I just wrote a review of where I am staying, were I got the full two bedroom unit because I can't stand being in a lock-off.
When I'm in a lock-off, aside from being able to hear way too much from my "neighbors," I contain what I'm doing because I know it would be obnoxious to be crashing dishes around at 3am, for example. It's 6AM and I'm watching a video in the living room. If I had the one bedroom I'd be watching it in the bedroom to not bug the people in the studio.
So what about you? Do you avoid lock-offs?
When we first started, we learned quickly that studio units weren't our thing. Largely because of a few noisy neighbors. One of which was an elderly couple that appeared to have severe hearing loss. Everything they said was in the form of shouting and they were VERY early risers.
One of our owned timeshares is a 3 bedroom lock-out and is ocean front. We use to trade the studio unit but, lately we've started using the entire unit even though it's often just the two of us. There are 2 reasons for this. Being ocean front, we've had one to many neighbors who will leave their slider open to listen to the ocean. This creates a wind tunnel affect with the gap under the lock-out door. The second reason is I.I. decision to charge a size upgrade fee, something I'd prefer to avoid paying.
We have another 3 bedroom lock-out that we continue to lock-off but, the units are separated by an entrance foyer and not the traditional lock-off door. So it's not a lot different than a non lock-out unit.
As far as exchanges go, we really don't care. We use to always take the full unit when we could get it, even if we didn't need the other side. If we couldn't it was no big deal to take the master bedroom of the lock-out. Now, with the extra size upgrade fee, I won't even consider the larger unit unless I need the space.
Over the years we've offered free vacations to many family members and friends based upon having a unit larger than necessary for the two of us. We've had so few accept out offer that we no longer look to book a larger unit. Many times someone has jumped on the free vacation offer, only to back out a few weeks before the trip. To many people don't value vacation time and will allow any excuse to cancel a trip. Others are forgetful and don't put in a vacation request with their employer until the last minute, then get rejected. A few have employers who don't see the value in allowing employee's to take vacations and rarely grant vacation requests or, wait until shortly before the requested time when it's to late to book reasonably priced airfare. Since so few have accepted our offers, I stopped looking for larger units. I probably would have had more people go with us if we'd have asked them to put some skin in the game by charging them a nominal fee for their space to cover the MF portion of that space but, I didn't want to do that as it could have a negative impact on a friendship should they want to cancel and demand a refund. It was always easier to just shrug the shoulders and use the extra space to store luggage.
I don't mind being respectful or the noise issues presented to those in studio units when I have the master suite. I don't need to watch TV early in the morning nor late at night. It's not a big deal to be careful not to bang kitchen cabinets or rattle dishes loudly. So we've migrated in our preferences over the years and, with I.I. now charging upgrade fee's, it's solidified them a little more.
