Is this typical for Worldmark???

We stayed at Worldmark Yosemite Bass Lake over week 52.
They had no planned activities.
Without any prior notification, they cancelled the Monday morning breakfast where we can meet the director over juice and donuts. (my kids were very disappointed.)
They didn't have a midweek cleaning.
They did not do a towel or linen exchange. (bed sheets, I can deal with, towels are a stretch, but the kitchen towels and washcloth-- too long.)
Cobwebs in many corners (I thought it added to the rustic nature of the setting, but it bugged my wife.)
This was my first Worldmark experience. I've stayed in many gold crown resorts, and many standard resorts. Although the unit was a decent size and fairly comfortable, most standard resorts have better service. Given the name, I honestly thought we'd have a better experience at a Worldmark.
Is this typical?

skimble said:

We stayed at Worldmark Yosemite Bass Lake over week 52.
They had no planned activities.
Without any prior notification, they cancelled the Monday morning breakfast where we can meet the director over juice and donuts. (my kids were very disappointed.)
They didn't have a midweek cleaning.
They did not do a towel or linen exchange. (bed sheets, I can deal with, towels are a stretch, but the kitchen towels and washcloth-- too long.)
Cobwebs in many corners (I thought it added to the rustic nature of the setting, but it bugged my wife.)
This was my first Worldmark experience. I've stayed in many gold crown resorts, and many standard resorts. Although the unit was a decent size and fairly comfortable, most standard resorts have better service. Given the name, I honestly thought we'd have a better experience at a Worldmark.
Is this typical?

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We usually stay at our home resort (Kona Coast) over the Christmas/New Year's holiday and on occasion, we have exchanged to other resorts over that time period. Activities are usually limited over that holiday time period - I suspect because part of the staff is on vacation for the holiday also! And the owners' meetings are usually cancelled.

Regarding the midweek cleaning - some resorts do not have a midweek cleaning. It has been a while since we stayed at a WorldMark, so I can't recall the policy at those resorts.

Evelyn

Yes, I believe WM does not do midweek cleanings neither does Marriott at a lot of their timeshares. Also Bluegreen, we were at two of theirs during November and no cleaning. Didn't you have a washer and dryer where you could have washed your own linens?

WorldMark has very friendly staff... so ask for assistance!

• WorldMark doesn't have midweek cleanings if the stay is 7 days or less. I have heard there is a free cleaning offered if the stay is for 8 or more days.
• If there are issues with one's unit, a simple phone call to the front desk is all one needs to do to get these minor issues resolved.
• Re. linen and towel exchange: one could call the housekeeping folks to replace those. At times they require us to take the dirty linen to housekeeping to get a new set.
• I have stayed at more than 20 Worldmark locations and appreciated the cleanliness of the units, and rarely seen issues such as mentioned by the original poster.

Sorry your kids missed meeting the director

skimble said:

We stayed at Worldmark Yosemite Bass Lake over week 52.
They had no planned activities.
Without any prior notification, they cancelled the Monday morning breakfast where we can meet the director over juice and donuts. (my kids were very disappointed.)
They didn't have a midweek cleaning.
They did not do a towel or linen exchange. (bed sheets, I can deal with, towels are a stretch, but the kitchen towels and washcloth-- too long.)
Cobwebs in many corners (I thought it added to the rustic nature of the setting, but it bugged my wife.)
This was my first Worldmark experience. I've stayed in many gold crown resorts, and many standard resorts. Although the unit was a decent size and fairly comfortable, most standard resorts have better service. Given the name, I honestly thought we'd have a better experience at a Worldmark.
Is this typical?

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If you go to another WorldMark resort, you should not expect to find cobwebs anywhere, but if some exist, call and complain while you're there when they can remedy the situation.
Midweek cleanings can be arranged with a call to the front desk; note that there is a charge for the service, however.
Towel and linen exchange: did you ask about it while you were at the resort? In my experience it has always been available, but you have to call housekeeping to request it. No charge. They usually provide laundry detergent and a washer and dryer in the unit, perhaps hoping you'll wash and re-use what you've got, but otherwise there's never a problem doing an exchange. Just have to call.
Some resorts have more planned activities than others. Always good to check ahead of time I suppose.
Sorry about the canceled donuts. I'm starting to think you're yanking our chain here -- Your children make a point of meeting various resort managers but when they're thwarted it puts a damper on their vacations?

JulieH said:

If you go to another WorldMark resort, you should not expect to find cobwebs anywhere, but if some exist, call and complain while you're there when they can remedy the situation.
Midweek cleanings can be arranged with a call to the front desk; note that there is a charge for the service, however.
Towel and linen exchange: did you ask about it while you were at the resort? In my experience it has always been available, but you have to call housekeeping to request it. No charge. They usually provide laundry detergent and a washer and dryer in the unit, perhaps hoping you'll wash and re-use what you've got, but otherwise there's never a problem doing an exchange. Just have to call.
Some resorts have more planned activities than others. Always good to check ahead of time I suppose.
Sorry about the canceled donuts. I'm starting to think you're yanking our chain here -- Your children make a point of meeting various resort managers but when they're thwarted it puts a damper on their vacations?

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We had a relaxing trip. My vacation was not thwarted. My kids were disappointed; we don't feed them donuts, so they anticipated it. It was a little inconvenient going back to our unit for breakfast. We were not poor victims.
The question was simply stated... Is this normal?
The answer is clear. The cobwebs are Not normal, but everything else is. The nonservice of a midweek cleaning is normal. It's also clear that Worldmarks don't make a point of doing midweek linen exchanges as a policy. And, a lack of activities at the resort appears to be normal too.
Now I understand Worldmark.
Because of the prominance of the name and the gold crown status, I thought there'd be a higher level of service. It's obvious that the prominance of the name led to the gold crown status.

The answer is clear. The cobwebs are Not normal, but everything else is. The nonservice of a midweek cleaning is normal. It's also clear that Worldmarks don't make a point of doing midweek linen exchanges as a policy. And, a lack of activities at the resort appears to be normal too.
Now I understand Worldmark.

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Regarding activities, I think you understand WorldMark at this one particular location this year during the holiday week of Christmas and New Years. There is a considerable variation in organized activity levels from resort to resort. The other housekeeping stuff you've got right, though.

It's obvious that the prominance of the name led to the gold crown status.

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If the name were truly synonymous with "nothing much offered but a half a week's towels and full week's cobwebs (not even donuts)," I doubt the name would be very prominent.

If you had picked up the phone (with unlimited free local calls outside the resort, too, by the way) to ASK for towels or a linen exchange or anything else that appeared lacking, I'm quite sure you would have found prompt and pleasant service for whatever you required -- either delivered to your door momentarily, or if they were short-staffed, available for pick-up at your convenience at the front desk. Sorry you were disappointed though. Not all of my WorldMark visits have been perfect, but none that I can recall has been characterized by lousy service. So I take issue with the notion that now you "understand WorldMark." Anyway, better luck and happy travels wherever you go next time.

I agree that WM is different than a lot of other resorts regarding the things mentioned here and except for the cobwebs, you will get a similar experience
at any other WM you go to - so basically you now know what to expect. It does sound like they didn't tell you the basics - you can always exchange your towels for new ones (though I think Bass Lake had certain times of the day you had to come), if you run out of laundry soap, dishwasher soap, just bring the container to the office and have it filled up. etc. We just stayed
in Monterey and I could stop by the office and get coffee, books to read,
board games, etc. I guess you can also call them to come to your unit, but we usually just stop by the office. There are no midweek cleanings, but there are always vacuums, brooms, etc in the
closest if you need to use them.
Now I had a similar thing at Bass Lake - they had a unique art 3-d forest scene on the wall and I got up close to admire it and it was so dusty and
filthy, I was grossed out - and I am NO nitpicker! I just stayed away from
it.
Here is my general WM pet peeve (and I got blasted when I mentioned it once before as if I had insulted someone's mother) - the garbage bags in the kitchen are micro thin and break every time - usually when I have a bunch of egg shells or coffee grounds in them. I also wish they would put a TV in the 2nd bedroom - I don't think any WMs have that. I put these on my comment
cards every time.

lousy trash bags

Here is my general WM pet peeve (and I got blasted when I mentioned it once before as if I had insulted someone's mother) - the garbage bags in the kitchen are micro thin and break every time

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I hear ya. (If we remember in time, we try to double bag them before having to mop up egg shells and coffee grounds. )

I've not had a problem with cleanliness at any of the resorts I've stayed in yet. Nor have I ever had issue with getting a linen exchange or extra coffee, dish-soap etc...but as one poster above does...I've always just asked at the front desk on the fly-by.

kewanee said:

Here is my general WM pet peeve (and I got blasted when I mentioned it once before as if I had insulted someone's mother) - the garbage bags in the kitchen are micro thin and break every time - usually when I have a bunch of egg shells or coffee grounds in them. I also wish they would put a TV in the 2nd bedroom - I don't think any WMs have that. I put these on my comment
cards every time.

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We experienced this too... the bag broke when we tried to pull it out, and I agree about the TV

ladycody said:

I've not had a problem with cleanliness at any of the resorts I've stayed in yet. Nor have I ever had issue with getting a linen exchange or extra coffee, dish-soap etc...but as one poster above does...I've always just asked at the front desk on the fly-by.

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I don't ever have an issue with asking for these things either. We needed dish soap, asked, drove to the front office, and it was given freely.
Motel six is comfortable by my standards. I'm not hard to please.
I don't have an problem with asking for a refill on my beverage at low class restaurants, but when I'm at a reputable place, I expect certain things are just going to happen without beckoning.
Like I said, I now know how Worldmark functions.
My suggestion to Worldmark, and to those diehard WM groupies: basic services and attention to details like linen exchanges, plentiful activities and cleanliness are keystones to customer service that leave lasting positive impressions and build great PR. It's the difference between Disneyland and a local fair.

Well...my MIL's Marriott doesnt provide spices (other than salt&pepper) or laundry detergent or linen exchanges or mid-week hskg Linen exchanges and hskg services(fee) can be arranged by a phone call. Her MF's are $200 more than mine. All-in-all...I guess it's just a matter of opinion as to whether or not those features are required to be provided automatically (other than the cleanliness issue...that's expected universally I think.) Some of the other Marriott resorts dont include full kitchens for full unit sizes...which I find odd.

This is rather a different twist to the "should utilities be included" argument going on in another thread. It's all going to be a matter of opinion, I think, as to what you deem should be included in a resort. If a certain resort or company falls short on your expectations in that area...just dont use them when exchanging. After reading some of the other threads on the differences at various resorts...I think doing due-diligence on any exchange will eliminate any surprises. I now have a complete list of questions to ask when exchanging.

skimble said:

....
My suggestion to Worldmark, and to those diehard WM groupies: basic services and attention to details like linen exchanges, plentiful activities and cleanliness are keystones to customer service that leave lasting positive impressions and build great PR. It's the difference between Disneyland and a local fair.

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One of the things I do like about WM is that I DO know what to expect and yes, I expect more of a 'middle-class' resort and I think it fits that bill. But I don't need to worry that I'll be getting a dump or anything. When I first walked into a unit at Angels Camp I was impressed with the spaciousness. But when I walked into Grand Pacific Palisades in Carlsbad, I was so impressed with decor and the kids play pool and the same at the Vistana I stayed at in Orlando. But those amenities come at a high price and my opinion is that the general WM population is more on the cost-conscious side. You can probably tell that I haven't stayed at any Marriott's yet!

Bass Lake

Bass Lake has always been one of our favorite resorts. Never noticed the cowwebs but really don't look for them either. Towel exchange is what we have washer for. We have never made a mess to need mid-week cleaning.
Another words, we go to relax so most things don't bother us or we don't even notice. It would be different if we walked into a dirty unit or dishes not clean, etc. For us, Bass Lake has always worked out to be very nice. In fact several years ago we held a family reunion there and everyone loved it.
Bart

Bass lake is not a large resort and has limited scheduled activities. The last time I was there the lake cruise was a scheduled activity on Wednesday. I understood that everyone on the cruise was from the resort. If my memory is correct they had one or two activities on the other days.

Most but not all of the Worldmark resorts are gold crown rated. The ratings are based upon the comment cards returned to RCI and amenaties of the resort. Worldmark often offers extra's not found in most resorts like a washer and dryer, BBQ on the deck or patio, spices in the kitchen, and larger rooms. The Bass lake resort was recently remodeled. Not all gold crown resorts are equal. The standard rooms at Worldmark don't have granite counters or big screen TV's like a few resorts. None of the Worldmark resorts made the TUG top ten list.

Bass lake is a great resort and on my list of resorts I want to return to.

kewanee said:

I also wish they would put a TV in the 2nd bedroom - I don't think any WMs have that.

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I think most, if not all, of the "Deluxes" have a TV in the second bedroom. It is so at Discovery Bay and Seaside. Also, the penthouses have a TV in every bedroom but that is to be expected.

It's partly a matter of "different strokes for different folks" and different reasons for going to a resort.

I've been to Bass Lake a number of times - its one of my favorite places to visit. But I don't go there to spend that much time at the resort, I go to spend time in the beautiful Sierras. The presence or absence of resort activities means very little to me, but that's just me. I rarely take part in any resort activities - I normally go some place to explore the area and see new sights, not to stay in one spot and have someone entertain me. But that's just me and I realize that I'm probably the exception rather than the rule here. I'd rather spend a week at Bass Lake, hiking in the Sierra National Forest and visiting Yosemite, than a week in a swank penthouse in Las Vegas or New York. So while I'm well aware I could spend more money and buy into Marriott that would give me fancier decorations and more resort activities, I'd rather save the money and stay with WorldMark.

Someone once compared Marriott and WoldMark by saying that Marriott was like a Cadillac and WorldMark like a Chevy. I thought that was rather apt, but think there's a better auto analogy. The Marriott is more like a Grand Cherokee and WorldMark like a Wrangler. Both will get you where you want to go, the stock Grand will do it in (comparable) luxury, but you have more fun and go further in a Wrangler.

Feel free to disagree with me, as I said before, this is just my opinion and who I am. I'm sure my likes and priorities are way in the minority here (so what else is new?).

Love this Board

Icc5 said:

Bass Lake has always been one of our favorite resorts. Never noticed the cowwebs but really don't look for them either. Towel exchange is what we have washer for. We have never made a mess to need mid-week cleaning.
Another words, we go to relax so most things don't bother us or we don't even notice. It would be different if we walked into a dirty unit or dishes not clean, etc. For us, Bass Lake has always worked out to be very nice. In fact several years ago we held a family reunion there and everyone loved it.
Bart

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I Love this board, You learn so mutch I just Learned that Worldmark is not for me Sorry ICC5 but to me if I have to Wash towels Ect. an A resort that is not Relaxing or a vacation, I once ask an RCI rep. what was the required for a resort to earned gold crown , and wastold good service,included linen and towel changes with daily housekeeping, I got wrong info from RCI:

To each his own

brother coony said:

I Love this board, You learn so mutch I just Learned that Worldmark is not for me Sorry ICC5 but to me if I have to Wash towels Ect. an A resort that is not Relaxing or a vacation, I once ask an RCI rep. what was the required for a resort to earned gold crown , and wastold good service,included linen and towel changes with daily housekeeping, I got wrong info from RCI:

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Brother Coony, I find we are still able to relax and at a lot less cost then the big name companies such as Marriott or Disney. We end up having to do very little so for my family it is fine. I'm happy I helped you decide.
Bart

The penthouses have a tv in the second bedroom.

brother coony said:

I Love this board, You learn so mutch I just Learned that Worldmark is not for me Sorry ICC5 but to me if I have to Wash towels Ect. an A resort that is not Relaxing or a vacation, I once ask an RCI rep. what was the required for a resort to earned gold crown , and wastold good service,included linen and towel changes with daily housekeeping, I got wrong info from RCI:

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Did you miss the part that explains that they're happy to exchange towels and linens for you -- mid-week or every day if you wish -- and all you have to do is ask? It just doesn't happen automatically. And that is different from what the original poster expected. No one says you have to wash towels, etc.

brother coony said:

I Love this board, You learn so mutch I just Learned that Worldmark is not for me Sorry ICC5 but to me if I have to Wash towels Ect. an A resort that is not Relaxing or a vacation, I once ask an RCI rep. what was the required for a resort to earned gold crown , and wastold good service,included linen and towel changes with daily housekeeping, I got wrong info from RCI:

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Westin and Marriott do not provide daily housekeeping either. Maybe that's why they are not Gold Crown.

Seriouly, WM has low maintenance fees, due to the way they operate. It's not that they don't provide the extras. They are the only timeshare that I have heard of (there may be some that I haven't heard of yet) that provides 6 spices for cooking, in addition to salt and pepper. Their unit cleanliness is top notch, except in rare cases. Their maintenance personnel come quickly to calls. They provide any number of clean towels and detergents if you just ask. They have the most cooking utensils that I have seen, and I have been to Four Seasons and Westin. Yet their maintenance fee for a red 2BR is about $500; for a blue, $300. Four Seasons Aviara charges about $2,000, with daily housekeeping.

Some people study a resort or resort system before they go there, so that they can take full advantage of how it operates. Some people ask while they are there. Some people ask afterwards. Some people don't want to go, because they do not want to use the method that the resort uses. Different strokes for different people.

I have been reading many Worldmark threads attacking it's overall quality. Worldmark is not a Marriott or Westin(neither provide free daily housekeeping), but it is a solid timeshare in good locations and it has usually very attentive staff that works hard to fix any issues.

I guess I could be accused of being a Worldmark groupie, but I am happy to carry that label. Even our kids who have mainly stayed in high-end hotels & Westin timeshares until last year, love the Worldmark units. They like the extra space of the 2-bed rm & 3-bed rm units and they even like the fact the layout is the same because the added familiarity makes it easy for them to adjust. It's true it does not have fancy pools and marble lobbies, but it is more than made-up by friendlier guests, lower fees and our kids seem to make friends easier in Worldmark resorts also.

Given the flexilibility in their points sytem, more than adequate trading power and with so many resorts in the West Coast we have decided to focus all our future timeshare needs on the Worldmark system in addition to our Westin Maui timsehare.

Speaking of spices Westin Maui does not even stock salt & pepper & had to go to Safeway to buy some !

skim118 said:

I have been reading many Worldmark threads attacking it's overall quality. Worldmark is not a Marriott or Westin(neither provide free daily housekeeping), but it is a solid timeshare in good locations and it has usually very attentive staff that works hard to fix any issues.

I guess I could be accused of being a Worldmark groupie, but I am happy to carry that label. Even our kids who have mainly stayed in high-end hotels & Westin timeshares until last year, love the Worldmark units. They like the extra space of the 2-bed rm & 3-bed rm units and they even like the fact the layout is the same because the added familiarity makes it easy for them to adjust. It's true it does not have fancy pools and marble lobbies, but it is more than made-up by friendlier guests, lower fees and our kids seem to make friends easier in Worldmark resorts also.

Given the flexilibility in their points sytem, more than adequate trading power and with so many resorts in the West Coast we have decided to focus all our future timeshare needs on the Worldmark system in addition to our Westin Maui timsehare.

Speaking of spices Westin Maui does not even stock salt & pepper & had to go to Safeway to buy some !

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Welcome to Worldmark, skim118! Have you been to http://wmowners.com/forum/ ? You will find many more friendly groupies there! I have been a WM owner since 2002 and been to 18 WM resorts, all in the West. We will never be able to go to all 60 of them. Recently traded into Westin Ka'anapali and really enjoyed it. Have been to Four Seasons Aviara twice, am going to Four Seasons Scottsdale next week, and a Four Seasons in Portugal and Marriott in Spain in December. All on WM. For sure, WM has more than adequate trading power! :whoopie: