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Exchangers treated different or is there Problem/MERGED

FlyKaesan

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Anyone stayed in a room that stinks of smoke?

[Since you already have a post on this topic on the exchanging board, I am going to merge the two threads, to keep all responses together. Please post on the same thread if you have more comments.- DeniseM]

I am staying at Maui Westin, WKORV and the room I checked in stinks with smoke. I have tried everything and even 2 days after, I still smell it.
I have a baby with us and they say no room is available and we are stuck with it. Odd that so many people were able to check in the next day.
Has anyone else been in that situation?
Can baby have problems by staying in a room that smells with smoke? I hate the smell but what can we do?
Baby has been crying since we checked into this unit and can not sleep at night. (last week we were at the same resort, they put us in different unit so we didn't have problem last week.) 2 nights of not being able to sleep, we are having bad week since baby is cranky all day.
 
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sandesurf

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I'm so sorry. That sounds totally unacceptable! They should at least compensate you somehow. Is Westin not a "No Smoking" facility? Did you request a non smoking room?
YES, the baby could have problems! We had a rental car on Oahu last year that smelled of smoke. At first I thought, "No big deal", but after two days of driving around in it, my friend and I both had sore throats. Dollar gladly let us trade it in and even upgraded us. We were better within 24 hours of getting rid of that car!
I'd go down to that front desk and made myself heard. Claim asthma if you need to!
Good luck!
 

FlyKaesan

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I'm so sorry. That sounds totally unacceptable! They should at least compensate you somehow. Is Westin not a "No Smoking" facility? Did you request a non smoking room?
YES, the baby could have problems! We had a rental car on Oahu last year that smelled of smoke. At first I thought, "No big deal", but after two days of driving around in it, my friend and I both had sore throats. Dollar gladly let us trade it in and even upgraded us. We were better within 24 hours of getting rid of that car!
I'd go down to that front desk and made myself heard. Claim asthma if you need to!
Good luck!

I have went down several times and they said they will make a note of it. I got one message asking if it's ok to come in the unit while we were away. When I came back, I said sure you can come in. We are still having problems. No word yet. One maid did come in and spray flower smell but lasted about 20 minutes of choking from my wife and baby and went out to the beach and came back and smoke smell still exists.
My wife and I already had sore throat the first night of sleep with smoke.
 

JAKEANDERIC

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We recently went to Harborside as guests of owners there. Loved it there but the only speed bump was trying to get a late check out. We were trying to get a noon check out, and at first this was resisted by the manager on the phone...that is until my husband went to the front desk and shook his had with a twenty dollar bill. Then we got our later check out.
 

FlyKaesan

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Those are both Ocean View category rooms, so while the smoke problem is definitely not acceptable, you got upgraded rooms for both weeks. So for an exchanger you got decent rooms. Maybe not the best view, but as an exchanger you aren't ever going to get the best view. The worst view at WKORV would be in building 4 facing the highway.

I don't know what to think about the previous guest smoking in the room - it violates Hawaii smoking laws. It is totally unacceptable that they didn't move you to a smoke free room.

I told them so many times, I do not mind any room if it doesn't smell smoke and they said they are all booked. The thing that bothers me most is how can so many people check in on Sunday if it's all booked on Sat?
I had to check out on Sat morning by 10 since someone is checking in on Sunday morning for 1 br. this was from one of the front desk and I think even this is not true since different agent said someone booked this room for this Sat, 365 days out both units. No problem. give me building 4. Mountain view is magnificent. I goto the beach everyday and I love Kaanapali.
 

FlyKaesan

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We recently went to Harborside as guests of owners there. Loved it there but the only speed bump was trying to get a late check out. We were trying to get a noon check out, and at first this was resisted by the manager on the phone...that is until my husband went to the front desk and shook his had with a twenty dollar bill. Then we got our later check out.

I think everything is possible as long as money is involved or if you are an owner and making complaints. Maybe guests have only 1 option, offer them more money?
 

DeniseM

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Harborside is not in the US and "tipping" customs are different there. I don't know if a tip would be accepted at WKORV or if it would make any difference - but it would be interesting to find out...
 

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Can not leave the window and curtain open cause they can see us. Can not close the window and curtain cause Smoke smells bad. I can smell smoke even with full air condition, ceiling fan, and windows opened wide. I left 5 messages and talked to 3 representative with service / front desk, no help. No switching room since it's all booked. I guess no one checked out and checked in on Sunday.

There are odor-removing sprays you can buy in the supermarkets that are not just flower-fragrance sprays that may help in removing at least some of the smoke odor faster than it will go out by itself. One such spray helped us in another timeshare. Since you have a baby you may want to read the labels carefully, but it may be better than the smoke and fragrance. You could take the baby out, spray, and stay out for a few more hours. When you return open the windows and turn on the fans to get the air moving out faster before bringing the baby back in. Hopefully that would help.
 

PigsDad

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There are odor-removing sprays you can buy in the supermarkets that are not just flower-fragrance sprays that may help in removing at least some of the smoke odor faster than it will go out by itself. One such spray helped us in another timeshare. Since you have a baby you may want to read the labels carefully, but it may be better than the smoke and fragrance. You could take the baby out, spray, and stay out for a few more hours. When you return open the windows and turn on the fans to get the air moving out faster before bringing the baby back in. Hopefully that would help.
You might also try Febreeze, as I have found that to work quite well. You can spray down the drapes, carpet, walls, etc.

Kurt
 

FlyKaesan

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I have asked for the odor-removing sprays and front desk said no. I have to follow the rules or I might be asked to be removed from the property. You can only ask maid for their spray. the flower spray. Is there regulation?
 

FlyKaesan

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Harborside is not in the US and "tipping" customs are different there. I don't know if a tip would be accepted at WKORV or if it would make any difference - but it would be interesting to find out...

I offered $20 to switch us to another room and he kept on rubbing his thumb finger with his second the third finger. Does that mean something in Hawaii?
 

FlyKaesan

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He said if I paid upgrade fee, I could have moved to another unit on Saturday or Sunday. Why didn't they tell me in the first place?
 

DeniseM

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He said if I paid upgrade fee, I could have moved to another unit on Saturday or Sunday. Why didn't they tell me in the first place?

Wow - I've never heard of this at WKORV! How much is the upgrade fee? :eek:
 

DeniseM

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I offered $20 to switch us to another room and he kept on rubbing his thumb finger with his second the third finger. Does that mean something in Hawaii?

To me, that is a hand gesture for money - but I don't think it has anything to do with Hawaii. My guess is he was asking you to increase the tip...
 

ciscogizmo1

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I am not comfortable telling you exact unit but here is the location.

1st week - building 2 and second floor. Not swimming pool view but opposite side and far away from ocean views.

2 nd week. - building 3 first floor. Swimming pool side and I can hear people talk and walk all day.

Can not leave the window and curtain open cause they can see us. Can not close the window and curtain cause Smoke smells bad. I can smell smoke even with full air condition, ceiling fan, and windows opened wide. I left 5 messages and talked to 3 representative with service / front desk, no help. No switching room since it's all booked. I guess no one checked out and checked in on Sunday.

I believe many of the rooms in building 4 are being refurished that's probably why all the units are probably booked.

Honestly, even though both units are ocean view, I do believe your 1st week unit was more desirable than your 2nd week unit. So, I can see why you got switched. You even mention it yourself that you need to keep the windows closed for privacy reasons in your unit this week.

I own at this particular Westin and one of the MAJOR problems the resort has is that owners dictate the check-in day. If there is availability an owner can pick whatever check-in day they want. They don't spread the check-in date over the 3 days which causes a huge back up with maid servce on Saturday. Majority of owners check-in on Saturday. I wish I knew the answer in resolving this problem.

I do think, they let people switch resorts on the fly too. All I had to do was make a deal. I offered once to move into a one bedroom if I could get a better view even though I had a 2 bedroom. When I stated that the rep immediately said that there was a 2 bedroom available. Then, one day in the elevator I ran into a family moving from one floor to the other on a Sunday when they checked in on Saturday. I think, Westin blew it because people do take advantage of it. In all my years of staying at the Westin I only asked to be switched once.

Anyways... as far as the smoke goes that is totally unacceptable. I hope they fine the prior occupants because that isn't right. I definitely think you have some leverage there. Are you speaking to the Head Room person or just the rep at the check-in? I'd want to speak to the resort manager as well in regards to the smoke. I'm sure they can bring in a air filter pump of some type to get the smell out. As an owner I'm annoyed they are not enforcing the no smoking law.
 

James1975NY

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I told them so many times, I do not mind any room if it doesn't smell smoke and they said they are all booked. The thing that bothers me most is how can so many people check in on Sunday if it's all booked on Sat?
I had to check out on Sat morning by 10 since someone is checking in on Sunday morning for 1 br. this was from one of the front desk and I think even this is not true since different agent said someone booked this room for this Sat, 365 days out both units. No problem. give me building 4. Mountain view is magnificent. I goto the beach everyday and I love Kaanapali.

You would have to understand how inventory is managed for timeshare resorts to understand why there are check-ins actively occuring. Timeshares are not like hotels when it comes down to assigning rooms.

I find it hard to believe that the resort would not change your room if they could. Such a bad experience to hear about though....
 

DeniseM

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FlyKaesan - have you been able to find out how much the upgrade fee it? I'm really curious about that since I didn't even know WKORV offered upgrades for a fee. Did you pay the fee and change rooms?
 
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FlyKaesan

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Sorry to say, my baby have been feeling sick and vomited few times. We try to stay away from the room as much as we could. We were out all day today. Yesterday we tried to stay out as much as we could but we had to come in to sleep. We also try to stay at my parents 1 br unit.
My baby is doing better. I just hope she won't catch asthma or something bad.
I have not gone to the front desk anymore since it's painful to wait in line and after all smoke will not go away 100%. They switched filter and it has been better but I could still smell it when you walk into the studio unit.
I am sure I could run into this kind of problem elsewhere. I am just upset they lied about things which they didn't have to and they weren't able to fix the problem after all. They should have keep this unit empty and open all the windows for few days to clear out all the smoke before letting anyone check in this unit. I am not going to leave the window open while we are away. It would be our fault if someone comes in and take things although I doubt that would happen.
I had a talk with an owner and they did say it seems like there is many vacancy in the resort. I guess things are slowing down little bit here. I am sure other resorts are facing similar vacancies during these slow times.
 

FlyKaesan

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Anyways... as far as the smoke goes that is totally unacceptable. I hope they fine the prior occupants because that isn't right. I definitely think you have some leverage there. Are you speaking to the Head Room person or just the rep at the check-in? I'd want to speak to the resort manager as well in regards to the smoke. I'm sure they can bring in a air filter pump of some type to get the smell out. As an owner I'm annoyed they are not enforcing the no smoking law.

once, check in rep went inside and after 5 minutes he came back without any help.
The unit was so bad, bell man came in to give back our baggage and he went for help to maintenance/service group to do something about it. That didn't help.
They should definitely go after the person who stayed here before. Who ever it was, I could tell this person smoked so many times in the bathroom.
 

FlyKaesan

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Conclusion -
Westin apologized after all, telling me the same thing I have been hearing for past 4 days and even the manager tried to convince me but with some proof and evidence, they final came back with truth and admitted they moved me without a cause. Also they could have moved me back to my previous week unit but they didn't and not sure why.
 
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LLW

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Conclusion -
Westin apologized after all, telling me the same thing I have been hearing for past 4 days and even the manager tried to convince me but with some proof and evidence, they final came back with truth and admitted they moved me without a cause. Also they could have moved me back to my previous week unit but they didn't and not sure why.

That is amazing. Did they offer any compensation together with that admission?
 

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I am currently at Marriott Desert Springs II. Last time we traded in here they put us in Jasmine Court--which is basically off the property. I received a pre-arrival call last week and I specifically indicated that I did not want Jasmine Court. I check-in and as the receptionist is drawing on the map....I see her drawing a circle at...Jasmine Court---I said "NO WAY", I told her I specifically called and request that we not be "put" in Jasmine Court. After a very long phone call, I was told that I could get another unit if i wanted a few hours...I said no problem (I don't think they expected that0 and 2 minutes later they had a room available immediately on the 2nd floor near one of the pools..we are now quite happy and I have learned to just be adamant (and nice) and you can usually get what you want.
 

FlyKaesan

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I am currently at Marriott Desert Springs II. Last time we traded in here they put us in Jasmine Court--which is basically off the property. I received a pre-arrival call last week and I specifically indicated that I did not want Jasmine Court. I check-in and as the receptionist is drawing on the map....I see her drawing a circle at...Jasmine Court---I said "NO WAY", I told her I specifically called and request that we not be "put" in Jasmine Court. After a very long phone call, I was told that I could get another unit if i wanted a few hours...I said no problem (I don't think they expected that0 and 2 minutes later they had a room available immediately on the 2nd floor near one of the pools..we are now quite happy and I have learned to just be adamant (and nice) and you can usually get what you want.

What would you have done if they said that is the only room available for the week and as soon as you walked in, the room was smoked in?
 
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