Westgate Branson Woods Resorts - Branson, MO -- June 2008

My wife and I checking into Westgates Branson Woods, Branson, MO

WOW! What an exchange this vacation was. We traded our Village at Izaty's II 5 Star timeshare resort in Minnesota to Westgate's Branson Woods 5 Star Resort in Branson, MO for a June week.

This trip was a little bit different from any of the past timeshare vacations that we have taken. We trailered a Honda Motorcycle owned by our daughter together with own our Burgman 400 Scooter. Our plans were to travel the hills of Missouri. It was a fantastic week.

To start with, we checked into Westgate's Branson Woods Resort on June 13th.

The Resort was on top of a very steep hill in Branson with a Security Guard building at the bottom of the hill. A good sign of a resorts integrity, only allowing registered visitors into the resort. Hmmm, how was this going to be on a motorcycle or a scooter?

The next sign of a great resort is always the check-in area. It was in a new building and very spacious, well- lit, and you could tell immediately this was a quality resort.

We were assigned an associate to help with any of our needs. This obviously was a sales person, but he was very nice and accommodating. We did agree to sign up for a time during the week to meet with him about Westgate Resorts knowing full well it would be a sales presentation. The reward would be discounted tickets to one of Branson's many shows.

Check-in went fine. Then we were very curious about our unit. When we saw it, we were delightfully surprised. For the first time of a timeshare vacation, we would be staying in a stand-alone cabin with sleeping facilities for 6 and a lock-off that our daughter used. It was very large and located in a tree-lined drive with other cabins. Wow! again. Another resort with 5 star accommodations.

Since it was a Friday afternoon check-in, we unloaded our daughter's Honda Motorcycle and our Burgman 400 Scooter and settled into our cabin. Then, on our first ride away from the resort, we realized the hills were not a problem, and they actually added to the fun of riding in the area.

The concierge was extremely helpful, providing us with ideas for "bike" trips in the area. They also provided information on activities within the resort such as an evening with wine tasting and cheese. Another evening, a delicious buffet was available, and during the buffet, various Branson show entertainers gave us sneak previews of what their shows would offer. We saw everything from Hawaiian drummers and dancers to Hall of Fame story teller and singer Jim Owen.

Although we enjoyed going to several shows while in Branson, we decided that for our next trip there, we would not go to many shows, but would spend more time on the resort because the facilities were excellent. Also, we would definitely plan for several trips on the "bikes" to the surrounding areas and to the state parks which in Missouri are free. We really wondered if we should be planning for two weeks in Branson instead of only one.

To sum it up, we rode our bikes 300-400 miles in and around Branson which included one day to Eureka, Springs, AR. It was an excellent way for our daughter to gain experience riding her newly purchased Honda and for my wife and I to ride our scooter in Missouri.

In a heartbeat we would recommend this 5 Star II Resort to anyone considering exchanging into Branson, MO.