Has anyone stayed in Sedona, AZ thru RCI?

[Tig-girl]

DH and I wanted to do something completely different for our 25th anniversary, so a few nights ago we got a great deal on airfare to Sedona, Arizona. DH has always wanted to see it, have heard from numerous people how beautiful it is for a nice laid back get-away. When I called DVC to book one of the 6 available resorts in Sedona thru RCI...guess what? NOTHING AVAILABLE! Of course I'm going to call everyday to try and get our 4 nights, but I was wondering if any DVC members have stayed in Sedona and if so, what resorts would you recommend or discourage? They all sound like they have good and bad points, and I do tend to "overthink and overplan", so I don't want to get too caught up, but when something does come available (God willing!) I want to have a little more knowledge than I do right now from somebody who has been there. Thanks!!

 

[2disneydads]

We stayed at the Sedona Springs Resort a few years ago and found it to be pretty nice. It was a Sunterra resort then, but it is a Diamond Resort now. It gets pretty good ratings on the Timeshare Users Group (www.tug2.net). We toured the Ridge on Sedona when we were there, and we thought that was very nice, too. It was newer and nicer at the time. My brother stayed at the Sedona Pines resort (or something like that), and he thought that it was fine in the 1-bedroom setup. The second bedroom there, if you were interested in a 2-bedroom unit, is across a patio - not good if small children are involved. Arroyo Roble has been popular for many years, as has Los Abrogados, but we were not impressed when we toured there. You should put in a search request so that you do not have to call back everyday. Something might show up. Sedona is very nice - get out and enjoy the surrounding scenery. Take a jeep tour into the red rock areas.

 

[Prinny27]

DH and I stayed at the Ridge at Sedona two years ago. It was nice. At the time, they had anyone trading into RCI in their non-updated rooms, not sure if they're all updated now or not. It was alright - not on par with DVC, but a good place to stay for the week. It is a bit further out than 'downtown' Sedona, which is about a 5 minute drive away. We didn't mind this, though, as we got to drive past the beautiful red rocks every day.

 

[Tig-girl]

We stayed at the Sedona Springs Resort a few years ago and found it to be pretty nice. It was a Sunterra resort then, but it is a Diamond Resort now. It gets pretty good ratings on the Timeshare Users Group (www.tug2.net). We toured the Ridge on Sedona when we were there, and we thought that was very nice, too. It was newer and nicer at the time. My brother stayed at the Sedona Pines resort (or something like that), and he thought that it was fine in the 1-bedroom setup. The second bedroom there, if you were interested in a 2-bedroom unit, is across a patio - not good if small children are involved. Arroyo Roble has been popular for many years, as has Los Abrogados, but we were not impressed when we toured there. You should put in a search request so that you do not have to call back everyday. Something might show up. Sedona is very nice - get out and enjoy the surrounding scenery. Take a jeep tour into the red rock areas.

Thanks for the great information. Sedona Springs is one of the choices for nightly exchanges, but the Ridge is not. We'd actually have to book a full week even if we are only staying 4 or 5 nights. We get in very late the first night and thought we'd just stay in Phoenix, but if we end up "paying" for a full week, we'll probably do the drive and get to Sedona around 2 am. But I'd still like to get just the 4 nights if possible You mentioned a search request.....I have no idea how to do that and so far none of the DVC CMs have suggested anything like that. Can you give me some info on how to go about initiating a search request?

 

[2disneydads]

Thanks for the great information. Sedona Springs is one of the choices for nightly exchanges, but the Ridge is not. We'd actually have to book a full week even if we are only staying 4 or 5 nights. We get in very late the first night and thought we'd just stay in Phoenix, but if we end up "paying" for a full week, we'll probably do the drive and get to Sedona around 2 am. But I'd still like to get just the 4 nights if possible You mentioned a search request.....I have no idea how to do that and so far none of the DVC CMs have suggested anything like that. Can you give me some info on how to go about initiating a search request?

Search requests might not be available for the nightly stays (the stays under a full week). I don't remember the RCI rules all that much because we gave up trying to exchange through RCI years ago. In the weeks program, if there is no availability for the dates you want, RCI can set up a search that supposedly automatically matches you with inventory when it becomes available for you. You don't have to keep calling back to check. We've gotten some good matches through the search function, but we have had much better searching luck with Interval International. (That doesn't help DVCers trying to search, though, because DVC is back in RCI.) When you set up a search, you pay the exchange fee upfront, but the exchange fee is refundable if you do not get a match or you cancel the search without a match. You can identify specific resorts or just identify a geographic area, such as Sedona or Scottdale/Phoenix. You might want to consider booking for the full week because you will have access to more inventory (full weeks in the weeks program and availability in the nightly program). That inventory often comes from different sources. It all sounds confusing, but a DVC CM should be able to explain this all for you. They should know the rules a lot better than the rest of us! Good luck - if you have any other questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them.