Having Problems at Shadow Ridge

[sm1203]

We arrived Sunday night rather late as I had already informed the front desk we would. We were given a room in the Enclaves in the 4300 building in the corner bottom floor with a view of the road and a wooden fence. We own here and are using our week so I thought my request of a pool view would be honored. I even told the woman (she included in my request) that I was concerned about receiving the unit I got! Why even take request if they are blatantly ignored? After MUCH hassle although manager was very nice we were able to move to a new room at 4:00 Monday. Not a pool view but golf course in 4500. The room has the smell of rotten fish!! After housecleaning came to use some special machine to take odors away it is still here. I'm masking it with the 3 plug ins I bought but the whole thing is nuts and now my husband has insisted we move again. Today we will be in our 3rd room in so many days. I haven't been able to unpack and we finally bought groceries last night so we have even more things to lug to the new room. Don't owners using their weeks have priority? I hope this is just bad luck because requesting these moves has been unbearable. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[gblotter]

I'm afraid this is a consequence of arriving late on your check-in day.

Many room changes occur at check-in time due to preferences and complaints. The front-desk staff doesn't seem to care much about owner priority when doing this. If you are the last one of the day to check-in, it is not unexpected that you would receive the worst of the worst.

If I am going to be arriving late, I always call ahead on the day of check-in and request that they put a note in my record not to give away my room assignment to another guest. Sometimes that works - but not always.

 

[FractionalTraveler]

We arrived Sunday night rather late as I had already informed the front desk we would. We were given a room in the Enclaves in the 4300 building in the corner bottom floor with a view of the road and a wooden fence. We own here and are using our week so I thought my request of a pool view would be honored. I even told the woman (she included in my request) that I was concerned about receiving the unit I got! Why even take request if they are blatantly ignored? After MUCH hassle although manager was very nice we were able to move to a new room at 4:00 Monday. Not a pool view but golf course in 4500. The room has the smell of rotten fish!! After housecleaning came to use some special machine to take odors away it is still here. I'm masking it with the 3 plug ins I bought but the whole thing is nuts and now my husband has insisted we move again. Today we will be in our 3rd room in so many days. I haven't been able to unpack and we finally bought groceries last night so we have even more things to lug to the new room. Don't owners using their weeks have priority? I hope this is just bad luck because requesting these moves has been unbearable. Any advice would be appreciated!

I'm really sorry you have experienced such a difficult start to your vacation.

I would say though that experiences like yours have become common, and as a result, properties are advising owners and guests that specific views or villa requested are not guaranteed unless that is what is on your deed.

Honestly, I think they try but under certain circumstances they can't accomodate everyones request. Even owners with priority.

I recently stayed at NCV and recall 1 month before arrival I was told that I should submit my requests in advance but they could not guarantee anything.

I guess as owners we should calibrate our expectations to the reality that we may not get exactly what we desired each and every time a reservation is made.

That being said, in the DC you can always get a guarrantee for unit size and view but not location.

If its that important to you then maybe you should consider paying a little more for the enrolled points and getting exactly what you want.

Just something for consideration.

 

[Bill4728]

We have never had a problem with our room assignment due to late check-ins at any resorts we've stayed in (yes we alway call ahead)

Sorry about your troubles.

 

[rsackett]

...That being said, in the DC you can always get a guarrantee for unit size and view but not location.

If its that important to you then maybe you should consider paying a little more for the enrolled points and getting exactly what you want.

Just something for consideration.

I do not know what official views are available at Shadow Ridge, but I doubt that one of them is the "Road and a Wooden Fence View". I do not see how being a member of the Destination Club would stop one from getting this view. If there is a "Pool View" room at Shadow Ridge then I am guessing that the DC or retail customers could specify that. Even at that I doubt that all Pool Rooms are created equal.

Ray

 

[FractionalTraveler]

I do not know what official views are available at Shadow Ridge, but I doubt that one of them is the "Road and a Wooden Fence View". I do not see how being a member of the Destination Club would stop one from getting this view. If there is a "Pool View" room at Shadow Ridge then I am guessing that the DC or retail customers could specify that. Even at that I doubt that all Pool Rooms are created equal.

Ray

I am guessing then that you are an architect and have found a secret to making every unit in a property have a "Desirable" view to every guest?

What may be a bad view to one customer may be just fine to another. Not everyone rates their vacation experience soley on the view outside their villa.

At Shadow Ridge Enclaves the only view to select using the DC is "resort view" but this is certainly not the case at many other properties.

The point of my comment was calibration of expectations and that the DC club can be used to reserve exactly the view and unit size at properties where there is a difference.

Maybe the unit the OP was given is desirable to someone who needs an "accessible room" or maybe the unit is desirable to folks looking to be in a quiet area or don't care for elevators or stairs.

You can take this to extremes such as posters who get upset they didn't get UNIT 5105 after telling the property 27 times via e-mail and phone calls of their expectations.

In the end, its all about being reasonable with your expectations.

 

[rsackett]

Fractionaltraveler,

My only point was that I do not see how being a DC member would have helped SM1203 with either of their issues with either room they were assigned.

Perhaps I misunderstood what you meant by "maybe you should consider paying a little more for the enrolled points and getting exactly what you want".

Ray

 

[sm1203]

We are moving now into our 3rd and final room! There are no differing view categories as far as I know at Shadow Ridge. Even though the resort knew i would be here late it's probably true the front desk didn't care about the request and gave it away. We would have been happy with 95% of the villas here and we got really the only one I requested not to have which was the frustrating part. The bad smell could have been any room. But at least the weather is great and it beats working! Thanks for your posts.

 

[FractionalTraveler]

Fractionaltraveler,

My only point was that I do not see how being a DC member would have helped SM1203 with either of their issues with either room they were assigned.

Perhaps I misunderstood what you meant by "maybe you should consider paying a little more for the enrolled points and getting exactly what you want".

Ray

Ray, yes I know. The only thing that would have helped SM1203 is to get exactly what was asked for!

 

[dioxide45]

Ray, yes I know. The only thing that would have helped SM1203 is to get exactly what was asked for!

I still don't see how DC would have helped them get exactly what they asked for. They asked for a 2BR unit, they got a 2BR unit. No views and no difference in point values for any of the different units. Sure DC exchanges *might* be further up the ladder in requests, but that has not been confirmed or even communicated out officially by any resorts that they are. The OP is also an owner at the resort, so even if they were exchanging back in, they should have had priority over non owners exchanging in (via II or DC). If they are staying on their owned week, they should have been at the top of the list and DC should have meant nothing.

I always have a concern about late checkins also. If someone gets there ahead of you and they complain about their unit, chances are the front desk staff will just move them to the room that was initially allocated to you. So someone who would normally be further down the request list gets bumped to your primo requested unit.

 

[brigechols]

We are moving now into our 3rd and final room! There are no differing view categories as far as I know at Shadow Ridge. Even though the resort knew i would be here late it's probably true the front desk didn't care about the request and gave it away. We would have been happy with 95% of the villas here and we got really the only one I requested not to have which was the frustrating part. The bad smell could have been any room. But at least the weather is great and it beats working! Thanks for your posts.

No more moving :whoopie: Enjoy your holiday!

 

[FractionalTraveler]

I still don't see how DC would have helped them get exactly what they asked for. They asked for a 2BR unit, they got a 2BR unit. No views and no difference in point values for any of the different units. Sure DC exchanges *might* be further up the ladder in requests, but that has not been confirmed or even communicated out officially by any resorts that they are. The OP is also an owner at the resort, so even if they were exchanging back in, they should have had priority over non owners exchanging in (via II or DC). If they are staying on their owned week, they should have been at the top of the list and DC should have meant nothing.

I always have a concern about late checkins also. If someone gets there ahead of you and they complain about their unit, chances are the front desk staff will just move them to the room that was initially allocated to you. So someone who would normally be further down the request list gets bumped to your primo requested unit.

Dioxide, you pose a very interesting question that I'm not sure if it has been discussed here before.

Here is my query to you:

Under the new DC system, what do you think is the priority that Marriott is using to fullfill reservation requests?

If I'm a Premier Plus owner using my points at Shadow Ridge Enclaves, should I get my reservation request fullfilled prior to a legacy weeks owner?

Or should this be the other way around? What should be the pecking order?

We can all speculate how we THINK it should work but do we have any real-time data of how it actually is working now that we have the DC?

 

[KathyPet]

I have been disapointed with Marriott's failure to honor room requests from owners staying on their own weeks at both St, Kitts and GO. At my last stays at both resorts we did not get either of our top two requests even though we both E Mailed and phoned these requests in a month or so ahead of time. No, we did not check in late at either resort. The excuse at both resorts "Well, we have a lot of owners using their weeks right now." Yeah, I know and I'm one of them! I own 3 weeks of Marriott timeshares and as far as I can tell owning multiple weeks gets me nothing.

 

[Empty Nest]

I agree with KathyPet. We spent several weeks at all our resorts this winter and did not get close to the locations we asked for. We usually request 3 buildings, either upper or lower floor but add a general request--like southern or western exposure--away from the pool, golf course view. Each time we got the opposite of what we asked for--northern exposure, parking ramp view. At Canyon Villas we were placed in a unit overlooking the turn around road at the check in area.

We are beginning to wonder if we have "loser" written on our foreheads.
We get the same response--"There are many owners here on their week."
If we, as multiple week owners on our weeks, are being assigned the driveway view, where are the renters going?

I don't think villa requests by owners hold much weight anymore. I watched a renter throw a hissy fit at the front desk because he said they PROMISED him a golf course AND pool view at Desert Springs.

Our new strategy is to request dumpster view because they never give us what we request and we will avoid that.

 

[dioxide45]

Dioxide, you pose a very interesting question that I'm not sure if it has been discussed here before.

Here is my query to you:

Under the new DC system, what do you think is the priority that Marriott is using to fulfill reservation requests?

If I'm a Premier Plus owner using my points at Shadow Ridge Enclaves, should I get my reservation request fulfilled prior to a legacy weeks owner?

Or should this be the other way around? What should be the pecking order?

We can all speculate how we THINK it should work but do we have any real-time data of how it actually is working now that we have the DC?

This has been discussed before, just not in great detail as it is really all based on speculation. No resort has released anything official about the room request pecking order that differs from before the DC announcement. Here is the pecking order for Ocean Pointe as of October 2011:

Marriott Vacation Club Room assignment Priority:

1. Ocean Pointe multiple-week Owners occupying their ownership weeks. (in season)
2. Ocean Pointe single-week Owners occupying their ownership week. (in season).
3. Ocean Pointe multiple-week Owners exchanging through Interval International.
4. Ocean Pointe single-week Owners exchanging through Interval international.
5. Multiple-week Marriott Owners at other MVCI resorts exchanging into Ocean Pointe through Interval International.
6. Single-week Marriott Owners at other MVCI resort exchanging into Ocean Pointe through Interval International.
7. Ocean Pointe Owners that are renting a guest room or villa.
8. Marriott Reward Members that are renting a guest room or villa.
9. Owners or resorts outside of MVCI exchanging into Ocean Pointe through Interval International.

You don't see anything about DC in there. In fact when they mention exchanging, only Interval International is mentioned. However, I would hope and expect that DC and II would be one in the same as far as exchanging is concerned. Something else that we don't know about is, how are trust point owners treated? If they reserve trust inventory, does their reservation look different to the rooms controller from that of a legacy owner exchanging in using DC points? If so, are they treated like an owner at the resort? IMO, they should be treated like an owner, since they are booking owned inventory. Does and should DC status come in to play. According the the list above, it does not, but who knows.

 

[FractionalTraveler]

Found this policy for Aruba:

http://arubaoceanclub.com/owner-services_check-in.html

Villas Assignments
Aruba Marriott Ocean Club enjoys one of the highest Homeowner occupancy rates of all Marriott Vacation Club resorts. As is true at every property, we place our Owners at the very top of the priority list in terms of requests for villa locations and preferences. Because of the high number of Owners that we welcome each week, we are often challenged with villa location requests that we are unable to always grant. Nonetheless, we strive to ensure that every Owner and Guest have a wonderful vacation experience!

Villas are assigned in advance and are based on the category you own and are prioritized in the following order:

1.Ocean Club Homeowners using their owner week
2.Ocean Club Homeowners exchanging into their home resort
3.Other MVCI Owners exchanging into Ocean Club
4.Any other reservations which includes other non-Marriott Exchangers, Preview Guests and Rentals

Assignments are made on the assumption that owners prefer high to low floors and pool view to outside views. When there are more owners than there are “preferred” villa views or locations, the Room’s Controller looks at each owner’s previous villa assignments to ensure fairness in the rotation from year to year. Specific villa/floor requests are considered within the general principles noted above.

We are unable to guarantee villa preference requests but will do our best to honor your requests based on availability and utilizing the established Villa Request Blocking Priority outlined above.

Maybe all resorts should have such a policy.

 

[FractionalTraveler]

This has been discussed before, just not in great detail as it is really all based on speculation. No resort has released anything official about the room request pecking order that differs from before the DC announcement. Here is the pecking order for Ocean Pointe as of October 2011:

Marriott Vacation Club Room assignment Priority:

1. Ocean Pointe multiple-week Owners occupying their ownership weeks. (in season)
2. Ocean Pointe single-week Owners occupying their ownership week. (in season).
3. Ocean Pointe multiple-week Owners exchanging through Interval International.
4. Ocean Pointe single-week Owners exchanging through Interval international.
5. Multiple-week Marriott Owners at other MVCI resorts exchanging into Ocean Pointe through Interval International.
6. Single-week Marriott Owners at other MVCI resort exchanging into Ocean Pointe through Interval International.
7. Ocean Pointe Owners that are renting a guest room or villa.
8. Marriott Reward Members that are renting a guest room or villa.
9. Owners or resorts outside of MVCI exchanging into Ocean Pointe through Interval International.

You don't see anything about DC in there. In fact when they mention exchanging, only Interval International is mentioned. However, I would hope and expect that DC and II would be one in the same as far as exchanging is concerned. Something else that we don't know about is, how are trust point owners treated? If they reserve trust inventory, does their reservation look different to the rooms controller from that of a legacy owner exchanging in using DC points? If so, are they treated like an owner at the resort? IMO, they should be treated like an owner, since they are booking owned inventory. Does and should DC status come in to play. According the the list above, it does not, but who knows.

Nice!

But I would still think the DC could give an enrolled owner a higher probability of success by checking-in any day of the week as opposed to legacy owners checking-in on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday only.


If a Premier Plus owner is checking-in on a Wed. for a 1 week stay the resort has no option to give them first availability before any Friday check-in. Thats an advantage.

 

[dioxide45]

Nice!

But I would still think the DC could give an enrolled owner a higher probability of success by checking-in any day of the week as opposed to legacy owners checking-in on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday only.


If a Premier Plus owner is checking-in on a Wed. for a 1 week stay the resort has no option to give them first availability before any Friday check-in. Thats an advantage.

Not sure of an advantage or not. In the past the units that were used for daily or short stays were those that were rented on Marriott.com or for preview guests. Those guests are traditionally at the bottom of the list. The resort isn't also sitting empty waiting for weekly guests to come along. That person checking in on a Wednesday has to correspond with someone checking out on a Wednesday or an empty unit. They wouldn't really get a head start on a weekly guest because the unit they will be checking in to will be occupied already when that Wednesday guest checks in.

My guess is that the resorts have certain units designated for daily stays and others designated for weekly stays, it seems like the easiest way to manage inventory since the inventory pools are also distinct.

 

[KathyPet]

Yeah most of the MVCI's hav4e some sort of written policy similar to the ones quoted here. However, what they have in writing and what they actually do appear to be two different things.

 

[TSPam]

Hi,
this is why I think DC points reservations are guaranteed the type of unit purchased including view.

I was exchanging into grande Vista last fall and had three weeks in a row. I call in to talk to rooms control to get the reservations connected and put in a room request. I was told that one of the weeks was DC week in a dedicated 2 bedroom and that they were not allowed to change it to a lock off.
I told them that I was not a Marriott owner and that how could I get a DC points reservation? Well, it seems like when DC points needs a reservation out of II they deposit one into II and so I got it. (they did make and exception but she said that she had to get permission from someone else and it took a couple of days)

It is the part about the Hotel not being allowed to change the reservation type on a DC points exchange that made me think that DC points reservations guarantee the type of exchange specified which in many resorts has view and floor included.

Another aside. I was at Manor club for the month of march with 3 extra weeks for friends and family and was asked when I checked into the last week if I wanted the free golf card. I told them that I wasn't an owner and they told me that the week was an owner week. (again the DC points thing) Since we are not golfers we declined the card but I could have got it if I had wanted.

 

[FractionalTraveler]

Yeah most of the MVCI's hav4e some sort of written policy similar to the ones quoted here. However, what they have in writing and what they actually do appear to be two different things.

You are so right!

I never liked the idea of spending so much money on owning a specific resort and potentially having a twenty something new hire at the front desk telling me what I'm getting for room assignment.

Gotta be a better way for the OP and everyone else.

Same problem with airlines at boarding time. The pecking order to board is pretty clear but if the agent in charge of processing the flight doesn't enforce it, the policy is worthless.

 

[Empty Nest]

I always smirk a little bit when someone writes into TUG wondering what they should request for units when they are trading in during prime time from 'Abracadabra' resorts. Don't bother.

I will add that when we used DC points we got much better results with our requests, even in Hawaii.

 

[NWL]

I own 2 weeks at the Enclaves. I always request Building 4500, high floor, and have got it every time with one exception. I asked for an early check in 2 years ago and got it, but they put me in an "accessible" unit. I really did not care for the features of that type of unit, although there was a bit more space than a regular unit. A call to the front desk, a few minutes wait, and then I had my new room on the 2nd floor. The front desk was gracious and accommodating during a busy check in day.

 

[MALC9990]

Nice!

But I would still think the DC could give an enrolled owner a higher probability of success by checking-in any day of the week as opposed to legacy owners checking-in on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday only.


If a Premier Plus owner is checking-in on a Wed. for a 1 week stay the resort has no option to give them first availability before any Friday check-in. Thats an advantage.

Yes but, by checking in on a Weds you can only get what is available on that day and if all the units you would like we're booked for a check-in on a previous Fri, Sat or Sun then you get what is available.

So it is all just a lottery really. You can only get what is available on the day you check in.

At all my home resorts we are told that we can request a location for our stay but that requesting a specific unit number just cannot be guaranteed due to the fluctuating nature of availability on each check in day. Some owners still seem to think that miracles can be worked and at owners meetings they complain loudly that they never get their avourite specific unit in the resort. With 3 or 4 check in days in a week and with multiple week bookings, expecting a specific unit to be available is always going to be a hostage to good fortune.

However each resort we own at always tries to meet reasonable requests for a unit assignment, whether it be for a unit in a specific block, or a high or low floor. We generally get what we ask for but are always happy when we get to the resort whether it be early or late in the day.

 

[FractionalTraveler]

My experience at hotels tells me that if I check-in on a Sunday there are less people checking in that day than Monday when all the business travelers (i.e. other Platinums) arrive around the same time at 4pm.

Given that the availability of rooms fluctuates from a day to day basis, I have a better chance statistically of getting the best room available on a day where there is less checkins.

I know that because I have gotten more upgraded rooms on Sundays, Wed., and Thursdays than any other day of the week.

That tells me there is less competition on those days for the best rooms and since I am a Platinum Premier, I am usually close to the top of the upgrade list.

So I definitely think the day of the week checkin does have some influence in your success at getting the best available room with view.