Sheraton Vistana Villages - Your reviews, tips & ratings

[lindseywithane]

oh my! thanks for sharing those pictures DisMomAmy!! We are visiting in October and trying to decide whats a better value, Sheraton or AOA. Leaning towards the Sheraton, your pictures may have sealed our decision!!

 

[bankr63]

Great pics, DisMomAmy!

I have a question that maybe you (or someone else on this thread) can answer.

Is there a daily resort fee for this property?

Neither of the Sheraton Vistanas (Villages or Resorts) charge a resort fee. They do however charge for many of the activities and programs as a result.

IMO this is a better way than making everyone pay for the stuff that only a limited number of guests actually use. The amenities that a majority or significant number of guests use are all free (pools, hot tubs, parking, wi-fi).

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Neither of the Sheraton Vistanas (Villages or Resorts) charge a resort fee. They do however charge for many of the activities and programs as a result.

IMO this is a better way than making everyone pay for the stuff that only a limited number of guests actually use. The amenities that a majority or significant number of guests use are all free (pools, hot tubs, parking, wi-fi).

Thank you . The items you listed are exactly the kinds of amenities that matter to our family of three. I couldn't find any resort fee listed on the website but thought maybe I was overlooking it.

I have found (what appears to be) a fabulous deal for our travel dates at SVV. $58 per night for a one-bedroom or $83 for a two-bedroom via Bookit.com. Trying to determine (without any experience at either place) if this would be a better choice than our current reservation at Westgate Lakes.

I should stop reading these forums. They make me second guess my well-though out original plans .

 

[bankr63]

Thank you . The items you listed are exactly the kinds of amenities that matter to our family of three. I couldn't find any resort fee listed on the website but thought maybe I was overlooking it.

I have found (what appears to be) a fabulous deal for our travel dates at SVV. $58 per night for a one-bedroom or $83 for a two-bedroom via Bookit.com. Trying to determine (without any experience at either place) if this would be a better choice than our current reservation at Westgate Lakes.

I should stop reading these forums. They make me second guess my well-though out original plans .

Can't help with the comparison, never been to Westgate Lakes, but I will say that it is a really good rate. It is about half of what an owner pays there in annual maintenance fees, so somebody is taking on a loss there for sure!

As for the important amenities for your crew, I seem to recall that the b-ball court is MOST important from your TR. It is free too at both Vistana resorts; but there might be a charge for a loaner ball from the activity center (not sure on that).

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Can't help with the comparison, never been to Westgate Lakes, but I will say that it is a really good rate. It is about half of what an owner pays there in annual maintenance fees, so somebody is taking on a loss there for sure!

As for the important amenities for your crew, I seem to recall that the b-ball court is MOST important from your TR. It is free too at both Vistana resorts; but there might be a charge for a loaner ball from the activity center (not sure on that).

The rate was from Bookit.com, but alas, he who hesitates is lost (and its gone this morning ). Serves me right for overthinking things. I need to learn to be more spontaneous.

I called Sheraton's reservation line this morning, and we can get a CAA rate of $99 nightly for a smaller one-bedroom (488 square feet) or $108 for the larger one-bedroom (800+ square feet). Still a great rate when you consider that there is daily maid service included (which we aren't getting at Westgate Lakes), there's no resort fee, and wi-fi and parking are both complimentary.

Colour me impressed that you remember that a basketball court is #3 on our list of must-haves (directly in line after a separate bedroom and a nice pool) . You have a good memory! You won't be surprised to know, then, that we did lots of research on their sports facilities before deciding that it met the boys' criteria . If a basketball is an issue, we can always purchase a new one to use while we are vacationing and either (a) donate it to the resort when we check out or (b) bring it home and added it to the 23 others that are in our garage. They tend to be "ball snobs" at the best of times (its got to be the right size, inflated properly, and a quality brand) and usually the loaner balls tend to be everything but!!!

 

[Nahanni]

We had requested the St. Augustine section, top floor. That's exactly what we got! We were in building 26, top floor, villa 26612 (first three digits of the villa number indicate building 26, floor 6).

...

Thanks for posting these great pictures. We will be staying here in August (booked through a travel website) and have a few questions:
- When/how (check in or advance) do you make building requests.
- How is a 2BR kitchen equipped
- For a 2 week stay, do they restock toiletries or do we need to bring some

 

[darrius1st]

I'm staying here June 16-24th and wanted to know if they supply bath towels since there is 7 of us and also towels for the pool should we bring our own or will they suppy some.

 

[DisMomAmy]

I'm staying here June 16-24th and wanted to know if they supply bath towels since there is 7 of us and also towels for the pool should we bring our own or will they suppy some.

Yes - there are bath towels in the villa. I think there were four sets in each bathroom. We were there on a timeshare exchange so we didn't have housekeeping. We did get trash pick up & towel exchange mid-week for no charge. We did leave a tip. If needed, we could have washed our towels in the villa.

Pool towels are available at the pool. You are given a pool towel card for each person on your reservation when you check in. If all seven are on your reservation, you will be given seven cards. Sometimes we took our towels back to our villa with us (if it was a little chilly) and just brought them back down to swap them out for clean ones the next time. Other times we would turn them in & get our cards back when we left the pool.

 

[darrius1st]

is there a sand pit at the Vistana? My 4 year old is going crazy to build a sandcastle.

 

[Ckmommy72]

This thread has been inactive for a bit, but hopefully someone who has some info can help...

Just wondering if the one bedroom villas have King beds or some other configuration of 1 or 2 beds? I can't seem to find the info on their website.

TIA!

 

[laliclay]

The rooms we had were 1 king bed and a sofa bed. I think we were in San Augustine, maybe bldg 22? I have blocked the "planning" part of the trip from my memory so I'm not certain. We had an awesome stay!

 

[RJMC]

About to go back - last time we were in St Aug Building 23. It overlooked the lake and across the lake we could see from the baclocny the pirate pool had just been built.

At the time, this was brand new. Is this still a good locaton, or is there better? Are units here in tis section still nice and new looking or tired?

Is building 23 quieter than building 25?

 

[auprincess]

I've been looking into this resort ~ love the pics and info! Just curious, where do you book from? directly from sheraton?

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Is there a lifeguard at the pool?

How is the bar/grill by the pool?

 

[Boeing 737]

Great photos. Thank you for sharing. Would love to see more photos.

 

[Echo queen]

Any new info? We are going in December, are the pools heated?

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Is there a lifeguard at the pool?

How is the bar/grill by the pool?

Anyone know?

 

[bankr63]

To answer a couple of dangling questions above. I am an owner and regular at Sheraton Vistana RESORT and have only stayed at VILLAGES once, about 6 years ago so ymmv...

Sheraton does not have lifeguards at the pools. Parents are expected to supervise any children under 14 years.

Pools are heated. Actually the Spas pool at SVR was overheated this past trip - like getting into a bathtub. In March! The waterfall in the older pool at SVV (Key West?) was very refreshing when we were there!

I recall the pool bar grill at SVV to be pretty good - but that's a long time ago. Nothing fancy, but good basic pub grub lunch options. There weren't a lot of tables, but you could carry your drinks and snacks away from the bar too. If prices are still like SVR they are reasonable for a resort. Yes, you can eat/drink cheaper outside the resort, but that takes time and effort.

Pool towels were a bit of a pain at SVV because you have to sign them out with a card. SVR has no towel controls at all.

Sand pit - not that I recall. SVR has two sand volleyball courts, and I seem to recall one at SVV too, but the memories are fading... Actually, court sand is not sandcastle sand - it doesn't stick together well. You'd be better off planning a day at the beach collecting shells and building sandcastles. It makes a great "down day" if you have a busy itinerary planned.

 

[PirateMom78]

We have stayed at SVV several times over the last 4 years. The pirate ship pool and the big green slide beside the pirate ship pool has life guards. We love the SVV, and return every year.

 

[jsmla]

We are a couple in our 50s and have booked a week in a two bedroom for late September. Given that we won't have little ones with us, which building/area should we request? We don't mind kids but aren't interested in pool slides, pool games or things like that.

Also, does anyone know the rates for the poolside cabanas?

Thanks!