Westgate Lake question

[staylor]

I just exchanged through II for a 2 bedroom at Westgate Lakes, Oct. 8-15.
We made the mistake and stayed at the Villas about 8 years ago, ugh. And I'm not a fan of Westgate and their style. We usually exchange for a Marriott or Vistanta but I really had no choice being so close to my time of travel. So, I learned a long time ago to avoid the "maintenance" meeting.
Anyway what I need to know is, where should I request to stay? I did read someone said to ask for a lake view so you are not by the highway. Is one pool better than another or since I have boys that love to play basketball should I ask to be by the basketball courts. I the resort huge, can you walk to just about anything or would we need to drive? If anyone has suggestions of any certain building that is wonderful or not wonderful, please let me know.
Thanks,
Staci

 

[spiceycat]

Staci - I stayed there a couple of years ago. Had a BIG problem with maintence - the bathroom ceiling was leaking water.

I called and we went back to our resort. This resort was for my brother.

Well the next day when my brother was coming this leak still had not been fixed.

I called again. Anyway it took Westgate 3 days to fix a leak in the ceiling bathroom. when my brother and family arrived they just stayed with us.

it was not a good vacation!

however others have say that Westgate will come and fix stuff immediately. but you would think a leak in the ceiling would be a number one priority. It wasn't.

that say the resort looked very nice. they gave us a discount for the restuarants, spa, and gift shop.

We had a building right next to one of the swimming pool. that was a problem they play music here most of the day - LOUD music. Now I loved music - but boy that much noise can get to anyone who is not a teenager.

 

[staylor]

spiceycat, thanks for the info. I agree that a leaky ceiling is a problem. I sure hope we don't have any problems. I do not want to hear loud music all night. Do they do this at all of the pools?
Thanks

 

[we3disneygo]

my cousin owns at Westgate Lakes off Turkey road, the last time we were there was 2003, we had a effiency, bed, pullout couch, mini-kitchen. other family had the 2 bedroom unit, all the same entrance-2 seperate locking doors once inside the entrance. The leather sofa was ripped, our mini fridge was broken,the bedding was awful...very thin sheets, blankets, the pull out sofa was not sleepable so dd slept with us in the king bed.the 2 bedroom unit wasn't in much better repair, they have owned there for over 10 years and the quailty has gone down.the parking is another issue, you have to park early in the day to park by your room.trash not being picked up on timely basis.we have always been a guest of my cousin so i guess for free it was ok, if i owned i proably would not be to happy.

 

[staylor]

we3disneygo - thanks so much for the honest information. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't be bad. I'll give a report when we get back.

 

[we3disneygo]

Your welcome, hope your stay is a good one, the first year we stayed there in 1999 everything was in good repair. the next time not so good, still it's better than a hotel room.Have fun and report when you get back!!!!!!!!

 

[tweetylori]

I booked a 3 1/2 star "resort" on Hotwire for $58 a night for the end of September. It turned out to be Westlake. I have read some pretty bad things about the place on the internet. Was hoping to hear if anyone had good experiences there.

 

[spiceycat]

depends upon what you are use to.

Compared to the Marriott, DVC, OL and most of the timeshares in Orlando - it is horrible.

Compared to hotels it is pretty good.

the worst thing about Westgate is the sales force - if you can avoid them your trip will be nicer.

one person say something I will try next time - schedule the 'maintence meeting' (sales pitch) your last day around 10:30 am - be gone by 10:00am....

I am definitely using that system next time!!!

Westgate maintence will come and fix the problems - so be sure to call them. the sooner the better. some one say that if I stayed in the villa that Westgate would have fixed it faster. will maybe - but I have a big allergic to molds - water leaking from the ceiling does not look good to me.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

It is funny b/c of these boards there is no way I would ever even try to stay there. They have called and offered my husband special deals (I do not even know how they got our number it is unlisted I am guessing some other resort sold it. Most likely Liki Tiki) and my husband told them that they had such a bad reputation that there was no way they would stay. The salesman would not even take no for an answer on the PHONE!! I can imagine what it would be like to take a tour in person.

 

[spiceycat]

tweetylori

if you vacation is horrible and it is because of Westgate - take pictures!!! complaint first to the manager tell him you were using hotwire.

if that doesn't work and you still get a bad villa - come back and complaint to hotwire (that is what the pictures are for). sometimes stuff doesn't show up in a digital camera - so be sure to take picture with roll film too. (get a throw away camera).

hotwire should be able to refund part of your money. If you can prove your case.

 

[tweetylori]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will make sure I have a camera. As for the sales pitches...I can sniff out their tricks from miles away and they're not catching me for even a minute. Using hotwire, I expected a HOTEL, not a time share. I wrote and told them so and they wrote back that they expected to exceed our expectations, so we'll give them a chance. Recently we ended up with a time share off of Hotwire in Vegas, and it was very nice. Never had a problem with anyone trying to pitch us either. (although we saw plenty of them getting others).

We're also only going for three nights, and there are only two of us. So I would imagine out of their gazillion rooms, there's gotta be a decent one for us.

 

[RadioFanatic]

I'm shocked to hear these bad stories - my dh and I stayed there in 12/2003 and loved it! We got the deal through Jetblue and I dont' have enough good things to say - we had a studio, lake view and loved the room, maintenance was great, loved the jacuzzi and loved the lake balcony - we rented boats on the lake which were cheap and loved the pools - and we weren't bothered AT ALL about any breakfasts, meetings, etc.

 

[staylor]

Radio, glad to hear you had a nice time. I'm hoping for the same.
Thanks for posting.
Staci