Villa Finder (No Availability Calendar)

[dioxide45]

I suspect it has been this way for a while, but at one time when you would do a search in the Villa Finder and there was no availability it would come up with a calendar depicting which dates at least had a vill available and which ones didn't. That now seems to be gone. I get that it perhaps wasn't overly accurate, but it at least gave an idea of what was open and what dates to check. Now it seems I am searching for a needle in a haystack to find availability. Anyone know when this function disappeared?

 

[needvaca]

I noticed it disappeared 3 or 4 months ago. I agree it stinks. I think Marriott purposefully took it out to limit the visibility of Staroptions reservations. Now you can only see it for the resort(s) you own.
It seems like they are dumbing it down towards the level of the Marriott reservation system.

 

[Ken555]

Boo. Hiss.

 

[iowaguy09]

As a Westin Flex owner, I can see the availability calendar for each of the eight WF home resorts. Availability for each is selected by choosing the resort icon from below the calendar. But, I can only see these eight resorts.

 

[GrayFal]

I suspect it has been this way for a while, but at one time when you would do a search in the Villa Finder and there was no availability it would come up with a calendar depicting which dates at least had a vill available and which ones didn't. That now seems to be gone. I get that it perhaps wasn't overly accurate, but it at least gave an idea of what was open and what dates to check. Now it seems I am searching for a needle in a haystack to find availability. Anyone know when this function disappeared?

I really liked that feature!

 

[VacationForever]

I also noticed that feature was gone about 2 to 3 months ago. Now I just have to keep trying new dates and duration of the stay. It has become very user unfriendly.

 

[daviator]

I can see the availability calendar for all of my home resorts. Nothing has changed so far as I can see. Pretty sure I could never see availability for non-home resorts but maybe I'm wrong on that.

 

[Ken555]

I can see the availability calendar for all of my home resorts. Nothing has changed so far as I can see. Pretty sure I could never see availability for non-home resorts but maybe I'm wrong on that.

I definitely used to see it for non home resorts.


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[daviator]

I definitely used to see it for non home resorts.

Then it's sad and a bit ridiculous that they've taken it away. Making it harder to use your SOs is pretty evil.

 

[Ken555]

Then it's sad and a bit ridiculous that they've taken it away. Making it harder to use your SOs is pretty evil.

Welcome to Marriott.


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[MommaBear]

I find if I'm trying to find availability at just one resort beyond the open window dates, it will say no availability but will put below it if there will be an opening and when the time to book will open. It's much more laborious than the old way, for sure. I'd recommend calling to try to get the call center people to tell you what's available and when, and each time say "I used to be able to do this online, sorry I'm taking up your time".

 

[needvaca]

I can see the availability calendar for all of my home resorts. Nothing has changed so far as I can see. Pretty sure I could never see availability for non-home resorts but maybe I'm wrong on that.

Ah, Flex owners can see it but not weeks/staroptions owners. Another subtle way they are pushing Flex at us.

Or maybe they took visibility away from mandatory resale weeks owners, like me, but left it visible for Developer purchasers

 

[dioxide45]

Ah, Flex owners can see it but not weeks/staroptions owners. Another subtle way they are pushing Flex at us.

Or maybe they took visibility away from mandatory resale weeks owners, like me, but left it visible for Developer purchasers

It really isn't any different than weeks owners. It seems that Vistana changed it so you could only see the availability calendar for what you own. We own SVV and I can see availability calendar for that, but not for other VSN resorts. I doubt they are differentiating between resale and developer purchases here.

 

[VacationForever]

It really isn't any different than weeks owners. It seems that Vistana changed it so you could only see the availability calendar for what you own. We own SVV and I can see availability calendar for that, but not for other VSN resorts. I doubt they are differentiating between resale and developer purchases here.

Same here. Developer-bought and can only see home resort calendar.

 

[The Colorado Kid]

As a Westin Flex owner, I can see the availability calendar for each of the eight WF home resorts. Availability for each is selected by choosing the resort icon from below the calendar. But, I can only see these eight resorts.

THANKS - This has eluded me as I thought the calendar was frozen

 

[rcv82]

I own SMV, WKORV, and Westin Flex. The availability calendar defaults to SMV and that’s the only one I can see. I’m not sure if that default is because I’ve owned it the longest or it’s first in the alphabet. If anybody knows how to change the default calendar I would love to know how to do that.


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[EnglishmanAbroad]

I own SMV, WKORV, and Westin Flex. The availability calendar defaults to SMV and that’s the only one I can see. I’m not sure if that default is because I’ve owned it the longest or it’s first in the alphabet. If anybody knows how to change the default calendar I would love to know how to do that.


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On your Make a reservation page, at the bottom right corner of the large photo of your default calendar/resort should be a smaller photo of each resort you own. Select the small photo to change the calendar. It doesn't change the default but does change the one you are viewing.

 

[rcv82]

On your Make a reservation page, at the bottom right corner of the large photo of your default calendar/resort should be a smaller photo of each resort you own. Select the small photo to change the calendar. It doesn't change the default but does change the one you are viewing.

Thanks, it works! A simple case of a dumb user… The plus side for me is that I can now see the calendar for 9 of the resorts I am likely to use. I would like to have access to a few of the other Sheraton calendars, but this is a big improvement.


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[EnglishmanAbroad]

Thanks, it works! A simple case of a dumb user… The plus side for me is that I can now see the calendar for 9 of the resorts I am likely to use. I would like to have access to a few of the other Sheraton calendars, but this is a big improvement.


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Yes, it's better than nothing but unfortunately as others have mentioned it used to show you a resort availability calendar when you had done an unsuccessful search on a resort, independent of whether you owned that resort or not.

 

[rcv82]

Now that I can see the 8 Westin Flex resorts plus SMV, I have a couple interesting observations. Almost all resorts show wide open availability in the 8+ month timeframe (home resort priority period), even Maui. The only exceptions are
- WKORVN has only limited availability President’s Day week
- WKV has no availability the week of March 20 and limited the week before (but open on Friday and Saturday)
- Riverfront: pretty much forget about it until March 26 (it shows low availability on scattered short stays).


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[EnglishmanAbroad]

Now that I can see the 8 Westin Flex resorts plus SMV, I have a couple interesting observations. Almost all resorts show wide open availability in the 8+ month timeframe (home resort priority period), even Maui. The only exceptions are
- WKORVN has only limited availability President’s Day week
- WKV has no availability the week of March 20 and limited the week before (but open on Friday and Saturday)
- Riverfront: pretty much forget about it until March 26 (it shows low availability on scattered short stays).


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I think that's pretty standard given the Spring Training and skiing schedules. You will see the Maui properties with low availability even in the 12-8 month range from mid-June to mid-August 2022 (4th of July week will usually go straight away) once we get past the dates when reservations open up.

 

[DeniseM]

I never used it - it was so inaccurate as to be useless. YMMV

 

[dioxide45]

I never used it - it was so inaccurate as to be useless. YMMV

Not sure it was useless. It was at least more useful than it is today. The problem with it is that it just showed when any unit type was available. So it may show a whole week being available, but it may be for two or three different size units. But at least if it was green, you knew there was something bookable. Right now, I can't even tell when anything is available.

 

[sharr7]

Using the "Check in Date Flexible" box allows you to search a week at a time (search day +/-3 days), actual inventory, and you can limit to whatever # BR you want. It may take a few searches but it's quick and more useful than the calendars in my opinion. I agree they didn't seem to always be accurate or extremely up to date. Felt like there were plenty of times you'd see a week of green/yellow days and you wouldn't be able to get 7 days in a single room, and then also times where it would look hopeless but there was actually some availability.

 

[iowaguy09]

Using the "Check in Date Flexible" box allows you to search a week at a time (search day +/-3 days), actual inventory, and you can limit to whatever # BR you want. It may take a few searches but it's quick and more useful than the calendars in my opinion. I agree they didn't seem to always be accurate or extremely up to date. Felt like there were plenty of times you'd see a week of green/yellow days and you wouldn't be able to get 7 days in a single room, and then also times where it would look hopeless but there was actually some availability.

I completely agree with this. The calendars should never be a substitute for doing actual searches, and tweaking those searches as suggested. I also have found surprise availability where none was expected in some past searches.