# Orlando: Marriott vs. Sheraton Vistana



## Suebie85 (Apr 12, 2007)

DH and I are planning another journey to Orlando with our DDs 12 and 9. We've stayed in the Vistana once before and really liked its proximity to all things Disney. Now we're looking for the nicest exchange - most resort like. In your opinion which would you prefer and why - Marriott Grande Vista, Cypress Harbour, Marriott's Horizon or Sheraton Vistana? 

Thanks in advance for your help!!


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## Bill4728 (Apr 12, 2007)

I think you'll get a much better response on the Florida board.


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## spookykennedy (Apr 12, 2007)

I have not stayed at Vistana and would hesitate to exchange there because of the variety of rooms and reviews I read. Some are rehabbed, some are very dated, etc. It also seems like a huge, huge place, but I have heard they have great activities.

We enjoyed Grande Vista, and Horizons and Cypress Harbour on my list of ones to try.

Horizons seems geared toward younger kids and is supposedly "less nice" than typical Vacation Club properties, such as no jacuzzi tub, slightly smaller, etc.  But, it gets rave reviews. I have seen floorplans and would prefer it with small kids because I don't like when my kids are in a bedroom that is also a lock-out with another door, across the kitchen and living area from my sleeping area.

Cypress Harbour also gets consistently rave reviews. It looks beautiful and relaxing.

All 3 of the Orlando Marriotts you mentioned are in approx. the same area.  I think they are in good locations for getting to Orlando attractions, although I do miss staying on site a bit...


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## Detailor (Apr 13, 2007)

We've stayed at Vistana Resort twice, Cypress Harbour once and Grande Vista twice (with last visit in March '07) over the past ten years.  While I think that Vistana is a very nice resort, CH and GV are excellent resorts.  IMO, the Marriott's have more luxurious units, and equal, if not better, resort amenities and activities.  I find the Marriotts more relaxing with the feeling of a slower pace than Vistana.  Some of that is probably resort layout, but some is probably just a state of mind.
I think that you're right about Vistana's location and its convenience to Disney. The Marriotts are 3 to 5 miles from Vistana near Sea World and not inconvenient to the Downtown Disney area.  They're 15 to 20 minutes from the Disney parks (maybe a few minutes longer from Animal Kingdom).

Dick Taylor


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## susiequeve (Apr 13, 2007)

I'll give the nod to Cypress Harbour for all of the above reasons and because I own there and absolutely love the resort.  Very relaxing atmosphere, great pools (one heated), nightly entertainment, approx 8 miles to Disney, close to Sea World, convenient to International Drive.  We leave in three weeks and can't wait to return.


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 13, 2007)

We stayed at Fountains in January of 2004 with our daughter, son-in-law, and son.  We were all disappointed in the place.  The furniture was all the same as our last stay there in 1999 (you know the stuff, the goldish sofa and light wood cabinet with the 19" television in the living room) and was horribly stained.  The cabinets were beaten up, the carpet stained, the counters damaged, etc.  We won't go to Vistana again; however, we will go to Vistana Villages.    The newer, the better.  

Cypress Harbour is one of our all-time favorite Orlando resorts.  We have stayed there more than any other.  Grande Vista is great and we toured Horizons, which is nice, but Cypress Harbour is the best Marriott in Orlando!  We love the white sand, the pools, the grounds.  Added bonus, they are updating the units, too.  We love the lanais!  The beds are always comfy, the bathtub is fabulous.  I miss Orlando!


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## sandcastles (Apr 13, 2007)

I agree with Cindy.  I will never stay at Vistana again.  It was not very clean and had a terrible greasy smell.  When I complained, they did come in and shampoo the carpets which helped a little but not much.  The washer was not working and when they came to fix it they didn't know how.   

My favorite off site is also Marriotts Cypress Harbour.  I like Grande Vista too and I have never stayed at Horizons.  We are staying at Vistana Villages in November, putting it together with Disney's Boardwalk.

I also like HGVC at SeaWorld.


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## hopetotimeshare (Apr 13, 2007)

We are new Vistana owners and recently stayed in the Lakes section where we own and it was perfect for us.  Our unit was *clean*, spacious and aside from the pink and green (which I found to be tropical) the decor was not that bad.  The resort was great as far as family fun!  They have restaurants, hair wrapping, a "kids mall" where everything is under $5.00, pool tables, basketball, tennis courts, LOTS of amenities.  

Although the resort is very large, there were 2 pools and 2 activity centers right outside our door.  It was nice to sit on the screened balcony that overlooked a little lake and the pool.  There are also daily/nightly events planned.  And I had a great massage on Valentines Day!  We wished we had more time to spend at the resort.  I can't speak for any section other than the interior of our unit.  Another plus was there is a 711, Walgreens and Bennigans at the entrance to the resort, it was very convenient to everything. 

We stayed in Cypress Harbor in 1996 and found it to be lovely as well but that was on our honeymoon so I can't say for sure if its kid friendly.  Whatever your choice, I wish you a great trip!


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 13, 2007)

Hopetotimeshare, you stayed in a newer unit that you bought.   Did you see the older parts of the resort while you were there?  What did you think of those?  The lower buildings are a completely different experience than the beautiful high-rises.  I want a guarantee that I can trade into one of those, otherwise, I will avoid it.  Fountains cannot be described as particularly spacious.  The living area was pretty small.  The television was tiny.  

Your experience as an owner in Lakes (was it Cascades?) is going to be very different from mine.  They aren't going to put a high-rise owner in Fountains. I cannot see accepting a week there for exchange when I can get any Marriott, DVC or any of the newest resorts in the area.   

We are staying at Vistana Villages in December and are looking forward to the experience.  I know Vistana has great units, no doubt about it, but I cannot take potluck when other resorts are guaranteed to be lovely.  I don't even request a particular area when we stay at the Marriotts because there is no need.  There are no bad buildings.


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## Detailor (Apr 13, 2007)

Our last Vistana Resort visit was in an older section, Spas I think, and it was fine.  The unit looked like it was just about due for refurbishment showing a bit of wear, but it was clean and we had a nice time at Vistana.  
With that said, I tend to agree with Cindy that I'd choose a Marriott or a DVC every time over Vistana if those were available at the time that I plan to vacation.

Dick Taylor


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## hopetotimeshare (Apr 13, 2007)

[/QUOTE]I can't speak for any section other than the interior of our unit.  Another plus was there is a 711, Walgreens and Bennigans at the entrance to the resort, it was very convenient to everything. [/QUOTE]

Okay, these comments are only MY opinion the readers can make their own choice based on all of the comments and other research.  Also, in the quote above, I specifically said that I couldn't speak for any other section, as I have not seen them.  I did mean to mention that I have read that it would be a "potluck" situation when trading in (that goes for any TS I would think as I am facing that now with a resort in the Poconos which has sections that are more desirable than others) owners have priority and you may get what some consider to be less a desirable location.  I have read this may be the reason for the Silver Crown status as those trading in got older units and informed their trading company of their displeasure.  

I did see that some of the older sections needed exterior work but we also saw maintenance working on them when we were there, so perhaps good things around the corner!  I do not defend Vistana because I am an owner, I defend it because we had an awesome time during our recent trip and I love to share our experience with others!  :whoopie:


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## laxmom (Apr 13, 2007)

Have not stayed at Vistana but have stayed at Cypress Harbor and Grande Vista.  Cypress Harbor is a beautiful resort and there are a lot of the same things there as Grande Vista-boats to rent on the lakes and kids activities.  Grande Vista is much bigger and has a pretty cool pool that has water cannons. (don't shoot hard though)  You can rent these bike things that look like carriages to ride around the resort also.  They both are beautiful resorts and I really don't think you could go wrong with either.  As far as closeness to Disney, there is a back way that the locals take from Cypress Harbor that they can tell you about at the desk.  I can't remember it to save me but we had very little traffic and were greatful for the advice.


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 13, 2007)

Hopetotimeshare, I know how much you love your resort.  It is a wonderful place and you bought in the new buildings, so you did well.  I am sure you had a great time.  It is very exciting, buying something for a bargain price and staying there, your own little vacation spot.   I know exactly how you feel.  We felt the same about our first purchase.    

Yes, you are correct, the older buildings are getting some bigtime updates, according to a recent poster who attended a meeting there.  The owners will pay assessments for those updates, which are long overdue.  I would still not take an exchange there, when there are hundreds of resorts to choose from--literally.  It is too bad Vistana, being such a big resort, did not plan ahead and set aside reserves, as they should do, so that owners will not have to foot the bill for the upgrades.  This is a common complaint here on TUG, that resorts do not take care of things as needed and wait until resorts have deteriorated before they will do anything, then everything needs done.  

We own at some big resorts and there seems to be a lack of integrity on the developers' part, as they underestimate the needed costs to keep the fees down.  Perhaps the big resorts just keep the money without any worry of owners questioning where it went.  Some of the best resorts have lower fees and handle their updates with reserves.


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## Y-ASK (Apr 16, 2007)

Just came back from a stay at Vistana Spring Lakes section yesterday (Unit 817).  I can certainly understand the bad reports posted about the rooms.  We had two issues to deal with, one was a puddle of water every morning in the kitchen and the second was no hot water in the master bathroom shower.  We checked in on Saturday afternoon.  Noticed the shower problem and water in the kitchen Sunday morning but thought the kids made the mess.  So I did not report the problems until Monday morning (busy doing stuff on Sunday) around 8 AM.  I called again on Tuesday to report the problem again.  During these three days we received three calls asking us to attend their breakfast to listen to their sales pitch.  I called Wednesday morning to report the problems again and the fact I had called twice before.  Finally on the fourth call from them about the breakfast on Wednesday late afternoon I let the lady trying to setup breakfast meet have it.  I told her that I was unhappy with the amount of time it has taken to fix the problems and that I was considering a purchase but not now (we were guest of another owner).  The water in the kitchen was a biggest problem and had severly damaged the cabinet next to the Fridge.  The leak was in the ice maker line to the freezer which I could see dripping.  The problems were reported several times with only no action, only calls asking if the problem was fixed yet.  And the biggest problem I have is that this issue must have been reported before because the cabinet was really messed up with all the water that was being soaked up into it.  It must have been leaking a very long time to sustain that kind of damage and guess who's going to pay for that little problem?  All you owners out there with increases in your maitenance fees because engineering could get to the problem within a reasonable amount of time.  The place looked old but I was told it was a refurb. unit, which I seriously doubt.  As a guest I could have just ignored the issue and let it go but I knew as an owner that you should report these types of problems and stay on them until they are fixed for everyone's benefit and that is what I did.  Not sure what good it's going to do now but at least I tried.  They never did fix the shower with no hot water problem.  No way I will stay there again either rental or purchase...

Y-ASK


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## Floridaski (Apr 16, 2007)

*Sheraton Vistana Villages are very nice*

We have stayed in the Sheraton Vistana Villages which is a much newer and nice property then Sheraton Vistana.  It is easy to get confused between the two, but they are very different properties.  I think you would be happy with Vistana Villages, but perhaps not the older units at Sheraton Vistana.

We just took a unit at Marriott Grande Vista with an II trade for Presidents week.  I have not been to the property - but we are hopefully that it will meet our expectations.  We used some of our left over Hyatt points, so we are hoping that the property will come close the Hyatt standards we have become accustom to.  The Hyatt II rep told me that she has been to the property and that it is a nice exchange.  We were trying for DVC, but with it being Presidents week it was going to be very difficult to get a DVC unit.  

So based on my experiences I would say stick with Marriott or Sheraton Vistana Villages.


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