Is the resort a II five star?
Under II’s new rating system, Vistana Resort is a “Première Resort” which means that it has “[t]he highest level of recognition, providing an outstanding vacation experience, with state of the art conveniences, and modern features and appointments.”
RCI recently downgraded Vistana Resort from “Gold Crown” to “Silver Crown” status. The general consensus here on TUG is that this downgrade sparked most of the sections to upgrade their villas by calling for special assessments. It is also the general consensus that once the upgrades are complete, RCI will return the resort to “Gold Crown” status.
No matter how II and RCI classify this resort though, there are larger factors in play here.
First, II usually maintains a regional block in Orlando. This means that you will rarely be able to trade a VR for another top tier Orlando resort (like DVC) using II.
More importantly, Orlando is the poster child for proving the law of supply and demand. I haven’t’ checked my facts lately, but I recall reading somewhere that for every 4 timeshares in the world, 1 of them is in Florida, and over half of those Florida timeshares are in Orlando. This means that Orlando has the single largest concentrated SUPPLY of timeshares in the world.
On the plus side, Orlando also boasts having some of the world’s best tourist attractions, but they tend to cater to kids who have to go to school. So, DEMAND fades considerably during many times of the year (and what with the “Dolly Parton Dixie Stampede” leaving town and all, there are now even fewer things to keep adults interested in going there during these off times).
Because of this supply/demand thing, I think it is fair to say that there is an absolute GLUT of unused timeshares in Orlando during many times of the year. Gluts don’t help trading power, especially when RCI and II can’t even give full 2 bedroom L/O’s away for $250/week during certain times of the year.
Of course you can hedge your trading power bets by booking your Orlando timeshare during a peak time like Easter or another popular holiday, but there is no guarantee that SVO will deposit that booked week into II for you. Although it’s not supposed to unless your property is in SVN, many SVO agents think that SVO picks the week to deposit not you, and those agents will often deposit a low demand week.
So, yes Vistana Resort is very nice, and yes it will be even nicer when all of the refurbishments are paid for and implemented. But if you are looking for a powerful trader that you will never likely use yourself, why not look for one in a little less saturated market with far fewer competitors?
-nodge