Sheraton Vistana, Marriott Sabal or Marriott Royal? Advice please!

[colinsdad]

Hey Dis'ers.

I'm booking a family trip to Orlando to go to my cousins wedding and need to book a timeshare. I'm using a bonus week (so some of my first choices aren't available) and I need a 2BR.

The 3 places that I've narrowed it down to are:

Sheraton Vistana Resort (I stayed here in '04 and thought it was nice);

Marriott Sabal Palms; and,

Marriott Royal Palms.

If anyone has any advise as to which one would be best it would certainly be appreciated. Traveling will be myself, my son (for the whole week), with my Mother, Stepfather, and Sister w/boyfriend.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[Detailor]

These are more or less comparable timeshare resorts. There are more activities/pools at Vistana than at either of two Marriotts that you listed but both of the Marriotts, which are much, much smaller in scale than Vistana, have nice pool areas. Royal Palms has a small resort store and a cafe in the reservation building. Though guests of both Royal Palms and Sabal Palms may use the facilities of the adjacent (and IMO quite impressive) Marriott World Center hotel (much closer to Sabal Palms).
Vistana was built in phases over many years and the refurbishment schedule is controlled by the owners' boards of each phase, so the condition of the villas, from phase to phase, may vary. I understand that most of the phases have either been refurbed, are in the process of being refurbed or are planned for refurbishment. It's this latter category of phases that would have the oldest villas and the second category that may feature construction noise during a stay. I believe that Sabal Palms is the quietest and most laid-back of the three resorts and Vistana has the most 'active' feel of these.
As you have six people in your party you consider villa space when making a resort selection. The Royal Palms 2BR units are 1250 square feet, Sabal Palms units are 1305 and the Vistana unit sizes vary by construction phase (from 1025 sq. feet to 1400 sq. feet). You'd know what you were getting with the Marriotts but assigned to a unit based on check-in day (not all phases are available for check-in on all days) at Vistana, so there's the potential for unknown variability even within that resort.

These are all very nice resorts in the same area of Orlando (at least one section of Vistana - Courts?, Falls?, I can't remember exactly - shares a dividing fence with Marriott's Royal Palms) near the intersection of SR 535 and SR 536 fairly close to Disney. Assuming that you are placed in a larger, relatively recently refurbished unit at Vistana, I'd say that you can't go wrong with any of them but my personal preference is for the Marriott brand because of consistency in quality of stay that we've experienced after multiple Vistana and Marriott stays (though only once at Sabal Palms) in Orlando.

Dick Taylor

 

[colinsdad]

Exactly what I was looking for.

 

[littlestar]

I'd go with Marriott for the trip since they've been refurbished. Like Dick says, Sheraton Vistana hasn't been totally refurbed yet.

 

[Detailor]

Exactly what I was looking for.

You're welcome. Have a great trip.

Dick Taylor