Mariott Vacation Club Owners

[Abharmagic]

HI New here and happy to find a section that talks about staying off property. Last year we did a Mariott Vacation Club preview and stayed at Cypress Harbour and loved it. At the time we could not commit to whether or not we wanted to own a Mariott property. We purchased an encore package and are going back this coming November to Grande Vista for a longer stay and that gave us some time to really think about whether or not we were interested (all the money we paid for encore pkg will then apply to closing costs if we do decide to purchase).

Anyhow- I have a few questions for all of you who are interested in talking about this:
*Have you ever stayed at Horizons? Does it feel like Marriott kind of ditched it and isn't going to follow through with the completion of this property?? We are most interested in Horizons b/c we have young kids, and the price is lower, and then when they get older we can always pay the fee and travel/stay elsewhere.
*How easy is it to stay elsewhere within Marriott Vacation Club properties- is it a hassle to stay anywhere but your home resort?
*Would you choose Grande Vista over Horizons for the trading power- is it a more desireable property?

Just curious and would appreciate some help. We are really thinking this over. I LOVED staying somewhere where I wasn't stuck in a tiny room with my family, could cook meals, do laundry and felt like a REAL RESORT- I loved that about our last vacation.

Any and all advice would be appreciated!!!

 

[CarolA]

Have you joined TUG?

www.tug2.net

They have a very good message board that will probably give you better advice.

My one piece of advice... RESALE!!! Timeshares take a hit on the resale market. Marriott, DIsney and some others do hold thier value well, but you still need to look around before you spend.

 

[spiceycat]

marriott has alot of fees.

go ask on the DVC board mousecellaneous - a surprising number of peop1e own both marriott and DVC.

Marriott is definitely one of the best.

 

[SiClone]

We stayed in a 1 bedroom at Horizons a few weeks ago. I own at a resort in Branson so we did an Interval exchange. I could have done either Grand Vista or Horizons, and we choose Horizons because of the more kid-friendly features. 2 additional building were being constructed across from building 28 and 29. Here's a quick summary:

Positives:
- kids loved the 2 separate pool areas (ds2 especially liked the pirate ship). they are heated, too, so its nice even if its a little cool.
- resort is pirate themed so all the activites are pirate related in some way or another. there are activities for all ages every night.
- staff was very friendly. gate guy seemed to recognize me after a couple of days and just raised the arm when he saw us coming.
- resort is on a natural lake. the Landing (dock area is wonderful). coaxed myself into going to walmart and buying some cheap fishing poles and crawlers. we caught some nice sized sunnies/bluegills and I lost atleast 3 bass because my fishing line was super weak.
- has minigolf course, volleyball court, 2 basketball courts, and outdoor grilling areas. grilled steaks after a long day at the parks are yummy!
- having the full kitchen saved us a ton of money because DS2 ended up not eating or behaving at restaurants, so we ate mostly in our room.
- every unit had a screened in balcony.
- location! very easy to get there and get around. publix was 5 minutes away. crazy outelt mall with no parking was 7 minutes. Walmart was 12 minutes. seaworld was less than 5 minutes.

Negatives:
- room only had 1 full bath. would have been nice to have atleast a 1/2 bath, too, as our 1 bedroom in Branson has a full and a 3/4.
- finishes were a tad on the cheap side.
- next to highway (I4) so it was noisey when out on the balcony (could not hear noise inside when all windows and patio door closed).
- wood bridge. the wood bridge that you drive across as you enter the resort will be in need of repair or replacement soon. that'll end of increasing maintenance fees.
- no watercraft. being on a lake, it would have been nice if they had canoes and paddleboats for guest use.

That's about it. If I didn't already have a timeshare payment, I would have considered buying there or possibly DVC. But it does seem like the maintenance fees in FL are very high...

 

[littlestar]

- room only had 1 full bath. would have been nice to have atleast a 1/2 bath, too, as our 1 bedroom in Branson has a full and a 3/4.

There are no Marriott Vacation Club resorts in Orlando that have 1 1/2 baths in the one bedrooms. If you are looking for 2 bathrooms, you'll need to get a 2 bedroom.

As a side note, some of Disney Vacation Club's new Animal Kingdom Lodge 1 bedrooms will have 2 full bathrooms in them and will sleep 5.

I really like the Horizons Orlando resort. They are building another building right now. We own at Horizons Branson and the resort consistently gets awards for cleanliness and has very high marks on its guest satisfaction on rankings. We've been well pleased with our every other year ownership at Horizons Branson. We like owning a lock-off 2 bedroom. We pay Marriott $75.00 to lock it off and we have a 1 bedroom and studio/efficiency to trade with Interval (exchange company). Interval has consistently gave me a "bonus week" for the 1 bedroom so I get 3 trades out of our one little every other year of ownership. Lots of bang for the buck. Cypress Harbour is all dedicated 2 bedrooms, so you wouldn't be able to lock it off and get more for the money out of that resort. Grande Vista has lock-offs, though, and they also have the every other year option, too, which is nice if you don't want every year dues.

I do see very nice quality things with my Horizons timeshare when I go to trade through Interval International. I can see Atlantis in the Bahamas, the Hyatts, the Royals in Cancun, and of course, Marriott. I wanted to own a Marriott I wouldn't mind going to and using if I didn't trade it and I felt like we would be happy staying at Horizons. My brother is debating buying Horizons or Grande Vista right now. But he loves Grande Vista and so I'm going to advise him to buy Grande Vista.

 

[PrincessDadx2]

Anyhow- I have a few questions for all of you who are interested in talking about this:
*Have you ever stayed at Horizons? Does it feel like Marriott kind of ditched it and isn't going to follow through with the completion of this property?? We are most interested in Horizons b/c we have young kids, and the price is lower, and then when they get older we can always pay the fee and travel/stay elsewhere.
*How easy is it to stay elsewhere within Marriott Vacation Club properties- is it a hassle to stay anywhere but your home resort?
*Would you choose Grande Vista over Horizons for the trading power- is it a more desireable property?

We have owned there for 7 years and our kids love, love, love it. To answer your questions:

1. Marriott has not ditched the property. They have consistently built new buildings over the last few years. They have stopped building more Horizons brand, but this one trades just like any other MVCI property now.

2. Trading is pretty easy. I traded my Horizons for Hilton Head and Williamsburg so far. Other friends have traded to Hilton Head and Palm Beach. Trading works best if you can do 1 year out planning or under 60 day planning. You can get some fantastic opportunities at the 60 day mark if you have flexibility.

3. Currently, I believe Horizons trades better than Grande Vista. Trading is a function of supply and demand. Horizons have <300 units vs. >900 for Grande Vista. Demand is high because of families who want the mini golf and pirate pool etc. Once Horizons is complete at >900 units I would expect it to trade on par with Grande Vista, but there is not a practical differenence now in any case.

If you want to go through the hassle of resale you can purchase a platinum unit for 8-9k, but you do not get Marriott reward points incentives or the ability to trade in your week for reward points if that is important to you.

We prefer to stay here during non peak weeks, but use our other Marriott to trade into DVC for holiday weeks on site. Horizons will not trade into DVC, but Grande Vista can by using the Florida Club to obtain a week at one of the Marriott Beach resorts in Florida.

 

[PrincessDadx2]

.- no watercraft. being on a lake, it would have been nice if they had canoes and paddleboats for guest use.

The HOA for Lake Willis will not allow Marriott to have motorized boats on the lake. In order to have canoes and paddleboats you need to have a motorized rescue boat in case someone gets in trouble. No rescue boat = no other boats

Maybe they will work it out someday.

 

[Brian Noble]

I second the motion of joining TUG, and reading reading reading!

You may find that buying a less expensive timeshare somewhere other than Orlando, and then exchanging in, will better serve your needs. The Orlando Marriott's have a lot of exchange availability provided you have a unit of sufficient quality to trade for them.

 

[dioxide45]

We own Grande Vista. We had taken a tour and also purchased an Encore Package. Even though the cost of the package would have gone towards a purchase from Marriott, we decided to go the resale route as we paid about 37% of Marriott's current pricing for a gold two bedroom week. Definitly look in to the resale market to save thousands. Consider the encore package a great purchase because it has given you this time to do more research. Definitly check out TUG as there is a lot of valuble information over there and a dedicated Marriott board.

 

[SiClone]

The HOA for Lake Willis will not allow Marriott to have motorized boats on the lake. In order to have canoes and paddleboats you need to have a motorized rescue boat in case someone gets in trouble. No rescue boat = no other boats

Maybe they will work it out someday.

There was a person jetskiing. He/she must live in one of those 2 residential properties on the lake...

 

[bookwormde]

the resale market for cypress harbour is the same 50-80% of list depending on "season"

 

[jenbierling]

We own Horizons Orlando, and have been very happy. We bought in 2000 and have actually only stayed at that property only twice. We've been able to trade for Marriott properties in Hawaii, Williamsburg, Lake Tahoe, Branson and Newport Beach. And with the much lower maintenance fees we pay at Horizons, I feel most of our trades are a steal! I've found that because of catering to kids in Orlando, the resort actually has very good trading power, as long as you're trading a week that has high demand (summer, holidays, etc). While I've loved the times we've stayed on property, I've been most impressed with the trading power we get for the maintenance fees we pay. I feel it's a great value for a Marriott property.