# RCI - Sheraton Vistana Resort and Villages



## suekap (Aug 18, 2006)

I just returned from a timeshare presentation at sheration villages and I was told that sheratons are not trading through RCI, just II, but they are still listed on the RCI website.  Does anyone know if this is correct?  The reason I am asking is because the timeshare we are buying only trades with RCI.  Vistana Villages was great.  I would love to trade into the villages or the resort.


----------



## AwayWeGo (Aug 18, 2006)

*Went To Vistana Orlando On R.C.I. Exchange (2003)*

Our very 1st timeshare exchange was into Vistana Orlando -- RCI exchange, straight week-for-week trade, January 2003.  While we were there, we took a timeshare tour (for freebies) at Vistana Village Orlando. 

Even if Vistana is no longer RCI-affiiliated, individual owners who belonged to RCI back when the resort _was_ affiliated with RCI can keep on depositing their Vistana weeks with RCI if they choose. 

Resort management fickleness may be a fact of life in the timeshare biz, but it cannot & should not & does not impinge on owners' prerogatives.  After all, when we acquire a timeshare week, what we get is a _deed_*,* not a contract.  Nobody is allowed to retroactively diminish what we own without our consent. 

Now, if somebody bought a brand-spanking new Vistana week right now, straight from the timeshare developer at full-freight, then possibly the terms & conditions & all that would be different from what people got when they bought equivalent weeks back during the time that the resort was RCI-affiliated, & possibly that would affect which timeshare exchange company a new owner can do deposits & exchanges with -- I don't know. 

But if you bought a "used" (resale) week whose original deed was recorded at a time when the resort was linked with RCI, it's hard to envision any way that anybody could erase that right retroactively just because management lately decided to go with another timeshare exchange company. 

If I'm wrong about any of that, I have no doubt that 1 of the many, many more knowledgeable folks on TUG will straighten us all out. 

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


----------



## suekap (Aug 19, 2006)

So, do you mean that their still should be sheraton weeks available to get when I trade my berkshares week?


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Aug 19, 2006)

I don't think I have seen Villages on the II list of exchanges.  That is odd.


----------



## suekap (Aug 19, 2006)

Unless, they just recently switched to II.  I still see vistana listed on rci on their website.


----------



## BradC (Aug 19, 2006)

My understanding is that both the Vistana Resort and the Vistana Villages are switching from RCI to II in 2007.  I believe all of the other Starwood Vacation Ownership resorts were already trading through II, and the two Vistanas are finally changing for consistency.


----------



## suekap (Aug 19, 2006)

If I make my trade  through RCI by the end of 2006 for August 2007 into a vistana would it be valid?


----------



## Jollyhols (Aug 20, 2006)

I am a bit confused so I don't know if this relevant, but I thought I would mention that I exchanged into the Sheraton Vistana Resort through II a couple of months ago.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Aug 20, 2006)

Vistana Villages is different, it is another resort entirely.  I really love Villages but have not had a Lakes or Cascades unit at Vistana, only Fountains, which was not nearly as nice, I guess.   Just my luck, I never bother to make a big deal of our unit assignment.


----------



## gjw007 (Aug 20, 2006)

As Cindy states, Vistana Village and Vistana Resorts are two separate resorts.  When I stayed at the Resorts a few years back, it was emphasized to me their unhappiness with RCI and that they were looking to do internal trades.  I was also told that the newer sections traded with II but not RCI meaning that RCI trades didn't get the newer sections.  It was confusing as I would read about people exchanging with RCI into the newer section which was a contradiction of what I was told.  But since it was dual-affliation, many owners probably had RCI accounts as well so they exchanged with RCI instead of II.  At least that is my guess.  In the end, the point is that there are some exchanges as well for the newer sections.  Since it is dual-affliated, it is possble, curently, to exchange into the Resorts with either company.  Given the information in this post, that may last for awhile as many owners have RCI memberships but at some point in the future, RCI exchanges may be hard to find.  I will also be the first to state that I don't know all the ins and outs of Vistana's operations and each resort seems to have its own little variations.


----------



## bward (Aug 20, 2006)

*VV and RCI and II*

Hey Folks,

I bought at Vistana Villages when it was affiliated with RCI. 

I was sent an email several weeks ago from Starwood, informing us of the switch to II.

The II switch doesn't become official until January 1, 2007.

I actually called II about this. They told me, if I want to trade through II, I can't even start the process until January 1. 

Hope this helps clear up some of the confusion.

bward


----------



## suekap (Aug 20, 2006)

Since you bought when they were with rci, can you still trade into rci?


----------



## bward (Aug 21, 2006)

suekap said:
			
		

> Since you bought when they were with rci, can you still trade into rci?



Hi Suekap,

I have no idea about this. I'll have to look into it.

bward


----------



## sfwilshire (Aug 22, 2006)

We were told several years ago that each homeowners association at Vistana Resort decided whether to be RCI, II or both. We own in the Fountains, which is both. We have since converted our week to RCI Points, so II doesn't get it. Don't think I ever deposited it there, actually.

Sheila


----------



## tomandrobin (Aug 22, 2006)

The original owners of Vistana were affiliated with RCI before Starwood bought the resort. Starwood has a big corporate account with II for all of thier purpose built resorts. They are changing the resort that are currently with RCI to II and putting them all under one exchange company account. Its a better way for them to manage thier inventory better.


----------



## gcole (Aug 22, 2006)

Vistana orlando trades through II and RCI atleast for existing owners. I personally dropped RCI this year. Dual fees were too high.


----------

