We stayed in our first DVC rooms this past March. We stayed in a studio at BLT and a 1 bedroom at BWV. The one bedroom at BWV was in better condition than the studio at BLT. Maybe we were in a room that had recently had some work done to it, but the studio at BLT had chips on the furniture, a couple of worn spots in the carpet, and just felt used harder than the room at BWV.
Does anyone know if DVC ever renovates an entire complex (ie over a year each room is redone)? Can they even do so with the point system? I know/have heard that Disney keeps 2-4% of the rooms at a DVC resort for themself. Could DVC pay for those rooms and rotate them through a complex to renovate rooms? When/If DVC does a full complex renovation at the dues considerably higher that year?
Tons of questions I know, but we are waiting on ROFR and just trying to learn more each day. Thank you!
Room condition has very little to do with the age of the resort and everything to do with how well guests care for the accommodations. A room that was renovated 2 weeks ago could look shabby if a guest stained the carpet with kool aid or swung their luggage around carelessly and dinged up the wall.
Disney keeps 2% ownership at all resorts and that is used to help with room renovations. The exact process at work is something of a mystery but in theory, 2% ownership gives them the ability to take every guest room out of service for one week per year. Given that room reservations are accepted 11 months ahead of time, I imagine it's difficult to predict future room maintenance needs.
Wholesale resort renovations are rare...and costly. Old Key West is nearly 20 years old and is just wrapping up its first wholesale renovation. Most rooms received new floor coverings, window coverings, countertops, plumbing fixtures, TVs, some furniture, etc. BoardWalk received such a renovation after 15 years.
Resorts like the Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge and Saratoga Springs are < 10 years old and have not received this sort of attention yet.
But in between those major projects, Disney will still stay on top of guest room needs. "Soft goods" like linens are often replaced every few years. Most resorts now have flat panel TVs. The resorts were given new (improved) patio furniture over the last couple of years.
If a room needs to be painted, it will be painted. If a room needs new carpet, it will get new carpet. If a room needs new appliances, it will get new appliances.
The distinction is that these changes may not always happen on the schedules members would want. And a lot of it has to do with that high occupancy. Like I said previously, if a resort has 50 groups leaving and 50 arriving, every one of those villas has to be clean and ready to go around 4pm. There's a very obvious trade off between getting guests into a room on time or early vs. taking extra time to fix lingering problems.
If you were arriving and didn't get into your room until 6-7pm, would it be any comfort if they told you that it was because they had to shampoo the carpets or repair a hole in the drywall? :shrug:
And then there's the cost issue. A guest puts his suitcase on the kitchen table while packing. When removing the suitcase, it leaves a few scratches on the table. Table could be a few months or weeks old. Is that damage sufficient to justify spending $1000-2000 (whatever it costs) of member dues for a replacement? :shrug:
We have been members for about 8 years now. We've never gotten into our room later than 2:30pm. There have been times where we called maintenance to get minor issues addressed but we have never had a room in such poor state of disrepair that it was particularly memorable.
Best thing you can do is be cognizant of the realities of timeshare ownership. Take steps to get important issues resolved--don't let broken door handles or burned-out light bulbs ruin your trip when maintenance will happily repair them. But also don't expect accommodations that look "like new" every single time. Not gonna happen.
