Best Beach Vacation -Interval International

[kid@heart]

We just got back from a 7-night Eastern cruise on the Magic (Awesome!). My DW wants me to find a place as close to Castaway Cay as possible. She wants to pull her chair into the water and relax. My DD (13), DS (10), and DW (4) will also be coming along. Where would you go? I've been looking at Villa Del Palmar in Cabo San Lucas and it looks pretty good. We like a cool pool (water slide if possible), a good beach, and a game room. I know, we're asking for the moon.

As always, THANKS for the feedback! If anyone has any questions about the cruise just ask. We stayed in a Cat 3 (one bedroom suite). I felt completely spoiled.

 

[CarolMN]

Vero Beach meets your requirements. If you haven't given it a try yet, I'd recommend you do so before you go the II route.

Best wishes -

 

[mj2vacation]

we really liked the Atlantis (Harborside) which can be a tough trade, but well worth it.

Looking at Cancun, the Royal resorts are very nice, and have great pools.

If you want to go a bit further, we loved Marriott's Ko Olina.

 

[Dean]

Aruba for the Marriott's, Cayman's for the Reef & Grand Caymanian, The Royals in Cancun, Paradise Village Puerto Vallarta, a number of FL beach options (VB & West Palms esp), some of the FL panhandle options thought they won't be as nice from a resort standpoint. I can't speak to Cabo. I'd say the closest overall would be the Reef Resort.

 

[zalansky]

DH and I went to Cabo this past March....we didn't like it mainly because the water temperature was so cold we could not swim. It seemed much most desert-like than tropical and we would much rather have tropical like in the Carribean. We both agreed we'd not go back to Cabo and we went for free because DH won the trip through work and everything was paid for! One cool thing was we rented waverunners and went out to the devils arch (i think that is what they call it) and we saw sea lions. If that gives you any indication how cold the water was.

 

[tomandrobin]

My vote is for Westin St. John. The resort itself is ok, but the surrounding beaches and bays are spectacular.

 

[beachblanket]

My vote is for Westin St. John. The resort itself is ok, but the surrounding beaches and bays are spectacular.

Getting a trade into the Westin St. John through II is virtually impossible. Even getting a rental there in the private market through TUG (usually the easiest way to get into a given time share) is very, very hard. The reason is the resort is extremely expensive to buy into and own (resales -- which are rare -- start at around $60K and go up quickly), so owners are heavy users and rarely trade or rent.

 

[icydog]

The new Marriott in Kauai would be the closest match I can think of, depending on where you live. We live in NJ so the schlep to Hawaii, even first class air, was daunting. You are younger so it may not affect you as badly.


If you live on the East Coast I would definately try the Aruba Beach or Surf club. There is an amazing pool and it sits on the beach of a wonderfully warm ocean.

We are going to the Marriott in Palm Beach, Florida in two weeks. I hear that is marvelous as well.

I was interested in Deans answers about the Reef and Grand Caymanian. I might try them myself.

 

[Dean]

I was interested in Deans answers about the Reef and Grand Caymanian. I might try them myself.

The reef is a nice resort but somewhat isolate, it seemed to fit the situation best overall. I'd also say Paradise Village and several Aruban resorts would be close. I left out the Westin for the same reasons mentioned and that the timeshare units across the road and up the hill. I think there are a number of East Coast and Fl panhandle resorts that would fit many of these issues as well including a couple of the Marriott's on HH and the one in West Palm.

 

[icydog]

The reef is a nice resort but somewhat isolate, it seemed to fit the situation best overall. I'd also say Paradise Village and several Aruban resorts would be close. I left out the Westin for the same reasons mentioned and that the timeshare units across the road and up the hill. I think there are a number of East Coast and Fl panhandle resorts that would fit many of these issues as well including a couple of the Marriott's on HH and the one in West Palm.

Hi Dean, what do you mean by this quote across the road and up the hill for the Westin in St Johns??

Also I have started a thread asking which resort you have traded into, your experience there and how many points did it cost. I would be interested in your response either here or on this other thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1227922


Thanks Dean!

 

[Dean]

Hi Dean, what do you mean by this quote across the road and up the hill for the Westin in St Johns??

Also I have started a thread asking which resort you have traded into, your experience there and how many points did it cost. I would be interested in your response either here or on this other thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1227922


Thanks Dean!

From what I'm told the timeshare units are further away and up a very steep hill that is quite the chore to negotiate. I've seen enough complaints without contradiction to believe it's a real issue. It may not be for you and I don't think it would be fore me per se. You may want to get further info from one who knows more about the resort if you're contemplating an exchange there.

 

[tomandrobin]

The St John units are up the hill. Anyone who has difficulty walking or dealing with the hills, this would be an issue. There are shuttles (golf carts) that do run up and down from the villas, but are not reliable. Maybe I misread the thread, I was thinking that they wanted to know where great beaches were. The Beach at the resort is not that great, but almost all of the other beaches are spectacular. After reading the original post again, I think I would have to switch my choice. St John whil beautiful, I didn't find it a kid friendly resort. More for relaxing, snorkling (at other beaches), dining and shopping.

Aruba would probably be a better bet. Atlantis is nice, but it seemed you were looking for a more laid back place.

 

[emerymt]

The new Marriott in Kauai would be the closest match I can think of, depending on where you live. We live in NJ so the schlep to Hawaii, even first class air, was daunting. You are younger so it may not affect you as badly.

I am not a DVC owner, but own a ski resort townhouse out of which we trade weeks like a timeshare, through II. I have tried for two years to get into ANYPLACE on Kauai, and I have put in for an exchange as far in advance as possible (for me, that's a year). From what I understand, everyone loves Kauai so much and there are so few timeshares, trades rarely happen. Especially at the Marriotts.

I have never had trouble getting in anywhere else, I even got DVC (with enough advance planning, that is)!

 

[emerymt]

We have stayed on the Big Island of Hawaii many times- if there is a question about resorts you have in mind there, I might be able help you. We really love it there, beaches, volcanoes, good diving, not so crowded!

 

[Dean]

I am not a DVC owner, but own a ski resort townhouse out of which we trade weeks like a timeshare, through II. I have tried for two years to get into ANYPLACE on Kauai, and I have put in for an exchange as far in advance as possible (for me, that's a year). From what I understand, everyone loves Kauai so much and there are so few timeshares, trades rarely happen. Especially at the Marriotts.

I have never had trouble getting in anywhere else, I even got DVC (with enough advance planning, that is)!

Kauai is not that difficult to get if you can go other than high season. Kauai week 1-40 & 51&52 is High, the rest Mid except low for 49-50. I've continually seen units online for Kauai over the past few months though most pop up at only 2-3 months out. If you've had an ongoing search for Kauai and nothing has matched, there's a problem. Either you're looking for the top weeks or you have a resort quality issue (could be too high OR too low) or you simply don't have enough trade power, possibly all 3. The other option is you're not waiting long enough as most things for most places are deposited in the range of 6 months out with II. Marriott's tend to be 12-13 months and some of the resorts that are in RCI & II, tend to deposit up to 2 years out. Right now there are units for all HI islands for Oct through Dec.

We have stayed on the Big Island of Hawaii many times- if there is a question about resorts you have in mind there, I might be able help you. We really love it there, beaches, volcanoes, good diving, not so crowded!

KCR is one of those that can deposit into II 2 years out.

 

[emerymt]

Has to do with the kid's vacations, of course. We have asked for an exchange as far in advance as possible, AND also waited until the date of the vacation actually passed (both times). I don't know what we would have done if we'd received an exchange, since we gave up and had another place for which we'd already paid! However, we've always gotten into any other place we wanted (even OKW ) during the same time periods.

In talking to others staying at the KCR, they all said it was extremely difficult to trade into Kauai, so it's not just me, I guess. We might do better going at an off-season time, like October, but with the cost of airfare, we have decided Florida is better, so we won't be going back, we've been a lot and I'm "Hawaii-ed out." We've been to Disney quite a few times too, staying at the Marriotts, but from now on it's going to be DVC!

I didn't know II would penalize me for having a nice place. Shouldn't it be up to me if I want to trade in to a less-nice resort? That really is irritating, because due the size of my place and the quality of the home resort, I literally give points away because I can't use them fast enough. On Kauai, the attractions are off-site anyway, I wouldn't have cared that much where I stayed.

 

[Dean]

Has to do with the kid's vacations, of course. We have asked for an exchange as far in advance as possible, AND also waited until the date of the vacation actually passed (both times). I don't know what we would have done if we'd received an exchange, since we gave up and had another place for which we'd already paid! However, we've always gotten into any other place we wanted (even OKW ) during the same time periods.

In talking to others staying at the KCR, they all said it was extremely difficult to trade into Kauai, so it's not just me, I guess. We might do better going at an off-season time, like October, but with the cost of airfare, we have decided Florida is better, so we won't be going back, we've been a lot and I'm "Hawaii-ed out." We've been to Disney quite a few times too, staying at the Marriotts, but from now on it's going to be DVC!

I didn't know II would penalize me for having a nice place. Shouldn't it be up to me if I want to trade in to a less-nice resort? That really is irritating, because due the size of my place and the quality of the home resort, I literally give points away because I can't use them fast enough. On Kauai, the attractions are off-site anyway, I wouldn't have cared that much where I stayed.

When you get to a certain point, II won't confirm you without your OK, I think it's 38 days or very close. Kauai is much tougher than the Big Island but much easier than Maui. Surprisingly, Oahu is pretty easy if you will accept mediocre options and you're not trading something too good. All of HI is easier if you can accept smaller than a 2 BR, same for the Caribbean. But school vacations are certainly prime time as a rule though for HI, not the highest time. I still wondering if you don't have a trade power and/or resort quality issue, maybe too high or too low. However if you got into DVC without trading down in unit size and outside the low demand times of Jan, early Feb, May, last Aug, Sept, Oct and early Dec, it may not be too low. If your trades were during the times I listed, it still might be. Although DVC is actually easier to trade into than many think.

Both II and RCI limit you to not trading up or down too much. Look at it from their standpoint. If you owned at DVC, would you really want to stay at Club Or, many of the Divi resorts or even some of the lower Marriott's. II's internal informations tells a story over and over of people who said they didn't care if a place was of lessor quality than they were giving up then later called and complained about it. They will do it in select circumstances if you insist and they document you really know what you're getting. It's called trading Like for Like. No matter what they say, someone giving up a BMW likely won't be happy with a Yugo.

Back to Kauai. I do searches for HI at least once or twice a week. I routinely see resorts on Kauai, even for summer though relatively short notice. But it varies with which unit I search with. As a rule, I see more availability searching with good weeks at lessor resorts, at least if you exclude the HI Marriott's. I would exclude the Marriott's as it's a skewed population due to the internal trading preference.

BTW, thanks for your posts. It's sparked some good discussion along lines that I enjoy.