly, “green,” environmentally friendly, energy-saving campaign.

Remember, these people sell snow to Eskimos.

I agree about Senior Leadership, but want to make clear that I do not blame the foot soldiers. I believe Senior Leadership sends their soldiers out to do their bidding without full information. I have interacted with many MVW employees over the years who I believe are dedicated and excellent at their jobs. My hope is that Senior Leadership gets its act together for not only their sakes, but also for the sake of all the properties where the MVC Trust has a sizeable ownership interest. Nobody wins when a co-owner becomes unable to pay the most basic common charges (insurance and physical infrastructure maintenance) on their units.

 

[WBP]

I agree about Senior Leadership, but want to make clear that I do not blame the foot soldiers. I believe Senior Leadership sends their soldiers out to do their bidding without full information. I have interacted with many MVW employees over the years who I believe are dedicated and excellent at their jobs. My hope is that Senior Leadership gets its act together for not only their sakes, but also for the sake of all the properties where the MVC Trust has a sizeable ownership interest. Nobody wins when a co-owner becomes unable to pay the most basic common charges (insurance and physical infrastructure maintenance) on their units.

These Marching Orders are coming down from MVC’s Senior Leadership, in Orlando, they are the bad people, who are directly responsible for MVC’s unscrupulous operations (e.g. deceptive business practices, particularly, in sales and marketing) and rule-making.

In my opinion, this discussion is about policy-making, and rules, that are coming down from MVC’s headquarters in Orlando, not Regional VP’s of Operations, not Resort General Managers, not rank and file employees and operational managers, and not HOA’s. I agree with you, the operations staffs are Knights in Shining Armor; THEY, and our resort experience, are why we remain MVC Owners. I am certain that the Resort GM’s are subject to a lot of nonsense, coming from MVC’s senior leadership, in Orlando. I am certain that they do not have easy jobs, and I suspect a number of the GM’s, go out on a limb, and ignore some of the edicts that they receive from Orlando.

 

[rcdcowner557]

These Marching Orders are coming down from MVC’s Senior Leadership, in Orlando, they are the bad people, who are directly responsible for MVC’s unscrupulous operations (e.g. deceptive business practices, particularly, in sales and marketing) and rule-making.

In my opinion, this discussion is about policy-making, and rules, that are coming down from MVC’s headquarters in Orlando, not Regional VP’s of Operations, not Resort General Managers, not rank and file employees and operational managers, and not HOA’s. I agree with you, the operations staffs are Knights in Shining Armor; THEY, and our resort experience, are why we remain MVC Owners. I am certain that the Resort GM’s are subject to a lot of nonsense, coming from MVC’s senior leadership, in Orlando. I am certain that they do not have easy jobs, and I suspect a number of the GM’s, go out on a limb, and ignore some of the edicts that they receive from Orlando.

From the very little I have heard about the actual personalities at play, the entire situation has the makings of a great Michael Lewis book. I don't know any of them personally and have no overall opinion on any of them, other than that I can find no explanation of what has gone on at our property that reflects well on whoever is calling the shots.

With that said, I find the industry interesting, and I would love to see someone get it right, but the margins on property management are thin everywhere. I love the idea of communal ownership of a vacation home in theory, but in practice there is no getting around the work that maintaining and staffing it in a cost-effective manner entails.

 

[WBP]

From the very little I have heard about the actual personalities at play, the entire situation has the makings of a great Michael Lewis book. I don't know any of them personally and have no overall opinion on any of them, other than that I can find no explanation of what has gone on at our property that reflects well on whoever is calling the shots.

With that said, I find the industry interesting, and I would love to see someone get it right, but the margins on property management are thin everywhere. I love the idea of communal ownership of a vacation home in theory, but in practice there is no getting around the work that maintaining and staffing it in a cost-effective manner entails.

I have two strategic thoughts:

(1) I think the current state of affairs at MVC begs the question, is it no longer in the best interests of the unit owners to have the same company managing operations of the resorts, and the resort infrastructure (e.g. Owner Services, reservations), that is actively engaged in sales and marketing at those resorts, ….. OR, does there lie “competing interests,” that are not in the best interest of the unit owners/resorts?

I am reminded of what a great job The Timbers Company is doing:

Luxury Resorts & Private Residence Clubs | Timbers Resorts

At Timbers Resorts we craft luxury resort properties for families and friends to come together and create memories in the most special places in the world.

www.timbersresorts.com

(2) Should the syntax of TUG change, from providing a forum for those who sit in a chair and run their mouth, through their fingertips/keyboard, that effect little operational change, and seems to provide a forum for those with significant psychosocial needs to act out, OR, should TUG become an action-oriented body, with action oriented members, who effect change, and improvement, specifically, quality improvement, by taking on missions, like one that I previously referred to, of mounting a campaign to increase owner engagement, and to increase the number of owners who vote in their HOA elections, annually? I say, enough of the Soap Box, the time has come for the syntax to change of TUG, and for TUG to become action-oriented.

 

[dioxide45]

(2) Should the syntax of TUG change, from providing a forum for those who sit in a chair and run their mouth, through their fingertips/keyboard, that effect little operational change, and seems to provide a forum for those with significant psychosocial needs to act out, OR, should TUG become an action-oriented body, with action oriented members, who effect change, and improvement, specifically, quality improvement, by taking on missions, like one that I previously referred to, of mounting a campaign to increase owner engagement, and to increase the number of owners who vote in their HOA elections, annually? I say, enough of the Soap Box, the time has come for the syntax to change of TUG, and for TUG to become action-oriented.

Tug will be what it is based on the members and people that participate. You can't dictate what it will be based on your own thoughts, needs and opinions. If you want to create something with the mission you seek, you can try to create that here or somewhere else. But there is no guarantee of success.

 

[pedro47]

After reading this thread; I now have one concern, why are we placing dirty linen in a unused jetted tub?

 

[ljmiii]

After reading this thread; I now have one concern, why are we placing dirty linen in a unused jetted tub?

To get housekeeping to run and clean it every week. Whether or not someone uses it (not that ours often goes unused for a week), you should definitely do this.

 

[b2bailey]

We will always leave a tip because it's the right thing to do. The housekeepers deserve a bump in pay with tips, and I appreciate those extras they do during our stays.

I have an attitude about our owned weeks at Hono Koa because we are overpaying as owners are walking away, dying, etc., and even though Soleil doesn't explain the crazy increase in fees for that very average "resort," we always leave a tip because there are 3 housekeepers that do all of the cleaning for all of the units. There are 27 units, check-in, checkout days are Wed, Fri, Sat, and Sun. They even took away our midweek cleaning because they were short staffed. I still think those housekeepers are probably part time and woefully underpaid. This would be about the same for all of the Soleil properties.

At a resort where you have face to face contact with housekeeping, it seems appropriate to tip.

At Newport Coast, we never saw a housecleaner. If we request additional supplies, we tip at time of delivery.