Westin Mission Hills vs. Desert Willow

[zentraveler]

Not quite what I pictured when I heard waterpark. Interesting: https://www.dsrtsurf.com/.

I'm sorry, but this is one of the nuttier ideas I have seen, to put a huge water whatever in the desert in a state that is often in a drought. There are places with natural water all over the country; why plop one in the desert with so many other options? All rhetorical questions/comments. I know many will think this is the greatest thing since sliced bread .

 

[DavidnRobin]

Brief report. We were at WDW the last two weeks of April. Thanks to all who answered our questions about what to expect. We declined the offer for an update Our traveling friends accepted and purchased a 4 day "encore" package, good for 2 years. The most significant bit of information confirmed (we saw a sign while there in January of 2020) was that the plans for a waterpark located between the resort and the Desert Willow Golf Clubhouse are proceeding. It seems crazy to us considering the water shortage in the area. It will certainly raise the noise level at the resort.
Weekends(FR-M) seemed near capacity while the balance of the weeks were less crowded. Several 100F plus days warmed the Quiet Pool. Masking was common except in the pools or the golf course. The 2 hour protocol was not enforced at the quiet pool. Did not seen any new construction on the resort grounds but noticed a lot of residential units had been completed and others under construction along Country Club Road next to Manor Care.
The grounds were in excellent condition but we sensed that the residential staff was understaffed at this time.
We took a trip over to WMH to see "the wall" and look over the grounds of both the hotel and the Villas. The grounds were excellent but we did not ask to see the inside of a villa. The pool renovation was complete and looked good. About half the chairs were occupied which appeared to be true at the hotel pool also. The grounds seemed very quiet. We hope the the two companies can reach an agreement to allow access between the hotel/TS properties before we return next year.

I recommend that you tell your friends to rescind the Encore package while (if) they still can. IMO
Thanks for the update.


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[daviator]

I'm sorry, but this is one of the nuttier ideas I have seen, to put a huge water whatever in the desert in a state that is often in a drought. There are places with natural water all over the country; why plop one in the desert with so many other options? All rhetorical questions/comments. I know many will think this is the greatest thing since sliced bread .

So they claim that they will use less water than the portion of the golf course that it is replacing, so it's a net reduction in water use. I guess that tells you what a crazy amount of water a golf course requires.

 

[zentraveler]

So they claim that they will use less water than the portion of the golf course that it is replacing, so it's a net reduction in water use. I guess that tells you what a crazy amount of water a golf course requires.

Or it avoids the water guzzling questions to begin with, i.e. the ethics and ethos of putting a swim/surfing system (never mind a million golf courses) in the desert etc. It is all kind of amusing in a weird sort way . We have gone off the deep end imho but I get it. Surf/swim in the desert when a California coast of ocean is 2 hours away. Why not?

 

[Kildahl]

Glad you posted the link. I agree...not a water park.


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Water Park was the term used by the sales staff last and again this year.
I recall that the sign in the sand might have said "wave park".

 

[Kildahl]

The "desert feel" of WDW is slowly starting to evaporate. The development of surrounding property owned by others in that area was/is probably inevitable. If I was interested in a wave park, I would take my grandkids to Lost Island in IA or Wisconsin Dells.

 

[daviator]

The "desert feel" of WDW is slowly starting to evaporate. The development of surrounding property owned by others in that area was/is probably inevitable. If I was interested in a wave park, I would take my grandkids to Lost Island in IA or Wisconsin Dells.

You're right, of course, but I don't think it's as bad as you imply. Most of the buildings will continue to have the same golf-course-and-mountains views that they have today; a couple buildings will probably "see" the wave park from the upper floors, off in the distance. Of course, you can already see some of the new development across the golf course from the parking lots, especially near building 9, but it's far enough away that it isn't a big deal, to me at least.

But I expect that any remaining untouched desert land in the big block that includes Desert Willow will be gone before long.

 

[grgs]

Hi,

Has anyone been to WMH recently? Is the path to the hotel still blocked?

Thanks!

Glorian

 

[robertk2012]

I’m here now. I hate this place. It is still blocked.

Hi,

Has anyone been to WMH recently? Is the path to the hotel still blocked?

Thanks!

Glorian

 

[robertk2012]

1 minute before I walked around it.

 

[Andrearr]

I’m here now. I hate this place. It is still blocked.

This is hilarious.
Makes me think of the "I hate it here" memes
Whew glad I settled on shadow ridge instead of these 2. I had Westin desert booked originally because I thought it would be a more posh feel due to the brand. But I've read too many bad things the past year.

 

[robertk2012]

I visited Desert Willows and I think I would have enjoyed it much more. Mission Hills doesn't have any food/drink, crazy pool rules but they don't actually follow or clean, tiny bed in the smaller 1bd, and I could keep going but you get the point.

 

[daviator]

This is hilarious.
Makes me think of the "I hate it here" memes
Whew glad I settled on shadow ridge instead of these 2. I had Westin desert booked originally because I thought it would be a more posh feel due to the brand. But I've read too many bad things the past year.

I own at Westin Desert Willow (for many years) and love it. Ironically I was considering a stay at Mission Hills this year, just because I’ve never tried it, but convinced myself otherwise after hearing from folks here.

im rather surprised there haven’t been talks of a lawsuit over the closure of access between the hotel and the timeshares. Maybe the tenuous nature of the previous access was fully disclosed to buyers, I don’t know. But if I owned there I’d be pretty unhappy about what has happened.

 

[grgs]

It's disappointing that the path is still blocked. We've been going to Mission Hills for years, but I booked WDW for Presidents' Weekend.

If/when the path reopens, I hope someone will update this thread!

 

[tkrisnel]

Does anyone have any info of status of on-site activities and dining at WDW and WMH now that California and Riverside County have lifted all COVID restrictions. Vistana HUB page still lists most things as closed on-site, call to the properties did not offer any additional info (though I was told re WDW one waterslide is open despite the HUB page saying both are closed). Trip planned for August at WDW, would be much more enjoyable if there were activities and the marketplace was open.

 

[dioxide45]

We are at WDW now and will be at WMH later this week to compare. So far the property is nice, even if it is HOT. Some first impressions;

• Quiet Pool closes at 6PM, WHY? Many people complaining about this.
• Only one pool is open till 10PM. Not sure if it is the upper or lower Mirage pool.
• The elevator smells like real bad body odor. You can tell they have tried to clean the carpet in the cab, but it hasn't helped and they never used anything to clean around the edge. They just need to replace the carpeting in the elevator cab.
• The kitchen is as disappointing at Sheraton Vistana Villages and Resort. I was expecting much more. The kitchen utensils and provided dinnerware is disappointing to say the least.
• The room is otherwise real nice, though the AC seems to have a hard time getting into the bedroom of our 1BR villa.
• Occupancy was 97% over the weekend but expected to drop to 87% during the week.
• I like that they built out the four pool areas and have yet to finish all the rooms. It seems like a lot of pools for the number of planned villas at 300. Shoot, Grande Vista has about the same number of pools and 900 units.

Trying to figure out how many units have been built. I have an old report from Vistana that 134 were built, but a Google search indicates 198. Can anyone confirm?

 

[daviator]

Trying to figure out how many units have been built. I have an old report from Vistana that 134 were built, but a Google search indicates 198. Can anyone confirm?

Aren't all the buildings the same, or nearly the same? I think maybe building 1 is smaller by a few units, I think the others are the same. I'd just count the number of units on the ground floor of your building, multiple by 3 (floors) and then multiply by the number of buildings which have been built I'm thinking maybe 16 units (8 lockoffs) per floor x 3 x 13 (I think) completed buildings, that comes out to over 600 units (300 lockoffs) already, so maybe I'm wrong on the number of units per floor (it's just a guess.)

I think there is one more pool still to be built, IIRC. I thought there was going to be one more pool across the way from buildings 8 and 9, between two buildings that don't exist yet.

Edit: AAA says the property has "440 condominiums" and I am not sure that includes the latest two buildings (8 and 9) which are only a couple years old. I expect they are referring to individual units, so 220 lockoffs as of whatever point in time that number came from.

Just a guess, but I'll bet the early pool closure is a result of staffing issues. Across the state, it's very tough to find workers.

 

[Ken555]

Aren't all the buildings the same, or nearly the same? I think maybe building 1 is smaller by a few units, I think the others are the same. I'd just count the number of units on the ground floor of your building, multiple by 3 (floors) and then multiply by the number of buildings which have been built I'm thinking maybe 16 units (8 lockoffs) per floor x 3 x 13 (I think) completed buildings, that comes out to over 600 units (300 lockoffs) already, so maybe I'm wrong on the number of units per floor (it's just a guess.)

I think there is one more pool still to be built, IIRC. I thought there was going to be one more pool across the way from buildings 8 and 9, between two buildings that don't exist yet.

Edit: AAA says the property has "440 condominiums" and I am not sure that includes the latest two buildings (8 and 9) which are only a couple years old. I expect they are referring to individual units, so 220 lockoffs as of whatever point in time that number came from.

Just a guess, but I'll bet the early pool closure is a result of staffing issues. Across the state, it's very tough to find workers.

Some buildings have three floors while others have four.


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[dioxide45]

THe top floors also have two less villas as there aren't ones on each end. I don't know if this is all the buildings or just some of them. It looks like there are only 13 current buildings with buildings 10-14 still unbuilt.

 

[dioxide45]

Just a guess, but I'll bet the early pool closure is a result of staffing issues. Across the state, it's very tough to find workers.

That is likely the excuse. We notice though that there is no staff at the pool pretty much all day. They really only show up at closing to kick everyone out and close the pools down and reset the chairs and umbrellas. Maybe an hours work (5:30-6:30).

 

[Ken555]

THe top floors also have two less villas as there aren't ones on each end. I don't know if this is all the buildings or just some of them. It looks like there are only 13 current buildings with buildings 10-14 still unbuilt.

All buildings. I almost always get a corner unit (those are the best IMO, since they have an extra window in the living room and tend to be quieter with only one neighbor).


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[PcflEZFlng]

We are at WDW now and will be at WMH later this week to compare. So far the property is nice, even if it is HOT.

• Quiet Pool closes at 6PM, WHY? Many people complaining about this.

Wait till you get to WMH. If you're looking for a quiet pool, you won't find one. Their East Pool used to be called the Serenity Pool, but they still pumped party music to it; in fact, the speakers were right underneath the hammocks (no, I can't make this stuff up). However, one could still use the quiet pool at the hotel (called the La Paloma Pool), which happens to be the closest hotel pool to WMH, but I'm pretty sure that won't be available to you now that villa guests are no longer allowed to use hotel amenities. Have fun!

 

[dioxide45]

Wait till you get to WMH. If you're looking for a quiet pool, you won't find one. Their East Pool used to be called the Serenity Pool, but they still pumped party music to it; in fact, the speakers were right underneath the hammocks (no, I can't make this stuff up). However, one could still use the quiet pool at the hotel (called the La Paloma Pool), which happens to be the closest hotel pool to WMH, but I'm pretty sure that won't be available to you now that villa guests are no longer allowed to use hotel amenities. Have fun!

You're really selling us on WMH... The place sounds charming

 

[MarineBlue]

I preferred the units at WMH. Their premium one-bedroom has a double patio (or balcony) with sliding glass doors in the bedroom as well as the living room. WMH's units are larger in square feet (880 sq. ft) compared to WDW (820 sq. ft). We always use to request a 2nd floor (no elevators; all their bldgs are two-stories) with a golf course view. Very pretty! It is disappointing tho that you can't access the hotel property anymore. That was also a big plus when initially deciding between the two locations. WDW's premium one-bedroom feels like a dark shoe-box in comparison (with just one sliding door in the living room) but I've grown to love their property and its convenient location. WMH just feels 'further out' from the action.

 

[daviator]

I preferred the units at WMH. Their premium one-bedroom has a double patio (or balcony) with sliding glass doors in the bedroom as well as the living room. WMH's units are larger in square feet (880 sq. ft) compared to WDW (820 sq. ft). We always use to request a 2nd floor (no elevators; all their bldgs are two-stories) with a golf course view. Very pretty! It is disappointing tho that you can't access the hotel property anymore. That was also a big plus when initially deciding between the two locations. WDW's premium one-bedroom feels like a dark shoe-box in comparison (with just one sliding door in the living room) but I've grown to love their property and its convenient location. WMH just feels 'further out' from the action.

I agree that the units at WDW are dark. The only natural light is from the sliding door at the far end. There's a tiny window in the kitchen, but it looks out onto the hallway, so (a) there's not much light from there anyway, and (b) the inclination is to keep those blinds drawn because it feels intrusive to have every person passing by able to peer into your unit. And the lighting isn't especially bright — I don't know why they have to be so stingy with the bulbs now that they're all LED and barely use any juice. But it's a minor quibble. I just end up leaving the lights on if we are there and using the kitchen/dining areas.

WKORV is basically the same layout and has the same issue, minus the tiny kitchen window since its corridors are interior.

I have heard that WMH has individual BBQs for each unit which would be a nice thing. But all the recent problems have dissuaded me from staying there.