Vistana Villages Questions from a Marriott Owner

We had some issues with one of our recent trades and Marriott deposited a week for us into II. Dh and I are spending 2 weeks in the Panhandle in May so we decided to book an extra week back in Orlando as well. We were only pulling efficiency units with Marriott but for some strange reason we were seeing a great deal of variety outside the Marriott family so we booked VV.
Of course Im doing the research after booking so now I have questions....lol(we did take the retrade option so we can jiggle if need be). So questions.....

Its just dh and I and we like quiet, modern furnishings, newer (renovated ?) and to be fair I am pretty fussy.
Is there a particular village we should be requesting(from reading and map searching Im thinking St Augustine or Key West) ? As a non Starwood owner is there any chance of our request actually being considered ?
Are there any run down sections that we'd be very unhappy in ? We never stayed at a Starwood property (other than hotels which I find comparable to Marriott), how do their TS's compare to Marriott ? If there are any Marriott owners who have stayed at VV I'd love the comparison .
I've read that the village one is placed in depends on the check in day, if so does anyone know which villages are which day....as I said I have the retrade so we can juggle.
Thanks in advance

Starwood doesn't accept location requests on II exchanges, except at check-in.

Resort website: https://www.starwoodvacationnetwork.com/villa-collection/sheraton-vistana-villages/overview

That is really strange because I called there yesterday to ask when we could put requests in and told her we were exchanging from Marriott. She told me to call back with our requests as soon as we knew what we wanted and the "sooner the better ". LOL, guess I should have put them in with her.
Ok so if we wait to do it at check in...same questions apply?

Luckybee said:

That is really strange because I called there yesterday to ask when we could put requests in and told her we were exchanging from Marriott. She told me to call back with our requests as soon as we knew what we wanted and the "sooner the better ". LOL, guess I should have put them in with her.

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That's interesting, but of course, "enforcement" may vary between individuals.
Usually they say they don't accept requests from II exchangers, but more power to you if they do.

Hi,
We own two weeks at Vistana Villages, and we really love it there. Our friends own Marriott in Aruba and vacationed with us in Orlando (probably about 5 years ago) and told us our unit was very similar to their Marriott.
You should call the resort directly and ask them which villages have been recently refurbished and then try to put in a request. I will tell you though, as an owner I have not always gotten my request.
We have stayed at several other resorts in Orlando, and each time, we had wished we were at Vistana Villages.
Good luck and let us know how it works out.
Sue

I would definitely request St. Augustine or Key West for the nicest villas. The bella phase is the oldest and was recently renovated, but not too well IMO. Most bella villas still don't have granite, they seem dark, and overall look a bit cheap. Amelia has nice villas, but it is a bit boring and dark for me. Key West and St. Augustine are the only phases I stay in-I usually rotate between those two every year!

Thanks all for the helpful info....I had read that with a Sat check in there is no way to get in the St Augustine village....does anyone know if that is correct or if the different villages do have different check in dates?

According to a woman who works at the VIP Owner Check-In Desk, Vistana Villages has gotten rid of check-in day building designations. So you can placed in any village or building if there is availability!

SVV vs Marriott

We have stayed numerous times in the Marriott Grande Vista and the Vistana Villages, in fact we will be there again this winter!

The smaller one bedrooms at SVV are, for the most part, superior to the MGV. There are W/D in the small one bedrooms. The last studio we stayed in at MGV was awful, the bed was the worst I've ever stayed in. We complanined and like you got a week exchange from Marriott. There are laundry facilities at some of the pool locations at MGV, but we prefer them in room.

The larger one bedrooms at both properties are comparable. We are Starwood owners, but we prefer MGV because we are golfers. We usually combine a getaway at MGV with exchanges into SVV to extend our snowbird stays.

We always request the Keys, it is quieter there. I think if you enjoy the fun and action with children and you want to be closer to it, then the Keys may not be for you. My only criticism of the Keys is that they mostly face west which makes the units dark until the PM. OK if the weather is hot, but chilly for some days in Orlando.

Enjoy....just my opinion on the above.

vistana101 said:

According to a woman who works at the VIP Owner Check-In Desk, Vistana Villages has gotten rid of check-in day building designations. So you can placed in any village or building if there is availability!

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Ok so we don't have to worry about that

paluamalia said:

We have stayed numerous times in the Marriott Grande Vista and the Vistana Villages, in fact we will be there again this winter!

The smaller one bedrooms at SVV are, for the most part, superior to the MGV. There are W/D in the small one bedrooms. The last studio we stayed in at MGV was awful, the bed was the worst I've ever stayed in. We complanined and like you got a week exchange from Marriott. There are laundry facilities at some of the pool locations at MGV, but we prefer them in room.

The larger one bedrooms at both properties are comparable. We are Starwood owners, but we prefer MGV because we are golfers. We usually combine a getaway at MGV with exchanges into SVV to extend our snowbird stays.

We always request the Keys, it is quieter there. I think if you enjoy the fun and action with children and you want to be closer to it, then the Keys may not be for you. My only criticism of the Keys is that they mostly face west which makes the units dark until the PM. OK if the weather is hot, but chilly for some days in Orlando.

Enjoy....just my opinion on the above.

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This is great info. We've stayed at GV before and and it was quite nice but a bit too busy for our tastes. That said we're expecting SVV to be busy so we'll deal. We have the larger 1 bdrm booked. It is never ever ever too chilly in the room for me . We'll request the Keys if we can make an advance request (or if they don't simply take it then ignore it....lol)

SVV vs Marriott

We stayed in VV last May in a 1BR in Amelia on the top floor. We traded in through II. I called in a month or so ahead of our reservation and requested top floor in the Key West section. When we arrived they said they could get me into Key West but not a top floor. Our 1st priority is normally to get a top floor so they assigned us top floor in building 30. Nice balcony overlooking a pond/lake with a fountain, we really enjoyed the room and balcony and both of us thought it compared favorably with the different Marriott resorts we have stayed at. 1st time at a Sheraton. All of this to say, they took our request and had it noted in the system when we arrived.