St. John Westin

[LindaGraham]

We have just joined the Disney Vacation Club. We want to get a reservation at the Westin in St. John with World Passport points. What is the realistic time frame to expect to get a reservation - We want to go in May-June of this year?

 

[kimberh]

I would like to hear what a experience DVCer has to say on this, too.

 

[Didney Daddy]

Late notice requests at very popular destinations like the Westin in high season are tough. You will have the best results if you can plan 2 years in advance and be somewhat flexible in the weeks you can travel. Having said that, many will tell you that using DVC regularly to trade out is not usually the best economic use of your points.

It may be better to just rent your points and use the cash to reserve a location and time you want.

 

[mj2vacation]

in reality, sometimes last minute exchanges are sometimes easier, as people will cancel their vacations and deposit with interval at 60 days so they are not subjest to Interval's late deposit rules

I have gotten some great exchanges right at 60 days.

As for what the most efficient use of your points are, that is something that the individual member needs to make. I don't sit here with 12 spreadsheets calculating every penny for every trip. We decide where we want to go and when we want to go, put in the reservation or exchange request, and go.... We have the points and are going to use them.

As for renting points, don't forget that you are subject to income taxes on rentals.

 

[byoung]

Bye the way Welcome Home!!!

 

[Dean]

While May might be an easier time overall, you are starting very late and it is a difficult area to get on exchange. There are currently no units showing up for that resort online with II for all of 2007 and half of 2008 though they can only deposit 12 months out.

 

[beachblanket]

I'm familiar with this resort. Unfortunately, the Op is going to have to re-set their expectations about II trades, because they picked one of the most difficult properties to get into and have an unrealistic timeframe.

The timeshares at the Westin in St. John are so expensive to purchase (prices there start in the $70-80K range) that members are ferociously loyal to the property and rarely give up their weeks to II for trading; the small percentage who do make an occasional exchange generally do it in the private market, not through II. Check out any timeshare board (including TUG), weeks for rent or trade at the Westin St. John are scarce, and those that do appear are almost always at off times (like early October - peak hurricane season). Offers for time during holidays and major school vacation periods are virtually nonexistent.

Frankly, the only prayer of possibly getting into this resort through DVC is to give MS a relatively open-ended request for a very long time frame (ergo, "we'll accept a week anytime between fall 2007 and fall 2009"). The "60 day cancellation" element mentioned previously may help, but one shouldn't pin their hopes on that.

 

[LindaGraham]

Wow - So as we are just joining, we cannot expect to get anything? That worries me as we just bought 200 points, told that we will have to bank by end of Feb as we will get another 200 points in September. So the World passport is a bad option to use points? I don't understand the renting of points? Ok how about Turks & Caicos? Is there anywhere my husband and I can go in May/June to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary?

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Ok how about Turks & Caicos? Is there anywhere my husband and I can go in May/June to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary?

If you are flexible that will be your best bet- call and say we want to go somewhere in the Caribbean from May X-May X (Usually saturday to saturday) Or browse the II website and pick 5 (or more choices) and say I will take any of these resorts for these dates. That will broaden the search and improve your chances. When they call you with a match you have a few days to decide- so you can check airfare and resort reviews.
Good Luck!!!

 

[dumbo71]

Wow - So as we are just joining, we cannot expect to get anything? That worries me as we just bought 200 points, told that we will have to bank by end of Feb as we will get another 200 points in September. So the World passport is a bad option to use points? I don't understand the renting of points? Ok how about Turks & Caicos? Is there anywhere my husband and I can go in May/June to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary?

If you bought in with the idea of exchanging DVC through II them IMO you made a HUGE mistake.

DVC is really for those who want to stay at WDW or VB or HH at least evry other year. Exchanges are a poor use of points for the most part and tough to get sometimes especially on short notice.

I really hope your guide didn't tell you otherwise. I'll probably never trade out. If I wanted to do that there are far cheaper and better trading resorts.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

If you bought in with the idea of exchanging DVC through II them IMO you made a HUGE mistake.

DVC is really for those who want to stay at WDW or VB or HH at least evry other year. Exchanges are a poor use of points for the most part and tough to get sometimes especially on short notice.

I really hope your guide didn't tell you otherwise. I'll probably never trade out. If I wanted to do that there are far cheaper and better trading resorts.

Ditto!! We also own another timeshare, three bedroom penthouse with daily maid service in St. Maarten, we have in the past even tried to trade that for other islands, its very difficult! I got all excited when I found out you could exchange into the Atlantis, but - just the hotel part, not the Harborside, which is the timeshare and is very nice. We have 300 points and they are for Disney, and maybe the occasional cruise, which is still not the best use, but thats okay. If I want to go elsewhere, there are nicer and less expensive alternatives!

 

[beachblanket]

Wow - So as we are just joining, we cannot expect to get anything? That worries me as we just bought 200 points, told that we will have to bank by end of Feb as we will get another 200 points in September. So the World passport is a bad option to use points? I don't understand the renting of points? Ok how about Turks & Caicos? Is there anywhere my husband and I can go in May/June to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary?

Linda, trading through II is certainly possible (really - our vacation this summer will be employing our DVC points for a stay at the Marriott resort in Williamsburg in Virginia), but you have to approach trades with several rules of thumb:

• When you call DVC ressies (Member Services), give them a range of dates and resorts - frankly, the more the better. Don't have your heart set on only one location during one specific time. The gospel here is simple: the more flexible you are, the more likely you are to get something.
• Understand that the better, "brand name" properties (ergo, Marriots, Westin, etc. - especially in resort areas like Hawaii and the Caribbean) are very tough to get during holidays and high seasons. You are much more likely to get a trade during slower periods.
• A tip: if you really want some immediate gratification, early December is a good time to call Member Services looking for trades. Why? That's the time when II members who have procrastinated too long dump their unused time into the II system, so that is when the inventory is at it's highest (we got our Marriott match that way; the summer 2007 dates we wanted --- which hadn't previously been available -- suddenly opened up then. Glad we grabbed 'em, because that inventory was gone by the end of the month).
• Per Dumbo's points, buying into DVC primarily or solely to trade into non-DVC resorts is not a great idea - unless you plan to become a serious "time share trader" who leverages their DVC space to make trades on their own in the private market (I know two DVC members who pretty much meet that description and in fact rarely stay in Disney properties). But there's a tradeoff and some risk here - you in essence become a reservation agent and have to trust others to do the same for you. Or put another way, it's a lot more work than simply calling DVC to make a ressie, and sometimes the trades don't work perfectly.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Harborside is one of the II resorts for Disney.

 

[dumbo71]

Linda, trading through II is certainly possible (really - our vacation this summer will be employing our DVC points for a stay at the Marriott resort in Williamsburg in Virginia), but you have to approach trades with several rules of thumb:

• When you call DVC ressies (Member Services), give them a range of dates and resorts - frankly, the more the better. Don't have your heart set on only one location during one specific time. The gospel here is simple: the more flexible you are, the more likely you are to get something.
• Understand that the better, "brand name" properties (ergo, Marriots, Westin, etc. - especially in resort areas like Hawaii and the Caribbean) are very tough to get during holidays and high seasons. You are much more likely to get a trade during slower periods.
• A tip: if you really want some immediate gratification, early December is a good time to call Member Services looking for trades. Why? That's the time when II members who have procrastinated too long dump their unused time into the II system, so that is when the inventory is at it's highest (we got our Marriott match that way; the summer 2007 dates we wanted --- which hadn't previously been available -- suddenly opened up then. Glad we grabbed 'em, because that inventory was gone by the end of the month).
• Per Dumbo's points, buying into DVC primarily or solely to trade into non-DVC resorts is not a great idea - unless you plan to become a serious "time share trader" who leverages their DVC space to make trades on their own in the private market (I know two DVC members who pretty much meet that description and in fact rarely stay in Disney properties). But there's a tradeoff and some risk here - you in essence become a reservation agent and have to trust others to do the same for you. Or put another way, it's a lot more work than simply calling DVC to make a ressie, and sometimes the trades don't work perfectly.

Where have you been beachblanket? This is a great post and sums it up perfectly. ITA with everything posted by this poster in this thread.

 

[Dean]

Wow - So as we are just joining, we cannot expect to get anything? That worries me as we just bought 200 points, told that we will have to bank by end of Feb as we will get another 200 points in September. So the World passport is a bad option to use points? I don't understand the renting of points? Ok how about Turks & Caicos? Is there anywhere my husband and I can go in May/June to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary?

I think using II is a bad choice for many people but not for everyone. If you spend enough effort and time to learn it and plan well in advance, you will have success. II just called today to offer us a 1 BR at the Westin on Maui (non DVC exchange request) which I will call shortly and accept for Jan-Feb, 2008 in a 1 BR, perfect for us. I previously exchanged a studio at another Marriott for the Marriott for a different trip in Sept for my daughter.

 

[disneydenisel]

I think using II is a bad choice for many people but not for everyone. If you spend enough effort and time to learn it and plan well in advance, you will have success. II just called today to offer us a 1 BR at the Westin on Maui (non DVC exchange request) which I will call shortly and accept for Jan-Feb, 2008 in a 1 BR, perfect for us. I previously exchanged a studio at another Marriott for the Marriott for a different trip in Sept for my daughter.

Dean, great exchange, and a 1 bedroom villa, too ! What did you use to exchange and how far out did you make the request? Also, did you give II a range of dates/months so that you would increase your chances?

 

[Dean]

Dean, great exchange, and a 1 bedroom villa, too ! What did you use to exchange and how far out did you make the request? Also, did you give II a range of dates/months so that you would increase your chances?

I actually had two exchange requests looking at the same time basically the end of Jan to late March 2008. One was a 1 BR Marriott but only looking for the Marriott's so I could get the cheaper exchange fee. The other a Bluegreen deposit I just deposited and requested about a week ago. To be honest, I was fearful the BG week wasn't going to perform as what I was seeing online with it was not encouraging. I had listed a number of Maui options to include a few things I'd never trade my Marriott or DVC for but would have been a good deal in this situation. Since they called, I was expecting they were going to offer it against the Marriott and I was going to lobby to do it against the BG deposit instead but fearful they wouldn't allow it due to trade power. From what I could see it was a direct match and they should have matched it without calling as I had both codes listed for that resort and had my dates starting that weekend back to Thursday before. The only thing I can think of is that the third code came on line for that resort and this unit is from that portion of the resort. Given the exchange specifics and unit assignments it doesn't matter to me if that's the case. Now I change my Marriott request to Oahu only for the week before and week after though I have other things listed for other times and areas as well.

You'll have to forgive me for being so wordy, I had a bad day and this reversed all that in the course of 10 minutes.

 

[beachblanket]

Where have you been beachblanket? This is a great post and sums it up perfectly. ITA with everything posted by this poster in this thread.

Thanks - we've previously traded into the Marriott Maui Ocean Club (which easily blows DVC's VB away; got a 1BR in February, which was lucky and I think the result of a last minute cancellation by a II member) and the Marriott Ocean Club in Aruba (for an April stay; we enjoyed the resort but won't return to Aruba - the Natalee Holloway situation has seriously eroded the ambience of that island). Getting the latter involve a lot of patience, that trade request involved depositing points and a search which took almost a year to come through.

We've also used the Concierge program twice, due to unexpected family schedule changes which put us in the position of having to use up "leftover" points on short notice before they expired at use-year end. One was at the Sagamore in New York (a stay over Columbus Day weekend in 2004, the foliage was incredible and that transitional period is a great time to enjoy that landmark Catskills resort without the summer crowds) and one night at the Boston Harbor Hotel in November 2005.

Moral: you can buy into DVC and economically leverage your membership to enjoy first rate non Disney destinations.

 

[tomandrobin]

Wow - So as we are just joining, we cannot expect to get anything? That worries me as we just bought 200 points, told that we will have to bank by end of Feb as we will get another 200 points in September. So the World passport is a bad option to use points? I don't understand the renting of points? Ok how about Turks & Caicos? Is there anywhere my husband and I can go in May/June to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary?

Don't get disappointed about Westin St. John. I own in Starwood (Westin is part of Starwood) and even an owner it is almost impossible to trade into St John. About 95% of the owners there either use the resort or rent it privately, rarely do they trade in II. You actually would have a better chance of trading points for a unit in another resort. But being new to timesharing, I wouldn't recommend that at this time. There are probably other resorts available, maybe....but with just a couple months window to book a room, might be difficult.

 

[kimberh]

Wow Dean, The Westin in Maui is Awesome!!! We were there last Jan. Your exchange is Whale season! We had a Ocean View Studio, very nice!!! We just loved it. I own BG too. I am going to have to check into this. I would never dream it would get Maui and then the Westin. What did you deposit, if you don't mind me asking? Our time with BG floats and we can get what they have available.