Last year's flirtation with the idea of owning a timeshare at PH Towers led to a 3-night stay at Westgate's only existing timeshare, Flamingo Bay. This stay would "sell us" on the wonderful world of timeshares. It didn't, for a number of reasons.
First, we checked in early on Friday (2:30, not 4) and was told to come back later, because it was too busy to "pre-register" us. We had a rental car, so this was only an inconvenience, not a problem. Returning at 4:30 we were given a packet of papers to take to the "concierge desk." Here is where they opened the packet, showed us a map, and circled the building where we would be staying, as well as where we should park. They also said we had to meet with Bridget - was 9 AM Sunday good? Uh, no. We are not morning people, and eventually were given an 11 AM appointment. For what? we asked, and they hemmed and hawed and said they'd go over it with us on Sunday.
We drove to our "parking area" where most of the spaces were cordoned off, parked, and lugged our carryons to the unit. The units are 4 to a building, 2 up and 2 down, with a security gate outside. Our security gate was propped open with a rock. We climbed the stairs - they never mentioned stairs, something my arthritic knees weren't happy about, and saw the no smoking sign on the door. OK, we're smokers, and weren't told the villas were all no smoking, but there were outside "common areas" where one could smoke.
Inside, the unit looked like a model for a very bland suburban condo, down to the plastic vases of plastic flowers on the tables. It seemed clean, and did have all the amenities promised - fridge, range, dishwasher, and washer and dryer; place settings for 4 and same basic pots and pyrex-type pans.
The light and ceiling fan switches were strangely located and took some experimenting to figure out- for example, the light and ceiling fan switches for the bedroom are located outside of the room, next to the front door, and one of them turns on the electric plugs at the head of the bed. Since the lamps and clock-radio weren't plugged in, this took a few minutes to figure out!
The noise level was a factor in our dissatisfaction. First, the neighbors were very loud, screaming and shouting starting at 7 AM. Next, a fist pounding on our door at 9 AM - it sounded like we were being raided! - turned out to be someone trying to find our neighbors. It seems the security gate was propped open again. We called security, who said there were wedding party guests in the other villas. So what? We still want our privacy and quiet!
And speaking of quiet, these units are designed so the air-conditioning units are in the kitchen ceiling- which is right next to the bedroom - and every time it goes on, it sounds like construction-sized trucks are starting up over your head. Not conducive to sleep.
Every time we went out, rocks were holding our security gate open. We removed them 8 times, and a second call to security was brushed off, evidently, as we heard nothing more.
Sunday at 11, we called the front desk to find out about our "appointment" and were told to go to the sales center, which is not labeled as such - it's the "owner's center." Bridget had never heard of us, but after a few minutes, gamely tried to sell us a timeshare. After hearing about the security and noise issues, a manager was brought over, who wrote down our concerns and tried to sell us again. We said no, by the way.
Upon returning to the unit, I read the informational binder, which said we'd be charged for housekeeping ($35/day for 4 days) unless we cleaned the unit, washed all the dishes, stripped the bed, etc. This was not mentioned at checkin, and an extra $140 charge for services not received would have been an unpleasant surprise when we got home.
We heard some grumbles by the pool about the shuttles (booked up and unavailable when wanted) but the other owners/visitors seemed happy. If we were looking for a loud neighborhood where we did all our own work, this would be a great place to stay. But we're not, and it wasn't.
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