Need wisdom....

[Abs777]

We have visited the following clubs..

Hilton - Elara
Sheraton - Vistani villages
Westgate - Gatlinburg

We have heard the pitches and saw the crazy prices...each one says they are the best. I have read the threads on here and I have some questions...

Travel style
We take a couple week long vacations a year. We take 3-4 mini vacations\long weekend trips a year. We have two kids under 10. We love staying in style and higher end places.

Our ideal vacation is Hawaii, we love it and would probably go there 5 times in a 10 year span if we owned there. the other 5 years we would bounce and try out other resorts. The appeal of Hilton was the option to go and stay at other resorts or hotels for a set price..I can't remember what it was, but it was cheap. This didn't include cashing in our points either. I heard starwood was bought by Marriot, so not sure how that works now. I also heard Marriot was a good program to own. Then there is the option of buying one where you want to vacation and one to trade with....so many options I didn't know were available until I started doing some research.

So not sure what to do.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[DeniseM]

Here is the TUG Survey to help you decide what is the best purchase for you:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/what-to-buy-questions-for-newbies.208742/

 

[tschwa2]

I would imagine if you have 2 younger children, you have to travel during summer or school holidays. Using an external exchange system to exchange into high end Hawaiian 1-2 br properties during school vacation time is very difficult. Owning in Hawaii at a high end system comes with high MF and a fairly high buy in. If you want to go every other year, you might want to look into buying an EOY or you may want to look for a nice midlevel Hawaii resort during the time you would want to travel.

 

[silentg]

Abs, you have come to the right place. Don't buy anything before you join TUG. Lots of timeshare rental and weeks for sale in Marketplace. There is also an exchange between TUG members. We went to Maui and Oahu in 2016. Loved the KO Olina it's next to the Disney resort. We stayed at Maui Lea at Maui Hill also. Was a great trip.
Welcome to TUG!

 

[taterhed]

As all the above have said.....and my 2c: Study hard, choose carefully and buy when you're fully informed. DONT buy anything on a whim or because it seems to be a 'good deal.'

There is no such thing as a 'one time offer' in the timeshare world (at least not in your case) and just like diamonds, Timeshares are forever (or at least the maintenance fees are!)
Welcome to TUG! Best $15 you'll ever spend if you decide to join.