Report of stay at Sheraton Vistana

[OneMoreTry]

I stayed at the Sheraton Vistana CASCADES Dec 24 to 30. It was great!!

I compare to DVC because I'm a member.

Beautifully landscaped. Nice lobby area. Clean. Staff were all as friendly as the WDW CM's. We had a 2BR lockoff with 2 kitchens, 2 living areas with fold-out sofas, one master BR with gigantic 2person jacuzzi and a separate BR with a queen size. It was the equivalent of one small 1BR and one large 1BR. It is about the size of a 2BR at OKW. The dedicated 2BRs there are significantly smaller, about the size of the other DVC 2BRs at WDW. Lots of clay and composite tennis courts. Many beautiful pools, sand volleyball, rec centers. It is a very easy 2 miles to WDW.

My dislikes:
All the mirrors around the jacuzzi. DVC's decor is more tasteful to me. But then I have 5 kids with me on vacation. That may be someone else's preference.
Not themed like WDW. I"m glad, though, they didn't try to theme it. It was beautiful anyway.
They tried to set me up for a sales pitch when I checked in. They told me I had to talk to someone about a "Welcome Package." But they knew I was renting from an owner and not an owner myself.

A warning:
My sister stayed at Fountains. Not nearly as nice. The condo is boxier and not as attractive. Not to mention older and not as well-maintained as DVC units of the same age. [Note added later: My sister loved her fountains condo and it is very nice and I would stay there if i couldn't get cascades but cascades is newer and i like it better in part because it's more like my condo at Old Key West so reminds me of "home." Please read one of the posts below about fountains.]
Stay at the Cascades! The Cascades have an updated design which looks to be largely copied from the DVC floorplans.
AVOID the sales pitches. They had my sister in tears for 3 hours and I had to go rescue her and tell her to leave and I said "no thanks" to the weasel of a saleslady.
Wait for a good deal. Keep checking redweek. It's worth the $10 fee to join.

Hope this is helpful.

My recommendations:
A great place to stay. I got it for $1000 for the week by renting from someone on Redweek.com. That's less than it would cost us to get to rooms at a Hampton (which we need for 7) for the same period.
Stay at Cascades.

 

[kilee]

Sounds like you had a good stay. However, even for a holiday week the price seems alittle steep. I'd really check around next time on some of the rent direct sites that don't require any membership fee's. It may save you a nice little dollar amount.

Thank you for the report .

 

[Chief Joseph]

Because we belong to the Starwood Prefered Gues program, I was sent a special offer to try Vistane; 5 days/ 4 nighs for $169.00 total with a $100.00 credit or 8000 SPG points as further enticement. I know the special deal will include The Sales Pitch.

We will probably book this for a 2007 non-Disney trip. A couple years ago we did a Sheraton TS presentation at their new resort on I-Drive. Beautiful resort and the sales pitch was very low key, very little arm twisting , ( I think when they learned we own 4 weeks worth of DVC points and only get 3 weeks of vacation they realized we had no intention of buying ).

I'll definitely keep CASCADES in mind. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[MiaSRN62]

A warning: My sister stayed at Fountains. Not nearly as nice. The condo is boxier and not as attractive. Not to mention older and not as well-maintained

Sorry to hear your sister didn't enjoy her stay in the Fountains. This is the section I own in and found our villa in August (Fountains I area) to be newly decorated and maintained very well. Granted, it's not as "modern" looking as the newest Cascades, but we've never had any problems with the Fountains. The Fountains are actually larger than the Cascades. Maybe your sister had a rare unit that had alot of wear and tear ? Do you know her villa number by any chance ? Sorry about that. If the unit was in bad shape as you describe, I hope your sister reported it. Things like that need to be fixed.

Thanks for the report. Glad u had a nice stay. Oh......mirrors around the jacuzzi ? I've never seen this at the Fountains or Lakes jacuzzis ? Must be only at the Cascades ?

AVOID the sales pitches. They had my sister in tears for 3 hours and I had to go rescue her and tell her to leave and I said "no thanks" to the weasel of a saleslady.

Your poor sister ! Glad u rescued her. I have lived through the horror of that myself. It shouldn't be allowed. It's one of the main reasons that led us to become DVC Members. I avoid those sales pitches like the plague in recent years.

Take care,

 

[we3disneygo]

thanks for the review

 

[OneMoreTry]

However, even for a holiday week the price seems alittle steep.
Thank you for the report .

At first I started checking other sites but have only minimal time and found the redweek listings easy to use and they emailed me whenever there were new ones. I contacted a couple owners from that and another listing site who advertised lower prices but found them harder to work with. And I didn't have time to try to get in touch with them. Many units for that week were going for $1200. The smaller dedicated units were cheaper but I wanted the lock off because it's 350 to 400 sq ft bigger.

When I was ready to pay the owner i saw another listing for $800, but he had treated me so well. He stayed in touch, and called the resort 3 way with me so I could ask any questions I had and confirm that my name was on the ressie. My time and his courteousness was worth the extra $200 to me.

After saying all that I don't doubt I could have gotten a cheaper condo, but would have been searching up until a week before the trip.

-------

BTW it was my best Xmas since I was a kid and I don't doubt we'll stay there again some time. I would use OKW but my sister's condo is there and it's nice to be close.

 

[OneMoreTry]

Sorry to hear your sister didn't enjoy her stay in the Fountains. This is the section I own in and found our villa in August (Fountains I area) to be newly decorated and maintained very well. Granted, it's not as "modern" looking as the newest Cascades, but we've never had any problems with the Fountains. The Fountains are actually larger than the Cascades.
Take care,

I will modify my original post because it came across wrong. My sister loved her condo in the fountains. I liked the cascades better and would prefer to stay there, but the fountains are still very nice and I would stay there -- if I couldn't get one at cascades. I think I like cascades because it reminds me more of my dvc "home" at OKW.

Neil

 

[MiaSRN62]

Stay at the Cascades! The Cascades have an updated design which looks to be largely copied from the DVC floorplans.

I agree, the Cascades has the most modern design. It's a more contemporary feel with the color schemes they used.
You were very lucky to get a lock-off OneMoreTry, because the majority of the time they save those and rent them as 1 bedrooms so I think you got a very good price for a Cacades lock-off. I thought the Cascades dedicated 2 bedroom villas were noticeably smaller than most all the other older sections.
I appreciate your report on redweek too......I might have to check them out.

I will modify my original post because it came across wrong. My sister loved her condo in the fountains. I liked the cascades better and would prefer to stay there, but the fountains are still very nice and I would stay there -- if I couldn't get one at cascades. I think I like cascades because it reminds me more of my dvc "home" at OKW.

Again, thanks for the update Neil. I'm glad it all worked out for you. If space isn't a real option, I would think most people would prefer the newest Cascades---I can understand that. This section also has elevators which is a major plus to many. Glad you all had a nice time and thanks for the update Neil.

 

[mbb]

My parents are staying here in March - I think they're going to like it