Favorite place to stay

[RuthieT]

Either it being a hotel, condo or rental home.. Looking for different options and prices

 

[Wolfpack3]

Offsite - we love Bonnet Creek and Windsor Hills. On site, really like the space, layout, and feel of Old Key West.

 

[DanInMN]

Onsite- POR

Off site- Bahama Bay, Reunion, and Bonnet Creek

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Sheraton Vistana Resort. Loved it so much we purchased two annual weeks there. A tranquil, gorgeous resort with spacious & well-equipped villas, 7 beautiful pools and a whole host of other amenities. No parking fee, no resort fee, free wifi, and an ideal location.

Check out this thread for more:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3148502

 

[divearnd]

Purchased two annual weeks? I hope you purchased them as resales and not from the resort sales staff so you could save a bunch of money. No fees? What about those annual maintenance fees they don't go away.

 

[ibcindyb]

Just got back from a too short stay at the B resort, my new favorite hotel.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Purchased two annual weeks? I hope you purchased them as resales and not from the resort sales staff so you could save a bunch of money. No fees? What about those annual maintenance fees they don't go away.

Thanks so much for your concern .

Both weeks were, in fact, purchased resale. We paid a whopping $99 per unit, and that included all closing costs AND the 2013 week for each for us to use. Both weeks are floats so we can use them anytime we want throughout the year.

Yes, we pay an annual maintenance fee for each unit (I am not aware of any resort that gives away annual stays for free ). Our 2015 fees are $906 US (per unit, of course), and that includes property taxes. If you do the math, that works out to $129 per night, all-in, for accomodations in a two bedroom, two bath villa that can accommodate up to 8 people. Since we have no other purchase costs to factor in (and I'll ignore the fact that we actually "made" money on the deal, considering we got a full week's stay for our $99 purchase price) .... I'm a happy girl .

 

[Brian Noble]

Over the years, I've stayed in a variety of offsite locations: two homes with private pools (one farther out and one in Windsor Hills); a townhome at Windsor Hills; and timeshare condos at HGVC Sea World, Sheraton Vistana, Vacation Village @ Parkway, and Bonnet Creek.

Of those, my two favorites---and the ones I would repeat---were the Windsor Hills pool villa and the Bonnet Creek condo. The villa is quiet but completely self-contained. It is awfully nice to have your pool right outside your living room, in sight of the kitchen, rather than having to change, grab your stuff and "go to the pool." On the other hand, Bonnet is more active and "resort-y" vibe with lots of amenities. I liked these two more than the comparable alternatives because of location.

Edited to add: onsite we've stayed at OKW, VWL, BCV, BWV, and BLT. These were all through timeshare exchanges, so the cost to stay there was quite affordable. If I had to pay market (i.e. rental) rates for these, it would have to be a very special occasion.

 

[disneysteve]

We've been renting at Windsor Palms for years. We've rented both 2 and 3 bedroom condos, 3 bedroom townhomes, and 3 bedroom single homes all in that development. We really like it there. It's very conveniently located, close to Disney property, and close to lots of offsite shopping and dining.

Our 2015 fees are $906 US (per unit, of course), and that includes property taxes. If you do the math, that works out to $129 per night, all-in, for accomodations in a two bedroom, two bath villa that can accommodate up to 8 people.

I hope you enjoy your stays but just to give another viewpoint, this is exactly why we have never bought a timeshare. You're paying $129/night for a 2 bedroom unit. We can easily rent a 3 bedroom condo for $100/night and, in fact, a 3 bedroom single home with a private pool for that amount or less. And we aren't obligated to pay that every year or tethered to a certain resort. A lot of our friends are surprised that we don't own a timeshare near Disney but the numbers just never made sense to us. It's cheaper to rent than to own.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I hope you enjoy your stays but just to give another viewpoint, this is exactly why we have never bought a timeshare. You're paying $129/night for a 2 bedroom unit. We can easily rent a 3 bedroom condo for $100/night and, in fact, a 3 bedroom single home with a private pool for that amount or less. And we aren't obligated to pay that every year or tethered to a certain resort. A lot of our friends are surprised that we don't own a timeshare near Disney but the numbers just never made sense to us. It's cheaper to rent than to own.

It depends, though, on the resort you want to stay at.

Sheraton Vistana Resort captured our hearts. Its where we want to be. For every trip.

We wanted a more cost effective way of staying at our favourite resort than by booking through Sheraton directly, and that's what our timeshare purchase has provided for us. Costs for our unit size for our May dates are $204 plus taxes per night. That makes our $129 per night, taxes inclusive, look like a good deal in comparison.

We know we could stay cheaper at other properties, but those accommodations are not for our family. We have zero interest in a stand-alone home with a private pool.....we want 7 resort pools with special features like waterfalls and a poolside DJ, daily scheduled activities, surrey bike rentals, poolside games and parties, etc. We don't want a "community" feel for the accommodations we select for our vacations. We much prefer the "resort" vibe at places like the Vistana.

We also don't want the stress of renting from an individual owner. We want consistent quality....no surprises. Not a potential different quality of furnishings, service, etc. depending on which unit/home we are assigned to. We don't want the stress of sending money to an unknown individual and hoping that things go smoothly. For all the awesome, successful reports of people renting via sites like VRBO....it just isn't in our comfort zone.

A timeshare purchase is definitely not for everyone, but we are exceptionally pleased with ours so far. I am glad you have found an option that works well for your family, too.

 

[disneysteve]

Sheraton Vistana Resort captured our hearts. Its where we want to be. For every trip.

We wanted a more cost effective way of staying at our favourite resort than by booking through Sheraton directly, and that's what our timeshare purchase has provided for us.

There is a convenience factor to owning. If you don't mind paying the premium for that convenience, go for it. I have a lot of friends who swear by their timeshare ownership. They're very pleased, even though they know they could stay in the very same place for less money. They just don't want to have to book it on their own each year.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

There is a convenience factor to owning. If you don't mind paying the premium for that convenience, go for it. I have a lot of friends who swear by their timeshare ownership. They're very pleased, even though they know they could stay in the very same place for less money. They just don't want to have to book it on their own each year.

Unless renting a week from an owner (who is willing to take a partial loss, renting their week for less than the cost of their maintenance fees just so they don't take a total loss if unable to use their week themself) I think you would be hard pressed to find a stand-alone rental of a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom villa at Sheraton Vistana Resort for $906 a week, with no other taxes, fees, etc. The only other time I have seen it that low (broken down to a nightly rate of $129 all-in) was through a Jetblue Getaways package two summers ago, but you had to also book with flights.

As for renting from an owner, like I already have said....many people are okay with it, but we're not up for sending money to someone whom we don't know just to save a buck or two. I know there are MANY honest timeshare renters out there.....but we'd much rather deal with Starwood rather than Mr. & Mrs. ??? in heaven knows where.

For some people, booking accommodations is all about price. Some are all about amenities. Some are all about convenience. We wanted a balance of all three, and that is what we were able to achieve with our two timeshares. We get the resort we want, at a preferred price, with the convenience of locking in dates a full 12 months away from our travel date....PLUS we can easily exchange our weeks for various other locations (and secure other enjoyable perks, like very affordabe getaways) with a membership to Interval International (at an affordable $89 a year....pay it if we want to use II's services, let it lapse if we have no need for it). It works for us.

Like I said before, I am glad you have found something that works for your family when visiting Orlando .

 

[HopperFan]

For favorite hotel it really would depend on the price you want to pay. We have lots of hotels in the area we love, some we've returned to many times. Each trip we have to factor in: how man of us are going (ranges from 2-5), do we want space, what parks are we doing, is breakfast important etc. THEN we look at rates, special deals etc.

For condo we loved and are returning to Bonnet Creek. There are no non-Disney condos closer - it's drive exits into Disney property. No extra fees for parking, resort or wifi. We have a two bedroom unit, full kitchen, two bathrooms, washer/dryer, balcony and access to all the resort amenities for $88 per night, taxes/fee included in that rate. This is for the week we wanted in December. I've even had the week I wanted for a 1 bedroom for $47 a night. WBC has lots of pools, hot tubs, water slides, lazy river, mini golf and activities for children.

To date we have not rented a home. It sounds wonderful financially but we just don't spend enough time at our lodging to need all that space and pool. I think part of me is I live in a home, I don't want to go on vacation and worry about a home. Our kids are grown, they'd rather be off having fun than have their own room or sit by a private pool. It feels too far from the pulse. I imagine for families wanting down time it's a great option or for extended families that like to stay together.


As a note: There are MANY ways to rent timeshare units and many people do not deal with owners. I personally would never rent from any kind of owner. Even when I go to beach I rent from a reputable agency. We are still able to get very good rates renting from a company. (We rent WBC from SkyAuction every time with zero issues.)

 

[disneysteve]

Unless renting a week from an owner (who is willing to take a partial loss, renting their week for less than the cost of their maintenance fees just so they don't take a total loss if unable to use their week themself) I think you would be hard pressed to find a stand-alone rental of a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom villa at Sheraton Vistana Resort for $906 a week, with no other taxes, fees, etc. The only other time I have seen it that low (broken down to a nightly rate of $129 all-in) was through a Jetblue Getaways package two summers ago, but you had to also book with flights.

As for renting from an owner, like I already have said....many people are okay with it, but we're not up for sending money to someone whom we don't know just to save a buck or two. I know there are MANY honest timeshare renters out there.....but we'd much rather deal with Starwood rather than Mr. & Mrs. ??? in heaven knows where.

For some people, booking accommodations is all about price. Some are all about amenities. Some are all about convenience. We wanted a balance of all three, and that is what we were able to achieve with our two timeshares. We get the resort we want, at a preferred price, with the convenience of locking in dates a full 12 months away from our travel date....PLUS we can easily exchange our weeks for various other locations (and secure other enjoyable perks, like very affordabe getaways) with a membership to Interval International (at an affordable $89 a year....pay it if we want to use II's services, let it lapse if we have no need for it). It works for us.

Like I said before, I am glad you have found something that works for your family when visiting Orlando .

I agree. The great thing about the Disney area is that there are endless options to fit every budget and every style of travel. The first time we rented a vacation home, we actually did it through our travel agent, who was a good friend of ours, so even though we were dealing with a private owner, there was a layer of protection that you don't get when you do it all on your own. Once we were comfortable with the process, though, we started doing it ourselves and have never had a bad experience.

As far as renting timeshares, the best resource I've found (and used numerous times) is SkyAuction. Just in case you ever have friends or family who want to join you for a week at Vistana who aren't owners, I just checked and a week in May is $725. It's a good option for someone who doesn't want the commitment of owning.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

As far as renting timeshares, the best resource I've found (and used numerous times) is SkyAuction. Just in case you ever have friends or family who want to join you for a week at Vistana who aren't owners, I just checked and a week in May is $725. It's a good option for someone who doesn't want the commitment of owning.

I had forgotten about Skyauction. Especially for non-peak weeks, it can be a great resource . Definitely worth checking as the prices can be quite fabulous.

Unfortunately, not all weeks are available.........the week we have reserved for October 2015 is not being offered. But definitely worth a look before booking through more traditional methods .

 

[disneysteve]

Unfortunately, not all weeks are available

True. They are renting unused units so you aren't likely to find availability during peak times, but the discounts for the times they do have are great. It's been a few years, but we've rented in another Disney area resort (Orbit One) for as little as $37/night. You can't get a sleazy motel on 192 for that price and we got a beautiful 2-bedroom 2-bath unit.

 

[HopperFan]

True. They are renting unused units so you aren't likely to find availability during peak times, but the discounts for the times they do have are great. It's been a few years, but we've rented in another Disney area resort (Orbit One) for as little as $37/night. You can't get a sleazy motel on 192 for that price and we got a beautiful 2-bedroom 2-bath unit.

And for us and many others, peak time is the most undesirable time to go. I know they are "unused units" but each time I have booked well over 6 months in advance so it's not last minute either. It's a great option for those of us that want the space and enjoyment of timeshare units but not the commitment and annual fees.

I do warn those looking to always explore thoroughly who you are booking through, look for service fees, taxes, upcharges for more popular weeks, per night fees, resort fees, parking fees, wifi fees etc. Scroll to the end and add up all your costs to make sure you got a good value.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

And for us and many others, peak time is the most undesirable time to go.

Indeed! Our son started college this past September, so finally (FINALLY! ) we are no longer tied to the regular school calendar. Not to say we'll never enjoy another Christmas or summer vacation in our favourite city in the States.....but visiting during those times will most certainly be fewer and farther between.

 

[disneysteve]

Indeed! Our son started college this past September, so finally (FINALLY! ) we are no longer tied to the regular school calendar. Not to say we'll never enjoy another Christmas or summer vacation in our favourite city in the States.....but visiting during those times will most certainly be fewer and farther between.

We are in the same situation. Our daughter started college this year also. The past 5 or 6 years, we've done Disney in August because that's the only time we could go. Now that she's in college, we're not doing that again. We will probably go during winter break in January (not in 2015 but going forward). That should be a much better time to visit both with weather and crowds.

 

[Brian Noble]

I had forgotten about Skyauction. Especially for non-peak weeks

That's the one caveat with SkyAuction: it's really best used off-peak. We sometimes see people getting SA certificates with a plan to use them in peak seasons, only to be disappointed that nothing ever comes up.

It's also worth noting that from the peak of the recession to about a year or so ago, Orlando tourism was in the dumper. Demand has recovered to pre-recession levels, and continues to grow. That will make some of these rock-bottom deals a bit harder to find.

As for peak vs. non-peak travel: our Florida visits are largely driven by weather. We want to be down there between December and April, when it's cold up here. That's largely peak time, but that's when I want to be in Florida. I have no interest in a September visit, though late October for a Food & Wine visit is often in the cards.