Hey guys. You have all been so nice in helping on my quest to stay offsite. I am trying very hard to get wbc, but doesn't look good. But I am checking all the sites like redweek, tugs, my resort network.
Question...with tugs. I found some Sheraton vistana available....but I can't see any pictures. How does this actually work? Is it just a general room they get? Or are they owners of a particular unit? The one guy told me my week is open, but am unsure u til I see the unit.
What about redweek? Are you required to pay to get results?
Thank you from an offsite dingle head who knows nothing.
Actually, you already know way more than most people!!
I own at a Marriott (not in Orlando) so if I were to rent out my week, it would not be a specific unit. It's more like a hotel stay - the unit is assigned by the room coordinator a few days prior to check in (but could always change, and we could be not quite happy with the assigned condo, like what happened once, and they moved us to one that suited our needs more without problem).
I pay to belong to redweek - to me the $15 is worth it (since I do sometimes rent from owners for our vacations, although it looks like this year I didn't!). If you don't pay to join, you can still see what is available for rent (or sale). You just can't contact the owner to ask things like if it's still available, is the price firm, or any details on the reservation.
I forget if it was redweek or Tug where I read details on how to protect yourself making a transaction. I've never had any problems (even rented with kind of short notice a week last spring in St. Thomas at the Marriott - the owner had had a bad experience with paypal, so asked if I could mail a personal check - and after checking on the reservation and all I did, half at first to put it in my name, then once it was confirmed in my name the other half). This was an unusual transaction - it's even risky for her to accept a personal check but it all went smoothly - IIRC she lived really close anyway!
Usually I use paypal though! It's actually more secure for both sides and they get paid quickly. Usually I make sure they HAVE a reservation in their name, pay half down, then after they switch it to MY name, the other half is usually due 30 days prior to check in (that is kind of the norm). It's super easy to confirm reservations with Marriott - if you have their last name and the confirmation number you can just look it up online.
I know with our Marriott (Ko Olina) things you may want to ask about are is it a dedicated two bedroom unit or a lockoff (if you're looking at 2 bedrooms), view (some resorts have different "views"), building preferences, etc....
Be sure to read about how to proceed if you find something you want to rent. If something sounds off, or not quite right, then you can ask on TUG for advice!
Oh, with TUG, you can pay to join (I think I did years ago) to see the sightings at the bottom of the forums (I think you also have to be a member to inquire on rentals, but for some reason I've always found folks are asking higher prices there than redweek, don't know why).
