Okwaiter, this may seem like "first world problems" but this villa is amazing. It has a private pool, jacuzzi, grill and sitting area. It was for these that we purchased this unit. Having small children that go to bed early, it is nice to sit outside, etc... Discovering our unit change last minute when everyone has flights and is excited is upsetting to say the least especially with no explanation or apology
Cacoon - As an owner of a 3-bedroom pool villa myself, I totally understand where you are coming from. We have small children too, and love being able to sit outside when they are down for a nap or in bed. We would be very disappointed to learn that a confirmed reservation for our unit had been substituted at the last moment.
But even so, while I can enthusiastically join you in criticizing the significant lapse in customer service, I'm not really sure what else you expect Starwood to do. I can sympathize that you probably don't feel made whole, but real estate needs frequent upkeep and you quite simply got unlucky. Is there something else aside from better communication that should have been done?
okwiater - From your many posts defending Starwood in the past, it is clear to me that you are going to side with Starwood, even when another owner gets shabby treatment.
That's not an entirely fair assessment. I have no issue being critical of Starwood, but it's possible that I have a different way of approaching and resolving problems.
In this case, I have criticized what appear to be preventable lapses in customer service -- but that appears to be the extent of what Starwood could have changed. The rest is just expressed disappointment about a turn of events that is always an inherent possibility especially with tropical real estate. If there are additional constructive suggestions about what else Starwood could reasonably do next time to improve the outcome, I am open to hearing them.
By the way, a similar (but I would contend, WORSE) situation happened to me while visiting WKV 2 years ago for Thanksgiving. The resort had scheduled a resurfacing of the entire main pool and pool deck for 2 weeks after our reservation, but we found out at check-in that they had bumped it up with no notice, such that it interrupted all but 1 day of our entire stay. From 7am until 7pm every day, loud power saws and other tools could be heard. A thick cloud of cement dust hung in the air across the entire resort. The remaining pools and recreation areas were basically unusable. It all but "ruined" our trip, and I immediately complained to Starwood and to the resort's GM.
All that said, Starwood's Resolution Services department immediately refunded all of the StarOptions associated with the days that the pool was being resurfaced, and also offered to move us to SDO. In addition, the GM personally apologized to us, brought us a bottle of wine and a children's book for the kids, and issued us a gift certificate for 2 free nights the next time we stayed. Did it in any way make us whole? No, of course it didn't. But, the work needed to be done, and nobody did anything with the intent to wrong us. Having made our criticism known to Starwood and to the resort's management, we decided we weren't going to wallow in self-pity any longer, and decided to make the best of it.
I'm glad the OP contacted Suzanne Clark - hopefully this will change the way resort management handles this situation in the future.
I couldn't agree with you more!
