# Grand Velas Residence Club



## mjs (Feb 6, 2007)

Maybe somebody can help me with a few questions about this resort. I think some of you have visited, and several are owners.
It is an all-inclusive resort, and says you can stay up to 12 wks per year.  Maintainence fee is stated at 2,000, and I assume you pay your all inclusive fee each time you visit--is this correct?
You can also trade through the Registry(website)---what fees do you pay to be able to trade into these properties?--Do you pay the all inclusive fees at Grand Velas, then trade that week?
I assume it is RTU?
Any info would be helpful
Mark


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## taffy19 (Feb 9, 2007)

We are staying here right now and we went to an update to hear what is new. Yes, you can accellerate your contract which we are planning to do and the A-I fees are due when you check in but the maintenance fees are due when you make your reservations.

I sent you a private email with my phone number as I can FAX you some more information.

We had a wonderful stay this week but will be home tomorrow night. All I can say is that we love to stay here and we met four other couples who were here last year so they must like it too.

It has been cooler than normal the first week (at the Buganvilias in PV) but quite warm now during the day in the sun. Our reservations are made for a nice dinner tonight so we love the mandatory A-I fee that most people do not like here. Everone of us is so different. 

The new RCI mandatory A-I fees will even be more expensive than they are today so we feel that we are having a steal by owning here. We ate at a few restaurants last week and could not believe the prices. They are more expensive than good restaurants at home in Southern CA. New York or SF may have the same prices as here.

Yes, it is an RTU.  I hope this information helps you. You have my number and email address.


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## philemer (Feb 9, 2007)

iconnections said:


> We are staying here right now and we went to an update to hear what is new. Yes, you can accellerate your contract which we are planning to do and the A-I fees are due when you check in but the maintenance fees are due when you make your reservations.
> 
> I sent you a private email with my phone number as I can FAX you some more information.
> 
> ...




Hi Emmy,
What are the AI fees, per adult/day in Jan/Feb, for owners?

Gracias,
Phil


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## pcgirl54 (Feb 10, 2007)

I read the AI fees are $150 pp per day plus the MF. Is this a fact?


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## taffy19 (Feb 13, 2007)

philemer said:


> Hi Emmy,
> What are the AI fees, per adult/day in Jan/Feb, for owners?
> 
> Gracias,
> Phil


Phil, as far as I know, it is $105.60 pppd for Jan/Feb for the current contracts in the smaller units (sleep 4).  The larger units have mandatory A-I fees for at least 4 people or more.  Not everyone is paying the same A-I fees as it depends on the contract number.  The earlier contracts pay about $20 less pppd.  We have only gone late January or early February so I am not familiar with any other time periods.  I will send you a pm with some more information.


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## taffy19 (Feb 13, 2007)

pcgirl54 said:


> I read the AI fees are $150 pp per day plus the MF. Is this a fact?


I don't believe that the fees for owners have ever been that high except for the Christmas week.

The RCI mandatory A-I fees are listed here but will be higher yet, we were told last week at an update. No way, would anyone want to pay $240 pppd for meals and drinks and six free 25 minute massages. This was news to me. You would have to drink an awful lot to justify these charges. I never asked for what month this fee was but I assume it was for Jan and February. Fees are always higher during Easter week too.

I also heard that the Costco or other deals will be discontinued. The resort does a lot of conventions so is often completely full. It was full last week when we were there but it never felt crowded.

What was strange was that the Buganvilias was very quiet and so was Paradise Village as we were at both resorts and it was very noticeable and the staff commented about it too.


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## travelguy (Feb 13, 2007)

*Residence Club or Timeshare?*

Is the Grand Velas a Residence Club or a timeshare?  I can't determine what they are selling from my quick look at their website.


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## taffy19 (Feb 15, 2007)

http://www.grandvelasresidenceclub.com/index.html


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## Steamboat Bill (Feb 15, 2007)

I found this statement on their web site interesting....any comments?

--------------------

We have several C.P.A.s and Tax attorneys who are Grand Velas owners. One thing they all agree on is Fractional Interest/ Private Home Club is "the way to go." 

With Grand Velas you have access up to 12 weeks in any given year. You have the right as a U.S. citizen to fly down and inspect your property twice a year and claim deductions on Air fare, lodging, which would equate to your Maintenance fee and food and beverages (which would fall under your all inclusive fee.)

Uncle Sam also allows you to rent out up to 15 days a year and it is non declared (tax free) income. As always, you should check with your own C.P.A. or tax accountant but we think you'll also discover, this is the way to go!


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## taffy19 (Feb 15, 2007)

*Not true!*

Interesting that you mentioned this because we challenged them on this same statement even last week. We had read it too. We know that isn't true because our tax attorney told us so when we asked him about another situation just like this.

However, if you sell a timeshare with a profit, you need to pay taxes.  We found this out when the Marriott took back our MDSV-I for a trade-in for a *fixed* unit in Maui. Hooray! Better pay taxes and make a gain than a loss. We feel we have done very well with our Marriott timeshare with the enjoyment of use over the years. We love the area. We would still own it if it wasn't so darn difficult to make the reservations in February or March when we like to go.

I just finished reading smoothair's thread here and I agree with your post #76.




Steamboat Bill said:


> I am reading this thread with great interest.





Steamboat Bill said:


> However, as a "one week" Marriott owner....this method kinda sucks!


 
I am so happy not to have to worry about making reservations anymore. It is a bad system because there are too many loopholes. Also, booking thirteen months out was supposed to be for *personal use* only and not for exchanging or renting out. This is how I understood it but correct me if I am wrong. 

I found the system unfair to the one week owners and certainly to us because we had 100% of the inventory available to us when we bought as we bought before these changes came about.  Fixed weeks don't have these problems unless we want to make an exchange which I doubt.  I would rather rent it out and rent somewhere else with a guaranteed view.


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## Steamboat Bill (Feb 16, 2007)

iconnections said:


> I am so happy not to have to worry about making reservations anymore. It is a bad system because there are too many loopholes. Also, booking thirteen months out was supposed to be for *personal use* only and not for exchanging or renting out. This is how I understood it but correct me if I am wrong.
> 
> I found the system unfair to the one week owners and certainly to us because we had 100% of the inventory available to us when we bought as we bought before these changes came about.  Fixed weeks don't have these problems unless we want to make an exchange which I doubt.  I would rather rent it out and rent somewhere else with a guaranteed view.



We are in agreement that Marriott, Worldmark, DVC, II, etc has several ways to trick the system. In fact, this is one of reasons TUG has been successful as it provides a forum for learning the tricks. It is not a perfect system...as there are winners and loosers.

However, playing the game also comes with a price....time, energy, risk of not getting what you want, getting a less desirable location or week, etc.

One of the advantages of Destination Clubs, Fractional ownership, and Personal Residence Clubs it that it appears to be a more fair and balanced system. This is of course my OPINION.

What people seem to forget with traditional timeshares is the fact that if someone trades a studio week in nebraska for a 3 bedroom ocean front Maui, means that someone in Maui probably traded down or did not even use the week. Thus, there are winners and loosers.


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