Our room was a two bedroom deluxe in the Areca Palm building (or some such name, I could never remember it). There was a small covered garage there for maybe 12 cars and it had its own pool. We were put on the second floor facing the road, which wasn't very pleasant to look at when sitting on the balcony. The second floor had a lounge area with a piano and overlooked the pool area. Madison played the piano one night around nine o'clock and someone opened his door and shouted, "People are trying to sleep!" I later read that quiet time doesn't start until 11:00 p.m. and I was hopeful someone would yell at me so that I could make a remark about this, but alas, I don't play the piano.
The pool was outside our building and was very clean and cool. The deck area was small and there wasn't much space to maneuver around lounge chairs, which are stacked neck to neck so that you get to know the person intimately lounging next to you.
Our unit was clean. I liked that we had a tile floor with an area rug instead of just carpet. I feel cleaner, although I'm probably not. The pull out sofa bed had a nice thick mattress on it and Darcy said she did not feel the springs while sleeping on it. The mattress cover did not fit the bed, however. I have read in other reviews that this seems to be an issue. Hmmmm...
The kitchen was a good size and had everything we could want or need. One of the things that Wyndham has added that Fairfield never had is little things like salt and pepper shakers, paper towels, and coffee filters. A plus in my book. We went to the grocery store the first night we arrived and bought breakfast foods and small snacks for lunch munching. We planned on one night having a baked potato bar, but we never got around to it. (I was vacationing with my SIS after all - Queen of Eating Out)
Susan, Maddy and I shared the second bedroom. I snore and snore loudly at times and Kelly has mentioned how this bothers her when sharing a room with me. I opted to give her the the King bed so that she could have a place to retreat to if the noise and teenager-ness got too much for her. We made her share the bathroom with the girls.
Things wrong in our unit
- The shower in the second bathroom did not drain quickly. It filled the tub so that one was showering in a tub of dirty water up to his ankles. Once the shower was turned off the shower drained, but slowly. We reported this to the front desk, but if someone came in, he did not repair it. I mentioned it again at check-out, but the woman at the front desk did not take notes so I doubt that it will get fixed.
- I pulled the small non-electric sweeper out of the linen closet one day to sweep up the area rug in the living room, but when I put it down on the floor the roller brush fell off. Now I understand why the vacuum was upside down in the closet. I tried to get the brush back in between the two rollers, but it was hopeless. I gave up reporting that one since we were leaving the next day.
- The broom was terrible with strands pulled out and others going in all sorts of different directions. Makes it hard to tidy up.
- There was a constant buzzing noise outside the entrance to the building. Made the people waiting for pick-up or drop-off crazy.
- The mattress cover for the pull out sofa bed was a twin one and the mattress a full size. Again, we didn't report that because it was late the first night and we forgot about it after that.
Things Wyndham needs to improve
- Make a list of rules and regulations to be handed in at check-in. We are given a small list on the key card envelope, but they are rules pertaining to parking. The book in the room has a few, but not many and most are not worthy. The pool rules are on a sign at the pool and posted in an area not directly in viewing sight. Our pool rules were set back in the bushes. The pool rules said, "NO FOOD OR DRINK ALLOWED" yet a grill was there poolside for use. We had one family that used the grill and then brought out a Thanksgiving feast complete with glassware from their unit, which went against the "NO GLASS ON POOL DECK" rule posted on the sign. Three different employees, one of whom was security, walked through the pool area and past the feasting family without so much as wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving, let alone admonishing them for rule breaking. Pass out a list and also post the same list in the unit. And then enforce it!
- Stock more items in the unit. I know that times are tough and waste is plentiful, but perhaps little bags could be made up of extra toilet paper, dish soap, and paper towels for those checking in with more guests. We have to write down everyone that is in the unit so if you see 6 people are checking into a two bedroom then hand them the extra bag. We had only three rolls of toilet paper for a five day visit. We were given more, but we weren't happy having to ask and the woman who brought it us was certainly not happy about having to do so.
- Put mats or safety decals in the tubs. Our shower tub was not safe for entering, exiting, or frankly, for showering. There was no mat and no daisy decals on the bottom of the tub and it was SLIPPERY and DANGEROUS. Kids and the elderly should beware. Susan once left the lever to the shower up, thinking it would go down when she turned off the shower. It didn't and when I stepped in and turned on the water the shower came on scaring me. I forgot about the slipperiness and jumped back quickly to avoid the cold water and practically fell on my naked ass. Susan and I are lucky to have all of our limbs after four days of showering in that death trap.
- Leave little maintenance calling cards when in the room. We had to call maintenance for our shower drainage problem. We asked if we needed to be there when they came and we told no so we left. When we returned we had no idea if maintenance had been there or not. The only sign we thought might have meant they had been in our room was that the drain to the tub was closed. The problem was not, however, fixed. If maintenance left a little card behind that said, "Maintenance visited to repair your problem. Your problem was repaired. If you still have issues, please dial "9" to report it and maintenance will be happy to come back." or "Maintenance visited to repair your problem. Your problem was not repaired due to the need for a professional, or whatever. We will continue to work on this between the hours of 11 - 2 tomorrow." Just something to let people know you give a damn. And I'd like to know what my maintenance fee is going toward each month if these units are still un-repaired when I stay there.
- Employee attitudes. I only had one good experience with an employee and that was Daniel at the front desk who was polite, helpful, and cheerful. Everyone else was sullen, unfriendly, and acted like they hated their jobs. We had to go to the front desk twice during our stay and both times we were left standing for several minutes while the staff ignored us. When we did speak to someone she acted like we were bothering her and did not help us. This is unacceptable for the money I shell out in fees each month. Train these people. I stayed at that resort when it was Fairfield and had a totally better experience with employees that was a total 180 compared to this experience.
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