Marriott Standards

[KCI]

We just spent a week at Grande Vista. We own both platinum and gold unit but this week was an exchange. Hadn't stayed there in a long time. The whole place is quite impressive and overall I had no complaints. We went to a presentation, acquired $125 of Marriott $$ which we will spend in Aruba next month. Purpose of this post is: I know they are still selling GV as well as many other MVCI resorts. I also know the "model" units which prospective buyers get to see are always perfect. Now I wish just once, Bill Marriott or any other top tier Marriott person would go and spend a few days in a timeshare unit that the rest of us owners wind up with. Our unit: 1st night it was cold and only the ac worked. They did fix it the next day but...it was cold that night. The dishwasher was missing a wheel or two on the lower tray so it wouldn't roll correctly...they did fix it. All the bulbs in the overhead dining room light fixture had been unscrewed so the light didn't work at all until we rescrewed the bulbs. The dvd player skipped every few minutes so watching was an adventure..the dust ruffle on the king bed in master suite looked like it was put on by a blind person..one side of bed the ruffle hung on floor, the other side it was way up above the floor. The base boards were absolutely filthy, lots of spills on the walls, etc. The master suite had no pool towels, some of the dishes, utensils, glasses in the cupboards actually were dirty. Where is the quality control in these places? I have stayed in countless MVCI units and found some or all of the above in all of them. Do you think Bill Marriott would be proud to put his family name on the units that actual timesharers stay in?

 

[seatrout]

I don't think Bill and his relative ever stayed in a TS- Maybe the Ritz

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

.

I could be wrong, but it sounds to me like the previous occupant may have left the unit in the condition in which you received it, i.e. it was never cleaned or inspected by Marriott housekeeping.

I think that is the exception and not the rule.

I would certainly contact the Manager of the Grande Vista Resort and advise him/her of your experience.

Best of luck!


.

 

[dougp26364]

We have quite a few timeshare stays per year. While we don't often find as many things wrong with a unit like your experience, we do find a variety of issues with almost every unit we reserve.

As for the glasses and dishes, I'm not certain I'd ever trust that they were all cleaned appropiately. I don't believe the house keeping has the time to wash them all and some people's standards of "clean" aren't the same as mine.

If I had as many issues as you did, I believe I would have notified the manager of the resort. The Marriott's and Hilton's rely on resort managers to maintain each and every resort. There is no way they'll ever be able to stay in all of them and, if they did, you can darn sure bet the resort would make certain they were in a unit that was "model" quality.

 

[rpw]

We just came back from GV last week.

Part of the problem is, in my opinion, that it's filled with families (kids are hard on everything) and that it's often filled with exchangers (who, I assume, don't take as good care of the facilities).

Two choices, get the owner's to stop trading in and start staying there more or talk to the HOA about raising fees to help pay for improvements.

I know it sounds a bit glib, but Marriott is probably almost sold out of there. So improvements/maintenance is on the HOA at this point. Find out who they are and complain. Better yet, try to get on the board yourself if you really want to get things done.

In the villa I was in, I saw a couple of things that could have been repaired, but it wasn't a huge deal. I wonder if they take a villa or two out of rotation every week to do minor touch/clean ups?

 

[Bill4728]

We have quite a few timeshare stays per year. While we don't often find as many things wrong with a unit like your experience, we do find a variety of issues with almost every unit we reserve.

As for the glasses and dishes, I'm not certain I'd ever trust that they were all cleaned appropiately. I don't believe the house keeping has the time to wash them all and some people's standards of "clean" aren't the same as mine.

Personally, my DW always puts the glasses and dishes in the dishwasher the first thing when we arrive at any TS we reserve.

Also we don't like the "model" condition of the units. They have big plants on the tables and sometime the table is set. Why would we want all this stuff in our way?

 

[winger]

It just makes sense once a resort is sold out and Marriott no longer has an incentive to keep things top notch, the resort's quality will suffer since all the cost/effort of maintainence is HOA's responsibility. I think it's a shared responsibility between Marriott and the HOA when the resort is in active sales.

This is a fact of life - however, if owners and MVCI exchangers start complaining to the HOA AND MVCI, something maybe done about this as Marriott still has their names on these resorts. I would think they have some sense in keeping a good word behind their name.

 

[wuv pooh]

In the villa I was in, I saw a couple of things that could have been repaired, but it wasn't a huge deal. I wonder if they take a villa or two out of rotation every week to do minor touch/clean ups?

This is the issue. I hope you reported them and got them repaired. If everyone ignores the minor maintenance stuff then they get to be larger problems. My wife and I always get everything fixed in every villa we stay at. It may be nitpicking to some, but it keeps the unit in good repair. The maintenance guys are usually very responsive, and I think it is asking a little too much for the low wage cleaning staff to be checking all the units.

 

[mariawolf]

Exactly, I agree with the poster above--the same thing is going on at the Starwood forum about St John--I think sometimes owners aren't vigilant about making sure things are fixed during their stay as they don't want to be bothered--someone there actually said their unit in St John leaked every year and they just put pans under the leak!!!!!!!! How crazy is that==if I returned and found the same leak I wouldn't leave that resort managers office till it was fixed.
Now, I have to say we own at Harborside at Altantis also and we have found they are wonderful about upkeep etc.--our friends from St John went with us there this year and could not get over the difference in the maintenance and that is the same ownership.
So I think it varies resort to resort and we, as owners, have to demand the kind of upkeep/maintenance that our maintenance fee payments deserve!
As a relative of a Marriott employee I can tell you that I do not believe that once Marriott is gone they don't care!

 

[winger]

...
As a relative of a Marriott employee I can tell you that I do not believe that once Marriott is gone they don't care!

I am thinking there is 'less' incentive to keep the place as tidy as when Marriott is overlooking things because sales are active at the resort. Maybe I mistated but I certainly did not mean that all goes down the tubes once Marriott sells out a resort.

 

[camachinist]

Leadership starts at the top and trickles down, whether it be corporate or in a family. Look to the CEO in each instance for responsibility for that leadership.

If J. Willard doesn't visit some of his timeshare properties and personally look inside a typical unit, he's a fool. His name is on the front door.

That's my opinion...

Pat

 

[winger]

Leadership starts at the top and trickles down, whether it be corporate or in a family. Look to the CEO in each instance for responsibility for that leadership.

If J. Willard doesn't visit some of his timeshare properties and personally look inside a typical unit, he's a fool. His name is on the front door.

That's my opinion...

Pat

Here is Marriott's blog: http://www.blogs.marriott.com/

If anyone has concerns about a specific resort, I suggest clicking on the "customer care" link on the lower right-hand side of this blog's page to see if this gets anywhere.

ONE thing I really like about the 'new and improved' Diamond Resorts International (formerly Sunterra) is that the chairman himself has a email link on their site where owners can send him concerns/comments. I personally have gotten email responses and phone calls from his officers on every concern I raised (not too many, just a handful), in very timely manner, on top of that !!!

 

[Dave M]

He does regularly visit various MVCI properties. There have been a number of posts to that effect on this forum. Here, for example, is a post by a TUGger who met him on such a visit.

 

[mariawolf]

Although he doesn't do the posts himself on the blog it is my understanding that he is aware of what has been written/posted. He posts on it also--recently on the movie--The Bucket List.