AAA "downgrades" BWV from 4 star to 3 star!!

[deerh]

AAA this year has lowered the rating for BWV from 4 to 3 stars!!!! Should we be worried??? Why has this happened???
Any insights??

DeerH

 

[Deb & Bill]

What do they have SSR listed at? Maybe SSR has stolen BWV's reputation.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Naw, they are simply reacting to the rumor that the ESPN Club is leaving the Boardwalk....

 

[diznyfanatic]

AAA also rates the Grosvenor near DTD as 3 stars, and unless some MAJOR rennovations have been done in the last few years, that place is pretty much a dump. In the older wing which is where we got stuck on a New Year's Eve with no where else to go, we're talking Motel 6 style rooms in absolute FILTH and disrepair. Just goes to show how absurd and meaningless their ratings are and why I have little faith in them.

Boardwalk------------------->Grosvenor...Hmmmm, whatever shall I choose?????

 

[bicker]

AAA ratings are hilarious. They rarely map to reality.

 

[DisFlan]

I agree with bicker. I dunno why BWV changed, but we pretty much ignore AAA ratings anyway. They often don't make sense.


DisFlan

 

[elijahpep]

Was just on a site with AAA ratings, and it appears the only 4star is BeachCLub of out the 5 DVC's. We've never really paid that much attention to ratings. But I just checked the Radisson Celebration hotel (stayed there one night before our last tripin an upgraded room) and it is also ranked 3 stars and there is no way that hotel is on any level of the DVC accomodations. As Disflan said, maybe that much weight shouldn't be given to star rankings.

Maybe it helps keep the secret!

~DW

 

[cobbler]

Would someone mind posting a link where I could check out the "ratings" of the DVC resorts? I am just not finding it when I navigate through the aaa site.

 

[KLEONARD]

I thought that AAA used a formula that included cost of room. That would allow something like Pop and BWI to both have three stars. The price difference would make up for the difference in room quality and ammenities.
Sort of like the "bang for the buck" theory.

 

[debbiepump]

I'm not surprised! 2 out of 2 visits and we've had a dirty room! (food left, garbage never taken out prior to our checking in).

 

[elijahpep]

Would someone mind posting a link where I could check out the "ratings" of the DVC resorts? I am just not finding it when I navigate through the aaa site.

I couldn't either Cobbler. I found another travel site that had the AAA ratings and found a list of WDW properties listed. I went thru the list and checked out all the ratings. Hope this helps.

~DW

 

[BAYBREEZE2]

Have no idea what criteria AAA uses but it certainly is NOT correct! As a side note, what was that rumor about ESPN Club leaving...since it is one of our favorites...this would be of great concern to me.

 

[elijahpep]

Hey Baybreeze! There was athread a couple of weeks ago. I've tried to link it here http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1096653

If that doesn't work it on page 4 of mousecellaneous. I hope since so many of you enjoy this resturant it doesn't close! Best of luck!

~DW

 

[bavaria]

AAA ratings are based on a very specifc set of criteria regarding ammenities and service. If a hotel has 24 hour room service and drops that down to 20 hours/day, it can drop from a 4 star to a 3 star. Same with valet service.

Much as we'd like to think that AAA ratings consider the cleanliness and upkeep, so long as the rooms inspected meet a minimum guideline they qualify. Each area has its own inspector; sometimes when a new inspector takes over an area, ratinngs within that area can change at a number of hotels.

Has BWV recently reduced any service? do they have 24 hour/day room service, for instance?

 

[Lewisc]

I think 24 hour room service is only required for a 5* property but it's possible a certain level of room service is required for a 4*. You're correct AAA bases the rating on amenities. Do they count the restaurants on the Boardwalk as being part of the hotel? The lack of a restaurant would certainly downgrade the resort. I remember Disney added the table service restaurants to the moderates because AAA required one for a 3* rating. If the property is being rated as a resort the absence of a spa might also be a factor. I'm sure daily maid service is required, is it possible AAA doesn't make the distinction between hotel guests and guests saying with points?

I don't think AAA considers this but other rating services might downgrade a resort if areas, like the pool, that are supposed to be closed to non-guests aren't.

AAA ratings are based on a very specifc set of criteria regarding ammenities and service. If a hotel has 24 hour room service and drops that down to 20 hours/day, it can drop from a 4 star to a 3 star. Same with valet service.

Much as we'd like to think that AAA ratings consider the cleanliness and upkeep, so long as the rooms inspected meet a minimum guideline they qualify. Each area has its own inspector; sometimes when a new inspector takes over an area, ratinngs within that area can change at a number of hotels.

Has BWV recently reduced any service? do they have 24 hour/day room service, for instance?

 

[bavaria]

It may actually be restaurant service, now that I consider your comment, Lewis. The BW doesn't offer their own restaurant for 3 meals a day, do they? A sticky inspector could consider ESPN and Big River Grille (the lunch places) outside vendors which happen to be in the same area but not operated by the resort. Isn't Spoodles the only restaurant at BW operated by WDW?

BCV has Beaches and Cream for lunch service, operated by WDW. I can't think of any other difference bwn 3 star and 4 star at those two resorts.

Or it may be a case of a different inspector who is re-rating the resort to where it should have been in the first place.

 

[littlestar]

The last time we stayed at Boardwalk, the hallway carpets looked awful (very dirty). We own at Boardwalk, so I'm not bashing her, but she needed a good cleaning in some of the common areas the last time we stayed.

 

[Mary Ellen]

Bavaria is correct about

AAA ratings are based on a very specifc set of criteria regarding ammenities and service.

When I read the OP, I thought of the restaurants. It could be that the most recent inspector considered the restaurants 'nearby' rather than part of the hotel.

The criteria are also modified from time to time. A number of years ago a VERY nice resort in my home state asked to be dropped from the ratings. AAA added a requirement that all 5 diamond properties (which they had been for many, many years) have a deadbolt on the door of each room. This resort is only accessible by train or helicopter and saw no reason to put deadbolts on the cabin doors. They felt it would undermine the remote, get away from it all, feel they had.

I was aware that the restaurants where outside when I bought at BWV. I’m not worried about the loss of a diamond.

BTW, to AAA they are diamonds NOT stars. That is a different company.

 

[DisFlan]

The last time we stayed at Boardwalk, the hallway carpets looked awful (very dirty). We own at Boardwalk, so I'm not bashing her, but she needed a good cleaning in some of the common areas the last time we stayed.

We noticed the hallway carpets in October, too. But work was being done overhead on the pipes with lots of workmen coming and going, so we didn't give the carpets much thought at the time. I would have thought they'd have been cleaned by now. If they haven't, they certainly need to be. Other than that we had NO cleanliness issues.

As a side note. We were there during hurricane Wilma when lunch was provided over in the Conference Center. They walked us from the Bellemont Lounge through the "backstage" areas to the Conference Center through what seemed like a mile of pipes, stairs, working areas and plain-jane hallways. I have to say that the normally unseen sections of BW infrastructure were VERY clean and well cared for. So it's not like they spiff up the public stuff and let the unseen areas languish. Which is one of the reasons why we weren't overly concerned about the villa hallway carpets - we figured there was probably a good reason why they hadn't been cleaned.

DisFlan

 

[Lewisc]

You're right they use diamonds.

Other guests and even staff could be thieves. Requiring a deadbolt makes sense. I think a deadbolt, a safety issue, is required at every diamond level. The resort probably had the choice of being removed or being rated something like unsatisfactory.

AAA added a requirement that all 5 diamond properties (which they had been for many, many years) have a deadbolt on the door of each room. This resort is only accessible by train or helicopter and saw no reason to put deadbolts on the cabin doors. They felt it would undermine the remote, get away from it all, feel they had.
..
BTW, to AAA they are diamonds NOT stars. That is a different company.