Amy K

Review of Sheraton Vistana Villages

I stayed here for 4 nights and have mixed feelings...

I stayed here for 4 nights and have mixed feelings about the resort. I booked through Expedia and didn't realize this was a timeshare until I arrived for my stay. Pros: It was a great deal. I paid around $100 a night. The grounds are nicely manicured. The pools are very nice with plenty of space so it didn't feel crowded. The room is set up like a small apartment. I had a one bedroom with a king bed for me and my son. The couch in the livingroom pulls out into a bed, so there was plenty of space for 2 of us. There was a kitchenette, which I loved. I went to the local grocery store and stocked up on breakfast items and snacks. The lighting in the bathroom is very good. There are jets in the tub. The resort is within a 30 minute drive to all the theme parks. It's close to restaurants and shopping. Cons: They give you gifts at checkin if you agree to attend a timeshare sales presentation. I reluctantly signed up to attend a 90 minute meeting in exchange for a $100 gift card and 2 light sabers for my kiddo. The night before the presentation I was pretty wiped out from 2 days of theme parks. I decided I was going to skip the meeting and sleep in instead. I'm a single mom and really can't afford a timeshare so I knew I was going to say no. I didn't want to sit through 2 hours of high pressure sales at the start of my day when instead all I wanted to do was enjoy my vacation. Apparently this must happen a lot, where people decide to skip. Because at 6:30 am the phone in the room started ringing. I guess this was my wakeup call to ensure my attendance? I didn't ask for a reminder. So I ignored the ringing and went back to sleep. 30 minutes later, the phone starts ringing again! Several more calls roll in for the next hour or so until I get really frustrated and unplugged the phone cord. By that point I was so annoyed that I couldn't go back to sleep. The next morning was checkout time. The phone rang again around 7am. I guess they were going to try and squeeze that presentation into my last day there? Who knows. I didn't answer. I decided not to even checkout in the lobby since I didn't want to speak to any of their staff. We packed our things and I left the room keys on a side table along with a tip for the maids. Here's a side note of other things that happened: someone broke into our rental car on the property. We found the driver's side door wide open. The only thing they took was a pair of sunglasses. We probably forgot to lock the car door, so our mistake. But it's an uncomfortable feeling when that happens. We weren't given any pool towels and I didn't see any out by the pool. It's a mystery to me how other guests had them. The microwave didn't heat very well and was kinda hard to figure out how to use. Sounds funny, but if you stay there you'll see what I mean. The washing machine kept stopping in mid cycle. I finally figured out it was a problem with the lid lock. I had to practically slam the lid to get it to lock. The comforter on the bed was very thin and made of a plastic type of material. The sheets were stiff and smelled like bleach. The bed is very firm. The corkscrew was broken. I called for a new one and they brought one right up, even though it was 10pm. (There's a pro). The power outlet in the bathroom didn't work.
Overall, is this a 4 star resort? I don't think so. It's not a Motel 6 but it's definitely not close to a Four Seasons. I'd give it 3 stars. Right in the middle. And I won't stay here again. I'll pay a little more next time to avoid the sales pitch and hopefully feel a bit more comfortable and secure in my surroundings.