I have long ago given up on II rankings / ratings of resorts as they didn't begin to show any consistency or relation to true quality. (Wastegate & DVC = to the best Marriott's? PLEASE!!) However for quite a while it seemed the RCI rankings seemed to be far more reliable as at least general hints of the overall quality of resorts they gave awards to.
But over the past 5-6 years that too seemed to be changing. Orange Lake with it's extremely variably experience keeps a Gold Crown based solely on the shear number of responses so the bad ones get negated? Desert Club LV get "awarded" a GC on a promise even though the newly remodeled resort doesn't have many of the features/ amenities as promised? Magic Tree in Orlando - one of the worst, converted motels I've ever been in as a timeshare is somehow rated Gold Crown? Something has gone WAY off track.
So our resort gets a very negative comment card. Ok. It happens. But then we read it. It is apparent from the comments that the gust had the wrong resort! It references unit items we don't have. So we ask RCI to reassign it to the proper resort OR at least delete it from our scores. It takes a few months but the answer is "After careful consideration (???) our review "committee" has decided to let it stand. Really?
The complaint that resulted in the low ratings? It seems the guest(s) were trapped in the elevator and weren't happy with the resort response. They were treated poorly in their opinion and feel not enough was done to compensate them for the problem. So they downgraded the resort in virtually every category. I suppose I might be upset too if I felt the safety of my family was compromised & the resort didn't seem to care. I get it. Caught in an elevator between the 3rd & 4th floors & no one to rescue them. Then no apology. Not good. Go ahead & give the resort bad marks. I agree.
But get the resort right. We don't HAVE elevators or any 4 or 5 story buildings! How can RCI let what is obviously a mistake stand "after careful review"? It makes the ratings a joke and meaningless. It goes along with the one a couple years back that downgraded us because they requested, but for some reason didn't get, an ocean view room. We are in Orlando! We didn't even bother to challenge that one. As until recently our name and another resort were very close (as are the resorts) for years we've had obvious score cards from the other resort that we've tried to get corrected but to no avail. Hopefully a recent name change will eventually fix that (if RCI ever updates their records to reflect the change).
Don't trust resort ratings by the exchange companies. It's nothing but politics and rewards to their favored developers. It should be what the legitimate guests say - but it's not. Another reason to avoid exchange.
But over the past 5-6 years that too seemed to be changing. Orange Lake with it's extremely variably experience keeps a Gold Crown based solely on the shear number of responses so the bad ones get negated? Desert Club LV get "awarded" a GC on a promise even though the newly remodeled resort doesn't have many of the features/ amenities as promised? Magic Tree in Orlando - one of the worst, converted motels I've ever been in as a timeshare is somehow rated Gold Crown? Something has gone WAY off track.
So our resort gets a very negative comment card. Ok. It happens. But then we read it. It is apparent from the comments that the gust had the wrong resort! It references unit items we don't have. So we ask RCI to reassign it to the proper resort OR at least delete it from our scores. It takes a few months but the answer is "After careful consideration (???) our review "committee" has decided to let it stand. Really?
The complaint that resulted in the low ratings? It seems the guest(s) were trapped in the elevator and weren't happy with the resort response. They were treated poorly in their opinion and feel not enough was done to compensate them for the problem. So they downgraded the resort in virtually every category. I suppose I might be upset too if I felt the safety of my family was compromised & the resort didn't seem to care. I get it. Caught in an elevator between the 3rd & 4th floors & no one to rescue them. Then no apology. Not good. Go ahead & give the resort bad marks. I agree.
But get the resort right. We don't HAVE elevators or any 4 or 5 story buildings! How can RCI let what is obviously a mistake stand "after careful review"? It makes the ratings a joke and meaningless. It goes along with the one a couple years back that downgraded us because they requested, but for some reason didn't get, an ocean view room. We are in Orlando! We didn't even bother to challenge that one. As until recently our name and another resort were very close (as are the resorts) for years we've had obvious score cards from the other resort that we've tried to get corrected but to no avail. Hopefully a recent name change will eventually fix that (if RCI ever updates their records to reflect the change).
Don't trust resort ratings by the exchange companies. It's nothing but politics and rewards to their favored developers. It should be what the legitimate guests say - but it's not. Another reason to avoid exchange.