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[ 2014 ] Are you happy with the timeshares you own? If so, why? If not, why not?

Luvtoride

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Marriott Ocean Pointe
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Marriott Grande Ocean
this looks like a clear majority

Not surprised at all the positive responses here on TUG. It is clear that those of us i.e. Tuggers, who take the time to understand and best use our timeshares are the happy ones. I still meet people when I speak to them about vacations, who HATE having them and are sorry they purchased, but almost every one of them has not made the effort to learn how to use the system they are in. Of course I always try to refer them to visit TUG and these boards to learn, post questions and get great information. But you know what they say, you can lead a horse to water...

I am a 15 year TS owner and also very happy with our Marriott purchased weeks, trust points and resale weeks we own. We are leaving this Saturday for a week with our kids, their spouses and our grandchildren at the Aruba Surf club and this is exactly why we got into TS in the first place, to spend great times with our family on vacation. The prospect of even planning trips like this, if we didn't own TS would be so daunting (and expensive) that I doubt we would ever do it. Later this summer we will spend a week at HH, Grande Ocean with friends (who by the way, own other TS systems and are NOT happy with them).

We all have worked hard to get the time off and have the resources to travel and enjoy some great leisure times. Being part of TUG has only enhanced our enjoyment of our TS ownership. Thanks again to all for such great information and advice!
Brian
 

swazzie

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I'm a new timeshare owner but have been interested in them off and on since 2004--I still have emails from the Fairfield_Timeshare email group from that time. Before that, my parents took me and my siblings on vacations at timeshare locations where they'd have to sit thru the salesperson pitches but we had a great time after the meeting ended.

Last year my finances finally caught up with my desire to own some timeshares. I really like the flexibility of mini points systems, but I just couldn't buy from Fairfield (now Wyndham) after seeing how the company treated (and continues to treat) the owners over the years. I ended up buying a 2BR annual fixed week 52 at Massanutten Mountainside Villas, a 4BR EOY floating week 1 - 52 at Summit at Massanutten, and a 1BR EOY week 38 RCI points unit at Grandview at Las Vegas, which fits my family's needs well.

I currently have the Grandview and Summit units in RCI Points and have two ongoing searches active for a trip to Disneyworld next summer. In two years, I hope to have two more ongoing searches active for a trip to Hawaii. In both cases, I'm look forward to sharing the experiences with other family members (parents or siblings). I live less than an hour from Massanutten, so I have plans for the Mountainside Villas unit as well.

In the meantime, I've started cruising and I'm enjoying that, too. So no, I haven't actually used any of my timeshares yet, but I'm happy with them so far and we'll see what the future holds.
 

JudyH

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I bought my one and only new from the developer, then found TUG. It turned out to be great tradeer, I have never stayed there. I have gone round the world in great exchanges. We like going new places.
The new systems overwhelm me, so no more purchases.
Its part of our overall travel plan, we have an RV and like cruising too.
 

Deb from NC

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Mostly love mine, all for different reasons. I love Port O' Call because I love HH and the resort. we never trade it..we go every year. I love Spicebush because it's a good trader with both II and RCI (dual affiliated) and when we don't trade it we get a second week on HH! My only mixed feelings are with Wyndham...not about the resorts..Alexandria is our favorite..but I detest their sales practices and dread the parking pass fiasco whenever I go to a Wyndham. :annoyed:
 

BOZO

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Love our Wyndham points!

We have traveled so much since we bought the points. Great accommodations. Just shared a lockoff unit with my son's family-including our 4-year-old grandson. Great times and memories.
 

dtdt

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We now own 3 timeshares. Marriott, Wyndham, and Pueblo Bonito Sunset in Cabo. Our first purchase was Pueblo Bonito BEFORE we discovered TUG. We paid full price for EOY 1BR, then came home, bought the OTHER year on Tug, went back to Pueblo Bonito the next year and they gave us FULL credit for both units and paid a small fee to upgrade to a 2BR so that took the sting out of the initial purchase. Since then, all purchases have been thru TUG. We love all of them for different reasons. We have two weeks with Marriott. One week points and one week we split and trade for two weeks with II. Wyndham is all points and we enjoy that flexibility and they have resorts where Marriott doesn't. Also Wyndham is RCI so we have all timeshare trades available to us with II and RCI between Marriott and Wyndham. The Pueblo Bonito resort is a little more difficult to deal with because of it's customer service ( basically there is none). But my husband loves it there and the resort is fantastic. We keep that one simple and just go there. Timeshares have been wonderful for our family, and now feel that a hotel room is a waste!! (What ??? No kitchen??)
 

Luvtoride

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Marriott Cypress Harbor
Marriott Ocean Pointe
Marriott Desert Springs Villas II
Marriott Grande Ocean
Hotel rooms ?? Only if I'm traveling for business

Dtdt, good post and strategy of how your use your diverse portfolio of Timeshares. I hear great things about Cabo and have a friend who owns a TS there. I would love to go, but haven't since Marriott doesn't have a Vacation Club resort there...too bad. Can I trade for the place you're at thru II or just find individual owners looking to rent?
It sounds like you've taken the time to maximize your use and enjoyment of your timeshares as many of us have. Makes all the difference in our overall positive view of our ownership.
We're off to the Aruba Surf club with our kids and Grandkids on Saturday! That's one of the main reasons for our enjoyment of our ownership!
Brian
 

Bxian

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We own 2 weeks at the Charter Club of Marco Beach (HGVC) and could not be happier. We bought our 1st week there about 7 years ago (resale through the resort, but at a decent price) and our second through a foreclosure sale that the resort held during the last financial downtown. We typically trade one week and use the other, since we love our home resort.

We have stayed at West 57th Street, South Beach, Orlando-Tuscany, HGVC Craigendarroch in Scotland (all HGVC), Grand Pacific Palisades, Meadow Lake in Montana, Smuggs and the Westin-Princeville (1 night using SPG points). We have an upcoming stay at Powell Place in San Francisco (our first trade via SFX). Even though my husband and I are still working (and he is tied to a school schedule), we have made wonderful use of our timeshare weeks. We are also serious hotel points junkies and have learned the ins and outs and elite status to stay in wonderful upgraded rooms and suites (sometimes for free and often with free breakfast for 2!) We also have been on 3 cruises-enjoy those as well. Just wish we had more time, even though our friends think that we travel a lot even with limited vacation time.

As we get closer to retirement, I am thinking about picking up an EOY week that trades well in II-perhaps Harbor Ridge in Maine, Sheraton Desert Oasis, or something else that might trade well in II and not have over the top MF (suggestions welcome!).
 

Bearvet

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Very happy with our timeshares! We own 3 fixed weeks and 1 flex week in Ft. Myers Beach FL. The fixed weeks are in Feb (and the week 7s fall during our school vacation week) and are excellent traders, but we also use them and love to stay there.

We never would have taken so many wonderful vacations (family of 5) if we had to stay in hotels. Hawaii, Cape Cod, New Orleans, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Williamsburg, Orlando - and so many more! Our maint fees are still around $500(!) and I've also been able to rent them out when we can't use them all.

We've owned since 1996 and love it!
 

lprstn

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I am rather happy with my timeshares. Of course if I could go back in time - the two I purchased from the developer - I would have bought resale, but I got benefits from it that I use.

My portfolio now includes the following:

Presidential Wilderness Resort - I get the use of a cabin every 5 years, day use for 365 days out the year. It's close to my home, about 1.5 hr drive. We go every year and rent a cabin or camp out. We can actually take an RV and stay there up to 90 days at a time if we wanted for a small daily fee.

Sheraton Vistana - I bought this resale after initially purchasing new then rescinding. I got it for a great price and was offered the change to 'opt-in' to the staroptions points. I did and I love it. Prior to that I traded it with Wyndham to use for Wyndham points. Now we use it to stay at the Westin in Hawaii and we really love it. It also allows us to be members of II and RCI and it's a floating week that can be split with the Sheraton Vistana and Jenson Beach.

Wyndham - The initial Wyndham purchase we did with Fairfield, a small points amount so we could traid our Sheraton Vistana into the Wyndham points systems. We also got several resale points for dirt cheap. After accumulating enough to be VIP gold, we purchased another package from the developer which allowed us to condense our points, be VIP gold and own in Hawaii to become a member of the then Outrigger Club which allowed us priority to book the Hawaii resorts and Austrailia. Now we own enough to do 3 months in Hawaii if we are creative. So far because of our Wyndham we've done 20-22 day stays in Hawaii every other year for the last 7 years.

Without timeshares, I doubt we would even take more than 1 week vacation a year.
 

NJ2Aruba

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Very Happy With Divi Resorts and RCI

I started visiting Aruba by renting. After a few visits to Marriott's Surf Club, the overcrowding, fighting over poolside lounge chairs and palapas and unsupervised kids running amok brought us to the Divi Phoenix, on the low end of the high rise.

What a difference! Much nicer beach, no problem with chairs and palapas and much better island ambiance. We took a tour which was pleasantly no-pressure. We had all of the information on full-price purchase and were considering it since we really liked the resort, until we met a "veteran." This man visited on average four times per year, and he let us in on his "secrets."

The first secret is that he bought a resale from an existing owner. That made sense. He was able to save quite a bit of money that way. In addition to that, the studio units have the lowest annual maintenance. He bought two fixed weeks and two floating weeks.

The next "secret" involved booking and banking. The one fixed week that included the 4th of July (the same week we usually go) he booked at the time he paid the maintenance. Since that week isn't like the Christmas week or Spring break, he would contact the resort either by email or phone and ask if a larger unit was available so that he could invite friends/family members along. He was always upgraded since it was in the best interest of the resort to have more people spending money there as well as possibly taking a tour and purchasing themselves.

He was also able to arrange things like backing up one week against another for a two week vacation for a nominal change fee (less than $200) and trading a banked week for another venue. A studio unit in Aruba will trade for at least a 2 br condo at Disneyworld. I did this myself and took my daughter to Disney over Christmas break for the $179 change fee.

The last "secret" involves a little flexibility, but for people who really want to travel for week 51 or 52 when kids are on Christmas break, this man said he'd start inquiring about cancellations about a month before. A lot of times, people who have these weeks and book them end up canceling and banking them if the airfare increases too much. This man is then able to either use his flex week to book an end-December week or switch out one of his fixed weeks for the change fee. He'd book the airfare in advance when it was lowest, using his miles, etc. and either go himself or rent the week out for $1,200 and make a few hundred and use the flight at another date. In other words, this man knew the ropes.

I've been basically doing the same things for six years and sixteen trips, but now a medical diagnosis precludes air travel. My two weeks in Aruba are listed in the Classifieds here at prices much lower than what the resort sells them at and lower than what I paid from the owner I bought them from.

For people who may have only been to Aruba once but would love to go back, understanding the different options for timeshare purchase should be very helpful. Resales are definitely the way to go.:banana:
 

JT62

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Dh and I have been timeshare owners since about 1999. We own two timeshares.

My parents bought a timeshare and we thought they were crazy. They traded a week for us and we brought our young family (kids 6, 4 and 2) to Lauderdale by the Sea for a beach vacation. We were definitely on a budget.....we used frequent flyer miles to get there, and ate in the condo. We played at the beach. Our two treats were a lunch at the Rainforest café (new to us...there weren't many at that time) and walking to a nearby 7-11 and getting the kids slurpees! We loved that we could vacation like this.

We came home and I discovered TUG. Following advice we received here, we bought resale and in a location we could drive to. We actually took a weekend and drove to Southern CA, so we could see the timeshares first hand. We bought what we knew and could understand.

We ended up buying our first timeshare called Capri by the Sea in Pacific Beach in San Diego. We traditionally use the summer week for our family, the fall float week for my parents and the spring float week to trade.

A few years later, we purchased a week at Aquamarine Villas in Oceanside. Unfortunately, we haven't stayed here often. No matter what week we booked, it never seemed to work in our schedule. So this has been traded a lot.

We have never traded our 1 bedrooms CA coast timeshares for less than a 2 bedroom unit. We are Disney fans, so have been to Disneyworld many times. We've had a 3 bedroom HGVC unit, multiple other resorts and 2 DVC. Twice my daughters Nationals have been in Daytona and we got into a 2 bedroom at Wyndham Ocean Walk. That was great!

I love that we have been able to share accommodations with friends. We traded for a week for dd to have a senior trip.

The years have flown by and now our family vacations, timeshare style, have reduced, because kids are older. I am excited about trading to new places with dh and I getting closer and closer to retirement.

And my parents???? After their first timeshare purchase (a resort in Hilton Head they still return to every other year for 2 weeks), they purchased a week in Palm Springs and a Marriott week in Newport. They have lot their vacations too!
 

Chalup

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Are you happy with the timeshares you own? If so, why? If not, why not?

Fairmont/Sunchaser... This was a very nice resort at one time but things deteriorated over time. From what I've been hearing has been reduced to a 3 star at best from a 5 star when we first bought in.

The resort is apparently undergoing renovations and there is group that have decided to take legal action against the resort developer and the trustee.

For anyone that would like to keep up on the latest developments at this resort should check out www.sunchasertimeshareowners.com


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Snickym

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2-3 weeks vacation with VI/year for $1200 CDN/yr

I've owned and used for 9 years. Pretty happy with what we have. Bought the majority of my ownership on the resale market, then made a small purchase direct from the company to get into the VI Prestige Program.

We live about 2 hours from Whistler and ski usually twice a year (Dec and April). VI has a lower price for Sun-Thurs bookings, so we usually go for 5 days rather than a full week to save some points (the ski hill is less crowded as well). Usually pretty easy to book, but must do this a year to six months in advance. VI does allow you to cancel as close as 30 days in advance for no penalty. VI lets you book as little as one night using points and with the Prestige option you can access leftover inventory at a discounted rate on short notice (20 to 60 days before arrival).

We then have enough points left to book something else. In nine years, we have spent weeks in San Diego twice, Palm Springs, Orlando, Sedona, Puerto Vallarta (for 2 weeks), and New York City.

Having apartment style accommodation saves money on eating and going out for drinks. I like having the extra space and the access to laundry and parking is usually better as well. Units are usually big enough to invite our daughter and her partner or a set of friends to join us.

I would estimate our annual maintenance fees cost about half what our 2 to 3 week vacations would in similar quality hotels. What we have seems to work for us. Although I would like more time, I am cautious because more time means more maintenance fees (which unfortunately are in US $)!
 
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