IME folks seem unnecessarily scared of belt sanders - while they are great for preparation or rough sanding, you can also get a decent finish with them. The only thing to avoid is leaving it sat sanding the same place too long... light pressure and constant movement is the key usually. I have refinished complete table tops with a belt sander, and got quite acceptable results.
(there is also a world of difference between crap and ok belt sanders... my first was a cheap nutool one - mainly plastic construction it did not track well, and so if you put it away and forgot to release the belt tension, it would track the belt half way off the rollers, and you could not adjust it back - i.e. it had deformed in storage!) It was also big, heavy, noisy, and did not actually sand that fast. I replaced it with a s/h makita - half the size and weight but much better build quality. That is far quicker and easier to use - sands faster and better as well).