Please tell me the Westgate isn't THAT bad...

[toledo13]

Hi all. We're staying at the Kissimmee Westgate in October 2010... PLEASE tell me that it's not as bad as I hear it is?

We're staying for free- using an owned timeshare that a friend doesn't use!

 

[TotoToo]

No matter how you get on site you will be subjected to an unbelievable amount of sales pressure. Do what you have to to avoid them (sales) and you'll find the resort itself quite nice if far from the best Orlando has to offer.

Rather than repeat what has been posted many times look around for older posts on how to avoid all the sales problems such as unplugging the phone & making a last day appointment you know you will miss.

 

[toledo13]

No matter how you get on site you will be subjected to an unbelievable amount of sales pressure. Do what you have to to avoid them (sales) and you'll find the resort itself quite nice if far from the best Orlando has to offer.

Rather than repeat what has been posted many times look around for older posts on how to avoid all the sales problems such as unplugging the phone & making a last day appointment you know you will miss.

SO it's not really the best that Orlando has to offer? I didn't think it was, but I've not stayed offsite in any of the others (like Vistana, Gaylord, etc) so I don't know what to compare it to! I hear it's a 1 bedroom, but I'm not sure if it has 2 baths or 1...

 

[Janet Hill]

We're staying for free- using an owned timeshare that a friend doesn't use!

For this price it's very nice.

 

[Kay1]

For this price it's very nice.

Good point!

 

[swilshire]

Is that the Westgate Vacation Villas near Windsor Hills? If so, we stayed there and it was fine. No big pressure for a sales pitch. In fact, we said no and they never ask again, but I changed my mind and ask for a tour. It was not bad at all. Once it was clear we weren't buying, it was over soon.

This wasn't our favorite of all the Orlando resorts, but I certainly wouldn't hesitate to stay there again, particularly if it was free. That is very nice of your friends as they probably incur a large annual maintenance fee. All the Orlando resorts seem to be expensive.

Sheila

 

[Kay7979]

Aside from the aggressive salesmen, it's a very nice resort. Building styles vary in design and age, but the resort is adequately maintained and any of the units you are assigned should be in nice condition.

Here are photos from our November trip.

http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k187/kay7979/Westgate/

 

[Kay7979]

Slideshow format:

http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k187/kay7979/Westgate/?albumview=slideshow

 

[Melknor]

We stayed at the Westgate Vacation Villas just off 192 in April. We really liked it, however we did not take any tour either. I have a bunch of pictures of the condo in my trip report I recently did. It was a 3 bedroom condo that had a loft (which the kids loved). I would definately stay there again if the price was right.

 

[alleghator]

We stayed in the Westgate Town Center in 2006 and are returning there on August 14. (My MIL has weeks there she doesn't always use, so the "price" is definitely right.) We never had to take a tour, being "owners" (since we were the guests of an owner), but we were called a couple of times to go to a "Maintenance Meeting."

We didn't know this would be a sales pitch. In our innocence, we thought it was really a meeting for new owners (we were the first ones to stay in a brand-new unit). We ate their breakfast, spent about 20-30 minutes in a meeting (we had our kids, 4 and 7, with us which may have sped things up). Made it simply very clear that we didn't need our own week, and would use Mom's when we had the chance. And that was it. I didn't think it was particularly high-pressure. We were very clear and got out of there. No hard feelings.

This time I'll either ignore the requests for the meeting, altogether, or (more likely) explain that we did the meeting in '06 and our answer is still the same and that they'd be better off not wasting our time.

As for the resort, itself? It was SUPER convenient to the parks, clean and pretty. We used the pool nearest our tower and enjoyed having more space than a cramped hotel room. Loved having a fridge and even did ran some laundry while we were in the parks. It was a great place to stay and I'm really looking forward to going back.

--Heidi

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

I just got back from a week at the Westgate Town Center in building 5400. My mom traded her Interval timeshare for a week at Westgate and we had a 3 bedroom unit (which was actually a 2 bedroom connected to a 1 bedroom). You used your keycard and walked into a dimly lit hallway shaped like a Y and could go left (use the keycard again) into the 2 bedroom unit or right (use your keycard again) into the 1 bedroom unit.

Here's the good:
We had a full kitchen and a full size washer and dryer. DH and I watched the fireworks from MK from our building most nights. There was a screened in balcony with seating for 5. Our unit was only a 15 minute drive to the TTC. We were never approached about any timeshare meetings.

The bad:
The satellelite TV system they use was constantly "searching for a signal". We had numerous problems with our keycards all week. They had to be reformatted several times. The pool by our unit was crazy crowded and rowdy. Pool parties held by the complex went on some nights until about 11 or 12 at night.

The ugly:
They never once came to clean our unit even though we were told they would come mid-week. Despite our numerous calls, they never came. They did come to take our towels but did not replace them until we called twice. My brother in law was nice enough to watch my daughter and 2 nephews (ages 2, 1 and 9 months) while everyone else went to DTD. He kept them all in the 2 bedroom unit. We get a frantic call that one of my nephews had hidden his keycard and he is now locked out of the 1 bedroom unit which happens to have all of the diapers, food and formula for the kids. He had called maintenance an HOUR EARLIER and they said they were on their way. The maintenance person actually laughed at my brother in law even though he could hear the 3 kids screaming in the background (they had all missed dinner and had dirty diapers). My sister called maintenance from her cell at DTD and freaked out at them, they finally arrived 20 minutes later.

All in all, there are too many other places in the Orlando area to try, I wouldn't waste my time back here again.