Sheraton Vistana or Caribe Royal

[yaddakal]

We are thinking about possibly staying off-site for our stay in August a night or two before we go on the Disney cruise.. Thinking that if we stay off site we would need a hotel with a pool and preferably a slide .. Kids are eight and 10 .....which one would you pick? Or if you have any other suggestions that's fine too thanks;-)

 

[bankr63]

We are thinking about possibly staying off-site for our stay in August a night or two before we go on the Disney cruise.. Thinking that if we stay off site we would need a hotel with a pool and preferably a slide .. Kids are eight and 10 .....which one would you pick? Or if you have any other suggestions that's fine too thanks;-)

There are two Sheraton Vistana's in the area (Resort and Villages) both are great resorts with large units up to 2BR. The Villages has a better kids water play area, than the Resort, but with 7 swimming pools at SVR, there's a lot to choose from. Caribe Royale is a bit more of a suite hotel than a timeshare resort. We've stayed at both Sheratons and now own at SVR. Never stayed at CR but have driven by it many times and it appears to be pretty nice. The Sheraton's both score a bit higher on Tripadvisor, but all are in the 80%+ range.

 

[kathy884]

We haven't stayed at the Caribe Royal. Either Vistana place is great, though, and very popular with people on this forum. The Vistana resorts get good reviews on TUG2.net (a timeshare users group) and we've really enjoyed their properties in the Orlando area.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thinking that if we stay off site we would need a hotel with a pool and preferably a slide .. Kids are eight and 10

The Vistana has great pools for kids . 7 in total (the resort is huge, so some will be close to your villa and others will be further away). Here are a few pics of some of the Vistana Resort pools to give you a visual:

Cascades Pool:







Falls Pool:





Super Pool:







Courts Pool:



There are also pools in the Springs, Lakes and Fountains sections. I don't have any pics of those.

The Vistana has some awesome playgrounds, too, if your kids are still into that thing. Here's a sample of a couple:

 

[yaddakal]

Thank you!

 

[kentartar]

Just stayed at the Caribe Royale All Suites Hotel. It was a pleasant stay. I was there for a conference. They have two pools. The restaurants were average. I've never been to Sheraton so I can't compare but kids would enjoy the pool and it's drop off slide. The area around the pool was nice. I would go back if I had the chance.

 

[NinaBella]

Just looking online at Caribe Royale, their kids area looks just meh... It wouldn't impress my kiddos.

 

[2girlsmom]

We stayed at Vistana Resort and at Caribe. Both are great properties. As has been stated, Vistana (both sides) are like DVC; time share properties. You get great accomodations, but generally pay for housekeeping service seperate, etc. Caribe is an all suite hotel, so such things are included, and generally the rates are fairly comparable when we have looked other than that. Caribe is our favorite hotel, we have always stayed in the 2 bedrooms which are 1200+ sq ft and feature king bed in the master along with full bath with walk in shower and 2 person jacuzzi tub, plus 2 queens in the second bedroom and a full 2nd bath with tub/shower combination as well as a pull out couch in the living room, full kitchen, etc. Both my kids love the main pool and slide there, as well. My kids are older, though, teens now so not as into playgrounds, etc as when they were young. They like having their own beds and the sophistication, I guess, of the hotel's feel.

 

[Iuliano4]

There are two Sheraton Vistana's in the area (Resort and Villages) both are great resorts with large units up to 2BR. The Villages has a better kids water play area, than the Resort, but with 7 swimming pools at SVR, there's a lot to choose from. Caribe Royale is a bit more of a suite hotel than a timeshare resort. We've stayed at both Sheratons and now own at SVR. Never stayed at CR but have driven by it many times and it appears to be pretty nice. The Sheraton's both score a bit higher on Tripadvisor, but all are in the 80%+ range.

Thank you very much for all this information. We are staying at SVR the last week in August, one question do they provide Blenders? Thanks

 

[bankr63]

Thank you very much for all this information. We are staying at SVR the last week in August, one question do they provide Blenders? Thanks

Yes a standard residential grade blender is included in the kitchen equipment. I would mention that if you are big frozen margarita fan or smoothie drinker that it may not be up to the task of crushing a bunch of ice. That generally takes a more powerful commercial grade blender.

 

[disneyfan55]

Yes a standard residential grade blender is included in the kitchen equipment. I would mention that if you are big frozen margarita fan or smoothie drinker that it may not be up to the task of crushing a bunch of ice. That generally takes a more powerful commercial grade blender.

as an aside, we found premade drinks that can be frozen in the local walmart. They cost about a dollar or so each. Something I had never seen for sale before .

 

[disneyfan55]

We stayed at the Caribe Royale. We found the 2 bedroom Villa quite nice. We had daily housekeeping and replacement of shampoo/soap. It was very clean and had wonderful grounds. The 2 bedrooms were a small walk to the main pool, but there was a large quiet pool in our area. For the most part, in the past we have stayed on WDW property. With the need for more room and 2 rooms, we stayed at ASMusic family suites, while nice we found the Caribe to have so much more room plus full kitchen/washer/dryer. The cost was much less and about the same drive. With tickets costing so much more each year, we decided to give this resort a try last fall. They, at the time, had a $30/day food credit included. There are some good mousesavers rates starting at 149/night for the villas, a great price in my view. I think this resort is overlooked on these boards, there was not much info on it as compared to other offsite places.