Vista Cay By Millenium — Hotel in Oak Ridge

We went as 3 families of 4 (all adults these days) and all had the executive 3 bed condos booked through TUI. The condos are extremely spacious but differ substantially in layout and facilities. We drew the short straw with a lakeside view in 5024/208 but the balcony furniture appears to have been purchased in the late 70s and I can't imagine it was even comfortable then. The door frame was broken (I guess it had been forced in the past) but it still locked OK.||WiFi was excellent in all condos and the main areas.||Both of the other condos had deep cushioned balcony sets which were very comfortable, ours was anything but and actually spoilt the holiday. Additionally bedrooms 2 and 3 in our apartment were a lot smaller than the other 2, so you need to be lucky to get a decent apartment.||None of the condos had an electric kettle, back to the 70s again with the hob based whistling kettles that take longer to boil then a beginners tortoise race. I ended up spending $30 on one from Walmart and left it for the next lucky guests (left in 5025/305 so interested to see if they nab it or leave it!). Another gripe was that all of the cookers and microwaves had broken displays and the numbers rubbed off the dials, which made it guesswork to get them on to the right temperatures, our first whistling attmept took 30 minutes!||Whilst there we had various issues, including a broken bed on day 1, the first time my wife and I have slept close together for a while as it dropped to the floor in the middle! Maintenance came out on the Sunday and repaired it (it's hard to believe it hadn't been noticed before as it appeared to have been previously contructed by a team of 4 year olds with plastic tools!||A couple of toilet blockages were quickly sorted and a broken bathroom lock replaced within a couple of hours. The only thing which took a long time to sort was the lift call down button, which didn't work until the last couple of days, but it was an easy work around to use the up button and apologise to anyone we stopped on their way up!||Reception were very good, always helpful and they will accept Amazon deliveries for you which is useful for us UKers if you take out a 30 day US prime trial.||The pool area was never crowded and always clean, however the bar was expensive for drinks and they ban you bringing your own beers in so they can try and fleece you for theirs. The Half Barrel Beer Project is a short walk away and similarly priced but with a much better selection. Either allow drinks at the pool or don't, forcing your stuff just annoys people.||The path at the lakeside is a quick way to Publix, but it's not in great shape or well lit and my wife fell on our way back one night, and we've just found out she's been walking the parks with a broken toe for 2 weeks :-(||The location of the condos is excellent for Universal, Seaworld and International Drive but a bit far for Disney unless you are driving. Uber/Lyft were both readily available and well priced for the parks and evenings out, always check both though as the prices fluctuate a lot.||We did see one alligator swimming in the lake, but had to resort to AI to scare the folks at home.||We all agreed we'd happily come back but we'd need a few guarantees about the furnishings...

Photos attached of how we entered our room. Building 4013, arm 210. Mold on ceilings in hall bath, hair and scum in shower in master bath, paint cans left in the closet..we were a group of 5 adults and 3 very young children in the 3-bedroom suite. AC was not working the entire 6 days we were there even though they call themselves fixing it. Dishwasher stopped working, took them hours to come and fix it. While not super necessary, the oven light did not work. There was a tea kettle on the stove with water still in it when we arrived. Obviously no one in the room had even used it yet. Proof that no one came to check or clean the room before we arrived. Asking for amenities took hours to the next day to receive such as dishwasher pods, coffee filters, etc. The rep we had for our Ascendant presentation, Juan(I believe) did not listen to us. Told us that our low tier program with them is the reason we were having the issues we were having. We explained that it’s our BASIC right to have a working AC and a CLEAN ROOM. The rep only bragged to us about his trips with his wife, showing videos repeatedly videos of their trips on the iPad, and how he owns two different timeshares and how he pays for everything for his entire family and his lobster dinners and unlimited drinks. He was not able to empathize with everyday people like us. He continued to state that we spend $50-60 on fast food places like Chick Fil a every month…umm sir no…we don’t..Do you SEE how the economy is right now? He also promised us free Sea World passes for my group and stated how much money it was going to be but that he’d do it anyway…he didn’t . We are looking for that follow through as well. Calling Ascendant prior to the trip, 3 times, asking for an email confirmation about my stay as others were going to be there as well, was told it takes 72hrs to get a simple email confirmation. Called the property directly and received it. No one explained how to access the pool because our key cards could not be used. The pool needs to be drained and cleaned properly. Same with the Jacuzzi. It also needs a good resurfacing. That’s was the only plus to this entire trip and the fact someone came over to let us in our room after one of keys stopped working. This was our first stay using Ascendant with Vista Cay and the concern they have for us does not exist. It’s seems they don’t care about not wanting to keep clients or least don’t care about the ones paying $45-50k for the Diamond club. They sell all day, everyday to families yet don’t know how to provide proper customer service to keep anyone or at least be more understanding. One of my jobs is in the food industry and when something isn’t right for a customer…we fix it, immediately and compensate people for their trouble ESPECIALLY if it was our fault. No one has reached out asking about that for us. I’m going to keep sending this info out on every platform until something is done. We had Discovery through Wyndham..who also owns Ascendant, not even the top tier program at all, and we were treated with excellence as if we were the highest paying members. Ascendant..you...

We have stayed at Vista Cay around 3 times previously.|We like the location and were looking forward to seeing the upgrades in the pool area.||We tried to book the Reserve but felt the cost was not justified.||We booked through Virgin travel .|We arrived from a 9 hour flight plus 3 hours going through the airport plus travelling from it .||The first condo we were sent to was on the ground floor , had a pool table , which was unveiled after opening animal print curtains.|As for the decor it looked liked it was straight out the 1980’s .|Burgundy and brown plus plastic flower arrangements , an attempt at a 4 poster bed was unveiled in the master suite .|Anyway , we went back to reception explained that it was just not acceptable as we had booked a premium suite.||Credit due to the chap on reception he gave us another 3 bed condo in 5025 to look at and that was perfectly acceptable..||From then on we had a wonderful time . The beds at the pool could be a bit hit or miss depending when you arrived .|The refurbished pool area was lovely, I would suggest more sun umbrellas as there are not enough.||Had an incident with an overzealous staff member “patrolling “ the pool area looking for people bringing in their own alcohol . This was resolved when I pointed out that we had actually purchased the drinks from the bar and I suggested he concentrate more on other duties like removing towels from sun loungers that no one had been near for a few hours .|Apart from that we had a lovely time and the rest of the staff were excellent.|Looking to return in the next year or two and shall be happy to stay here.||One last thing from a security point of view , one of the reasons we booked here was as it is gated , not maned by a staff member unfortunately but you require a code , we were disappointed that at least half of the time during our 2 week stay that the gates were permanently open, allowing anyone access.|Not a big deal but I had an incident many years ago in a resort ( floridays ) which is NOT gated , when my children were younger and feel especially for families that are using this resort , if their children are walking about the resort , I feel the more security the better, as we unfortunately live in a world that is not changing for the better, in my opinion.|On a plus side I did see a security buggy a few times during the night when I was trying to adjust to the new time zone .||Publix , chic fil an and other food outlets ( pizza ) within 5 min drive , a walgreens walking distance if you don’t...