Hyatt vs Hilton

dvc_john · Oct 12, 2006

mesamirage said:
Is there a per reservation fee with Hilton? What are the advantages of purchasing one resort with Hilton over another? Is it basically mostly a points play?? With Hyatt you have your deeded location/unit/week should you choose to lock it in, which adds value to picking the right resort should it be a location you want to visit.

Steve

Reservation fee: No fee if reserving a full week at your home resort in the unit size and season you own. At 9 months out, you can reserve any resort, season, unit size, length of stay (minimum 3 night stay), and there is a $49 reservation fee for this ($39 for elite members). So pretty much like Hyatt in this regard. Note: 3 day minimum lowered to 2 day minimum at 30 days out.
Also, at 30 days out, discounted cash reservations are allowed:$60 studio, $80 1-br, $100 2-br, plus $20 for Fri or Sat, 10% discount for elites.

Points are points. Doesn't matter where you own, unless you want to use the home resort reservation window (you can reserve at your home resort 12 months out, others 9 months out).

myip · Oct 12, 2006

Disney 8 resort??

dvc_john said:
DVC has only 7 resorts (an 8th announced today), and 5 are at WDW.

Which resort is added today in the annoucement?

Wow. I just find out the info.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/061012/1359850.html?.v=1

Kal · Oct 13, 2006

Given all the problems with Interval and RCI, how would a Hotel-based Timeshare alliance be viewed? Imagine if Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton and Westin joined together to allow their owners an exclusive, priority internal exchange opportunity at any of the member resorts?

It would work for me.

MLC · Oct 13, 2006

Kal said:
Given all the problems with Interval and RCI, how would a Hotel-based Timeshare alliance be viewed? Imagine if Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton and Westin joined together to allow their owners an exclusive, priority internal exchange opportunity at any of the member resorts?

It would work for me.

Kal,

Only in my dreams. Thanks for all the information you gave me earlier.
Take care

Pronkster · Oct 14, 2006

I don't think you can beat Hilton if you love Vegas like I do. You can stay 6 weeks in a studio during silver season for 6600 of the 7000 pts. a 2 bd. platinum gets you. The maintenance fees are about $725.

Or my second choice is 1 week in a 1 bdr. in Hawaii at HHV (gold season) 3400 pts. and 3 weeks in a studio in Las Vegas (silver season) 3300 pts. To me this is the best of both worlds!

DeweyWhopper · Oct 14, 2006

I own both a Hyatt 2,200 pt Diamond Week at the Beach House, and a HGVC 5,000 point week. I think the Hyatt properties are far superior. And I love the value of Mountain Season in Colorado. As a fly fisherman, these are some of the best times to go. As Hyatt develops more properties, my love for the Hyatt system will only grow.

HGVC's Valdoro is also very nice, but not as nice as Hyatt's Mainstreet Station.

myip · Oct 14, 2006

I always want to buy Hyatt unit but I never could understand how to use the points - too complicated for me to remember. I ends up getting a Starwood. Hilton is easy to use and understand the point usage.

Seth Nock · Oct 17, 2006

Bill4728 said:
Thought I'd start a thread comparing these 2 TS systems.

Hyatt exchanges with II, HGVC with RCI.
Hyatt owner with 2 bd platinum week can use points to do two II (2 bd) Red exchanges
HGVC owner with 2 bd platinum week can use points to do only 1 RCI (2 bd) Red exchange ( with small left over points)

What do you think?

(feel free to correct anything wrong which I've said.)

Hyatt 2 bd platinum is 2000 points. A 2 bedroom through II for top season is 1300 points. Therefore, it will give you about 1.5 units through II. Hilton Platinum is 7000 Points. A 2 bedroom top season through RCI is 4800 points. Therefore, you also get about 1.5 weeks in a 2 bedroom. Hyatt Platinum is a little more expensive than Hilton Platinum.

biswassb · Oct 17, 2006

Seth Nock said:
Hyatt 2 bd platinum is 2000 points. A 2 bedroom through II for top season is 1300 points. Therefore, it will give you about 1.5 units through II. Hilton Platinum is 7000 Points. A 2 bedroom top season through RCI is 4800 points. Therefore, you also get about 1.5 weeks in a 2 bedroom. Hyatt Platinum is a little more expensive than Hilton Platinum.

Except that Hilton/HGVC will not make it easily available to you. The answer will be nine out of ten that "NOTHING IS AVAILABLE". Unless one has a separate RCI a/c, it will be impossible to detect the lie.

Seth Nock · Oct 18, 2006

biswassb said:
Except that Hilton/HGVC will not make it easily available to you. The answer will be nine out of ten that "NOTHING IS AVAILABLE". Unless one has a separate RCI a/c, it will be impossible to detect the lie.

Biswass,
You need to put out a search like everyone else. Don't expect units to be sitting there for you to book. Most Hilton owners get their requests, but not on the first phonecall.

biswassb · Oct 18, 2006

Seth Nock said:
Biswass,
You need to put out a search like everyone else. Don't expect units to be sitting there for you to book. Most Hilton owners get their requests, but not on the first phonecall.

It does not matter how many resorts are available at RCI, HGVC will rarely give you an exchange. I checked them a number of times. Their business model is simple. Use HGVC resorts OR convert to hhonors point paying $69 OR bank your points for next year paying $69 OR better even loose the points. They employ all those Harvard MBAs for nothing. .....you can search as much as you like.

Seth Nock · Oct 19, 2006

Hilton Grand Vacations Club Named Top Vacation Club for Fourth Quarter 2005!

The Market Metrix Hospitality Index (MMHI), conducted by Market Metrix, LLC, a leading provider of market research services for the hospitality industry, acts as a touchstone for Customer Satisfaction among the hospitality industry.

Here is how HGVClub ranked in Customer Satisfaction among other leading vacations clubs:

Hilton 89.5%
Trendwest 88.9%
DVC 88.5%
Fairfield 87.9%
Marriott 85.8%
RCI 85.7%

About MMHI
The Market Metrix Hospitality Index is a quarterly report of customer satisfaction with hotel, airline and car rental companies based on 35,000 in-depth consumer interviews. The MMHI ranks top hospitality brands by industry and, for hotels, by categories such as luxury, mid-price and economy. Detailed, in-depth and customized reports are available for subscribers. No other customer satisfaction index offers MMHI's reporting frequency, volume of customer interviews, cross-industry results or innovative satisfaction measures.

Two additional Hilton brands were recognized in this study: Hilton Garden Inn for Top Upscale Hotel and Homewood Suites by Hilton for Top Extended Stay Hotel.

Steamboat Bill · Oct 19, 2006

I think DVC owners will be surprised that Trendwest and Hilton beat out DVC.

Bourne · Oct 19, 2006

biswassb said:
It does not matter how many resorts are available at RCI, HGVC will rarely give you an exchange. I checked them a number of times. Their business model is simple. Use HGVC resorts OR convert to hhonors point paying $69 OR bank your points for next year paying $69 OR better even loose the points. They employ all those Harvard MBAs for nothing. .....you can search as much as you like.

HGVC rarely gives you an RCI exchange....:hysterical:

2Br Grand Mayan Acapulco
1Br Grand Mayan Cancun(RM)
1Br Manhattan Club
1Br Westin Whistler
Studio - Virgin Grand Villas(Westin St John)
1Br Sapphire Beach Club St Maarten
1Br Embassy Vacation Resort Maui
2Br Windjammer Landing at St Lucia ( Confirmed on 10.17.06 - still unused )

Through SFX Deposits of HGVC Points
2Br Mayan Acapulco
1Br Holua at Mauna Loa, Big Island
1Br Westin Keirland ( 3/31/07 )

And these are all prime season exchanges...

HGVC is a great points system.......only if you know how to use it.

CaliDave · Oct 19, 2006

biswassb said:
Except that Hilton/HGVC will not make it easily available to you. The answer will be nine out of ten that "NOTHING IS AVAILABLE". Unless one has a separate RCI a/c, it will be impossible to detect the lie.

Biswassb,

I think your problem is that you are searching for lower quality resorts in Europe. HGVC has thier own RCI book with the top 3,000 resorts. Unfortunately they will not let you downgrade in quality below them.

There are many resorts that I love in RCI, that are not in that book.

ricoba · Oct 19, 2006

Bourne said:
HGVC rarely gives you an RCI exchange....:hysterical:

2Br Grand Mayan Acapulco
1Br Grand Mayan Cancun(RM)
1Br Manhattan Club
1Br Westin Whistler
Studio - Virgin Grand Villas(Westin St John)
1Br Sapphire Beach Club St Maarten
1Br Embassy Vacation Resort Maui
2Br Windjammer Landing at St Lucia ( Confirmed on 10.17.06 - still unused )

Through SFX Deposits of HGVC Points
2Br Mayan Acapulco
1Br Holua at Mauna Loa, Big Island
1Br Westin Keirland ( 3/31/07 )

And these are all prime season exchanges...

HGVC is a great points system.......only if you know how to use it.

Wow...those are some great trades! Thanks for sharing

StuckinChicago · Oct 20, 2006

ricoba said:
Wow...those are some great trades! Thanks for sharing

Bourne-

Those sure are some great exchanges!!! That's awesome! :clap:

Generally speaking, how far in advance did you put in your requests for those places? And how long did it take to confirm? Did you request those exact resorts? Or were you just looking at specific geographical areas? Glad to hear that trades with SFX went well also, since that is something I have been looking into. Did you deposit first with them or request first?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but I just want to get a handle on how to best do exchanges in the future. And I want to make sure I know all the "insider" tricks, so to speak!!

I know Seth has mentioned several times to put out a request for exchanges something like 9 months or so in advance.....maybe more.

Thanks in advance!

biswassb · Oct 20, 2006

CaliDave said:
Biswassb,

I think your problem is that you are searching for lower quality resorts in Europe. HGVC has thier own RCI book with the top 3,000 resorts. Unfortunately they will not let you downgrade in quality below them.

There are many resorts that I love in RCI, that are not in that book.

calidave,
I was not looking towards Europe and more towards US. But you still may have a point. The problem is that in HGVC's opinion it is the highest quality resort and thus they will not be able to find a comparable quality resort in the RCI system. The net result is HGVC will not be able to find an exchange for you in most locations. That is what I experienced all these years. However, the choice should be ours not theirs.

In addition, there could be problem with the HGVC-RCI exchange system. RCI inventories change continuously. I see one inventory in the morning and another in the afternoon which is expected. If the HGVC agent does not search for your request very dilligently like we do, agent will be unlikely to come up with something. Even then, I have done RCI website search while on the phone with HGVC. HGVC agent could not come up with anything while I could see several potential exchanges on my screen. I felt something is wrong with HGVC exchange system. It could be their computer or the agents are trained to say "nothing available" 9 out of 10 times; whatever!!

Seth Nock · Oct 20, 2006

biswassb said:
calidave,
I was not looking towards Europe and more towards US. But you still may have a point. The problem is that in HGVC's opinion it is the highest quality resort and thus they will not be able to find a comparable quality resort in the RCI system. The net result is HGVC will not be able to find an exchange for you in most locations. That is what I experienced all these years. However, the choice should be ours not theirs.

In addition, there could be problem with the HGVC-RCI exchange system. RCI inventories change continuously. I see one inventory in the morning and another in the afternoon which is expected. If the HGVC agent does not search for your request very dilligently like we do, agent will be unlikely to come up with something. Even then, I have done RCI website search while on the phone with HGVC. HGVC agent could not come up with anything while I could see several potential exchanges on my screen. I felt something is wrong with HGVC exchange system. It could be their computer or the agents are trained to say "nothing available" 9 out of 10 times; whatever!!

Your mistake is not putting out searches. I put out searches and the computer continuously looks for matches. The computer has matched me to the Manhattan Club about 30 times, Club Donetello in San Francisco about 10 times, Windjammer Landing in St Lucia, Weston St Johns (RCI calls it Virgin Grand Villas - I think). I have also booked through RCI nightly. Most of the other owners including those of us on TUG have gotten our requests. Why don't you take our advice and then maybe you too can get your trades also. Put your requests out 6 months in advance, or more, if you are able to. Ask the HGVC rep to submit the request to SFX as well and call in regularly to check RCI nightly inventory. I am sure you will have much better success.

Bourne · Oct 21, 2006

StuckinChicago said:
Bourne-

Those sure are some great exchanges!!! That's awesome!

Generally speaking, how far in advance did you put in your requests for those places? And how long did it take to confirm? Did you request those exact resorts? Or were you just looking at specific geographical areas? Glad to hear that trades with SFX went well also, since that is something I have been looking into. Did you deposit first with them or request first?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but I just want to get a handle on how to best do exchanges in the future. And I want to make sure I know all the "insider" tricks, so to speak!! I know Seth has mentioned several times to put out a request for exchanges something like 9 months or so in advance.....maybe more.

Thanks in advance!

I normally place an ongoing request 12-16 months out with specific resorts & location in mind. When I bought HGVC in 2000, I started off with a 1-3 month window and landed resorts like Sapphire from the list. I would never get the resorts that I wanted as I expected HGVC kind of availability from RCI. Another good thing with HGVC/RCI is that you can choose to ignore an exact match on your request.

With SFX, I have always deposited first in a Platinum account. The key to any timeshare exchange is that you have to be in the front of the line with a pending request. I have seen some great exchanges on their sell off lists too. For me the 3 for 1 (6-1

) offer is a no brainer.

Bourne ... 60601

weare4illini · Oct 26, 2006

communication

Great info, but can someone tell me how often you receive print and email newsletters from HGVC and Hyatt. Do they send other emails during the month and do they allow their marketing partners to send you all kinds of stuff?

Do either offer a new owner welcome program or a dvd tutorial how to use their system? Does either offer owner only events to socialize or learn about the program and other benefits.

SPARTANINPR · Oct 26, 2006

weare4illini said:
Great info, but can someone tell me how often you receive print and email newsletters from HGVC and Hyatt. Do they send other emails during the month and do they allow their marketing partners to send you all kinds of stuff?

Do either offer a new owner welcome program or a dvd tutorial how to use their system? Does either offer owner only events to socialize or learn about the program and other benefits.

Hyatt sends DESTINATIONS,their inhouse newsletter, several times a year.Developer purchasers also receive a buyer's guide explaining the points system.At time of purchase Hyatt owners decide if they want email info from Hyatt or their partners sent to them.I believe they also get email updates on their point balance,but I'm not 100% on that.Kal?Hyatt has owner only meetings at each resort every week.I had a good friend who worked for Hilton as their Asia sales manager awhile back.They would have owner's cocktail parties at Hilton hotels every few weeks.Owners were encouraged to bring referrals.Don't know if they still do that though.

Kal · Oct 26, 2006

Other than the periodic DESTINATIONS brochure, Hyatt (or any of its partners) rarely sends any correspondence to owners. It does however send confirmations of any reservations and of course information on annual Board of Directors voting and the annual detailed budget for your owned resort. Some resort managers send out their own periodic newsletters, but I don't know if the practice is widely common.

The HVC website has a public access component but it is largely geared to owners. You can just about do everything desired on the website. It's actually not bad.

At the resort there is an owners meeting every week. There is also a separate appetizer/cocktail gathering each week for everyone at the resort. Some resorts provide live music. There is also a points workshop held weekly at each resort to show members how best to use the points/reservations system.

ricoba · Oct 26, 2006

Hilton sends emails if you want updates etc, but it's optional as far as I know.

You also get a quarterly "magazine" the name slips me but I am sure it's Grand Times.

Bourne · Jan 17, 2007

Bourne said:
HGVC rarely gives you an RCI exchange....:hysterical:

2Br Grand Mayan Acapulco
1Br Grand Mayan Cancun(RM)
1Br Manhattan Club
1Br Westin Whistler
Studio - Virgin Grand Villas(Westin St John)
1Br Sapphire Beach Club St Maarten
1Br Embassy Vacation Resort Maui
2Br Windjammer Landing at St Lucia ( Confirmed on 10.17.06 - still unused )

Through SFX Deposits of HGVC Points
2Br Mayan Acapulco
1Br Holua at Mauna Loa, Big Island
1Br Westin Keirland ( 3/31/07 )

And these are all prime season exchanges...

HGVC is a great points system.......only if you know how to use it.

Another addition thanks to TUG and TS4M sightings boards...
RCI - 1Br Morritts Grand - Grand Cayman - Winter of 08

Hyatt vs Hilton

dvc_john

myip

TUG Review Crew: Expert

Kal

MLC

Pronkster

DeweyWhopper

myip

TUG Review Crew: Expert

Seth Nock

biswassb

Seth Nock

biswassb

Seth Nock

Steamboat Bill

Bourne

CaliDave

ricoba

StuckinChicago

biswassb

Seth Nock

Bourne

weare4illini

SPARTANINPR

Kal

ricoba

Bourne