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Marriott Grande Vista resort bad reviews?

htusa2002

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Hi everyone I usually have stayed at the Harbour Lake and never had any issues. This year we have chosen Grande Vista but after seeing all the bad tripadvisor review this year in 2022 I am not sure anymore. There are so many bad reviews and people saying staff are awful. Anyone know if these reviews all true?
 

mdurette

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I haven't been there in a couple of years, but all was fine then.
I do love the staff at Harbor Lake though!
 

Lydlady

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We are finishing up our first visit here. We have had a wonderful stay. I wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again. No issues with the staff.
 

sandcfort

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We were there in March, and the only issue we had was lack of pool towels on Friday. the pool staff are NOT responsible for stocking the towels. Housekeeping and the property manager are the ones responsible. Unfortunately there is no limit on the towels, such as the ocean resort locations which have pool towels in the unit.
 

dannybaker

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Honestly trip advisor bad reviews usually evolve around angry people who have to wait until 4 to check in and have to check out by 10am. Just my opinion, we have always enjoyed our stay .
 

DeniseM

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Generally, people who have a complaint are more likely to post a review than people who had a good stay, because they are looking for a venue where they can air their grievences. Trip advisor seems to attract their share - many of whom do not understand how timeshare stays work. I read the reviews with a grain of salt.
 

dioxide45

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We are at Grande Vista right now. THe first room we arrived in had AC issues. We waited 45 minutes for someone to come after calling before we called back. They apparently only have on AC tech on site, but the maintenance supervisor came to look at it, but that point we already asked for a new room. The coils were freezing up. We are in a new room and everything seems okay. This is the fourth time we have had AC units with the unit we first checking into at Grande Vista. The first time we have moved. On two of those occasions, we were in the same villa on two separate trips. Each time they had an issue with the AC. I suspect AC doesn't get regular maintenance but rather just fixed when it breaks.

The villa we are in is not renovated, but still seems clean. For whatever reason they always want to put us in Club Village. Every time! THey initially had us there when we checked in, but I asked to be in a different area.

Checkin on big checkin days is always atrocious and today was no different. We arrived around 4pm and there was no parking around the registration area. I just parked over in the Club Village area and walked over. Staff is friendly, but they kept having issues authorizing my credit card even though it said it was approved and to remove my card. They said I needed to sign, but the terminal never asked for my signature on any of the three attempts. They seemed to think it was my fault somehow even though every time it said approved and I even received an alert of the charge/hold.

When I was getting my keys rekeyed, someone walked up to the check in agent beside me and started asking for a late checkout. I don't know how it ended. Many people simply don't understand how timeshare works and get upset when there aren't things like midweek/daily cleaning or room service.

If you have any questions that I can get answered while we are here, let me know.
 

Luvtoride

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We’re here at Grande Vista now and have had no issues. It’s a huge resort and seems to be well run. Staff have been friendly and accommodating. I wouldn’t hesitate to stay here vs other Orlando properties. BTW, we have stayed here many times before and we OWN at Cypress Harbor (don’t always need a 2 bedroom)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

dougp26364

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FWIW, I’ve found Trip Advisor and Yelp to be the worst sources for timeshare reviews. As mentioned above, most are accustomed to hotels, which offer different services. There was a group that was REALLY hammering one of the Hawaiian timeshares with 1 star reviews complaining that the resort had stopped feeding the feral cats in the neighborhood.
I use Trip Advisor and Yelp for pictures only when checking out resorts. For that matter, I’ve found I really have to read between the lines on any of the reviews for anything on both sites. Both are rife with fake reviews.
 

mdurette

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Honestly trip advisor bad reviews usually evolve around angry people who have to wait until 4 to check in and have to check out by 10am. Just my opinion, we have always enjoyed our stay .


This was my first thought too. Elite Bonvoy guest that doesn't realize some of the benefits don't apply at MVC resorts. Or, no daily housekeeping, getting stuck in a presentation, room assignment, etc.

I did go head and read some of the reviews and the majority were "great stay" type of reviews. The others, IMO opinion all had one underlying tone to whatever the gripe was (whether a reasonable one or not) - lack of pleasant/timely customer service when they were making a request. Alot were from repeat guests and some noted they were MVC owners too.

Would I still at GV, yes. As there were many "great stay" reviews and as someone else posted, not too many take the time to write a good review.
 

sox21

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i read the first page of reviews and would not hesitate to stay. I always look to see what the problems were and if there is a common theme. The complaints were basically people not getting what they wanted or asked for when the resort was full. My personal favorites are the reviews that start with “I am a super elite mega <add your own rare earth metal> member”. I dont even bother reading them. Grande Vista is a giant resort and I’m sure with staffing shortages, things may not be 100%. I’ve found since the pandemic, it’s better to be more patient and flexible anywhere you go.
 

Dean

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FWIW, I’ve found Trip Advisor and Yelp to be the worst sources for timeshare reviews. As mentioned above, most are accustomed to hotels, which offer different services. There was a group that was REALLY hammering one of the Hawaiian timeshares with 1 star reviews complaining that the resort had stopped feeding the feral cats in the neighborhood.
I use Trip Advisor and Yelp for pictures only when checking out resorts. For that matter, I’ve found I really have to read between the lines on any of the reviews for anything on both sites. Both are rife with fake reviews.
Agreed, however I find them helpful for the volume of information. Knowing their situation I read them in a critical fashion. I tend to use TUG as my main source of information supplemented by rental sites and Ii/RCI.
 

dioxide45

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Here is a snipped from a 2/5 review;

We were supposed to get our accommodations with an additional lockout "lockout room that was supposed to have two queen beds. We received a "lockout room with one King size bed.

What they were wanting simply doesn't exist. They could get a room that has two queen beds, but it wouldn't be a lockout. No knowing what type of room they actually booked, because generally you will get what you book. When checking in yesterday I was beside someone staying two weeks (14 days). I got the impression that they somehow had two different types of 2BR units, a dedicated and a lockoff. A manager had to come over and do some work to somehow make it so they could stay in the same unit the entire time.

The same review quoted above did complain they got no towels in their room. Could be true, the room we are in has no washcloths and I am sure a call will require a long delay in getting them delivered.
 

kozykritter

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I stayed in a studio unit in building 89 and it was an unpleasant experience. The room held humidity at a 75%+ level despite it being January and not hot or humid outside... No exhaust fan or HVAC vent in the bathroom. The kitchenette area was crudely constructed and ugly. When the HVAC came on it sounded like a truck driving by the windows and could wake you up. The resort is under the flight path for the Orlando airport when they are routing arriving planes to fly to the south past the airport to land to the north and at times I had a plane flying over my building at relatively low altitude every minute or two. Finally despite the fact that I was looking out at some sort of open green space, I could hear very loud car and motorcycle traffic coming from the local major roads which was a head scratcher since I was towards the back of the property but the noise was absolutely there, and I could hear it clearly with the balcony door closed.

The entire experience reminded me of when I was a young kid and we used to stay in cheap Florida motels by the beach. Ok when I was 6 but not into that type of experience now. I won't be back!
 
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pedro47

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We have stayed at Grande Vista on several occasions mainly in the months ofJanuary or February before or after cruising.

The only problem we have ever faced was going back to the state of Virginia in the winter.
However, that was not a Grande Vista problem.

IMHO, Grande Vista is an outstanding resort and with outstanding employees.
 
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Mr. Vker

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We are at Grande Vista right now. THe first room we arrived in had AC issues. We waited 45 minutes for someone to come after calling before we called back. They apparently only have on AC tech on site, but the maintenance supervisor came to look at it, but that point we already asked for a new room. The coils were freezing up. We are in a new room and everything seems okay. This is the fourth time we have had AC units with the unit we first checking into at Grande Vista. The first time we have moved. On two of those occasions, we were in the same villa on two separate trips. Each time they had an issue with the AC. I suspect AC doesn't get regular maintenance but rather just fixed when it breaks.

The villa we are in is not renovated, but still seems clean. For whatever reason they always want to put us in Club Village. Every time! THey initially had us there when we checked in, but I asked to be in a different area.

Checkin on big checkin days is always atrocious and today was no different. We arrived around 4pm and there was no parking around the registration area. I just parked over in the Club Village area and walked over. Staff is friendly, but they kept having issues authorizing my credit card even though it said it was approved and to remove my card. They said I needed to sign, but the terminal never asked for my signature on any of the three attempts. They seemed to think it was my fault somehow even though every time it said approved and I even received an alert of the charge/hold.

When I was getting my keys rekeyed, someone walked up to the check in agent beside me and started asking for a late checkout. I don't know how it ended. Many people simply don't understand how timeshare works and get upset when there aren't things like midweek/daily cleaning or room service.

If you have any questions that I can get answered while we are here, let me know.

We are here now too. We do have a renovated room. So far a great stay-we are on day two of nine.
 

dioxide45

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For anyone here now or recently, have you tried calling "At Your Service" or "Housekeeping" on your phone. It looks like they instituted some garbage IVR system that is supposed to be able to recognize qhat you are asking for and either help or route you to the right place. So far it doesn't recognize the word "housekeeping" or "need washcloths". It did route us immediately to an at your service rep when we said "Front Desk". I say routed immediately, we gave up after waiting on hold for 10 minutes.
 

htusa2002

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we
We are at Grande Vista right now. THe first room we arrived in had AC issues. We waited 45 minutes for someone to come after calling before we called back. They apparently only have on AC tech on site, but the maintenance supervisor came to look at it, but that point we already asked for a new room. The coils were freezing up. We are in a new room and everything seems okay. This is the fourth time we have had AC units with the unit we first checking into at Grande Vista. The first time we have moved. On two of those occasions, we were in the same villa on two separate trips. Each time they had an issue with the AC. I suspect AC doesn't get regular maintenance but rather just fixed when it breaks.

The villa we are in is not renovated, but still seems clean. For whatever reason they always want to put us in Club Village. Every time! THey initially had us there when we checked in, but I asked to be in a different area.

Checkin on big checkin days is always atrocious and today was no different. We arrived around 4pm and there was no parking around the registration area. I just parked over in the Club Village area and walked over. Staff is friendly, but they kept having issues authorizing my credit card even though it said it was approved and to remove my card. They said I needed to sign, but the terminal never asked for my signature on any of the three attempts. They seemed to think it was my fault somehow even though every time it said approved and I even received an alert of the charge/hold.

When I was getting my keys rekeyed, someone walked up to the check in agent beside me and started asking for a late checkout. I don't know how it ended. Many people simply don't understand how timeshare works and get upset when there aren't things like midweek/daily cleaning or room service.

If you have any questions that I can get answered while we are here, let me know.
do you know which buildings are renovated by chance?
 

dioxide45

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do you know which buildings are renovated by chance?

Don you know which buildings are renovated to ask for?
I see they are working on some in the Main Village section. I think all of Club Village has been renovated. Here is what the May 2022 newsletter says about renovations;

 Phase I villa renovation has been completed in all villas in eight buildings .
 Phase II villa renovation has begun with Building 96 complete; Building 97 is in process

Here is what I found in some old PMs with another Tugger about what buildings are in which phases.

Phase 1 80, 81, 93, 94, 95, main
phase 2 82, 83, 87, .....
phase 3 100, 96, 97, 98, 99
Phase 4 west
Phase 5 88, 89
 
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Mr. Vker

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For anyone here now or recently, have you tried calling "At Your Service" or "Housekeeping" on your phone. It looks like they instituted some garbage IVR system that is supposed to be able to recognize qhat you are asking for and either help or route you to the right place. So far it doesn't recognize the word "housekeeping" or "need washcloths". It did route us immediately to an at your service rep when we said "Front Desk". I say routed immediately, we gave up after waiting on hold for 10 minutes.

We've been texting for everything with great success. I had to call for one thing and experienced what you did.
 

Mr. Vker

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Don you know which buildings are renovated to ask for?
Club Village at least-that's where we are. We have a 3BR and a 1BR. Both are great.
 

dioxide45

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We've been texting for everything with great success. I had to call for one thing and experienced what you did.
Yeah, will do that tomorrow. I tried checking the app to try and chat as I know I did that before at Cypress Harbour, but I can't seem to figure out how. I would have texted tonight, but I won't make them come out in the storm going on right now just so I have a few washcloths.
 

dioxide45

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we

do you know which buildings are renovated by chance?
Here is what I confirmed via text today
Buildings 80, 81, 82, 83, 87, 93, 84, 95, 96 are complete
97 is in progress
Remaining Club Village of 98, 99 and 100 will follow this year.

I suspect Golf Village will be renovated next year with West Village to follow in 2025.
 

GTLINZ

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We were there last December. Our 1br was in great condition and the staff was friendly. We had a great time. The timeshare guy was not pushy at all on check in.

But the bar food and drinks were simply terrible. I really believe there were staffing problems when we were there (numbers and knowledge). I got a shrimp sandwich with about 5 small shrimp and a little sauce (not lettuce, tomato, anything). The frozen drinks tasted like ice. We tried both large pool bars - the one next to the main pool was the worst, the other one was ok - some good and some not so good.

We met a couple that said they always get food to go at the onsite restuarant by the golf course. We dined in there and it was very good. I will be doing the same on our next visit if we do not want to go out.

I think staffing issues are not that uncommon these days.

I have learned to glean thru and ignore bad tripadvisor reviews that are based on:
1) Bonvoy status which has little sway in a timeshare
2) lack of full service which is also not a timeshare thing
 
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