Sheraton Vistana Questions (merged threads)

[irish]

please excuse me but i know NOTHING about this resort.here is my situation. i have friends who are interested in renting at this resort. now, 1 unit is in the
CASCADES section and 1 is in the palms.they have young children and are adults are under 40. please help me give them the right advice.
also, they are toying with the idea of purchase(resale of course) but want to rent first. now, i know the marriott system, but am completely in the dark as to the sheraton system. can you give me a quick course?
thanks thanks and thanks

 

[Bill4728]

The Vistana resort and Vistana Villages are different resorts. Vistana Villages (VV) has no cascade or palms phases but the vistana resort does. ( no units in the palms section are in the Starwood Vacation network)

Read the TUG advice article on the starwood network link

Personally, If orlando is where they want to own, and they find the starwood /sheraton system of interest, I'd buy in the Belle or Key west sections of the Sheraton vistana villages (VV) and not in the older Vistana resort which they are thinking of visiting.

But be aware that the new Amelia phase of VV is not mandatory but is voluntary. So for no reason should you buy the Amelia phase of VV.

 

[arlene22]

Also, nearly all of the phases at Vistana Resort either have passed or are going to in the near future be passing special assessments for major refurb (sorely needed in some of the sections IMHO). Lakes and Cascades are the newest ones, and the only sections that participate in SVN (the internal trading system) but not usually if you purchase resale. Developer bought weeks in those phases do belong to SVN, but don't have a lot of StarOptions, so aren't great for internal trading. Huge differential in pricing of developer and resale weeks there. Probably not worth it to buy at developer prices to get measly amount of StarOptions. If they want to get into SVN, there are better ways to do it. You could refer them to the advice section and the stickies on this board for more info.

 

[irish]

sheraton vistana questions

okay, i have read the sticky on starwood ownership. i realize that buying RESALE i am not elegible for starwood points. fine. now, if i purchase a RESALE villa, at a mandatory starwood property ALL i have to pay to qualify for the starwood options is a yearly fee of $99.00? in other words, the benefit of being able to use the starwood options does transfer to me with a resale(not from the developer) at a mandatory resort with a yearly fee of $99.00 right??

can someone who owns at sheraton vistana villages please post the names of the sections at this t/s which are MANDATORY. also, if i have done the research correctly, i see that the villages have BOTH FIXED AND FLOATING weeks. is this correct? so, if i require a very specific week at the villages i SHOULD purchase that FIXED week? right?

please excuse my questions as i am trying to learn the starwood system really fast so i can take advantage of what comes available on ebay and the resale sites this time of year.
thanks
geri

 

[irish]

OKAY i think i got it now. VISTANA VILLAGES is 3 sections. BELLA, AMELIA, KEY WEST, located on international drive. these are mandatory starwood.
VISTANA RESORT is fountains,courts,palms, lakes,cascades etc.. located on vistana court drive. these do not enjoy the mandatory starwood status.
am i correct?

 

[arlene22]

Actually, I think the advice section article is a little outdated in that Tuggers have determined that not all phases of Vistana Villages are mandatory. The older ones are, but the newer ones are not. I forget which is which. Someone else will chime in.

 

[arlene22]

Also, Vistana Resort: only the Cascades and Lakes sections participate in SVN at all. They are both voluntary. The other phases are completely outside of SVN.

 

[pointsjunkie]

if you purcahse a resale unit in the lakes or cascades, you do not belong to the SVN unless you requal with a developer week.

they will not let you join the SVN for any amount of money. so if you buy at the palms ,fountains,etc, all you get is the resort.

to get into the svn the best place to purchase in orlando is sheraton vistana villages.

 

[vacationtime1]

OKAY i think i got it now. VISTANA VILLAGES is 3 sections. BELLA, AMELIA, KEY WEST, located on international drive. these are mandatory starwood.
VISTANA RESORT is fountains,courts,palms, lakes,cascades etc.. located on vistana court drive. these do not enjoy the mandatory starwood status.
am i correct?

Almost. Amelia is not mandatory.

But the best advice is to tell your friends to rent, enjoy their trip, and research and purchase (resale) only afterwards. It's much easier to buy than to sell.

 

[DeniseM]

This thread on the Florida Board is pretty negative about the resort: Sheraton Vistana Villages

 

[Robert D]

I'd say if they primarily are interested in going to Orlando each year, I'd just rent and not buy a TS. There's always a lot of rentals available and they can usually be rented for less than the annual maintenance fee unless they want to go during the very highest weeks (week 51-52, spring break, 4th of July). If they want to go to Orlando during those peak weeks each year, then buying a Vistana Cascades resale unit would be a good choice. You can buy them for next to nothing (probably under $500) and they float week 1-52 so you can reserve any week you want. Cascades does not have a special assessment like Lakes and I've not heard that there's likely to be one. I'd only buy Cascades or Lakes in Vistana - those are the two nicest sections. If they're looking to exchange within the Starwood network, they'd need to buy a mandatory resort.

 

[Transit]

This thread on the Florida Board is pretty negative about the resort: Sheraton Vistana Villages

I seriously question that review.When I was there this summer the rooms may have been showing a wear but were nothing short of fantastic.My wife commented on how she like the Bella colors and room decore (bright and floridian)more than in the section we own ,Key West (dark woods Westin style).Anyone checking into a timeshare and finds a room not cleaned and in need of maintance should move to another room especialy when rooms are avaliable.Ulterior motives by reviewer I'm guessing.

 

[sandcastles]

I was the one that started the thread Denise was referring to. I very much resent the statement that I had ulterior motives. There is no reason to say this.

The sales supervisor had me fill out a complaint form with copies to the departments I had dealt with. The sales lady couldn't believe I did not care for the unit because it had just been refurbished. The supervisor shook her head when I repeated this and said three buildings including 9 were scheduled to be shut down for rehab. I have no idea if this is true, I am just repeating her comments.

I am not complaining about the furnishings although they were definitely not new. I am complaining about the cleanliness, maintenance and the attitude of most of the front desk employees. The good points I mentioned were the comfortable bed, the clean smell of the unit and the pretty grounds.

The reason I did not ask to be moved is I had a Sunday check-in and was picking up friends at the airport early Mon. morning and taking them back late Weds. afternoon. With such a short visit I did not want to waste time moving. And I wasn't interested in moving to another unit. With their attitude I would have asked RCI to move me to another resort. I bought my own cleaning supplies and cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed.

As I stated in my review I did not have a phone all week. They kept promising me it would be taken care of that day.

With now owning 9 TS and being an RCI member since 1984 and an II member for probably 12 years, this is only the second bad exchange I have had. So will you please tell me what kind of an ulterior motive I could have had?

 

[Transit]

I was the one that started the thread Denise was referring to. I very much resent the statement that I had ulterior motives. There is no reason to say this.

The sales supervisor had me fill out a complaint form with copies to the departments I had dealt with. The sales lady couldn't believe I did not care for the unit because it had just been refurbished. The supervisor shook her head when I repeated this and said three buildings including 9 were scheduled to be shut down for rehab. I have no idea if this is true, I am just repeating her comments.

I am not complaining about the furnishings although they were definitely not new. I am complaining about the cleanliness, maintenance and the attitude of most of the front desk employees. The good points I mentioned were the comfortable bed, the clean smell of the unit and the pretty grounds.

The reason I did not ask to be moved is I had a Sunday check-in and was picking up friends at the airport early Mon. morning and taking them back late Weds. afternoon. With such a short visit I did not want to waste time moving. And I wasn't interested in moving to another unit. With their attitude I would have asked RCI to move me to another resort. I bought my own cleaning supplies and cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed.

As I stated in my review I did not have a phone all week. They kept promising me it would be taken care of that day.

With now owning 9 TS and being an RCI member since 1984 and an II member for probably 12 years, this is only the second bad exchange I have had. So will you please tell me what kind of an ulterior motive I could have had?

Do you have pics?

 

[sandcastles]

No, I did not take any pictures.

 

[DeniseM]

June - I appreciate your candid review. It's interesting, because this resort is often discussed as an inexpensive way to get into a Starwood resale, and it appears that there may be some quality issues in the older units. Hopefully, the renovations will resolve the problem.

If anyone visits the resort in the future, we'd love to see some pictures of the problems. Maybe we could give Starwood a nudge about getting the problems fixed! I know that Starwood reads this board and hopefully they are taking notice! I'd love to post the pictures here!

 

[sandcastles]

Denise, I got a long questionaire in the mail yesterday from Starwood. I don't know if they always send this to exchangers or if its because I filled out a complaint. I am going to fill this out and send it in.

I hope this was a one time thing, because the outside grounds are very nice. The pool is beautiful, landscaping is nice and the location of the resort is good.

 

[STEVIE]

Hi
We are owners in the Bella secton, and bought from the developer three years ago. Our first two vacations there were wonderful. Our third visit, however, was not as nice. We arrived at the resort early, we knew we were too early to check in, but let the front desk know we were there, and would be out at the pool. They took our cell number,and said they would call when our room was ready. Hours passed, and we periodically checked in the the front desk, but still nothing was available. Finally at around 8:00pm, we went to the front desk, and were firm, that we wanted to check in. We ended up with a nice room, although a couple of days into our vacation, we saw bugs in the room during the night when we woke up and turned on the light. I never slept well for the duration of the trip. My point here is to say, that I have had both great and not so great experiences at this resort, and I would think that this is the case at most resorts. Sue

 

[Transit]

Hi
We are owners in the Bella secton, and bought from the developer three years ago. Our first two vacations there were wonderful. Our third visit, however, was not as nice. We arrived at the resort early, we knew we were too early to check in, but let the front desk know we were there, and would be out at the pool. They took our cell number,and said they would call when our room was ready. Hours passed, and we periodically checked in the the front desk, but still nothing was available. Finally at around 8:00pm, we went to the front desk, and were firm, that we wanted to check in. We ended up with a nice room, although a couple of days into our vacation, we saw bugs in the room during the night when we woke up and turned on the light. I never slept well for the duration of the trip. My point here is to say, that I have had both great and not so great experiences at this resort, and I would think that this is the case at most resorts. Sue

Expect bugs in Florida, geckos ,fireants ,gators ,sharks,venomous snakes and my personal favorite vacation destroying SW fl pest NOSEEUMS

 

[AwayWeGo]

No-See-Umz In Delaware.

Expect bugs in Florida, geckos ,fireants ,gators ,sharks,venomous snakes and my personal favorite vacation destroying SW fl pest NOSEEUMS

My Florida resort personal favorite in that category is 4-foot alligators -- not alligators with 4 feet, alligators 4 feet long from tip of snout to end of tail.

I understand that the state wildlife people will come & take away a 4-foot timeshare alligator, but they also will add two 2-foot alligators to the pond from which the 4-footer is removed, just to preserve The Balance Of Nature. Sheesh.

And, shux, they have no-see-umz over in Delaware just about all summer. My brother-in-law always manages to remind me, "If you can see'm, they're not no-see-umz." Hard to argue with that.

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

 

[BradC]

My Florida resort personal favorite in that category is 4-foot alligators -- not alligators with 4 feet, alligators 4 feet long from tip of snout to end of tail.

So how many feet do those alligators actually have?

 

[AwayWeGo]

1 - 2 - 3 - 4

So how many feet do those alligators actually have?

Well, uh, er -- ah, um . . . let me see.

OK, the 2-foot replacement alligators each have 4 feet.

And the original too-long overgrown upsize 4-foot alligators also have . . . mmmm . . . 4 feet !

Who'd a-thunk ?

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

 

[calgarygary]

June - I appreciate your candid review. It's interesting, because this resort is often discussed as an inexpensive way to get into a Starwood resale, and it appears that there may be some quality issues in the older units. Hopefully, the renovations will resolve the problem.

If anyone visits the resort in the future, we'd love to see some pictures of the problems. Maybe we could give Starwood a nudge about getting the problems fixed! I know that Starwood reads this board and hopefully they are taking notice! I'd love to post the pictures here!

Renovations? Are you possibly confusing Vistana Villages with Vistana Resort? I don't know of any scheduled renovations and/or SA's.

 

[pointsjunkie]

there is a renovation in the bella section, new couches, bedding, carpet, etc. when i was there in august 2007 it was going on.i went in to see it and it looks nice, they kept the corian in the kitchen and the rust and beige tiles in the bathroom.

 

[sandcastles]

The sales supervisor (?) told me they were getting ready to shut down 3 buildings in the Bella section and my building 9 was one of them. I want to say 9, 10, and 11 but I'm not sure. Could have been 7,8, and 9.