Wording on Star options Chart Vistana Villages -what does this mean?

GrayFal · Apr 20, 2015

I was looking at the Star Option chart that is linked thru the FAQ section at the top of this Starwood Board

Under the Vistana. Villages points chart it states the following.

"Weeks in season available for Home Resort Owners to reserve in the Home Resort phase may differ from the weeks in seasons required to access the same phase for other SVN members"

What does this mean? has there been a change in seasons? And will I get the NEW SO amount? I plan on using this as SO or II deposit, not to reserve directly at the resort.

Currently, on the SO chart,
weeks 6-17, 23-34, 39-47, 51-52 are Platinum
Weeks 1-5, 18-22, 35-38, 48-50 are gold

I am looking at a week 42 small one bedroom which should be Platinum 44K

But the estoppel I received has the following season.
Weeks 1-6, 18-22, 35-50
And does not give the SOs that go with the sale other then to say it is mandatory.

Estoppel was obtain April 2015.

Thanks in advance, I do not want to sign or pay before I know what the story is. I tried to do a search but could not find anything specific to SVV.

sjsharkie · Apr 20, 2015

GrayFal said:
I was looking at the Star Option chart that is linked thru the FAQ section at the top of this Starwood Board

Under the Vistana. Villages points chart it states the following.

"Weeks in season available for Home Resort Owners to reserve in the Home Resort phase may differ from the weeks in seasons required to access the same phase for other SVN members"

What does this mean? has there been a change in seasons? And will I get the NEW SO amount? I plan on using this as SO or II deposit, not to reserve directly at the resort.

Currently, on the SO chart,
weeks 6-17, 23-34, 39-47, 51-52 are Platinum
Weeks 1-5, 18-22, 35-38, 48-50 are gold

I am looking at a week 42 small one bedroom which should be Platinum 44K

But the estoppel I received has the following season.
Weeks 1-6, 18-22, 35-50
And does not give the SOs that go with the sale other then to say it is mandatory.

Estoppel was obtain April 2015.

Thanks in advance, I do not want to sign or pay before I know what the story is. I tried to do a search but could not find anything specific to SVV.

The wording refers to the fact that Vistana Resort was sold with different seasonal structures depending on the phase sold. (Some were sold 1-52 but convert to plat season SOs -- so you could be deeded a week that is technically in Gold and have a 1-52 season, but someone else might trade for the same phase and have a different SO cost to their account).

I didn't think it would apply to Vistana Villages, but I am not aware of all the phases and how they were sold.

The estoppel should clearly state the season name -- typically it is right below the weeks of the season. If it doesn't, I would call up Starwood to verify. Actually, I'd call them anyway since the weeks don't match up to what you were expecting.

I get the feeling that these are manually printed and not purely system generated so mistakes and errors occur.

-ryan

GrayFal · Apr 20, 2015

sjsharkie said:
The wording refers to the fact that Vistana Resort was sold with different seasonal structures depending on the phase sold. (Some were sold 1-52 but convert to plat season SOs -- so you could be deeded a week that is technically in Gold and have a 1-52 season, but someone else might trade for the same phase and have a different SO cost to their account).

I didn't think it would apply to Vistana Villages, but I am not aware of all the phases and how they were sold.

The estoppel should clearly state the season name -- typically it is right below the weeks of the season. If it doesn't, I would call up Starwood to verify. Actually, I'd call them anyway since the weeks don't match up to what you were expecting.

I get the feeling that these are manually printed and not purely system generated so mistakes and errors occur.

-ryan

Thanks Ryan, any suggestions who I should call? Season is listed in estoppel as "High" while Starwood calls the seasons Platinum and Gold Plus.

sjsharkie · Apr 20, 2015

GrayFal said:
Thanks Ryan, any suggestions who I should call? Season is listed in estoppel as "High" while Starwood calls the seasons Platinum and Gold Plus.

I hate when they do that. I have one that says High as well -- a good example of how this thing is probably manually filled out. High likely means Plat, since there are only 2 seasons for Vistana, but I'd still call.

I'd call the HOA number first (listed on the Contact Us part of the website). They are more familiar with the estoppel verification process, and are more likely to be helpful on the first try. Resolution services would be the next step if they cannot verify the season.

-ryan

pathways25 · Apr 20, 2015

GrayFal said:
I was looking at the Star Option chart that is linked thru the FAQ section at the top of this Starwood Board

Under the Vistana. Villages points chart it states the following.

"Weeks in season available for Home Resort Owners to reserve in the Home Resort phase may differ from the weeks in seasons required to access the same phase for other SVN members"

What does this mean? has there been a change in seasons? And will I get the NEW SO amount? I plan on using this as SO or II deposit, not to reserve directly at the resort.

Currently, on the SO chart,
weeks 6-17, 23-34, 39-47, 51-52 are Platinum
Weeks 1-5, 18-22, 35-38, 48-50 are gold

I am looking at a week 42 small one bedroom which should be Platinum 44K

But the estoppel I received has the following season.
Weeks 1-6, 18-22, 35-50
And does not give the SOs that go with the sale other then to say it is mandatory.

Estoppel was obtain April 2015.

Thanks in advance, I do not want to sign or pay before I know what the story is. I tried to do a search but could not find anything specific to SVV.

The reason this note is on the chart is that Starwood changed the seasonality at SVV after the Bella phase was sold.

Here is the seasonality chart for the different SVV phases:

Bella Phase

Prime: 7-17, 23-34, 51-52
High: 1-6, 18-22, 35-50

Key West, Amelia and St. Augustine

Prime: 6-17, 23-34, 39-47, 51-52
High: 1-5, 18-22, 35-38, 48-50

People trading in always use the published StarOption chart (which matches the Key West season definition). Owners at Bella are awarded StarOptions based on the seasonality in force for that phase so a 1BR week 42 owner would only get 37,000 options instead of 44,000 if they owned at Key West for the same week.

The note means that in the home reservation period, a Bella owner can only reserve in the Bella seasonality for the week they own, Prime or High based on the Bella definition and not the StarOption chart definition.

GrayFal · Apr 20, 2015

pathways25 said:
The reason this note is on the chart is that Starwood changed the seasonality at SVV after the Bella phase was sold.

Here is the seasonality chart for the different SVV phases:

Bella Phase

Prime: 7-17, 23-34, 51-52
High: 1-6, 18-22, 35-50

Key West, Amelia and St. Augustine

Prime: 6-17, 23-34, 39-47, 51-52
High: 1-5, 18-22, 35-38, 48-50

People trading in always use the published StarOption chart (which matches the Key West season definition). Owners at Bella are awarded StarOptions based on the seasonality in force for that phase so a 1BR week 42 owner would only get 37,000 options instead of 44,000 if they owned at Key West for the same week.

The note means that in the home reservation period, a Bella owner can only reserve in the Bella seasonality for the week they own, Prime or High based on the Bella definition and not the StarOption chart definition.

Thank you so much! Now this makes sense....

I have contacted the seller to clarify but since it was listed incorrectly on their website and in the eBay auction I will not go forward with the purchase.

I also found out that there are three types of one bedrooms at Vistana Villages ( at least in the Bella section)
One bedroom - smaller part of 2BR lock off
One Bedroom Deluxe - a stand alone one bedroom, not connected to anything
One Bedroom Premiere - larger part of 2BR lock off

The one I was looking at was a stand alone One. Bedroom Deluxe
Maint Fee
Operating $357.55
Reserve $114.82
Tax $101.09
Total $573.46

TUGers are the BEST! :banana:

PamMo · Apr 20, 2015

What we are calling timeshare "estoppels" seem to be whatever the seller wants to send in to the resort these days. They should always be confirmed with the resort if you have any questions. I've seen some pretty ridiculous estoppels come back to me from sellers, that I know were wrong.

Grayfal, do you know the unit number/week on the deed you want to purchase? If you have that, try calling Sheraton Owner Services @ 888.786.9637 or 407.903.4649 to verify the season and StarOption value.

GrayFal · Apr 20, 2015

PamMo said:
What we are calling timeshare "estoppels" seem to be whatever the seller wants to send in to the resort these days. They should always be confirmed with the resort if you have any questions. I've seen some pretty ridiculous estoppels come back to me from sellers, that I know were wrong.

Grayfal, do you know the unit number/week on the deed you want to purchase? If you have that, try calling Sheraton Owner Services @ 888.786.9637 or 407.903.4649 to verify the season and StarOption value.

OMG, I should kill you Pam!

They passed me along to an actual sales person, LOL :ignore:

So yes, week 42 Bella is Gold. Plus, not Platinum. In. Key West, it would be platinum.

He did not have the breakdown of Maint Fees for the larger 1BR/Smaller 1BR lock off but told me the following

1BR $573
2BR $1169
2BR L/O $1500

He also said I could buy "Sheraton Flex". 44K SO for $15,000 :hysterical: or EOY $8,500 :shrug:

Curious how the smaller 1BR/larger 1 BR maint fee breaks down.

sjsharkie · Apr 20, 2015

GrayFal said:
OMG, I should kill you Pam! They passed me along to an actual sales person, LOL :ignore:

So yes, week 42 Bella is Gold. Plus, not Platinum. In. Key West, it would be platinum.

He did not have the breakdown of Maint Fees for the larger 1BR/Smaller 1BR lock off but told me the following

1BR $573
2BR $1169
2BR L/O $1500

He also said I could buy "Sheraton Flex". 44K SO for $15,000 :hysterical: or EOY $8,500

Curious how the smaller 1BR/larger 1 BR maint fee breaks down.

There is no small 1BR / large 1BR maintenance fee. All 1BRs are sold as a single maintenance fee. I own at Bella and there is nothing on the financial statements breaking down different maintenance fees for the various 1BRs.

I actually think SVO likely only sold 2BR LOs -- they didn't split the LOs and sell each side separately as a different unit size. While you could be placed in a small 1BR or large 1BR since the units float (except for rare cases where a buyer paid extra to fix the unit), I don't believe they were ever sold that way as standard practice.

-ryan

GrayFal · Apr 20, 2015

sjsharkie said:
There is no small 1BR / large 1BR maintenance fee. All 1BRs are sold as a single maintenance fee. I own at Bella and there is nothing on the financial statements breaking down different maintenance fees for the various 1BRs.

I actually think SVO likely only sold 2BR LOs. While you could be placed in a small 1BR or large 1BR since the units float (except for rare cases where a buyer paid extra to fix the unit), I don't believe they were ever sold that way as standard practice.

-ryan

Thank you, that was my misunderstanding. I was comparing with Sheraton Broadway Plantation where they did sell 1/2 of the lock off resulting in small one bedroom, large one 1Bedroom and stand alone "shotgun" one bedroom with three separate maint fees.

I did not get a response from my seller but instead received a cancelation notice from eBay and a cancelation of the. PayPal invoice. So I guess they realized they had the wrong info out there.

Back to the search! And thanks LisaRex for all your good help and suggestions.

sjsharkie · Apr 20, 2015

GrayFal said:
Back to the search! And thanks LisaRex for all your good help and suggestions.

It was good that you checked.

$100 would have been a steal for that Bella unit! Good luck with the search.

-ryan

PamMo · Apr 20, 2015

GrayFal said:
OMG, I should kill you Pam! They passed me along to an actual sales person, LOL :ignore:...

:hysterical: That was NOT my intention, but it is kind of funny! So, did you take him up on his great offer? I'm sure it won't last long at prices like that!

GrayFal · Apr 20, 2015

PamMo said:
:hysterical: That was NOT my intention, but it is kind of funny! So, did you take him up on his great offer? I'm sure it won't last long at prices like that!

sjsharkie said:
It was good that you checked.

$100 would have been a steal for that Bella unit! Good luck with the search.

-ryan

Thank you. Ryan. ...and as it turns out PamMo, the estoppel was correct with week and season....it was my ignorance of the seasonal difference among the different phases of that resort. You can bet I will never forget it now :bawl:

The estoppel also did not state the Star Options which I feel is a flaw of the form. It did said it was mandatory.

Thanks again everyone.

alexadeparis · Sep 1, 2015

I just made this same mistake, looking at SVN points chart I thought I was buying a unit that got 95,700 options, but now that it's transferred, it's only 81,000. First world problems.

Wording on Star options Chart Vistana Villages -what does this mean?

GrayFal

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sjsharkie

GrayFal

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sjsharkie

pathways25

GrayFal

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PamMo

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GrayFal

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sjsharkie

GrayFal

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sjsharkie

PamMo

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GrayFal

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alexadeparis

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