Orange Lake West Village

[pcgmom]

I made a reservation through RCI to stay at Orange Lake back in the spring for a 2007 trip. Of course, I was told how wonderful OLCC was and that it was a Gold Crown resort. I have read more and more reviews about how awful the West Village section is, and I noticed today that the name has changed with RCI to "Orange Lake's West Village." RCI tells me that Orange Lake has just changed the name, and that it is still the same Gold Crown property, which is not what most of the reviews have said about the West Village. Has anyone stayed down there through RCI since they have made this change? How firmly is OL sticking to assigning you to the west, and is it as bad as some people say? What would be my best strategy for getting a unit that is clean and close to some of the fun pools? Thanks.

 

[iHEARTflorida]

we stay at Orange Lake in the um East village i think, and we love, epsically now there's the new pool complex river island

hmm that werid i just had a look at the rci website and theres orange lake west, and orange lake river island.

and looking at my weeks it says im in the west village. hmm thats like there separting the resort into sections

 

[DianeV]

They ARE seperating it into sections now..the newer versus the older..the newer the owners will mostly get and you may see a few for exchange but everything I have seen for the next year when I did a search is for the West Village which yes..has the not so great ratings (although to be honest some do like it)

 

[lawgs]

there will be four or five sections ( depending on whether or not they list the "lake geneva" aspect of OLCC listed with RCI as of now they have West Village and River Island ( believe it or not River Island has shown up on RCI 's extra vacations within the last two weeks at a listing price of 250$, although they will probably not be a regular feature of Extra Vacations. River Island units are also showing up when we look for exchanges but few and far between )

they are in a progressive program of refurbishing the west village units...total guts ...they are working on approximately 200 units this year and more next year....

units are assigned at check in, and the wording they have now on the rci exchange confirmations state they do not "entertain" requests for "certain sections" of the resorts....ie if you are slated for west village you cannot request the other villages, but, of course, as with everything, everyone seems to have a different experience with respect to this policy ( some have been placed into river island via developer weeks in hope of selling more units )

OLCC has also been designated a RCI Points resort with their new Global Access "internal" points program

all the changes going on, are supposedly trying to level the "rci" exchange playing field....not as much inventory being held by RCI as in the past ....more being controlled by the resort itself

 

[spiceycat]

now you need to make them aware of hotelkingdom and other sites that will help them to rent unused villa.....

I stayed in the West Village only 2 problems not enough swimming pools, and no whirlpool tub or shower stall in the master. this was a bigger problem for my mother than me. because she has problems even walking around - so getting in and out of the tub for a shower - put a big strain on her.

if you want to see my pictures - just ask.

 

[Hasil72]

We stayed in the West village for the first portion of our May 2005 trip. When you are expecting to see anything like the pictures on the website, it's a HUGE let down. We had a 2BR/2BA that was ok (we were only there a few days before moving to a rental home) but obviously in need of a rehab. The rooms were a good size but the furniture had lost it's shape, counter was chipping, sliding doors were broken, and there was an overall musty smell. The one thing we were surprised about was that it wasn't handicap accessible. There is a 6" step going down from the dining area to the living room. This was only an issue for relatives staying in the unit next door as one of them is reliant on a wheelchair. It was a hike to get to any of the pools, playground, etc. so plan on using your car a lot.

Maybe you'll have better luck than we did. That is the second time we have used an RCI exchange and been located in the older sections of a timeshare property. We had the same thing happen at Westgate on our honeymoon. They put us in the rundown section then try to get us to buy in the newer section. We have learned our lesson and politely decline when my uncle offers us exchange time.

Have a great time!

 

[spiceycat]

Maybe you'll have better luck than we did. That is the second time we have used an RCI exchange and been located in the older sections of a timeshare property. We had the same thing happen at Westgate on our honeymoon. They put us in the rundown section then try to get us to buy in the newer section. We have learned our lesson and politely decline when my uncle offers us exchange time.

Have a great time!

westgate is horrible that way. OL I don't do sales pitch when I am on vacation.

so when you are asked just say no.

I like Hilton Grand Vacation Club - it is nice by any standards. but you need patient to get this one.

Sheraton Vistana is not too bad - although it is also known for giving exchangers the worst rooms.

Celebration world resort accepts pets. So for a while it was my favorite - but it has no transportation, no restuarant, few activties, no gift or general store.

Vacation Villa is nice too - but again no restuarant.
It did have something that was nice - bus transportation to the parks for a reason price - $6 per person. It also have fee van transportation to Old town, publix (grocery store), and I think one of the outlet malls.

my problem, I was told there was Wendy's not to far - truth - but they forgot to say it closed for rehab at the time of my visit.....

trying out Cypress Pointe - which gets very good reviews here.

but I would rather not go to Orlando than stay at Westgate!

 

[poohbear2]

Personally, I prefer the West Villas. You only have one floor to think about( no walking or using the elevator). You don't have to worry about people above or below you. One year we stayed in the North End and all night long you could hear people jumping and walking etc. I don't think its that big a deal to travel to the pools etc. And actually, the west villa was much cleaner then the North End villa. (We had found two bag fulls of things left behind from prior tenants that house keeping missed.) The bedrooms are larger and there is more closet space.