This is why I love my Marriott timeshare!

All,

I get a little depressed every time I see the title of the other thread. So I'm starting one with some positive karma, or whatever you call it.

Some of the reasons why I love my Marriott timeshare:

1. Maui Ocean Club No Ka Oi

2. Marriott's name (and Hilton and Starwood) provide credibility to my timeshare hobby

3. My unit (6206/6205) absolutely rocks -- fantastic view, great living space. Now I need to buy the adjacent fixed weeks

4. I know I will go to Maui in June every year for the rest of my life (God willing)

5. I build a Maui tradition with my family -- I think my kids will want to go to Maui even later in life

6. I have space for my friends and family to come and stay with me

7. DClub allows me to add additional rooms if I can't wedge them all into 6206/6205

8. My MFs -- relative to what my friends pay at the Kaanapali Alii ($750/night for a 2BR)-- are reasonable

9. My lock-off can get me good space too if I don't bring a friend one year (but I can't request a 1BR in II for my rocking Studio. Grrrrr.......)

10. My other timeshares give me flexibility to take my lovely wife somewhere pretty and warm a couple times a year

11. I can rent excess points to cover some of my MFs

12. I bought a cookie sheet to carry food/wine down to the grill area -- and now every night I am organized when I cook

13. My kids can play on the play area by the grill while I cook

14. My kids are familar enough with MOC that they can wander (within reason) without my constant monitoring

15. DD 9 gets cold in the pool and I can always find her in or near the hot tub (10 minute rule, though...).

16. The shaved ice by the bridge is a bargain

17. The U.S Open is always on while I am there

18. The Keiki Club is fantastic for the children -- as are the other activities like shore fishing and treasure hunt

19. The pirate ship is still cool for 9 year olds with a younger brother

20. The kitchen is nicer than my kitchen at home (well it was, until I got the new appliances)

21. You can take the bar stool outside on the deck and it positions you to look over the rail. You can sit there for hours in the early morning while checking email and surfing on TUG.

22. The sunset view from the balcony is stunning.

23. 4 adults can have dinner on the balcony, where the sunset view is stunning

24. I know I'll be going to MOC in 5 months

25. I know the exact day and time that FF awards load, so I can go again to MOC in 17 months

26. I would never ever ever have done this, if I had to deal with the volatility of condo rentals and airfare costs.

Timeshares -- and Marriott timeshares -- are perfect for me and my family. The memories and the experience are truly priceless.

Best,

Greg

GregT said:

All,

I get a little depressed every time I see the title of the other thread. So I'm starting one with some positive karma, or whatever you call it.

Some of the reasons why I love my Marriott timeshare:

1. Maui Ocean Club No Ka Oi

2. Marriott's name (and Hilton and Starwood) provide credibility to my timeshare hobby

3. My unit (6206/6205) absolutely rocks -- fantastic view, great living space. Now I need to buy the adjacent fixed weeks

4. I know I will go to Maui in June every year for the rest of my life (God willing)

5. I build a Maui tradition with my family -- I think my kids will want to go to Maui even later in life

6. I have space for my friends and family to come and stay with me

7. DClub allows me to add additional rooms if I can't wedge them all into 6206/6205

8. My MFs -- relative to what my friends pay at the Kaanapali Alii ($750/night for a 2BR)-- are reasonable

9. My lock-off can get me good space too if I don't bring a friend one year (but I can't request a 1BR in II for my rocking Studio. Grrrrr.......)

10. My other timeshares give me flexibility to take my lovely wife somewhere pretty and warm a couple times a year

11. I can rent excess points to cover some of my MFs

12. I bought a cookie sheet to carry food/wine down to the grill area -- and now every night I am organized when I cook

13. My kids can play on the play area by the grill while I cook

14. My kids are familar enough with MOC that they can wander (within reason) without my constant monitoring

15. DD 9 gets cold in the water and I can always find her in or near the hot tub.

16. The shaved ice by the bridge is a bargain

17. The U.S Open is always on while I am there

18. The Keiki Club is fantastic for the children -- as are the other activities like shore fishing and treasure hunt

19. The pirate ship is still cool for 9 year olds with a younger brother

20. The kitchen is nicer than my kitchen at home (well it was, until I got the new appliances)

21. You can take the bar stool outside on the deck and it positions you to look over the rail. You can sit there for hours in the early morning while checking email and surfing on TUG.

22. The sunset view from the balcony is stunning.

23. 4 adults can have dinner on the balcony, where the sunset view is stunning

24. I know I'll be going to MOC in 5 months

25. I know the exact day and time that FF awards load, so I can go again to MOC in 17 months

26. I would never ever ever have done this, if I had to look for deal with the volatility of condo rentals and airfare costs.

Timeshares -- and Marriott timeshares -- are perfect for me and my family. The memories and the experience are truly priceless.

Best,

Greg

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Well said, Greg. I echo several of those same sentiments as they relate to our two floating oceanfront weeks in Lahaina/Napili towers.

Well said agree with you and add that I am happy to have rented out mine and use MR points to be pampered at the Ritz in Grand Cayman...and upgraded to a better view. I love Marriott, MVCI, Marriott Rewards and Ritz!

Without our Marriotts we wouldn't be traveling on a regular basis to the place we love, Hilton Head. Prices for renting oceanfront condos were climbing sky-high the last few years we rented, and prices for buying oceanfront condos were simply not in our budget (and we didn't want a second property anyway.)

I honestly don't know if there are other timeshare systems on Hilton Head that would suit our purposes as well as our Marriotts do. It's possible but once we saw SurfWatch we stopped looking because it is perfect. (And then Barony was perfect a year later.)

Without regular visits to them, we probably wouldn't have fallen so much in love with the area, and checked it out enough to decide it's the place to which we'll retire a few years down the road.

Without our regular travel pattern that started with our Marriotts, I'm not sure we would have developed the same relationships with our children through their teens and into their 20's. Those teen years are dang hard! and during a few of them the only times we ever fully connected were at the resorts and on the beach in Hilton Head. Every one of us is able to relax and rejuvenate there in a way that we never had before. Now that Steve and Eileen are 26 and 25 with their own adult lives and homes, it's still the one place that we all try to visit together whenever it's possible. This year in May all 4 of us will be there with Steve's fiancee and Eileen's boyfriend. First time in 3 years, yay!

We've brought small and big groups of family and friends to travel with us. Last year 5 of my siblings and their families and Don's sister and her family all came down together. We had a few units at SurfWatch plus a 6-BR rental house around the corner, and we had a blast! (Unfortunately that was one of the times Steve and his Denise couldn't make it.) The best thing about that whole trip is that the family members who we get together with every Sunday (for dinner, here!) learned that it's an easy travel destination. That's my only reservation about retiring to Hilton Head - that I'll be leaving so many family members behind. But they all said after the trip that we better add some extra bedrooms onto our home plans because we'll have frequent visitors. Yay again!

About the units and resorts themselves? I love the kitchens. They're fancy, pretty, and well-stocked so cooking together is a breeze. I love the balconies - we start and end most every day out there watching the world go by. Our kids have a goofy tradition of sending those little green army men with parachutes over the rail on the last morning (don't worry, they collect them after!) I love the space to spread out. I love the SW shower. I love the Barony tub. I love the swings throughout the properties. I love the Elvis-in-an-adult-diaper (when you see him you'll think so, too!) who sings at the Barony pool every week. I love the SW poolbar and the guy who sings there on Fridays.

I love everything, really, and could keep going with a hundred more things.

good morning...

greg

Don't forget, someday you will hook up with good ol puck at one of the Marriott Resorts....

Maybe you can come to Frenchman's Cove this June....

BocaBoy said:

Well said, Greg. I echo several of those same sentiments as they relate to our two floating oceanfront weeks in Lahaina/Napili towers.

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And we have enjoyed the same things with numerous trades (we've never had to rent yet for a Marriott we wanted) using our much less expensive resorts/points for trade. That's even BETTER than paying big $$ to own & the exact same result!

Thank you for paying for those beautiful resorts. We've enjoyed them very much. And we're very glad we don't have to pay for them.

Here are just s few reasons why we love our Marriott's.

My only problem with owning a Marriott TS is that my DW only wants to vacation in other TS that are at least as nice as our Marriott TS. Which means she wants me to try and get rid of several TSs we own that are not as nice. Getting rid of these has proven to be a challenge even though I'm willing to give them away and they are in a super high demand area (SoCal)

Right now we're trading most of our TS for stays in Marriott Hyatt & Starwood TSs. My DW seem to like Staying there.

Well said, Greg!

timeos2 said:

And we have enjoyed the same things with numerous trades (we've never had to rent yet for a Marriott we wanted) using our much less expensive resorts/points for trade. That's even BETTER than paying big $$ to own & the exact same result!

Thank you for paying for those beautiful resorts. We've enjoyed them very much. And we're very glad we don't have to pay for them.

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I love Marriott owners, too. Same reason as you.

BocaBum99 said:

I love Marriott owners, too. Same reason as you.

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Now I remember not two many years ago you were wanting to buy more Marriotts. Funny how times have changed.

What a nice, positive post.....like many things w/life it's easy to let the negative stuff dominate one's mind, but we too love traveling w/our timeshares. Yes we paid too much for the first ones, but that money is gone and we didn't have to deny our kids their college tuition, etc. to make it happen.

There are lots of upsides...one of the biggest ones I don't think anyone listed is the fact that our grown up 23 yr old twin daughters still love to travel with us and bring friends, etc. If we had to rent hotel rooms with no room to "hang out"....I doubt they would still join us. And the cost of multiple rooms and eating out all meals would be very prohibitive.

We've locked off, traded up, rented to friends, given a week to a friend that could really use a vacation but couldn't affort it, sold a week for a church fundraiser, just lots of ways to stretch the weeks/points. We can travel off season and that is a big key; however even those of you with small kids will see them grow up and off season travel will work for you someday and you'll really stretch the value.

Good points Greg! I will share a few of my points why I like my Marriotts:

First, we purchased back in July 2005 at Grand Vista. I have a cousin that owns Marriott and I requested that she set me up on one of the preview packages and we ended staying at Cypress Habour. We were already set on purchasing when we went to the presentation so our salesperson had an easy commission that day.

1. Soon as we got into the program, we traded our 2005 week to Marriott Marbella in Malaga, Spain. Marbella resort is very nice!

3. 2006: One month before our wedding, the cruise ship we were suppose to take our honeymoon on, caught on fire. Cruise is cancelled, we get reimburised our costs, however, I'm 3 weeks away from my wedding and honeymoon and no honeymoon! I jump on II, find a gateway to Aruba with a check-in date 1 day after our wedding. I book the gateway and save our honeymoon! Aruba was awesome!

2. 2007: We traded for MRPs and combined with the points we received for signing up, we were able to use our points to stay in one of the Marriott's in Rome for 10 days in April of 2008 for our anniversary week. Rome and Venice were amazing!

3. 2009: Got laid off from job. Wife says "should we cancel our vacation for Thanksgiving in Orlando?" I said, "Heck no, trip is already paid for cause we purchased a timeshare." Since TSs force you to plan, I had already booked our week 12 months out and booked our flights a few months before I got hit. We go to Orlando with our two kids and have a wonderful time!

4. 2011: Go back to work in 2010. Booked our 2011 Thanksgiving GV week on first day of inventory opening in 2010. Go to Orlando and have a wonderful time with the family. Kids really enjoyed the Mouse this time.

5. After finding TUG in December 2011, I picked up a resale Grand Chateau week on ebay. The wife and I both love Vegas!

6. 2012: After signing up for DC, we use our bonus points for a long weekend stay at Marriott Manor Club (Berkeley, 3rd floor, 2 BRD loft unit!) over this past weekend. MMC is Heaven on Earth!

I love the Marriott Brand and have been a loyal customer for years before I even purchased into the vacation club system. I had been to many timeshare presentations in the past before Marriott and none of them clicked for me at the time. I guess a lot of it was timing. During the earlier presentations, I wasn't married and didn't see the "value" (I know this word is going rub some people the wrong way ) at the time. But when my family started to take shape and the wife and I started to do more travelling, the TS system made sense to us and we purchased. We have been happy ever since.

timeos2 said:

And we have enjoyed the same things with numerous trades (we've never had to rent yet for a Marriott we wanted) using our much less expensive resorts/points for trade. That's even BETTER than paying big $$ to own & the exact same result!

Thank you for paying for those beautiful resorts. We've enjoyed them very much. And we're very glad we don't have to pay for them.

Click to expand...

I hope you enjoy that 'free lunch' for as long as it lasts.

The portions will probably decrease in size as time goes on and the economy resumes its growth.

At some point the free lunch buffet will be closed - - - for non owners.

thinze3 said:

Now I remember not two many years ago you were wanting to buy more Marriotts. Funny how times have changed.

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Yeah, what changed is Marriott got really stupid. It could have been the best in the industry. Instead, they made it one of the worst.

windje2000 said:

I hope you enjoy that 'free lunch' for as long as it lasts.

The portions will probably decrease in size as time goes on and the economy resumes its growth.

At some point the free lunch buffet will be closed - - - for non owners.

Click to expand...

Not likely. There will always be owners who need help disposing of their timeshares either for rent or for resale. There will be an unlimited source of cheap inventory.

For us it's simple- great vacations with family and friends (including vacations with adult kids that likely wouldn't take place and the ability to offer friends accommodations for trips that they otherwise wouldn't take), resort quality amenities, space for everyone to spread put, kitchen facilities which are conducive to not having to start the day by where to go for breakfast and gives us the ability to dine in a few nights if we want to, and knowing that we can return a few times a year to a place we love- or choose to trade and experience someplace new.

And let's not forget enjoying our obsessive time spent on this forum, and enjoying "talking" with all the people on this board

timeos2 said:

And we have enjoyed the same things with numerous trades (we've never had to rent yet for a Marriott we wanted) using our much less expensive resorts/points for trade. That's even BETTER than paying big $$ to own & the exact same result!

Thank you for paying for those beautiful resorts. We've enjoyed them very much. And we're very glad we don't have to pay for them.

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"The exact same result" is what is very, very subjective. You could never do what GregT and I do for our families without owning a primetime Marriott.

Maybe the "exact same" to you is smaller accommodations during off season but you're never going to have the "exact same result" of a 2BDRM OV/OF Maui Marriott during prime time.

Yes we paid a premium, and yes the value has gone down but overall a Maui Marriott 2BDRM with a view, (like many other 2BDRM prime Marriotts) when used properly still has tremendous value unlike most other non-Marriotts that were never as nice as a Marriott and are now worth a $1.

BocaBum99 said:

Yeah, what changed is Marriott got really stupid. It could have been the best in the industry. Instead, they made it one of the worst.

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I don't agree with that at all. To me Marriott remains the best. Not without its issues but overall from what I see it is the best.

MOXJO7282 said:

I don't agree with that at all. To me Marriott remains the best. Not without its issues but overall from what I see it is the best.

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I totally agree.
I was quite vociferous in my comments on how disappointed I was (and am) with the DC points program. I still feel it is a travesty that some owners were allotted less points than it would cost to reserve a unit that Marriott itself rents for half the price of the unit I'd be giving up. So, clearly, I see flaws with the new program.

That said, Marriott still has some amazing properties and beautiful units in terrific locations, with resort quality services. Not to knock them at all, but I had the opportunity this summer to visit a much regaled Starwood property and I must say I was surprised at how much nicer the Marriott units were. Admittedly, the lock-out unit of the 3BR I had was nicer in the Starwood unit, but overall the Marriott units that I have been to are much nicer than even their comparable competitors.

So, while I agree with some of the posts that Marriott could have done better by its customers with the DC program, overall I still feel that week ownership and use has tremendous value- in every sense of the word.

BocaBum99 said:

Yeah, what changed is Marriott got really stupid. It could have been the best in the industry. Instead, they made it one of the worst.

Click to expand...

MOXJO7282 said:

I don't agree with that at all. To me Marriott remains the best. Not without its issues but overall from what I see it is the best.

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I'm with you, Joe. Marriott still offers a very nice product for those of us who want to own and use the particular prime intervals that work very nicely with our vacation schedules, wants and needs, within Marriott's new and old systems.

Marriott no longer works particularly well for those who want to take advantage of a rental market for personal gain through other folks' ownerships. I don't feel badly for those folks.

I hope this thread makes it to the TUG Newsletter. We had a great time last year at the JW Guanacaste in Costa Rica and at Marriott Mountain Valley Lodge in 2011. We will be exchanging into The Royal Islander in June 2012.

windje2000 said:

I hope you enjoy that 'free lunch' for as long as it lasts.

The portions will probably decrease in size as time goes on and the economy resumes its growth.

At some point the free lunch buffet will be closed - - - for non owners.

Click to expand...

There will never be a shortage as any Marriott owner that wants to go someplace other than the few where Marriott has a presence has to deposit to go. All it takes is one available & that $1 timeshare can get it.

Actually the purchase price of any timeshare, be it $1 resale or $50K+ retail - means zero. They all - even Marriott - will bring back pennies on the retail dollar in the long run. Purchase price buys you nothing but the right to pay the fees & use a time period each use year. Thats where Marriott & other names fall down. While they are nice they are not worth the minimum of 1/3 more in name overhead they all get. The quality can be and is the same at highend non-names but the fees are much lower (usually). Those fees are the true cost of any timeshare and with fees too high the value despite the quality the value just isn't there. Especially when it is so easy to trade in or rent (yes, even Marriotts are extremely easy to rent now - easier and far more specific as to date/unit type than trading is) so a high fee means little or no resale value. People just don't want to get tied to those expenses.

Make no mistake - Marriott resorts are very nice, but not worth the premium it costs to be an owner.

SueDonJ said:

Without our Marriotts we wouldn't be traveling on a regular basis to the place we love, Hilton Head. Prices for renting oceanfront condos were climbing sky-high the last few years we rented, and prices for buying oceanfront condos were simply not in our budget (and we didn't want a second property anyway.)

I honestly don't know if there are other timeshare systems on Hilton Head that would suit our purposes as well as our Marriotts do. It's possible but once we saw SurfWatch we stopped looking because it is perfect. (And then Barony was perfect a year later.)

Without regular visits to them, we probably wouldn't have fallen so much in love with the area, and checked it out enough to decide it's the place to which we'll retire a few years down the road.

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I could echo everything you said above! I'll be moving to SC for retirement, because I fell in love with that area visiting HHI, Edisto, Charleston and Santee. Marriotts and Wyndhams played a big part in introducing me to the wonderful lifestyle of the low country of SC.

timeos2 said:

There will never be a shortage as any Marriott owner that wants to go someplace other than the few where Marriott has a presence has to deposit to go. All it takes is one available & that $1 timeshare can get it.

Actually the purchase price of any timeshare, be it $1 resale or $50K+ retail - means zero. They all - even Marriott - will bring back pennies on the retail dollar in the long run. Purchase price buys you nothing but the right to pay the fees & use a time period each use year. Thats where Marriott & other names fall down. While they are nice they are not worth the minimum of 1/3 more in name overhead they all get. The quality can be and is the same at highend non-names but the fees are much lower (usually). Those fees are the true cost of any timeshare and with fees too high the value despite the quality the value just isn't there. Especially when it is so easy to trade in or rent (yes, even Marriotts are extremely easy to rent now - easier and far more specific as to date/unit type than trading is) so a high fee means little or no resale value. People just don't want to get tied to those expenses.

Make no mistake - Marriott resorts are very nice, but not worth the premium it costs to be an owner.

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No question the cost of the occupancy is in the MF.

For about $1K/yr I get a week beachfront in a very nice fully equipped 2BR villa . . . in a place I want to be . . . in a season I want to be there.

As an owner I have much much greater assurance I can achieve that (or the other trades I may want) than you as a non owner.

The program works well for me and the value is there for me. That's my subjective judgement. YMMV.

If you can live off the crumbs, more power to you.