# So I just bought direct from HGVC



## MassillonBuckeye (Mar 31, 2012)

and it appears that I made a mistake.  The good news is that I am well within my ten day right to cancel the deal.  Thanks TUG!  Now, I have some questions that have probably been answered a thousand times on here but...

1.  Where do I go now?  I'm still interested in the Hilton program but what are the best ways to find a place.
2.  My salesman told me it doesn't matter what your home resort is because of the point system.  Does it?
3.  Has anyone had any problems canceling their initial direct deal with Hilton?
4. What should I expect to pay for 5800 hundred points?  
5. I'm really confused about what platinum points are vs. gold points.  I don't even know what I purchased.

I think that's enough questions for now.  The only reason we bought this package was because we knew we had ten days to get out of the deal so there was no risk.  I hope that works out and I appreciate any help on the above questions.  I'll keep reading down through the forum for more education.


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## pianodinosaur (Mar 31, 2012)

Where did you purchase your unit and what season?  Have you found your paradise or do you anticipate frequent exchanging?


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## slum808 (Mar 31, 2012)

Welcome to Tug! THE first thing you want to do is to follow the instructions in your packet to cancel the sale. Second thing to do is to read the sticky at the top of this page. It does a good job of explaining the program asics.

A point is a point whether its platinum or gold. If you buy a 2bd platinum you get 7000 pts, 5000 for gold. 

It does matter where you buy. MF are different at each resort, Hawaii is twice the costog Vegas. But there are some properties like Hilton Hawaiian village, that can be hard to book during club season. This is where home resort comes in, you can book your home resort at 12 months out, as long as its the exact type of unit you purchased. 

If you let us know how you want to vacation, we van help you develop a purchase plan.


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## MassillonBuckeye (Mar 31, 2012)

Thanks, we got 5800 points at the Myrtle Beach property and I think its for a two bedroom unit for a week.  That appears to be gold points.  

Our vacation needs are fairly simple.  We like to travel with our young boys a week at a time but also take 4 day trips fairly frequently around school.  We want to expose them to a lot of places but mostly we will travel in the US the next 8 years or so before branching out overseas.  I want to go to Hawaii someday but its never been that big desire for me.  

Thanks for your help.  This forum has opened my eyes.


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## Remy (Mar 31, 2012)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> Thanks, we got 5800 points at the Myrtle Beach property and I think its for a two bedroom unit for a week.  That appears to be gold points.
> 
> Our vacation needs are fairly simple.  We like to travel with our young boys a week at a time but also take 4 day trips fairly frequently around school.  We want to expose them to a lot of places but mostly we will travel in the US the next 8 years or so before branching out overseas.  I want to go to Hawaii someday but its never been that big desire for me.
> 
> Thanks for your help.  This forum has opened my eyes.



http://multimedia.hiltongrandvacations.com/mg/Book_Reader.cfm?BookId=19

Looks like you got a gold season two bedroom plus unit. It must have the view.


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## slum808 (Apr 1, 2012)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> Thanks, we got 5800 points at the Myrtle Beach property and I think its for a two bedroom unit for a week.  That appears to be gold points.
> 
> Our vacation needs are fairly simple.  We like to travel with our young boys a week at a time but also take 4 day trips fairly frequently around school.  We want to expose them to a lot of places but mostly we will travel in the US the next 8 years or so before branching out overseas.  I want to go to Hawaii someday but its never been that big desire for me.
> 
> Thanks for your help.  This forum has opened my eyes.



If traveling to different parts of the US is a priority, HGVC might not be the right system for you. HGVC is heavily concentrated in Vegas, Hawaii, and Florida. They have Valdoro in Colorado (limited peak availability) and the new Myrtle beach property. They may have sold you on a HGVC point to HH Honor point conversion for hotel stays, but most report that the convertion rate is poor and the cost of HH points to reserve a room very high. HGVC does give you access to RCI, which would allow you to exchange into other timeshares, but if this is something you'll do often there are cheaper systems you could buy into. 

Don't get me wrong, HGVC is a great system, I'm not an owner yet  but I've been considering it. You just want to make sure that there are properties in the areas you want to visit.

Questions you want to ask your self;
Where do I want to vacation on a yearly or everyother year basis?
Do I want or need luxury accomodations?
How big a room do I need, studio, 1-bed, 2-bed?
How flexible are my travel dates?
Am I stuck to a school vacation schedule?
How much in mf am I willing to pay a year, for life?

All of these questions will help you to determine which is the right system and how much points or weeks you would need. 

Don't hesitate to ask a lot of questions,
Steve


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## jehb2 (Apr 1, 2012)

Sorry, having issues with posting.


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## pandaurae (Apr 1, 2012)

It sounds like you purchased the same thing we did; we also found TUG in time and rescinded:
http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167071

We are thrilled at the resale deal we got and can't wait to start enjoying many years of vacations. After researching here, we decided HGVC is still the best program for us and our new/growing family. 

We completed closing a little over a week ago and are anxiously awaiting the resort transfer to become active and official!

Definitely take your time and read all the great info here!  Good luck to you!


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## Remy (Apr 1, 2012)

slum808 said:


> They have Valdoro in Colorado (limited peak availability) and the new Myrtle beach property.



Don't forget New York, Carlsbad, Portugal and Miami in addition to dozens of affiliates, favorable RCI exchanges, exchanges through SFX, and DAE and the ability to convert to HH points for use at high-price overseas properties (get the amex to make this worthwhile).


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## timeos2 (Apr 1, 2012)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> Thanks, we got 5800 points at the Myrtle Beach property and I think its for a two bedroom unit for a week.  That appears to be gold points.
> 
> Our vacation needs are fairly simple.  We like to travel with our young boys a week at a time but also take 4 day trips fairly frequently around school.  We want to expose them to a lot of places but mostly we will travel in the US the next 8 years or so before branching out overseas.  I want to go to Hawaii someday but its never been that big desire for me.
> 
> Thanks for your help.  This forum has opened my eyes.



Sounds like you already realize that paying Developer prices is a big mistake so be SURE you rescind while you can and then find a nice resale for a big savings and still get the same or better than what you would have from this overpriced sale. 

As someone mentioned ask all the questions you want - this is a very helpful & friendly group that loves to show off their knowledge of all things timeshare.  We also try to be sure new buyers (or seasoned veterans) don't overpay for their timeshare purchases.  You always pay too much if you buy from retail/Developers. 

Glad to have you here.


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## itradehilton (Apr 1, 2012)

We have found HGVC to fit our needs very well, for the past 3 years only half our stays have been at a HGVC resorts, we take advantage of RCI to book vacations for less points than a HGVC unit would cost.  On TUG I learned about two respected resale people, we used Judy K to buy our recent HGVC purchase. Check out her website and the Marketplace on tug to get an idea of what a 5800 point unit would cost. Look at point charts to see how many points suites your families needs. We found 7000 worked best for us to start because we knew as our kids grew they would no longer want to share a sofa bed and we would need a 2 bdr unit during platinum  season to wok around school.


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## derb (Apr 1, 2012)

Plat weeks give the best value.  On resale, about $1.00 a point is reasonable.

I have a 4800 point plat week and pd 4K,,,,,in hindsight I wish I had bought a 7000 pt week, but still very happy with purchase.


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## pianodinosaur (Apr 1, 2012)

I doubt that HGVC in Myrtle Beach may be purchased resale at this time.  If you plan to visit Myrtle Beach at least once every three or four years, it may be to your advantage to purchase direct at this time.


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## feed the otter (Apr 1, 2012)

pianodinosaur said:


> I doubt that HGVC in Myrtle Beach may be purchased resale at this time.  If you plan to visit Myrtle Beach at least once every three or four years, it may be to your advantage to purchase direct at this time.



I think I'd still wait 'til Myrtle Beach starts showing up on the resale market.  For the cost of having to wait a year or few, we all know how much less it will cost to buy it resale when people start unloading their shares.

I say buy Vegas in the meantime and play the 9-month rush for club reservations like the rest of us.


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## timeos2 (Apr 1, 2012)

feed the otter said:


> I think I'd still wait 'til Myrtle Beach starts showing up on the resale market.  For the cost of having to wait a year or few, we all know how much less it will cost to buy it resale when people start unloading their shares.
> 
> I say buy Vegas in the meantime and play the 9-month rush for club reservations like the rest of us.



Exactly. Unless you are willing to go in knowing that you'll be out 50% or more of what you pay retail the day your rescind rights end - and for some reason feel it is SO important to have week XX (and that isn't likely to be a Gold week, you can get those easily through club or trade) that you feel throwing away thousands is still a "good deal" - then any retail (Developer) purchase is a waste of good money. Every location has resales after a few years and you end uo with the exact same units either way but one (resale) is far less expensive than any retail purchase will be.


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## hugh6m (Apr 3, 2012)

*Buy resale unless this is absolutely what you want and money is no problem*

We have two HGVC weeks that we purchased from the developer. Both are on the Big Island of Hawaii, and we are very pleased with what we have, but we would probably never purchase other than by resale again. We purchased a third week-equivalent (in Hilton New York Club) that we purchased resale at a price that is 1/6th what we paid for our pre-construction purchases in Hawaii. Although we do like the ability to exchange for Hilton Hotel reservations and the extra privileges of Elite status, we feel that the premium for these privileges far exceeded the difference in purchase price. 

However, when you are purchasing a new development (and maybe a unit in a property newly converted to HGVC), you may have a hard time finding savings of more than about 50% (if that) in purchase price for those properties. This is because the resale inventory is pretty limited until there have been lots of original purchasers. There can't be resales until someone has purchased from the original developer. So consider whether this is your ideal property (we did feel that the Hawaii properties we purchased were just what we wanted at the time we purchased them). You can certainly rescind and find other timeshare resales that may give you most of the characteristics you want with a lot lower upfront cost. If you are taking a long view, also consider that you will be paying the annual maintenance fees and property taxes for many years--not just once. It's a bit of a complex calculation; so it's best to take the time to gather your data and compare all of the relevant numbers and factors before making your decision.


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## jehb2 (Apr 3, 2012)

It was 5 years before I saw HHV on the resale market.  Kings Land was on the resale market before they opened.  My guess is there are people who buy and unlike you miss the recind period but still want or need to get out.   I think that if you are diligent you'll find Myrtle Beach on the resale market soon enough.


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## mgeez (Apr 3, 2012)

jehb2 said:


> I think that if you are diligent you'll find Myrtle Beach on the resale market soon enough.



I agree. When We first heard of the Myrtle Beach property, we were very excited since it was the only HGVC within our normal driving distance. After attending 2 presentations, we were very disappointed. But if it were up to my wife, she would have bought even before the 1st presentation. We would have definately been disappointed and probably tried to recover as much as we could have. I believe Myrtle Beach will be on the resale market within the next 12-15 months. Just look at Marriott Crystal Shores. $35,000 units on sale already for $7000.


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## smokyhill (Apr 3, 2012)

itradehilton said:


> We have found HGVC to fit our needs very well, for the past 3 years only half our stays have been at a HGVC resorts, we take advantage of RCI to book vacations for less points than a HGVC unit would cost.  On TUG I learned about two respected resale people, we used Judy K to buy our recent HGVC purchase. Check out her website and the Marketplace on tug to get an idea of what a 5800 point unit would cost. Look at point charts to see how many points suites your families needs. We found 7000 worked best for us to start because we knew as our kids grew they would no longer want to share a sofa bed and we would need a 2 bdr unit during platinum  season to wok around school.



We purchased Hawaii direct from HGVC and rescinded just in time. We also then found Judy K and she found us a Vegas Strip every year 4800 platinum unit. Maintaince fees are reasonable. We will probably never stay there. After that, we purchased another 4800pt. SeaWorld unit ( E-Bay) which also has reasonable maintaince fees. So far, we've stayed at Sunset Cove in Marco Island, HGVC on International Drive in Orlando and Valdora in Breckenridge. We currently have reservations this summer to go back to Valdora and do Kingsland on the big island in September.
What we like about the platinum is on 4800pts we're only paying maintaince on a one bdrm unit vs gold 5000pts you pay maintaince fees on a two bdrm. It works for us, however I'm not so sure buying just 1 4800pt. unit would of worked as well for us. That would still give us 9600pts every two years which can get you up to a 3 bdrm. Good luck, and just keep reading here. There are some really helpful and smart people we have learned from on TUG.


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## MassillonBuckeye (Apr 3, 2012)

I appreciate all of this info. I sent my cancelation in yesterday and will continue to research. Myrtle Beach isn't important to us as our salesman sold us on the points and not the home resort. Of course, knowing what I do now I think platinum works best for us because of the kids schedules. Now I'm not even sure HGVC is the right fit. It seems like Wyndham has a greater number of units in more states than Hilton and that might fit us better as a family who wants to travel to a lot of places.  Does anyone on this board have any thoughts on Why HGVC is better than Wyndham?  I'm assuming most people like HGVC better since they are on this board.


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## Purseval (Apr 3, 2012)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> Does anyone on this board have any thoughts on Why HGVC is better than Wyndham?  I'm assuming most people like HGVC better since they are on this board.



Spend some time at the Wyndham forum and ask them how well they believe they are treated:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=47


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## jdunn1 (Apr 3, 2012)

If you want a Myrtle Beach timeshare, the best timeshare to buy in Myrtle Beach is Marriott's Ocean Watch.  Granted, I have never actually seen the HGVC property, but I am not impressed.  I am sure the rooms will be very nice, but for Myrtle Beach, I want a resort experience and the Hilton property is lacking in that department and that is not something that can be fixed.  The pools look small and very plain.

I've been to Marriott's Ocean Watch and Wyndham's Ocean Boulevard and they are both very nice and even the Wyndham offers more pools than the Hilton.  With that said, the Marriott is just so impressive, nothing else compares to it.  There is a good reason why no one, not even Marriott Ocean Watch owners can trade into that resort.

I've never been to the Wyndham SeaWatch, but that resort looks very impressive.  My take on the Myrtle Beach is that the Marriott is the best.  Hands down, nothing else is even close. Hilton quality rooms and a mega resort experience, just the best money can buy in Myrtle Beach.  The next best resort is likely Wyndham's SeaWatch.  Mega resort experience, great pools but the rooms are not all nice.  Then, probably the Hilton and then the other Wyndham property, Ocean Boulevard.

The Wyndhams Myrtle Beach properties can be had for well under 1k on the resae market.  They Marriott will cost you about 10k for a summer week and it is hard to book a summer week at the Marriott, even if you call the moment phone lines open at 12 months out.  It is common place for Marriott owners to spend one morning while they are on vacation at Ocean Watch booking for next year.

If you want Myrtle Beach every year and you want the best resort, go with the Marriott.  If you want Myrtle Beach every year and you want to save a lot of up front money and you will take a super nice resort over fancy rooms, then go with Wyndham.  If fancy rooms but small and not so impressive pools are okay, then go with Hilton.  Hilton does have the best internal system of all the timeshares, which is something I am very envious about, as a Marriott owner.  I just think that for Myrtle Beach, the Marriott is the best.



MassillonBuckeye said:


> I appreciate all of this info. I sent my cancelation in yesterday and will continue to research. Myrtle Beach isn't important to us as our salesman sold us on the points and not the home resort. Of course, knowing what I do now I think platinum works best for us because of the kids schedules. Now I'm not even sure HGVC is the right fit. It seems like Wyndham has a greater number of units in more states than Hilton and that might fit us better as a family who wants to travel to a lot of places.  Does anyone on this board have any thoughts on Why HGVC is better than Wyndham?  I'm assuming most people like HGVC better since they are on this board.


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## slum808 (Apr 3, 2012)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> I appreciate all of this info. I sent my cancelation in yesterday and will continue to research. Myrtle Beach isn't important to us as our salesman sold us on the points and not the home resort. Of course, knowing what I do now I think platinum works best for us because of the kids schedules. Now I'm not even sure HGVC is the right fit. It seems like Wyndham has a greater number of units in more states than Hilton and that might fit us better as a family who wants to travel to a lot of places.  *Does anyone on this board have any thoughts on Why HGVC is better than Wyndham? * I'm assuming most people like HGVC better since they are on this board.



They are different levels of resorts. HGVC, Westin, Marriott are your more luxury accomodations. If that's not important then there are other mini-systems that can offer more choices of properties. Wyndham has lots on the east cost and WorldMark has lots on the West coast, but none are as nice as HGVC. If you don't need the luxuries, you can save a  lot of money with Wyndham or Worldmark, the buy in and the mf are much cheaper.


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## SmithOp (Apr 3, 2012)

jdunn1 said:


> If you want a Myrtle Beach timeshare, the best timeshare to buy in Myrtle Beach is Marriott's Ocean Watch.  Granted, I have never actually seen the HGVC property, but I am not impressed.
> .



To be fair, that is not an HGVC designed and developed resort, it's a recent acquisition. You can't judge HGVC by MB.


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## timeos2 (Apr 3, 2012)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> I appreciate all of this info. I sent my cancelation in yesterday and will continue to research. Myrtle Beach isn't important to us as our salesman sold us on the points and not the home resort. Of course, knowing what I do now I think platinum works best for us because of the kids schedules. Now I'm not even sure HGVC is the right fit. It seems like Wyndham has a greater number of units in more states than Hilton and that might fit us better as a family who wants to travel to a lot of places.  Does anyone on this board have any thoughts on Why HGVC is better than Wyndham?  I'm assuming most people like HGVC better since they are on this board.



I'll have to say that HGVC ISN'T better than Wyndham.  Some (far from all) Wyndham resorts aren't as nice as some (not all) HGVC resorts BUT Wyndham has FAR more, varied locations and their best (about 10-12 locations) are equal or better than HGVC. Offering many (many) more locations offsets the fact that many of those aren't up to HGVC best - but it's go a bit lower or don't go (Hilton). Not to mention the purcahse cost & maintenance costs are about 1/3 lower (purchase cost can be MUCH lower as in FREE in some cases) - overall the value is in Wyndham.  Hilton is far too limited in locations, has resorts that aren't even as good as Wyndhams (tend to be Associates but they still aren't great) and overall cost much more to buy & maintain. And it's that maintain part that will kill you in the long run. You only buy (hopefully cheap) once. Fees are every year so a 1/3+ more adds up very quickly. As in every third year free in comparison. 

Bottom line. Great to Nice resorts (Wyndham) vs Great to Nice resorts (more greats) Hilton. More locations and thus far more internal (free) trades - edge to Wyndham.  Overall cost - heavily to Wyndham.  So, IMO, Wyndham is "better" in the ways it matters. Plus you can rent Hilton (or Marriott) far cheaper than own them.  Just use them once in awhile, Wyndham most of the time and you've got the best plan of all. 

Enjoy - hope this helps.


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## Remy (Apr 3, 2012)

timeos2 said:


> I'll have to say that HGVC ISN'T better than Wyndham.  Some (far from all) Wyndham resorts aren't as nice as some (not all) HGVC resorts BUT Wyndham has FAR more, varied locations and their best (about 10-12 locations) are equal or better than HGVC. Offering many (many) more locations offsets the fact that many of those aren't up to HGVC best - but it's go a bit lower or don't go (Hilton). Not to mention the purcahse cost & maintenance costs are about 1/3 lower (purchase cost can be MUCH lower as in FREE in some cases) - overall the value is in Wyndham.  Hilton is far too limited in locations, has resorts that aren't even as good as Wyndhams (tend to be Associates but they still aren't great) and overall cost much more to buy & maintain. And it's that maintain part that will kill you in the long run. You only buy (hopefully cheap) once. Fees are every year so a 1/3+ more adds up very quickly. As in every third year free in comparison.
> 
> Bottom line. Great to Nice resorts (Wyndham) vs Great to Nice resorts (more greats) Hilton. More locations and thus far more internal (free) trades - edge to Wyndham.  Overall cost - heavily to Wyndham.  So, IMO, Wyndham is "better" in the ways it matters. Plus you can rent Hilton (or Marriott) far cheaper than own them.  Just use them once in awhile, Wyndham most of the time and you've got the best plan of all.
> 
> Enjoy - hope this helps.



Does Wyndham treat resale buyers the same as retail buyers?


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## chriskre (Apr 4, 2012)

Remy said:


> Does Wyndham treat resale buyers the same as retail buyers?



Yeah pretty much.  They treat everyone like crap.   
Well not really, just the sales staff.  :rofl: 

The resort staff are nice enough at the Wyndhams I have visited but HGVC definitely makes sure to go out of their way to let you know that as an owner you are appreciated.  It's almost over the top sometimes which can at times be annoying.   

I do wish Wyndham would do an Open season type option.  They will discount the points close in but a cash option would be better IMO.   Those who purchase direct and have VIP status get more discounts than the run of the mill resale buyer does.  

As for RCI exchanges, Wyndham only gives resale buyers access to weeks inventory and you have to deposit first to exchange which HGVC does not require.   

I'm sure there are other differences which I'm not clear on.  Maybe housekeeping fees in Wyndham which HGVC does not have.  To me the two clubs are just so different that I wanted to own a little in both.  It's nice having options.


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