Starwood Lurker

I can't imagine that having to attend a vacation ownership presentation would be mandatory for any guest using Starpoints.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Eujeanie

How long has it been that you've been able to earn points on Vistana stays?

I recall about 7 years ago being on a plane to Orlando, booked at the Hilton GVC at Sea World, and sitting next to someone who worked for Starwood. He (jokingly) asked why we weren't staying at an SPG property, and I told him that they didn't participate in the program and it was a dealbreaker for me to not get points for a stay.

So I'm kinda thinking I was personally responsible for the change.

EnvoyBoy

This was my experience when I stayed at recently as late January 2014. Maid service and toiletries, etc. Sales pitch only if you go cash in your "gift" but thanks to FT I didn't bother. There's an SPG elite check-in room next to the front desk but when I went to check-in and check-out, the room was overrun with families and I just waited in the normal line. At check-in, I felt as though they were trolling hard for details to help with a sales pitch but I was pretty upfront that I was there for business, on my own without family, and only there because it was a Starwood property. That seemed to dampen their enthusiasm.

All that said, this is not a regular hotel and don't expect those services. I was there for three days and each morning asked for feather pillows and never got them. On third day, I gave asked to speak directly with housekeeping and they refused to put me through and said there were too busy to answer the phone. The people on the phone are hotel operators, not guest services folks. Service is a foreign concept here. One day housekeeping didn't show up until after 5pm, etc.

Enjoy the suite and kitchen and the convenient location but don't have "hotel" expectations.

jake108

Everybody is a travel writer these days-some of us used to be paid for it.
Lurking about, besides fake reviewers, may be apologists for some hospitality provides as well. Again, caveat...

PHL

Had a recent 3 night stay at this property. I have to say it was a very great experience. A few days prior to arrival I received an email from the hotel pre-welcoming me, asking if I needed any additional info, etc. Nowhere did the email suggest or mention any kind of time share presentation.

When I arrived, my check in receptionist was the same fella who sent the email (I recognized his name on his tag). He was able to move us to a unit in building 1 near the entrance, pool and restaurant. He also was able to get our checkout extended from 10am to 12pm. This property, as has been mentioned, does not allow the 4pm SPG elite late check out time.

He said the welcome desk had a gift for us, and I sensed that was probably related to the timeshare pitch but I didn't have time to see them right away. We went to our 2 BR suite. It was well appointed with a full king size bed room with jacuzzi, full bath, extra sink area and access to the balcony. There was also a 2 double bed room also with a bathroom. The main area included a kitchen, dining area and living room area. There was also a washer/dryer which came in handy.

We did stop by the welcome desk the next day and was offered a $150 cash reward for attending a 90 minute morning presentation. Our stay was relatively short with a lot of morning activities planned, so we never took them up on it. They never called or pushed it beyond the initial offer.

There is bus transportation to/from Disney and other area attractions, but they are on a limited schedule. You can get the times from the transportation desk, and be sure to let them know 12 hours in advance of when you need to go from the hotel to attraction. For Magic Kingdom, their bus will drop you at Epcot where you then take the monorail. There is no airport shuttle, so the only real option if you don't have your own car is to arrange a taxi.

Overall, we would absolutely stay there again. The rate was incredible (AAA $150/night in late August).

ken555

I stayed at this resort recently and while the unit itself was well maintained and quite nice, I found the staff to have some questionable performances. For instance:

- the maid knocked and opened the door immediately (no time to even stand up and go to the door). if I hadn't had the door secured the maid would have found me in a rather informal attire (to say the least)

- the restaurant mixed up sweetened ice tea and unsweetened ice tea. while this may not seem like a big deal to most of you, it's rather an important distinction for a diabetic. it was obvious they didn't label the ice tea so the staff simply guessed which was which...not good, and clearly opens the resort up to a liability concern (and more importantly could impact guest health issues).

- the elevators smelled, had broken parts, generally dirty. while the elevator functioned, it wasn't pleasant. I stayed in three resorts in Orlando during my stay (pre-conference, conference, and post-conference) and this resort had the worst infrastructure of all (barring the loud A/C at another resort).

I stay at SVN properties routinely as I'm an SVN owner, but I also stay at numerous SPG properties throughout the year. Generally speaking, SVN properties have nice interior rooms and decent staff, but SPG hotel/resorts have nicer infrastructure, better trained staff, and overall a better product. I normally ignore these issues as I prefer the units at SVN resorts much more over a standard hotel room (or even an upgraded "suite", which usually isn't all that much better than a hotel room, at least for the USA...when overseas, it's all different).

Ironically, I wasn't going to bother posting my experience at this property until this morning when I realized that the hotel manager neglected to follow-up with me, as promised by his staff on two occasions (directly after the maid opened the door and at check-out). I only realized this failure to communicate when I submitted the automated survey yesterday about my stay and received an email reply from the hotel manager this morning. While it's good to have a personal response, he proceeded to delegate the failures I experienced to his department heads and I was left with the impression that my concerns would be ignored. And, he neglected to follow-up immediately after my stay (which may be indicative of the general management of this resort). So, I thought it time to post here.

It's a nice resort. However, having stayed at a number of Orlando properties over the years I wouldn't necessarily choose this resort in future when paying cash. I've had better experiences at two Marriott timeshares nearby, and enjoyed my stay at other hotels as well. Hopefully SVV will improve their staffing issues which would solve my most important concerns.

thaliajen

I got an offer for this place that says a 4 night's stay for $269. It does say we pay extra for housekeeping, and it also includes 5,000 Starpoints or a 100 GC for Planet Hollywood. My Hubby isn't a big traveler but he likes the deal. Other than the no-housekeeping or (pay extra b/c of this deal) the only bothersome thing I see is book 90 days in advance. We never book that far ahead.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has booked this? It's from Sheraton Vacations and came a week or so ago in the mail. I checked out the property online and it seems pretty nice for our family of 3. If we can work out the 90 day thing, I'm hoping this will work.

svo242

I did something like this a few years ago. It is a great resort! Just note that that it is a sales package so you will have to go to a meeting/sales pitch, which lasts about 90 minutes.

They opened a brand new sales center on the top floor of building 25 last year (the nicest and newest building!), and to my understanding, those who go on a sales package like this get placed in building 25 so they can simply take the elevator/stairs right up to their meeting. The units in this building are beautiful, and on the ground floor there are tons of amenities including a market/deli, a computer lounge, a fitness center, and more. There is also a large pool, water slide, and pool bar right outside the building.

thaliajen

We booked for the beginning of May. I was told we'd be in the newest phase- St. Augustine I think it was called. And that it was right outside the kid's pool. I saved the letter confirming the details including the jetted tub b/c not all rooms have them.

We get no housekeeping unless we want to pay extra, and no toiletries, and 5000 points. But they did say there's a store nearby (probably marked up a lot) where we can get dishwashing liquid and Tide, shampoo, etc.

Today after FOUR days I finally got the email confirmation and it is in my husband's name! I called, it was addresses to me, I think they put it in his name bc I DID put it on his credit card. So I will have to fix that. I want ALL those points going to MY account- my husband doesn't even HAVE one!

I didn't read anything about needing to sit through a presentation, though we DID do one at the Westin Maui years ago. It wasn't in the written info and wasn't mentioned on the phone, so I'll definitely ask about it. We would never buy since I'm already gone so much, and as I'm soon to be Lifetime Plat, I want to stay where my status means something. This property doesn't even do late check-outs or any of the Plat amenities, at least that is what it says.

If my hubby wasn't so Gung-ho about this, I wouldn't do it. I'm not a big Florida fan. Being close to my Lifetime Platinum status, I am not happy that I don't get credit for my nights or stay. But it IS a good deal. And we can change our dates if we pay $50, so if for some reason the rates there drop to $100 a night, I'd happily pay that and get housekeeping AND my stay/nights. I like the 5000 points, but again, need to make sure they put this whole thing in my name.

I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes, and if I think it's worth the trip. So far, it does sound as if they know what they're doing!

Si_Ting_ca

How did your trip go? I got a similar offer, 5,000 pts or $100 gc to Planet Hollywood, and no mention of no housekeeping nor ts presentation.

jix

Completed a stay 3 weeks ago with the 5000 bonus points, but still have not received them despite 2 emails sent to the GM and another specialist from starwood vacation, no replies from any at all.

As for the stay itself, the unit was great and everything was good. They invited me for the presentation for additional points (5k) and I went, but did not purchase anything as I wasn't sure about the SPG/Marriott futures.

3rdworldresident

Any recent (hotel) stay reports?

Thank you

Duke777

I just wrapped a 4 night stay. I booked a 2 bedroom villa and used the Citi 4th night free benefit.

Overall, I had low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. We received a Villa on the 2nd floor. It was spacious and comfortable. There was a full kitchen and supplies, large living room, enclosed balcony with table for 4, a master with a king bed, and a guest bedroom with 2 doubles and attached bathroom. There's also a washer and drier in unit. It felt like a nice Sheraton to me and was clean.

The complex is huge but the resort offers a shuttle from the welcome center. We needed to use the shuttle a few times, and they were very responsive.

I received 500 points for welcome amenity (instead of free breakfast for 2 at Zimmy's cafe, which is a buffet I believe). I also made a Green Choice and should received 500 points a night. When I asked the front desk, I was told I would receive 2 free breakfasts and not 500 points. However, I called later and was told I could select 500 points a night.

The most annoying part of the stay were the daily calls essentially trying to get us to participate in activities and consider a timeshare. One morning, we received a call at 9 am that we hadn't picked up bracelets when we checked in that entitle us to discounts at the resort. We never did pick up the bracelets. The calls tended to come between 830 and 9 am.

The resort is near a bunch of restaurants and convenient to accessing the Disney and Universal parks.

Overall, a pleasant stay. Feel free to ask me more questions.

ddjen11

Plenty reports on Tripadvisor, so just the vac offer experience. Paid $250 for 4 nights, didn't make it within time frame given, paid $50 to extend, got extra night then in. Checked in late Sept, 1 bed Vila with jet tub, big full kitchen with utensils. No welcome pts, 5k for stay, 6.5k for presentation, 500 a day for green. They double posted 6.5k pts then clawed back , would been great.
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3rdworldresident

Thank you.

which one is better between Sheraton Vistana Resort Villas, Lake Buena Vista or Sheraton Vistana Villages Resost Villas?