# Newbie considering Lagoon Tower 2BD/2BA Ocean Front



## TRTS (Dec 23, 2017)

Hi TUGgers!  This is a such a great site and community, thank you all!

My wife and I are considering buying our first timeshare ever, a platinum 2BD/2BA ocean front (9600 points) at Lagoon Tower in Oahu, with MFs about $1650/yr.  We travel to Hawaii a lot and want platinum season so we can use Home Week bookings.  We will buy through resale.

Do you think that $18,000 would be a reasonable price for this unit?  It's way more than $1/point, but then again, it is Hawaii, Platinum season, and Ocean front/Premier. We've done some research on TUG and Redweek but I'd love your opinion as well.  Thank you all very much!


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## csodjd (Dec 23, 2017)

I'd say that's a fair price for that. I recently purchased 8400 points at Lagoon Tower. Price was $15,500. It's the same as what you got, except its ocean view, not ocean front. Your place will be at the end of the hall. Unbeatable view. Ours are along the sides. 

The one tip I'd give is that, if you want to go in August, be sure to book 12 months to the day ahead. That's the busiest time according to the Hilton people because of a holiday of some kind in Japan, leading to a lot of Japanese visitors.


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## alwysonvac (Dec 23, 2017)

TRTS said:


> We travel to Hawaii a lot and want platinum season* so we can use Home Week bookings*.  We will buy through resale.



Just remember the rules for home week bookings.

Your Home Week Reservation must be made within the 3 month window (begins  12 months prior to check-in and ends 9 months prior to check-in) 
Your Home week reservation requires a full week in the unit type and season owned on the designation home Week check-in date.

There is no flexibility. You must reserve the exact unit size and type in the season that you purchased (for example two bedroom oceanfront) for the full week based on the fixed checkin date at your home resort (Lagoon Tower checkin date is Saturday for Home Week Reservations).
_NOTE: You're using your full allotment of points for the year._


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## TRTS (Dec 23, 2017)

Thank you csodjd and alwaysonvac!  Much appreciated.


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## Sapper (Dec 23, 2017)

Howdy All, I own a Hyatt unit, and have been thinking about buying into the HGVC system specifically to use this property and the Elara during years we don't visit Hawaii (basically one even years, one odd years).  I have been thinking of buying a 9600 point Elara as the purchase price and maintenance fees are lower than Lagoon Tower.  How difficult is it to book non-home week winter into Lagoon Tower?  Should I consider buying at Lagoon Tower over Elara?  If so, how difficult is it to book into Elara during non-home week winter?


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## GregT (Dec 24, 2017)

TRTS said:


> Hi TUGgers!  This is a such a great site and community, thank you all!
> 
> My wife and I are considering buying our first timeshare ever, a platinum 2BD/2BA ocean front (9600 points) at Lagoon Tower in Oahu, with MFs about $1650/yr.  We travel to Hawaii a lot and want platinum season so we can use Home Week bookings.  We will buy through resale.
> 
> Do you think that $18,000 would be a reasonable price for this unit?  It's way more than $1/point, but then again, it is Hawaii, Platinum season, and Ocean front/Premier. We've done some research on TUG and Redweek but I'd love your opinion as well.  Thank you all very much!


Yes that’s a good price - if you don’t buy it, please send it my way!

Best,

Greg


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## csodjd (Dec 24, 2017)

Sapper said:


> Howdy All, I own a Hyatt unit, and have been thinking about buying into the HGVC system specifically to use this property and the Elara during years we don't visit Hawaii (basically one even years, one odd years).  I have been thinking of buying a 9600 point Elara as the purchase price and maintenance fees are lower than Lagoon Tower.  How difficult is it to book non-home week winter into Lagoon Tower?  Should I consider buying at Lagoon Tower over Elara?  If so, how difficult is it to book into Elara during non-home week winter?


My experience has been that spring break and August are difficult (I'm sure Xmas-New Years is too, but I haven't tried then), but most of the rest of the time is quite doable. If you're booking at the 9-month time, the only ones ahead of you are the home weeks.


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## Sapper (Dec 24, 2017)

csodjd said:


> My experience has been that spring break and August are difficult (I'm sure Xmas-New Years is too, but I haven't tried then), but most of the rest of the time is quite doable. If you're booking at the 9-month time, the only ones ahead of you are the home weeks.



Thanks!


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## GT75 (Dec 24, 2017)

alwysonvac said:


> There is no flexibility. You must reserve the exact unit size and type in the season that you purchased (for example two bedroom oceanfront) for the full week based on the fixed checkin date at your home resort



In addition, a Home Week reservation is non-changeable.   The only way to change it is to cancel and book something else.    But a Home Week reservation also doesn't require any fees to book.

Now, I personally haven't followed pricing at Lagoon Tower in Oahu, so I can not speak to that.    It sounds like you already have priced it and understand the resale market.


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## TRTS (Dec 24, 2017)

GregT said:


> Yes that’s a good price - if you don’t buy it, please send it my way!
> 
> Best,
> 
> Greg



Will do, thanks Greg!


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## TRTS (Dec 24, 2017)

GT75 said:


> In addition, a Home Week reservation is non-changeable.   The only way to change it is to cancel and book something else.    But a Home Week reservation also doesn't require any fees to book.
> 
> Now, I personally haven't followed pricing at Lagoon Tower in Oahu, so I can not speak to that.    It sounds like you already have priced it and understand the resale market.



Thanks for the tips GT75!


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## csodjd (Dec 24, 2017)

GT75 said:


> In addition, a Home Week reservation is non-changeable. The only way to change it is to cancel and book something else. But a Home Week reservation also doesn't require any fees to book.


The key to the "home week," and it's real (only) advantage, is the ability to book exactly what you purchased, in the prime times where it might otherwise be difficult to get a reservation. If you want to be ocean-front in Waikiki for seven nights during spring break, you're probably only going to get that with a Home Week. 

On the other hand, if you want seven nights ocean-front in October, chances are very good you can do that with points from any HGVC ownership. For instance, right now, at Lagoon Tower in Waikiki, you can't get much of anything using points during the summer until Sept. 23. But starting Sept. 24, it's wide open. Right now you could book a 2-bedroom ocean front room for 9 nights for 9100 points starting Monday the 24th.


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## TRTS (Dec 24, 2017)

Thanks so much everyone.  One more question: what has been your experience reserving 1, 2, or 3BD for Christmas or New Year's week during Home Week or Club Club Season?  I know these are fixed weeks, so assume they're pretty much impossible to get, but would love to know if others have had success from time to time.  Thank you!


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## junk (Dec 25, 2017)

TRTS said:


> Thanks so much everyone.  One more question: what has been your experience reserving 1, 2, or 3BD for Christmas or New Year's week during Home Week or Club Club Season?  I know these are fixed weeks, so assume they're pretty much impossible to get, but would love to know if others have had success from time to time.  Thank you!



$18,000 for Lagoon Ocean Front is very good price though I've heard $26,000 didn't go through ROFR in July 2017. There should be always potential buyers at $20,000 or above for 9600 OF.

It is very difficult to book any room in 31, 32 and 33 week of August, New year, Christmas week and 17th week in Oahu properties. You have to check everyday and wait for cancelled room.


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## frank808 (Dec 25, 2017)

csodjd said:


> My experience has been that spring break and August are difficult (I'm sure Xmas-New Years is too, but I haven't tried then), but most of the rest of the time is quite doable. If you're booking at the 9-month time, the only ones ahead of you are the home weeks.


To book 51 and 52 at any hhv property, you have to own those weeks.  Those were deeded event weeks.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


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## alwysonvac (Dec 25, 2017)

TRTS said:


> Thanks so much everyone.  One more question: what has been your experience reserving 1, 2, or 3BD for Christmas or New Year's week during Home Week or Club Club Season?  I know these are fixed weeks, so assume they're pretty much impossible to get, but would love to know if others have had success from time to time.  Thank you!


I won’t count on availability but it’s possible to book for Home week and Club Season. 

See these old threads
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/home-resort-reservations.215496/
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...deal-with-hgvc-honolulu-and-dec-24-25.240129/


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## CalGalTraveler (Dec 25, 2017)

IMHO...$18,000 may get ROFRed because it is less than 33% of retail ($59,100). Rule of thumb would indicate that north of $19,500 would be a better bet.  In addition, we are entering a new year with fresh budgets.  Could possibly pass for $18,000 at the end of a year or during a downturn.  However, if you are patient you can keep trying and see what happens.

The question is how long do you want to wait and possibly miss a desired seasonal reservation window to save $1500 which will be amortized over a long ownership.


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## alwysonvac (Dec 26, 2017)

Just my two cents...

Odds of passing ROFR are on your side since HGVC will be focused on Grand Islander sales.

I won’t set my offer price based on some percentage of retail prices.
If you can find a seller willing to take $18k go for it. Worst case scenario you lose to ROFR and try again.

Note: Ocean view passed ROFR at $11k in 2015 - https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/lagoon-tower-ocean-front.226980/page-3


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## csodjd (Dec 26, 2017)

alwysonvac said:


> Note: Ocean view passed ROFR at $11k in 2015


I paid $13.5 for OV earlier this year. But note that there are a lot more OV 2-bedroom units than OF, which are limited to two per floor I believe. But they are great. Stayed in one a few years ago on 22nd floor. (Got engaged on the balcony. <g>)


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## TRTS (Dec 26, 2017)

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and support.  Good notes on the ROFR, I'll do a little more digging to see how I can make this happen.  Happy Holidays everyone!


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## alwysonvac (Dec 26, 2017)

Forgot to mention the ROFR Database in my previous post - http://www.rofr.net/

Good Luck


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## TRTS (Dec 26, 2017)

alwysonvac said:


> Forgot to mention the ROFR Database in my previous post - http://www.rofr.net/
> 
> Good Luck


Thank you alwaysonvac.  Do you know if HGVC considers MF payments in their ROFR decision?  One option would be for me to ask the seller to pay 2018 MFs, and for me to increase my purchase price by slightly higher than the MFs to compensate them for the the difference.  This gets me above CalGalTraveler's $19,500 recommendation, but is actually a breakeven for me and the seller.

Also, do you know if Lagoon Tower has improved the soundproofing in 2016 or 2017?  Just curious.

Thank you!


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## GT75 (Dec 26, 2017)

TRTS said:


> Do you know if HGVC considers MF payments in their ROFR decision?



I think that it would be hard to tell without some inside information.  I actually was wondering the same thing during my last purchase.   I had the owner pay the MFs and I increased my price to include the available points.    I don't really know if this helped to pass ROFR or not.    I do know that the MFs had to be paid by the owner before the estoppel was issued.    So obviously HGVC did read the purchase contract.


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## GT75 (Dec 26, 2017)

btw, my opinion is to not worry about ROFR, offer what you are willing to pay.   Just my 2¢.


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## TRTS (Dec 26, 2017)

All good advice.  Thanks everyone.


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## thare (Dec 27, 2017)

Random note, I stayed in an ocean front at Lagoon tower over thanksgiving, and it was awesome.  View is spectacular, perfect view of the fireworks, etc.    since I originally booked my home week to guarantee going to Hawaii, then swapped to OV since it was open.  Totally worth it on booking the room, I think at this price I might pass on this if you can get 7K points @ $1 per point elsewhere. 

I bought a dumpster view 2br at Lagoon for $5.6K last year (from Judi), so paying an extra $12K for OV seems pretty rough to me (although the extra points and current pricing would suggest there is less of a gap that $12K).


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## csodjd (Dec 27, 2017)

thare said:


> Random note, I stayed in an ocean front at Lagoon tower over thanksgiving, and it was awesome.  View is spectacular, perfect view of the fireworks, etc.    since I originally booked my home week to guarantee going to Hawaii, then swapped to OV since it was open.  Totally worth it on booking the room, I think at this price I might pass on this if you can get 7K points @ $1 per point elsewhere.
> 
> I bought a dumpster view 2br at Lagoon for $5.6K last year (from Judi), so paying an extra $12K for OV seems pretty rough to me (although the extra points and current pricing would suggest there is less of a gap that $12K).


Thare, you've swapped from ocean Front to ocean View in your message, so it's not clear which you had. And I'm not following on the points. If you bought a 2br non-view, that's a lot fewer points than an ocean view, which is fewer again than ocean front. How'd you "swap?"


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## thare (Dec 28, 2017)

Sorry, I meant swap my booking from my home week in a "garden view" 2br to an "ocean front" 2br.  I borrowed points from 2018 to pay the difference.  My point is that the home week was effective in ensuring I got a room in Hawaii, and when a better one opened up, I was able to switch to the better room (although paid more points).    I think as someone with vacation restrictions, the home week in hawaii is pretty handy.  

Given my experience, I don't know if I'd pay more than double per point for guaranteed OV or OF vs garden view, especially since I don't go to Hawaii every year.   That being said, the OF view was spectacular, and easily the best view I've ever had outside of >$800 hotel rooms.


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## csodjd (Dec 28, 2017)

thare said:


> Given my experience, I don't know if I'd pay more than double per point for guaranteed OV or OF vs garden view, especially since I don't go to Hawaii every year. That being said, the OF view was spectacular, and easily the best view I've ever had outside of >$800 hotel rooms.


That's really the point I think. It's a matter of personal preference, affordability, etc. We go every year, and, while ocean front is great, as long as we have ocean view I'm okay with it. I just can't see the point of going to Hawaii and not having a great ocean view! And, because we go every year, home week is great, and we don't have that flexibility you have to borrow points to upgrade if it becomes available.


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## alwysonvac (Dec 30, 2017)

thare said:


> ..I bought a dumpster view 2br at Lagoon for $5.6K last year (from Judi)...



I think you mistakenly transposed your numbers above.
Here’s what you posted in January 2017 for your two bedroom standard view in Platinum Season @Lagoon Tower.



thare said:


> I got through *$6500 for 7K points 2Br plat at Lagoon tower Oahu in Oct,* so really a shocker they'd grab that vegas one.



_NOTE: I won’t refer to standard view as dumpster view. Standard view (aka GV - Garden View) is just on the lower floors of the Lagoon Tower. As an owner, if you checkin on the designated checkin date, they will most likely try to assign you a higher floor in that category. The two bedrooms GV units at the corners of the buildings are non-lockoff units (but right next to the parking garage) vs the other two bedrooms GV units which are lockoff units.







_


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## csodjd (Dec 30, 2017)

alwysonvac said:


> I think you mistakenly transposed your numbers above.
> Here’s what you posted in January 2017 for your two bedroom standard view in Platinum Season @Lagoon Tower.
> 
> 
> ...



So, looking at that graphic, and comparing with the website, on the website they describe three 2-bedroom options: 2-bedroom, 2-bedroom Plus, and 2-bedroom Premier, and two 3-bedroom Plus options. 

The 2-bedroom can be 2BR or or 2RL. Both are "garden view." 
The 2-bedroom Plus can be 2BP or or 2PL. Both are "ocean view." The PL can be a lock-off. 

The 2-bedroom Premier can be 2BX or 2LX. 
- 2LX is described as "penthouse ocean view," two-story. That's 24th floor. 
- 2BX is described as "ocean front" located on floors 3-23.

The 3-bedroom Plus units are both two-story, ocean view units on the 24th floor. 

Reconciling with the graphic, the "2bed OF" are the 2-bedroom Premier 2BX units, as they are the only ones that say "ocean front." (In my opinion, they are the best units.) 

The 2-Bedroom Plus units are the ones designated as "OV" on the graphic. 

Two of the 3-bedroom units are ocean front, but they don't appear to have any special designation.


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## alwysonvac (Dec 30, 2017)

The sticky thread has all of room mapping’s.


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## thare (Jan 5, 2018)

alwysonvac said:


> I think you mistakenly transposed your numbers above.
> Here’s what you posted in January 2017 for your two bedroom standard view in Platinum Season @Lagoon Tower.
> 
> _NOTE: I won’t refer to standard view as dumpster view. Standard view (aka GV - Garden View) is just on the lower floors of the Lagoon Tower. As an owner, if you checkin on the designated checkin date, they will most likely try to assign you a higher floor in that category. The two bedrooms GV units at the corners of the buildings are non-lockoff units (but right next to the parking garage) vs the other two bedrooms GV units which are lockoff units._



Thanks for the clarification, since I never actually stayed there.  Yeah sorry, was 6500. I think all in with everything was $7K with current year points and all fees.


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## TRTS (Jan 11, 2018)

Hey folks, I wanted to say THANKS AGAIN to the community for your help here.  Unfortunately, my bid of 20,000 plus 2018 maintenance fees failed ROFR.  I have updated ROFR.net.  

Too bad, but I truly appreciate all the support that the community offered.  Best wishes everyone.


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## alwysonvac (Jan 11, 2018)

Remember...If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. 

Thanks for the update


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## GT75 (Jan 11, 2018)

I am very surprised but agree with @alwysonvac.    Keep trying.    I think that the new year with new rofr budgets got you.


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## csodjd (Jan 11, 2018)

TRTS said:


> Hey folks, I wanted to say THANKS AGAIN to the community for your help here.  Unfortunately, my bid of 20,000 plus 2018 maintenance fees failed ROFR.  I have updated ROFR.net.
> 
> Too bad, but I truly appreciate all the support that the community offered.  Best wishes everyone.


Consider stepping back a notch to ocean view instead of ocean front. That's what I did. Yes, OF is wonderful. But the OV are great too, and there are a lot more of them. I purchased 8400 pt Lagoon Tower, which is Ocean View, 2-bed, platinum season, for $15.5k in mid-2017.


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## CalGalTraveler (Jan 11, 2018)

FWIW. . I heard from a reputable broker that when GI first began sales that prices at Lagoon were depressed e.g. 8400 pt OVs were passing ROFR at $10k. Once GI openned, prices and ROFR seem to be going up again.

It seems the same is happening in NYC with the Residences sales and W 57. Last year resales were running  $5k to $9k higher for same unit. Residences open mid 2018.

Wonder if same temporary dip will happen on Big Island when Ocean Tower starts sales.


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## vacationbear (Jan 12, 2018)

alwysonvac said:


> Forgot to mention the ROFR Database in my previous post - http://www.rofr.net/
> 
> Good Luck


Great database!
Would be nice to have a column of points added so that one could determine what kind of bedroom had been bought.
E.g. ,I see a Kings Land 2bd sale at $15k. For a phase 1 unit that would be a good/ great buy, for a phase 2 not so much...


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