Marriott Vacation Club

[Pedler]

Has anyone here also purchased a Marriott Vacation Club timeshare? I am curious as to how the exchange system works within the Marriott Vacation Club system.

 

[Daitcher]

Calling Dean!!!!! He is your guy on this one. Marriott is a good program and we have always been happy staying at there properties on cash.


DAVE

 

[Ethan Baby]

I am glad someone asked this question. I called Marriott just a few days ago to find out when the sales will begin for the new resort in St. Kitts. I love DVC and its flexibilty. Between Marriott and Westin, which is more similar to DVC?

Sorry for any typos

 

[JimC]

We own three weeks with Marriott. Marriott handles its exchanges using II. There is a Marriott desk within II and you get a 24 day advantage on internal Marriott trades before the general II population can see the trade. There is an $89 fee to trade within Marriott and higher fees to trade outside of Marriott domestically and even higher for non-Marriott international trades.

 

[boatboatboat]

Jim I see Marriot re-sales all the time for 5-6k for weeks 2-10 in the south.

What are the pitfalls of these?

 

[Daitcher]

Jim I see Marriot re-sales all the time for 5-6k for weeks 2-10 in the south.

What are the pitfalls of these?

I'm not Jim but with resales you cannot exchange your week or weeks for Marriott Reward points. Consensus is that this isn't a wise move anyway. Marriott is a great timeshare. Probably second best out there IMO. Big downfall is that other timeshares don't hold there value like DVC. This is why you can get resales for pennies on the dollar. Marriott currently doesn't exercise ROFR on these things so prices go way down. Prime Marriott locations are good traders.

DAVE

 

[boatboatboat]

Maybe you can help.

My wife and i live in Ohio.

Our goal is to have some place to stay for jan-feb each year when we retire (about 13 years from now).

I have thought of buying re-sale marriot time shares (for 4-5k each)to obtain this goal.

The idea being to have 6-9 weeks that we would own, in 6-9 resorts, with use weeks between 1-10. Moving from one place to another wouldn't be a problem, and would kinda break things up. Most would need to be in florida for the weather to be warm enough for us.

At one time i thought about trying to obtain enough disney pts to do this via a one bedroom at okw/vero and maybe bwv for a week or so. But that doesn't seem like the cheapest for sure.

show me the flaws in my logic.........

suggestions are welcome.

 

[Caskbill]

Maybe you can help.

My wife and i live in Ohio.

Our goal is to have some place to stay for jan-feb each year when we retire (about 13 years from now).

I have thought of buying re-sale marriot time shares (for 4-5k each)to obtain this goal.

The idea being to have 6-9 weeks that we would own, in 6-9 resorts, with use weeks between 1-10. Moving from one place to another wouldn't be a problem, and would kinda break things up. Most would need to be in florida for the weather to be warm enough for us.

At one time i thought about trying to obtain enough disney pts to do this via a one bedroom at okw/vero and maybe bwv for a week or so. But that doesn't seem like the cheapest for sure.

show me the flaws in my logic.........

suggestions are welcome.

We own Marriott also, and it's a great thing to own. There are a number of plusses: Depending on where you purchase (and whether you buy resale or not), it should be a lot cheaper than Disney. Maintenance fees are not the cheapest, but not out of line. If I compare my 7-day Marriott week's fees to a 2-B/R DVC 7-day, they're slightly cheaper. But with DVC I can do 5-day weeks and stretch my points that way, and thus the fees on a per night basis for DVC can be cheaper. With Marriott it's the full 7-days. (Basically, although some places do allow doing a 3/4 split, but you still have to use all 7 weekdays)

There are fees to exchange to any other Marriott resort. I think it's currently $89 for domestic resorts, and $129 for International. All exchanges are done through II, which means you must also become an II member if you ever want to exchange. (II membership is something around $90/year, but you can get a discount if you pay 3-5 years at a time (we do it this way))

You can split a 2-B/R into a 1-B/R and a Studio, thus getting 2-weeks for your 1-week ownership. There is a fee to split your unit up.

I know there are some differences between the Marriott properties, and others may have some information. Our ownership (Palm Springs, CA) is a 'silver' week, meaning we have certain weeks of the year we can use it. Unlike Disney where you can go any time of year, but the point value changes. We don't golf, so the 'step' season works well for us, that's why we purchased Silver.

Marriott does have some resorts where you can purchase just a 1-B/R villa, so it you don't need the 2-B/R and don't want to do the split (and pay the fee), you should look for those resorts.

For our California property, Marriott does not collect the property taxes, so we have to pay the state of California separately. That's a little bit of a hassle, paying property taxes twice a year, and paying Marriott's maintenance fees separately, once a year.

Basically all the Marriott properties will be similar in construction to OKW, (smaller buildings (meaning fewer units) with or outside entrances, or more often, SSR. (Larger buildings (more villas) with outside walkways). The individual units will be larger than the BWV, BCV, VWL villas, probably no larger than OKW, and no smaller than SSR rooms.

If you're looking for longer term stays after retirement, Marriott could probably be a good deal. This assumes you don't want to move on weekends to 'save points', at a DVC resort. An OKW January 1-B/R 5-days is 100 points, or about $85/night in maintenance fees. But if you go 7-nights, it's 182 points, or about $110/night. A 2-B/R for 7 nights in OKW (243 points) would be about $147/night. Our California Marriott has maintenance fees and taxes of just over $900, so there the 2-B/R for 7 nights averages out at $128/night. But if we do an exchange and factor in the exchange fee, and also add in the II membership fee, then the 7-night Marriott averages out to $154/night.

As you could guess, it's possible to crunch numbers a lot of different ways, all depending on your specific requirements. In your situation, owning at several Marriott resorts, thus not doing exchanges, you would not be paying the exchange fee, and wouldn't even have to join II. The trade-off would be a little more paperwork management (paying dues, etc), but no big deal. Your best deal seems to be if you can purchase a 1-B/V Marriott timeshare. If you can only purchase a 2-B/R, it changes the numbers. If you don't need the extra B/R it's a waste of money, but if you split into 1-week of a 1-B/R and 1-week of a Studio, it can be cheaper. But then maybe you don't want to stay in a Studio.

Good Luck.

 

[littlestar]

Boatboatboat,

You need to check out the Tug site (timeshare users group). I think it costs $15.00 to join (to access the review sections on resorts). I'm a member, but I joined for 3 years and I can't remember what I paid?? It's very worth it.

Here's a link to their general discussion board. Read, read, read, and take your time before you buy anything. You'll learn a lot over there:

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

It's almost mind boggling when you start reading about Hilton, Hyatt, Fairfield, Marriott, Worldmark, etc. There are points systems, weeks systems, etc. There is no one-size fits all. You have to decide what will work for your family.

DVC works great for our family, but some people on the Tug boards are not Disney fans and DVC wouldn't work at all for them. You have to decide what you want and figure out the best buy for your family or not to buy at all sometimes.

 

[boatboatboat]

Thanx to everyone for their help.

Just about the time I think I "know" enough to decide how to best obtain my goal, I learn a whole bunch of new stuff, and get more CORNfused then i was before.....

 

[Poohstar]

Through invitation from a Delta and Marriot promotion, we just purchase a package staying in one of the Marriot's properties in Aruba at $499 for 5 days 4 nights. Will get an extra night if go before 12/14. Of course the catch is to sit for the timeshare presentation for 90 minutes. I figure not a bad deal to give up my 90 minutes for rooms that cost around $600 per night. Have anyone done this before? I would like to know your opinion on Marriot's Aruba Surf Club, Ocean Club or the hotel. We have never been to Aruba before, and is excited about it. Thanks in advance for any good tips and info.

 

[Pedler]

Thanks for the replies. For those that own Marriott Timeshares how hard is it to exchange for other Marriott vacation club places? The reason we are looking at Timeshares is that when we travel we generally go for a week and like to stay in a suite with some room. What I would really like is a point type system like DVC but with easy access to the places that Marriott has or something like it. Does it make sense to purchase a Marriott timeshare with the intent of more often than not trading weeks? Is there a point system out there like DVC?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[boatboatboat]

Does it make sense to purchase a Marriott timeshare with the intent of more often than not trading weeks?


If you do this buy a HIGH QUALITY RESORT with a HIGH DEMAND week. You will pay more, but your trading will go off without a hitch.

 

[CPTJAK]

Does it make sense to purchase a Marriott timeshare with the intent of more often than not trading weeks?


If you do this buy a HIGH QUALITY RESORT with a HIGH DEMAND week. You will pay more, but your trading will go off without a hitch.

What would you consider a high quality resort? I have been looking at marriott as well.

 

[Dean]

A lot of good and accurate info, but some not so much as well. DVC is for staying at DVC resorts only and even then, if you go light or neutral on weekends. There is NO other option that makes it reasonable to buy DVC.

Marriott likewise can have golden handcuffs to buy. Marriott is more of a traditional timeshare setup. There are great weeks and resorts to own to use and great ones to use as trades and some decent for both. However, it would simply be nuts to buy an expensive week at a top Marriott resort to use mostly for trading unless one got a deal FAR below reasonable market value. One would almost have to go resort by resort and season by season to say what's good to own and what's good to trade. Sure, one can buy a top Marriott week and have world beater trade power, but at what cost, simply too much.

Jim I see Marriot re-sales all the time for 5-6k for weeks 2-10 in the south.

What are the pitfalls of these?

I see some for $1500 and others for $30K. In some cases the $30K would be a better deal than $1500. As I stated above, you'd need to specify the resort and in most cases the season to have a starting point to this discussion. I'd generally suggest one buy something they'd use part of the time and consider the trade implications.

Does it make sense to purchase a Marriott timeshare with the intent of more often than not trading weeks?


If you do this buy a HIGH QUALITY RESORT with a HIGH DEMAND week. You will pay more, but your trading will go off without a hitch.

I would quarrel with the idea that one should go to the top of the ladder for trading. I think getting the best week at a mid lever resort is the best value for Marriott exchanging. However, I would compromise, to a degree, trading value for personal use value if applicable. The exception being the weeks that are very easy to get like Orlando, HH off season, Williamsburg to a degree.

 

[Dean]

Maybe you can help.

My wife and i live in Ohio.

Our goal is to have some place to stay for jan-feb each year when we retire (about 13 years from now).

I have thought of buying re-sale marriot time shares (for 4-5k each)to obtain this goal.

The idea being to have 6-9 weeks that we would own, in 6-9 resorts, with use weeks between 1-10. Moving from one place to another wouldn't be a problem, and would kinda break things up. Most would need to be in florida for the weather to be warm enough for us.

At one time i thought about trying to obtain enough disney pts to do this via a one bedroom at okw/vero and maybe bwv for a week or so. But that doesn't seem like the cheapest for sure.

show me the flaws in my logic.........

suggestions are welcome.

My wife and I have batted this exact scenario around. IN part it depends on where you want to go during that time. If one wants to go to HH, buying a single cheap week and simply doing cash getaways is going to be the cheapest. Or renting from one of those sites that RCI uses as a clearinghouse where you don't even have to be a member. If you don't really care much where you stay or mind moving week to week, timeshares will likely be ok. To do this I'd likely look at a cheap points system like Bluegreen, RCI points or Fairfield or maybe Worldmark (not as cheap). Many would look at a wholly owned condo or a fractional share for this options. Also, simply renting a house or condo off season form an individual can be a great deal.

Remember that for beach ares mid FL on down, this is truly peak time. One can do well in Orlando if you'll take mid level resorts, but you won't have much luck even for hotel conversions for weeks 51-16 or so. I'd venture one could buy a decent condo entirely for the cost of 10 weeks plus fees of a top timeshare. Don't forget about lockoff's as they can increase your time available.

Just to add, all exchanges set up as Marriott to Marriott only are $89. I think the regular exchanges are $135 domestic and $149 international. The problem is you pay the highest possible fee for any resorts you list in your exchange, no matter what you end up matching to.

 

[dvc_john]

boatboatboat:

One more thing about some of the Florida Marriott's if you're thinking of multiple weeks there. They have what is called 'The Florida Club'. It consists of 5 resorts: Grande Vista in Orlando, and resorts in Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Panama City. If you own at one of these resorts, you can reserve at any of them as if it were your home resort. (only some of Grande Vista is in the program. I'm not sure is the others include all units, or only some).
Other Florida Marriotts are all in Orlando, and include Cypress Harbour, Sabal Palms, Royal Palms, Imperial Palms, and Horizons.
Another thing about exchanging your week for MarriottRewards points. As previously stated, you lose this option when you buy resale. BUT not if you buy resale directly from Marriott. The amount of points varies by resort, unit size, and season, and is in many (most?) cases, not a good use of your week.
BTW, I do pretty much what you are planning to do. I spend nearly 3 months each winter Orlando. I bounce between resorts, staying at several DVC resorts, and several offsite resorts. I supplement what I own with low-cost rentals thru the II (Interval International) getaways program.

 

[Dean]

boatboatboat:

One more thing about some of the Florida Marriott's if you're thinking of multiple weeks there. They have what is called 'The Florida Club'. It consists of 5 resorts: Grande Vista in Orlando, and resorts in Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Panama City. If you own at one of these resorts, you can reserve at any of them as if it were your home resort. (only some of Grande Vista is in the program. I'm not sure is the others include all units, or only some).
Other Florida Marriotts are all in Orlando, and include Cypress Harbour, Sabal Palms, Royal Palms, Imperial Palms, and Horizons.
Another thing about exchanging your week for MarriottRewards points. As previously stated, you lose this option when you buy resale. BUT not if you buy resale directly from Marriott. The amount of points varies by resort, unit size, and season, and is in many (most?) cases, not a good use of your week.
BTW, I do pretty much what you are planning to do. I spend nearly 3 months each winter Orlando. I bounce between resorts, staying at several DVC resorts, and several offsite resorts. I supplement what I own with low-cost rentals thru the II (Interval International) getaways program.

Only part of GV is in the club plus you can't reserve until 6 months out through the FL club. Tough to get prime time 6 months out.

 

[crazyaboutdisney]

we are dvc owners and last year we purchased a week at the Marriott ocean watch villas in myrtle beach. We own at the bw and bcv, but our favorite dvc resort is hh. for that reason we decided to buy at the ocean watch and to be right on the beach. we hope to go every summer. someday we will sell our bcv 100 point contract. Driving to hh or to myrtle beach is so much less expensive for us. Also i hate to use points for weekends which means another $500 to pay cash for the weekends, not ot mention the $1000 for the park tickets, and another $1000 for the airline tickets.

 

[walter]

I wonder what the trade availability is between HHI Surf Watch & California's Newport Coast Villas. I have heard that if you have a gold week, sometimes you can trade 1 (Surf Watch) for 2 (Orlando). Any info on individual experiences would be greatly appreciated.