For anyone who took the time to peruse my trip reports from July and August, you will recall that contrary to my best hopes (and efforts), we received no pixie dust or upgrades on our trips. Granted our July trip was to a studio at the Polynesian, so that would have meant we were upgraded to a Bungalow, but I had high hopes for an upgrade in August when we were staying in a Boardwalk studio for my birthday (which I made sure to mention every time I called in). Alas, no upgrades were in the cards, which is consistent with all of our DVC stays for the past 24 years, so it is no huge shock.
What IS an awesome shock though, is that the guests who rented our points to stay at Beach Club in September got upgraded from a Studio to a TWO BEDROOM VILLA!!! That is no joke of an upgrade. It was a (very nice) family of four, with two little girls, staying in a studio. That means no real kitchen, living area, laundry, separate sleeping area for the kids, etc. Instead, they got a massive two bedroom with multiple bathroom areas, laundry room, full kitchen, living room, king size bed for the parents, a separate queen size bed for each daughter, etc. What an amazing surprise for them. When I was messaging with them that day, they were worried because their room wasn’t ready and it was after 4pm. I told them that unfortunately this is a common complaint with DVC. Technically DVC says check in time STARTS at 4pm, but can be later. I personally have had a good streak of rooms being ready at noon or earlier, but these poor folks were waiting and waiting, and I felt terrible…..until they sent me a screenshot showing they finally got a room assignment and it was a TWO BEDROOM!! I figure this was half an apology for the late check in, and half an availability issue with studios potentially. Who knows. Either way, it was awesome. I’ve seen a handful of posts about upgrades at Beach Club Villas this summer. So maybe it will be in the cards for some readers on their next trip 🙂