Hyatt Vacation Club Resort Villas at the Welk Review

[jp10558]

Here's an abridged version of my review from TUG2.net. Video review will follow on my youtube in a few weeks hopefully.

This is a great resort that is relatively calm and has lots to do on site and lots of scheduled events with notifications so you know the events exist. The location is OK, kind of out of the way. You do need a rental car.

Pros - Units are nice - 2BR is pretty huge - each bedroom has its own wing off the center kitchen / living room area that contains the bathroom and then the bedroom. Each bedroom and the living room can access the deck via a sliding door. The deck is pretty big.

The place has a bunch of on site amenities and events. There also seem to be numerous pools and hot tubs, including one indoors.

I also have to give them props for the free golf cart shuttle and ability to request things via text. I wish Massanutten had free shuttles for much more of the year - they could learn from this place, and they need it more.

Cons: If you have mobility issues these are not good units. There's a half flight of stairs down and then either down or up depending on the level to get to the unit. Once you're in the unit there are no stairs, but there's no way to use a wheelchair or roll suitcases in and out - you're hauling them up and down the stairs. And again, "look designs" not necessity - I don't see why these units, at least one floor of them, couldn't have been like Regal Vistas at Massanutten with 0 stairs and the entrance / garage at ground level. It's just aesthetics I think.

The mens sauna and steam room and lockers seemed to be out of order for the entire stay. If they were working it looks nice.

The rooms have one temp controller that has 70 degrees as a minimum. Luckily it was cold outside so I could open the patio door and cool the bedroom down to sleep, but later in the year I would find that heat oppressive.

The patio furniture was kind of disgusting - covered in bird poop.

The parking was kind of limited. This is again simply a design issue IMHO - they have room for more parking, but instead they made it "pretty" and so there is barely enough parking.

The whole resort is in a golf course right off the freeway, so you see cars driving by all the time, luckily the noise wasn't horrible for me anyway.

The WiFi was horrible though - kept disconnecting us, early aughts DSL speeds - thank goodness I didn't need to zoom for work and only had one Teams video meeting this week - and I had to turn off video for it to work.

Conclusion: As an Interval Getaway this was a great deal. I mostly liked it way more than I didn't - at least for me and my need this trip. I would recommend it more for vacation than for remote work - only because of the horrible internet - everything else was actually pretty great for remote work.

TUG Rating: 9 - most amenities and great service, no sales attempt at check in. It could have been a 9.5 except for the parking, WiFi and maintenance issues with the Sauna and Steam Room. If you want to golf, stay at a quiet resort or drive over to Carlsbad or inland to some of the neat county parks and such this is a good stay. Internet also brings it down - don't expect to do a lot of streaming or gaming or anything not text based on the resort WiFi.

 

[rickandcindy23]

TUG rating 9 is great, but you described a lot of issues.

I am always curious about that one and have to get something for May for Branson, specifically and was considering the Welk resort there, but I may stay at Wyndham Branson Meadows, a place I truly only like because it's cheap. I would rate it a 7. I have family that absolutely loves the units at Meadows, and they even bought there on purpose. I only stay there because of the discounted stay. How can a person argue with $400 for a full week in a 2 bed deluxe.

The internet at Wyndhams is limited to four devices, and after four, you have to pay extra. This requires signing off with a device to use another. A family of six would have a tough time.

Marriott's Willow Ridge is always my choice but I have points to use in Wyndham, so Wyndham Meadows will probably be it.

 

[jp10558]

TUG rating 9 is great, but you described a lot of issues.

That is always the problem with my ratings - do I ding a point or more because of what seems like temporary repair issues? I only know it's been down for about a week - IDK what a reasonable repair time is, but I think a week is not unreasonable with part delays and scheduling hell for getting service people out. OTOH, I did ding McAlpin Plaza cause the hot tub was down for over a month and a half, and that seems too long to me. If I had to guess, I start to lose patience (for a rating) at around 3 weeks, with my understanding of the difficulty getting techs and parts. From a trip perspective, it being down a day is a disappointment, so maybe I should have dinged cause some of my other passes were for comparing a vacation vs a remote work trip. I think TUG generally is about vacation ratings so I'm not sure weighing it (or other personal issues like min temp) makes sense.

One hard one is the patio furniture - I didn't go out and notice before today - and I'm leaving tomorrow. So I didn't give them a chance to fix it. That said, it is pretty bad and IDK what they could do, but I haven't seen this issue elsewhere. I guess "easy fixes" in that presumably they could clean or replace cushions and could wash the floor mixed with my unclear how much the balcony is used in general (I almost never use one, my mom would always use one so..) led to one of the reasons the resort isn't a 9.5. But it seemed wrong to drop it to an 8.5 because it really does have (potentially - if fixed) "all" the stuff in the sauna and steam room and multiple hot tubs that a lot of resorts like Ocean Oak and Vacation Village Weston etc etc do NOT have, plus I've never seen a Farmers Market, Pizza Hut, outside event, theater offering at any other resort, so it's firmly in the "Top 4" of the resorts I've been to.

Same with the stairs and limited parking - plenty of resorts have limited parking - again most HGVCs I've been to for one. And many many resorts I've been to have had required stairs to get into the units or to get to a bedroom.

I am always curious about that one and have to get something for May, but I may stay at Wyndham Branson Meadows, a place I truly only like because it's cheap. I would rate it a 7. I have family that absolutely loves the units at Meadows, and they even bought there on purpose. I only stay there because of the discounted stay. How can a person argue with $400 for a full week in a 2 bed deluxe.

I don't complain much for $400 for a week lol.

The internet at Wyndhams is limited to four devices, and after four, you have to pay extra. This requires signing off with a device to use another. A family of six would have a tough time.

Huh, I haven't had a problem at my limited stays at Wyndhams, but I do plan to get a travel router as even my normal 3 people would have an issue with 3 laptops, 3 phones and 2 tablets.

 

[davidvel]

No way Welk is a 9, unless it is on a 20+ scale.

 

[andre10056]

The mens sauna and steam room and lockers seemed to be out of order for the entire stay. If they were working it looks nice.

Even if we disregard the bird poop and the limited temperature control, I would not be patient about this. Yes, I know that the average homeowner might have to wait multiple days for a contractor to get a repair part for his individual heating or whatever system. But this is not an individual homeowner. Can't...and shouldn't...a resort have all manner of spare parts in their storage room to be able to immediately take care of issues like this for their "one week of the year" guests?

So I admire your patience, but I'd be more than a little disappointed with the resort.

And yes, I most definitely agree that McAlpin's taking a month and a half to fix their hot tub "seems too long". Were the parts coming from southern Peru via mule train?.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Sounds more like an 8 - 8.5 based on your review.

 

[mjm1]

Sounds like OP was staying in the original section of the resort. Those units are huge.

 

[jp10558]

Sounds more like an 8 - 8.5 based on your review.

Maybe I just have yet to be in a truly good resort then. I also continue to be struggling with the TUG rating scale (I think there was a whole thread about this) - no other resort I've ever been in has had such a good (for us) Farmer's Market or a live music in a chill outside area next to a Pizza Hut for no planning snack. This plus the huge unit plus the decent area for remote work plus the responsiveness of staff plus the free shuttle all made it within the top 4 places I've stayed. And it seemed like from the rating if it was in the top 4 it should be a 9. Maybe I misunderstood that. I'm also trying to consider other people's use - my remote work requirements while not unique are not the common concern of someone staying there. Similarly, being inside a golf course means less than nothing to me as I don't play golf, but obviously that would impact golfers. It seemed to me that for whatever reason Netflix and Youtube worked OK on the WiFi while "work" type stuff did not.

Part of the issue is I just don't usually use the balconies - so didn't notice the bird poop till day 6 I think. I'm not sure what they'd do - I considered complaining but apparently the birds were living in the overhang over the balcony so they'd just mess it up again.

The other issue is - should I ding a resort for something they have (and presumably will fix) worse than a resort that just doesn't have the facility in terms of Sauna and Steam Room? What about practicality of access? What about facilities that exist but are generally unusable because of "stupid design" like Ping Pong tables outside that you just can't use much of the time I was there cause of wind? Or if there's a hot tub but you have to drive from the unit to get there?

Again, for me, the Farmers Market and the Festival under the lights and the Pizza Hut went a long way to making it one of the best stays I've had, whereas a lot of the other issues weren't core to my stay. Now if the hot tubs also hadn't been working it would have probably have knocked them down quite a bunch as one of my party likes to use them for hours a day, and I'll go in once or twice a week. This all does point back to the rating scale being pretty hard to use from the legend. Like, why is 9.0 "top 4 resorts you've been to"? Does that constrain you if there are issues but you shouldn't go lower if overall the resort is in your top 4? I admit, this means that 9.0 was easy to get if I'd used it for the first 4 resorts I ever stayed at, but I didn't start reviewing till I'd been to 6 or so resorts, and most till HGVC, Sheraton and now this Hyatt were lesser. Now to bump out a top 4 is pretty hard. How non-temporary should an issue be before you have it affect the rating? I don't think the overnight to get a tech to replace a lightbulb should ding the resort. A failed attempt to clean a disgusting dishwasher however ...

 

[jp10558]

No way Welk is a 9, unless it is on a 20+ scale.

I'm sorry, but that would put it near a 4 on the current scale, and the Welk was obviously significantly better than Villa Roma, the only 4 I've given. Though maybe this argues I should have given Villa Roma a 3. Again with the extreme of the scale being unclear to me.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

@jp10558 I would consider the following on the higher end of the scale. Not sure if a 10 but up there. Have you stayed at any of these to compare?

Anatara Resorts Asia
Four Seasons Villamoura
Ritz Carltons
Westin Cabo (including Baja Point)
Cabo Azul
Hilton W57 Quin or Central 5th
Elara bHC (most likely other HGVC by Hilton Clubs but I haven't stayed there)
Hyatt Kaanapali

There are likely others.

Of course 5 star non-TS Hotels are a notch above in terms of service e.g. Waldorf, Four Seasons. So everything is relative.

I have never stayed at the Welk so just giving you some yardsticks. Finding bird poop on the deck sounds disgusting.

 

[jp10558]

@jp10558 I would consider the following on the higher end of the scale. Not sure if a 10 but up there. Have you stayed at any of these to compare?

Anatara Resorts Asia
Four Seasons Villamoura
Ritz Carltons
Westin Cabo (including Baja Point)
Cabo Azul
Hilton W57 Quin or Central 5th
Elara bHC (most likely other HGVC by Hilton Clubs but I haven't stayed there)
Hyatt Kaanapali

There are likely others.

Of course 5 star non-TS Hotels are a notch above in terms of service e.g. Waldorf, Four Seasons. So everything is relative.

I have never stayed at the Welk so just giving you some yardsticks. Finding bird poop on the deck sounds disgusting.

Never been to any of them.

 

[andre10056]

Part of the issue is I just don't usually use the balconies - so didn't notice the bird poop till day 6 I think. I'm not sure what they'd do - I considered complaining but apparently the birds were living in the overhang over the balcony so they'd just mess it up again.

First of all, let me say that it appears that this resort was indeed a great place for you and for that I'm happy for you. However, I guess reading between the lines I picked up on a few things that had me questioning the overall quality of the resort management. I've already written about my not understanding how they could have allowed the sauna, etc.to be down for your entire week (and presumably longer than that). Don't they have spare parts in inventory for just an occurrence?

The bird poop is also inexplicable to me. There are all manner of things that can be done to keep birds away from a balcony area. Go to Amazon and do a search for "what keeps birds away from balconies" and you get this:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=what+keeps+birds+away+from+balcony&crid=S9WN2EAOCSEQ&sprefix=what+keeps+birds+away+from+balcony,aps,93&ref=nb_sb_noss

I like the bird spikes myself in that they make for an inhospitable bird landing spot but, apparently, you might try many other things.

Instead, the resort management has apparently tried nothing.

 

[aandmrun]

We have stayed at the Welk in Escondido many times over the years. We like it because we only golf on par 3 golf courses and this one has a nice 18 hole par 3 course besides their executive golf course. We enjoy events at their theater, although after the Covid closings, the theater events are more limited. You do need a car to get around the surrounding cities. You have San Diego, Fallbrook and Temecula nearby. The units are comfortable and private. Walking around the resort is easy because the sidewalks are nice and wide and the property is very spread out, so you can easily get in your walking steps.

 

[jp10558]

First of all, let me say that it appears that this resort was indeed a great place for you and for that I'm happy for you. However, I guess reading between the lines I picked up on a few things that had me questioning the overall quality of the resort management. I've already written about my not understanding how they could have allowed the sauna, etc.to be down for your entire week (and presumably longer than that). Don't they have spare parts in inventory for just an occurrence?

One would expect they would, but given now Hyatt and HGVC and several other not affiliated resorts I've found the Sauna or a hot tub down for at least a whole week, I guess I'm sort of thinking it's not an unusual thing. It is disappointing though.

The bird poop is also inexplicable to me. There are all manner of things that can be done to keep birds away from a balcony area. Go to Amazon and do a search for "what keeps birds away from balconies" and you get this:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=what+keeps+birds+away+from+balcony&crid=S9WN2EAOCSEQ&sprefix=what+keeps+birds+away+from+balcony,aps,93&ref=nb_sb_noss

I like the bird spikes myself in that they make for an inhospitable bird landing spot but, apparently, you might try many other things.

Instead, the resort management has tried nothing.

I had no idea about that, well now I wish I had noticed earlier to complain. I have also noticed at pretty much all resorts I've stayed at nothing seems to be proactive. Light out? No one checks between stays, you have to contact maintenance. Same with occasionally dirty silverware, one disgusting dishwasher, and I also guess management potentially has no idea about the birds.

The dirty fork would be easy to miss if a previous person ran it through the dishwasher and it didn't come clean and that person put it back in the tray. I actually think sadly housekeeping also probably doesn't check if the dishwasher did a good job when emptying it.

But some things really astound me how they're missed like a strong musty smell in the entire unit (SVV), disgusting dishwasher(Massanutten), non-latching or locking external door (Massanutten) and this bird poop on the balcony at Hyatt Welk. Does no one from staff glance out at the balconies?

The lightbulbs I also understand people not checking "I Guess", but it doesn't seem crazy to me to check all bulbs between stays - the labor is probably just too high.

Anyway, with the saunas being down in multiple places makes me then think - well, this isn't as unusual as I'd like, so do I ding this resort HARD about it? This may be the wrong choice to take. I was very hard on Massanutten my first stay on maintenance issues, and while that stay was still probably "the worst", the next time I went it was not at all an issue, and I'm hoping if I went back in 5 months to SVV or Hyatt Welk the Saunas would be working, and Ocean Plaza would have the hot tub up.