How can we increase odds of a "good" assignment at Sheraton Vistana?

[Fargoman2]

Family of 5 is staying at Sheraton Vistana Aug. 9-13 in a 2 BR Villa through SPG Vacations offer/promotion.

Which section(s) do we want to avoid/seek--and how do we increase our chances of success in booking the "right" section?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Wishing on a star]

First, do some research...

There is extensive information about Vistana on their website, including a very detailed resort map. If that map is still there, you can zoom in and even see each unit number.

Of course, Courts is the oldest section....

There should be a way to contact the resort and pre-register before you leave for your vacation. It has been a couple years, but I assume that this is still true. What I did was to contact the resort, about two weeks before... and very nicely let them know that I did not want to have issues with mold or dust-mites, and I would really really appreciate a new, or more recently renovated unit. ( I am sure that they get a LOT of people who just demand to be in Cascades, and that probably gets old... might not get you as much respect/accomodation.)

We were pleasantly surprised when we checked in that we had been assigned a prime unit, on the top floor of the cascades building overlooking the pools. Just like the photos that you see online!!! I felt like we won the lottery and got the penthouse suite!!!!

We very much enjoyed our vacation at Vistana.

 

[lilmrsellis]

We just called ahead of time and requested it. We were there over Memorial Day and got in Cascades. There are never guarantees on this stuff, but it certainly worked out for us.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Hi Fargoman....
Avoid a Saturday check-in if you don't want the Courts. This is the oldest section.

A Sunday check-in could get you the older Falls (but they usually state "sleep 6" because there are only 2 twin beds in second bedroom). All other sections have 2 double beds.

A Friday check-in could get you the older Spas units.

I strongly suggest making your requests for a section known 1) when you call in the reservation. 2) fill out the online request form : https://www.mystarcentral.com/services/diamond.jsp?propertyId=01&IM=SVO_RC_DIA_SVR

3) fax in your request (att Room Controller) about 3-4 days prior to arrival : Fax 407 239 3111

Hope this helps. Most people prefer the newer Lakes and Cascades units.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I am not familiar with SPG vacations... but, if your promotional offer is part of a time-share sales pitch, then they may be inclined to put you in one of their nicer units. It would be hard to convince somebody to buy if you had just put them in an older yucky unit!!!!

When you contact them ahead before your stay, you may mention, very casually, that you are there thru an SPG timeshare sales promotion... then, make your request... I wonder if that might help.

 

[SammieG]

we stayed ther (admittedly in September 01, so some time ago)

I wrote ahead of time and requested a newer unit.. i begged them at check in and despite all that plus the fact that the resort was virtually empty at the time (it was 9 days after 9/11) they refused to move us.

For that reason, I would never ever go back there. I think we were staying in Falls (it wasnt courts but they were old and nasty). I would say that it was the worst experience we have had in a time share in Orlando and we have stayed in quite a few.

We had done diamond lane etc (which we didnt need as no one was there!) - and we were there for 2 weeks, and it totally ruined my vacation - i got bitten alive at night by mosquitos I assume, but it could have been something else and there were cockroaches outside the door of the apartment every day - we had to jump over them...
I know you get roaches in Florida - but i have NEVER ever seen them anywhere else.

Sorry to put a downer on your trip, as it may well have changed since then, but all I am saying is that we made a request before hand and it didnt help us at all.

I did ring them and speak to the manager after we left and said I would go back there if they could guarantee i would be in the newer sections but they said they couldnt make any guarantees. Hence, we will never be returning.

 

[MiaSRN62]

i got bitten alive at night by mosquitos I assume, but it could have been something else and there were cockroaches outside the door of the apartment every day - we had to jump over them...
I know you get roaches in Florida - but i have NEVER ever seen them anywhere else.

Sammie......respectfully you get mosquitos and roaches alot in FL. I had both even at disney resorts (POR, Contemp and POP come to mind right now). I was sitting on the balcony of my concierge room at the Contemp one visit when we spotted two. Right on the balcony and heading towards the door to get into our room. This was concierge too .....so go figure. I have logged 14 stays at Vistana and never ever once seen even one roach inside our villa. In FL, they are everywhere outdoors. So I can't see blaming Vistana for this is entirely fair----unless you had roaches in your room.

The condition of the Falls villa however is another story. Vistana knows they are bad and the Falls (as well as many other sections) have been or are in the works to be totally rennovated.
Here is before and after photos of what is in store for the older Falls section :

OLD :

What is projected for spring/summer of 2009 :

They are going for flat screen TV's, granite countertops....new carpets/paint/curtains/bedspreads etc.

Overall, Vistana is a very nicely landscaped resort. Took these photos last summer :

 

[SammieG]

Sammie......respectfully you get mosquitos and roaches alot in FL. I had both even at disney resorts (POR, Contemp and POP come to mind right now). I was sitting on the balcony of my concierge room at the Contemp one visit when we spotted two. Right on the balcony and heading towards the door to get into our room. This was concierge too .....so go figure. I have logged 14 stays at Vistana and never ever once seen even one roach inside our villa. In FL, they are everywhere outdoors. So I can't see blaming Vistana for this is entirely fair----unless you had roaches in your room.


I appreciate Maria that you do get Roaches all over Florida... but in the 50 odd weeks vacation i have spent there in many different resorts I have never seen them anywhere else..

The renovations of Falls is really good.. just seeing the old picture gives me the chills remembering that holiday.. but it looks really good now and WELL overdue!

I think my issue was how rude the staff were on the front desk and their absolute refusal to move us. We had an 18 month old and I was hoping to be close to a pool and had made that request and we were about as far away from any pool on resort as we could get. That made the vacation difficult for us as we couldnt just walk with our son to the pool and I couldnt just nip out and have a swim whilst my son was asleep (being supervised by my husband) as it was so far away.. so it would require me to drive to the pool which seemed ridiculous! (I had a leg injury that made walking difficult) - all those things just added up to a terrible resort holiday for us - which was a shame as the general areas are pretty and I know lots of parts of the resort are really nice. Maybe if it all gets refurbed then we might consider going back!

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Sammie......respectfully you get mosquitos and roaches alot in FL. I had both even at disney resorts (POR, Contemp and POP come to mind right now). I was sitting on the balcony of my concierge room at the Contemp one visit when we spotted two. Right on the balcony and heading towards the door to get into our room. This was concierge too .....so go figure. I have logged 14 stays at Vistana and never ever once seen even one roach inside our villa. In FL, they are everywhere outdoors. So I can't see blaming Vistana for this is entirely fair----unless you had roaches in your room.

The condition of the Falls villa however is another story. Vistana knows they are bad and the Falls (as well as many other sections) have been or are in the works to be totally rennovated.
Here is before and after photos of what is in store for the older Falls section :

OLD :

What is projected for spring/summer of 2009 :

They are going for flat screen TV's, granite countertops....new carpets/paint/curtains/bedspreads etc.

Overall, Vistana is a very nicely landscaped resort. Took these photos last summer :

Hi Mia,

I was just wondering where you got the photo of the newly reonnovated Falls? Are there any rennovated units like that now? We stayed at the Falls a few times and did not mind it. It took some getting used to. Still hopeful to go in Auguat.

 

[KEVD]

Family of 5 is staying at Sheraton Vistana Aug. 9-13 in a 2 BR Villa through SPG Vacations offer/promotion.

Which section(s) do we want to avoid/seek--and how do we increase our chances of success in booking the "right" section?

Thanks for any advice!

We stayed there the week before last. My wife called about a week and a half in advance and requested a "renovated unit". They said they would make note of it but could not guarentee. On check in day we showed up at 2pm and tried for an early check in. They assigned us a room but we could not get in until 4p. They gave us a beautiful, newly renovated villa in the "lakes" region. I'm not sure if calling ahead and/or showing up early made the difference but it certainly worked for us!