# Exchange to Antigua?



## elina (Feb 1, 2007)

Hi all!

I'm planning a Christmas 07 vacation for us (me and my husband), would love to go to Antigua to escape this Finnish winter.

I managed to book a getaway for dec 22-29 to stay at St.Martin (Oyster Bay Beach Resort) and we would like to stay at Antigua a week before that. Do you think I'll have a reasonable chance of getting Jolly Harbour Beach Resort/Jolly Beach Vacations trade? I can request the exchange this summer, since I can't yet reserve my week. We'll be using Marriott Surf Club 1 bdr, probably July 2008 week.

Thanks so much!  

Elina


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## Judy (Feb 1, 2007)

I see these units right now, using my Celebrity Orlando, week 26:
 Jolly Harbour Beach Club • JHR
Jolly Harbour, St Marys , ANTIGUA

Oct 21 2007 - Oct 28 2007 	2 Bedroom(s): 6 people privately. 6 people total. 2 6 6 Kitchen 	  	
Dec 02 2007 - Dec 09 2007 	2 Bedroom(s): 6 people privately. 6 people total. 2 6 6 Kitchen 	  	
Dec 09 2007 - Dec 16 2007 	2 Bedroom(s): 6 people privately. 6 people total. 2 6 6 Kitchen
*I cannot see these exchanges with Worldmark or The Ridge Tahoe.  Those are higher quality-rated resorts.  I guess that II's quality filter will prevent you from exchanging into the Jolly Harbour Beach Club with your Marriott unless you call II and insist on it.*
There are also Extra Vacations available almost every week including Christmas : Dec 22 2007 - Dec 29 2007  	 2 Bedroom(s): sleeps 4 people privately. 6 people total.  Limited Kitchen   $1,179.00


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## tashamen (Feb 1, 2007)

Hei Elina,

I agree with Judy - I can't see the Jolly Harbour or Beach resorts with Club Intrawest either, and I doubt that they will show up for your Marriott.  I can see St James Club when it is available, but it isn't often available - and if you have to wait until the summer to put in a request a December week may be hard to get.  You could see if you can do a direct exchange with a St James Club owner for your Surf Club.

Have you considered spending two weeks in St. Maarten - the other week at a different resort in a different part of the island from Oyster Bay?  (We liked Royal Islander Club La Plage.) The chance of getting an exchange there is much more likely since there are many more resorts than on Antigua.  You could do several day trips easily to St. Barths, Anguilla and Saba so it wouldn't be all the same.

PS - I was just in Helsinki the first week of January and it wasn't exactly like winter - no snow and fairly warm...I was actually disappointed since we have not had snow here at home either.


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## JMSH (Feb 1, 2007)

Are you sure it is Antigua you want to go too or is it Anguilla? Anguilla is a short ferry ride from St.Maarten.


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## elina (Feb 2, 2007)

Thanks so much for your response!!

We will definetely visit Anguilla and St. Barts when in St.Martin. However, we would also really like to stay in Antigua because the island looks so beautiful.

Maybe it is because that quality filter that I can't see any Jolly Harbour Beach with my Marriott. I think we will try to exchange to Jolly Harbour/Jolly Beach the week before Christmas - I would think that Interval would give me that week for exchange (if it will be available) although it is not 5 star resort.

We actually prefer the Jolly Beach over St. James Club because in the pictures the pool look bigger and the beach more beautiful which are most important things for us when in vacation.  But I'm sure the St. James Club is amazing though and would consider that for direct exchange as well as direct exchange with Jolly Beach.

Tashamen, your right. The weather in Helsinki isn't really winter-like nowadays. Very warm and not much snow. We live in more north and here is about -20 degrees celsius with plenty of snow. I've never been abroad during winter so looking forward our first winter-vacation to Caribbean. 

PS. We're off to Cancun and Cuba in few months. Can't wait to that either


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## Judy (Feb 2, 2007)

elina said:


> I think we will try to exchange to Jolly Harbour/Jolly Beach the week before Christmas - I would think that Interval would give me that week for exchange (if it will be available) although it is not 5 star resort.


If II considers your Marriott "too good" to exchange into the Jolly Harbour, you will never get it with an ongoing search that you put in online, even if it's available   You will have to call II to arrange the exchange. 

Once I wanted to make an exchange into a resort that II thought was "too good" for my Worldmark.  I had to talk with a supervisor and then sign a letter promising that I wouldn't complain no matter what.  This was for a week that was available in inventory, not an ongoing search. 

Please let me know whether II is willing to lift the quality filter for an ongoing request.


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## gmarine (Feb 2, 2007)

I'm surprised you would rather have JH over St James Club. There is a reason why II wont show JH with your Marriott. Its because JH is a mediocre resort with mediocre quality ratings. II doesnt want a member with a quality Marriott unit to trade for JH and then complain about it. SJC on the other hand is one of the best resorts in the caribbean.

Trying to get St James Club in December would be about next to impossible anyway. Units rent for upwards of $6000 per week, about half that privately from owners. The resorts beach is fabulous and it has four pools. Here is more info if you ever want try to get an II excange there, but not in December. 
http://eliteislandresorts.com/site/resorts.asp?resortID=11&islandID=1#top


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## elina (Feb 3, 2007)

Thanks again all of you!  

Gmarine, the St. James Club looks great. We'll try an exhange there sometime, allthough it is my understanding that it's extremely hard to get. 

I  know we would be trading down when trading Marriott Surf Club to Jolly Harbour but it's fine since we really would like to visit Antigua and those beautiful beaches. Doesn't matter if the rooms are not as upscale as the ones at Marriott's.


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## gidat1 (Feb 9, 2007)

*How do you go to Antigua?*

Elina:

We are going to Oysterbay a week before you are going. I want extend my trip for few more days. How do you go to Antigua from St. Maarten? Is it a boat or you fly . If you fly is there a direct flight from St. Maarten to Antigua. Is there a Sheraton resort out there?.

Regards

PhilP


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## elina (Feb 13, 2007)

We were thinking of using LIAT-airline. It is a direct flight and very good price also. I believe there is no Sheraton in Antigua.


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## lam0210 (Mar 1, 2007)

gmarine said:


> I'm surprised you would rather have JH over St James Club. There is a reason why II wont show JH with your Marriott. Its because JH is a mediocre resort with mediocre quality ratings. II doesnt want a member with a quality Marriott unit to trade for JH and then complain about it. SJC on the other hand is one of the best resorts in the caribbean.
> 
> Trying to get St James Club in December would be about next to impossible anyway. Units rent for upwards of $6000 per week, about half that privately from owners. The resorts beach is fabulous and it has four pools. Here is more info if you ever want try to get an II excange there, but not in December.
> http://eliteislandresorts.com/site/resorts.asp?resortID=11&islandID=1#top



I just traded into the St. James Club for week 30.  My request was put in at the end of 2006 right before the dues were sent and it the exchange happened on 1/2.


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## TomF (Mar 1, 2007)

Judy said:


> If II considers your Marriott "too good" to exchange into the Jolly Harbour, you will never get it with an ongoing search that you put in online, even if it's available   You will have to call II to arrange the exchange.
> 
> Once I wanted to make an exchange into a resort that II thought was "too good" for my Worldmark.  I had to talk with a supervisor and then sign a letter promising that I wouldn't complain no matter what.  This was for a week that was available in inventory, not an ongoing search.


This must be something relatively new as I have gotten rooms that were were far below the quality of the Marriott Desert Springs Villas weeks that I've exchanged.  Our very first exchange was into the Pono Kai resort on Kauai in 1995 and that almost turned us off to timesharing.  Another was a 1 BR at the Maui Schooner Resort in 2003 in exchange for our entire 2 BR DSV suite.  Clearly inferior to DSV.


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## Judy (Mar 1, 2007)

We exchanged in the spring of 2005.  The resort I exchanged into had just been remodeled.  The hotel it was attached to was remodeled less than a year previously.  It had an onsite restaurant, a bar, weekly rum punch parties with live entertainment, and a world-class SCUBA diving operation.  Yet Interval gave it a low quality rating.  Go figure.
I've been to some highly rated resorts that I didn't like at all.  IMHO, II's quality filters are not at all helpful.:annoyed:


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## CatLovers (Mar 5, 2007)

*Caution in using LIAT*



elina said:


> We were thinking of using LIAT-airline. It is a direct flight and very good price also. I believe there is no Sheraton in Antigua.




Just a quick word of caution about using LIAT.  They are notorious for overbooking, and in that part of the world, their follow-up action and compensation is non-existent.  We were scheduled to fly TAB-BGI on a direct flight on Feb 23; flight was overbooked, and their only solution for 12 people stranded was to come back tomorrow and stand-by for the same flight (they only have one flight a day).  We had to make a connection back to Canada so this would not work for us.  The agent simply shrugged his shoulders and walked away into a back office.  Ultimately, we had to walk over to an independent travel agent who routed us thru POS on our own dime, and $800 later we made it to BGI very late that night.  We're filing a cliam with LIAT, but I'm not holding my breath that I will even get one dime back from them.  I also contacted my credit card company to file a complaint, so may be able to recover a portion from that avenue.

Anyway, if you fly LIAT, remember that you are in a part of the world where US and EU rules do not apply, and be prepared to be flexible with your plans.  As long as you do not have another connection pushing you, and you can tolerate island-time, you'll be fine.


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