Vistana Villages or Resort Timshare?

[Gaborn65]

We are looking at purchasing a timeshare around the Orlando area. We have a 4 year old grandchild which is the main and only reason we are interested in the timeshare. We stayed at Orange Lake last year and enjoyed the stay but really liked the pirate ship pool at the Sheraton. Will someone explain to me the difference between the two locations or if there is another location that is extremely kid oriented. I want to make sure we will be able to stay at other locations when he gets a little older so I do not want to be locked one resort. We really do not want to stay in a highrise. Please help me not make a mistake.

 

[Detailor]

Will someone explain to me the difference between the two locations or if there is another location that is extremely kid oriented. I want to make sure we will be able to stay at other locations when he gets a little older so I do not want to be locked one resort. We really do not want to stay in a highrise. Please help me not make a mistake.

I'm assuming that you're asking about the differences between Vistana Villages and Vistana Resort.

The Vistana Villages resort on International Drive was built more recently than the Vistana Resort on SR 535 and is, by far, the smaller of the two sister Sheratons. However, the Sheraton resorts do a very good job of refurbishing their resorts both of these resorts are close to being in nearly new condition. Villas at Sheraton Resort have been refurbished recently with the last phase of refurb occurring over the past few months. Villas at Vistana Villages in the Key West phase were being refurbed in November and December (we were in a like-new villa during our stay there during the first week of December) and the St. Augustine section, where the ship feature is located, was brand new being built in 2010-2011. I assume that the first two phases of the Villages are slated for refurb, too. Otherwise, the two Vistanas have a lot of the amenities and are both very nice. There are other resorts around in the Starwood Vacation Ownership family - Sheratons and Westins - that can be traded into.

There are several other very nice timeshares in the Orlando area that have a family orientation. I highly recommend the Marriotts (Cypress Harbour, Grande Vista, Lakeshore Reserve and the older tri-Marriotts - Imperial Palm Villas, Royal Palms, Sabal Palms - and the slightly lower quality Harbour Lake which also has a pirate ship feature) and the Hiltons (SeaWorld, International Drive, and Parc Soleil) in addition to these two Sheratons. I also think that Orange Lake is a nice resort and so is Cypress Pointe Resort. And, of course, Disney has their own timeshare brand on their property. The DVC resorts are also pretty nice.

Now, thinking about your intent to purchase...
There are a lot of timeshare resorts that trade through the two major exchange companies - Interval International and Resort Condominium International - and trading into Orlando is very easy. So, a couple of suggestions (well, one's a mandate): (1) Don't buy from the timeshare resort developer, buy a resale as it'll be significantly less expensive and (2) check out the Timeshare Users Groups (www.tug2.net) before you buy, there's lot of info on how to buy or even pick up a "free" timeshare.

Good shopping!

Dick Taylor

 

[jeff968]

I agree with all Dick's comments except that Orange lake is a nice resort. We stayed there for a week and were not impressed.

Given the two, I would choose the Villages since the resort is newer and not quite as large and overly large is not a plus in my eyes. That said, I think the Marriotts and Hiltons are even nicer. We were at the Hilton Parc Soleil last week and visited friends at the Vistana villages. Althought the villages are very nice the Hilton is much nicer and has a villa that is about 20% larger but I guess it all depends on what you are looking for.

Good luck.

BTW, you may have better luck with posts like this in the "Orlando Hotels and Accomodations section" of this site. You are in the "reviews" area.

 

[bankr63]

Everything that Dick says is bang on. Make sure you educate yourself on TUG before even thinking about buying. Also, don't shy away from the TUG forums as well; http://tugbbs.com/forums/ where you will get a ton of advice from other owners.

Our first exposure to a timeshare was at the Villages and sometime later we bought at Vistana Resort (paid $1 for the deed). We also own a week at Silver Lake resort on the other side of WDW. We like the feel of the larger SVR over SVV, and although the resort is older, the units are now all recently refurbished, and no threat of special assessments for many years to come.

There are lots of great strategies to get the most out of timesharing at the lowest cost. You owe it to yourself to get educated first! For instance, if you do plan to trade around, and might want Disney VC, then I would suggest maybe buying outside of Orlando. Orlando owners of other TS are restricted from trading into Disney properties. And with the exception of DVC, Orlando tends to be a pretty easy trade to get at most times of the year (we never have problems trading for additional units for our extended family on March break).

I hear Parc Soleil is really nice (brand new), but I am pretty sure it is all highrise, and that is off your list right away. The other two Hiltons are both low rise, and really nice too though.

Good luck with your purchase!