which section Sheraton Vistana Resort

[Love4pets]

After reading some of the reviews I am a little worried about trading for Sheraton Vistana Resort. I am trading through RCI and have a choice of Sheraton Vistana Resort, The fountains, Holiday Inn Orange Lake west village or Summber bay. I was leaning on Vistana because of the activities for teens. I will have 4 older teenagers and we will be checking in on May 22 for 7 days. Is Vistana that bad for RCI members? If we do stay there which section would be best for us to stay in with the best pool and activties for older teens like 16, 17 and 18. Which building has the bar for me and my husband (we are going to need a drink taking 4 teens). SHould I change my resort to one of the others. Oh and we will be going to Universal more than Disney(one reason I did not choose summer bay). Sorry for all of the questions but I have only been to orlando one time and really want to enjoy this.

 

[ansadler]

After reading some of the reviews I am a little worried about trading for Sheraton Vistana Resort. I am trading through RCI and have a choice of Sheraton Vistana Resort, The fountains, Holiday Inn Orange Lake west village or Summber bay. I was leaning on Vistana because of the activities for teens. I will have 4 older teenagers and we will be checking in on May 22 for 7 days. Is Vistana that bad for RCI members? If we do stay there which section would be best for us to stay in with the best pool and activties for older teens like 16, 17 and 18. Which building has the bar for me and my husband (we are going to need a drink taking 4 teens). SHould I change my resort to one of the others. Oh and we will be going to Universal more than Disney(one reason I did not choose summer bay). Sorry for all of the questions but I have only been to orlando one time and really want to enjoy this.

Go here. You'll get all your questions answered about Sheraton Vistana.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2088957

Good luck! We're staying at Vistana in April and looking forward to it!

 

[Love4pets]

thank you, from the sounds of it I might need to request the cascades if possible. I still dont know where the pool bar is located though

 

[ansadler]

thank you, from the sounds of it I might need to request the cascades if possible. I still dont know where the pool bar is located though

You could call them directly and ask them. I had to call to ask a few questions and they were very helpful.

Good luck.

 

[webprinter]

DH won a trip to WDW at work. They rented a unit at Sheraton Vistana for us. We requested one of the rehabbed units or one of the new sections in advance, but they put us in an older unit which was not very nice. We were told that exchangers received what was left after owners and renters. We told them we were renters, not exchangers but it didn't make any difference. It was okay but I would not exchange into it again. It is also so large that you need a car to get around the resort. On the upside, the staff are very friendly but the cleaning crew does not speak English. We cut our stay short there and went elswhere on our own money.

 

[MiaSRN62]

thank you, from the sounds of it I might need to request the cascades if possible. I still dont know where the pool bar is located though

There are pool bars at a couple pools (Cascades, Fountains, Super Pool).
http://www.starwoodvacationownership.com/sheraton_vistana_resort/dining.jsp#ffc

Cascades and Lakes are 4-5 stories high and have elevators. The Lakes is newly rehabbed and even though it is older than the Cascades, it's more upgraded since it got a major makeover and the Cascades has not yet.

Also newly rehabbed are the Fountains I and II. Springs will be done May/June. All these sections are 3 stories high and have no elevators. So if stairs are a problem, request "ground floor".

I think you'd be happy with requesting a "newly rehabbed" villa.

Traditionally, RCI exchangers have been given last choice in placement requests. But that's not to say it's impossible. I suggest filling out the online Diamond Lane request form about 3-4 weeks prior to arrival :

https://www.mystarcentral.com/services/diamond.jsp?propertyId=01&IM=SVO_RC_DIA_SVR

Also, follow up with a faxed request to the Vistana Room Controller about 3 days prior to arrival :
Fax 407 239 3111

As far as housekeeping speaking English. Some do and some do not. I find that in many FL resorts. If you have a problem, just push the "housekeeping" button on your phone and ask for whatever you need. I've owned there since 1994 and never had any issues with housekeeping. As owners/exchangers we only get cleaning once a week anyway. But anything else you might need is only a phone call away.


Maria

 

[Figment43]

We had a time share at Vistana when I was a kid and I haven't been there in maybe 8 years, so I can't be certain how it is now. But I do remember it being a nice place.

The last time we went, we bought a week from a friend who had two rentals there. It just so happened that someone else bought the other week from her for the same week and same check in date as we did. We were supposed to get the unit in the newer part, but Vistana accidentally gave us the older unit. However, the older unit was still in nice shape.

They have a lot of activities and the staff that we had to deal with was very friendly. It is also not very far from Disney, so you can still take that mid-day break if you want to. And the units have full kitchens, so you can cook for yourself if you don't want to eat out or eat at the clubhouse. They have a mini-market on property, but of course they charge typical inflated mini-mart prices.

All-in-all, I'd say it's a really nice place. But, I've gotten hooked on staying on Disney property now, so I probably won't go back to Vistana any time soon.

 

[starrysky]

Hi

It is a really nice resort but very large.

We stayed in the Fountains 2 and the villa we had was really nice and spacious.

Pool in that section was nice and the food in the restaurants was good.

Only mistake we made was not renting a car which made it a very long walk to the front of the resort and back again.

Shuttles to the parks are expensive after a few days and the times are not great so if we go back we would rent a car.

 

[Dusted]

subscribing

 

[jlp879]

I think you might enjoy Cascades for all the action around the pool. It's bar stays open later than the others, which close at sunset.

The pool there is also very large with a waterfall. There is usually a lot of action around it. However, the Cascades are not refurbished. They won't be done until 2010.

 

[Dusted]

Hello all. I am booked in te cascades for now...I requested a newer room, but doubt they will move me since it's a timeshare exchange.

The pool @ cascades is good? Any pictures?

 

[Meteora]

The pool at Cascades is great! Large, with a waterfall coming down over a bit of a rock "cave." Lots of chairs. There are also a few hammocks lurking around the Cascades area. And we have always found the food at the Cascades bar and grill to be quite nice.

 

[ttfn3]

We enjoy the Fountains section - and always request a newly refurbished room. So far, we have had our requests met (of course, we don't need an elevator, so if that's important to you - it might not be for you). We find the Fountains units to be larger than the Cascades.

As for activities - The Fountains area has a nice pool with water volleyball. Plus, there's a very active teenage hangout with the basketball court, and sand volleyball. The Fountains pool area also has a bar - tho. we prefer to bring our own.

We also like to check out the other pools, and actually enjoy the walk. However, I would definitely get a rental car. I wouldn't want to stay here without one!

 

[popsynic]

I am from the UK, and I want to email the resort directly - but can't find this anywhere - just the generic central reservation email for Starwood Resorts

Does anyone happen to have the direct email address for this resort?

Presume some timeshare owners have this info and can share.

Advance thanks

ta ta for now