YYJMSP
TUG Member
We're at WDW this week.
We arrived just in time on Sat for the "cold" weather (low teens = mid-fifties), but it's warming up now (high teens = mid-sixties), and looks like it be back to normal tomorrow (high twenties = low eighties).
As some people have noted, don't trust your GPS to find the address -- it takes you up in to an Intrawest property where the road stops at a gate instead of coming through to the WDW property in the distance.
The property is very nice looking, definitely different than Westin Mission Hills. Much more deserty.
Got a nice welcome present -- a little wooden case with 6 or 8 types of nibbles in it (nuts, chocolates, dried/candied fruits, biscuits, etc).
We're in building 3, 2nd floor. The new construction is in the building next to us -- they seem to have pretty much finished the exterior, and we've seen lots of workers going in. We can't hear any real construction noise inside or outside.
The common facilities look brand new.
Our unit is showing some small signs of wear-and-tear already -- scuff marks on the baseboards (from vacuuming I suspect) on the mantels (people using them for coffee tables?) and in the kitchen (glass top stove with scratches on it, sink has some scratches in it, etc).
Some people have commented that the units are dark. They definitely don't get direct sunlight coming in, but I didn't find them that bad.
The smaller side of the 2BR lock-off is larger than at some other properties. I would treat it as a small 1BR suite instead of a studio, as there is a separate living/dining area with a door to the bedroom area instead of being one large space.
The larger side of the 2BR lock-off is a pretty decent size. The layout in general is the same as Westin Mission Hills.
The wired internet is awfully slow.
We attended the Owner's Update today. Offered 5,000 SPG points. Looks like they were giving out 10,000 SPG points to non-owners.
As always, we find the sales people quite disorganized. They really should have a printout of your "portfolio" before you arrive, instead of first going "oh, you already own, oh, you own here, oh, you own a few other locations, oh, you're 5 Star Elite" and then going off for 10 minutes to get a printout.
The rep asked how we used our ownership, and just general chit-chat. She talked about the changes in the SPG program as of Mar 1st. She realized quite quickly that there was no opportunity to sell us anything. She eventually went off to get the supervisor to present pricing, etc, which lead to another 10min wait.
The supervisor was quite pushy (surprise, surprise) in trying to sell something/anything. The offer was $20K for a WMH EY Gold season ("only one left!"), or $15K for a WDW EOY Platinum season. 60K bonus SPG points, plus 4x options to purchase 80K SPG points at $1550ea in the next 2 years. As there wasn't sufficient new incentive to purchase, and some of what they were saying made no sense in our reality (only on Planet Salesperson), we passed.
We heard the term "Ten Star Elite" for the second time now (both partners each being Five Star Elite) in the last year and a bit.
I expressed some concerns about the "devaluation" of the SPG Platinum feature of Five Star Elite membership as of the Mar 1st changes in the program.
I asked about future construction. Supposedly they're putting forward a new proposal for WKORVNN for 2 years from now. There is no plan to start construction at Aruba, but they may extend the hotel? They're continuing on at WDW.
I was going to ask about the reservation / allocation process for units at WDW, but figured that these were not the right people.
We arrived just in time on Sat for the "cold" weather (low teens = mid-fifties), but it's warming up now (high teens = mid-sixties), and looks like it be back to normal tomorrow (high twenties = low eighties).
As some people have noted, don't trust your GPS to find the address -- it takes you up in to an Intrawest property where the road stops at a gate instead of coming through to the WDW property in the distance.
The property is very nice looking, definitely different than Westin Mission Hills. Much more deserty.
Got a nice welcome present -- a little wooden case with 6 or 8 types of nibbles in it (nuts, chocolates, dried/candied fruits, biscuits, etc).
We're in building 3, 2nd floor. The new construction is in the building next to us -- they seem to have pretty much finished the exterior, and we've seen lots of workers going in. We can't hear any real construction noise inside or outside.
The common facilities look brand new.
Our unit is showing some small signs of wear-and-tear already -- scuff marks on the baseboards (from vacuuming I suspect) on the mantels (people using them for coffee tables?) and in the kitchen (glass top stove with scratches on it, sink has some scratches in it, etc).
Some people have commented that the units are dark. They definitely don't get direct sunlight coming in, but I didn't find them that bad.
The smaller side of the 2BR lock-off is larger than at some other properties. I would treat it as a small 1BR suite instead of a studio, as there is a separate living/dining area with a door to the bedroom area instead of being one large space.
The larger side of the 2BR lock-off is a pretty decent size. The layout in general is the same as Westin Mission Hills.
The wired internet is awfully slow.
We attended the Owner's Update today. Offered 5,000 SPG points. Looks like they were giving out 10,000 SPG points to non-owners.
As always, we find the sales people quite disorganized. They really should have a printout of your "portfolio" before you arrive, instead of first going "oh, you already own, oh, you own here, oh, you own a few other locations, oh, you're 5 Star Elite" and then going off for 10 minutes to get a printout.
The rep asked how we used our ownership, and just general chit-chat. She talked about the changes in the SPG program as of Mar 1st. She realized quite quickly that there was no opportunity to sell us anything. She eventually went off to get the supervisor to present pricing, etc, which lead to another 10min wait.
The supervisor was quite pushy (surprise, surprise) in trying to sell something/anything. The offer was $20K for a WMH EY Gold season ("only one left!"), or $15K for a WDW EOY Platinum season. 60K bonus SPG points, plus 4x options to purchase 80K SPG points at $1550ea in the next 2 years. As there wasn't sufficient new incentive to purchase, and some of what they were saying made no sense in our reality (only on Planet Salesperson), we passed.
We heard the term "Ten Star Elite" for the second time now (both partners each being Five Star Elite) in the last year and a bit.
I expressed some concerns about the "devaluation" of the SPG Platinum feature of Five Star Elite membership as of the Mar 1st changes in the program.
I asked about future construction. Supposedly they're putting forward a new proposal for WKORVNN for 2 years from now. There is no plan to start construction at Aruba, but they may extend the hotel? They're continuing on at WDW.
I was going to ask about the reservation / allocation process for units at WDW, but figured that these were not the right people.
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