*Updated, Post 25* When is BWV slated for renovation?

[LoveBWVVBR]

We own 200 points there and stay there once a year at Thanksgiving. It has looked so shabby in recent years that I actually begged DH to cancel this most recent trip. Well, he wishes that he listened now. We had a 1 bedroom unit and it was NASTY. Not only was it clearly not cleaned (hair EVERYWHERE in the bathroom, all over the shower walls and floor etc.), but it was just in massive need of renovation. The grout was nothing short of revolting. I'm talking about the grout OUTSIDE of the shower, so I can't explain it. The unit just looked fairly trashed and in need of major renovation. That grout can't be cleaned. It needs to be replaced.

There was so much more. I took pics of everything but I'm not even sure where to send them. I can say that housekeeping management was absolutely awesome and did put a credit on our room because of it. It's just that housekeeping shouldn't be dealing with a resort in such desperate need of renovation in the first place, KWIM?

DH and I are fence-sitting on just selling our DVC. We are able to trade in easily and much more cheaply via RCI. The only reason we have hung onto the points thus far is the Thanksgiving trip. It's not easy to trade in via RCI for Thanksgiving. However, neither one of us is willing to stay at BWV again until it has been fully renovated, so we won't be going next Thanksgiving unless we can get in elsewhere at 7 months. I won't even book our 11 month BWV unit as a backup. That is how icky our unit was this time.

It really makes me wonder why DVC puts so much into NEW resorts but honestly doesn't seem to put the same level of care into existing resorts. I don't want to sell BWV and buy a new resort because I believe that we'd just be in the same position down the road unless maintenance/rehab standards change.

 

[jekjones1558]

We own 200 points there and stay there once a year at Thanksgiving. It has looked so shabby in recent years that I actually begged DH to cancel this most recent trip. Well, he wishes that he listened now. We had a 1 bedroom unit and it was NASTY. Not only was it clearly not cleaned (hair EVERYWHERE in the bathroom, all over the shower walls and floor etc.), but it was just in massive need of renovation. The grout was nothing short of revolting. I'm talking about the grout OUTSIDE of the shower, so I can't explain it. The unit just looked fairly trashed and in need of major renovation. That grout can't be cleaned. It needs to be replaced.

There was so much more. I took pics of everything but I'm not even sure where to send them. I can say that housekeeping management was absolutely awesome and did put a credit on our room because of it. It's just that housekeeping shouldn't be dealing with a resort in such desperate need of renovation in the first place, KWIM?

DH and I are fence-sitting on just selling our DVC. We are able to trade in easily and much more cheaply via RCI. The only reason we have hung onto the points thus far is the Thanksgiving trip. It's not easy to trade in via RCI for Thanksgiving. However, neither one of us is willing to stay at BWV again until it has been fully renovated, so we won't be going next Thanksgiving unless we can get in elsewhere at 7 months. I won't even book our 11 month BWV unit as a backup. That is how icky our unit was this time.

It really makes me wonder why DVC puts so much into NEW resorts but honestly doesn't seem to put the same level of care into existing resorts. I don't want to sell BWV and buy a new resort because I believe that we'd just be in the same position down the road unless maintenance/rehab standards change.

So sorry to read that you were very disappointed. We stay often at BWV and I guess we are lucky because our units, especially in recent years, have been clean. For some reason we seem to get the same couple of mousekeepers every trip and they take such good care of us.
The hard goods were renovated about 3 years ago. They do take quite a beating because BWV is almost always 100% full but we have not had major issues. My one complaint is that the piping around the sofa was worn within a year of the remodel. I think the fabric and/or design were faulty.
Furniture, appliances, etc. are not $$$$ but then I am not sure that I want dues to take the hit that would be needed to go really high end. I am generally okay with the BWV rooms now.
If you really are so dissatisfied with DVC then I agree that you should sell. Paying to stay at a vacation spot that you don't like doesn't make sense. I hope that you do have some happy memories from past DVC years to carry with you. Good luck!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

So sorry to read that you were very disappointed. We stay often at BWV and I guess we are lucky because our units, especially in recent years, have been clean. For some reason we seem to get the same couple of mousekeepers every trip and they take such good care of us.
The hard goods were renovated about 3 years ago. They do take quite a beating because BWV is almost always 100% full but we have not had major issues. My one complaint is that the piping around the sofa was worn within a year of the remodel. I think the fabric and/or design were faulty.
Furniture, appliances, etc. are not $$$$ but then I am not sure that I want dues to take the hit that would be needed to go really high end. I am generally okay with the BWV rooms now.
If you really are so dissatisfied with DVC then I agree that you should sell. Paying to stay at a vacation spot that you don't like doesn't make sense. I hope that you do have some happy memories from past DVC years to carry with you. Good luck!

Oh for sure we have good memories of DVC. We've owned for about 10 years (bought resale), and the early years were great. The rooms were in good shape.

I'm not talking about soft goods renovation though. The units need full renovation, including bathroom tiles, new grout obviously, new kitchen tile and maybe even new cabinets, certainly new laundry doors (ours was barely hanging on!), and more. Soft goods renovation won't cut it...actually, I think that the soft goods in our unit looked OK other than some staining that I'd say is to be expected. The unit itself was just worn and in major need of a real reno.

Since this has become a regular occurance at BWV for us, we won't stay there again. After searching on this board, the lack-of-upkeep seems to be DVC-wide, so DH and I need to talk this through to see if we really want to hang onto DVC anymore. Bonnet Creek is kept up way better and I own some really cheap Wyndham points that I can use there. The location is the same as DVC to me. It's sad that I feel this way, and even sadder that it looks like I'm not alone from a quick search on here. I want to feel like DVC is magical...and dirty, worn-out units don't make me feel the magic!

 

[drusba]

Problems and your photos can be reported to DVCmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com.

Note that if you are looking for major renovation of the inside of the resort, I would not count on it being soon. They did the usual one done every 6 to 7 years a few years ago aand thus there are still a few years to go for another. Likely for major renovation, the next thing that will occur will be on the outside since they have not redone the boardwalk itself (which is sanded, repaired and recoated about every 6 to 7 years) for about 6 years.

 

[DebbieB]

It was completely renovated in 2009-2010. I was there 3 weeks ago, my studio was fine.

Member dues pay for renovations, so it's not Disney or DVC being cheap. I'm happy they have kept the annual dues increase around 3% the past few years.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I was just at BWV in October and my villa was great. I was also at OKW on the same trip and it was even better. I had no complaints at all.

 

[BillyBuckner]

I had a Boardwalk View Studio from Nov 16th to 20th and there were no problems with my room. I wonder of anyone is keeping a list of "rooms with problems."

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Problems and your photos can be reported to DVCmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com.

Note that if you are looking for major renovation of the inside of the resort, I would not count on it being soon. They did the usual one done every 6 to 7 years a few years ago aand thus there are still a few years to go for another. Likely for major renovation, the next thing that will occur will be on the outside since they have not redone the boardwalk itself (which is sanded, repaired and recoated about every 6 to 7 years) for about 6 years.

Thanks. I will email them the pics. It was bad!

Honestly, I don't want to sell the DVC for sentimental reasons, but at this point I can't really think of a reason NOT to sell at least the 200 point BWV contract It sounds like the luck of the draw on rooms if 2 previous posters had great villas there recently. That just shouldn't be the case...I mean, we've had nice villas too, but the wrecked-up ones are becoming an all-too-frequent occurance. Granted, we probably go more than the average DVC members due to proximity and frequent RCI trades in, but still...we have seen entirely too many villas in need of some love recently. The BWV one takes the cake though

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I had a Boardwalk View Studio from Nov 16th to 20th and there were no problems with my room. I wonder of anyone is keeping a list of "rooms with problems."

Well, I made a mental note of the SSR room number from that gross SSR unit on another thread lol. We should compile a list of these rooms so members know if they've been assigned a dud!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Well, I made a mental note of the SSR room number from that gross SSR unit on another thread lol. We should compile a list of these rooms so members know if they've been assigned a dud!

You seriously think they stay looking that way after they have been reported? Why not just forward the thread to Member Satisfaction and get the problem fixed instead?

We've been members since 1997 and have had about 30 stays at DVC and never had a "wrecked up" villa. Never. We've had a few minor problems that were fixed once we reported them, but nothing "wrecked".

 

[staceymay00]

Either you have had bad luck with your DVC rooms or I have lower expectations, because we just stayed at BWV in a 2BR and I thought our villa was in good shape for the most part. Hair all over the the bathroom would definitely be a problem for me - our villa was clean when we arrived, however. I did notice some moldy spots in the shower grout and a ding in the wall at the entrance, but that is it.

I would not expect new grout, tiles and cabinets at BWV anytime soon. Our home resort is OKW, which we bought a few years ago just after they had announced the refurbishment. Our first stay was in a very newly refurbished villa and the grout did not look good in some places. I don't think anything had been re-grouted.. I thought the kitchen cabinets they kept were fine, but it would have been nice if they had thoroughly cleaned the insides of the cabinets. Member dues pay for refurbishments, so I can understand only doing what fits in the budget to keep MFs from rising too much.

Sorry that you haven't had good experiences lately. Hopefully your contract will sell quickly if you decide to go that route.

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[LoveBWVVBR]

You seriously think they stay looking that way after they have been reported? Why not just forward the thread to Member Satisfaction and get the problem fixed instead?

We've been members since 1997 and have had about 30 stays at DVC and never had a "wrecked up" villa. Never. We've had a few minor problems that were fixed once we reported them, but nothing "wrecked".

I hope not, but who knows Unless someone else has stayed there and can vouch for the repairs, I personally would steer clear of one that I had seen listed as a bad unit.

Maybe we just have bad luck. We've been members almost that long and have had significantly more than 30 DVC stays (between points and RCI, we had 8 this year alone), and over the past few years the bad units outweigh the good. Usually it is stuff that I can overlook, but the BWV unit was just bad. It was certainly not always like this or we wouldn't have bought in the first place nor added on. For the longest time, every unit was nice, clean, looking great. Until you get a room in need of renovation for the first time, it's hard to imagine how rough some of the rooms look at this point

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

We also have had clean rooms in good condition since the renovation done in 2009. The only thing I've ever noted was the grout in the HC 1BR boardwalk view. It actually had a hole in it which would have been allowing water to get behind the tiles. That was just after the renovation so I don't think they looked at that at all. Hope it got fixed!

 

[NoleFan]

We have had no issues in our studio rooms both standard & bw view

 

[twinmom108]

I was just at BWV in October and my villa was great. I was also at OKW on the same trip and it was even better. I had no complaints at all.

I agree with Deb & Bill. We were at BWV the last week of October & our villa was sparkling clean. We had a 1 bdrm standard on the 4th floor. Absolutely enjoyed our 6 night stay there this year.

 

[gdrj]

BWV is our home resort since 1999. We've stayed there Beach Club, BLT, OKW, SS and AKV Jambo House.

I have no doubts that your unit was as you stated, twice we have a unit that I felt needed some extra cleaning or repairs. There was some stained/mold in grout, as well as some housekeeping issues. I went to Front Desk, let them know of the issues and also let them know we would be out the rest of the day. It was all taken care of. In regards to the staining of the grout definitely should be brought to DVC attention, it really is not a hard fix to grind and re-grout, but it does take time and pull units out of service.

If there is that big of an issue during your stay it is silly not to address during your stay until your satisfied, within reason.

 

[jekjones1558]

We also have had clean rooms in good condition since the renovation done in 2009. The only thing I've ever noted was the grout in the HC 1BR boardwalk view. It actually had a hole in it which would have been allowing water to get behind the tiles. That was just after the renovation so I don't think they looked at that at all. Hope it got fixed!

I'll find out in 4 days. We will be in that room.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

BWV is our home resort since 1999. We've stayed there Beach Club, BLT, OKW, SS and AKV Jambo House.

I have no doubts that your unit was as you stated, twice we have a unit that I felt needed some extra cleaning or repairs. There was some stained/mold in grout, as well as some housekeeping issues. I went to Front Desk, let them know of the issues and also let them know we would be out the rest of the day. It was all taken care of. In regards to the staining of the grout definitely should be brought to DVC attention, it really is not a hard fix to grind and re-grout, but it does take time and pull units out of service.

If there is that big of an issue during your stay it is silly not to address during your stay until your satisfied, within reason.

We brought it to their attention, the service was stellar in that I am sure that they actually did care and wished they could do more (and they did put a $$ credit on our room for the inconvenience), but nothing actually got fixed. We had already cleaned the room on our own when housekeeping did not come to clean it as promised on the morning after we got there.

Not sure what they could have done with us in the room and I'm sure they couldn't move us during such a busy time...the room needs to be actually taken out of service and refurbished IMHO. I can't imagine that it would take that long...maybe a week or less.

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

Yes, there is definitely wear and tear on some of the older resorts, but there is no way around bad housekeeping. Our first stay at BWV (we are owners) was in 2010 right after the renovation. Our room was wonderful! We went back exactly one year later and let me just say, our room was disgusting. It was not only dirty from the last guest, but had major issues which showed long term neglect from housekeeping. It seemed as if it had never been renovated. It put us off so much we did not return until this October and I'm so glad we did because we had a lovely unit this time. I guess what I'm trying to say is that a bad housekeeper is usually more of an issue than anything. They need to keep the unit clean, try to work on other issues that occur over time, and keep maintenance informed on what else needs to be tackled. The resort really depends on a strong housekeeping department and if you get a unit that is below industry standards , report it. That is the only way the situation will get better.

 

[lovin'fl]

I wonder if I have lower expectations than others. My SIL and her family stayed at BCV for the 1st time in the summer of 2012. We had BCV booked for Jan 2013 and they warned us that the rooms were gross (dirty and run down with lots of broken things). SIL swore I would not be happy (we stayed in condos at the beach in NC with them a couple times and they were old worn out cheap condos...like built in 1980 and not renovated since. I complained at how gross they were but SIL seemed fine with them. The hundreds of roaches scattering across the deck when you turned the porch light on was really disturbing). Anyway, she was not happy at BCV and probably won't stay there again. I was a little concerned for our trip in Jan, but we went and fell in love. It's my fave DVC resort. Our room was definitely 'lived in' and the fridge ran loud and the 2nd bedroom bathtub faucet dripped heavily. But I was not at all grossed out to walk around barefoot or climb in between the sheets (like I have been at some gross motels...and those beach condos we rented). I was very comfortable there as I have been in all the DVC villas we have stayed in (10 of them thus far...2 more coming up in a couple weeks at AKV and will be the last DVC resort on the East coast to try for us...except GFV).