Orange Lake just acquired SilverLeaf Resorts

So true. I would not have joined if it was thousands of dollars. I had passed on such opportunities before. But when I saw this entrance fee, I jumped on it. Of course, the low entrance fee adds to my happiness with the program.

BTW I saw this on TUG almost too late. There was a June deadline a few years ago, and I only discovered it in early June. Whew!

tschwa2 said:

I think that if you lucked upon owning a high pointed week that HI took over and offered entrance for free or a nominal fee than you lucked upon a flexible system. It would be difficult to point to any benefits the system offers that would be worth anywhere near the buy in costs at retail pricing.

The same could be said for Marriott owners who bought pre 2010 and were able to enroll in the DC. Great system at under $1000 but when you are talking buying in at the $50,000-$100,000 level to get the same number of points and perks then it doesn't seem so great.

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I could not agree more! Paying $50,000 - $100,000 is a very high price to pay for any Timeshare system. However, anybody can become a HIVC member for MUCH less! And it's not just a matter of luck, anyone interested in ownership with HIVC could do so at a fraction of those costs.

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johndeb said:

I could not agree more! Paying $50,000 - $100,000 is a very high price to pay for any Timeshare system. However, anybody can become a HIVC member for MUCH less! And it's not just a matter of luck, anyone interested in ownership with HIVC could do so at a fraction of those costs.

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Yes you can buy resale at one of the resorts that remains in points when sold. The $50,000+ was to receive the additional perks that comes preferred, premier, prestige, or elite levels. Resale points do not count toward status.

tschwa2 said:

Yes you can buy resale at one of the resorts that remains in points when sold. The $50,000+ was to receive the additional perks that comes preferred, premier, prestige, or elite levels. Resale points do not count toward status.

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Agreed, but any additional perks don't apply until you reach the 300,000 Point (Preferred Level). For a typical timeshare owner, a 300,000 Point HIVC membership would easily provide 2-3 weeks of vacation (or 4-6 mid-week stays of 5 nights). Although some people may feel an additional investment to upgrade their level of ownership would be worth considering? If so, re-sale ownerships can be brought in and count towards the Preferred, Premier, Prestige, or Elite levels with an upgrade purchase and the upgrade doesn't need to cost $50,000. HIVC uses a minimum upgrade formula to calculate the cost to upgrade depending on the Points purchased, the resort, and the Season.

Before you seriously consider paying thousands to get the premiere, preferred, or whatever upgraded status, please consider this:

What exactly are you getting? For HICV HIVC owners, these benefits may not really amount to all that much. You might be able to reserve a Signature unit (very nice), get a prefered parking pass (what is the real value of this???), special cookies or greetings, private checkin room, etc.

Are these things really worth thousands of dollars?

Some more that might add value:

Ability to reserve earlier that the lower status owners can reserve.
Free 4-7 nights each year. This has some value to add to an existing reservation or as a stand alone benefit.

Reservation upgrades each year, depending on your level - a good thing

Discount on Maxxtime offerings

Discounts or rebates on RCI exchanges.

Essentially you must decide whether any of these are worth paying thousands of dollars to get Premiere, Elite, or Preferred membership.

BT is what we are forgetting

Personaly, the only reason I have SL is for the BT... paying $1000/yr for a week is silly to me, I can get an all inclusive somwhere nicer for less or the same. BT is the reason people buy into SL in the first place.... so if bt becomes non-existant, I think there will be a huge CA case with legs. I have EE on 1 account and if that's not usable, then I'd rather SL or whom ever owns the resorts to just buy them back for what they sold them for! but we all know that won't ever happen....

FYI i have a SL owners group on FB if you want to join.

I can't imagine they would take it away completely (I don't think they would be that obvious) but I could imagine them drying it up quite a bit and since BT was always based on availability it will be hard to prove anything meaningful with a CA.

krennpowersports said:

Personaly, the only reason I have SL is for the BT... paying $1000/yr for a week is silly to me, I can get an all inclusive somwhere nicer for less or the same. BT is the reason people buy into SL in the first place.... so if bt becomes non-existant, I think there will be a huge CA case with legs. I have EE on 1 account and if that's not usable, then I'd rather SL or whom ever owns the resorts to just buy them back for what they sold them for! but we all know that won't ever happen....

FYI i have a SL owners group on FB if you want to join.

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I'm not too sure there would be any grounds for a legal challenge as Silverleaf Bonus Time is NOT going to be taken away... it will just become less available as HIVC aggressively markets HIVC ownerships at Silverleaf Resorts. They will also try to entice existing Silverleaf owners to convert their weeks to HIVC Points as well as market remaining unsold Silverleaf inventory as HIVC. I anticipate HIVC will be successful in their marketing efforts. Silverleaf week owners will still be entitled to Bonus Time, they just won't be able to find much availability.

As both a Silverleaf and HIVC owner, I appreciate the benefits of Silverleaf Bonus Time, but realistically, I recognize the availability of that benefit is going to be reduced, so I'm planning to seriously consider any attractive offer I receive from HIVC to convert. The only way an exitsing Silverleaf owner would relinquish their right to Bonus Time would be if they agree to convert their week to HIVC Points.

It will be very interesting to find out what kind of offer HIVC HICV offers you and other members of Silverleaf to join. I hope it is a beneficial amount, something like free or a few hundred dollars.

Which brings up another thought: are Silverleaf resorts being sold on the secondary market for low cost? If so, this might also be a good way for others to get in as owners of a Silverleaf resort prior to any conversion offered. Just a thought.

Sandy said:

It will be very interesting to find out what kind of offer HIVC HICV offers you and other members of Silverleaf to join. I hope it is a beneficial amount, something like free or a few hundred dollars.

Which brings up another thought: are Silverleaf resorts being sold on the secondary market for low cost? If so, this might also be a good way for others to get in as owners of a Silverleaf resort prior to any conversion offered. Just a thought.

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Hi Sandy, I will certainly post any new information regarding HIVC offering an attractive offer to convert a Silverleaf week. To my knowledge nothing has been announced yet.

This week I heard HIVC will soon begin rebranding Silverleaf Apple Mountain in Georgia. This is in addition to Fox River, IL and Oak n' Spruce in MA which have already begun rebranding.

I would be cautious about buying an additional Silverleaf week on the resale market in anticipation of a conversion offer. I would wait until more information is available prior to buying another Silverleaf week. I am not convinced that ALL Silverleaf Resorts will be rebranded as HIVC. For example, I own at Silverleaf Orlando Breeze which is just a few miles from the HIVC at Orange Lake in Kissimmee, FL. which is their flagship resort with the River Island water park. It is difficult for me to envision rebranding the Silverleaf Orlando Breeze resort which is so close to Orange Lake??? Another Silverleaf Resort at Seaside Texas (Galveston, TX) is also near and existing HIVC Resort in Galveston. So, I'm not too sure about these 2 Silverleaf Resorts being converted to HIVC???

Good points.

johndeb said:

This week I heard HIVC will soon begin rebranding Silverleaf Apple Mountain in Georgia.

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Silverleaf is reporting that Apple Mountain will be rebranded in December.

On October 29, Silverleaf’s Fox River Resort was rebranded to a Holiday Inn Club Vacations property. This will be followed by Oak n’ Spruce Resort in November and Apple Mountain Resort in December.

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http://www.silverleafresorts.com/

Nothing about it on the Orange Lake corporate site yet.

this is the info put on our sight recently

Fox River Resort Joins the Club
On October 29, 2015, Silverleaf's Fox River Resort was rebranded to a Holiday Inn Club Vacations property. Located in Sheridan, IL, about an hour-and-a-half south of Chicago, the 332-villa resort becomes the 13th resort to join the Club.

The sprawling property features many outdoor activities. It includes a seven-acre lake for boating and fishing, mini golf, a 9-hole executive golf course, horseback riding and more. Pirates Cay, a year-round indoor waterpark, plus and indoor and outdoor pool, provide plenty of water fun.

Please note, however, exchanges through the Club are not yet available for the resort. Once they are, we will announce it on this website. Stay tuned!

Tank said:

...Fox River Resort...

Please note, however, exchanges through the Club are not yet available for the resort. Once they are, we will announce it on this website. Stay tuned!

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It's already rebranded in RCI and they've updated the corporate site too. So it's only a matter of time before it's added as an internal exchange.

http://corporate.orangelake.com/ourResorts_frr.php

Three more Silverleaf Resorts rebranded to HICV

Piney Shores Resort, Conroe TX
Holiday Hills Resort, Branson MO
Orlando Breeze Resort, Davenport FL

Announcement:
http://corporate.orangelake.com/docs/pressReleases/HICV_Brand_Announcement.pdf

All three resorts are on the corporate site but not in the online reservation system yet.

I imagine this will take some time before HIVC shows up for booking online.
Though they are "Branded" Holiday Inn Vacation Club, They do not show up on our web-sight as an option using our IHG rewards booking discount or under the "branded" HIVC resort section.
https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnclubvacations/hotels/us/en/reservation#scmisc=header_cv
Our HIVC Scottsdale resort is now bookable online in our system, but still under construction months behind schedule. I am told by a renter of mine, that it was very nice, smaller resort. Once the construction is done and the clubhouse, restaurant open it will be really nice.

I have heard a lot of rumors of deals in the making. I say "go west" time will tell.
All and all, I'm pretty excited about the expansion HIVC has made and to be part of it. It's a far cry from only Orlando where it all began.

Silverleaf Point Values

Here are the updated Silverleaf point values - it's posted as a table on Google+.

Holiday Hills (MO)
Season Silver Platinum Diamond
Weeks 1-10 11-22,33-52 23-32
1 BR 40,000 85,000 100,000
2BR 60,000 120,000 145,000
2BR Pres 75,000 165,000 195,000
3BR Amb 125,000 270,000 315,000
3BR Amb PH 140,000 295,000 350,000

Piney Shores (TX)
Season Bronze Silver Platinum Diamond
Weeks 1-8 9-12,44-50 13-22,33-43,51-52 32-32
2BR 45,000 60,000 120,000 145,000
2BR Pres 55,000 75,000 165,000 195,000
2BR Pres PH 70,000 90,000 190,000 220,000

Orlando Breeze (FL)
Season Silver Gold Platinum Diamond
Weeks 1-4,18-19,35-39,48-50 5-6,20-24,34,40-47 7-17,25, 27-33 26,51-52
2BR 82,000 108,000 135,000 149,000
2BR Pres 100,000 132,000 165,000 181,000
3BR Pres 113,000 150,000 187,000 207,000
3BR Amb 164,000 216,000 271,000 297,000
3BR Amb PH 188,000 249,000 311,000 342,000

-Scott
Owner, HICV Google+ Group

Two texas resorts added to the holiday inn club vacations® brand

Canyon Lake, TX and Flint, TX

http://corporate.orangelake.com/media.php

-Scott Kotrla
Owner, Google+ HICV Group

From the announcement PDF it looks like they are trying to get all silverleaf resorts into the system by the end of this year.

“As part of our growth strategy, we continue to aggressively integrate new resort
properties into our brand’s system,” said Tom Nelson, President and COO of Orange
Lake Resorts. “Our focus now is to bring the remaining five resorts into the Holiday Inn
-More-
Club Vacations network before the end of 2016 and open one additional sales center
which will extend our Club product offering into these important markets. Club members
will soon enjoy these new properties and the multitude of choices and amenities they
provide.”

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http://corporate.orangelake.com/docs/pressReleases/HICV_HCR_TVR_Announcement.pdf

Re-read through this thread. Have any Silverleaf owners been to an update meeting recently? Have they started making offers to convert or get access to the HIVC without buying something new?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

offers or conversions..

Here's the link to the facebook page for silverleaf owners. There have been some discussion about meetings and updates etc.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/661297700670190/?ref=bookmarks

cjm1010 said:

Re-read through this thread. Have any Silverleaf owners been to an update meeting recently? Have they started making offers to convert or get access to the HIVC without buying something new?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Recent Presentation

My wife and I went to listen to the presentation from Holiday Inn this weekend. We are a dissatisfied Silverleaf owner who never uses the resort. We were hoping to be able to pay a small fee to transition our unit into the Holiday Inn program. Unfortunately, they stated the only way we could join the Holiday Inn program was to buy an additional week in Holiday Inn. They were SO generous as too "roll the equity" into the new week, but still wanted $255 for 10 years to get 120,000 points in the system.

We said no thank you and left.

One positive, once we said "no" they didn't continue the sales job. We were waiting for a "oh my gosh I can't believe it" second offer from "the manager", but instead they just walked us over to the "gift room", gave us $40 cash and $30 in meal vouchers and sent us on our way.

Disappointed that we won't be able to roll into the new program, but I assume if we wait several years, they will offer it up when it gets too expensive to maintain so many different plans.

eskimotony said:

My wife and I went to listen to the presentation from Holiday Inn this weekend. We are a dissatisfied Silverleaf owner who never uses the resort. We were hoping to be able to pay a small fee to transition our unit into the Holiday Inn program. Unfortunately, they stated the only way we could join the Holiday Inn program was to buy an additional week in Holiday Inn. They were SO generous as too "roll the equity" into the new week, but still wanted $255 for 10 years to get 120,000 points in the system.

We said no thank you and left.

One positive, once we said "no" they didn't continue the sales job. We were waiting for a "oh my gosh I can't believe it" second offer from "the manager", but instead they just walked us over to the "gift room", gave us $40 cash and $30 in meal vouchers and sent us on our way.

Disappointed that we won't be able to roll into the new program, but I assume if we wait several years, they will offer it up when it gets too expensive to maintain so many different plans.

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Thanks for the update - I was under the impression that HICV was letting Silverleaf owners in for a ~$100 conversion like they have in the past. Without joining HICV, do you still have whatever booking privileges you had before between former Silverleaf properties? I know when HICV bought Galveston if you didn't convert, you were stuck with your fixed week and no RCI or II, which was much less than Galveston owners had under Escapes (same status as all other Escapes owners at all Escapes properties starting at 10 months prior to arrival).

On the other hand, as a Desert Club owner, if you didn't join HICV, you still had significant flexibility with regards to floating and partial week reservations, even though your week was fixed on your deed.

-Scott
Owner, HICV Google+ Group

Silverleaf Gradual Benefits Reduction & Problems

There has been a subtle/gradual deterioration of certain rights and privledges for Silverleaf owners (if you have experienced this, please let me know):

1. Check-out has been reduced to 10 am for all members (although for a temporary period, I was told by corporate you can try and request a noon check out if you are a diamond or presidential owner, but this old benefit is temporary and all silverleaf owners will be set at 10am going forward);

2. The diamond/presidential gifts on check-in were eliminated (i.e., I was originally told it was a result of a survey conducted by corporate, but when I asked to see a copy of it, I was informed it was really just a corporate decision and not something solicited to silverleaf members),

3. There is no longer a diamond/presidential check-in line,

4. All bonus time reservations are now set as lodges and it will be up to the inventory management specialists to determine if they will upgrade you at the time of check-in (i.e., in the old days it would be on first come first serve availability and up to the level of the unit type you owned).

5. in 2015 we received a letter notifying us that maintenance fees were going up ~$7 per month to cover new website access (do the math and that it equates to a few thousand dollars per unit per year...). They also said it would not go up again that year. Of course, after the acquisition, maintenance fees went up again in the same year and most of the resorts still do not have in-room internet access.

6. I attended a presentation this week at Fox River resort. In it, they said that Bonus Time would be very difficult to get going forward even though it would be maintained and that our Diamond Benefits would continue to be whittled away. They tried to convince me to convert my ambassador and presidential units to HIVC points and claimed they would maintain the bonus time priveldeges (I asked why they said Bonus Time would be useless for Silverleaf but somehow would be valuable for HIVC owners...they said that their system treats SL owners differently from HIVC owners?).

7. The online system has been down for several months during the hours of 12 midnight and 7am CST (is anyone else experiencing this?). It was also down for an entire weekend. I have notified SL owner services multiple times but no luck...anyone else with any luck?

8. In regards to Bonus Time: I wanted to understand...will we really lose bonus time availability? I mean, if SL owners convert to HIVC, than those owners will start giving up their SL deeds to start using points across both networks and HIVC will have more options to choose from but does it necessarily mean we will lose in the end in terms of availability? Any thoughts?