HGVC in San Francisco: Pts changing 2017

Heads up.

Anyone thinking about going to San Francisco and staying at Club Donatello, the number of points needed to make a reservation is going up in 2017.

It used to take only 2,400pts to reserve a studio for 7 nights during anytime between Jan 1 - Dec 31.

Per Club Traveler, starting with reservations in 2017:

For Platinum, weeks 16-43, 47 and 52, a Studio for seven nights will cost 5,250 ClubPoints.

For Gold, weeks 1-15, 44-46 and 48-51, a Studio for seven nights will cost 3,750 ClubPoints.

holdaer said:

Heads up.

Anyone thinking about going to San Francisco and staying at Club Donatello, the number of points needed to make a reservation is going up in 2017.

It used to take only 2,400pts to reserve a studio for 7 nights during anytime between Jan 1 - Dec 31.

Per Club Traveler, starting with reservations in 2017:

For Platinum, weeks 16-43, 47 and 52, a Studio for seven nights will cost 5,250 ClubPoints.

For Gold, weeks 1-15, 44-46 and 48-51, a Studio for seven nights will cost 3,750 ClubPoints.

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I believe what you are saying is true, but those point levels are a TOTAL AND COMPLETE rip-off. I stayed there recently and the room's are very old, most likely original furnishing from the 80s. there are so many mirrors in in the entry way it feels like a bad carnival fun house or a Las Vegas adult motel from the 70s.. The rooms for HGVC guests are on the top 3 floors and are NOT the newly remodel Shell/Wyndham rooms. The bathrooms are old (original?) and small. Also, these are HOTEL rooms, not studios. we had no microwave, no sink, no kitchen utensils or equipment, and the fridge was a small, stocked, honor bar.

Plus, on top of that the club Donatello charges HGVC guests a resort fee. WTF is that? This is not a resort but rather an urban hotel, and a poor one at that.

One last thing, we asked for a "quite room" and was given one but even those rooms are super noisy. Avoid this property.

tahoeJoe said:

I believe what you are saying is true, but those point levels are a TOTAL AND COMPLETE rip-off. I stayed there recently and the room's are very old, most likely original furnishing from the 80s. there are so many mirrors in in the entry way it feels like a bad carnival fun house or a Las Vegas adult motel from the 70s.. The rooms for HGVC guests are on the top 3 floors and are NOT the newly remodel Shell/Wyndham rooms. The bathrooms are old (original?) and small. Also, these are HOTEL rooms, not studios. we had no microwave, no sink, no kitchen utensils or equipment, and the fridge was a small, stocked, honor bar.

Plus, on top of that the club Donatello charges HGVC guests a resort fee. WTF is that? This is not a resort but rather an urban hotel, and a poor one at that.

One last thing, we asked for a "quite room" and was given one but even those rooms are super noisy. Avoid this property.

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YIKES!

Thanks for the update and info! I was looking at pictures of the newly renovated units and thought that is what HGVC members would be reserving since those appear to be a Studio unit.

The old looking hotel units are not up to HGVC standards! If that is what we get with our club points, then you're right, avoid this hotel/resort.

I still would like to make it to San Francisco someday, but may need to go through RCI, instead.

Does that mean the owners of a studio there will now get their annual points increased so they can continue to use what they bought?

jestme said:

Does that mean the owners of a studio there will now get their annual points increased so they can continue to use what they bought?

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This was not HGVC resort, it was more of an affiliate / partner location where you could use your points to stay. There was not any "HGVC Owners" associated with this location.

If HGVC does ever open the rumored Hilton Club location in SF, i am almost certain they would drop their ties with the Donatello.

1Kflyerguy said:

If HGVC does ever open the rumored Hilton Club location in SF, i am almost certain they would drop their ties with the Donatello.

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Agreed, I think they should drop Club Donatello now, the rooms are simple NOT up to HGVC standards, or even RCI Gold Crown standards.

Going to San Francisco bring Coats

holdaer said:

YIKES!

Thanks for the update and info! I was looking at pictures of the newly renovated units and thought that is what HGVC members would be reserving since those appear to be a Studio unit.

The old looking hotel units are not up to HGVC standards! If that is what we get with our club points, then you're right, avoid this hotel/resort.

I still would like to make it to San Francisco someday, but may need to go through RCI, instead.

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We stayed at the Donatello in early September 2010. We did get an RCI exchange using 2400 HGVC points for a week. The resort is in a good location in the center of the city. The accommodations were fine even though not particularly special. we typically don't look for the most upscale and luxurious accommodations, a walkable location without a car and warm weather are what we look for. We don't like getting a car on vacation so we wanted the central city location so that we could walk or use public transportation as we do when when in Honolulu, Miami Beach, San Diego, and New Orleans. However, while the public transportation is very good, the hills in San Francisco make walking very difficult in certain directions. Furthermore, in early September San Francisco was very cold and windy making walking uncomfortable. We left our warm pool and 80 degree weather on Long island for 55 degree windy weather requiring a coat. Since we like our weather over 70 degrees we will never go back to this otherwise nice city.

Tamaradarann said:

We stayed at the Donatello in early September 2010. We did get an RCI exchange using 2400 HGVC points for a week. The resort is in a good location in the center of the city. The accommodations were fine even though not particularly special. we typically don't look for the most upscale and luxurious accommodations, a walkable location without a car and warm weather are what we look for. We don't like getting a car on vacation so we wanted the central city location so that we could walk or use public transportation as we do when when in Honolulu, Miami Beach, San Diego, and New Orleans. However, while the public transportation is very good, the hills in San Francisco make walking very difficult in certain directions. Furthermore, in early September San Francisco was very cold and windy making walking uncomfortable. We left our warm pool and 80 degree weather on Long island for 55 degree windy weather requiring a coat. Since we like our weather over 70 degrees we will never go back to this otherwise nice city.

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Ahh yes. The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.

buzglyd said:

Ahh yes. The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.

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:hysterical:
I visited family there regularly when I was growing up. We always went for Thanksgiving or Easter and I always got really sick and was always freezing cold.

When I was a young adult, I thought I was clever by going in June. After walking around Fisherman's Wharf one evening, I had to put on a big jacket, get into bed and curl up in a ball. I was shivering and my teeth were chattering.

The biggest seller for SF tourists is sweatshirts and hoodies. I lived there a year and don't think I ever wore shorts.


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Tamaradarann said:

Since we like our weather over 70 degrees we will never go back to this otherwise nice city.

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We've had some pretty hot days this summer in SF, but it's just so hard to predict in advance when it will happen, unfortunately.

buzglyd said:

Ahh yes. The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.

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One of those things that Twain never actually said...but it sure does sound like him

Cheers.

Quotes about San Francisco and Hawaii

brp said:

We've had some pretty hot days this summer in SF, but it's just so hard to predict in advance when it will happen, unfortunately.



One of those things that Twain never actually said...but it sure does sound like him

Cheers.

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Perhaps Mark Twain didn't actually say that but the quote has it right. Mark Twain did have it right when he did say this about Hawaii " The loveliest fleet of islands that lies anchored in any ocean"

I will use my HGVC points there instead of San Francisco.

Tamaradarann said:

Perhaps Mark Twain didn't actually say that but the quote has it right. Mark Twain did have it right when he did say this about Hawaii " The loveliest fleet of islands that lies anchored in any ocean"

I will use my HGVC points there instead of San Francisco.

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We use ours in Hawai'i (Bay Club) quite often. A most excellent use of points.

San Francisco can definitely be on the cooler side in the summer and, as you say, that's not for everyone

The beauty of HGVC is the flexibility.

Cheers.

I like the Donatello but only stay in the Shell units, which are better equipped, sounds like. But I prefer Suites at Fisherman's Wharf, which had a full kitchen. I highly recommend that.

You might also look into staying at Wyndham Canterbury through RCI. It's a beautiful place and on-par with HGVC quality.

I had a terrible fall by the turnaround for the cable cars during our last stay at the Donatello, about 3 years ago, and we were glad to have a lot of DVD's along on the trip because I spent the last three days off my feet. I cannot believe what a klutz I can be! The television was huge, and our unit was quiet for the two of us, but I have a feeling we might have disturbed people nearby with our loud TV.

rickandcindy23 said:

....... You might also look into staying at Wyndham Canterbury through RCI. It's a beautiful place and on-par with HGVC quality......

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Thanks for the tip.

I now have Wyndham Canterbury saved as a FAVORITE in my RCI account. That place looks really nice and what I would expect for a HGVC property in San Fran.