Marriott's Grande Vista Reviews & Ratings

We are marriott owners and own two of their timeshares. We were very dissappointed after exchanging into the Grande Vista for the week of December 27 - January 3. We stayed at this resort in 2004 and found it to be a 5 star and the units were well maintained. The grounds are well maintained but the unit building we stayed in was indeed need of updating. The lockoff in which my daughter and friend stayed in was loaded with small bugs and the vanity door was broken off. They were very quick in repairing the door and spraying for the bugs. The only thing is that the bugs returned after 2 days and I just went to the store and bought our own bug spray to keep it under control. Our unit in Building 87 was also in need of updating. We also had bugs in the kitchen area and we again called maintenance to spray. They promptly came and sprayed but I felt this was an inconvenience as we were constantly calling for them to respray. We also had a problem with the cleanliness of the room. It looked like they were rushing to get the units cleaned and missed what they thought was cleaned. Our bathroom toilet had not been cleaned from our previous tenants. I felt uncomfortable in this unit because I felt it needed a good cleaning. I called to have this unit cleaned every other day for $43.00 a day. I can assure you that I have stayed at many marriott's over the years and never ran into this problem. This timeshare should not be rated a 5 star until they refurbish all the units.

Just returned from a weeks stay and it was fantastic. Every single staff member we encountered was friendly and helpful. The villa was large, clean and very comfortable - the beds were extremely comfortable. Lot of activities for children and adults. Quiet and restful. We will certainly be staying here again!

Spent a week in July 2008 and enjoyed the property. Spent much more time at the local sites (Disney) than on the resort property, but great place to headquarter from for the week. The kitchen allowed for breakfast, lunch and dinner most days. Stayed in building 78 and enjoyed this side of the property as we did not feel that we were on a huge property (also had a gas grill in common area). Pool area was fun (could have been cleaned up better for the next day) and our kids enjoyed the water cannons along with few of the kids activities.

Just came back from a wonderful week in Orlando. We stayed in building 46 which overlooked the west pool area. The rooms are very clean and spacious. The pools are geared towards family fun. Only few restaurants on site and a very limited menu of burgers, sandwiches,pizza. The grounds are well maintained and there are several activities for children as well as kids camp. Workout area is above average. The property is very conveniently located to I4/International Blvd/SeaWorld/Disney/Malls.

Originally put in building 97 which was terrible: smelled of mildew, dated carpet, tile, and showers. Transferred to building 86 after lots of negotiation. Woken up at 3 am the second night by drunk college kids above us. Pools were over-croweded with no seats available by 10:00 am. Grounds are pretty, and well maintained, room in bldg, 86 was very nice with down comforters on bed. Would NEVER buy into a points timeshare due to the uncertainty of accommmodation. Worth the $900 we paid on Redweek for a 2 bedroom. Overall, would not pay more than $1000 for a week, the complex is too large and the staff is too complacent. Best buildings are 81-85, anywhere else is a hike to a pool. Buildings 95-100 are dated and Very far from the pool. DON'T let the front desk fool you into taking a villa in 95-100: I heard 2 separate desk clerks say that area was their favorite to 2 different unsuspecting guests. (a joke considering these are the oldest buildings farthest from the action) I would never buy from Marriot because of the actions of the front desk.

Absolutely gorgeous resort. The rooms are unreal the views are breathtaking the units are pretty large. Its a large resort. Nice golf. Beautiful pool! Will always go back!! To those snobby people who say some people must have never stayed at a 5 star resort to rate this a 5 star. Ive been to some places that couldn't even call themselves 1 star and haved walked out so this is pretty close to perfect. There is no place in the world that can ever be "PERFECT" because certain circumstances do happen sometimes that are not controllable by management.

Lpolmann 1/08

If you've got kids, this is the place for you!!

Great indoor play area with game room - My children spent hours happily playing while my husband and I chatted and read on the comfy couches set up nearby. We had great weather, but it was nice to know that they'd have something to do if not!

Lake with Paddle Boats - paddle boats shaped like pirate ships and ducks which gave us one more thing to do on site.

Events and activities for kids - We didn't take advantage of all of the kid's activities, but my kids absolutely loved making s'mores and singing songs around the campfire on the beach one night.

Pools and Beach - I like the beach, my husband likes the pool. It was nice to have a choice of where to park our lounge chairs.

CLOSE TO DISNEY! - We spent three days at the parks and what an easy 15 minute drive!

Resort Photographer - I loved this service because who has time to schedule family portraits?!!! We took advantage of the service and got some really nice shots.

Nice units - Our two bedroom unit was very spacious which allowed our three little ones to stay in one bedroom with two queens sized beds and my husband and I got our own room with a separate screened in porch and jacuzzi tub. The furnishings were beautiful -nice furniture and granite countertops throughout. The pools were warm and the grounds were gorgeous.

But what sold us most on this resort is the fact that the staff was very "kid friendly." They went out of their way to accomodate children. My daughter had an accident while in the game room and was crying because she was so embarrased. A Marriott employee saw what had happened and gave her a handful of tokens because she felt so bad for her!

On a separate occasion, I took my three kids to the on-site rock climbing wall. My 8 year old and 6 year old were big enough to do it themselves, but my three and a half year old did not quite meet the weight restriction. The Marriott employee in charge of the wall could have just said, "Sorry, she's too small" and left me to deal with the temper tantrum to follow. Instead, he actually climbed up the rock wall with her to ensure her safety and lift her spirits, referring to her as "princess" the whole time.

Grande Vista may not cater as well to those who want to be served drinks at the pool, but they sure do a great job catering to families with young children! :)

My only complaint is that they don't have a full service spa for us tired moms to pamper ourselves in!!!! (though they do have massage rooms).

Good luck!

My family just spent two nights at the Grande Vista. We had a two bedroom and three bedroom villa. I had called ahead to request units close to the main pool but did not receive them. We had to wait almost three hours (arrived at 2:30 pm) to get into our villas and they were driving distance away from the main pool. The front desk did give us a $100 credit to be used at the resort.

The rooms were in good condition although the resort is over built and I cannot imagine what it would be like during the busy season.

Good location close to sea World and other Orlando locations but I would not chose this resort as a destination vacation.

Stayed there 3 weeks in Feb/March of 07. Locked off our unit plus traded for the 3rd week.

Excellent resort! (If you don't get a new or newly renovated room then go back to the front desk.)

Faldo golf school facility is great! If you are a golfer you can buy a bag of balls then pitch, chip, or hit sand shots to practice greens before you go the the driving range.

Nicks Grill- mediocre at best. I recommend off premises restaurants. There is a pizza hut and small deli for light meals. Light house bar is cool!

Lake is beautiful. The 2 larger pool areas are very nice as well.

Great location near SeaWorld and close to Disney as well.

In response to user Riggins review, this is not a hotel. If it were a hotel then room service, etc. would be an expectation. Daily maid service is available if you want to pay for it. Timeshare resorts are not service oriented to the degree of hotels and one shouldn't expect such. Pool service was available be the pool nearest to where we stayed. The resort and facilities are very nice and it is a great location. As stated earlier in my review the restaurant is not first class but everything else about the resort is, for a timeshare. (I have stayed at a number of timeshares including other Marriott's, as well as a number of top notch hotels with work travel.)

Im a Marriott owner and love Marriott but this is not a 5 star resort. There are close to 2000 total units. Its a very large resort but there is only 1 restaurant and they dont do room service. The only place that does room service is an onsite Pizza Hut, which is ok but I dont want pizza every day. Also, I never once saw any sort of pool service. If you want a drink then youll have to go get one. (not 5 star service).

I requested a high floor with a lake or pool view weeks in advance and got a low floor with a view of power lines. There is also no maid service at all during the stay.

On a positive note, the rooms are clean and there are many places to eat within a few mile radius, but I was very dissapointed in the lack of facilities at this resort. People who rated this a 5 star resort have never been to a true 5 star resort. Trust me, read the other reviews

My family loved it. Especially the restaurant on grounds. The mellow pool in the back with the bar is beautiful. Great for kids.

The Grande Vista was awesome, from check-in to check-out! The 3 bedroom villa was huge, with two balconies and an efficiency kitchen in the lock-off bedroom, in additon to the full kitchen in the 2 bedroom section. The villa was extremely clean, as were all the common areas. This resort has fantastic pools for both children and adults. The Copa Loca bar and grill served decent food and drinks, reasonably priced. The activities for kids were plentiful and well organized. We would stay here again in a heartbeat!!!

Stayed in a 2/2 (Unit #3131) bottom floor unit during Spring Break.

Pro's: 1. Rooms were in great shape and had a lot of room for our family of 5 (could easily accomodate 8). Everything was in working order. 2. Parking right outside of the unit 3. Kids enjoyed the activities 4. Very close to Sea World and Universal; 10- 12 minutes from rest of the Disney parks. 5. NO BUGS! Don't know how they are able to minimize the amount of bugs with all of the water they have on the property.

Con's: 1. Pool service was lacking to non-existent. If you wanted a drink you went and got it yourself; 2. Golf course. You would think they would provide you with transportation/shuttle service to their "on-property" Faldo golf course or across the street Grande Pines GC. 3. Small washer and dryer. Dryer took forever to dry. 4. The DVD player needed to be controlled by hand (universal remote didn't cut it). There is a blockbuster 2 miles from the property. 5. Would have liked to have a walk out patio instead of a screeneed in one.

Overall a good property and we would stay here again.

Great Resort! We have stayed at lots of Resorts in ORLANDO and we had the best time ever on Grande Vista! Food is Great, Customer Service ROOMS are Excellent!!! Pools are very clean and well kept, Hey tell me about the pina coladas! ther ROCK! We loved it! and will be back soon! AAA+++ GREAT JOB MARRIOTT!!

We had a 2 bedroom in a newer building and it was very nice. I have been traveling by timeshare for 8+ years and let me give you some advice. You don't have to take the first unit assigned to you. Ask the front desk if you can see the unit first, if it is not what you want ask for another until you like what you see. The people that complain about units or unit location don't play the game the right way. If you don't own at that resort of course they are going to give you run of the house rooms. Just be polite and ask for the key to inspect the room, view, location etc. The Grande Vista is a spectacular resort in Orlando. The rooms are spacious and well appointed.

Here is the deal! I know someone that use to work at Grande Vista and has provided the inside track on this Marriott Property.

Yes, it is nice. When you enter the resort with the tree-lined promenade, then see a grand vista at the lake and fountain, then see the Faldo Golf Institute -- yes, this is going to be wonderful. And it is.

But, the Resort is a total of 900 Villa's = 46,000 weeks. Some of the buildings are 10 years old. Some of the units are in dire need of being redone. So if you are an Owner, then you have priority for view and villa condition. If you are a trader or Timeshare Sales preview package, then you are at the bottom of the list. People complain about: limited parking, slow elevators, VCR's not DVD's, some wear and tear, and some FL mildew. But when they go to the timeshare presentation, they are shown a full blown Tuscan, Italian Renaissance 3 Bedroom Lake-View model. By no means are they all like that. And, if they did not have Nick's Grille, they would be in a world of hurt, with very limited restaurant facilities.

As a Redweek Trader or Renter, you will be called to view a sales presentation. For the most part, they are Marriott, so you don't get the horrific Westgate-like, beat them up before they can even think of leaving, presentation. Go to the presentation, tell them no, thank them, and then use the $100+ voucher for Disney, Universal, Seaworld, golf or dinner.

Whatever, you will have a Grande Vacation -- no matter what happens it is more relaxing than WORK.

jkmk

We stayed in a 3br - lots of room! Resort has plenty of pools, and activities for the kids.

I am an Marriott owner in Absecon. I found this resort to be disappointing. We were given a ground floor unit in an older building. While it was a "lake view", it wasn't too exciting. The unit (2 BR) was tired and desperately needed updating. At least they have DVD players now compared to the post from July. Like everyone else we fould the pull out sofa to be uncomfortable to the point of unusable. The resort is huge and there is not enough parking. We witnessed many people circling the lot looking for a spot. Pools were nice, the kids said it was warm. We enjoyed an hour renting one of the resorts four person bicycles for $18. Food at Nick's Grill was good and the service above average. The front desk staff was average, but the concierge was very helpful in planning some events. We took a day off from the parks and took an Airboat ride about 45 minutes away. That was a real highlight.

We spent a week here in late March in a one bedroom. In daylight this place is beautiful, but in the dark it was large and confusing.

We arrived in the evening and were given scant directions to our unit, in fact we just seemed to be a bother to the gentleman waiting on us. We could not find the right building and we ended up back out at the gate and the lady there was very helpful.

The unit itself was on the groud floor very near the elevator. We went back to the office and got a different person this time and asked if we could switch to another place above ground level. He quickly made the change and was very pleasant to talk to.

Our one bedroom was clean and very much like the pictures we had seen. The kitchen was well stocked for cooking and dishes.

The little balcony was small, but the 3 of us still enjoyed breakfast out there every morning.

The place is beautiful beyond words, but there are a few things to take note of. Reviews on other sites cautioned about the lack of chairs in the pool area. We found that to be true. We could go out well before noon and still have to scout to find 3 chairs in any of the areas. Highs that week were between 80 and 90 degrees and the water was still very cool in the pools.

And if go out and come back in after 9:00 or 10:00 p.m., good luck parking anywhere near your building. We walked quite some distance back to our building after driving around to even find a place to park 4 of the evenings we were there.

Our king bed was very comfortable, the sleeper sofa left something to be desired. It was great to have free Internet, but could be more up to date and have DVD players instead of only VCPs.

Overall, it was a wonderful week and we would definitely stay there again. I just figure if you share these little things with others and they go in aware of them, then it really won't be that much of a bother to them.

Beautiful location, clean and comfortable resort with lots to do for all ages. Daily activity schedule offers something for everyone. Gorgeous pools. Ask for a unit with a screened in balcony and a lake view.