Marriott Cypress Harbour VS Sheraton Vistana Resort

[marvel]

Hoping the great people of DIS can help me with this comparison. Already have a hold on the vistana for $167 per night, and now the Cypress has as 40% deal making the room $144. Only problem is I would have to prepay the Cypress making it impossible to change my mind again.

Anyone stay in both by chance? Is there a major difference in terms of standard? What about location? I believe Cypress is a bit further away. We will have a car the entire time.

I know the Vistana is newly renovated but the threads on DIS about the Cypress are very positive as is tripadvisor.

If anyone can advise, or help, drinks will be on me!!

 

[fitznorton]

I am in the same (wonderful) predicament. To add to the mix HGVC Seaworld is $161 prepaid. So between the 3, HGVC, Sheraton, or Marriott Grand Cypress which is the nicest resort? I am traveling with older girls (20's) an DH. Also hope someone can help. Thanks.

 

[marvel]

Hey fitznorton, welcome to the confusion, hopefully some nice DISER can help us. I did look more thoroughly at photo's of the resorts and the Vistana looks like it has nicer pool area and the new rooms do look newer.

What is HGVC? Looks like more fall deals are starting to come out which is nice.

 

[fitznorton]

Hilton Grand Vacation Club...within walking distance to Seaworld. Like you I am looking for a 2 bedroom at a resort with great pool areas, updated rooms, clean and bright. Will also have a car so shuttle is not important. Can anyone help?

 

[Detailor]

The three resorts (Sheraton Vistana Resort, Marriott's Cypress Harbour and the HGVC at SeaWorld) are all very nice timeshare resorts. I'm not sure when the SeaWorld HGVC was last refurbished but the other two are right up to date with refurbs over the past few years.

All three have nice resort amenities - pools, hot tubs, tennis courts, playgrounds, fitness room, resort stores, bar & grill, etc.

All three are well located for a variety of Orlando-area activities, restaurants and theme parks.
HGVC SeaWorld, as the name suggests, is in the SeaWorld neighborhood - across Central Florida Parkway (and walkable) to the theme park. It's also quite near an I-4 entrance/exit for ease to get to Disney (a little further from an I-4 entrance to go east toward Universal).
Cypress Harbour is also in the SeaWorld neighborhood a short distance beyond the HGVC on Westwood Boulevard.
Vistana Resort is in the Lake Buena Vista neighborhood just off SR 535 and close to two I-4 interchanges.

Yes, Vistana is closer to Disney than the other two but the difference is not significant. For instance, it's about 7 miles from Vistana to Epcot, from HGVC SeaWorld it's about 9 miles and from Cypress Harbour it's about 9 1/4 miles (distances will vary a little bit based on where within the resorts that you stay). So the travel time difference between the closest and the furthest is probably around three to five minutes.

For us the size of the villa at a resort is important - we like space. We've stayed in a three-bedroom villa at HGVC SeaWorld and the two-bedroom portion of that unit was pretty big - probably the largest of the three resorts. The Vistana units that we've stayed in were definitely the smallest - probably in the 1000 to 1200 square feet range - of these resorts but there's variation in size between Vistana sections (the newer phases were built with smaller villas than the oldest sections). The villas at Cypress Harbour are all two-bedroom units and are a standard 1345 square feet.

I like the resort layout and landscaping best at the Marriott resort. It makes for a nice, laid-back atmosphere - seemingly less hectic - and the layout is compact enough so it's pretty easy to walk from point to point for all the resort services.

I think that all of these resorts would give your family a really nice vacation experience and I wouldn't hesitate to stay at any of them. However, Marriott's Cypress Harbour is our favorite Orlando timeshare resort and we'd stay there over the others if we were faced with the choice that you're faced with.

Enjoy!

Dick Taylor

 

[fitznorton]

Dtailor, Thank you for your quick reply. Could you recommend an area to request at the Marriott? I am booked through the Marriott website (not timeshare rental) and was wondering what section would be updated and near a pool. Thank you.

 

[Detailor]

Dtailor, Thank you for your quick reply. Could you recommend an area to request at the Marriott? I am booked through the Marriott website (not timeshare rental) and was wondering what section would be updated and near a pool. Thank you.

The resort was fully updated about 3 years ago and they were working on some additional upgrading a year ago so I'd suggest that any building would be as good as another in terms of condition.

Pools are between buildings 60 and 62 (the pool there is a smallish, area pool and pretty private, we've stayed in building 62, at the end of the lake, a few times and used that pool when nobody else was around). Building 62 is next to the activities center, bike rental, boat rental, mini-golf, fitness center, basketball, shuffleboard, etc; the main pool area that's just down the stairs from the Clubhouse (check-in, business center), Bar, Food Court and resort store is between buildings 52 and 53; and the Island Pool (lap pool/general pool, sauna, hot tubs) is across the lake via bridge from the Clubhouse Pool and close to building 65. We stayed in Building 65 for a couple of weeks last year and loved the location as it is very convenient to both of the major pool areas yet it seemed quiet at the building itself.

Buildings 50 through 55 and 60 through 65 (there's no 61) ring the lake and I think that those are the choice locations. From there it just depends on what resort feature(s) you want to be closest to. To get a visual ideal, see the resort map at https://www.my-vacationclub.com/common/respages/pdf/resorts/cy/cy_sitemap.pdf.

Dick Taylor

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Both Vistana and Cypress are really nice have never been to the Hilton

 

[Paula25]

My boys preferred it to Bonnet Creek. Alas, we need more room now that there are 8 of us going. We liked the pool and activity room and the grounds were spectacular. We rented bikes and rode around, something we never do - but we couldn't resist. If I ever go back with fewer people, it will be on the top of my list. It's been a couple years since we were there, but the one thing that I did not like about it was the size of the second bedroom. If you do not have to open the sleeper couch, it's great, but it's too small to move around when the sleeper couch is in use. Even with that "negative." the boys still thought it was great - and they were the ones sleeping in the second bedroom!

We're staying at HGVC in September, so that will be fun to compare. We've also stayed at Vistana, but it was before the renovation so my info is out of date.

You have some great choices!

 

[mainelyj]

I am just curious, how did you get a great rate at Cyrpress Harbor?

 

[fitznorton]

Marriott website is having a Fall season special. Must prepay.

 

[chicagoshannon]

I have not stayed at either BUT have stayed at Harbour Lakes (right across the street from Cypress Harbour) the drive to Disney is like 10 minutes so not bad. The I4 entrance ramp is a block away from the resort.

The thing I noticed about Cypres Harbour is that the 2nd bedroom only has 1 bed and a pull out sofa. So I'd take that into consideration. Harbour Lakes has 2 queens in the 2nd bedroom. So if you can get the same deal there I'd take it. It's a wonderful resort.

We're trying out Vistana on our Sept. trip cause we thought we'd change it up. I've heard good things about it too.

 

[jeff968]

We have stayed at both and I would recommend Cypress harbor. The Sheraton vistana is a big resort and some of the units are older (although they have been redone). CH is just the right size. The configuration is great and there is something to do fo all ages. It is one of our favorites and we've gone back multiple times since we like it so much. The unit rooms are very large and have also been remodeled in recent years (rooms are larger the Harbor lakes which I have also been to). Go for CH!

 

[marvel]

Thanks for all the advice, the rooms on the CH website make it look quite old whereas the Vistana rooms look at lot nicer. Which is making the decision even harder, although I know that we will be happy at each one. All the input has been great, but I am still undecided. !!

 

[fitznorton]

Looking on the Marriott website I noticed there is a fee for fitness activities. Could anyone comment on this? What are the activities and/or the prices? Does the Sheraton charge for fitness activities? Thanks.

 

[Beth D]

Vistana does not charge for the fitness rooms. They are near several of the pools, and you just need a room key to get into them.

Vistana also has basketball and tennis courts for free.

I've only been to Vistana, and we LOVE their pools. A large variety of shape/sizes, and usually enough chairs for most everyone to lounge.

You can also get a wristband for the flume slide, and can rent surrey bikes on property too.

 

[marvel]

Thanks Beth I am leaning towards keeping our original booking, sounds like we cannot go wrong with vistana.

 

[kathy884]

If you would like to read some super detailed reviews about each, you could join TUG2.net (The timeshare users group) $15 a year to join. // Both of these timeshares have very high ratings on this site with Marriott Cypress Harbour having a higher rating. (Note: Anything above an 8 is really excellent) // Sheraton Vistana has 398 reviews with a 8.54 rating // Marriott Cypress Harbour has a rating of 9.16 wutg 215 reviews.

I haven't stayed in Marriott Cypress Harbour so can't give you any personal comparisons, but Marriott timeshares are usually really nice.

We've stayed at the Sheraton Vistana resort several times. The remodeling they have done on the units is terriffic (They gutted the places, so this is a full remodel). Our teens loved it that the pools and hot tubs were open until 1 a.m. (At most resorts they close earlier). This meant they could go swimming after a night time show at one of the parks. We are a tennis playing family so their wonderful clay tennis courts really won us over (not something you find very often). We also like to sit out a lot on our balcony or patio and really appreciate the Vistana landscaping. (They have little lakes all over with fountains and position the units so that it seems like every unit from the balcony / patio has a water view. So many lovely timeshares we have stayed in have lots of units with parking lot views.

You have decent rates on these properties, but if you are looking to save some more $s and doing a full week stay, you might want to look at renting a week from a timeshare owner directly. You don't have to join TUG to look at their classified ads section and contact / rent from an owner on the TUG2.net site. We have rented from timeshare owners on this site several times. We have also had great sucess renting timeshares from timeshare owner on the site, Redweek.com. On Redweek.com you can look without joining, but then need to join (fee is something like $10 or $15 a year) if you see something you would like to rent. You have to join to contact the owner.

Because the Vistana is such a large resort I've been able to do owner timeshare rentals quite easily there. In 2008 for example we rented two weeks over Christmas week.

I've done about a dozen timeshare rentals over the last 20 year, about half of those in the Orlando area. I joined TUG to be able to read reviews and see what properties I was interested in renting.

 

[erinch]

We've stayed at the Vistana 5 or 6 times, and go back for the landscaping, among many other things. Love the mature, dense foliage. We request "pond or waterway" view, as opposed to pool view.

I just posted on tug2 looking for 2 weeks in August, and received many offers from owners, who are willing to accept from $750 - $850 a week, so you can do better than the rate you have quoted.