Housekeeping in 2021

[notatallmagic]

The lack of proper housekeeping was the only real negative of our trip last week.

Pop Century did a pretty solid job - but we had booked a split stay on purpose - one of the main reasons was to have a clean room halfway through. We were there three days, and called twice for garbage pickup and once for towels. They were at our door within minutes each time, and were very pleasant. I take cleaning wipes, so I kept our bathroom and surfaces clean; but after three days, the floor was already getting nasty - and we take our shoes off at the door.

Our second half at Coronado was not as positive. In the five days, they picked up dirty linens once (our second to last day). We called three other times for garbage pickup; two of those times we asked for towels; once for coffee and toiletries. Never got the toiletries or any cups. And got scolded by the lady on the phone once, saying that they would be bringing towels "tomorrow". Seriously? We had used towel to try to clean the floor, and they were all really dirty (see below).

Obviously, the garbage thing is a big issue. We got a text saying that a baby BEAR had been spotted nearby, and not to leave garbage outside, but nearly every room had a big pile of crap outside the door in the evening. It's a beautiful resort, but that was not magical; and looked trashy. I know they are supposed to be doing room checks daily (and many mention that trash and towels are often handled then), but are pretty sure nobody was in our room at all except on the one day. And the floors were filthy, even at check in. We wear socks or are barefoot in the room, and the bottom of our socks were black and the barefeet had crumbs and sand on the them even the first day in a "clean" room. Shudder.

I wouldn't stay at Coronado again until this issue was fixed; which is sad. I loved everything else about the resort, but I keep a clean house, and don't go on vacation to stay in a dirty room.

 

[tim8287]

We just returned from a stay at the cabins at FW. For 5 nights the only housekeeping we received was the one time they took the dirty towels (most of them anyway) and left clean ones. That was it. Luckily there was a trash bin right across the way from the cabin. Other than the lack of housekeeping the stay was wonderful.

 

[Spaceguy55]

We will be at POP for 3 nights on the 4th of July weekend, expecting the worse but as long as there are enough towels and coffee we'll be fine.
Are they still doing room checks during the day... seems like they shouldn't have enough CM's for that now, if they are maybe they should be bringing towels..

 

[Ariel1014]

Was at Movies in May & June and there was no housekeeping. I did call a couple of times for supplies and they were left in my room. I assumed they would grab the trash when they dropped stuff off, but that never happened. No dirty towels left on the floor or bathtub were every removed.

 

[OhioWDWDuo]

We are here now at Beach Club. We were at Yacht Club last month so were prepared with the poor housekeeping situation. Sigh, it’s still bad. Beach Club gives you 3 regular coffees and 3 decaf. Let’s just say that regular coffee is important to us, lol. Called on our off day to get regular coffee, the CM said they would be left in room (I said we were on the way out). Came back later and no coffee. Called again and was told they would not enter the room when guests are not there due to COVID protocols (huh? That seems safer to me but anyways). Then CM scolds me that it’s not our day to receive housekeeping. Okay then, you need to leave extra supplies! All I wanted was regular coffee dropped off. In frustration, I visited the front desk where I was given the coffee. Today, which is a scheduled housekeeping day, left a note and tip for a certain amount of coffee and still received less. For these prices, it should not be this much of a hassle…

 

[Elle23]

We are here now at Beach Club. We were at Yacht Club last month so were prepared with the poor housekeeping situation. Sigh, it’s still bad. Beach Club gives you 3 regular coffees and 3 decaf. Let’s just say that regular coffee is important to us, lol. Called on our off day to get regular coffee, the CM said they would be left in room (I said we were on the way out). Came back later and no coffee. Called again and was told they would not enter the room when guests are not there due to COVID protocols (huh? That seems safer to me but anyways). Then CM scolds me that it’s not our day to receive housekeeping. Okay then, you need to leave extra supplies! All I wanted was regular coffee dropped off. In frustration, I visited the front desk where I was given the coffee. Today, which is a scheduled housekeeping day, left a note and tip for a certain amount of coffee and still received less. For these prices, it should not be this much of a hassle…

I called for coffee when we were at Pop and they promptly brought up a huge bag loaded with coffee, tea, sugar, cream packets, cups, etc! I was definitely set for the rest of the stay!

I, too, would be upset if I paid for a deluxe resort and was treated the way you were. For $500+ a night, the service should be impeccable.

 

[SL6827]

Housekeeping will never return to how it once was. It saves Disney too much money.

 

[honeymo78]

I called for coffee when we were at Pop and they promptly brought up a huge bag loaded with coffee, tea, sugar, cream packets, cups, etc! I was definitely set for the rest of the stay!

I, too, would be upset if I paid for a deluxe resort and was treated the way you were. For $500+ a night, the service should be impeccable.

Anytime we ask for extra anything at Pop (even with limited housekeeping), it tends to be provided in abundance and promptly.

 

[Miffy]

We were at the GF May 17-25. Housekeeping, as such, was every other day. On one of those days we were surprised to get back to the room and see that the beds had been made, but other than that time, housekeeping consisted of only trash and towels.

We don't use the coffee, so I can't speak for that.

We left our tips for housekeeping only on the alternate days we knew they'd be there. A couple of days we received surprise towel art, which was nice.

There were very few housekeepers, it seemed. So a lot of people are out of work. I'll be happy when full housekeeping services resume--not just for me, because I like having the room made up every day, but for the housekeepers who I'm sure would be more than happy to have their jobs back.

 

[Cheburashka]

Yuck, just yuck, to all of this. It's a disgrace to the Disney brand, and ridiculous at their price point for deluxes. We're not spending more than a few nights a time at a Disney resort until they bring back housekeeping. And really, this is a turn off from staying with Disney at all. This is one of the reasons we switched from Poly to Four Seasons for four nights of last summer's trip- we wanted housekeeping & room service. We bookended two single nights at Poly at each end of the Four Seasons stay, so that we could enjoy Poly but not have to deal with Disney's blatant lack of service. It doesn't feel like much of a vacation if I'm taking out trash & making beds, and if the room isn't very clean. We like room service, too, and still only a couple of Disney resorts have that available.

 

[Elle23]

Anytime we ask for extra anything at Pop (even with limited housekeeping), it tends to be provided in abundance and promptly.

Absolutely, which is why we are at 4 stays and counting at Pop! It’s the best value on property, in my opinion.

 

[OhioWDWDuo]

I called for coffee when we were at Pop and they promptly brought up a huge bag loaded with coffee, tea, sugar, cream packets, cups, etc! I was definitely set for the rest of the stay!

I, too, would be upset if I paid for a deluxe resort and was treated the way you were. For $500+ a night, the service should be impeccable.

Yuck, just yuck, to all of this. It's a disgrace to the Disney brand, and ridiculous at their price point for deluxes. We're not spending more than a few nights a time at a Disney resort until they bring back housekeeping. And really, this is a turn off from staying with Disney at all. This is one of the reasons we switched from Poly to Four Seasons for four nights of last summer's trip- we wanted housekeeping & room service. We bookended two single nights at Poly at each end of the Four Seasons stay, so that we could enjoy Poly but not have to deal with Disney's blatant lack of service. It doesn't feel like much of a vacation if I'm taking out trash & making beds, and if the room isn't very clean. We like room service, too, and still only a couple of Disney resorts have that available.

Couldn’t agree more!! We did a split stay between GF and BC so we would get a clean room in between. GF handled this situation much better IMO- taking away trash every day, leaving lots of supplies, dropping off extras when asked, and removing hallway trash promptly. No attitude at all about leaving extras in the room when we weren’t there. Not the case at BC. I feel like BC management has instructed them to be stingy with supplies? When we didn’t get our coffee refills again on our trash/towel day, I visited the front desk (again) and asked for coffee. The CM asks if one each is okay (2 of us standing there)? I said no, and asked for the number that we need for 2 days. He acted like he wasn’t supposed to give us more than that but did it anyway. He also said that lots of guests are coming to the front desk for coffee and toiletries. Uh, that should tell you something. Also, the trash being left in the hallways and near the elevators (pizza boxes, huge bags of takeout containers with food in them) is gross and can’t be good for the bug/pest situation. I used the link to provide feedback to the hotel manager- we’ll see.

Will look at Four Seasons for our next trip. Last I looked, price was comparable there for a Disney deluxe. There’s no way I’m paying rack rate at Disney for this lack of basic service.

 

[Cheburashka]

He also said that lots of guests are coming to the front desk for coffee and toiletries. Uh, that should tell you something.

Will look at Four Seasons for our next trip. Last I looked, price was comparable there for a Disney deluxe. There’s no way I’m paying rack rate at Disney for this lack of basic service.

LOL to the first part. Yeah, it's called providing customer service. Give it a try. Hotel guests are going to want supplies. Sheesh!

Four Seasons' prices vary a lot. At their lowest they're at a par with the higher end Disney deluxes like Poly & GF. At the highest they're twice as much as a Disney deluxe, which I would never pay. So if you want a decent rate you often have to play with your dates & don't get discouraged if the first time you look you see a 4-figure per night cost- that just means those dates aren't good & you can find lower prices on other dates. I also always book their cheapest category. They sometimes have a 4 nights for the price of 3 deal, which they don't announce the way Disney does, & you just have to check different dates for its availability. They also typically have a 20% off advance purchase deal, which I'm not as much of a fan of as I like things to be refundable, but it can be worth it. One other good thing is that Four Seasons does NOT charge a resort fee.

If you book Four Seasons through one of their travel partners (I use Whatahotel- no charge to join), you get a free full (not continental) breakfast for everyone in the room every day of your stay (it can even be room service), a $100 resort credit, and a category upgrade if one is available. And you still get Four Seasons' regular discounts when booking through their travel partners. I noticed that for our most recent Whatahotel booking (staying at Four Seasons the night before our December cruise), they added an $11 booking charge for themselves, and they hadn't had that before, but I still used them as the benefits far outweigh that small charge.

You can also get a deal on Four Seasons by booking through Hotwire: their special rates for a secret hotel- Hot Rates, I think they're called. I did this once. It is easy to identify Four Seasons as the hotel because in the room description, you will see "Four Seasons Room" listed. So yeah, that one's a no-brainer. That was the best rate I ever got for a Four Seasons stay. Those deals are nonrefundable, though.

 

[Marthasor]

I haven't read through this entire thread, so please forgive me if this has been reported already, but Disney is offering $1,000 signing bonuses to try to recruit more housekeepers, so it seems they are trying to rectify the issues? I can't imagine this is something that will change anytime soon as I'm sure it will take a long time to get staffing anywhere near where it was pre-covid. I would imagine this also has a lot to do with why they are not opening many of the hotels. If they are stretched thin now with housekeeping, I don't see how they could open resorts like POFQ and POR. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...000-signing-bonuses-nine-months-after-layoffs

We stayed at YC last week and they were very consistent with the every-two-day housekeeping schedule. They kept our room nicely stocked with towels, toiletries and coffee. One day, I really didn't need anything when housekeeping knocked and just asked for some more body wash. The housekeeper promptly came back with a bag filled with toiletries. She was incredibly pleasant and helpful. What I really disliked about the every-2 day housekeeping was the security visits on the other days. I knew they would be coming on the non-housekeeping days and the CMs conducting the visits were very pleasant. I just found the visits to be very disruptive when we were trying to enjoy some quiet time during the heat of the afternoon. I would much prefer going back to daily, full housekeeping, so we can have our beds made and we don't have to have the security visits anymore.

 

[aboveH20]

Based on the popularity of Airbnb maybe Disney will adopt their fee for cleaning. (Hey, Disney, this is NOT a suggestion.) They’ve done away with free Magic Bands and Magical Express so how long until they start charging for housekeeping

 

[OhioWDWDuo]

LOL to the first part. Yeah, it's called providing customer service. Give it a try. Hotel guests are going to want supplies. Sheesh!

Four Seasons' prices vary a lot. At their lowest they're at a par with the higher end Disney deluxes like Poly & GF. At the highest they're twice as much as a Disney deluxe, which I would never pay. So if you want a decent rate you often have to play with your dates & don't get discouraged if the first time you look you see a 4-figure per night cost- that just means those dates aren't good & you can find lower prices on other dates. I also always book their cheapest category. They sometimes have a 4 nights for the price of 3 deal, which they don't announce the way Disney does, & you just have to check different dates for its availability. They also typically have a 20% off advance purchase deal, which I'm not as much of a fan of as I like things to be refundable, but it can be worth it. One other good thing is that Four Seasons does NOT charge a resort fee.

If you book Four Seasons through one of their travel partners (I use Whatahotel- no charge to join), you get a free full (not continental) breakfast for everyone in the room every day of your stay (it can even be room service), a $100 resort credit, and a category upgrade if one is available. And you still get Four Seasons' regular discounts when booking through their travel partners, so it makes little sense not to book through a travel partner, since the benefits are so good. I noticed that for our most recent Whatahotel booking (staying at Four Seasons the night before our December cruise), they added an $11 booking charge for themselves, and they hadn't had that before, but I still used them as the benefits far outweigh that small charge.

You can also get a deal on Four Seasons by booking through Hotwire: their special rates for a secret hotel- Hot Rates, I think they're called. I did this once. It is easy to identify Four Seasons as the hotel because in the room description, you will see "Four Seasons Room" listed. So yeah, that one's a no-brainer. That was the best rate I ever got for a Four Seasons stay. Those deals are nonrefundable, though.

Thank you! Appreciate the Four Seasons info and tips!

 

[Cheburashka]

Based on the popularity of Airbnb maybe Disney will adopt their fee for cleaning. (Hey, Disney, this is NOT a suggestion.) They’ve done away with free Magic Bands and Magical Express so how long until they start charging for housekeeping

I wouldn't be surprised to see them start charging a resort fee, to cover things like housekeeping. Seems crazy as these have always been resorts with full amenities & services that one would expect at those prices, but at this point, I wouldn't put it past them.

 

[Cheburashka]

I haven't read through this entire thread, so please forgive me if this has been reported already, but Disney is offering $1,000 signing bonuses to try to recruit more housekeepers, so it seems they are trying to rectify the issues?

I'm glad they seem to be seeking more, but at the same time, it's not like their hands are tied. If they would pay housekeepers a good wage, they'd have no problem filling those positions. Disney is notorious for underpaying staff, so that's their choice to put cost savings before guest customer service.

 

[honeymo78]

I'm glad they seem to be seeking more, but at the same time, it's not like their hands are tied. If they would pay housekeepers a good wage, they'd have no problem filling those positions. Disney is notorious for underpaying staff, so that's their choice to put cost savings before guest customer service.

Housekeeping now starts at $15/hour based on a Disney job posting from March. While not amazing, it's much better than it had been in the past.

 

[Cheburashka]

Housekeeping now starts at $15/hour based on a Disney job posting from March. While not amazing, it's much better than it had been in the past.

I'm glad they're moving in the right direction.