Harbourside Resort Atlantis

[CatherineH]

I would like to attempt an Interval International Exchange to Harbourside Resort in Atlantis for March 2008. Has anyone attempted this lately? Has anyone stayed in this resort and if so, can you buy groceries anywhere at a reasonable price to cook in your villa? Is this resort close to the main attractions of the Island?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[disneydenisel]

If you search for Harborside or Atlantis, there are a few threads asking about whether anyone has traded via II to this resort. Not a lot of responses that I could see. Here is a recent thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1289862&referrerid=&highlight=harborside

Harborside is a very popular resort, and a lot of the owners there keep their weeks so they aren't available via II to trade into. We own Starwood timeshares and although we haven't tried to book that resort as a Starwood owner, we have heard that popular times are difficult to get.

You may have better luck renting directly from an owner unless you can be flexible with your dates and villa size. What dates were you hoping for in March? Is it near Easter and the Spring break season?

 

[tomandrobin]

I would like to attempt an Interval International Exchange to Harbourside Resort in Atlantis for March 2008. Has anyone attempted this lately? Has anyone stayed in this resort and if so, can you buy groceries anywhere at a reasonable price to cook in your villa? Is this resort close to the main attractions of the Island?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Easter falls in March next year. Trading into Atlantis at the time of year will be extremly difficult. I am also a Starwood owner. Starwood has an internal point system and has a corporate II account. Starwood controls the inventory of its resorts. If I as an owner wanted to trade out of Harborside, Starwood does the transaction. But what it does is deposits any week that it has available in its inventory, that is similar to unit type that was deposited. So instead of the Harborside being available to anyone for trade, they keep it for other Starwood owners to use it first. Which is good for us Starwood owners, not good for owners not in Starwood.

You may be able to get a unit. You might have a better chance with a direct trade. What type of unit are you trying exchange into?

To answer your other questions, Harborside is right next to the Marina at Atlantis. Its a 10 minute walk or you can take the shuttle which runs continously. The resort offers a shuutle to the grocery store for around $16 round trip. Groceries are not cheap, but will save a bundle compared to the prices at Atlantis Resturants.

 

[Dean]

A direct exchange will be your best option but no reason not to give it a try as an exchange. Do so now so you're on the list as each unit is deposited, that will give you your best chance of success. You can be looking at other alternatives at the same time and take the first one that suits you.

 

[CatherineH]

We are looking for a two bedroom unit The week beginning on March 7th, 2008. I don't really understand how you do a private trade - or a direct trade - with DVC points but I would certainly be open to trying this.

 

[disneydenisel]

You could do a few things:

1. Put a request in with II (as Dean says)
2. Find an owner with a rental for that week that you want and rent it. Rent out your DVC points to cover that vacation expense
3. Find an owner who wants a DVC week and swap them for a Harborside week

Keep in mind that Harborside weeks in a 2-bedroom at that time of year may rent out for more than Disney "charges" in points for an II exchange. So you might have to be prepared to allocate more DVC points (either to rent out to cover the cost, or in a trade to an owner) for the direct trade. Otherwise, you may consider a 1 bedroom or studio.

 

[CatherineH]

I will have 380 points to "spend" and understand II in high season "costs" 270 - do you have any idea of the cost in real dollars of renting from an owner at this time?
How would I go about finding an owner who wants to swap?
We are a family of five, children aged 16, 13, 12 so we really have to have a two bedroom.

Thanks for all of your help.

 

[disneydenisel]

The week beginning March 7, 2008 is week 10. This falls into the highest "Platinum" season at Harborside. A 2-bedroom requires 129,800 Staroptions and a 2-bedroom lockoff requires 148,100 Staroptions. In terms of cost, it could definitely be more than the fair market value for 270 DVC points. Take a look at rentals sites...tugbbs.com (go to Classifieds), redweek.com, and myresortnetwork.com for some sample rental rates. These are where the owners would post, and you can usually contact them through the websites (redweek requires a registration fee to contact owners, the others do not). Last I looked, a summer week in a regular 2 bedroom was more than $3500, but I haven't looked lately.

 

[Dean]

I'd say a trade for this week for a 2 BR or the larger 1 BR is a fair trade for both parties given the points involved. A private trade might be more points as the other party is likely going to want a 2 BR for a week in return. I would agree with disneydenisel info including renting your points and paying cash as well as she locations to locate direct exchanges. I think you could also post on the rent/trade board (read the rules) as well as TUG's & redweeks direct exchange listings.

Just realize that in addition to being an extremely difficult exchange, it's very expensive at the resort itself. Like $25 for a burger meal expensive.

 

[disneydenisel]

On TUG, I glanced at the Classifieds. For example, week 10 this year in a 2-bedroom lockoff (approx. 1600 sq feet), asking price is $6500. A 1 bedroom, same week 10 in March, asking $3000. The lowest price I saw for a 2 bedroom was $3800 for a July week. These are asking prices, and I just posted to give you some idea of what the market might be doing next year.

 

[tomandrobin]

Just realize that in addition to being an extremely difficult exchange, it's very expensive at the resort itself. Like $25 for a burger meal expensive.

You are right about the crazy expensive food prices at Atlantis. For lunch, there is a counter service at the pool area that offers 4 burgers, drinks and fries for around $26. That is probably the best bargin in Atlantis. Besides going to the grocery store, there are a couple of lesser expensive places to eat just outside of Harborside. There is a Quiznos and Papa John (or one of the pizza chains) and couple of local resturants.

 

[KLR-wlv]

I got a trade through II using a starwood property for mid December last year. That is not high season there - if there is any way to rearrange your travel to include a time period that isn't in such demand I think you'd have a decent chance.

The food is EXTREMELY expensive (like a haagen daaz ice cream bar at the pool is $8) They add 15% gratuity to everything you purchase at counter service places which adds up. The food at the restaurants is expensive and mediocre IMO. To give you an idea - the cost of food for the week (we stayed almost entirely on site) was equivalent to food AND park passes at Disneyworld. You could go into town - but then you have to add a $50 cab ride for the 10 minute roundtrip for 4 which defeats the point if you're trying to avoid the high costs at the resort....

That said - we had a good time and the resort is beautiful and the timeshare units are very nice. But the islands are expensive and I won't be returning too soon....

 

[tomandrobin]

Your best chance of getting an exchange would probably be early May, mid Sept thru Early dec, except Thanksgiving.