Anyone Own/Has any opinions of Sheraton Vistana Resort?

[cgcruz]

I'm looking into buying a timeshare, but DVC is way too expensive if you really want at least 7 nights at a 1 bedroom villa. I was looking at resales and it seems I can purchase a 2 Bedroom Villa at Vistana Resort for under $4,000. Is this a nice resort? Do you own for life or is it Deeded like DVC (one thing I hate about DVC). It definately seems worth it from what I can tell. Is a week in a time share considered 7 nights or 6 nights?

There are different sections though. Are some newer/better than others?

Thanks!

 

[spiceycat]

if you aren't buying DVC DON'T buy an Orlando timeshare.

Orlando is too easy to trade into.

buy one near you close to a beach if possible.

all Orlando timeshares have high maintence fees - they have to because of competition.

 

[Laxmom]

I have heard that if you get a room in the newer section, it is pretty nice but I have never stayed there.

I disagree with the previous post. We own an every other year hotel based timeshare (looking to supplement it with DVC soon) and we have only stayed there one night on our way to our Disney cruise but have gotten bonus weeks for depositing and even traded to Hawaii in Dec, HHI in summer and southern California. The inventory is high but so is the demand if you own a quality resort. If you own high season in a 2 bedroom, maintenance fees are around $800-$900 per year for a Marriott or Hyatt.

 

[robinb]

The Timeshare User's Group (www.tug2.net) is a great source of timeshare information .

 

[MiaSRN62]

I'm an owner at Vistana. Do u know which section this is for ? There are 9 different sections on the resort, varying in age. Some quite nice, some just so-so average. Check your maintenance fees because Orlando can be high in that department.
If you plan on vacationing in Orlando most of the time, Vistana is a nice choice. But if you plan to exchange alot to other parts of the country/world.....Vistana is not the best trader unless you buy the most new section (Cascades) through the developer and become part of the Starwood Vacation Network. This is an expensive option. I heard you cannot be in the vacation network which can internally trade to places like Atlantis Harborside, among others (Hawaii).
Vistana recently lost it's Gold Crown status as well. I believe due to inconsistancies in the different sections of the resort. Those staying in the Cascades and Lakes generally rave....while those in the other 7 sections have voiced many complaints. It's very easy to rent villas here for less than your yearly maintenance fees might be.
We became owners in '94. We bought resale and knew we planned to vacation in Orlando the majority of the time. But even we, as owners, have thought twice about keeping this deed (it is for life). Maintenance fees climb every year....there was a hefty assessment 2 years ago to Vistana's Beach Club due to hurricane damage and there is also an assessment to the main resort for upgrades now. I think Vistana/Starwood is scrambling to get it's Gold Crown status back.
I second and third the suggestion to read TUG (the Bulletin BOards are particularily full of great info). Alot of whether I feel your price is good or not depends on which section you are buying into.
Good luck and do lots of homework before buying ! Vistana may or may not be the place for you.

 

[robsmom]

My in-laws are owners and we are headed back in a few weeks. Do not buy. I think it is a perfectly fine place to say but it has no value. The previous post is true, you can rent for less than your annual maintenance fees. We have traded weeks so i don't know what section we will be in. It is a great location and we have always enjoyed our trips but it isn't worth buying.

 

[Laxmom]

robsmom is right. There are some specials at allearsnet.com for Vistana that are unbelievable if the available dates fit your schedule.

 

[cgcruz]

Thanks! I'll definately look into just renting if the Annual Dues are too high. Gotta love the DIS!

 

[cgcruz]

I have a question. I saw the rate for Vistana at Allearsnet and through Sheraton Vistana's main website. It doesn't mention the section you are renting. Would I be guaranteed to stay in the newer section?

Right now we only need a one bedroom villa. Am I reading correctly that 1 bedroom villas don't come with full kitchens??? I'd really like to have one. Does anyone have any pictures of what a one bedroom villa in the newer section looks like?

 

[MiaSRN62]

Hi again cgcruz,

The one bedrooms are only in the newer Lakes and Cascades section.
There are two sizes of 1 bedrooms. The larger (or what Vistana calls the "premium" side) and then the smaller lockoff. You pretty much get a full kitchen with the smaller side, only it's scaled down. You can see pictures here : http://www.starwoodvacationownership.com/resorts/sheraton_vistana_resort/photos.jsp

Under the Cascade villas, the 1st pic is of the smaller kitchen and the 4th pic is of the larger kitchen. Both have an oven/range/microwave/refrigerator.

If you click here : http://www.starwoodvacationownership.com/resorts/sheraton_vistana_resort/villas.jsp
You can check out the room sizes and layout.

I am glad u are doing homework. I actually own at Vistana's Beach Club on the southeast coast of FL, but I can trade internally to the Fountains sections with no exchange fees. This is what we always tend to do. I have yet actually stayed at the Vistana Beach Club. The Beach Club owners were assessed $1,000 over 5 years for major hurricane damage done to the Beach Club in 2004/05. My MF were normally about $700/year.....but for 5 years they'll be close to $1,000/year. I'm 2 years into paying the assessment. I have heard some discouraging words (Vistana losing it's GC status), but I also heard of some major rehab planned at the Orlando Vistana. I understand the owners there have also been assessed $1,000 for big rehabs such as granite counters, new carpets/furniture/appliances. It's supposed to be complete by the end of 2008, so hopefully Vistana will regain it's GC status. Even the older units are getting this major facelift and it was greatly needed. Guests were giving Vistana poor grades for "dreary" or "old/worn looking units". Vistana has finally been forced into making a change.
I know my home resort the Beach Club on Hutchinson Island has gotten new everything---granite counter tops, plasma TV, new furniture, curtains, floors etc. I can hardly wait to see how my MF have been put to good use.

So just look at everything before you buy. I believe the MF at the Orlando Vistana are around $600 (for a 2 bedroom float/yearly). Some of the older units with fixed weeks may have lower MF's. Not 100% sure. Maybe an owner of one of those units can chime in ?
But I've heard of people renting at Vistana for less. Check it out and see what you can rent for and make sure you know which section of the resort you are getting for that price. You may have to do some searching.....might have to hit an auction site like skyauction (but those tend to be last minute deals). Definitely ask at allearsnet which section exactly you are getting. But one bedrooms are the newer sections. If it's the two bedrooms I'd really ask questions about.
I'll ask once more....which section was selling for $4,000 ? I'm curious if you don't mind telling. Thanks.

 

[utahkennedys]

You could consistently rent a week at Vistana for less than the maintenance fees, which is why I wouldn't own there. We have always been able to find deals at the Marriotts and HGVC for rentals as well, if we aren't using our DVC points. I agree about not buying in Orlando...it is the easiest trade.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I went to the Vistana/Starwood owner's site to check out how they plan to improve the main Orlando resort. They are starting with the Lakes (which I think is one of the sections that needed help the least), but they showed before and after pics. Hopefully the links will work on here. If not, I'll try something different (the site is member password protected).
Here goes (major rehab plans for the Lakes with plans for the older sections to follow) :
https://www.mystarcentral.com/news/lakesrefurb/master.jsp

https://www.mystarcentral.com/news/lakesrefurb/living.jsp

https://www.mystarcentral.com/news/lakesrefurb/kitchen.jsp


I can't wait for the rehab for the Fountains because that's my section. Any Fountain owners have any details on dates for the upgrades ?

 

[petew]

I recently saw a craigslist posting for 2 weeks at Vistana for $750. These essentially are 2BR/2BA, full kitchen, dining, living room, MBR w/jacuzzi, and balcony. There's TONS of room and we are repeat renters there.

Like so many have said, Vistana's a great place, just make sure to ask for Lakes or Cascades. I also agree that buying in is not worth it even if somebody gave you one for free, but renting can be a real bargain. I've never stayed at WDW, but I'm guessing it would cost 4X at a comparable Disney resort. Plz correct me if I'm wrong.

BTW, anybody know about the timeline for the Lakes section renovations?

 

[MiaSRN62]

BTW, anybody know about the timeline for the Lakes section renovations?

Hi Pete ! And welcome to the DIS.

The renovations in the Lakes should begin in the fall and end in early 2008. No specific date, just early 2008.

Hope this helps.

I recently saw a craigslist posting for 2 weeks at Vistana for $750. These essentially are 2BR/2BA, full kitchen, dining, living room, MBR w/jacuzzi, and balcony. There's TONS of room and we are repeat renters there.

Also wanted to add.....this may be for an older section ? Did the listing mention specifically which area ?

 

[petew]

Hi Maria!

Thanks for the helpful info!

Yeah, i suppose could have been in villages...I paid $600 for 1 week in Cascades in May...which I would guess is more typical.

 

[Noreen411]

Hi

My husband and I are owners at Vistana. We bought our two bedroom timeshare week around 1997. We own at the Lakes section (one of the newer sections with Cascades being the newest). It's a floating week so we aren't locked into a specific week.

When we first went to the presentation I was very skeptical, but I am very glad that my husband convinced me we should buy it. I don't remember exactly what the cost was but it was approximately $16,000-$17,000.

The maintenance fees have been climbing every year and are approximately $900 a year now.

When we bought we didn't even know DVC existed or we may have bought that instead, but we've gone to the presentations at DVC and looked into buying there too, but have held off. Although not "Disney" you get more for your money at Vistana. Also, what scared us off of DVC was the CM that told us that we should book as far out as possible to be able to get our room choice. I'm a last minute vacation planner. A few weeks in advance is usually when I plan our trips. We don't travel during peak times like summer vacation or around major holidays.

What I like about Vistana, and I'm still learning as I go are using your time is very flexible. You can do any of the following (there may be more I don't know about):

1 - Use your regular week just by calling and saying I'd like to come X week. As long as it's available that week, it's yours.
2 - The newer sections (Cascades and Lakes) are part of the SVN (Starwood Vacation Network) and your villa is worth a certain number of options. This is simlar to how DVC works except they call them points at DVC. You can stay at any of the SVN resorts (including Vistana, Vistana Villages, Harborside at Atlantis, Hawaii, St John, etc - maybe 10-12 places) which have different option costs depending on the room size/time of year you go. There are no fees to do this. What I like about this is that if it's just my husband and I, we don't need a two bedroom. We can easily use our options to stay in a 1 bedroom and can spend about 2 weeks either in one trip or break it up and go several times. If it's multiple trips, you pay a split housekeeping fee of $45.
3 - You can trade your week for points in the SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) program. I haven't done this and am not that familiar with it, but understand that you can use those points for hotel stays at various hotels, use it for air fare, car rentals, etc.
4 - You can also exchange your week through either RCI or II (Disney's DVC resorts are also part of II). I think the older sections are RCI, but Lakes and Cacades are II. You pay an exchange fee to do an exchange. I haven't exchanged in a very long time, but think the fee is something like $89 if it's within the US and $129 if it's international.

Vistana is deeded so it's ours indefinitely and I guess we'll will it to our niece when we die.

Any timeshare, whether DVC Vistana or anything else, shouldn't be looked at as an investment, but rather pre-paying to go on vacation. When I plan trips and use my timeshare, although I've paid for it, I look at the lodging portion as "free" since I've already paid my maintenance fee for the year and my timeshare is paid off.

Looking at the maintenance fees, there are maintenance fees at DVC or any other timeshare. They probably aren't all that different. And the way I look at that is for my $900 yearly maintenance fee, we're sometimes at Disney for almost two weeks in a beautiful one bedroom villa with a jacuzzi, balcony, full kitchen, washer/dryer, etc. Or maybe we've invited friends to stay with us when we get a two bedroom and they get a vacation that they may not have been able to afford othewise since they won't have to pay for hotel.

We also like to stay onsite at Disney sometimes and have annual passes. We've gotten great AP discounts over the years and have stayed at many of the Deluxe and Moderate resorts and recently have tried the value resorts too. I love the magic of Disney, but definitely appreciate the spaciousness of Vistana.

I haven't stayed in any of the older sections at Vistana and it may be like night and day. They are doing upgrades to the Lakes section over the next year or so which will make them even nicer than they are now.

If you can buy into Vistana (Lakes or Cascades) for $4,000 - jump on it.

I hope this helps. I've been learning as I go myself.

Thank you
Noreen

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm looking into buying a timeshare, but DVC is way too expensive if you really want at least 7 nights at a 1 bedroom villa. I was looking at resales and it seems I can purchase a 2 Bedroom Villa at Vistana Resort for under $4,000. Is this a nice resort? Do you own for life or is it Deeded like DVC (one thing I hate about DVC). It definately seems worth it from what I can tell. Is a week in a time share considered 7 nights or 6 nights?

There are different sections though. Are some newer/better than others?

Thanks!

I would shop around 1st before you make your purchase. Maybe even go there to stay. You can easily rent a week on Ebay to try it out.
I know of 2 very reliable resale companies and they always have plenty of Vistana available so don't get swept away or made to feel any sense of urgency. (one of those websites has 11 listings for Vistana and all except 1 is less than $4000)

http://www.timesharestogo.com/

http://www.holidaygroup.com/

We bought a week at Summer Bay in Kissimmee from Holiday Group. (only $3000 for a 3br lockout.) They were great to do business with and would recommend them.
The timesharestogo website offers an excellent explanation about how timeshares work.
Also check out www.rci.com Non-members can still access the resort directory and read reviews from other ts users. (keep in mind they don't post reviews online anymore so most are about 1.5 yrs old.)
As an earlier poster mentioned, check out the TUG website. They would all say buy resale. It's a very informative website. There are plenty of nice places in the Orlando area to choose from.
good luck!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Also, what scared us off of DVC was the CM that told us that we should book as far out as possible to be able to get our room choice. I'm a last minute vacation planner. A few weeks in advance is usually when I plan our trips. We don't travel during peak times like summer vacation or around major holidays.

Noreen,
It's a shame you were scared off by DVC. We've been owners now for 7 years. We've never had any problem of getting a room choice----a resort choice last minute, yes---but not a room choice. I've planned DVC stays less than 30 days out (Villas Wilderness Lodge for first week of Oct '06). I've gotten the Boardwalk Villas, Wilderness Lodge villas, Old Key West, Saratoga Springs---all at less than 45-60 days. It's been as simple as Vistana---just call and book.

But certain times are very busy for DVC and that's when the points charts are lowest. Really, first week in Dec, Christmas week, Easter week and Pres Week seem to be the only ones we really have to plan in advance for. You can't even get Vistana last minute during these times. Other than that, DVC is very flexible. I like that with our DVC points we can stay in a studio, 1, 2 or 3 bedroom & we can switch up resorts for variety. Whatever suits our needs so we have stretched out 2-3 trips over the course of a year based on the number of points we own.

As far as being a last minute vacationer----I don't think that should be the rule of thumb when purchasing a timeshare. I've been locked out of Vistana at 60 days out and this was for the last week of Nov (after Thanksgiving), into the first week of Dec. So even Vistana can be tough to get at last minute.

The OP still has not come back and stated which section he/she is looking to buy. So ALOT depends on whether than $4K is worth it. Also, u mentioned the SVN. From what I've read on TUG, this option is only available if you buy from the developer. So if the OP is buying resale, not sure he/she is eligible for this. So that has to be taken into consideration. It's difficult to steer them in the right direction without knowing the section and type of week they are considering.

Also, I was not aware your 1 week floating was up to $900 now Is that the remodeling assessment figured in there ?

We're considering selling our Vistana because, as the other poster mentioned, the resale value has dropped significantly, while our DVC has actually gone up in value on the resale market. We would actually make a profit selling our DVC from our original purchasing price. But we'll never sell it. It's just very discouraging to see people staying at Vistana for way less than my maintenance fees are for. That does not happen with DVC and that is how Disney keeps it's product valuable. Vistana has devalued our investments imho.
Now if I bought Vistana for $4K, I wouldn't feel bad at all.....but we bought the Fountains for around $10K and I'd be lucky to get $2 or $3K for it now. And on top of it, I get to see all these people staying there for under $500 a week some times ! Never see this at Disney.

 

[utahkennedys]

And on top of it, I get to see all these people staying there for under $500 a week some times ! Never see this at Disney.

This is not uncommon at all, in fact, many get it on SkyAuction for around $300/week in a 2BR...no reason to pay $900 in Maintenance fees! Yikes!

 

[Noreen411]

Hi Maria

I agree that it's a shame the CM scared us off of DVC.
If I had known about the Disboards (or if they existed back then) I probably would have been a DVC owner by now because I would have been able to get more unbiased information from people that own DVC.

Unfortunately, the $900 is just the regular maintenance.

We have received a separate statement to pay for the upgrades they are doing at the Lakes. It's about $1100 and it will be two separate bills for approximately $550 each. The first one is due by the end of June, the second one will come with our regular maintenance bill at the end of the year.

I didn't know that about not having SVN if it's bought resale. I bought directly from Vistana so didn't think about that part of it.

Agreed, it's very hard to advise people without having all the facts. I get calls often from timeshare resale places looking to buy my Vistana week. I'm not looking to sell.

When/If we are ready to buy additional timeshare time, I would definitely do DVC next. I like the fact that you save $100 off your annual pass if you are a DVC owner. I love going to Disney and very rarely exchange my Vistana time to go elsewhere.

Thank you for the info
Noreen