Need help deciding!!! Which Westgate....

We are currently booked at Westgate Lakes Resort and Spa, however I'm thinking of changing to Vacation Villas. We will be going to Disney, so it looks like VV is closer to Disney. We are staying in a 2br. Any opinions on which one is better/nicer?

Thanks in advance!!

Transferrable WestGate Reservations ?

Shux, when we have timeshare reservations -- to go to ours or to go to other people's on exchange -- the reservation is what it is & that's where we have to check in.

Are you saying WestGate lets you transfer your reservation to another WestGate timeshare ?

Sounds like a nice option for the undecided.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

We always prefer the Villas

Melknor said:

We are currently booked at Westgate Lakes Resort and Spa, however I'm thinking of changing to Vacation Villas. We will be going to Disney, so it looks like VV is closer to Disney. We are staying in a 2br. Any opinions on which one is better/nicer?

Thanks in advance!!

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The setting of the Villas is much nicer than The Lakes. Especially the older, two and three story Villas that capture the older Orlando look and feel vs the cookie cutter mid-rises of the Lakes and now the Town Center. It was those original Villas buildings and wide open spread out style that sold them and all other early Orlando timeshares. The move to mid-rises (largely due to escalated land costs) while understandable was a negative for those who wanted the FL villas experience. You are a little closer to Universal and Seaworld at the Lakes but the overall feel there is more NYC tenements than Fl vacation condo's. And parking there is beyond a nightmare. We'd opt for the Villas anytime we get that choice.

AwayWeGo said:

Shux, when we have timeshare reservations -- to go to ours or to go to other people's on exchange -- the reservation is what it is & that's where we have to check in.

Are you saying WestGate lets you transfer your reservation to another WestGate timeshare ?

Sounds like a nice option for the undecided.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

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We purchased an owners experience to use at any Westgate resort. I booked with Lakes and was going to see about tranferring it over to the Villas, but wanted opinions on which really was better.

After mapping both out, it looks like Villas is much closer to Disney, where we will be spending our vacation.

Have Fun.

Melknor said:

We purchased an owners experience to use at any Westgate resort.

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Have a great time in Orlando, no matter which resort you select.

Just be sure to say No Thanks, emphatically & consistently, when the WestGate timeshare sellers apply the arm-twisting, guilt-tripping, psychologically manipulative, hard-sell sales pitch that you'll surely get as part of your Owner Experience.

Even if you already had the hard sell, you can pretty much count on getting it again -- specially from WestGate.

Timeshares are a great way to vacation -- all the more when you can enjoy luxury timeshare accommodations for Motel 6 & Super 8 rates. That's not possible when you pay big bux for a full-freight timeshare bought straight from a timeshare company.

Buy timeshares resale. Save thousands.

One more timeshare fact the timeshare sellers won't mention. There is no such thing as a new timeshare no matter how much you pay. "Used" timeshares are not like used cars. That is, by the time anybody shows up & checks in at a "new" timeshare, somebody else will have already stayed there before you ever go through the door. All timeshares are used-used-used, meaning it is senseless to pay new prices for a product that is no such thing any way you shake it.

Be alert & be on guard & don't be deceived & you will do fine.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

I did it!

Thanks for the responses. After researching the resorts, I went ahead and changed over to V.V.'s. The easier parking and proximity to Disney were the deciding factors. Now if we can avoid the vulchers (salespeople), we should have a great vacation!

Thanks for everyones help!!
Melanie

Is Westgate Timeshare sales people that bad?
When I stayed at the Town Center and did the tour, it wasn't too bad.
I think I got what I wanted although the food wasn't as good as other presentations.
The announcemnt thing was very annoying when someone bought the developers TS.
Let us know how the contruction is going. Last year, they told me they are building shopping mall and water park inside the resort.
I didn't like their swimming pool but I loved the mini golf and boat ride.

Stay out of sales range and all is well

Melknor said:

Thanks for the responses. After researching the resorts, I went ahead and changed over to V.V.'s. The easier parking and proximity to Disney were the deciding factors. Now if we can avoid the vulchers (salespeople), we should have a great vacation!

Thanks for everyones help!!
Melanie

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Since you are trading in you have NO requirement to deal with the sales Weasels.

To completely avoid them (recommended) -

- Arrive late to avoid the nearly mandatory golf cart ride to your unit. This is the opening salvo in the never ending bid to get you to talk with sales. If you must get in at a regular time try to avoid the cart OR simply accept a meeting. But make it your last day there and 10AM or later. Insist that no other time will work. No other time. Then checkout and smile as you think of the whining Weasel calling your unit to see where you are as you head to your next stop.

- Immediately disconnect all unit phones. Unless you like to be wakened by early morning or late night calls this is critical. Also good for a laugh when you plug them back in on departure day and play back the escalating urgent calls (often with not so veiled threats of charges for damage, etc that are totally bogus) to get you over to a sales meeting or owners update or whatever they call it this time. Be sure to use speakerphone so the family can all get a laugh.

- Attend no free get together unless your guard is up for Weasels. You may be able to get some rather questionable food but always at a risk to both your time and health. I'd just avoid it but use your best judgment with this. And NEVER have both spouses at any get together at the same time or you again risk your time and money from stealth Weasel activities.

Avoiding sales isn't easy but well worth it. Especially if you can irritate them along the way. Just remember you do NOT have to attend, there will be no charges for room damage, etc despite what they may say and there is no "owner update" only more high pressure sales pitches. Forewarned is forearmed. Use your knowledge to avoid them. Good luck.

Star Island said years ago they would have a beautiful mini-golf course onsite. I didn't see it when we were there for one night in September, so I am wondering if that ever happened. I don't think so........

The salespeople lie to get a sale. We would have gotten a lot of use from mini-golf, if we had purchased, because the kids all love to play, even now as grownups. The sales guy said it to get us interested in a purchase. Fortunately, it didn't work. I think this was about 15 years ago. Now we can use Wyndham points to go there, too, so it's a good thing we didn't buy. Resales of weeks there are dismal.

As for Westgate, there are some really old villas that I wouldn't want, but I don't know what they are called. The newer villas were very nice, with the lofts and the leather sectionals, but the second trip, we had a dumpy unit in that area next to Westgate Lakes. I wouldn't care to ever go there again, and even the landscaping is overgrown and weedy. what's the deal with that?

Town Center is really a gorgeous property; Lakes is okay and the units' interiors are very nice, but the parking issues were too much for us to ever go again.

Thank goodness for the Marriotts and Vistana Villages in II.

Ya Think ?

rickandcindy23 said:

The salespeople lie to get a sale.

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Only when their lips are moving.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

We just returned from the Westgate Vacation Villas. I am not sure if I should be insulted or not. They did not ask us once to go to a timeshare presentation. I was prepared to say no if they did. Maybe they thought we looked too poor.

rachel1998 said:

We just returned from the Westgate Vacation Villas. I am not sure if I should be insulted or not. They did not ask us once to go to a timeshare presentation. I was prepared to say no if they did. Maybe they thought we looked too poor.

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I heard they were laying off much of their sales staff, so maybe they are not as pushy as they used to be. I don't think you can judge any book by its cover, and timeshare owners most especially.

Once you get a certain age, as Rick and I are quickly approaching, timeshare salespeople don't want to have anything to do with you. They figure your years are numbered, your vacation days are close to over, and you are more likely to need an eternal resting place than a nice vacation spot. For this reason alone, I keep telling Rick we don't have much time to tour all of these resorts, so we better get to it! He says no more tours, so I guess that's it for us.

That makes me feel much better, they ignored us because we are old and not poor.

Rachel

:rofl: :rofl:

That is funny. :rofl:

rachel1998 said:

That makes me feel much better, they ignored us because we are old and not poor.

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That confirms a recent rumor that some Orlando Westgate resorts have a digital AGE-METER installed at the entrance. Each time you pass the gate the reading is flashed on a screen at the sales office.

K.