# Deeded fractional ownership Grand Luxxe?



## Soleil (Mar 21, 2015)

I'm being offered an upgrade to a deeded fractional ownership of Grand Luxxe  unit. I'm told that it isn't the same as our current timeshare of Grand Luxxe Villa. However I can't find any information outside of the sales person's info. The information presented has all the correct terms and they said that there have been units resold (product has been on the market for 18 months). Has anyone purchased one of these ? Did you confirm the registration of the deed?


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## pittle (Mar 21, 2015)

We passed on this opportunity in November.

I am pretty sure that you will not get a deed registered in Mexico.  There are laws about non-Mexicans owning property within a certain distance of the ocean.  People that own property in Mexico have to put it in a Mexican Trust.

It is still a timeshare - you get to use a certain number of weeks per year by paying your MF.  Do you have the no pay unless you go?  I would think that if you really owned it (had a deed), the MF would be mandatory.  Just my thoughts.

As usual, it is a new sales tactic, and you must read every word of the contract multiple times and know what is in it.  Just because the salesman and his boss and the closing guy say it is so, that does not mean that it is.


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## mikenk (Mar 21, 2015)

+1 on what pittle said.

I keep hearing that the laws are being changed to allow deeded ownership near the ocean; I have not seen anything to validate that - but it could be. Does anyone know if there has been a change?

My experience with the Vidanta system is whatever the salesman says has very little value; however, whatever the contract says is honored quite well and administered fairly. So, the only way you can judge the value of the offer is to compare your current contract paragraph by paragraph against the new one and judge whether the changes are worth the money. If you can't do that logistically, you should pass on any offer until you can.

Mike


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## saywhat (Mar 21, 2015)

100% Right to use, sales is just up to their old wicked ways. Another trick they are deploying is trying to get back senior certs. What they do is start at a super inflated price, offer you a huge discount to prepay you for the certs. Very sleazy!


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## Soleil (Mar 21, 2015)

We would get to keep all of our grandfathered items including only pay what we use, senior certificate., golf, massage, rolling unused weeks, etc.  I've asked to see the wording of the contract to see the conditions tied to resale and deed. I was really hoping to see someone  who sold a unit. 

The price offered is very reasonable, not even close to the ludicrous amount on  those silly fake certificates. More like what some have paid for 1 week and thought they got a great deal. 

In regards to the foreigner laws of ownership , according to local newspapers the law has passed and is awaiting senate approval but there is no date for when it will happen. 

Just to let everyone know we are generally happy with the timeshare and use it regularly. We don't rent out our weeks except to friends and family.


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## mikenk (Mar 21, 2015)

Soleil said:


> We would get to keep all of our grandfathered items including only pay what we use, senior certificate., golf, massage, rolling unused weeks, etc.  I've asked to see the wording of the contract to see the conditions tied to resale and deed. I was really hoping to see someone  who sold a unit.
> 
> The price offered is very reasonable, not even close to the ludicrous amount on  those silly fake certificates. More like what some have paid for 1 week and thought they got a great deal.
> 
> ...



if the law is not passed, then I would assume you will not be able to get true ownership. If that is true, then it must still be a RTU contract with different contract wording. 

You can sell your membership now, subject to the large transfer fees. Maybe the difference is you won't have the transfer fees or the 10 year renewals. Anyway, the contract will spell it out. Please let us know when you find out as  we all would like to understand.

I am also very happy overall with the GL timeshare: great resorts, great amenities, and best of all no mandatory MF's. We don't exchange or rent - just use with family.

Mike


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## saywhat (Mar 21, 2015)

Even when they pass the law there is no way that Vida ownership would subject themselves to an HOA. It's RTU and always will be. When you buy deeded property in Mexico you MUST visit a notary office to confirm the agreement.

I'm not sure but I don't think the law will encompass intervals, I believe it will be only full ownership.

Mike is absolutely right about it being an incredible place to enjoy, but as we know Vidas selling tactics have created a bunch of skeptical owners, and this "deed" pitch validates our skeptical views.


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## Soleil (Mar 21, 2015)

Thank you for all the info. I'll post as soon as I receive additional information. It would be nice to be able to get some form of real equity.


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## mikenk (Mar 21, 2015)

Soleil said:


> Thank you for all the info. I'll post as soon as I receive additional information. It would be nice to be able to get some form of real equity.



I will be interested what you find out.

Of course, any equity is realistically the price someone is willing to pay for it. Deeded timeshares can also be a liability and are being given away everyday for basically nothing - if they can even be given away.

Since we don't pay unless we use, the older Vidanta contracts (not sure on new ones) are basically prepaid vacations. That is the way I have always looked at it. As such the more we vacation there, the better value it becomes. The only way we lose is if we don't use.

Our kids have made it very clear that they want it for their families when we don't - so residual value is really of little importance to us.

Mike


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## pittle (Mar 21, 2015)

saywhat said:


> Even when they pass the law there is no way that Vida ownership would subject themselves to an HOA. It's RTU and always will be. When you buy deeded property in Mexico you MUST visit a notary office to confirm the agreement.
> 
> I'm not sure but I don't think the law will encompass intervals, I believe it will be only full ownership.
> 
> Mike is absolutely right about it being an incredible place to enjoy, but as we know Vidas selling tactics have created a bunch of skeptical owners, and this "deed" pitch validates our skeptical views.



I totally agree with this.  It is a Right To Use week, no matter what they call it.  They count on some of us not using out weeks so that they can sell more weeks in the same building.  I really do not believe that they only sell 60 some % of the weeks so that everyone can get in.  I have read of owners who cannot get a reservation when and where they want to go.

Also, that special building sure is a long way from the beach and looks at the river and eventually other buildings and the Entertainment Venue/Amusement Park.  I personally like Building 2.

I will be interested in hearing what you find out.


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## rpennisi (Mar 21, 2015)

I have a couple of US timeshares that are deeded, and I wish they weren't.  I would much rather have the MX way of 25 years and gone.
Ron


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## pittle (Mar 22, 2015)

rpennisi said:


> I have a couple of US timeshares that are deeded, and I wish they weren't.  I would much rather have the MX way of 25 years and gone.
> Ron



I agree - we like to know that they will end since our kids are not interested in ours. If, by chance, they change their minds, there is the clause that Heirs do not have to pay the transfer fees. (So why add them to the contract and have them obligated?) The transfer fees at Vidanta are too high to be able to sell.  They have designed them that way.  New contracts have the 10 MF to transfer and none of the extra benefits go with it.

We had several deeded ones too.  The Hawaii one was the hardest to sell because of all the legal stuff.  We had to use a broker with the resort, so that cost almost as much to sell as it did to buy.  We had some in Florida that were easy to do a Quit Claim Deed to transfer.


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## Soleil (Mar 22, 2015)

I've just met with a Customer Service agent (the people who are next to the lawyer's office) and I got the straight poop. pittle and others are correct, there is NO such thing as a deeded fractional ownership being offered by the Vidanta Group. The resale of the specialty products have the exact same conditions as our current Timeshare (10 x MF, loss of incentives etc). The only difference between what we have and what they are offering is the "guarantee" of getting a specific building at a minimum of fifth floor. And we all know that there always seem to be someone with higher privileges that have trumped your request and get bumped to a different level during high season. So yes, Sales are up to their old tricks. http://tugbbs.com/forums/images/smilies/wall.gif  I guess they're hoping that I won't do my due diligence.

We have noticed a significant change this year from our previous experience. Booking a reservation is a lot more difficult. At first they say there is no availability then offer one week in GM and the rest in GL. We chose to book with full services but they only provided a 2 bedroom in GM. We are now trying to get some compensation for the missing Suite (have to wait until tomorrow to speak with supervisor of Reservation). Customer Service are no longer able/willing to assist with issues regarding booking.

Golf reservation is a mess. I wish there was on-line booking. It would avoid a lot of issues such as " ... sorry sir there is no availability for that time.... Oh you didn't ask if there was an opening 10 minutes later" 

There is such a huge difference between service at GM and GL. I miss it. Can't wait until next week. Not that the service at GM is anything but spotless, just not the same.

On the plus side, the weather is perfect, we have a fabulous view from the 9th floor looking out to the sea, all pools, lazy river, wave pool etc are open and we are so close to the kid's zone (have yet to go to the new one). 

Edit: 
Oh yeah, the golf course is in great shape. It always seems to be different from year to year.


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## travs2 (Mar 22, 2015)

*Deeded Fractional Ownership Grand Luxxe*

Sales is always up to their sleazy ways that is for sure.  We just returned from 6 weeks in Nuevo.....4 weeks in the MAYAN Palace and 2 weeks in the Grand Luxxe Villa. Actually, we noticed a HUGE difference in the service between the two.  We had much better service and friendliness in the Mayan Palace than the Grand Luxxe Villa.   While in the GLVilla we  had  to call several times for bathroom linens, the concierge on our floor was hardly ever there......always off doing something else, our door lock wasn't working ...... a repair person came in 3 days in a row to fix it but it never was working correctly and no one really seemed too concerned ( who knows how long it was like that before we discovered the problem, the maids were not friendly, our ice cube maker never worked and our friends had their iphone plus stolen.  Now as far as the view goes.  While in the Mayan Palace we had the most spectacular view of the ocean and beautiful landscaping of the resort.  While in the Grand Luxxe Villa we had a view of the side of the Santuario.  More often isn't better!


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## pittle (Mar 22, 2015)

Thanks for checking it out for sure and letting us all know.   That is pretty much what we understood when they tried to get us to upgrade in November - my husband even said to them, you can call it what you want, but it is still a timeshare since we would have all our same things we currently have, but just pay more.  The $$$ upfront, increase in MF, and building location turned us off.  It made sense to upgrade to GL in 2013 because of how many contracts we had and how many 5 year renovation fees we had left, but it was not worth the extra $$$ for a larger unit that we did not need and guarantee of a higher floor.  We sort of had that when they upgraded our Profile A to Gold, and now they have another level.  There will always be something new to spend more money on.  We are happy with what we have - just 2 Registered GL weeks with Sr Certs (the original ones), no pay unless you go, and some golf & spa benefits.  

Unit location is not as big a deal for us as it is for some people.  When we were in NV in November, we would have preferred a 2-bedroom unit a couple of floors lower than ours because those had roll-up doors on the deck to make it larger.   Our higher floor did not, so the lock-out side had a nice deck, but it did not connect to the one on the other side that we used the most.  We did not have guests, but would have enjoyed the larger deck since we spend a lot of time there each day.


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## saywhat (Mar 22, 2015)

Soleil said:


> I've just met with a Customer Service agent (the people who are next to the lawyer's office) and I got the straight poop. pittle and others are correct, there is NO such thing as a deeded fractional ownership being offered by the Vidanta Group. The resale of the specialty products have the exact same conditions as our current Timeshare (10 x MF, loss of incentives etc). The only difference between what we have and what they are offering is the "guarantee" of getting a specific building at a minimum of fifth floor. And we all know that there always seem to be someone with higher privileges that have trumped your request and get bumped to a different level during high season. So yes, Sales are up to their old tricks. http://tugbbs.com/forums/images/smilies/wall.gif  I guess they're hoping that I won't do my due diligence.
> 
> We have noticed a significant change this year from our previous experience. Booking a reservation is a lot more difficult. At first they say there is no availability then offer one week in GM and the rest in GL. We chose to book with full services but they only provided a 2 bedroom in GM. We are now trying to get some compensation for the missing Suite (have to wait until tomorrow to speak with supervisor of Reservation). Customer Service are no longer able/willing to assist with issues regarding booking.
> 
> ...



Just as I mentioned before they are trying to sleaze members out of Sr. Certs they are making it difficult to book golf. They are now regretting all the freebies they have out there. Way too many members not paying for either.


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## Soleil (Mar 22, 2015)

Yes, you are absolutely correct. There are some within that have said the exact same thing.


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## blmac22 (Mar 23, 2015)

We just got back on the 21st from Mayan Palace in Cancun.  Beautiful resort but we got sucked in to the sales meeting and when we thought it was over and we had said no to a timeshare, we were brought to a 'sign out area' but really it was a new sales tactic.  They offered us a deal 'commission free' but in the end it was a 'Vacation Membership' for 2800 USD after coming down from 4700 it actually sounded good and we agreed, but then we didnt know what we had and were so exhausted we lost our 'no deal' focus.  Now we want out, we will never use this and not even sure it is any deal at all.  Is there a way out???  Help


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## pittle (Mar 23, 2015)

Try the name called Grupo Mayan on TUG, but they always sign as Karen Rose. They can help. Use the email address below.  

Here is a sample of their normal posts:

Please contact us to be able to assist you.

If you have pending concerns with us, we have confidence they can be addressed as soon as we are contacted to continue this dialogue. We would like to hear about your experience with us, as part of our daily quest for improvement and high regard for customer satisfaction.

Being that said, the only way to assure that we get your message and follow-up is to contact us at grupomayanblog@grupovidanta.com .

We truly appreciate your time.

Sincerely,
Karen Rose
Customer Support Representative.


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