Villas not ready for 4pm checkin

[OutAndAbout]

I believe most Marriott timeshares have a checkin of 4pm. When the villa isn't ready by 4pm (or shortly thereafter) does the timeshare owe you anything?

 

[siesta]

I believe most Marriott timeshares have a checkin of 4pm. When the villa isn't ready by 4pm (or shortly thereafter) does the timeshare owe you anything?

An apology and a reasonable explanation as long as it was within the hour. Anything after that I'd say you should be compensated, just as they would charge you for late checkout.

 

[smithde]

I had this happen at Canyon Villas three weeks ago. Tried to check-in at 5 pm and I was told the room wasn't ready as they had "had a lot of room turnover that day." I pointed out that this was completely knowable by them in advance and they should have staffed accordingly. I pointed out that I was an owner, my occupancy was to begin at 4 pm and that since the room wasn't ready, I expected compensation. I then asked to see a manager. The desk clerk went in the back for about 3 minutes and came out and informed me that my room was ready.

The room was exactly what we requested in advance, so I have no idea what the problem was.

 

[Passepartout]

I'd be tempted to ask for a voucher for a meal at their- or a nearby- restaurant while they readied my room. Or perhaps a no-charge late check-out on your day to leave.

Lots of businesses- especially those in service industries like hospitality- are staffed as spare as possible. Let one housekeeper call in sick and it puts the whole schedule behind.

We all like low MFs and spare staffing and delaying refurbs and upgrades is how TSs try to keep 'em low.

Jim

 

[MabelP]

This happened to me at the Enclaves last Saturday. We couldn't check in until 5:45. We went out grocery shopping and they called us at the market.I never thought of asking for compensation.

 

[OutAndAbout]

An apology and a reasonable explanation as long as it was within the hour. Anything after that I'd say you should be compensated, just as they would charge you for late checkout.

This most recent incident was more than an hour and supposedly not one room was ready between noon and post-5pm.

I'd be tempted to ask for a voucher for a meal at their- or a nearby- restaurant while they readied my room.

Once a property volunteered a $$ voucher for "drinks." (Although that didn't happen in the most recent instance).

Lots of businesses- especially those in service industries like hospitality- are staffed as spare as possible. Let one housekeeper call in sick and it puts the whole schedule behind.

I'm sure there are instances of this (or something along those lines). I wonder if they're actually allowed to share that or can only divulge, "the room isn't ready"

 

[FractionalTraveler]

This has happened to us many times over the last 15 years. In general we have found the properties to be very accommodating.

Many times I have been given a free drink at the pool bar, ice cream, tokens for the game room etc.

Other times we just put our stuff down, change into our bathing suits and go to the pools and enjoy the facility.

We also take advantage of the time to do groceries as well.

Overall, no big deal. We take it in stride, we are starting our vacation!

 

[gblotter]

Flipping 1/3 of the inventory in a single day is quite a daunting task for the housekeeping staff to pull off. And they only have a 6-hour window (between 10am and 4pm) to clean and prep all those units.

As good Marriott citizens, we always do a little cleanup on departure to make the job easier (like loading all the dirty dishes and starting the dishwasher).

 

[dioxide45]

I believe most Marriott timeshares have a checkin of 4pm. When the villa isn't ready by 4pm (or shortly thereafter) does the timeshare owe you anything?

I guess it all depends on how delayed one's checkin is. If it is just a half hour or so, then I wouldn't expect anything. If it was over an hour or more, then some vouchers for a free drink or meal would be sufficient. At Marriott TSs these costs are usually charged to Marriott since these services are managed by Marriott and they make the profits or eat the losses.

One time we arrived early at a Courtyard hotel in Virginia Beach. The room wasn't ready, but we weren't expecting it to be. Our room was ready before the 3:00pm checkin time but we did wait about two hours, the hotel still gave us vouchers for the buffet breakfast.

 

[pharmgirl]

we have lockoffs so when there is delay we ask to have the smaller side cleaned so we can use this and put luggage, food etc

 

[dougp26364]

We've had this happen once at our home resort of Ocean Pointe. I did not ask for compenstation and non was offered.

Honestly, stuff happens. Should we always expect and/or demand compensation for the occasional minor inconvenience? Have we become that sort of society? So long as it happens on rare occasion I have no issue with it. People call in sick or don't show up for work. Sometimes previous occupants leave something more than just a little bit of a mess when they check out. Things happen that cause delays. If it happened frequently then I'd be more concerned. Since it's happened to us once since 2000, I'll chalk it up to stuff happens and I would dream of demanding any sort of compensation.

 

[yumdrey]

I don't know if it's unusual thing to Marriott owners (including me) but...
When I checked-in at Harborside (Starwood resort), my unit was rarely ready by 4pm.
I own two weeks there and I could get a key/keys around 5 or 6pm.
And it was a September week which means shoulder season.
So go figure.

 

[dougp26364]

I don't know if it's unusual thing to Marriott owners (including me) but...
When I checked-in at Harborside (Starwood resort), my unit was rarely ready by 4pm.
I own two weeks there and I could get a key/keys around 5 or 6pm.
And it was a September week which means shoulder season.
So go figure.

If it happens on a regular basis, I'd be looking to the HOA and Starwood for an explanation. Once in awhile I can see something happening but, on a regular basis there's a problem that needs to be resolved. Either the HOA is cheaping out on adaquate housekeepers, there's an issue getting previous guests out of the unit or some other explanation. I'd push to get answers and, if it happens all the time despite written information that check in is at 4 PM, I'd consider what might be fair and resonable compensation.

 

[OutAndAbout]

So long as it happens on rare occasion I have no issue with it.

I think there are a few aspects to take into account:
a) Length of wait (if you arrive at noon, you know a room may not be ready until 4, but it waiting 4+ hours and being told you have over an hour additional wait..)
b) Status. Ownership at the resort, ownership with MVCI, and Marriott Rewards status (in that order)
c) Frequency

 

[Twinkstarr]

If it happens on a regular basis, I'd be looking to the HOA and Starwood for an explanation. Once in awhile I can see something happening but, on a regular basis there's a problem that needs to be resolved. Either the HOA is cheaping out on adaquate housekeepers, there's an issue getting previous guests out of the unit or some other explanation. I'd push to get answers and, if it happens all the time despite written information that check in is at 4 PM, I'd consider what might be fair and resonable compensation.

We own at Disney's Vero Beach resort and go there for Easter and the fastest I've gotten a villa was last year when we booked a Beach Cottage and checked in on a Saturday. Room wasn't ready at 3:30, went for a drink and got a text message that it was ready. Was shocked because we usually figure on around 5pm for units(especially 2brs)

Our first stay, god knows what people did in a few of the units, but they were having to clean the carpets in multiple 2br units on a Saturday of Easter week. There were 3 groups of us waiting for our villas at 6pm. No credits, just a we're a we are sorry.

On a brighter note, I own a fixed week at a Bluegreen managed resort, we traded into that resort for NYE week this past year. The problem is the front desk doesn't know which unit we traded into, so they need to call RCI. It took 30 minutes or so, but for our inconvience they gave us $50 resort credit. I was expecting anything or even asked.

 

[LynnW]

It only happened to us once at the Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix. They gave us four vouchers for dinner at their onsite restaurant so with only the two of us we got 2 free dinners each.

Lynn

 

[funtime]

It works both ways - I checked in early as an II exchanger several years ago at Ocean Pointe and they had a room for me - first floor over looking the parking lot. I nicely asked if any higher ocean view room was available and told them I was willing to wait. I happily occupied myself for about two hours (to get groceries? - I don't remember) and when I came back they had reserved a fifth floor side ocean view room for me. They treated me nicely, I treated them nicely and I went away happy. Funtime

 

[sail27bill]

I was at Oceanwatch this past summer and they were booked to capacity. I was one of 3 exchangers there for the week (The front desk was surprised we even got in). Anyway, we arrived at 3:30 and they told us they would contact us by cellphone when our unit was ready. We went to explore the resort. After an hour we went to check back again. Another hour same thing, and then again later. Our unit was not ready till a little after 7 pm. I felt bad for the workers as there were some pretty irate owners complaining. As we were exchangers, and were thrilled we were there, we did not complain. The last time I inquired about our unit, the desk person got the person in charge and he apologized profusely to us. He offered us drink tickets. We told him not to worry, we were going to get dinner and hopefully our room would be ready then. As we got to our car, and were about to drive off, he came out to tell us our unit was ready. He thanked us for our patience and walked us back in. Wouldn't you know we got a renovated Garden unit in Maple that was wonderful. We were excited. I think our patience and nice attitude really paid off. It was nice they offered us drink tickets, but I really didn't expect anything. We had a wonderful week and the employees really went out of their way to make us feel welcome.

Anita

 

[NboroGirl]

Aruba was the worst wait for us - the lobby is open air and it was hot and muggy. We got there at 2 and checkin is at 4. MEanwhile all these people coming after us got rooms. I chalked it up to not being owners there and not getting preferential treatment. Finally, at 4:00 I went back to the desk and my clerk went into the "back room" to check on our room and was gone for about 10 minutes before finally coming back and telling us our room was ready.

It was a similar experience at NCV, (again, not our home resort) but at least it was cool and comfortable in all the areas we waited in.

We had to wait until 5:00 to check into our home resort (Grande Vista) once, but we were actually offered a room that we weren't thrilled with and we said we'd wait for a room on a higher floor in the building we preferred. So I can't exactly complain - we were happy to wait for a better room. We've checked in early at places, Ko Olina and Heritage Club to name a few. And many, many times we've gotten to check in early at Grande Vista.

 

[IngridN]

Happened to us once at the Ocean Club in Aruba...our room was ready about 7pm. This was our 2nd trip to Aruba and we were excited to be there. Had them hold our luggage and explored the resort. I refuse to let my vacation be spoiled by such minor irritations. Stuff happens and I try to deal with it to the best of my ability.

Ingrid

 

[laurac260]

The flip side is, have you ever gotten in early? Did you offer to pay extra for those extra hours? We arrived 2 hours early our very first time checking in to a timeshare. I tried to get hubby to drive slower (I kid you not).

We were able to check in at 2pm. Since then, we always "accidentally" get there 2-3 hours earlier.

 

[Luanne]

The flip side is, have you ever gotten in early? Did you offer to pay extra for those extra hours? We arrived 2 hours early our very first time checking in to a timeshare. I tried to get hubby to drive slower (I kid you not).

We were able to check in at 2pm. Since then, we always "accidentally" get there 2-3 hours earlier.

Many times. None of these were Marriott properties.

In fact when we went to Maui a few weeks ago I think we checked in, and were able to get into our unit, before 1 p.m..

 

[Twinkstarr]

WDW DVC - I have gotten villas pre 4pm many times, once at T-givng they offered us a "ready room" in a different section at 11 am and we turned it down. Cast Member was surprised as we rather waited for our requested location. Best was a 2pm check in at BWV for our Boardwalk view room, got the 5th floor and the room was ready.

Sheraton Broadway Plantation, got my villa at 11am on 4th of July. We were prepared to wait, but were surprised.

Pre 4pm check in at a couple of Hawaii Wyndhams and Westin Princeville.

We have just figured out over the years that DVC Vero Beach doesn't have the quickest "mousekeeping" and plan accordingly. Nice lunch somewhere, stop at Target around Melbourne for beach chairs/sunscreen etc and roll in around 3-4pm.

 

[BocaBoy]

The only time our unit was not ready on time was in February 2012 at Kauai Lagoons, where we had to wait an extra hour. I do not think we were "entitled" to compensation and it never occurred to me to ask for anyuthing, but when the room was ready they apologized again and told us we would have a room credit of $75 for our trouble and our patience (and our stay was only for a 2-day rental stay using the 45% discount for Premier Plus owners using the Marriott Visa).

 

[Shirtman]

Our room was ready yesterday at the Grande Ocean after 4:30. I can understand a help issue at times but when they tell you they accommodated too many late CHECKOUTS that made them late getting people in there villas is unacceptable. I should not be inconvenienced at the gain of someone else. If I wouldn’t have expressed my displeasure when trying to checkin at 4:00 she originally said it would be 5:00 or after. I guess somebody got the later cleanup. As an owner I will complain that one shouldn’t be inconvenienced to benefit someone else.