Worst unit placement/location since we've owned with Marriott

We checked into Canyon Villa late last night. This was a DC Points reservation. Being Premier level I half anticipated a decent view. Opps!

I stepped out on the patio to be greeted by the view of an artificial wall and fencing. No view and probably no chance for sunshine on our patio. So much for premier DC member status.

There are several things at work which have probably contributed to our placement. We booked a non-traditional check in day for this resort (Thurs). We Arrived a day later than planned do to the Midwestern snow storm. Finally, last Monday was Presidents' Day so we came in mid week during what could be one of this resorts higher demand weeks.

Next time I'll check my calendar a little better.

Checking in late at night didn't help either. If you are willing to move today, Marriott would likely being willing and able to move you to another unit.

NJDave said:

Checking in late at night didn't help either. If you are willing to move today, Marriott would likely being willing and able to move you to another unit.

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Because we're often late arrivals and have never found poor unit placement to correlate to time of check, we stopped being concerned about that factor long ago.

MVC HOA's typically have a hyarchy based in ownership status at any given resort. This is likely a high owner occupancy time and I don't own at this resort. I think of it like being in boarding group 2 for a flight but having the unfortunate luck of choosing a flight were 90% of the travelers have elite status.

Sorry for the placement, but I hope you can still enjoy your trip.

Resort probably did their best to satisfy those who checked in before your did. You got what was left.

George

Doug,
I had a similar problem last March as a Premiere Plus when I used DC points for a 1BR. I also own EOY there but in Gold season. My initial unit assignment was unacceptable, but was able to get a slightly better assignment if I was willing to wait a couple of hours (I arrived at about 4pm). These factors make it difficult for CV villa assignment:

1. High ownership occupancy, especially during spring training (which started this week)
2. Only some of the villas have lockoffs, so there are fewer 1 BR villas available
3. Only the end units have good golf course views, and the one building on the end has signicant noise issues from the adjacent highway.
4. Many owners who own lock-offs use back to back weeks, and the staff tries to keep them in the 'same' villa.

I also found the resort villa assignment management to be less customer oriented than any of my other MVC resorts. I sent emails and left voice mails regarding my villa request starting 5 weeks prior to my stay. Nobody ever returned my messages.

Canyon Villas is a great resort and the access to the JW makes it even better. Roy's at the JW has good happy hours and early bird specials (you can choose from the complete menu on Mon or Tue?), and the restaurant at the golf course also has sundowner specials and good food. Enjoy your trip. Try to see a spring training game when you are there.

We had the same thing happen as a premier member in December. We've always had excellent locations at MFC and it was very disappointung. We own fixed weeks but there were many people there on points. Also, there are fewer units available when you have 7 check-in days vs 3, then add to that the people who are there for a short stay. The resort was much more crowded than before the DC. I guess you have to give up some things to get the points flexibility. The days of getting preferential treatment for having 2 Plat Plus weeks staying at your home resort are over because of the Premier members who are there also. Agree with Doug, it's like trying to get upgraded to first class on Delta in Atlanta when everyone in the city of Atlanta has status.

Well Doug
at least you're not in the snow anymore.
Be sure to check out the pools at the JW and be sure to go by the shopping area by the Westin Kirland .It's a lot like City Place in West Palm only bigger.

bogey21 said:

Resort probably did their best to satisfy those who checked in before your did. You got what was left.

George

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With Marriott I don't think time of checK in has anything to do with placement. If it did, we'd have been in a LOT of bad locations. Our experience is they make placement assignments and pretty much stick with them based on the priority algorithm of the resort HOA.

At other timeshare brands I wouldn't say the same.

suzannesimon said:

We had the same thing happen as a premier member in December. We've always had excellent locations at MFC and it was very disappointung. We own fixed weeks but there were many people there on points. Also, there are fewer units available when you have 7 check-in days vs 3, then add to that the people who are there for a short stay. The resort was much more crowded than before the DC. I guess you have to give up some things to get the points flexibility. The days of getting preferential treatment for having 2 Plat Plus weeks staying at your home resort are over because of the Premier members who are there also. Agree with Doug, it's like trying to get upgraded to first class on Delta in Atlanta when everyone in the city of Atlanta has status.

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We were suppose to check in on Thurs, which would have been the tail end of presidents week. I'm sure that had a lot more to do with it than anything else.

Since you are there at a popular time, I would guess it is due to owner occupancy, as we had great luck as exchangers in late Nov/Dec last year. We had replied to the email, and at check in asked if the high floor golf course view would be available. Daniel, at the front desk, then spent several minutes looking for something closer to what we had requested, (never knew what our first assignment would have been) and we were happy with an almost end unit with a partial golf course view overlooking the grill end of the herb garden patio. (2435, a 2 bedroom non lock-off) Lighting was lovely at night, and due to a set back at the end of the building our balcony had two sides open view, rather than just one.

We found all of the staff to be especially helpful, weather was absolutely perfect, and we hope to be back for Spring Training season one year, when I would guess the villa choice will not be as great.

Enjoy!

dougp26364 said:

With Marriott I don't think time of checK in has anything to do with placement.

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I was actually referring to day of check-in, not time.

George

Are you going to talk to the front desk and ask for a room change?

Quilter said:

Are you going to talk to the front desk and ask for a room change?

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A closed mouth doesn't get fed.

Beefnot said:

A closed mouth doesn't get fed.

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so you're changing your name? lol

bogey21 said:

I was actually referring to day of check-in, not time.

George

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Then we are in complete agreement. Marriott is still a very young points based reservation system with a lot of traditional weeks users. Resorts like Canyon Villas that are mostly traditional weeks owners in prime season will be tough to get a prime unit location, let alone get a good location coming in on a non-traditional day.

Now the newer resorts that have a lot of trust based owners will be a different matter. I expect unit placement will be better there as more owners are in tune with short stays or checking in any day of the week like a hotel.

Quilter said:

Are you going to talk to the front desk and ask for a room change?

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No. Unit location isn't of utmost importance to us at some resorts and this would be one of them. Sure a little sun on the patio would be nice but, I'm not putting the front desk and housekeeping through a unit change just for that. In my experience they do the best they can. I am close to the pool and hot tubs, we're close to the fitness center and market place. They did a good job getting us close to most of the things we like.

Besides, I took a walk around the complex and there are units that would be, IMHO, worse for us. I really think they did. Good job if you look at all the factors involved. Besides, you can't always have the prime location. Sometimes you get that less than desirable spot. It just depends on your ranking when looking at all the other requests.

dougp26364 said:

No. Unit location isn't of utmost importance to us at some resorts and this would be one of them. Sure a little sun on the patio would be nice but, I'm not putting the front desk and housekeeping through a unit change just for that. In my experience they do the best they can. I am close to the pool and hot tubs, we're close to the fitness center and market place. They did a good job getting us close to most of the things we like.

Besides, I took a walk around the complex and there are units that would be, IMHO, worse for us. I really think they did. Good job if you look at all the factors involved. Besides, you can't always have the prime location. Sometimes you get that less than desirable spot. It just depends on your ranking when looking at all the other requests.

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Had similar issue when we stayed there for wk 52 (this dec/jan). A lot of the front desk staff is from Chicago so between "DS" who oversees room control and the front desk staff we were able to work it out and fam was happy and the staff was ok, no hard feelings all around...

However our villa request we put in way before the stay was totally ignored, I made it very broad on purpose (multiple buildings, multiple floors, etc.) and none of them were honored. For the units I requested there was a lot of availability too.

dougp26364 said:

We checked into Canyon Villa late last night. This was a DC Points reservation. Being Premier level I half anticipated a decent view. Opps!

I stepped out on the patio to be greeted by the view of an artificial wall and fencing. No view and probably no chance for sunshine on our patio. So much for premier DC member status.

There are several things at work which have probably contributed to our placement. We booked a non-traditional check in day for this resort (Thurs). We Arrived a day later than planned do to the Midwestern snow storm. Finally, last Monday was Presidents' Day so we came in mid week during what could be one of this resorts higher demand weeks.

Next time I'll check my calendar a little better.

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Its funny, I always thought of Canyon Villas as an Urban location with limited views to begin with. When we have gone, seem to spend most of our time at JW. The views from the JW grounds are much nicer IMHO.

dougp26364 said:

Besides, you can't always have the prime location. Sometimes you get that less than desirable spot. It just depends on your ranking when looking at all the other requests.

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Thats what I was looking for; some acknowledgement that there are only so many prime views at any location; and someone has to get the parking lot view, and someone gets the dumpster view. It seems to me that the ability to make lemonade from lemons makes for a much more enjoyable vacation. and if you come in without the expectation of perfection, you are more likely to be pleasantly surprised

Doug, it sounds like you had a fine time and didnt let the "Worst unit placement/location since we've owned with Marriott" affect you negatively...Better luck next time but it doesent sound like it was terrible this time

There is nothing that ruins my vacations more than standing behind someone at check in who is demanding a "better" room because they are somehow "more special" than the rest of us. If a certain view is all that important, buy a fixed week somewhere, not a float, or better yet buy your own condo with a view, rather than a timeshare.

Enough of my rant

dougp26364 said:

No. Unit location isn't of utmost importance to us at some resorts and this would be one of them. Sure a little sun on the patio would be nice but, I'm not putting the front desk and housekeeping through a unit change just for that. In my experience they do the best they can. I am close to the pool and hot tubs, we're close to the fitness center and market place. They did a good job getting us close to most of the things we like.

Besides, I took a walk around the complex and there are units that would be, IMHO, worse for us. I really think they did. Good job if you look at all the factors involved. Besides, you can't always have the prime location. Sometimes you get that less than desirable spot. It just depends on your ranking when looking at all the other requests.

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Hi Doug where did they put you exactly? We own there and have visited twice since our purchase. Both times we ended up just taking a unit that was available because we didn't want to wait.

ronparise said:

Thats what I was looking for; some acknowledgement that there are only so many prime views at any location; and someone has to get the parking lot view, and someone gets the dumpster view. It seems to me that the ability to make lemonade from lemons makes for a much more enjoyable vacation. and if you come in without the expectation of perfection, you are more likely to be pleasantly surprised

Doug, it sounds like you had a fine time and didnt let the "Worst unit placement/location since we've owned with Marriott" affect you negatively...Better luck next time but it doesent sound like it was terrible this time

There is nothing that ruins my vacations more than standing behind someone at check in who is demanding a "better" room because they are somehow "more special" than the rest of us. If a certain view is all that important, buy a fixed week somewhere, not a float, or better yet buy your own condo with a view, rather than a timeshare.

Enough of my rant

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When view has been important to us, we've purchased the unit, unit type or view category we wanted. Exchanging is always a crap shoot. Sometimes disappointing maybe but never a vacation killer.

I am always amazed at those who feel they are entitled. No one is a.ways entitled to the best. Of course, we own with and trade within the Marriott system so that we have the best opportunity to get a nice view or decent unit location. Actually, th unit location isn't bad. I just miss getting a little sunshine.

You know, now that I think about it, there has been two times when I've gone to the desk about our unit or unit assignment. One was when the unit hadn't been cleaned adequately and once when we'd been given an ADA compliant unit with a bathroom that just wasn't going to work for us. It birth cases it wasn't th evocation but housekeeping or amenities that made the unit so undesirable as to make us request re-assignment.

Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised when I'm assigned a 'bad' view. I was initially assigned a 'mud view' villa at Mountainside in June a couple of years ago after requesting a pool or city view. I was using my owned week, am a multiple week MVC owner, and owner occupancy wasn't high that week. I expressed my disappointment to the front desk, and they promised that I could move the next day if a better view became available. After staying the night and noticing how quiet it was compared to our previous pool-side units, we decided the 'mud view' was the best place to be during the noisy summer months.

The only time I was actually angry about our villa assignment was at Ocean Pointe several years ago. The family who checked in before me were exchangers and non-Marriott owners. They intimidated the check-in woman so much that they were given a high floor ocean view closest to the beach (my requested location). When I checked in after them (using my owned week), the only ocean view left was on the second floor near the dumpster.

The insinuation I got from a few posts is that making any request for a better room is somehow an unreasonable demand. I wholeheartedly believe that non-owners and even non-fixed unit/wk owners should be happy with whatever they are assigned. But I do not conflate that with a notion that they should not politely ask the front desk if there is perhaps anything else available--higher floor, better view, whatever. While the resort likely does its best to pre-assign rooms, they may make mistakes or even do random assignments for those whose stated preferences could not be met. Returning to the desk to see if there might be something better is quite appropriate, and may yield a pleasant surprise. And in that case, the guy who now gets the dumpster view because another got his room assignment changed can play the musical rooms game. If at any point in the process the music stops, just be content with where you end up.

Doug, if it makes you feel a little better...

In the midwest, we are under a winter storm watch again. We're expecting another 6-10 inches of snow Monday and Tuesday.

Hope you enjoy your trip!

Anita