Video Review: Sheraton Vistana Villages (and Seaworld)

[jp10558]

My promised video review of Sheraton Vistana Villages, and my Interval International getaway. As I said elsewhere on the forum, II remains mixed experiences for me and my overall rating of SVV is heavily discounting my very musty unit as hopefully unusual.

 

[dioxide45]

I'm not sure you can really use specific resorts as an overall metric to rate an entire exchange company. II doesn't control the resorts and those pineapple ratings are mostly there for the timeshare companies and their marketing. You can have a great experience at one resort and a bad one at another. II doesn't control that. Overall I would say that II has higher quality resorts than RCI, but we really have yet to stay on any Last Call or Extra Vacations.

 

[jp10558]

I'm not sure you can really use specific resorts as an overall metric to rate an entire exchange company. II doesn't control the resorts and those pineapple ratings are mostly there for the timeshare companies and their marketing. You can have a great experience at one resort and a bad one at another. II doesn't control that. Overall I would say that II has higher quality resorts than RCI, but we really have yet to stay on any Last Call or Extra Vacations.

This is potentially unclear in what I'm saying - I can only rate what I experience and it's entirely because of people like you and TUG that I'm trying II at all, and continue to give its getaways a chance and why I'm trying an exchange also, but probably not till 2026 giving my schedule. My comments aren't that II is a bad company, it's that so far pulling getaways (for me) doesn't inspire me to suggest others join - for a number of reasons.

1. The site is just harder to use, by far, than the RCI corporate sites.
   1. Simply the lack of filters on BR size alone is a big issue
   2. The slowness of any action - finding a resort, switching between resorts, searches, booking.
   3. The odd flakiness of needing to try 2x every time I try and pay for a getaway.
2. The amount of Getaways available is much less than in RCI. This is a huge value multiplier to me (and based on this forum, at least some other people). Probably 70% of my bookings are RCI Extra Vacations, Last Calls or II Getaways. One of the reason for few II stays is the lack of available Getaways with 2BR accommodations - or perhaps the difficulty in finding them due to the above.
   1. I have multiple places I have 95% of the time when I've looked for an Extra Vacation or Last Call in RCI have found availability at $850 or less rates, many more like $550. These include Williamsburg, Vermont, Massanutten, Weston, Berkshires, Orlando, Vegas, Branson, Tennesee and California.
   2. I have no confidence next year I'll find SVV again in Orlando with a 2BR in a getaway.
3. The exchange process is hindered by #1 quite a bit, but also by much fewer matches for inventory vs Wyndham or HGVC in RCI (this could be because I don't own Marriott, but then it feels a lot like II should be compared to the HGVC/Wyndham internal system if most matches are only for Marriott owners), along with no idea AT ALL of trading power really. Granted my RCI is via the corporate but points are points - it tells me up front if I just don't get enough points from my ownership, so I kind of know what I have to do. Of course, the upshot here is II Exchanges seem to be like a slot machine, and many do get good "payouts" according to TUG so I'm giving it a try.
4. Now - way down here at #4 is - the resorts I've been to so far average to worse than the RCI resorts I've been to so far. And that's not to say RCI resorts are all perfect that I've stayed at - far from it. For me - SVV, supposedly an "Elite" resort and near the top end from my understanding was actually roughly as good as Vacation Village at Weston - the smell was a huge part of that - Weston had not awesome beds and highway noise, but you can pretty easily block out highway noise by closing patio doors and headphones and the bed only affects you a little - I still slept 90% fine and I could easily work during the day at the kitchen table without issue. Your mileage may vary a lot - one of the things I don't hide (though I didn't emphasize in this video due to me forgetting to get the footage) is a part of all my reviews is remote work at the resort. VVW actually had the best internet I've ever had at any resort in addition to no smell, cheaper rate, etc... It's hot tub was a lot hotter too. But it didn't have a ping pong table or sauna I could find.

Rant over on my issues with II - I think as with everything it is going to depend on what a person is looking for - but so far, I think I'm ending up looking for RCI properties way more than II ones. I'm not giving up, I hope II exchanges can maybe unlock HHI for me more often in slightly warmer season, but if they don't pan out I'll let people here know that too. I'm always willing to learn and you all help me a lot with that. I also want to let people know that RCI isn't the horrible choice it's often made out to be in my TUG travels though - for some people it might well be a better choice.

 

[klpca]

For sure. beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I was an RCI member for years but finding what I wanted for a decent price was tough. First of all, we are on the west coast, and secondly, we were targeting Hawaii for timeshare vacations. It was just so expensive in RCI. At the time, the exchange fee was between $240-$250-ish. I am not sure what it is up to now, but more than that, I am sure. I hated that from year to year they would change my TPUs and I hated having to pay to combine points. Compare that to my exchanges with my SDO - exchange fee is $169. Even my non-Vistana trades are only $239 at the moment - and while that is higher than I would like, when added to the underlying mf it's still a bargain overall. As far as getaways, we don't usually use them. I have had pretty good luck with AC weeks (essentially a getaway) and the most that I have ever paid is in the neighborhood of $400 for one of those. My last few (I am not going to count the two Hawaii Marriotts that I got in 2020 for $300/week) were Marriott Mountainside, Hyatt High Sierra, Worldmark Bass Lake, and Casa Dorada (same resort at HGVC Fiesta Americana). All were offseason trips in fantastic resorts.

For best results in II, search frequently - multiple times a day, set up an ongoing search, and pay close attention to the TUG reviews. But if II doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you. No harm in trying.

 

[claraj]

@jp10558 I see SVV all the time for Getaways.... I have booked Getaways at Marriott Grande Vista 3xs since 2023 (when I joined), which I think is nicer. I've also seen SVV come up through an Accommodation Certificate where you only have to pay the exchange fee ($300?)

 

[jp10558]

@jp10558 I see SVV all the time for Getaways.... I have booked Getaways at Marriott Grande Vista 3xs since 2023 (when I joined), which I think is nicer. I've also seen SVV come up through an Accommodation Certificate where you only have to pay the exchange fee ($300?)

Good to know - I'll keep looking for 2026.

 

[jp10558]

For sure. beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I was an RCI member for years but finding what I wanted for a decent price was tough. First of all, we are on the west coast, and secondly, we were targeting Hawaii for timeshare vacations. It was just so expensive in RCI. At the time, the exchange fee was between $240-$250-ish. I am not sure what it is up to now, but more than that, I am sure. I hated that from year to year they would change my TPUs and I hated having to pay to combine points. Compare that to my exchanges with my SDO - exchange fee is $169. Even my non-Vistana trades are only $239 at the moment - and while that is higher than I would like, when added to the underlying mf it's still a bargain overall. As far as getaways, we don't usually use them. I have had pretty good luck with AC weeks (essentially a getaway) and the most that I have ever paid is in the neighborhood of $400 for one of those. My last few (I am not going to count the two Hawaii Marriotts that I got in 2020 for $300/week) were Marriott Mountainside, Hyatt High Sierra, Worldmark Bass Lake, and Casa Dorada (same resort at HGVC Fiesta Americana). All were offseason trips in fantastic resorts.

For best results in II, search frequently - multiple times a day, set up an ongoing search, and pay close attention to the TUG reviews. But if II doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you. No harm in trying.

This is all really useful information. I think RCI is way way better for the EV/LC than exchanges cause the exchange fee is so high. But like I've said, I also know that "random 2BR" is 7,200 HGVC points in RCI plus $300 fee. So I can actually think - is that worth it to me for a specific need where HGVC doesn't exist and I can't find EV/LC. I haven't yet needed to set up an OGS on RCI cause I've always been able to "just find something" when I searched, which is a lot less stress for planning for me. That said - we'll see how my II exchange goes - I am indeed trying it for Hawaii.

I'm also kind of feeling like II turned out to be way more of a Marriott internal thing than I originally thought, which given my not having Marriott properties to use in it (and my understanding of the MFs for most Marriotts) make it even less appealing if Getaways are meh and independent resorts can't pull anything even off season. If I can find Getaways better (and this might be just luck / timing / need to do it for longer) and pull off season good locations then II has a lot more value for me.

Location also matters - Worldmark probably would have been way more appealing to me if I lived on the west coast, but as I'm on the East Coast Wyndham prevailed for me. HGVC also works reasonably well cause of SC and Florida. I do have another II getaway coming up in March in CA so we'll see how that goes.

 

[klpca]

This is all really useful information. I think RCI is way way better for the EV/LC than exchanges cause the exchange fee is so high. But like I've said, I also know that "random 2BR" is 7,200 HGVC points in RCI plus $300 fee. So I can actually think - is that worth it to me for a specific need where HGVC doesn't exist and I can't find EV/LC. I haven't yet needed to set up an OGS on RCI cause I've always been able to "just find something" when I searched, which is a lot less stress for planning for me. That said - we'll see how my II exchange goes - I am indeed trying it for Hawaii.

I'm also kind of feeling like II turned out to be way more of a Marriott internal thing than I originally thought, which given my not having Marriott properties to use in it (and my understanding of the MFs for most Marriotts) make it even less appealing if Getaways are meh and independent resorts can't pull anything even off season. If I can find Getaways better (and this might be just luck / timing / need to do it for longer) and pull off season good locations then II has a lot more value for me.

Location also matters - Worldmark probably would have been way more appealing to me if I lived on the west coast, but as I'm on the East Coast Wyndham prevailed for me. HGVC also works reasonably well cause of SC and Florida. I do have another II getaway coming up in March in CA so we'll see how that goes.

FWIW, my independent (Quarter House) has gotten me great results in II because I am usually using it to trade into non-Marriott properties. It helps that it is a 2 bedroom because II definitely penalizes smaller size units. My studios, even my Marriott studios, were awful traders, being a mid range Palm Desert season didn't help. I no longer own Marriott, and having preference with my SDO is a key to getting the exchanges that I want. I love the hunt and rarely use OGS, but I use it when I am trying to get something difficult to find and for that, it works great.

And, in my mind, there is a reason that units are available for Extra Vacation/Getaways. They are either in saturated markets (Orlando or Tahoe for example) or they are not high enough in quality to get picked up by exchanges, or they are excess inventory owned by the resorts due to defaults. Quality in those situations is going to be hit or miss - hence my suggestion to pay attention to the TUG reviews (which are more honest that google/tripadvisor reviews imho).

 

[jp10558]

FWIW, my independent (Quarter House) has gotten me great results in II because I am usually using it to trade into non-Marriott properties. It helps that it is a 2 bedroom because II definitely penalizes smaller size units. My studios, even my Marriott studios, were awful traders, being a mid range Palm Desert season didn't help. I no longer own Marriott, and having preference with my SDO is a key to getting the exchanges that I want. I love the hunt and rarely use OGS, but I use it when I am trying to get something difficult to find and for that, it works great.

And, in my mind, there is a reason that units are available for Extra Vacation/Getaways. They are either in saturated markets (Orlando or Tahoe for example) or they are not high enough in quality to get picked up by exchanges, or they are excess inventory owned by the resorts due to defaults. Quality in those situations is going to be hit or miss - hence my suggestion to pay attention to the TUG reviews (which are more honest that google/tripadvisor reviews imho).

Can't even trust TUG reviews - look up my Villa Roma experience and reviews on TUG.

 

[claraj]

@jp10558 I agree that we need to take all reviews with a grain of salt whether from Tug or TripAdvisor. I also like to look at the latest pictures of the furniture, kitchen appliances and decor. It gives me an idea of whether the rooms have been refurbished. Many resorts look like they are stuck in the 70's and 80's! I also skip resorts with white or black refrigerators.

 

[dioxide45]

Many resorts look like they are stuck in the 70's and 80's! I also skip resorts with white or black refrigerators.

Also any photos where the beds have quilted comforter are a no go for us.

 

[dioxide45]

Can't even trust TUG reviews - look up my Villa Roma experience and reviews on TUG.

It seems that there are no new reviews except yours from October. Everything was in the prior decade.