# Is there a big drop off in quality from gold crown to silver crown to standard?



## boyblue (Jun 27, 2006)

We've just started booking strictly GC's and they tend to eat up points.  I'm thinking about including Silver crowns in our searches.

On average are silver crowns noticably nicer than standard resorts and are gold crowns noticably nicer than silver crown resorts?


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## Steve (Jun 27, 2006)

You will probably get a variety of answers on this...including comments like: "Gold Crown status doesn't mean anything and is just a tool for the developers to use" or "a lot of standard resorts are better than a lot of Gold Crowns", etc. 

There may be some truth to these statements in regards to certain resorts, but my experience has been that most Gold Crown resorts are significantly nicer than most Silver Crown or standard resorts.  I don't feel there is much difference between Silver Crown and standard.  A lot of old resorts with extremely dated interiors and limited amenities are Silver Crown.  So I don't think the Silver Crown rating means much. But, with certain exceptions, most Gold Crown resorts are much nicer than the rest.

Steve


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## timeos2 (Jun 27, 2006)

Silver Crowns tend to be as good or better than II 5 Stars but often a step down from Gold Crown.  The biggest reason an otherwise great resort gets SC rather than GC is usually a missing feature that, for one reason or another, the resort can't have. A typical example is Cape Cod were many resorts cannot have full kitchens due to local law. 

I have found that a SC or GC will pretty much guarantee you a good unit and usually a fully featured set of on site amenities.  It may or may not be in the top location within a given area.  Often times we find we prefer the overall resort quality even if it means staying slightly away from the main attraction of an area.  

Unfortunately II seems to be willing to hand out their top rating - 5 Star - to any developer that they have a special relationship with rather than the actual quality (or lack thereof) of the resort. Seeing a 5 Star ranking may get you a great stay like a Marriott but it's more likely to get you a so-so resort that makes you wonder how it ever got ranked.  RCI rankings, while not perfect, tend to give a much better chance of a quality stay. Both systems have some resorts that aren't ranked at all and you wonder why as they meet or exceed ranked quality. In those cases the resort may have decided they weren't interested in pursuing a rank.  

A ranking is another clue as to what to expect but certainly doesn't tll the whole story.


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## Avery (Jun 27, 2006)

I think you will find that it is not necessary the quality of the rooms themselves, but also the available amenities that distinguish a Gold Crown. I think your decision should depend on whether you want a "resort destination" or a nice place near other stuff to do. One of our favorite exchanges was to a Silver Crown converted motel near a ski area. I only took it b/c of the area, and we ended up very pleased with the unit and had a great trip.


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## NTHC (Jun 27, 2006)

I think it really depends on whether or not the condo makes or breaks your vacation.


I have stayed in beautiful condos in areas that I would not go back to.  I have also stayed in "okay' condos where I would return again and again.

cindy


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## Carolinian (Jun 28, 2006)

Also, be aware that the standards for award status vary from region to region, and requirements are definitely less in some regions than in others.
I have traded into GC's in the Caribbean, for instance, that lacked some of the amenities common in standard resorts on the OBX, like jacuzzis and washer/dryers.  I never rely on award status but read up on the resort.  And, of course, the biggest amenity is prime location.  I will almost always give up most of the other bells and whistles for that.  A standard resort directly on a Caribbean beach is always preferable to a Gold Crown where I have to drive to the beach and usually to a GC where I have to walk to the beach.


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## geekette (Jun 28, 2006)

Avery said:
			
		

> I think you will find that it is not necessary the quality of the rooms themselves, but also the available amenities that distinguish a Gold Crown.


This is my understanding.  There was some mention that there had to be X number of amenities on the resort grounds but I would also think quality is in there somewhere.

Gold vs Silver may have to do with how many pools and whether there are planned activities for the kids.

As such, the rating means nothing to me.


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## "Roger" (Jun 28, 2006)

I'll give a longer, slightly different answer, but only slightly different.  (I largely agree with all of the comments above.)

First, a bit of history.  When I bought my timeshare, the number of resorts that were classified as Gold Crown was about 5% percent.  That number has risen to above 25% in the United States (perhaps quite a bit more -- the number I cite is probably two years old).  This history, in of itself, tells us something.  

To start with, the Gold Crown label is an example of successful (from RCI's point of view) of branded marketing.  People began to go for Gold Crown simply because of the fact that it carried status (especially in the beginning when there were few GC's).  Now, a good segment of the timesharing population almost demands it.  (How often do we see messages by relative newbies that start out by identifying thier resort as a GC, with the expectation that they should be given a GC in exchange?  If someone owns a GC and has no access to TUG, what will guide them in their choice of resorts beyond this rating?  Also, take a look at all the gnashing of teeth when a resort loses its GC status.  Perception is everything.)

Another spin off of the brief history is which resorts are GC.  Most of the Gold Crowns did not get to be that way by upgrading their current facilities.  They were built that way -- which means that they were built within the last ten years.  In essence, RCI set a standard of expectations that developers had to meet when they built their new resorts.  Failure to do so would be to start out in a hole with regard to marketing.

So how much difference is there?  Here, I mostly defer to the prior posters, but add a few comments of my own which are from fairly limited experience.  I have stayed at two Silver Crown (nee RID) resorts.  Both were clean, decent, but had the feel of a fairly well kept up, but dated house.  Nothing wrong with that -- just not glitzy.  For the most part, the GC's that I have stayed at have had the feel of a modern, newly built hotel with timesharing facilities.  More often than not, that can be very nice, but there are exceptions.  Rather than picking out a single timeshare experience, let me draw an analogy from the hotel world.

Marriotts are supposed to be really nice, and, most of them are.  Still, I have stayed at Marriotts, which by superficial external standards, met all the expectations, but which were actually pretty crummy.  Specifically, I am thinking of one where the level of construction was poor.  Among other things, whoever installed the fiberglass tub failed to properly mud it in.  That meant that there was not the proper support under the tub and standing in it was akin to standing on a springboard.  Not surprisingly, the tub had cracked under the up and down pressure.  This is just one example of the problems within the room.  The hotel would have met all of Marriott's check list of expectations for a "Marriott" hotel, but the resultant room was lousy.  The same thing can happen with RCI's checklist for a GC.

All in all, I think of the quality of GC's as falling on a bell shape curve.  The same for the Silver Crowns.  The bell shape curve for the Silver Crown is to the left of the GC (indicating generally lower quality), but the two curves overlap.  Thus, you can stay at a lousy GC and an exceptional Silver Crown and be better off in the latter.  Still, with nothing else to go on, the odds are that a GC will be nicer than the Silver Crown.

(Message above filled with opinion, speculation, and everything else.  Take as gospil at your own risk.)


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## rickandcindy23 (Jun 28, 2006)

We are the proud owners of 4 weeks at a prime ski destination in Frisco, CO.  There are only six townhouse-styled units, each with its own hot tub on the deck, big enough for eight.  We also have a heated garage, full-sized Maytag washers and dryers and a gas fireplace.  These units are only Silver Crown because there are no activities and pool.  To me, such resorts are underrated.  But that is my opinion and I understand that some people may expect swimming pools and activities on vacation.  

I rarely use a swimming pool, unless it is indoors or fully shaded, like Vacation Village at Parkway's pools.  But I always use our hot tub, on our private deck surrounded by woods.     I love our resort but know exactly why it doesn't get GC.  

There is a rather comical review on our resort on TUG.  An exchanger did not like the private hot tub because it was too private.  He likes the hot tubs at resorts where you get to know people.  Well, each to his own.   

Mega resorts that are GC and keep it because they keep building and building and never quite finish, I think it is ridiculous.  Such resorts should maintain the quality in their older units to keep the GC status.  RCI's automatically assigning GC to these resorts because they have constant prospective members is wrong.  The OP subject was the difference between GC, SC and Hospitality resorts.  I would have to say that our stay at OLCC was not GC, more Hospitality, though hospitable the staff was not.    Our stay at Vistana was more SC, probably not even that.  

I see some major differences between SC and Hospitality, generally.  GC and SC are sometimes a little fuzzy.  When we stayed at Cypress Pointe almost three years ago, we considered it one of the best units we ever had, and it was SC at the time.  It lacked nothing and was clean, close to everything.  It should have always been GC.  John Chase should be proud of the changes they have made to bring it to GC status.     But I never thought it should have lost it.  Comparing that stay to OLCC and Vistana, it is obvious to me that an active sales force DOES AFFECT RCI.

Every Five-Star resort we have visited deserved that status.  We have never been disappointed.


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## Bill4728 (Jun 28, 2006)

timeos2 said:
			
		

> Silver Crowns tend to be as good or better than II 5 Stars but often a step down from Gold Crown.
> A ranking is another clue as to what to expect but certainly doesn't tll the whole story.


It is interesting that you think a 5* is a step down from Gold Crown. My resort in whistler is Gold Crown but isn't 5*.


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## timeos2 (Jun 28, 2006)

Bill4728 said:
			
		

> It is interesting that you think a 5* is a step down from Gold Crown. My resort in whistler is Gold Crown but isn't 5*.



Bill -

That isn't quite what I meant.  A 5* can and sometimes does equal a Gold Crown. But as you can say you have a Gold Crown yet it isn't a 5*? Why not? Can a GC resort lack in any features required for 5* status? No, the features exceed the 5* requirements. It can be that the number of II exchanges don't meet the minimim required to obtain a ranking.  It can be that the developer isn't on good terms with II OR is no longer in active sales. I've never seen a case where the units in a GC haven't been as good or better than any 5* but I have seen more than one 5* resort that wasn't close to GC standards.  The spread between the best to worst 5* is large - the best to worst GC is a very small one from what I have seen. Most Silver Crown resorts could easily meet 5* standards. II needs a second level  ranking IMHO.  The current one has no real meaning.  

Just one very specific example. Westgate Villas. Originally a Gold Crown under RCI. When they switched to II they were given 5*. They maintained both ratings for about 2 years. Then they dropped to RID (Silver Crown now) with RCI. Yet they kept the 5*. In 2002 - 2003 they lost all RCI ranking. 5* remained. 2004 RID - 2005/6 No RCI ranking. Yet 5* remained.  I own there, I've stayed there many times. Believe me there is NO WAY that the units are anywhere near Gold Crown or even Silver Crown as of last year. But Westgate is too important to II and they keep the 5* rank. Westgate the same rank as the Marriotts?  It's a joke.  The rankings from RCI seem to be based more in reality than II's.


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## Carolinian (Jun 28, 2006)

When talking about RCI ratings, one should consider the standards for them, which I provided a few years ago and snelson put up in the advice section.  The RCI awards pamphlet for resorts with ALL of the standards is reprinted there verbatim.

It is very interesting that the last time RCI made changes in the categories they consider for SC and GC award status, they dropped the ''unit quality'' category!  To me this would be a critical one, but it is not even considered.
From my recollection, the categories considered are check-in/check-out, hospitality, resort maintenance, unit maintenance, and unit housekeeping.
None of those categories require a new resort with lots of bells and whistles.
For SC, it is numbers only, in those categories.  For GC, there are a number of additional requirements as to amenitities, and there are generally choices out of fairly extensive lists.

It is a very interesting read for those who are interested in award status.


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## boyblue (Jun 28, 2006)

So I guess it's ok to add silver crown resorts to our searches provided we do a bit of checking?


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## JimJ (Jun 28, 2006)

We have been to 62 GC, 21 SC and 19 standard resorts.  In general we have found the GC to be nicer overall than the SC and the SC to be nicer than the standard.  We tend to be very location oriented though, and as long as the unit is clean and generally confortable we are happy.   Of course, if there happens to be a GC resort in the location we are interested in, we would prefer it to the other categories.  

There are some locations we are not particularly interested in returning to, but there are only 3 resorts (all standard) that we would not return to because of the quality/cleanliness of the units.


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## Carolinian (Jun 28, 2006)

To read the exact requirements from RCI's own pamphlet on award status, go to www.tug2.net/advice/RCI_ratings_guide.htm .  There are five pages in adobe which must be opened individually.


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## wauhob3 (Jun 28, 2006)

Location has a huge impact on the rating. For example the Manhatten Club would probably a standard resort elsewhere. It's very nice but has a partial kitchen, no jacuzzi, no pool, no resort activities. My SC unit at CMV is far superior but it's not in NYC. Also as someone mentioned there could be something that keeps it from ever being a gold crown. In our resort I was told due to some of the units being small the whole resort can never be a gold crown. I find the best way to choose what to search for is by reading the TUG reviews.


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## Carolinian (Jun 29, 2006)

I suspect there may be some developer politics in the MC award status.  If location were used for GC status, Allen House in London would have been GC a long time ago.

If enough exchangers roast them on the RCI rating forms over their inexcusable ripoff ''hospitality fee'' with 1's on their forms especially in the ''Hospitality'' (verrrrry appropriate for this fee) and ''Check-in/check-out'' categories, I suspect they may not have that GC status the next time around.
RCI does these award ratings yearly in the fall.

Look at the RCI criteria in the advice section.  There are a number of alternate options for the various amenities criteria.




			
				wauhob3 said:
			
		

> Location has a huge impact on the rating. For example the Manhatten Club would probably a standard resort elsewhere. It's very nice but has a partial kitchen, no jacuzzi, no pool, no resort activities. My SC unit at CMV is far superior but it's not in NYC. Also as someone mentioned there could be something that keeps it from ever being a gold crown. In our resort I was told due to some of the units being small the whole resort can never be a gold crown. I find the best way to choose what to search for is by reading the TUG reviews.


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