New stupid nickel and diming thing they are doing at Ocean Walk

[WManning]

Drinks and cooling down the beer.

Cold beer very important when I travel with family.

 

[WManning]

Same here. We turn on the ice-maker when we arrive - and by morning we typically have enough ice for our needs unless there's a problem with the ice-maker of course - which has also happened - but we don't use very much ice as a general rule. We use the refrigerator to cool non-alcoholic drinks overnight as soon as we arrive, and the freezer to cool down alcoholic drinks when needed - then move to the refrigerator. We also have a mobile cooler that we take with us sometimes if we're carrying perishable items that need to remain cool during transport- including drinks when needed. I had no idea you could even request ice LOL.

All resort's have ice and deliver to room when asked free of charge in the past.

 

[WManning]

Whats next? When does Wyndham Charge for a extra roll of Toilet paper or coffee or coffee filters.

 

[chapjim]

And that would be acceptable, if they existed. But they don't, and here we are... this isn't about me or anyone else being lazy, this is about making a basic luxury item (ice) available.

Not making something that should be free, a profit center.

But not as bad as charging for parking at Palm-Aire!

 

[TUGBrian]

Cold beer very important

fixed...

 

[TUGBrian]

my luck with ice machines is about the same as the lottery tbh, seems like they take forever to start churning out ice and it only ever catches up on checkout day where im dumping an entire container into our cooler to go home.

that said, ive never had a problem asking the front desk to provide a bag of ice (usually from the bar/restaurant)...though ive also never had to ask for two until my last stay at harbor lake where the ice machine was regularly churning out ice, but in pellet format that wouldnt even fill a glass.

 

[Floridaman76]

But not as bad as charging for parking at Palm-Aire!

You know... I had just about let that go

 

[Floridaman76]

Whats next? When does Wyndham Charge for a extra roll of Toilet paper or coffee or coffee filters.

Don't give them any ideas

 

[CO skier]

"we now SELL ice at the bistro".

Who owns the bistro? Wyndham or is it an independent, small business?

co-branded Worldmark resorts which might do stuff differently.

There were one or two people who flopped around on the internet, foaming at the mouth, when the WorldMark Seaside resort discontinued free coffee in the lobby (not even 1 cup per day per unit) when Liberty Coffee rented space at the resort. (There were free coffee packets in the units upon arrival.)

No one really cared that the free lobby coffee was discontinued out of consideration for the small business.

 

[Sandi Bo]

Don't give them any ideas

Next thing you know they'll start charging for parking at Bonnet Creek!!! Oh, nevermind, they are!

 

[Floridaman76]

Who owns the bistro? Wyndham or is it an independent, small business?


There were one or two people who flopped around on the internet, foaming at the mouth, when the WorldMark Seaside resort discontinued free coffee in the lobby (not even 1 cup per day per unit) when Liberty Coffee rented space at the resort. (There were free coffee packets in the units upon arrival.)

No one really cared that the free lobby coffee was discontinued out of consideration for the small business.

1. I have no idea or care who "owns" the bistro. "they" are trying to profit off of the owners whose maintenance fees are paying for the purchase, upkeep, water and electricity that RUN this ice machine. Double dipping at it's best. It's weird that you pivot from "they should have ice machines all over the place so owners can get their own ice" to "but... capitalism" or "but a small business (maybe?)". No doubt this will have a larger cost to owners, and increase maintenance fees. Ocean Walk is 2 towers, both are something like 25 floors. That adds up. The fact is, someone is profiting on something that was previously free. And that's not right.

2. "no one really cared"... more to the point, you don't care. You do not speak for all owners.

Not too many people spoke up when we lost free newspapers, or free popcorn, or 1 night stays, or free parking, or mid-week cleanings, or (insert other amenity we have lost recently), so I feel it's important to speak up against this "amenity loss creep"... if you don't agree with me, you are more than welcome to sit in silence

All this stuff adds up, it's death by a thousand cuts

 

[rickandcindy23]

I am getting a kick out of this entire thread. I have a few more serious issues with Wyndham than a lack of free ice cubes. It's cheap to buy ice. I am probably too cheap to drive somewhere to buy ice.

I do remember a time when I was seriously anemic, I had no idea I was anemic, but I chewed ice constantly, this is a symptom of anemia, and our icemaker couldn't keep up with me, and of course no icemaker at a resort could, either. It was 2000, and we were at Point at Poipu with our kids to celebrate our son's graduation, and I was using every ice cube in the place, and the kids had no ice. That icemaker would dump ice, my ears were tuned into that icemaker, and I was immediately there to fill my glass.

So I do feel a bit for the situation, and my kids would definitely feel the pain of a lack of ice.

 

[CO skier]

I call down and ask for another bag of ice, and the person tells me "we can only give you one bag of ice per day".

"You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." -- Mom

 

[Sandi Bo]

1. I have no idea or care who "owns" the bistro. "they" are trying to profit off of the owners whose maintenance fees are paying for the purchase, upkeep, water and electricity that RUN this ice machine. Double dipping at it's best. It's weird that you pivot from "they should have ice machines all over the place so owners can get their own ice" to "but... capitalism" or "but a small business (maybe?)". No doubt this will have a larger cost to owners, and increase maintenance fees. Ocean Walk is 2 towers, both are something like 25 floors. That adds up. The fact is, someone is profiting on something that was previously free. And that's not right.

2. "no one really cared"... more to the point, you don't care. You do not speak for all owners.

Not too many people spoke up when we lost free newspapers, or free popcorn, or 1 night stays, or free parking, or mid-week cleanings, or (insert other amenity we have lost recently), so I feel it's important to speak up against this "amenity loss creep"... if you don't agree with me, you are more than welcome to sit in silence

All this stuff adds up, it's death by a thousand cuts

Yup! And the hits keep coming. I am particularly worried about things like parking at Bonnet Creek. If they get away with charging guests, next it'll be owners, and other resorts. If I thought any of this money was coming back and help owners with maintenance fees, I might be more agreeable about it. But I'm pretty sure the parking fees, or anything sold in the marketplace, will not find it's way back to meaningfully doing anything to our maintenance fees. I would love for someone to show me evidence that proves me wrong on this.

And I miss the jokes about the free newspapers (make no mistake, a perk my father enjoyed and appreciated).

 

[HitchHiker71]

1. I have no idea or care who "owns" the bistro. "they" are trying to profit off of the owners whose maintenance fees are paying for the purchase, upkeep, water and electricity that RUN this ice machine. Double dipping at it's best. It's weird that you pivot from "they should have ice machines all over the place so owners can get their own ice" to "but... capitalism" or "but a small business (maybe?)". No doubt this will have a larger cost to owners, and increase maintenance fees. Ocean Walk is 2 towers, both are something like 25 floors. That adds up. The fact is, someone is profiting on something that was previously free. And that's not right.

I took his point to mean that if Wyndham doesn't in point of fact own the bistro in question - and the bistro no longer chooses to provide free ice to patrons at the resort - given the owner/operator/proprietor is under no obligation to do so given they are independent from Wyndham - then Wyndham would have to pay the bistro for the ice (if that's not already occurring of course - it very well could be) - which would mean the resort MFs are paying for it yes? I don't agree or disagree - just seeking to understand the context applied, since context is king.

2. "no one really cared"... more to the point, you don't care. You do not speak for all owners.

Not too many people spoke up when we lost free newspapers, or free popcorn, or 1 night stays, or free parking, or mid-week cleanings, or (insert other amenity we have lost recently), so I feel it's important to speak up against this "amenity loss creep"... if you don't agree with me, you are more than welcome to sit in silence

All this stuff adds up, it's death by a thousand cuts

Some resorts still provide free stuff, like OTA provides free popcorn and wine, just at certain times of the day IME (typically weekend days moreso than weekdays IME). The newspaper is more a sign of the times, given the vast majority of written content is consumed electronically these days - especially news centric content that is always changing - and given print media is increasingly expensive to produce and disseminate. That said, your point is certainly valid that benefits are decreasing over time, even as an owner only since 2018, I've noticed this same pattern over the past roughly eight years of ownership come July 2026. That said, this issue is not specific to the timeshare industry, it's occurring across all industry verticals for all customers and/or memberships. Affinity credit card companies are whittling away at benefits over time as well for example - they aren't what they used to be either compared to times past. Restaurant specials aren't nearly as attractive as in times past either - and coupon deals aren't as attractive as they once were - providing lower overall discounted rates for products and services. This is a sign of the times and the underlying cause is not entirely due to something as simple as corporate greed or individual greed, it has to do with macro systemic issues that underlie the entire system itself (massive government debt financing, fiat currency devaluations, etc.).

 

[Floridaman76]

If you are nice enough to the staff at OTA (like I am), they have been known to straight up give you bottles of wine... allegedly.

 

[CO skier]

It's amazing how one particular forum member throws common sense and their own best interests out the windows in a misguided and failed attempt to "own" other forum members.

I thought his oversized image posting of the 99-cents-per-bag ice freezers to be:

1. Humorous example (others found the humor, too) – worth a thousand words – for where to find some cheap ice

and/or

2. A subtle suggestion to look at the Big Picture regarding the ice policy at Ocean Walk

 

[rickandcindy23]

I miss the free newspapers as well. I always enjoyed getting those at our door. How odd that it stopped and it was a great perk for status.

So sorry about the ice issue at Ocean Walk. You would think they would just let you have ice because every unit in the resort isn't caring about the free ice.

 

[am1]

Checked into Ocean Walk last night, of course the ice maker is off (expected, but dumb policy). Turned it on, and it's a relatively slow ice maker, so we have very little ice in the morning.

Ok, no problem, I call down and ask for a bag of ice. We run out of ice, I call down and ask for another bag of ice, and the person tells me "we can only give you one bag of ice per day".

Mystified, I ask why...

The person tells me that there is a "new policy" that they can only provide one bag of ice per day, per room. Because... wait for it... "we now SELL ice at the bistro".

Un-Freaking real, this is ridiculous and if I can find the resort GM, i'm going to complain. I've never been limited on ice before at any resort, and consideirng how slow these ice makers are, it makes this new "policy" even more absurd. Our maintenance fees literally go to paying for this stuff.

You should be happy with one free bag of ice a day and the option to buy ice onsite. I get hotel rooms offer unlimited ice from the machine but more and more places got rid of those and have to get it at the bar which makes wanting to fill up a cooler a little harder but maybe still possible. But you are staying at a timeshare with a full fridge.

Hotels may have 2 bottles of water in the room for free but anymore and they have to be bought downstairs.

Possibly more free ice leads to more parties and drinking which Ocean Walk does not need anymore of. Maybe shell out for a 4 bedroom presidential and maybe they will allow 2 bags of ice a day.

 

[Sandi Bo]

I miss the free newspapers as well. I always enjoyed getting those at our door. How odd that it stopped and it was a great perk for status.

So sorry about the ice issue at Ocean Walk. You would think they would just let you have ice because every unit in the resort isn't caring about the free ice.

When they stopped with the free newspapers we had to hope they had Fox News. Then if you shut off the TV and turned it back on, you'd have the Wyndham jingle/home page channel on. Then we'd have my stepmother (who only watched Fox News) accusing my little sister (damn liberal) of changing the channel. Fun times, I do miss them!

As far as ice machines, I suppose they were hard to maintain. Someone decided to take them out and provide bags of ice instead....

 

[Sandi Bo]

Who can suggest how to get some reliable information on some of the things discussed here? Who can we ask at Wyndham or HOA's? It would be interesting, to say the least, to understand the expenses/budget hits discussed here:
* Who gets the profits from the bistros/market place type enterprises?
* Who pays for the bottles of wine that you might receive if you are nice (those and boxes of chocolate, celebration type items that infrequently are gifted to owners and guests)?
* Who's getting the parking fees - let's say at Bonnet Creek? How much of a cut does Metropolis get or what do they charge?
Where do the profits from these type things land and do they affect positively or negatively the bottom line to the owners (their maintenance fees)? Sure you can say it's happening everywhere, but who's getting the juice from these squeezes?

 

[conci9999]

Club Wyndham in Indio charges for a bag of ice. I think it's $3 for a 15 pound bag.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Amazon has an ice maker you can put on the countertop. If you drive, that might be a solution to having an ice shortage. I thought about buying one when I was chewing ice for anemia for our house.

 

[chapjim]

I thought his oversized image posting of the 99-cents-per-bag ice freezers to be:

1. Humorous example (others found the humor, too) – worth a thousand words – for where to find some cheap ice

and/or

2. A subtle suggestion to look at the Big Picture regarding the ice policy at Ocean Walk

You have it right but I'm puzzled why Troy thinks I'm trying to "own" other forum members. Maybe he has someone else in mind?

 

[am1]

Who can suggest how to get some reliable information on some of the things discussed here? Who can we ask at Wyndham or HOA's? It would be interesting, to say the least, to understand the expenses/budget hits discussed here:
* Who gets the profits from the bistros/market place type enterprises?
* Who pays for the bottles of wine that you might receive if you are nice (those and boxes of chocolate, celebration type items that infrequently are gifted to owners and guests)?
* Who's getting the parking fees - let's say at Bonnet Creek? How much of a cut does Metropolis get or what do they charge?
Where do the profits from these type things land and do they affect positively or negatively the bottom line to the owners (their maintenance fees)? Sure you can say it's happening everywhere, but who's getting the juice from these squeezes?

I am sure the wine is unused from the wine and cheese activity.

In most cases it is the owner getting taken. Paying for the employee, land, maintenance etc but still having to pay for parking, guest fees. Bistro/markets are rented out with Wyndham getting the rent but the bfs paying the expenses or subsidizing them.