anyone with a timeshare/vacation club

iluvmylab · February 2012

Where is it?

Pros?

Cons?

Mind sharing the cost?

Name of company?

shorty20 · February 2012

I don't personally have one, but my parents do.

Theirs is through RCI I believe and it's based in Orlando. I have no clue about the cost, but our family has got a ton of use out of it. Besides staying in Orlando numerous times, my dad has been able to trade weeks and has gotten me and my siblings in places like Hawaii, near Yellowstone, St. Croix, Vermont, Virginiia Beach, Williamsburg, Atlantic City, Deep Creek Lake, MD, Key Largo, Phoenix and Branson, MO. There may be others I'm missing. So those are definitely pros.

I'm sure my dad could give you some cons, but from my perspective at least, there are none

Jells2dot0 · February 2012

I own 2 through Starwood Vacation Network. They partner up with Interval International to vacation outside of Starwood. I originally bought in St. John USVI and then one in Palm Springs. I am in the process of selling my unit in St. John and have picked one up in its place in Scottsdale, AZ. I learned years later to never buy direct, always buy resale. I picked up my Scottsdale unit in the season I want for $2500 with $400/year in maintenance. I paid over $10K for my St. John unit and it has $1500/maintenance in a lower season. There are SO many ways to make the system work for you- check out www.tug2.net. Sign up and use the chat boards. Do your research to get what you want, when you want, in the place you want. There are people on there that own many timeshares, have only bought resale, and travel to Hawaii every year, several time per year, for pennies on the dollar. My portfolio is now somewhat balanced- I have the right amount of trading power and own every other year units, which is what I aimed for to have my family join me on vacation.

Earls_Bride · February 2012

Where is it?

Marriott Kauai Beach Club (www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lihka-marriotts-kauai-beach-club)

Pros?

We LOVE the resort (and all of Kauai!) so having this timeshare makes it more affordable for us to go every year. Plus it's a large villa that can sleep up to 5 people, has 2 separate units in one so one side can be locked off for privacy or you can rent the other side out if you don't need it. We also have the option of trading our week for 100,000 Marriott points (which we've done once) or trading it for another property anywhere in the world through Interval (which we've done once as well, traded for the Marriott Ko Olina on Oahu), plus if you do this, you get a bonus week to use at a choice of resorts for only $199 for the week (which we used for the Royal Haciendas in Playa del Carmen which was amazing!).

Cons?

The biggest con is the maintenance fee. It turned out to be much more than expected due to major renovations of the resort. However, they will go back down at some point...

Mind sharing the cost?

I think it was around $22K (bought in 2007), it's a 1 bdrm/2 bath villa, oceanview, 1 week per year.

Name of company?

Marriott Vacation Club International

Earls_Bride · February 2012

I agree with Jells though, do your research before buying, and yes definitely look into buying a resale vs. direct. We wish we would've known this previous to buying, would've saved us thousands of $... There are tons of timeshares on the resale market now due to the economy, etc.

alithebride · February 2012

iluvmylab:

Where is it? cancun, mexico (the sister resort of the haciendas mentioned in the PP)

Pros? i get 1 or 2 weeks in december in mexico every year and love it (we do other trips in between-thsi is our relaxing vacay we've exhcanged for a few other places too.

Cons? haven't found one.

Mind sharing the cost? original purchase cost? believe was about 25k. dhs parents bought it for us for an early wedding present as they have one, friends have one, other friends have one, all the same week. we were going to buy one anyway as we love our time with them there. it's great having a group of 8-16 every year-so much fun

NAme of company? Royal resorts and exchange company is interval international

Littlejen22 · February 2012

Earls_Bride:
Where is it?

Marriott Kauai Beach Club (www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lihka-marriotts-kauai-beach-club)

Pros?

We LOVE the resort (and all of Kauai!) so having this timeshare makes it more affordable for us to go every year. Plus it's a large villa that can sleep up to 5 people, has 2 separate units in one so one side can be locked off for privacy or you can rent the other side out if you don't need it. We also have the option of trading our week for 100,000 Marriott points (which we've done once) or trading it for another property anywhere in the world through Interval (which we've done once as well, traded for the Marriott Ko Olina on Oahu), plus if you do this, you get a bonus week to use at a choice of resorts for only $199 for the week (which we used for the Royal Haciendas in Playa del Carmen which was amazing!).

Cons?

The biggest con is the maintenance fee. It turned out to be much more than expected due to major renovations of the resort. However, they will go back down at some point...

Mind sharing the cost?

I think it was around $22K (bought in 2007), it's a 1 bdrm/2 bath villa, oceanview, 1 week per year.

Name of company?

Marriott Vacation Club International

We own Marriott Aruba Surf Club 2 weeks. Ditto the above, we paid about $15k per week pre-construction but it is now selling for closer to $30k per week if you buy directly. My issue is that we are paying maintenance fees that are hurting us, I am a SAHM now and while we love that it forces us to go on great vacations, I would sell one week if I could just to get out of the maintenance fee and have that money back, honestly I would be thrilled if I could get what we paid for it but have not tried to sell just b/c we don't really know where to start. We have awesome trading power and upgraded to the Marriott points system so if we don't use our home resort we use points to trade for other Marriotts and depending on which resort is now many days we can get but for example we can get 2 off weeks of Orlando for trading one of our weeks for no extra cost.

kirnat848 · February 2012

My parents have one through RCI its based in Las Vegas but the only time they used their home location was when they boughtit!

We've gotten a ton of use out of it though and when they go on vacation its typically a trade in (they use a points system) and they go other places. We've gone to Disney World, DR, we'll use it next year for Cocoa Beach and then Hawaii. There are fees involved with trading its only like $170/week and then there are guest certificates they have to purchase when DH and I use them which is $59.

Jells2dot0 · February 2012

The economy has had a huge impact on the resale market, as earls said. I mentioned that I paid over $10K for my USVI unit (well over, in fact), but I sold it for $600. Seriously. I could barely give it away. My unit was in the low season, which is when we like to vacation, but it's hard to find someone who wanted it because of hurricane season or having kids. However, a unit in the summer or winter will sell for thousands more and is worth a lot more if you want to rent it or sell it. Just so you know, my unit direct from the developer is selling for over $25K now. Again, I sold mine for $600. My unit in Palm Springs is probably selling for close to $20K now direct from the developer. I bought it pre-construction for around $9K. I could probably sell it for around $2K. It doesn't come with direct buy perks, though. Only a handful of Starwood resorts on the resale market come with direct buy perks- The Westin Kierland and St. John happen to be two of them. Westin Kierland high season units are selling for around $4K-$6K on the resale market. You can't buy a unit direct there anymore. But, the maintenance fees are among the lowest in the network. Again, HIGHLY recommend looking into the resale market. People are giving away their Marriott, Starwood, and Hilton timeshares!

anyone with a timeshare/vacation club

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