What other timeshare groups?

[nezy]

Just wondering if anyone out there, other than Dean, of course has a timeshare other than w/DVC?

We are interested in another purchase, with a "deeded" property. DH likes the idea of "deeded". Anyway, are there any recommendations or warnings to stay away from a specific group?

Ofcourse DEAN your expert and valued opinion is appreciated as always.

Thanks all.
Noreen

 

[dvc_john]

Besides DVC, I own at Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott. I like them all, but none are anywhere near as flexible as DVC. Of the three, I think Hilton is the most flexible. Marriott has by far the most resorts. Marriott and Hyatt are with I.I. for exchanges, Hilton is with R.C.I. All charge fees, for example, for exchanging into a resort that is not your home resort, or converting your timeshare into MarriottRewards, Hhonors, or GoldPassport points. I've never converted my weeks into hotel points because I think it generally is not an efficient use of the week. Anything specific you want to know, I'll try to answer.

 

[nezy]

Thanks John.
We just did a Fairfield tour and I wasn't very excited about the people representing the company.

We will be visiting Marriott's Cypress Harbour resort in Orlando in Feb. Since we own DVC I am not sure if Orlando would be the best location for us to buty a second timeshare. What do you think? Also, w/ Marriott is it a fixed week or a "time of year" like weeks 1-20 for example.

I haven't even looked into Hilton. Where are their resorts primarily?

Hyatt I think is beyond our means w/ limited locations.

If you were to rate the quality of the 3 you mentioned how would you say the cleanliness and maintenance of the resorts compare to each other? Compare to DVC?

Thank you so much.

Ok-by the format of my questions can you tell that I am a teacher?
Please write our answer in 100 words essay form. Spelling and Grammer will be counted.

 

[musical2]

Other than DVC, we also own at the Marriott Manor Club in Williamsburg, Virginia. We love Marriott. They have very nice resorts in which we can trade into if we want to do so. We just came back from a week at the Marriott Barony Beach Club on Hilton Head Island and it was great! We really enjoyed it. We also own at the Renaissance Beach Resort on Aruba. We use that as our perennial trader (although it is a very nice Interval International 5 star resort and a wonderful resort to go to).

Bart

 

[nezy]

Are there any fees to trade within Marriott Vacation Club. or only into II?

Do you have a specified week? Or is ther more flexibility for when you may travel?

 

[spiceycat]

Marriott internals trading is through II - I think it is $69?

Depends upon the Marriott resort - the new ones are selling for a season - platinum, gold, silver - not a week.

there is an excellent Marriott board on the tug site.

www.tug2.net

I don't have enough money to do Marriott and DVC - and since I love WDW - DVC won!!! I have a South Africia and a Panama City Beach (on the Gulf).

 

[dvc_john]

I'll be at Cypress Harbour in January for a week.

I don't think I'd buy an Orlando timeshare (other than DVC) unless you planned to use it most of the time. There are so many timeshares in Orlando it's very easy to trade into.
With Marriott, you buy a type of unit in a particular season. Then you make a reservation accordingly. You are pretty much limited to full week reservations. If you own a lock-off, however, you can split it into 2 weeks. 1 week in a 1-br, and 1 week in a studio. If you want to trade, you go thru I.I. For trading to another Marriott, there is a $79 fee. For non Marriott, I believe it's $129. You must belong to I.I. to trade. Marriott to Marriott trades get a preference within I.I. Marriott resorts are just about everywhere.
Hilton is a little more flexible, but they have far fewer resorts. Again, you own a type of unit in a particular season. That unit is worth a certain number of points. You can reserve the type/season you own 15 months in advance for a full week. Or, at 9 months, you can reserve using points at any resort, any season, any type of unit, for a minimum of 3 days. At 30 days, the 3 day minimum is reduced to 2 day minimum.
Hilton has 2 resorts in Orlando, 3 in Las Vegas, 1 in Honolulu, and 1 in Miami Beach. They have affiliated resorts in Breckenridge, Mexico, Scotland, and several in Sanibel, Marco, and Captiva Islands.
Hyatt is probably the least flexible. However, I haven't yet stayed at my home resort, but have stayed at most of the other Hyatts, so I guess it's flexible enough. It's just more work and more complicated.
Their system is a fixed week sytem, but you can convert your week into points. They have resorts in Sedona, 3 in Key West, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek Colo, Bonita Springs (near Naples), Lake Tahoe, Carmel, and Puerto Rico.
With Marriott, the affiliated resorts at Hilton, and Hyatt, someone has to give up a reserved week for you to be able to get it. That's why I say DVC is so much more flexible.
As for quality, maintenance, cleanliness, etc., I would say all are fairly equal, and on par with DVC. All are either I.I. 5-star or R.C.I. Gold Crown. (Both Marriott and Hilton have resorts that they didn't develop but are in their system. Some of these are likely t
be below DVC).
Hope this helps.

 

[Cruelladeville]

dvc_john, nice job of summarizing! I also own at Marriott, and use it primarily to trade to other Marriott resorts, which are just about everywhere. It is somewhat limiting to have to stay a week in a particular location, if you would rather travel around, but other than that difficulty, I do like Marriott. The quality of their resorts is very good, probably nearly as good as Disney. Customer Service is somewhat uneven, though. I have mine in Orlando, and have never had a problem trading, since so many people want to visit there. You can get a Cypress Harbour on resale for about $8000 for summer, and at Grand Vista for $10,000 in platinum season(summer). I find Cypress Harbour more relaxing, and less snooty than Grand Vista, but it's personal preference. Check the Timeshare Store, they have the listed properties that I mentioned.

 

[Dean]

Just like DVC isn't for everyone, there is no one size fits all timeshare option. It depends on where you live, family size, how far out you can plan, your lifestyle, where you like to visit and what you like to do. Marriott certainly complements DVC nicely but even then I'd buy something that will at least work for you without trading.

The internal trade cost is indeed $79 NOT $69. There are many options you might consider. Go to Timeshare Users Group and spend a few months getting information. Just realize that some timeshare are a bargain at $15K and others a rip off at $1000.

If you have some of the info above, I'm sure some of us could make some suggestions but you'll be even better off delving into TUG.

 

[RobDoc]

Besides DVC, we own 7 weeks at Timeshares in Gatlinburg, TN , Freench Lick, IN, Marble Hill, GA and Bailey's Harbour, WI.

The Gatlinburg timeshare is affiliated with Amber Vacations- a timeshare group that includes resorts in Kissimmee amd Daytona Beach. The others are all part of RCI and French Lick os part of RCI and II (and is included as a DVC option with II).

All are nice resorts, but none are at the same level as DVC Resorts, IMHO.

All of the other Timeshares were purchased for $2500 or less (usually much less) and have maintenance fees of $475 per week or less.

 

[Lisa P.]

We enjoy our Fairfield ownership. It offers nice, Gold Crown, family-friendly resorts with a lot of activities. Costs are reasonable (resale purchase & maint. fees). But best of all, there are so many resorts in the locations that our family wants to visit!

The sales reps leave a lot to be desired. The points program is complex, requiring a longer time to learn to make the most of it. Still, for us, it's worth it. YMMV.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

We own 2 fixed weeks not affiliated with anyone, and 1 bi-annual week with Starwood/Vistana. It took me a long time to fully understand it, but its a great program once you grasp it!

 

[webprinter]

We own at Fairfield which is complex until you get to know it. The maint. fees are low (for some of them), and they have a lot of nice resorts. There is no fee to exchange within the ff system.

We own at Worldmark which is predominantly on the west coast. They are very flexible and easy to figure out. They trade very well, (even into DVC), and maint. fees run in the $400-$500 range. The units are well maintained and nice.

We also own a south african resort for trading purposes only. The maint. fees are low, ($100-$200), but they don't trade overly well.

Whatever you do, check into everything before you buy and buy resale. I also recommend the TUG group.

Debby

 

[OKWKirt]

I thought I would throw my two cents worth of info out there. After buying into DVC in 1997 (add on in 1999) we wanted something close to home (KC) where we could drive for short get aways. We bought a two bedroom lockoff at the Surrey Grand Crowne in Branson which has a points system and uses II. We hope to use this to trade in the future but since 1999 our stays there have been very enjoyable and I have never found lower airfare than II could provide me. In 2001 Bluegreen Vacation Club started a timeshare at Big Ceder Lodge, south of Branson, which we fell in love with after using DVC points to stay and bought in immediately. Bluegreen has 30 some properties, mostly in the south east, and keeps growing every year. They also have approximately 200 resorts you can get low rates without using your points. So far I am impressed with Bluegreen. Without busting my bubble I would like to know if Dean or anyone else has info on Bluegreen so I can learn more about their history with trading

 

[FredS]

Originally posted by nezy
....Ok-by the format of my questions can you tell that I am a teacher?
Please write our answer in 100 words essay form. Spelling and Grammer will be counted.

Um, do you realize that you misspelled "grammar" in your post?? Sorry, couldn't resist.

While not claiming to be an expert, from the timeshares owned by myself, family and friends, I think DVC is head and shoulders above the rest from its flexibility in dates and unit types when making reservations, customer service by member services, retention of value, ability to rent vacation time to others, cleanliness and amenities of resorts and probably some other areas which don't readily come to mind.

I am sure that plenty of people are pleased with their other timeshares, but it would take an extremely low price and maintenance fees, beautiful facility and lots of positive feedback from people I trust before I would venture into buying another timeshare. (We like our resort and the people at that particular site, but dealing overall with the company is a nightmare.) Our plans change too often and we are too spoiled by Disney to be really happy with most timeshare arrangements.

 

[DanG]

I also own with Starwood at their Westin Mission Hills property in RAncho Mirage.

I would never have owned another timeshare had I not first bought DVC, but I subscribe to the heresy that not all vacations should be Disney vacations, and since the DVC options outside the core resorts are limited in their value, I bought into a second system.

Starwood offers a nice range of trading options (though significantly fewer than Marriott), but has an internal trading system that differentiates the value of different weeks so that I have the ability to trade fairly easily into top resorts in Hawaii, St. John, at Atlantis in the Bahamas and soon in Scottsdale. These will be hard to get in season if you are not part of the internal network. There are also other resorts in Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Colorado and elsewhere in Florida.

Starwood offers a better trade in value for hotel points (by most valuation criteria, I can trade my week in for hotel points worth, on average $2400). Starwood's hotel program (Westin, St. Regis, W, Sheraton) has no blackout dates, so I can book for Mardi Gras in New Orleans, St Regis Aspen for New Years and greatly increase the value of those points. Of course, the recent trend has been to devalue hotel points, so this benefit may not be the same value in the future.

 

[nezy]

Thanks everyone. You are all a wealth of information. Whenever I think of the places I want to be, I think "Orlando, Hilton Head and the beach". I would also like to be able to go to places close to home-which we have through DVC. DVC definately takes me where I want to go right now.

I have looked on TUG and will continue to do more research until our tour in Feb. Is there a specific spot w/in the TUG website that I should look? Do I need to become a member of TUG to get the info I need? Truely, visiting a location will let me know if that is where I want to be. To buy in Orlando does not make sense to me if I plan to go to even a different Marriott location, as Dean said it is $79 each time to re-locate!

How is the Fairfield trading? Is there a fee to go from one Fairfield to another?

 

[Lisa P.]

OKWKirt wrote: Big Ceder Lodge... So far I am impressed with Bluegreen... anyone else has info on Bluegreen so I can learn more about their history with trading

Kirt, BlueGreen seems to be expanding regularly. I'm sure you're going to see positive things happening. Once in a while, The Timeshare Beat reports about yet another resort in a good location being purchased by BlueGreen. So whatever they are doing now (for trading) will likely continue to improve.

FWIW, I've had an ongoing search with RCI for Charleston for next Easter, waited through most of the summer. I was using a Fairfield week, had included Nashville in our search request, and FF did a bulk spacebanking for Nashville... so we're now confirmed to visit Nashville. Charleston didn't match during that search (one of the resorts is a BlueGreen).

Also, I've looked online regularly to see if your Wilderness Club ever showed up. They don't seem to be depositing those... not even offseason weeks. So if you wanted to trade, and if you are able to deposit a Wilderness Club week (or Charleston), you ought to find you'd have very strong trade power. JMHO.

If you wanted to locate a direct exchange, I would think you could do pretty well with one of those too. Try TUG's Direct Exchange listings.

nezy wrote: Whenever I think of the places I want to be, I think "Orlando, Hilton Head and the beach"... I have looked on TUG and will continue to do more research until our tour in Feb. Is there a specific spot w/in the TUG website that I should look?

If you want info about timeshare in general, read the Advice articles (ex., Timesharing 101) and the forums on the topics that interest you... probably "Buying, Selling, Renting" and "Exchanging" and "Florida" for starters. The more you read, the better.

Do I need to become a member of TUG to get the info I need?

Probably only if you wanted to read reviews prior to exchanging.

How is the Fairfield trading?

Through RCI, it's pretty good... not top-of-the-line but good. The nice thing about trading FF through RCI is that you can upgrade pretty easily. Ex., deposit a studio week worth 28,000-70,000 points and trade into a 2BR week worth 126,000-203,000 points, and pay the RCI exchange fee of $139. This can really stretch one's points at times.

Is there a fee to go from one Fairfield to another?

No, not with direct reservations and especially not for full weeks. We didn't pay a reservation fee we booked 5 nights oceanfront at Myrtle Beach, 5 nights at Washington DC, 2 nights in Williamsburg, 2-3 nights near Gatlinburg TN, etc. There can be some extra fees (ex., housekeeping fee, if you book too many short stays per year) but by learning how to maximize points, I rarely pay any fees at all.

 

[OKWKirt]

Thanks for the info Lisa. I wouldn't expect to see any trading into Big Cedar Wilderness Club any time soon. It is so new and a little over a year ago when the first lodge was about complete it burned to the ground. I would guess a lot of owners trying to get in. About a year ago my families 11 month planning hit a snag with our kids activities and now we are lucky to plan a month or two ahead. We have only stayed at the Wilderness Club once, in one of the cabins, and twice we had to use our points for the Falls Village in Branson, which is a really nice resort.