Sheraton Vistana Villages
- kimbis
- First Reviewer
- 4 out of 5
- Avg. Member Rating
- 87
- Reviews
-
28
- Photos
Editor Pick
Relaxation after all those Theme Parks!
- October 3, 2009
- Rated 5 of 5 by
Meggysmum from Oxford, United Kingdom
Location-
This hotel is situated on the Southern end of International Drive. It is a set south of the attractions and restaurants which make International drive very busy so it is much quieter than many hotels. I-drive is easily accesible in about 5-8 minutes by car, there is also a stop for the I-drive trolley bus outside the hotel. Seaworld is about 5 minutes dive away, Universal studios area is about 20 minutes north and Disneyland entrance is less than 10 minutes south. The roads are easy and there are no tolls. There is a Publix supermarket about 3 mins drive away. The journey from the International airport takes about 25 minutes and the property is easy to find.
Rooms-
This is an apartment hotel and it has 1 or 2 bedroom apartmaents sleeping up to 4 or 8 people respectively. The 1-bedroom apartments are quite small and require you to use the sofa-bed in the lounge area, since there was a dining table in here as well we found it a bit difficult to get around at night. There is a good size bathroom and kitchen area and a balcony. The decor is fairly heavy and dark for british taste but we found several places in the US are like this so it is not off-putting. If you can afford it try to go for a 2-bedroom apartment. They are HUGE! Great kitchen, laundry area with washing machine and tumble dryer, two bathrooms and a great whirlpool bath in the master bedroom. There is everything you could need, loads of towels, toiletries, a safe, TVs everywhere and a real bonus was daily housekeeping so even if we had left in a hurry in the morning to get to the parks early we walked back in to a clean apartment, they even stacked the dishwasher and put it on one morning when we forgot! The rooms are accessed like a motel from external walkways with lifts.
Facilities-
Free car-parking, it was always very easy to park next to our apartment building. I felt even if it was absolutely full the parking would be more than adequate.
Magnificent swimming pool- there is a lovely pool complex with additional adults pool and jacuzzi. The children loved the waterfall that they could swim under. We found the pool was always quiet when we were there. I believe there is another smaller pool on the other side of the complex where there are some new blocks but we never ventured over there.
Dive-in movies-the hotel project a movie onto a big screen one night a week in the pool area.
There is also a small fitness area, table tennis and a lake to walk around.
There is also a small deli on site but it looked pricey so we stocked up at the local Publix for essentials.
Security-the hotel uses a security gate for access so you are given a window notice to display in your car to allow easy entrance.
My Opinion-
We loved the space offered here over a normal hotel room. It did cost extra but allowed great relaxation after days at the park. We didn't cook as there are great,cheap restaurants close by but we did keep our fridge stocked with water and had breakfast in our apartment so saved a bit of money that way. The close proximity to Disney and Seaworld was brilliant and we could get to some disney areas quicker than friends who have stayed on the Disney site and you certainly get more value for money at the Sheraton. Hopefully we will be returning soon!
From journal Less Obvious Orlando
Prepare yourself!
- July 13, 2009
- Rated 3 of 5 by
a traveler from Travelocity.com
Although the place was nice, it had a couple of -'s. The main one is the rude timeshare staff! They called at 8:00 A.M. on Sat. morning wanting to educate us about the facility nicely my husband told them we were not interested then a different person called back around 9:15, and was trying to do the same... my husband cut him off and told them someone had woke us up and hour earlier trying to give the same speech. He demanded to know who it was, my husband hung up on him and it didn't stop there they came to the door wanting to make it better! REALLY HOW CAN YOU MAKE IT BETTER!!! It does't stop there, we woke up around 10:30 b/c the freakin maid was coming to clean and just LET HERSELF IN!!! It get's better...We get a rude phone call from the front desk asking us what we were doing there.... umm hello we paid for the room. She states it was not noted on their books that our room was rented but that we had to be out by 11:00. Now when we checked we in we asked for a late check out (1:00) she told us there was no such thing.... WOW
Anyways,,, make sure you take bathroom cleaner for the hot tub and the shower, the maids have no clue how to use Tilex for the mold nor soap scum remover for the hot tub! IT WAS NASTY!!!
Will try another hotel next time...
- June 29, 2009
- Rated 3 of 5 by
a traveler from Travelocity.com
We stayed for a weekend with a child. Overall, it was OK. The room was nice/clean but the external hallways and elevator were dirty and in need of repair. The frig would not get cold enough to maintain perishables, there was not a coffee pot in the room when we arrived and we had to call for one. Had to call for ice each day because the frig wouldn't maintain our food. There was not a blanket for the fold out couch. With each of these calls we were told that they had a lot of calls and that we would have to wait; the blanket never came despite a follow-up call. The coffee pot and ice each came with decent timeliness. We could live without a blanket, coffee not so much... We were provided one packet of coffee and there was a note (next to a missing coffee pot) reading, "enjoy your first pot of coffee on us.." and went on to read that we would have to purchase future coffee from the hotel. This was not impressive but once we learned that the hotel was primarily a time share and a lot of the residence were "owners", we were clued into the reason for the lack of concern over customer satisfaction. The large pool that was a huge selling point for us was closed during our stay for "sanitation" reasons and everyone from the entire huge complex were forced to use the kiddie pool... I don't think I need to describe that experience. The grounds were beautiful and the inside of the room showed that the effort and intention for a great experience was there but it definately lacked a key element - I think management needs some insight... will try another hotel next time.
would stay again
- June 17, 2009
- Rated 5 of 5 by
a traveler from Travelocity.com
We enjoyed our stay at this resort,me and two teenage girls.Our villa was clean,had washer and dryer,and kitchen,we had breakfast and lunch everyday right there ,and then caught the I ride trolley to main attractions,which was very handed.I would stay here again.The only thing i would do different,or suggest if anyone plans on staying here,bring your own pillows!The pillows were not comfy.Everything else was fine.
loved it!
- June 12, 2009
- Rated 5 of 5 by
a traveler from Travelocity.com
Loved the 2 bedroom condo I stayed in with my daughter and her 5 year old son. The kitchen was fully equiped and we ate all our breakfasts and several other meals there. When we returned from our daily excursions the rooms were neat and clean and with a 5 yr. old we did leave them a mess. We had problems with one toilet not working and it was immediately fixed after we called the front desk. There was a little store on the property where we bought most of our breakfast food. The fruit and other goods were really fresh and it was so convenient. I was extremely pleased and would recommend the Sheraton Vistana Villages to anyone staying the Orlando area.