[ 2012 ] Former Westgate Planet Hollywood query

[timeos2]

If you are going through II you are getting a Wastegate unit regardless of any Hilton name on the listing. Hilton may not have placed any inventory with RCI yet as there are very few actual Hilton units ready there yet (with PLENTY on tap).

 

[rjp123]

I just returned from a 6 night stay in Las Vegas (3 in Flamingo via Open Season, 3 in Elara via Hilton.com reservations). This was my first time staying in HGVC properties in LV (see my Flamingo review in another thread).

Despite the conjecture in this thread: I -REALLY- like Elara. Elara is the a real hotel-like experience within the HGVC system (different from HHV, Flamingo and SoBe - which feel as purpose-build timeshares). I hope Hilton doesn't change this.

As a HHGold - they gave me my room preference as a high-floor far from elevator. The check-in staff mentioned there was construction on higher floors, so I was given 28th floor (the building skips the 40's as 4 is an unlucky number for some Asian peoples). My floor was South facing, which meant I looked down towards MGM and the airport and had stunning, sprawling views of the LV valley South of the strip.

I had a 1-BD suite room, which had a kitchen, living room, bedroom, Jacuzzi tub and bathroom with shower and private toilette stall. I am guessing the room was probably 600 sq F or so, with floor to ceiling windows (with automatic blinds at the touch of a switch) and TVs in every room (including the bathroom). The room was pretty much brand new, everything was perfect -chrome kitchen appliances, plush carpet, leather L-cove couch, trendy lighting and art.

Some people in this thread have commented that they think the styling is cheesy/odd - for me it felt like having a big room at a W Hotel - which is pretty darn nice if I say so. Maybe it is because I am an under-35 owner and like more hip/trendy styling than I saw at HHV or Flamingo which feel like more traditional timeshare suites (SoBe has good art-deco styling in the rooms IMO which makes it very nice as well).

Elara has a cool factor - big sweeping lobby, high ceilings, funky décor. I saw a foto of how they plan to re-do the lobby, and I hope they don't kill it's Vegas-appropriate styling and feel.

The tower is huge - I told my friends who were staying elsewhere that I was at the "Hilton Grand Vacations" due to the prominent signage on the building which made it easy for them to find me (unlike the Flamingo - where everybody was "huh?, where?"). Being close to Planet Hollywood and Aria/Cosmo made it an ideal location (albeit I like the Flamingo location slightly better as it was RIGHT ON the monorail and I like to play craps at cheaper $5 tables at Bills, Harrahs and Casino Royale).

If I had to stay in Vegas again, I'd probably pick Elara over Flamingo. The styling is young and vibrant, it feels more luxurious than Flamingo (which feels nice, but well-used) and the location is good for South-end strip activities. This assumption is based on the open-season rates for Elara being the same/similar as they are for Flamingo (who knows what they will be when they open it up).

ONE CAVEAT: The Flamingo pool was closed when I was there due to it being cold (32 deg!!!). Being a part of the younger-end of the ownership age range – I am really looking forward to going back to Vegas to have fun during the daytime pool parties. This could sway my preference over Elara. Elara has a GREAT pool area – VERY nice, but I hear the Flamingo pool parties are epic, which would make staying at Flamingo worth it for that alone (versus paying $50-$100 to get into the Flamingo pool).

PS: Parking: The one plus for Flamingo is that you can leave your car at the Flamingo valet fro the cost of tips ($5) whereas at Elara it is $15 per day.

 

[Talent312]

What's confusing is that it is called "Elara, A Hilton Grand Vacations Club" in II now... Which would make one assume one is renting a "Hilton" unit.

They may get away with it since HGVC manages the whole property.
But it's misleading since no II exchange will score a HGVC unit.
It'll be a while b4 HGVC units show up in either RCI or Hilton Hotels.
.

 

[TheWizz]

Elara is now on RCI.COM

Just a quick update... I did a search on RCI this morning and Elara is now listed on II and RCI. The RCI Resort Code = D400.

 

[chalced]

Hi - newbie to the site here.
We have a floating 1 week 1BR EOY with Westgates at the now Hilton Elara.
We are using this week in April and was wondering if it was worth visiting the Hilton sales centre there to see if Hilton would be willing to buy the Westgates timeshare?
Has anyone else tried doing this?
We are happy with the timeshare, but also own at Marriott (which we prefer), so are looking to sell off this one.
Thanks

 

[Blues]

We (DW and I) just got back from a weekend at HGVC Elara, too. We're in a different demographic than rjp123, being a bit older. My initial comment when we got there was that it was great for the younger demographic, which is what I'm sure it was built for.

My first impression was a bit sour, as I went in large circles around the entrance and parking structure for 20 minutes while trying to find registration parking. There is no such thing, though when I asked the valets just pointed vaguely at the parking structure and told me to go to the 2nd floor (Wrong! there is no parking on the 2nd floor. The entrance to Elara is on the 3rd floor of the parking structure). If you don't want to pay $17/day (not $15) for valet, you'll need to figure this out beforehand. BTW, later I was in a conversation with one of the greeters, who asked me my impressions of Elara vs our home resort of Flamingo, and I mentioned this hassle and said that they badly needed some signage.

After this bad first impression, though, I came to appreciate that this would be a great location for the young crowd. And not too bad for us dinosaurs. We had a studio on the 56th floor (top floor other than penthouse), with dynamite views looking north, past Paris and Venetian. It seemed like you could almost reach out and touch as far as the Stratosphere. That was probably the best point of this unit.

I also liked the diversity of food available in the Miracle Mile shops, and the proximity to City Center / Aria as rjp123 says. That said, the vibe was too frenetic for my taste, access too difficult, and the area a bit crowded. I still prefer Flamingo, though I could see us staying here again if Flamingo was booked.

-Bob

 

[RX8]

was wondering if it was worth visiting the Hilton sales centre there to see if Hilton would be willing to buy the Westgates timeshare?

Doesn't hurt to ask the question. However, Hilton already has plenty of units to sell in Vegas between all their resorts. I would put the odds of that happening at 1,000,000 to 1. You'll get slightly better odds if you are willing to spend $40K to $50K for a new HGVC TS.

For your sake I would love Hilton to prove me wrong. Please come back and let us know what they say.

 

[cardinal93]

Just got back from Elara...Fantastic

Hi y'all,

Just got back from the Elara today after a 3 night stay...Fabulous.

My family loved the 2 bedroom suite...the check-in lady kept saying "this is a very nice room". I had booked the cheapest 2 bedroom suite (points wise), so I wasn't expecting much. Turns out, they put me on the 34th floor in room 34 (3434) which is the end of the hallway room that is part of a 4 bedroom suite lockoff. My room has the red/pink glass protrusion that sticks out from the side of the Elara if you are on Harmon St across from Marriott's Grande Chateau.

The room was HUGE...in fact, the largest 2 bedroom suite that I have ever stayed in.

I had a paroramic view of the city, from the Las Vegas Hilton on the right to whatever those 3 gold towers are behind MGM Grand....awesome!

1. The decor was still the red/black hollywood style...loved it! The bellman guy told me that Hilton is halting the redecorating as hilton guests have expressed their liking the current style decor...who knows if this is true or not, but it's cheezy hollywood and we love it!

2. Sofa bed was not as good as Flamingo sofabed...

3. No real oven in the suite...there is a combo microwave/convection oven thingy.

4. Sink has no disposal unit.

5. Couldn't figure where the trash chute was (didn't try looking very hard), so just handed stuff over to the cleaning ladies.

6. Bought expensive water from convenience store at Elara (7 dollars for 2 bottles of 1 liter Aquafina...ouch). Discovered a gigantic Walgreen's just right outside the Planet Hollywood on the corner...you can find everything here, and a 1 gallon of "Nice" brand water was 1.59. Just bring a little kids stroller or whatever and knock yourself out with cheap water.

7. Very nice starbucks at the entrance of Elara.

8. Valet parking for 15 bucks...i just went ahead and paid 45 dollars for the 3 days for the convenience.

9. Ignored the "Vacation Experience" sales call .

10. The pool was super nice...from the outside. I saw nobody in the pool area, except a life guard who was all bundled up sitting watching the pool.

11. Oh, we also went to a ski area...who knew! There is a decent ski slope area about an hour drive from Vegas (near Mt Saint Charleston). There is also a gigantic snow slide area for kids to play for free on the way to the ski area. Who knew! Bring yer sleds, coats and what not. Now that I know this is here, I'll come back during the summer and cool off during the day at Mt Saint Charleston elevation around 7000-8000 ft.

We really enjoyed our stay, and the Elara's location was super convenient.

Walking distance to almost everything that we wanted to go.

Cheers!

Cardinal93

 

[dougp26364]

Doesn't hurt to ask the question. However, Hilton already has plenty of units to sell in Vegas between all their resorts. I would put the odds of that happening at 1,000,000 to 1. You'll get slightly better odds if you are willing to spend $40K to $50K for a new HGVC TS.

For your sake I would love Hilton to prove me wrong. Please come back and let us know what they say.

Actually, they don't have as much as you might think. When we took the update they were trying to sell us units in Carlsbad, not Vegas. The sales guy told us (his lips were moving) that they were essentially sold out at the LV Strip location. The Flamingo and Karen Ave locations are old enough it would surprise me if they were sold out. Hilton needed Elera and Trump to continue selling Vegas without having to build out the LV Strip location. It's cheaper to acquire then to build in this market.

 

[chalced]

Well, as was thought - Hilton have no interest in our Westgates timeshare. We did however get $120 worth of dining credit for going along and asking them about it, so not a complete waste of time.

 

[gdlipp]

RecentWestgate Planet Hollywood Timeshare Resale Purchase

I have an opportunity to acquire a timeshare resale at Planet Hollywood with the following specs. Basically a 2-bedroom lock-off.

Usage: Annual Float Weeks 1-52
Units: Studio Standard And One Bedroom Grand
Deeded To Building # 14
Deeded As Unit # 13, Week # 3 - Studio Standard Unit
Unit # 15, Week # 3 - One Bedroom Grand Unit

HGVC acquired this property in 2013? and now manages it. Original Westgate owners are still required to go through the Westgate system for reservations. Is anyone aware if HGVC has a points conversion program for Westgate owners to bring their legacy timeshare property into the HGVC system?

 

[Talent312]

Is anyone aware if HGVC has a points conversion program for Westgate owners to bring their legacy timeshare property into the HGVC system?

As was said b4, there is not... For now, you are on your own.
It seems HGVC has no interest in rescuing Westgate orphans.

 

[Jason245]

I have an opportunity to acquire a timeshare resale at Planet Hollywood with the following specs. Basically a 2-bedroom lock-off.

Usage: Annual Float Weeks 1-52
Units: Studio Standard And One Bedroom Grand
Deeded To Building # 14
Deeded As Unit # 13, Week # 3 - Studio Standard Unit
Unit # 15, Week # 3 - One Bedroom Grand Unit

HGVC acquired this property in 2013? and now manages it. Original Westgate owners are still required to go through the Westgate system for reservations. Is anyone aware if HGVC has a points conversion program for Westgate owners to bring their legacy timeshare property into the HGVC system?

I would call the resort and/or talk to the Board of Directors during the next meeting. For money, generally, anything is possible... lol.