# II search for St. Martin & St Lucia



## hotcoffee (Jul 19, 2012)

I have never tried to exchange into St. Martin or St. Lucia via II.  I used some 2013 Marriott DC points (based upon the TDI for July) to make a Request-first search for a 2BR at all six of the premier and select resorts on St. Martin and two of them on St. Lucia for all of July and a little of June and August.  July is generally a tough trade month.  I am curious as to how difficult that trade will be.  I entered it in the first week of June and plan to just let it crank away until maybe early January of 2013 if necessary before giving up and banking my points.  If it is super difficult to get a July reservation, I might be willing to bank the points much earlier and try to rent a villa because I really want to go to St. Martin before I am too old to enjoy it.

Anyone willing to give me their opinion?


----------



## ilene13 (Jul 19, 2012)

hotcoffee said:


> I have never tried to exchange into St. Martin or St. Lucia via II.  I used some 2013 Marriott DC points (based upon the TDI for July) to make a Request-first search for a 2BR at all six of the premier and select resorts on St. Martin and two of them on St. Lucia for all of July and a little of June and August.  July is generally a tough trade month.  I am curious as to how difficult that trade will be.  I entered it in the first week of June and plan to just let it crank away until maybe early January of 2013 if necessary before giving up and banking my points.  If it is super difficult to get a July reservation, I might be willing to bank the points much earlier and try to rent a villa because I really want to go to St. Martin before I am too old to enjoy it.
> 
> Anyone willing to give me their opinion?



I would think you should get it.  To me July is off season in the Caribbean and not as difficult as winter would be.


----------



## Larry (Jul 20, 2012)

ilene13 said:


> I would think you should get it.  To me July is off season in the Caribbean and not as difficult as winter would be.



Totally agree there should be availability for July in St. Martin. What resorts are you trying to get? 

St. Lucia has far fewer resorts and I would not take one of the AI resorts in St. Lucia as you can get the same deal or better without even giving up your timeshare week by booking a package deal.


----------



## hotcoffee (Jul 20, 2012)

Larry said:


> Totally agree there should be availability for July in St. Martin. What resorts are you trying to get?
> 
> St. Lucia has far fewer resorts and I would not take one of the AI resorts in St. Lucia as you can get the same deal or better without even giving up your timeshare week by booking a package deal.



My list for St. Martin includes:

The Royal Islander Club La Plage
Blue Pelican Club
Oyster Bay Beach Resort
Dawn Beach Club
Royal Palm Beach Club
The Villas at Simpson Bay Resort & Marina

For St. Lucia:

Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort
Bay Gardens Beach Resort

A couple of the St. Martin ones (Dawn Beach Club and The Villas at Simpson Bay) probably have a low probability of hitting.

My preference is St. Martin over St. Lucia, but St. Lucia is acceptable.  I do not want to use a package vacation for the Caribbean because I usually allow my daughters to invite friends along, and a package vacation is probably not going to make that possible.  I would probably do a package vacation if I wanted to do a super expensive vacation like Bora Bora or Tahiti.

Since I have only exchanged Marriott-for-Marriott in the past, I do not know what to expect when requesting a non-Marriott.  Marriott has their 20 day (or so) preference in II, and Starwood supposedly controls deposits (as well as having a preference).  If all of the other timeshare companies do those things also, then exchanges outside of one's timeshare company are probably largely impossible during moderate and high demand seasons via II.  If I were exchanging via RCI, I would have more confidence in getting a hit, but I have come to the opinion that II only exists for the big timeshare companies, and it is largely useless for doing exchanges outside of one's own timeshare company this far in advance.


----------



## Weimaraner (Jul 20, 2012)

I don't think you'll have a problem since it's low season in Caribbean. I had an AC and was able to snap up a 2 bed Oyster Bay for Memorial day week and remember seeing 4of July week pop up in an early morning search (6 a.m. Eastern time). It was about 6 months in advance. BTW loved Oyster Bay and would return there.


----------



## hotcoffee (Jul 20, 2012)

Weimaraner said:


> I don't think you'll have a problem since it's low season in Caribbean. I had an AC and was able to snap up a 2 bed Oyster Bay for Memorial day week and remember seeing 4of July week pop up in an early morning search (6 a.m. Eastern time). It was about 6 months in advance. BTW loved Oyster Bay and would return there.



I hope you are correct.  The search has been grinding away for over a month without a hit so far.  But, realistically, it cannot not be considered a long search until about mid-August because my reservation window was the last week of June through the first week of August.  With eight resorts in the search and Marriott points offered in exchange, I would hope my probability of hitting is fairly high (assuming a level playing field).

I have heard a lot of good things about Oyster Bay.  Everyone who has stayed there seems to love it.  Dawn Beach Club also gets good press, but that is three bedrooms, and I only used the TDI for a two bedroom.


----------



## tashamen (Jul 23, 2012)

I don't think you'll have any problem getting SXM, but St Lucia is another matter - not too many deposits there.  Of the resorts on your list, we've only stayed at Royal Islander Club la Plage and loved it.  Personally I wouldn't stay at OBBR or Dawn Beach Club because they're too isolated for us, but that's a personal preference.


----------



## hotcoffee (Jul 23, 2012)

tashamen said:


> I don't think you'll have any problem getting SXM, but St Lucia is another matter - not too many deposits there.  Of the resorts on your list, we've only stayed at Royal Islander Club la Plage and loved it.  Personally I wouldn't stay at OBBR or Dawn Beach Club because they're too isolated for us, but that's a personal preference.



Thank you and others for your comments.  Does anyone have any experience with about when people at those resorts tend to deposit?  When trading Marriott-to-Marriott, I rarely had to wait very long before getting a hit.  The Marriott preference obviously kicked in and, along with my Hawaiian week, made trading pretty quick and easy.  Now, going outside of Marriott and using points rather than a Hawaiian week, I suspect I am competing on a more level playing field.

Your comments on OBBR are interesting.  I have heard that before.  But, some people really love the place.  Having never been to St. Martin, I am striking out into the darkness somewhat.  I have no idea what any of these resorts are like, and I don't know whether I will like them or their locations.  So, I am paying attention to what others are saying.  I do not think I would get the Dawn Beach resort because they are 3BR units according to the II description, and I only used enough points for a 2BR.  I guess if they called and offered me one, I could borrow a few 2014 points and grab it if that option were to exist.

The biggest reason I started this thread was to help me decide how long to wait for a hit.  I am giving some serious consideration to just banking my 2013 points and renting one of those villas that some of the web sites describe.  If I decided to go that route, I might cancel my search much earlier than I would otherwise and try to snag a nice villa.  The villas are a higher cost option, but they seem to all have great views.


----------



## tashamen (Jul 23, 2012)

hotcoffee said:


> Your comments on OBBR are interesting.  I have heard that before.  But, some people really love the place.  Having never been to St. Martin, I am striking out into the darkness somewhat.  I have no idea what any of these resorts are like, and I don't know whether I will like them or their locations.
> 
> The biggest reason I started this thread was to help me decide how long to wait for a hit.



Have you read the reviews here on TUG - there are quite a few of SXM resorts.  There are also several other websites that have pretty good maps of where the resorts are located - just do a Google search for SXM maps.  or check out a guidebook for the island - you may easily be able to narrow down the type of spot you'd like.  There is no one perfect location for everyone.

When we got our exchange to Royal Islander Club la Plage it took exactly one day to be filled - we went in late July.  I don't remember how far in advance I put in the request but it was probably 3-4 months out (our typical planning window).  You may need to wait longer right now because many people don't have to pay their MFs until late this year or early next year and that may be when they typically deposit.  I still think you will easily get this trade.


----------



## Bucky (Jul 24, 2012)

Maintenance fees at RI La Plage are not due until October so that's when you'll see trades showing up in larger numbers. 

The only possible negative about La Plage could be the proximity of the airport! On the other hand we loved it just for that reason. Laying on the beach or around the pool and watching the take offs/landings was great. The best thing about the resort is it's location by far. Just walk out the front door and you're in the middle of everything! Grocery store, casino, restaurants, shopping, etc. This is by far our favorite resort in St Maarten.


----------



## hotcoffee (Jul 24, 2012)

Bucky said:


> Maintenance fees at RI La Plage are not due until October so that's when you'll see trades showing up in larger numbers.
> 
> The only possible negative about La Plage could be the proximity of the airport! On the other hand we loved it just for that reason. Laying on the beach or around the pool and watching the take offs/landings was great. The best thing about the resort is it's location by far. Just walk out the front door and you're in the middle of everything! Grocery store, casino, restaurants, shopping, etc. This is by far our favorite resort in St Maarten.



You are the second person to suggest that deposits might not show up until October.  I'll probably shelve the villa idea because I would probably want to try to grab one prior to October.  I'll just hold out for an exchange.

Well, that's two votes for La Plage.  The location sounds good.  I actually would not mind being near the airport.  I figure we will want to go to Maho Beach and experience the jets nearly landing on our heads.  I doubt if I will attempt to go up to the fence to endure the jet blast though (if they will still allow that by the time we get there).


----------

