What other timeshare do you like?

[LAX]

I surprised myself when I bought DVC. I can't imagine buying any other TS.

LAX

 

[Judique]

I also fell for this deal but hadn’t decided if I wanted to actually go yet. It’s the points that got me!

What resort are they offering for the stay?

I caught a Hilton Honors points deal last fall on the Hilton website that may have been a glitch or may have been a trap, but in any case it was 2 nights for 10k HH points per night which is dirt cheap for any place. Stayed in February and allowed myself to be talked into the presentation when it was time to get my room key/parking pass. Told them upfront there would be no sale and after the 90 minutes collected my 'gifts' ($150 visa gift card and another 7 day vacation certificate for somewhere). Anyway day of check in and the next morning I had no plans so it worked out for me as I was waiting for family to arrive before our BWV stay and I was out of the cold mid atlantic weather.

 

[VGCgroupie]

What resort are they offering for the stay?

I caught a Hilton Honors points deal last fall on the Hilton website that may have been a glitch or may have been a trap, but in any case it was 2 nights for 10k HH points per night which is dirt cheap for any place. Stayed in February and allowed myself to be talked into the presentation when it was time to get my room key/parking pass. Told them upfront there would be no sale and after the 90 minutes collected my 'gifts' ($150 visa gift card and another 7 day vacation certificate for somewhere). Anyway day of check in and the next morning I had no plans so it worked out for me as I was waiting for family to arrive before our BWV stay and I was out of the cold mid atlantic weather.

I selected Vegas with no intention of going. I told him I wanted Hawaii but wasn’t ready to commit to Hawaii since it was more money. Vegas was $150 Hawaii was $899. He said I can switch to Hawaii when I’m ready to book. There was 2 options in Kauai but I can’t remember the names exactly. I got $50 platinum card credit when they charged the $150 so that was nice.

 

[Judique]

I selected Vegas with no intention of going. I told him I wanted Hawaii but wasn’t ready to commit to Hawaii since it was more money. Vegas was $150 Hawaii was $899. He said I can switch to Hawaii when I’m ready to book. There was 2 options in Kauai but I can’t remember the names exactly. I got $50 platinum card credit when they charged the $150 so that was nice.

Yeah, I'm less than interested in Vegas! There are some aspects of Hawaii I'm sure I would enjoy, but I've made no move to get myself there. Some might think I'm in a rut, but I enjoy my little adventures.

 

[mort1331]

So all TS need a word of caution. There is one north of Toronto that was called Horseshoe Valley, a ski resort. Since it was, as most TS, hard to get out the owners just stopped paying dues. That raised the dues up for all those that still payed dues. Eventually the whole resort just went bankrupt. It was sold off to a condo developer. After many years in court, it looks like the owners will get back about $4500 for each full yearly week they owned. Not great, but not 0. The resort was managed by Wyndham.

Side note, my wife and I actually went and looked at this back in 2001, one of those $50 for the weekend, just attend the presentation. Like all high pressure sales, multiple people coming over with new incentives, but thankfully we said no.

We still go to weekend sales pitches for cheap accommodations every once in a while. The best was another one north of Toronto in Collingwood. We told the sales team and all the calls we received that we had a dog and were bringing it with us. They all said no problem they have a section for dogs. We show up with our dog at the main presentation with a ton of people. One sales agent came to us and said you cant have a dog in here. I smiled and said we told you we were bringing him. It is winter and we are not leaving him in the car. Supervisor came over and brought us into a private room, we explained everything and all the calls. He excused himself for 15 mins, came back and apologized as he reviewed the audio tapes and heard us say that we were bringing our dog. Asked us if we were interested in the TS, of course I said no, and gave us the keys to a dog friendly unit and told us to enjoy the weekend. Loved it.

 

[808blessing]

That's crazy they recorded everything!

 

[LAX]

That's crazy they recorded everything!

I imagine it's intended to protect themselves.

LAX

 

[Girlstar30]

Despite being a DVC owner since 1996, I really have no interest in time share. The only reason DVC tempted me is because of how often my family and I were at Disney World each year - it was the only one that made financial sense in that we could definitely get our money's worth even with the buy-in and dues. I never considered any other time share. I've actually never used my DVC for anything other than Disney World either - I do a lot of cruising (not Disney) and travel to other places, but never looked into using my DVC points for that, because I pretty much use them all up every year with my 4 or 5 stays at Disney World.

My boss has been in RCI for at least 20 years - and he likes it - admittedly his purchase reason was similar to mine - he goes to Hawaii often and the resort they like to stay in on Kauai was part of RCI - so that was the primary reason he purchased it. He has used it on occasion in other parts of the world, and even at Disney (Bonnet Creek is part of that one), but a vast majority of his RCI usage is in Hawaii.

Same for me i couldnt imagine juggling another timeshare and after working at a Marriott timeshare property I am traumatized.

I was only interested in this one because of my love for Disney.

That being said the Marriott Newport Coast Villas that I worked at was a very nice property, way nicer than the surrounding Marriotts and interestingly enough I think thats the one that was originally going to be DVC.

We also stayed at Cypress Harbor before DVC and it was very nice so I guess if I had to, id go Marriott (but I wouldn't)

We stayed at the Cypress Harbor when going to Disney World on the condition that we would go to their TS presentation because they gave us a really cheap offer. We happened to get Covid and had to quarantine and I was so happy I was in what I thought was a castle and the nicest room id ever stayed in

They still tried to make us do the time share presentation virtually, but when I had to excuse myself to puke (tmi) we were off the hook

 

[Girlstar30]

I feel the same! Not that I’m complaining; I think that is best for the consumer.

Same here! I told them id buy right now if they lowered the interest rate and they told me to kick rocks and wait my year (not in those words ) I also asked for vdh to be my welcome home stay for Easter and it was a hard no

 

[Cfabar1]

If I bought another timeshare it would be Hyatt... likely resale.... Great properties, well taken care of....

 

[Girlstar30]

I’ll tell you how it is in February. Hilton got me with a 4 night stay and 100k points for $150 in Orlando. It will be our first time trying Disney off property. But for that price I’ll roll the dice lol.

We went to an extremely high pressure time share presentation once and we just saw it as a game. My wife said she had only traveled one place before and she hated everything about it from flying on a plane to being somewhere she wasnt familiar with

They asked me what countries I was interested in traveling to and I said none that I only like camping and would never stay in a hotel

We really tried hard not to laugh and we noticed we were the first people they let go

 

[Girlstar30]

My in-laws have Marriott.

I remember when they went to their first sales meeting BC they got a "free" trip. It was at the Marriott Grand Vista which is located near WDW. (We were with them, sharing a 2 BR). The 1.5 hour into breakfast turned into a much longer sales pitch, and they came away with points. A year or so later, they had the "members update" meeting (which took the whole morning) and came away with more points. I think they added on once more after that.

Here are my observations:
- It is a point system very similar to DVC
- I think the weeks are tiered pricing, similar to DVC
- The booking windows are similar to DVC Home Resort
- Some properties cost more points than others
- Some locations are better than others, so do some research before booking
- Some locations are competitive (Hawaii)
- Units are usually clean and basic. Not as nice as DVC, IMO, but fine.
- They can bank, borrow, and trade into Interval (I think it's Interval)
- There is an additional fee when staying. Maybe for parking or something?
- They have enjoyed their points with family and friends
- All of the 2 BR's I've stayed in were lock offs
- They have enough points for 2 BR's, twice a year. Their dues are currently about $500/month
- There is no expiration date on these contracts. Dues are forever

Fast forward 25 years from initial purchase and now they are looking to either sell them or give them to one of the three boys. None of us want them. We already own DVC. The middle brother has already been to many of the places. The youngest brother has familial issues that don't work with a TS. So, they are faced with trying to sell them. I think they are going to use Fidelity. They will make something, but nowhere close to their purchase price.

In the end - they've made great memories and the points have been well used.

If you're gonna buy, buy resale. It's wayyyy less. And there is no sales meeting.

I used to think it was bad that a dvc contract had a limited amount of years on it, but now im actually greatful I did think the Cypress Harbor was nicer than some dvc hotels (but without the Disney touch, so not for me.

 

[Girlstar30]

This is something I would have a really hard time getting my head around unless there was some sort of clear exit ramp with the developer. I guess the plan might just be, well, worst case, I die, and my heirs disclaim it.


You are absolutely correct - no one should buy DVC with the expectation of recouping any of their upfront cost. That said, I think the location of DVC properties (well, at least the WDW properties) does give me some comfort about the long-term ability to exit DVC if I wanted to, even with the resale restrictions. It is easier for me to get comfortable that WDW properties will still be in demand 30 or 40 years from now with a cash rate that equals or exceeds the increase in dues - in theory, even a restricted resale contract should still have some value so long as that remains the case. I have a lot less confidence about a Marriott or Hilton type property located in some resort town somewhere. Sort of how I would personally feel about VB/HHI/AUL if those were resorts that were not part of DVC and were, instead, part of vacation club with exchanges into other beach resorts. If those resorts didn't have the Disney name attached to it, I suspect their cash rates would be even lower than they are now.

What if you just stopped paying? Just curious

 

[airjay75]

What if you just stopped paying? Just curious

I'm sure plenty of people do that too - haven't looked into how that would affect your credit and/or whether they'd have any legal claim they could pursue against you. Probably depends on the timeshare. That said, it sounds like what tends to happen in more distressed timeshares is that a lot of the owners stop paying, which probably makes it difficult to pursue any claims against owners.

 

[Brian Noble]

Based on sporadic reports at TUG, stopping maintenance fee payments just results in a foreclosure; these generally are not reported to the credit agencies. If they are, the hit is minor given an overall strong credit profile. If you are defaulting on a loan, it is more likely to be reported. Naturally, you'd still have to disclose this if you were e.g. applying for a mortgage (because they will ask), but it probably would not matter much.

after working at a Marriott timeshare property I am traumatized. [...[ I was only interested in this one because of my love for Disney.

ProTip: Never become a Cast Member.

 

[Brian Noble]

And, to repeat myself: It's relatively rare to be unable to give a timeshare away. It would have to be underwater---i.e. annual fees higher than market rents in the area for a similar property and season.