Marriott time share questions...

[Dimap]

Hi. I am looking into staying at a timeshare place because they sent me a deal for 4 nights for little money. This really works for us because we have a large family (6 people) so paying for 2 hotel rooms is really tough. What is the big deal? If we just go to the presentation knowing that we aren't buying (and totally cannot afford to buy) no matter how much pressure they put on us, in the end, we will just be walking out. This will allow us to stay in a really nice place without breaking the bank...and I guess who knows, down the line if we win the lottery, maybe we will want to buy.... Why don't more people take advantage of these offers?

Also, which resort is a better pick for my family (7 year old, 4 year old, and 3 year old twins)? Would you select Grand Vista or Horizon?
Thanks.

Pam

 

[CarolA]

I did a Marriott presentation years ago. It was not a very high pressure sales pitch. They guys were nice and the condo was BEAUTIFUL. If I was to do this for a discount lodging I would consider Marriott again. (Disney's presentation is the least high pressured I ever attended, Marriott was second and based on reports I will never do Fairfield or Westgate!)

However, make sure you are really staying at the resort. (Read the fine print carefully, a lot of those places actually put you someplace else)

 

[2minnies]

I'll second CarolA's point to be sure you are staying at the resort, not at a hotel. Also many times the price offered for the timeshare special for a studio room and you'll need to pay an additional charge to upgrade to a larger unit. That said, I've stayed at Grande Vista and it is a lovely property.

Have you considered trying Hotel Kingdom? We've rented two bedroom condo for less than $100 night. Many of the posters here have had positive comments about Cypress Pointe and Cypress Pointe Grand Villas.

 

[spiceycat]

Horizons - it was designed for children at your ages....

now teens might be bore here.

but since all your kids are under 10 - they will be in heaven.....

lots of people do take advantage of this offers.....

other people here get mad and say they shouldn't.....but sometimes you got to wonder who these people are working for - the timeshares offer these deals not us..... when you blame us for taking advantage who are you kidding....

go for it girl!!! have a great time.

tell the sales person up front that you aren't buying you just wanted to stay at a great place....

don't EVER buy from a developer.... although Marriott is nice and one of the best around, you can get it for 70% to 60% off by going resale.

now Marriott resales even have their points (so you can stay at any Marriott hotel or resort anywhere) but still I don't have the money and I know it....

resales you buy elsewhere won't have the points - but are less money.

 

[jeff968]

We've done 4 Marriott timeshare tours. i would not consider any of them high pressure. The places are always first rate and we never had the switch pulled on us. I don't think Marriott does that. Both resorts are great. Grand Vista has larger rooms with a hot tub and a better location. I would go with GV of the two.

 

[TSBRN]

I can't comment on the Grand Vista, but we have stayed at Horizons for a week and it was wonderful!! We didn't attend the sales pitch because we were there as guests of my parents, so I can't comment on that either.

The resort was very clean and convienent to get around. The pool area was themed like a pirate ship and was geared towards younger kids (mine were 11 and 13 at the time but still had fun). They also had a room off the pool area where there were kid counselors who did crafts and activities with the kids and other fun stuff scheduled during the day. Also had an outdoor bar and eating area.

I have never had a bad experience at any higher end Marriott property I have stayed at, so you probably can't go wrong.

 

[gjw007]

I would like to second the point that you may not be staying at the resort itself but at a motel. If you check the fine print, you may find that this is the situation. And as Spiceycat pointed out, if you do decide to make a purchase, perhaps it would be worth it to look at buying resale. You will be surprised at the price difference. Unless you absolutely need a specific week, a specific view, etc, there is no difference between buying from a developer and resale. You should educate yourself a little before making the purchase and an excellent place to start would be looking up the FAQ's at www.tug2.net.

 

[jeff968]

there is no difference between buying from a developer and resale.

Not totally true. The developer will throw in tons of extras. With Marriott they will often throw in hundreds of thousands of Marriott rewards points to use on all kinds of things as a buyers bonus if you purchase from them. Others will throw in free rental weeks. Still, if you do the math and check the resale market, the reseller is much cheaper even with all the one-time developer bonuses added in. Just be aware that they will use these as well.

 

[tarheel]

Jeff968, if you check back to this thread, what can you tell me about Marriott Cypress Harbour? I see you list it as your favorite. We go there in October and have never stayed off property before. I did a search, but no one really had a lot to say about it except it was "nice'. Any info about the rooms and driving to the Disney parks from there would be helpful to me. Thanks!

 

[ckoncurat]

I've been to several marriot presentations and never felt pressured to buy (my inlaws own in UT and HI) . I've stayed in VA, HI, FL and UT. All of the resorts are beautiful. Cypryss Harbor ir about a 15-20 minute drive from disney (its right next to sea world), but its lovely. Not themed, just a very nice florida resort. I would stay in ANY of Marriotts time shares if someone would offer me a good deal.

 

[gjw007]

Not totally true. The developer will throw in tons of extras. With Marriott they will often throw in hundreds of thousands of Marriott rewards points to use on all kinds of things as a buyers bonus if you purchase from them. Others will throw in free rental weeks. Still, if you do the math and check the resale market, the reseller is much cheaper even with all the one-time developer bonuses added in. Just be aware that they will use these as well.

I've been to numerous presentations such as Sheraton and Hilton's but none of the bonuses added up to the savings of making the purchase on resale. Hilton's bonus of paying for the roundtrip flight to Hawaii was tempting though. It takes a lot to make up the difference between selling something at $30,000 (as an example) and buying it on the resale for less than $15,000 but there may be resorts where the bonuses and the resale prices may make it worth it. I just haven't seen any yet from personal experience but others may have. I haven't been to a Marriott presentation, so maybe I will one day just to get more firm numbers. Either way, the advice to get some education about timesharing and the resale market should be explored.

My point about no difference between buying resale and from the developer is that you don't pay a higher maintenance fee, your still entitled to all the benefits of ownerships, etc. but you are correct in that certain bonus items are not included in resale that are used to induce purchase from the developer. I don't remember exactly but Sheraton had some program that was points-based that you could use if you purchased from them but may not be available if you purchased resale. There may be other, similar programs out there that purchasing resale you may not be able to use. The real question is whether these program actually have an value. When I did the tour of HGVC and Sheraton, they had zero value to me so they weren't an inducement.

 

[JudyS]

... What is the big deal? If we just go to the presentation knowing that we aren't buying (and totally cannot afford to buy) no matter how much pressure they put on us, in the end, we will just be walking out....

There are certainly some timeshare salespeople who will give you a very hard time -- try to make you feel guilty, claim you don't care about providing nice vacations for your kids, etc -- if you don't buy. However, Marriott doesn't allow its salespeople to use those sorts of tactics. So, you shouldn't have a problem. (If the saleperson does give you a hard time, threaten to report him/her to Marriott.)

 

[littlestar]

For the ages of your kids, I would pick Marriott Horizons hands down. It's not as big and spread out as Grande Vista, so you won't have to load up the kids in the car to get to a main pool. Horizons has two zero-entry pools with themed slides. Here's some pictures of our trip back in April. We stayed in a new Building 28/29:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0CbOGThs5YsXGA

Horizons felt like staying at a Disney resort to us. Very cute and it really caters to the kids. Our nephew and his wife were staying at Grande Vista with their four-year-old the same time we were at Horizons and he begged his parents to bring him over to Horizons to play at the pirate ship pool. It was perfect for him with the smaller slides on the pirate ship and zero entry. Horizons is wonderful for kids Oh, another thing that Horizons has is a big screen TV in the living room. We loved that for late night movie watching.

Marriott is a class act, so I don't think you'll have to worry about a "monster" for a sales rep. If you do, report him to Marriott. They guard their brand like Disney does.

We're DVC members and loved our stay at Horizons so much that we found a good resale (actually at an unbelieveable price) at Horizons Branson and bought an every other year 2 bedroom lockoff. That's how much we enjoyed staying at Horizons.

P.S. Marriott Cypress Harbour is across the street from Horizons and it's wonderful, too. We went back and forth between the two resorts.