disney vs Hyatt-please help!

[trampslady]

We own at Disney.Seriously condering Hyatt purchase, does anyone have advise or experience with Hyatt? Seems like a good option with Hyatt quality and for II exchanges. Thanks for any help or information.

 

[littlestar]

Here's a link for the tug boards where the Hyatt Vacation Club owners hang out. Anything you want to know, they will probably know it. Hyatt has high maintenance fees. I wouldn't buy a Hyatt to exchange through II - now, exchanging through Hyatt for other Hyatts would be a different story (Hyatt to Hyatt exchanges operate on a point system). Hyatt owners only go through II when they want to exchange outside of Hyatt (like DVC does).

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=30

Here is also a link to the general tug boards where you can find information on every timeshare system there is:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index.php

 

[lingber]

We are DVC owners who just purchased Hyatt. We closed last week so we can't give you first hand info yet. We liked everything we learned about Hyatt. Check out this site:

www.bywindkal.com/HVC.htm


There is an in-depth explanation of the Hyatt system as well as great resort overviews. It has been a huge help to us!

We choose Hyatt as they offer deluxe properties in some nice locations! And we love the flexibility of the point systems! Which property were you thinking of? We purchased Coconut Plantation in Florida under the premise that it is close enough to drive to if we decide to use it.

Good luck with your research!

 

[kmcrosby]

We own both. Purchased DVC BCV first and Hyatt when Wild Oak Ranch opened. WOR is close for us and DD enjoys Camp Seaworld during the summers. Have considered adding on to both recently.

We've used the II option for DVC and it worked out well. We've not used II through Hyatt even though we've banked unused points into II account. Have stayed at several other Hyatt using the Hyatt website without any problems. We stayed at the Hyatt Grand Aspen this summer and it is very nice. Will definately go back. We are going to have to use the points with II soon because they expire after two years.

If we had to choose...hands down we'd pick DVC over Hyatt. However, we like that Hyatt is much closer, as well as the current Hyatt locations and the quality of the resorts. We understand Hyatt has several new locations coming on line and plans to double the number of locations in the next couple of years.

One piece of advice...for Hyatt buy where you can get the cheapest points, because of the way the system works...points are points, regardless of where you own. This is different than DVC.

Good luck, hope this helps.

 

[dvc_john]

I own both also.

Another piece of advice is to buy a larger point value week if you can, as the maintenance fees are the same for a small point week as a large point week.

 

[lingber]

Here's a link for the tug boards where the Hyatt Vacation Club owners hang out. Anything you want to know, they will probably know it. Hyatt has high maintenance fees. I wouldn't buy a Hyatt to exchange through II - now, exchanging through Hyatt for other Hyatts would be a different story (Hyatt to Hyatt exchanges operate on a point system). Hyatt owners only go through II when they want to exchange outside of Hyatt (like DVC does).

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=30

Here is also a link to the general tug boards where you can find information on every timeshare system there is:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index.php

I wish there was a Hyatt board that was even half as active as the Disboards! It is so nice to share information and experiences on this forum. The Tug boards are great. Don't get me wrong. I have learned alot from them. I just wish more Hyatt owners participated so we can here about their experiences using the Hyatt system.

 

[trampslady]

Thanks so much for all the responses. I had my mother post this for me (and she doesn't type and rarely touches the computer!!) while I was actually visiting Wild Oak Ranch in San Antonio. We are proud new owners!

We love our DVC, and we will neve stop visiting Disney. But, we also love high end hotels and travel to various destinations many times per year, so I think Hyatt, with their intentions of even further expansion, and the great option of converting vacation points to their hotel gold passport program offers so many options. And, with quality we can trust.

 

[lingber]

Congratulations! We are excited to visit WOR! Come on over to the tug boards! See the links above!

 

[schoenfelders5]

I have been trying to talk my husband into DVC and his reply was that he'd rather buy something else (like Hyatt) because he doesn't really care about staying on property at Disney. The rest of the family cares of course. How does Hyatt measure up cost wise? Maintenance fees? I understand I could research all of this but I was hoping for just a general opinion. I was selling him on the face we could use the DVC points other places. We don't care too much about luxury accomodations, more space and ammenities. I want to stay at BCV or BWV every trip to Disney. That is my motivation. His is purely cost. I need ammunition people, who is going to help me???

 

[bwvBound]

I want to stay at BCV or BWV every trip to Disney. That is my motivation. His is purely cost. I need ammunition people, who is going to help me???

Then you will need something closely tied to those two properties. Something that he would truly enjoy that simply couldn't be served as well from staying off-site. For my husband and I, it is IBM's annual Lotusphere conference at the Dolphin, Swan and Yacht Club conference centers. We've been attending since 1996 and feel strongly about staying "on campus." While we love staying in the Yacht Club hotel, when it came down to paying for our own stay, owning DVC for BWV was a more attractive option than renting Yacht Club hotel rooms.

So, look over the various events hosted at the Dolphin, Swan, Yacht Club and Boardwalk facilities ... and sell him on one of those?? (Of course, if he bites, you'll have to be willing to schedule your trips around the event(s), pay the event registration, etc.)

 

[lingber]

I have been trying to talk my husband into DVC and his reply was that he'd rather buy something else (like Hyatt) because he doesn't really care about staying on property at Disney. The rest of the family cares of course. How does Hyatt measure up cost wise? Maintenance fees? I understand I could research all of this but I was hoping for just a general opinion. I was selling him on the face we could use the DVC points other places. We don't care too much about luxury accomodations, more space and ammenities. I want to stay at BCV or BWV every trip to Disney. That is my motivation. His is purely cost. I need ammunition people, who is going to help me???

Well, my DH is your Dh's court. He hates crowds lines etc. The rest of us love going to Disney so when I (oh I mean WE, of course lol) decided we needed to purchase DVC, I talked about the great location of the BCV and how the parks were secondary. We could walk to Boarwalk...so much to do in that area etc. We live in Florida so I sold him on the long weekends where we could use the pools at BVC and enjoy the restaurants. The kids would be happy and he will get to relax. Whatever I said must have worked. We closed on BCV in Sept!

 

[Dean]

When I looked into a direct exchange of ownership a couple of years ago it seemed that Hyatt was somewhat less flexible than some of the other points systems. If I recall, you were limited to a 6 month reservation window and no banking of points, maybe this has changed but it seemed more geared to using the fixed week as the main option and using the points as a secondary alternative. They do have nice resorts, one simply needs to know exactly what their getting in to with any timeshare purchase.

 

[phyllisnnj]

Thanks so much for all the responses. I had my mother post this for me (and she doesn't type and rarely touches the computer!!) while I was actually visiting Wild Oak Ranch in San Antonio. We are proud new owners!

We love our DVC, and we will neve stop visiting Disney. But, we also love high end hotels and travel to various destinations many times per year, so I think Hyatt, with their intentions of even further expansion, and the great option of converting vacation points to their hotel gold passport program offers so many options. And, with quality we can trust.

If it's not too late to cancel read this old thread - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31710&highlight=hyatt+rescind. See this one too - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70634&highlight=hyatt+resale

 

[lingber]

When I looked into a direct exchange of ownership a couple of years ago it seemed that Hyatt was somewhat less flexible than some of the other points systems. If I recall, you were limited to a 6 month reservation window and no banking of points, maybe this has changed but it seemed more geared to using the fixed week as the main option and using the points as a secondary alternative. They do have nice resorts, one simply needs to know exactly what their getting in to with any timeshare purchase.

Actually, I think you have 18 months to book a reservation with your points from when they are assigned to you. My understanding is that you need to decide by the end of the first 6 months whether you want to use your assigned week. If you decide not to use it then you have an additional 6 months to book your points with no restrictions.(you can convert your week at any time within those first six months to points, simply by letting Hyatt know you are not going to use it and are free to make point reservations.) Finally at the end of a year from when you first received your points, if you haven't used them you have a limited or resticted booking period for another six months where you can only book reservations available within 60 days of booking.

I found the system a bit confusing at first, but once you start to really look at it closely it is pretty simple. The points are similiar to DVC in that you can use them for studios, one bedroom or two bedroom suites. You can easily stretch your week into two and more if you purchased weeks with higher point values. With Hyatt you can also break up weeks and book mid week or just weekends. Not as good as DVC where you can book as little as 1 night, but better than most that lock you into a week at a time.

Can you tell I am excited about my Hyatt as well? Anyway, here is a great site that explains Hyatt www.bywindkal.com/HVC.htm. But explore at your own risk! You might get hooked too!

 

[trampslady]

When I looked into a direct exchange of ownership a couple of years ago it seemed that Hyatt was somewhat less flexible than some of the other points systems. If I recall, you were limited to a 6 month reservation window and no banking of points, maybe this has changed but it seemed more geared to using the fixed week as the main option and using the points as a secondary alternative. They do have nice resorts, one simply needs to know exactly what their getting in to with any timeshare purchase.

Yes, Dean, thankfully Hyatt seems to have a much more flexible plan than that now. Specifically, you can bank up to six months after your current "use year." You can also choose to move your points to II without a reservation and have a full two years more to make plans and use the points. And, from my very limited math (trying to compare my 480 BCV points to my 2200 HVC points) I can already see that my maintenace fees are going to be much lower with HVC (at least as they stand now)--a little over $2200 for BCV and $970 for HVC.

 

[trampslady]

If it's not too late to cancel read this old thread - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31710&highlight=hyatt+rescind. See this one too - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70634&highlight=hyatt+resale

Yes, I strongly considered resale, but (contrary to popular vote), we really like the idea of using our points for Gold Passport hotel stays as we travel a great deal to places like Chicago, New York, and other three-four night places, and we generally pay upwards of $300 per night for those places. It's just the two of us and while we always choose a 1br (or 2br if my parents travel with us) at DVC, we have no trouble with a normal (but high end) hotel room for the aforementioned stays. And, with resale, you don't get that option--ever. Gold passport is not one of the flexible options.

 

[pirateparrot]

Actually, I think you have 18 months to book a reservation with your points from when they are assigned to you. My understanding is that you need to decide by the end of the first 6 months whether you want to use your assigned week. If you decide not to use it then you have an additional 6 months to book your points with no restrictions.(you can convert your week at any time within those first six months to points, simply by letting Hyatt know you are not going to use it and are free to make point reservations.) Finally at the end of a year from when you first received your points, if you haven't used them you have a limited or resticted booking period for another six months where you can only book reservations available within 60 days of booking.

I also own at both Hyatt and DVC and pretty happy with both. Hyatt tends to be less flexible but with a little work you can usually work out the dates that you want. One thing that really irritates me is that they nickel and dime you if you do not use your regular week. They charge a $39 booking fee for each reservation and a $35 split week fee. So for one of my reservations I wanted a 2 day week day tagged on to a 3 day weekend and they charged me $39+$39+$35 even though it really was one reservation. For another I did Tuesday to Tuesday instead of Sunday to Sunday and again this was considered two reservations and a split week so they got me again. Also there is not a good mechanism to use leftover points so when I split things up, I usually end up losing <100 points.

All that being said, all of the Hyatts that I stayed at (Beach House and Sunset Harbor in Key West, Coconut Plantation in Bonita Spring and Wild Oak Ranch in San Antonio) all have been very nice and have really enjoyed my stays.

If you have any specific questions I have not answered, PM me.

 

[pirateparrot]

Oh, I own two Hyatt weeks at the Beach house and have purchased both on eBay at a significant discount over Hyatt. As previously stated, you don't get the Gold Passport option but that was not important to me. Also be careful with the fees because Hyatt charges a $500 transfer fee in addition to any other closing costs.

 

[trampslady]

Oh, I own two Hyatt weeks at the Beach house and have purchased both on eBay at a significant discount over Hyatt. As previously stated, you don't get the Gold Passport option but that was not important to me. Also be careful with the fees because Hyatt charges a $500 transfer fee in addition to any other closing costs.

Thanks for the advise. I pm'd you for another question!

 

[phyllisnnj]

Yes, I strongly considered resale, but (contrary to popular vote), we really like the idea of using our points for Gold Passport hotel stays as we travel a great deal to places like Chicago, New York, and other three-four night places, and we generally pay upwards of $300 per night for those places. It's just the two of us and while we always choose a 1br (or 2br if my parents travel with us) at DVC, we have no trouble with a normal (but high end) hotel room for the aforementioned stays. And, with resale, you don't get that option--ever. Gold passport is not one of the flexible options.

Just go in knowing that all hotel loyalty programs, airline frequent flyer programs and card reward programs go through devaluation. Most hotel based timeshare programs don't adjust the conversion values to make up for the difference. So what you can get today doesn't guarantee what you can get in the future. Expect it to less with each program change. If you're planning to use this option use it sooner rather than later.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/travel/24prac.html

http://www.frequentflier.com/ffc-120606.htm

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35505&highlight=hyatt+devaluation

Good Luck