I'm a little reluctant to post this but I'm wondering if my experience at BLT was unique.
I only stayed for 2 nights last week so my impression is by no means well-rounded.
We checked in to a 1br villa around 1 pm last Sunday--a hectic day, I know. The villa was not ready, so we hung out at the pool. 4 pm comes, then 5, and the room is still not ready, because it's being cleaned. I actually got a spiel from a CM about how much longer it takes housekeeping to clean villas in between guests. Good thing I was checking at the front desk every 20 minutes because the room ready text just never came.
Finally, at 6:30 pm, our villa is ready...and it's gross. The sheets were clean, thank goodness, but the bathrooms and kitchen looked like they'd just been swiped at with a wet rag. You could still feel dirt and yuck on the counters. There's a big spider web with a dead spider in it hanging on the diagonal off the island. There was hair in both tubs. The ottoman/tray is covered in sticky spills. Every doorknob and every vertical surface is filthy, every door and cabinet has fingerprints and stickiness all over it. The table under the TV has candy or something stuck everywhere. Even the door to the villa is disgusting.
I'm not good at complaining, but I go to the front desk and ask for a manager to talk about the condition of my room. The CM says no manager is available and starts apologizing about the rooms--talking about an upcoming refurb. I'm like no, no--it's just gross. He looks disgusted when I explain, and promises to have housekeeping clean it again when we go out that night.
When we returned, the hair was out of the tub but everything else was the same, including the spider web. I was too tired to fight it and went to sleep, but by this time I was super skeeved out and didn't want to touch anything in the villa. You couldn't have paid me to eat with one of the supplied forks.
We leave for HS the next morning, come back after a "cleaning," and the room is exactly the same (and so is the spiderweb!). Again I go to the front desk to ask for a manager. Again, no manager, but I get a sympathetic CM who gave me a $100 room credit and 3 Fastpasses for that evening.
In retrospect, I probably should have argued for a larger room credit, but by that time I was 6 days into an exhausting trip and just had no fight in me.
But really, it was appalling. I was preoccupied with the actual filth, but like the first CM indicated, the villa really was in need of a refurb. The carpet and couch were stained beyond belief, the walls and wood furniture had big gouges, the pocket doors didn't lock and just sort of swayed in the breeze (so, no privacy). These things would have bothered me more had I not been worried about spiders and hair and stickiness.
I wonder, too, if the fingerprints everywhere had to
do with the materials used--the dark wood and stainless steel and light fabrics and whatever the pocket doors are made of. These are materials you really have to scrub to shine them up, and are probably the worst choice for a resort full of families. That's no excuse for making me live in some other family's mess, but it makes me think my situation can't be unique.
Overall, BLT didn't do it for me and that's disappointing, because I wanted to love it. This was kind of a test run for a big trip with my sister's family next year. I love CR but something about BLT felt even more sterile (outside my room, that is). The location could not be beat, but if I wasn't standing in a spot that had a view of the monorail or Space Mountain, I could have been at any hotel in the world. No really good CMs, which was extra disappointing coming from YC, where the CMs were spectacular. I could have lived with all that, but the room itself just left the worst taste in my mouth (and the worst film on my skin).
Again, not trying to alienate anyone who holds BLT near to their heart but I am really shocked by my experience and would like to hear everyone's thoughts.
I only stayed for 2 nights last week so my impression is by no means well-rounded.
We checked in to a 1br villa around 1 pm last Sunday--a hectic day, I know. The villa was not ready, so we hung out at the pool. 4 pm comes, then 5, and the room is still not ready, because it's being cleaned. I actually got a spiel from a CM about how much longer it takes housekeeping to clean villas in between guests. Good thing I was checking at the front desk every 20 minutes because the room ready text just never came.
Finally, at 6:30 pm, our villa is ready...and it's gross. The sheets were clean, thank goodness, but the bathrooms and kitchen looked like they'd just been swiped at with a wet rag. You could still feel dirt and yuck on the counters. There's a big spider web with a dead spider in it hanging on the diagonal off the island. There was hair in both tubs. The ottoman/tray is covered in sticky spills. Every doorknob and every vertical surface is filthy, every door and cabinet has fingerprints and stickiness all over it. The table under the TV has candy or something stuck everywhere. Even the door to the villa is disgusting.
I'm not good at complaining, but I go to the front desk and ask for a manager to talk about the condition of my room. The CM says no manager is available and starts apologizing about the rooms--talking about an upcoming refurb. I'm like no, no--it's just gross. He looks disgusted when I explain, and promises to have housekeeping clean it again when we go out that night.
When we returned, the hair was out of the tub but everything else was the same, including the spider web. I was too tired to fight it and went to sleep, but by this time I was super skeeved out and didn't want to touch anything in the villa. You couldn't have paid me to eat with one of the supplied forks.
We leave for HS the next morning, come back after a "cleaning," and the room is exactly the same (and so is the spiderweb!). Again I go to the front desk to ask for a manager. Again, no manager, but I get a sympathetic CM who gave me a $100 room credit and 3 Fastpasses for that evening.
In retrospect, I probably should have argued for a larger room credit, but by that time I was 6 days into an exhausting trip and just had no fight in me.
But really, it was appalling. I was preoccupied with the actual filth, but like the first CM indicated, the villa really was in need of a refurb. The carpet and couch were stained beyond belief, the walls and wood furniture had big gouges, the pocket doors didn't lock and just sort of swayed in the breeze (so, no privacy). These things would have bothered me more had I not been worried about spiders and hair and stickiness.
I wonder, too, if the fingerprints everywhere had to
do with the materials used--the dark wood and stainless steel and light fabrics and whatever the pocket doors are made of. These are materials you really have to scrub to shine them up, and are probably the worst choice for a resort full of families. That's no excuse for making me live in some other family's mess, but it makes me think my situation can't be unique.
Overall, BLT didn't do it for me and that's disappointing, because I wanted to love it. This was kind of a test run for a big trip with my sister's family next year. I love CR but something about BLT felt even more sterile (outside my room, that is). The location could not be beat, but if I wasn't standing in a spot that had a view of the monorail or Space Mountain, I could have been at any hotel in the world. No really good CMs, which was extra disappointing coming from YC, where the CMs were spectacular. I could have lived with all that, but the room itself just left the worst taste in my mouth (and the worst film on my skin).
Again, not trying to alienate anyone who holds BLT near to their heart but I am really shocked by my experience and would like to hear everyone's thoughts.
I took pictures and will be sending them with a letter, although I know that's fruitless at this point. Management seemed nonexistent at BLT and I was too tired to argue/persist more.
