Marriott VC

[FreeTime]

Hi,
I believe that I have seen some comments about Marriott Vacation Club on this board before from Dean, but I haven't found what I am looking for. Can someone help?

I don't understand the conversion of the designated week into points that can be used for rooms or merchandise. Can someone explain?

We went on the mini-presentation at their Lake Tahoe resort. We are considering buying there on the 1-br every other year plan. I am assuming that they would sell the week to someone else on the opposite year? We were told that we would purchase a week but then could pick any week that floats at our level. I don't understand how this could easily be done.

Is MVC a better deal than DVC? The benefit of DVC is onsite at Disney, but does Marriott have greater benefits overall? Would you sell your DVC and buy Marriott, then trade into the Orlando area? How are the Orlando resorts and how difficult to get into?

We were also advised that it is very difficult to trade into the resort as MVC members are even complaing that it is difficult. Is this fact or fiction? If it easy to get into, I will just use my DVC points (we are planning our next trip for summer of 2007, I can deposit my points now, right?)

Thanks for all of your help!

 

[JimC]

We own at both MVC and DVC but are not nearly as expert as Dean. But I will offer my thoughts on your questions.

We believe they are both first rate operations. I stay at Marriotts almost exclusively on business and enjoy a consistent and high level of both service and product. DVC -- certainly top run operation. They are both expensive to buy and own, but in our view worth it. I don't think either is better than the other. They each have unique characteristics.

DVC is very flexible with points program that allows you to go whenever for any number of days in any size unit. There are no fees to stay at another resort within the DVC system.

MVC are week contracts mostly sold in floating week seasons. To stay during another season you must trade your week. To stay at another Marriott resort you must trade your week. Marriott outsources its trades to Interval International. But many members trade privately or through other exchange companies. There are fees to trade seasons or resorts and to "lock-off" (where available) -- taking a two bedroom and splitting it into a one bedroom unit and a studio unit -- getting two weeks to use for the same maintenance fee. Some resorts offer a split week option (again with a fee attached). The split fee allows you to use a 4 day and 3 day stay but the split is for specific days. Check in and out days are normally Friday, Saturday and Sunday. MVC is a large timeshare operation with many great resorts around the world.

We bought MVC for non-Disney vacations and an extra Orlando trip that we did not want to spend the premium for DVC. We believe that DVC is best used within its system, possibly extending it to other Disney collection properties. It cannot be beat if you want to be on property.

Orlando has a large supply of timeshares, including Marriott and DVC. It is easy to trade into Orlando (but I am not sure DVC is in that category) because of the large supply of units put into exchange companies by their owners.

The Orlando MVC we own at is Cypress Harbour. We like its laid back OKW feel. This spring the resale prices at Cypress Harbour (all 2 bedrooms) were about half of the resale prices of OKW (1 bedroom points) for equivalent time. The maintenance fees on the Cypress Harbour 2 bedrooms are about the same as the OKW 1 bedrooms. This was for a four week portfolio scattered throughout the year. The price/cost benefit of Cypress Harbour is even better if you compare to 2 bedroom villas at OKW or a 1 bedroom at BCV. That said we only put one week at Cypress while we have two at OKW and one at BCV.

We bought where we like to visit often (both at MVC and DVC) and look forward to the opportunity to trade once in a while.

Good luck.

 

[T.E. Yeary]

The Timeshare Store does have listings available for DVC & MVC. Our office is located in the same vicinity as Cypress Harbour, Grande Vista & Horizons. We're in a shopping center just East of the entrance to Sea World.

Hope we can help,
Tom

 

[dvc_john]

About the conversion of weeks into points that can be used for rooms or mechandise:
You are probably refering to MarriottRewards points. Generally you can give up your week for points in Marriott's hotel point system, then use the points for hotels stays, air tickets, etc. The amount of points you get is based on resort, room size, season, etc. Some of the older MVC resorts allow trading to points every year, but most of the newer ones restrict it to every other year. There is a fee to do this. And, buying a resale negates this privilege (unless bought thru Marriott resales).
Generally I don't think it's the best use of a MVC week, but is a nice insurance policy if you are unable to use your week.

As for the floating time:
They divide the year up into several seasons. I can't recall what Marriott calls them, but Hilton uses Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Maybe 20 weeks will be Platinum, 15 Gold, 15 Silver, etc. Of course, the more desirable season will cost more to purchase. In Lake Tahoe, ski season would of course be the highest season. Then you simply make a reservation (first come first served) for any week in the season you bought. There is no fee for this. However, if you have a Silver week, and want a Gold week, then you'd reserve a Silver week, and trade it thru Interval International for a Gold week if possible. ($79 fee).

 

[Cruelladeville]

I also own at both DVC and MVC, and I would think VERY carefully before you buy Marriott from the developer. We bought Cypress Harbour on resale for $6000. They are still selling across the street at Grande Vista for $18000-$24000. NEVER buy new until you have done your homework. In my opinion, Marriott Rewards isn't worth $12,000, and that's what I would have had to pay for the pleasure of changing my week into points. Resale is a much better value.

I bought Marriott to trade to other resorts, and it has done well for me, since I always stay at Easter and Christmas, even though I have a fall week. The one thing that bothers me is that Marriott charges for EVERYTHING. Also, factor in the cost of II--I became a member until 2013, since you must be a member to change resorts. All exchanges go thru them, even if you just want a different week at your home resort. DVC is much more flexible, and much more expensive, and resales are much higher in cost. DVC is for staying at Disney, most of the time. Marriott is more travel-oriented toward other resorts. Knowing whether you want to stay at Disney, or travel around the US, should give you some clue which vacation club you shoud own.

 

[wackywexler]

We are Marriott Vacation Club Owners at the Desert Springs Villas II in Palm Springs California, we traded into Marriott Cypress Harbour for our Nov trip to WDW and Cruise. We are looking into DVC as well. I did try to trade into DVC and was told by II (Interval International) that there was about a two year waiting list to trade into DVC. There was no problem getting the Marriott Trade. That said, I imagine if you did want to trade your DVC time through II you could go anywhere you wanted in a heartbeat!! You would have maximum trading clout! We have owned Marriott for two years now and really love it, my Mom owns at two different Marriott resorts and loves it too. I do wish Marriott had their own exchange system but I have learned to work with II. We did buy our Marriott resale and paid $9,900 for our week, Marriott was selling the same for $18,000. My mom purchased one resale and one through Marriott. She purchased through Marriott so that she could get the 100,000 reward poionts (it may have been more) so she could use them for a European Vacation.

 

[llp479]

We bought our DVC prior to buying Marriott. MVC owners have priority over others in the II system, so trading into a MVC can be difficult. We bought our first MVC so we would be in the MVC family. We bought Platinum 3 bdrm at Grande Vista in Orlando. Just successfully traded it for a 2 brdm in Maui for June 2006.

MVC properties are some of the top properties in the II system, so having the ability to "easily" trade into them was worth it for us. My parents own 3 properties, and my sister has one. They have made some good trades and some $$ by renting the properties.

Good luck with your decision.