The Big Names Are Cheating!

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

When we exchange we always try to get a full kitchen. Those Cape Cod units with no real kitchen and many of the studio units that have just a coffee pot and toaster just don't pass muster for us.

Lately I've noticed what can only be surmised to be a cost cutting move by the big boys in the timeshare world, namely Westin in Scottsdale and Marriott in Palm Desert. The Marriott was a full 2 bedroom with a fake fireplace. I kid you not! It wasn't even the gas log fake type fireplace. It was a hologram. Hubby and I laughed till we snorted. What a joke.

But I digress....back to the subject of kitchens. What exactly do you define as a full kitchen? A real stove, not a hotplate, right? A nice assortment of small appliances, right? Blender, toaster, mixer, coffee pot, that sort of stuff. I also expect a decent sized refridgerator, preferably with an ice maker. That works. So why does Westin think a microwave with convection capability is a viable substitute for an actual oven? It took me 15 minutes to get the damn thing to work in convection mode to toast garlic bread. What will I do when I want to cook a U-Bake pizza? Which wouldn't fit in the microwave! Or those pop 'em open easy make cookies? With no broiler pan or cookie sheet because there is no oven! What a bunch of cheapo's. When it says full kitchen, I expect an oven..a real, full size, bake a pie if you feel like it oven.

So what's the deal? Are the owners of these high priced name brand resorts content with kitchens and firplaces that are not as good as we've come to expect? Would you be disappointed to stay in a place that is "full kitchen" with no oven?

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Don't you know it yet? You pay for the name! We love our little independent resorts with full kitchens and a real fireplace.

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

I confess---I don't mind a gas log fireplace. I can even live without a blender or an ice maker. (And, really, you don't need nearly as much ice if you don't have a blender...)

But, I draw the line at a convection microwave. That's Just Wrong.

[javanite Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close javanite]

I'm with you. I want a real oven.

That g2 microven at WKORV-N was my only disappointment there. It didn't make decent pizza or cookies.

Now, that wouldn't keep me from going back ...., but I would have preferred a real oven.

[trites Member Find all posts View Profile Close trites]

the big names are cheating

We vacation with my daughter's family. If there wasn't a full kitchen we would be disappointed. This is the one time of the year that I get to spend time with my grandchildren and sitting around a kitchen table and cooking with them and for them makes for treasured memories. They live 1000 miles away from me.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Uh, cook on vacation? Not me.

About all I want to make on vaction is pasta and eggs.

That's why they put those BBQ's outside.

I guess it's nice to have the full kitchen but honestly I really only use
the micro, range, toaster, blender, wine opener and refrigerator.
Oh, and the dishwasher.

Now a refrigerator, I need a big one to hold all the food and beer for the week. I think we made a pizza once at the beach. One of those Digiorno's that I got at Walgreens in the middle of the night but I think that's the only time in about 20 years of timesharing that I've used the oven so honestly I can live without the oven. But then again, I'm no Becky Home-ecky either.

[EAM Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close EAM]

I tend to avoid timeshares that do not have full kitchens. It is healthier for our bodies and our budgets if we do not eat out.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

I usually don't mind not having a full kitchen, but for a timeshare to advertise having one and then not have an oven is just wrong.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I'm picky. I look to SEE what the "full" kitchen offers before making a request for that particular resort. I do this by doing an online search for the resorts I'm interested in. I plug in a full year for the purpose of my search. Then I'll select the unit I'm interested in and run through the booking process until I get to the page that shows the amenites for that units kitchen. It will list the appliances offered including whether there's a stove and the size of the refridgerator.

Of course there are some resorts that are scarce enough that you just never see them online. I'll use reviews to see what's what with those resorts amenities.

What gets me is resorts that make minor modifications to what would normally be a studio unit and now list it as a full one bedroom. For the most part, those are listed as LK when it comes to the kitchen. But when I'm exchanging a 1 bedroom unit I have to be careful with ongoing searches. Many times, I just leave those resorts off my list.

[odaddy Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close odaddy]

Full kitchen should have an Oven,

I will say that the LK kitchens with Full size fridge, cooktop, microwave, and the the small appliances work fine for us.

Do the larger part of the Westin Kierland units not have a real fridge?

I thought II had K and LK designations for the 2 sides, That is crummy to claim a full kitchen on the smaller side.

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

Full kitchen should have an Oven,
I will say that the LK kitchens with Full size fridge, cooktop, microwave, and the the small appliances work fine for us.
Do the larger part of the Westin Kierland units not have a real fridge?
I thought II had K and LK designations for the 2 sides, That is crummy to claim a full kitchen on the smaller side.

The Westin in Scottsdale lists full kitchen (K) in the large side lock-off and a limited kitchen (LK) in the smaller side. Although the LK is much smaller, the only real difference between the two sides is the size of the fridge. Neither side has an oven. I must say that both kitchens are nice and perfectly adequate for most meal prep. There are really nice barbeques located throughout the property, too. It just seemed sneaky to call it a full kitchen when there is no oven. Not that I had any plans to bake bread or anything. But we did have pasta one night and I wanted to do some of that pre-done garlic bread. Microwaves just don't do much for bread products.

I confess---I don't mind a gas log fireplace

There was a nice gas fireplace at the Westin. But the one at the Marriott was just a pretend fire. It was a hologram! It reminded me of that video of a fireplace that some TV stations put up on Christmas.

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

We have most of our meals in-unit so this is rather important to us.

Full kitchen = full size fridge (tho a smallish unit of that class is fine), oven + 4 burner stove, dishwasher, toaster, coffee maker, microwave.

Do not always expect to find ice maker, blender.

"Partial" should have microwave, hopefully better than dorm fridge, hot plate nice, coffee maker and toaster should still be there!

won't settle for partial (except the one time I was by myself on a quick business trip - it really was a dorm-size fridge in a one-bedroom!!!! was fine, just me, rest of kitchen "full size")

I would not know what to do with a convection oven.