Need to find info on Miami Beach trade

[downontheBW]

Sorry this not of interest to most DVCers but don't know where else to ask. Someone from TUG would like to trade an RCI week with me for time at BWV. I asked if he could get the Savoy on South Beach (Sunterra) in Miami Beach. The only reason I'd consider this is because we were down in South Beach last year and we loved it! It doesn't have any rating yet on TUG (not good!). There are a couple of others in the SoBe area: HGVC with a rating of only 6.7 and another with no rating or review - Simone: The Palace of Shushan. I want to be careful since we'd be trading a DVC 2001 for Miami 2002. I don't care if it's a small room and there are no activities, location is most important but we want quality, too. After all we're used to DVC.

Any help for finding info or other recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
!

Dixie Landings '94, '96 / Wilderness Lodge, Yacht Club '98
Off site (never again) '99 / BWV '00 / HHI '01 / BWV '02

Heidi

 

[Dean]

It is rated on TUG with 2 reviews and 3 ratings. The average rating is 8.33. TST does not have it rated yet. The reviews on TUG were generally fairly positive from the point of view you suggest. Great location, good restaurant, small rooms, no activities. It sounded like a good place to visit once but not again. Parking is $10 per day. Apparently there are only 40 units and only 10 at a time are for timeshares currently. I say you chances of getting that are slim to none. You might consider the Marriott at Beachplace which will likely be much easier to get, much nicer resort though it's no South Beach. Good luck.

Dean

 

[Werner Weiss]

Marriott is about to open a new Marriott Vacation Club, the Villas at Doral, located at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami. When completed, the resort will have 244 two-bedroom condos. This one looks like it will be one of Marriott's best!

This won't help downontheBW, who is looking for an RCI week. All new Marriott timeshares use Interval International, not RCI. By the way, the Marriott Beachplace in Ft. Lauderdale is not affiliated with RCI either.

But Marriott's Villas at Doral should be a wonderful choice for DVC members who want to arrange an Interval International exchange through DVC Member Services into a Miami location that's up to the DVC level of excellence. (The usual disclaimers apply about Marriott owners having a higher priority than DVC members when exchanging into Marriott timeshare resorts.)

-----
Werner Weiss, Curator of Yesterland, featuring discontinued Disneyland attractions

 

[downontheBW]

Thanks for the quick feedback. I had checked the Savoy on TUG by looking at the review database and the spreadsheet there had "None" for ratings, I didn't think that the ratings database would have different information. Since you can get to the reviews from the ratings, I thought you could get to the same ratings from the reviews.

We loved it on South Beach - great to hang around, walk on the beach, people-watch and so many restaurants. You don't want to rent a car there, our last hotel charged $17 a day for parking so $10 at the Savoy was a real deal That's why we need to be close to the action, you can walk to everything.

I was hesitant to book a Savoy resort this far ahead because I had heard Sunterra was having financial problems and want to make sure the company is still around for our reservation dates. Too bad it's so hard to get into; it seems like one of the reviewers got in on a trade though, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

The HGVC there looks OK but there's no pool - no pool in Miami? Yeah, I know, it's called the Atlantic Ocean.
.

Dixie Landings '94, '96 / Wilderness Lodge, Yacht Club '98
Off site (never again) '99 / BWV '00 / HHI '01 / BWV '02

Heidi’

 

[Dean]

Werner is right in pointing out that Marriott's in FL will be II only. An II exchange will be a good bet with DVC. For your needs though the Savoy seems to be a good fit. I wouldn't worry too much about the Sunterra part, the risk is minimal. Just get an agreement from the owner that if the week is unavailable, they will rent the points at X price. If they are doing this as an exchange through RCI (vs Sunterra points) I wouldn't make a "binding" commitment until you had the confirmation in hand. Since many resorts bank only 12 months out, it may be difficult to time your confirmation. The HGVC also would make me nervous.

On TUG, the ratings should be the most up to date. There is sometimes a lag between the Review pages that also list ratings vs the actual spreadsheet type ratings. Good luck.

Dean