No More Tidy's at MVC?

[VacationForever]

You can request for clean towels at no extra charge. You only get charged if you ask them to come in to replace/refresh.

 

[dioxide45]

I don’t know if the fee is new officially or not, but I think the general expectation at timeshare properties which have washer/dryer in the room is that if you need fresh towels, you should wash and dry the ones you have. I have never called for new towels in 20 years of ownership (but not at GC, I’m assuming they have W/D in the room?)

As far as trash goes, if the trash gets full I’ve always just tied the bag closed and put it out in the hallway and it disappears. They always give you extra bags so it’s not really an issue. I wouldn’t pay to have them come in and empty the bin but maybe some people prefer that.

If they are now charging to take away the trash, I'd still put my bag out in the hallway, but I’d put it in front of someone else's door!

I think they are sending out these price lists to sort of put guests on notice that extra housekeeping isn’t free, and in general I don’t have a problem with that. I suspect there are a minority of owners who have, in the past, sort of abused the system and used more services than they were entitled to, and they’re trying to send a message. That’s my interpretation.

I seem to recall Grand Chateau having a trash room on each floor. I don't think it was a chute, but could have been. Otherwise it was just some trash haulers in the room that I tossed the trash in.

 

[Superchief]

The trash issue varies by resort. Most have a trash room where you can easily dump the trash in the chute or bin. If there is no chute or if I can't find it, then we leave it outside the door and have never had a problem or charge for them to take it. Recycling varies a lot by resort and sometimes it is difficult to find. We sometimes leave the recycle bag near the trash chute. I don't think we would ever pay a fee for trash removal. MF's are high enough already.

 

[claraj]

You can request for clean towels at no extra charge. You only get charged if you ask them to come in to replace/refresh.

I didn’t realize there was a distinction. Thanks!

 

[jwalk03]

I always just take my trash and recycling to the trash room. Every resort I have stayed at has one on each floor. As mentioned sometimes its a trash chute and other times there is just a large trash bin to drop the bags in. And often there is a separate can for the recycling. One exception to the recycling I recall is Aruba- I don't think they have a recycle program on the island so everything just goes in the trash there.

I cook a lot when we stay so I often have to empty the kitchen trash can daily. Never had any issues asking them for additional bags when I run out.

 

[bazzap]

At Club Son Antem, apart from the Daily Tidy (which includes them emptying the trash) and the Mid Week Clean, they have reasonably well camouflaged recycling areas in each road, where as owners we can empty individual containers they provide in the villa utility rooms for glass / paper / plastic and cans.
The large, rural nature of this resort makes it quite practical, but it would be good if something similar could be provided at all MVC resorts.

 

[dioxide45]

At Club Son Antem, apart from the Daily Tidy (which includes them emptying the trash) and the Mid Week Clean, they have reasonably well camouflaged recycling areas in each road, where as owners we can empty individual containers they provide in the villa utility rooms for glass / paper / plastic and cans.
The large, rural nature of this resort makes it quite practical, but it would be good if something similar could be provided at all MVC resorts.

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I've seen varying degrees of recycling at MVC resorts in the US. From non existent to having something. I suspect the recycling culture is far different in Europe as it is in the United States. I often see blue boxes at resorts simply emptied into the same dumpsters as regular trash. Or there are blue bins in the room without any kind of onsite recycling bins to empty them in. Some resorts have recycling areas in the far reaches of the resort.

Any resort I've seen with recycling seems to be single-stream which has issues with contamination. People think that anything can just go in it, so they toss it in. Where in fact much of what they toss in causes contamination that can result in the hauler or local recycler to reject it which can also result in extra fees for the HOA. I suspect this may be why some resorts don't bother.

 

[Superchief]

I've seen varying degrees of recycling at MVC resorts in the US. From non existent to having something. I suspect the recycling culture is far different in Europe as it is in the United States. I often see blue boxes at resorts simply emptied into the same dumpsters as regular trash. Or there are blue bins in the room without any kind of onsite recycling bins to empty them in. Some resorts have recycling areas in the far reaches of the resort.

Any resort I've seen with recycling seems to be single-stream which has issues with contamination. People think that anything can just go in it, so they toss it in. Where in fact much of what they toss in causes contamination that can result in the hauler or local recycler to reject it which can also result in extra fees for the HOA. I suspect this may be why some resorts don't bother.

We try to recycle whenever we can but get frustrated at the MVC resorts. Some have recycle areas that have different bins for different materials. There is usually a sign that says 'no plastic bags'. When we try to put our materials in the bins, all of them have plastic bags and all types of trash in each bin. This is the fault of the people who stay there and are too lazy to follow the directions. They would be more helpful if they just threw everything in the trash rather than contaminating all of the recycling bins.

 

[jabberwocky]

Just did back-to-back stays at Shadow Ridge and the Westin Mission Hills in the Palm Desert/Rancho Mirage area.

As mentioned earlier - no midweek tidy at SR and I was a little annoyed that they had only a few pool towels and that we had to call to get fresh pool towels.

WMH in contrast had a midweek tidy and you could pick up fresh towels at the pool each day, dropping them off as you left the pool. It was a much nicer system overall and felt more relaxing.

The activities were much more numerous at SR, which probably explains why the fees in MVC are higher. Personally, we prefer to go out and do our own thing most days and I don’t need to watch MNF in the pool!

 

[dioxide45]

Just did back-to-back stays at Shadow Ridge and the Westin Mission Hills in the Palm Desert/Rancho Mirage area.

As mentioned earlier - no midweek tidy at SR and I was a little annoyed that they had only a few pool towels and that we had to call to get fresh pool towels.

WMH in contrast had a midweek tidy and you could pick up fresh towels at the pool each day, dropping them off as you left the pool. It was a much nicer system overall and felt more relaxing.

The activities were much more numerous at SR, which probably explains why the fees in MVC are higher. Personally, we prefer to go out and do our own thing most days and I don’t need to watch MNF in the pool!

I am still amazed that a resort the size of Shadow Ridge does not have pool towels poolside. I don't like in room pool towels. Real PIA to have to wash them and once you soak them by the pool drying off, they are kind of useless to use again.

 

[davidvel]

I am still amazed that a resort the size of Shadow Ridge does not have pool towels poolside. I don't like in room pool towels. Real PIA to have to wash them and once you soak them by the pool drying off, they are kind of useless to use again.

SR used to have full service pool towel service at the pools. Sadly, people literally would use them after getting them wet and then go and immediately exchange them for fresh ones. They could not keep up and they would run out. Lots of other issues led to them issuing limited towels.

 

[dioxide45]

SR used to have full service pool towel service at the pools. Sadly, people literally would use them after getting them wet and then go and immediately exchange them for fresh ones. They could not keep up and they would run out. Lots of other issues led to them issuing limited towels.

Isn't that how towel exchange is supposed to work? They have the same issue at Grande Vista and often run out of towels. They have increased capacity with automation, but still run out during peak times.

 

[davidvel]

Isn't that how towel exchange is supposed to work? They have the same issue at Grande Vista and often run out of towels. They have increased capacity with automation, but still run out during peak times.

No, you don't get a new towel every time you get out of the pool. In the desert people are in and out multiple times per hour. the system cannot sustain that. One exchange a day, maybe. And towels are dry in about 20 minutes in 100+ temps with <20% humidity. Just gluttonous people.

 

[bazzap]

I've seen varying degrees of recycling at MVC resorts in the US. From non existent to having something. I suspect the recycling culture is far different in Europe as it is in the United States. I often see blue boxes at resorts simply emptied into the same dumpsters as regular trash. Or there are blue bins in the room without any kind of onsite recycling bins to empty them in. Some resorts have recycling areas in the far reaches of the resort.

Any resort I've seen with recycling seems to be single-stream which has issues with contamination. People think that anything can just go in it, so they toss it in. Where in fact much of what they toss in causes contamination that can result in the hauler or local recycler to reject it which can also result in extra fees for the HOA. I suspect this may be why some resorts don't bother.

When they first introduced domestic recycling n the UK, we conscientiously separated items out to go in the correct containers only to see the waste collection teams empty them all into a single section of their lorry.
When asked, they said that they did not yet have the facilities to process them separately and they were just trying to “educate” us
Thankfully that was a long time ago now, they did change fairly quickly and now mostly do a very good job.
At Club Son Antem, I am sure that some folk still do at times use the wrong bulk recycling containers but I very rarely see this now and as you have to make the effort to walk along the road to empty your recycling into these, those who just don’t care probably don’t bother to use them at all. Most seem to though.

 

[daviator]

Part of the problem is that every municipality in the country has its own recycling rules and programs, and when you go to stay in a hotel or timeshare, there is no attempt to educate guests on what the recycling rules are in that city or region. So people will apply the rules from home, which are almost certainly not the right rules wherever they are vacationing.

So they give you a blue recycling bin, maybe, but they don’t tell you: what’s recyclable here? Is it metals, paper, cardboard and plastics? That’s what it is where I live, but many/most places don’t recycle all of those things, and when you put stuff in there that isn’t compatible with the local recycling rules, you just contaminate the half-baked recycling effort.

I have witnessed housekeepers at multiple timeshare properties empty the recycling and trash into the same bag. Of course it varies by property and its management I’m sure, but when I see the recycling container in the room I always suspect it’s there to make guests feel better and create the illusion of recycling. I feel like most properties don’t really make much, or any' effort to see that stuff really stays separated and gets into the right disposal trucks. It’s recycling theater.

It also annoys me when they give you a tiny can for recycling and a big can for trash, because if you’re actually separating stuff properly, you will normally end up with much more recyclable waste than landfill waste. Of course, none of it matters if it all gets combined at some point.

 

[Hindsite]

I have witnessed housekeepers at multiple timeshare properties empty the recycling and trash into the same bag.

I see that at Marriott hotels, the standard is to have separate bins then Housekeeping just put it all in one bag. Usually this means that they have a contract for disposal where the sorting is done at the waste facility, so it doesn't matter what goes in one bin. That approach is a good way to avoid the problems of educating guests.
Son Antem certainly has separate containers for the different types of recycling, to the point of being a nuisance to store and the bins outside are marked up so, as you say it varies a lot by location.

 

[Superchief]

I think Crystal Shores has come up with a compromise solution to manage the towels. Pool towels are provided in the villas, so that limits the total number of towels that each villa can use (waste). If you want to exchange for new towels rather than wash them yourself, the activity center is open for towel exchange (one for one) at the end of each day. Too many people abuse the 'free towel' system. I've observed people who take four towels per person and never return them, and I've found several towels abandoned on the beach. The pool booths require expensive staffing and the automated dispensers really don't work and are often empty after the first hour. The Crystal shores is a good compromise and keeps the MF's from increasing substantially.

 

[Hindsite]

I think Crystal Shores has come up with a compromise solution to manage the towels. Pool towels are provided in the villas, so that limits the total number of towels that each villa can use (waste). If you want to exchange for new towels rather than wash them yourself, the activity center is open for towel exchange (one for one) at the end of each day. Too many people abuse the 'free towel' system. I've observed people who take four towels per person and never return them, and I've found several towels abandoned on the beach. The pool booths require expensive staffing and the automated dispensers really don't work and are often empty after the first hour. The Crystal shores is a good compromise and keeps the MF's from increasing substantially.

When they introduced this system at Son Antem the towel Laundry volume reduced 30%. You get enough pool towels in the villa for max occupancy, and if you forget to bring them to the Spa area they won't give you ones, but there are always ones abandoned in the changing room, so you can grab one of those and then exchange it for a clean one.