What! No more room requests?

[MacKenzie]

Hi there. We made our reservations in May 21010 to return to CSS (which BTW has always been great) for our 20th anniversay next month. Our travel agent requested a specific building for us. As a follow up to that request I called reservations yesterday and was informed that rooms were assigned upon arrival only. No room would be held for a guest. While all of the rooms are nice at CSS, there are some that have far better views than others. The reservations agent confirmed for me that someone who books a vacation a week before their arrival may get their preferred room and those of us who booked early and repeatedly may not. It all depends on what time you arrive at the resort. My travel agent confirmed today that Couples will no longer accept room requests. What's up with that? Don't you think that there should be some 'reward' for those of us who book early and repeatedly? While we will be spending our days on the beach we do love sitting out on the balcony in the evenings just enjoying down time. Does anyone have any thoughts?

[randymon]

Hi MacKenzie,

Here is my post from May:


Greetings to all:

Please understand that we are unable accept any specific room, building or floor requests in advance. Daily arrivals and departures prevent us from making any guarantees and we do not want our guests starting your stay with us disappointed that a specific room, floor or building has not been confirmed.

Not only are we trying to avoid your disappointment, but our front desk staff is taking too much unwarranted heat from arriving guests who are unwilling to accept "I'm sorry, but it is not available" for an answer.

We want your stay with us to be fantastic and memorable AND we want our staff to look forward to the wonderful role they play everyday. As a result - and I am acknowledging that this will not stop the requests 100% - we will be rejecting and/or editing all future posts that appear to be requesting specific rooms, floors or buildings.

Since that time, we have added the following clause to our Romance Rewards Pre-Check In form:
While we do our best to honor room, building or floor requests, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will we make any guarantees, regardless of how much in advance a reservation was made or request received. Rooms are assigned up to the day of arrival and any specific room availability may be affected by high occupancy, late check-out, last minute maintenance order or housekeeping schedule.

[keki60]

Its no big deal to see if your favorite rooms are available when you get there. I do it every time and my list of favs just keeps growing. Don't get upset, have a wonderful anniversary, Remember that your at CSS so its all good.

[melody]

Think of it this way. What if someone requests a certain room from May 1-10 and then another person requests that same room from May 14-23. If they honor those requests they will probably not be able to fill that room from May 10-14 and will have to let that room sit open during that time because most people stay longer than that. Now assume this is going to happen with even 1/4 the rooms at each resort. They would lose so much money and have to raise the prices for everyone to make up for that.

One thing people often overlook is that requests cannot be made in ADVANCE. You can absolutely make a request once you get there. If the room/floor/building you want is unavailable at that time just ask if it will be opening up in the next day or two. They will permit you to switch rooms and even place a hold on that room for when it opens up. That's a lot of extra work for them but they gladly do it. Just be kind to the ladies at the front desk and they will totally help you. Chances are very good that they will be able to find something that works.

[weluvjamaica]

I have always thought this such an interesting topic which seems to come up quite often. If you were staying in a hotel you would not be able to request a specific room number prior to your arrival so why would Couples'
guests think any differently about a stay here? I think if you are looking to stay in a specific room for your
vacation maybe you need to look into a time share so you are not disappointed.

[Margi]

MacKenzie, just ask for the room/floor/building that you want once you get there. If you show up to your room and don't like the view/privacy/location/etc, then just request to be moved. Trust me when I say that they want to make you happy, not disappointed.

[randi&sherri]

ya mon its all irie no worries im sure the staff will more than accomodate you as they always do

Enjoy your vacation!!

[zaraforty]

can we at least a state a floor as a preference?

[Jimnmariann]

I was totally upset after checking in at CN and being led to a totally different building on the OTHER side of the resort. I nearly cried but as it turned out, I fell in love with this new location. Since then, I let the resort put me wherever. It's fun!

[columbo]

Sorry Mackenzie its been this way for quite sometime on room requests, I noticed you visited this board once back in 2009, so if you become a Couples board follower and participant it would not have come as a surprise, see there is a good reason for you to now become one of us!!!

[jannette]

No, you cannot state a floor prior to arrival but you can ask when you get there and they will do their best to accommodate you.

[cleversole]

I was totally upset after checking in at CN and being led to a totally different building on the OTHER side of the resort. I nearly cried but as it turned out, I fell in love with this new location. Since then, I let the resort put me wherever. It's fun!

US too. Our first time, I thought I wanted building 6 or 9 based on what I had seen on here. When we got there, we got building 8 and LOVE it. We do like the third floor but got second floor last year and even survived that....LOL. The one thing to remember is that you are in paradise and if you don't like what they give you, they WILL try to move you, but if you go with an open mind, you might really like what you get and all become favorites, so it always all good.

[smroot]

I just give them the type of room I want and let the keys fall where they may. Have stayed in the same room twice but I think that was because there were so few of those rooms. I ask for a first floor room, since I have breathing difficulty, when I get there and they have been most gracious to accommodate. I would not be happy if I had to climb stairs but I am sure they would take care of me as soon as a room become available. No worries mon be happy.