Sheraton Vistana vs. Marriott Sabal Palms

[SFMommy]

The Marriott Sabal Palms is $600 more (total for 8-nights) than the Sheraton Vistana Resort. Can someone explain the pros and cons of each resort? This is for a 2-bedroom villa.

Is one location far superior than the other? We would be driving to Disney parks every day.

We also want to have a selection of good restaurants within walking distance and a good pool with a slide. I think from Sabal Palms we can walk to Marriott World Center for restaurants and their pool. What about at the Sheraton Vistana?

Thanks!

 

[Upatnoon]

The Marriott Sabal Palms is $600 more (total for 8-nights) than the Sheraton Vistana Resort. Can someone explain the pros and cons of each resort? This is for a 2-bedroom villa.

Is one location far superior than the other? We would be driving to Disney parks every day.

We also want to have a selection of good restaurants within walking distance and a good pool with a slide. I think from Sabal Palms we can walk to Marriott World Center for restaurants and their pool. What about at the Sheraton Vistana?

Thanks!

We stayed at Vistana this summer for a week we bought on ebay for $750, so I will try to help. We have stayed at many timeshare resorts and Disney hotels. I have stayed at other Marriott timeshares, and they are very nice. I've also had friends stay at World Center, which I'm told is very nice.

Now about Vistana, which is an great resort:

1. The room was excellent. I like the layout and the decor. You get to park near your unit. Plenty of room and very comfortable. Nice screened in porch area.
2. The resort is sprawling. You can walk, but sometimes must drive to get around depending on where your unit is.
3. You should be able to walk to at least a couple of pools. One of the pools near our unit had a slide. It was a smaller pool than the large pool that had a waterfall and splash park area. The large pool was nice because they cooled the water in it. That's right, water in resort pools can actually be too warm for my taste. The pool areas are fine, but not over-the-top. My kids were satisfied. They also have tennis, basketball and minigolf.
4. The resort had some restaurant options, and you could drive to many places nearby. There is also a Walgreens very close by that has many of the supplies you may need to eat some in your room. Also has a liquor store. From the looks of the prices I saw walking around, I think Vistana would be likely less expensive than what you will find at the Marriott property.
5. Driving to Disney is easy. Takes about 15 minutes or less to get pretty much anywhere. You will drive right pass the Marriott on the way to Disney. The two properties are very close together.

I would not pay $600 more to stay at the Marriott. If it was the same price, I might try it out because we like trying new places, but $600 would pay for nearly another week stay somewhere or all of the food for a week stay.

 

[Monykalyn]

My in-laws stayed at Vistana last year while we were at Marriott Grande Vista
The Sheraton unit they were in was very nice, looked out on courtyard, had several pools around the area but seemed to be quite busy (although we never had trouble finding parking by their unit)
We stayed at Sabal Palms this year and loved our unit and the World Center Pool is just awesome-no need for water park ticket with those pools/slides. And sabal palms will either call for shuttle to WC pools or it is a very quick, easy walk.

That said-the Vistana resort is lovely and I agree with Upatnoon-not sure I'd pay more for Marriott-although the drive to onsite WDW is nearly a straight shot from Sabal Palms and our unit at Sabal Palms seemed bigger than my inlaws unit at Vistana.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I can't speak to the comparison between the Vistana Resort and Sabal Palms, but thought this link to the SVR thread might be helpful:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/the-sheraton-vistana-resort-thread.3148502/

 

[bankr63]

The resorts are basically next door to each other, so access to offsite amenities is really a wash. Both are high end resorts, and both are very large resorts. I have not stayed at Sabal Palms, but it has been commented on here in other threads, and I would think either would be good choices. I would save the $600 and take the Vistana for sure.

Sheraton Vistana has several onsite casual dining options, and there are restaurants nearby, a few are walkable, but the roads in the area are very busy and not very pedestrian friendly although there are sidewalks and crossing signals.

 

[kathy884]

I've stayed at both. They are both great. They are both very convenient for getting to Disney parks. For a $600 difference I would do the Vistana.

Just my opinion, but I think Marriott condos have such a great reputation for their excellent resorts that they can charge a premium. Their reputation is well deserved too, you really can't go wrong with a Marriott timeshare, but you will pay a premium. Also, FYI, the last time I looked the Marriott had a higher rating than the Vistana on TUG2.net, the timeshare users group, but both had excellent ratings.

The Marriott World resort will have high end/high priced (four star hotel) dining and a great pool. But when we stayed we hung out at the condo pool more often for the convenience and just went to the World resort pool once. The Sheraton Vistana restaurants are very casual. Really for off property dining, it's easier to drive, as it's not really a walker friendly area off property.

I think the Marriott World Resort has the nicest pool, but for us we mostly use the pool closest to us and as I said earlier, only used that once during our stay. Many of the Vistana pools have more of a wow factor than the Marriott timeshare pool. All the pools are perfectly nice though.

 

[TeamSy]

I would choose Sabal Palms. For me, it sounds like it would ONLY be a $600 difference and is worth it. All the villas at Sabal are 2 bedrooms and super spacious! It's walkable (or a quick golf cart ride) away from the main hotel, which has multiple pools, waterslides, and SO MANY good restaurants! We LOVE this place!

 

[bankr63]

The TUG ratings are very similar still - 8.56 to 8.42 or 1.4% difference. Suspect the Sheraton ratings are still somewhat adversely affected by the many reviews from prior to the full property refurbishment, so probably a wash.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

The TUG ratings are very similar still - 8.56 to 8.42 or 1.4% difference. Suspect the Sheraton ratings are still somewhat adversely affected by the many reviews from prior to the full property refurbishment, so probably a wash.

Guest feedback on Tripadvisor is also very close, with the Vistana coming out on top by a smidge.

SVR is rated 49th out of 331 properties in Orlando, while Sabal Palms is #53