# Polo Towers Suites Equal To The Villa's In the Future?



## cherokee_villager (Sep 18, 2007)

Had this question on my mine after viewing the results of several ebay auctions for the Villa's. *After the renovations for the Suites* in Tower 1 and 2, will they (the Suites) be just about equal with the Villa's?

Of course the ebay sellers are "promising" the Suites will look just like the Villa's in their ebay listings, but as Doug has pointed out, that has not been determined as yet.

The Villa's still command higher prices (compared to the Suites), so when the Suites have their *new stuff* installed, shouldn't they command the same (or even more) value as the Villa's?


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## dougp26364 (Sep 18, 2007)

cherokee_villager said:


> Had this question on my mine after viewing the results of several ebay auctions for the Villa's. *After the renovations for the Suites* in Tower 1 and 2, will they (the Suites) be just about equal with the Villa's?
> 
> Of course the ebay sellers are "promising" the Suites will look just like the Villa's in their ebay listings, but as Doug has pointed out, that has not been determined as yet.
> 
> The Villa's still command higher prices (compared to the Suites), so when the Suites have their *new stuff* installed, shouldn't they command the same (or even more) value as the Villa's?




The short answer is no. E-bay sellers have been saying that the renovations will make the suites exactly like the Villa's. It will won't. That HAS been determined and the info sent out to owners has always indated that the Suites won't look like the Villa's. 

The renovated units will be like the Skyview units. There will be some improvements such as moving the LO door between the 1 bedroom and studio unit from next to the dining room (very noisy) to the front of the unit (quiter), the bed in the bedroom will be moved to open up the bedroom a little better, granite counter tops, better entertainment center and TV's. a muphy bed in the studio LO to make it exchangable with I.I. but mostly it's redecorating to softer more neutral tones and losing the dated look.

Here's a link to the skyview suite pics.  http://www.polotowers.com/resort-photos/skyview/01.html If you look at them you'll see they're essentially the same unit with new furniture, softer neutral colors and a few nicer amenities. Will they be worth more after renovation as far as resale is concerned? I wouldn't be buying up a bunch of units thinking I could turn a quick profit. My guess is the resale price won't change a lot but the desirability of the units for exchange will improve over time as people learn that refurbished units are nice places to exchange into.


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## cherokee_villager (Sep 18, 2007)

Thanks Doug. Your opinions have always been _right on the money_.


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## cluemeister (Sep 18, 2007)

I think the major differences between the villas and renovated suites are:

Two opposing sinks in the master bath in the villas vs. just one sink in the suites, and a larger soaking tub in the villas vs. standard tub in the suites.

Overall, in my view, the benefit of the villas is the one year reservation window for any week.  The drawback of the villas is they will be requiring a special assessment in about 4-5 years.


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## dougp26364 (Sep 18, 2007)

cluemeister said:


> I think the major differences between the villas and renovated suites are:
> 
> Two opposing sinks in the master bath in the villas vs. just one sink in the suites, and a larger soaking tub in the villas vs. standard tub in the suites.
> 
> Overall, in my view, the benefit of the villas is the one year reservation window for any week.  The drawback of the villas is they will be requiring a special assessment in about 4-5 years.



I'm not so sure the Villa's will require an SA in the next 4-5 years. The major issue with the suites was the dated appearance they had. While it was modern at the time it became dated and ugly over the years. The Villa's have been built witha more neutral look to them. Maintenance, not complete renovation will be the issue with the Villa's units. I am not happy with the very small amount of money that goes into the reserves compared to the relatively expensive MF's for those units. At $825/yr I feel there should be more than $49 placed in reservers. By comparison my Hilton ownership is less than $700/year but over $100 is placed in reserves for future maintenance costs. Keep in mind that Hilton does not offer daily maid service and Polo Towers does have daily maid service. Still, I could live without the maid service and put more money into the reserve. I am not aware of any other timeshare that offers daily maid service. for it's guests without an extra fee. 

In some ways I think the renovated suites will be nicer than the Villa's. While I enjoy the decor of the Villa's it feels like they've tried to cram to much into to small of a space. The Suites will continue to have a more open feel to them. I have been in a model of the renovated suites as well as spending vacation in the old suites units and the Villa's units. Plus, if you own in tower 1 you're going to have one of the greatest views available of any timeshare on the strip!

It is possible to convert your Suites weeks into Sun Options points and join Club Sunterra. The one fee covers as many units as you own whether you own 1 unit or 100. You will then be issued Sun Options points that can be used to reserve any week at Polo Towers that is available one year in advance. It's one of the benefits of joining Club Sunterra, your week essentially becomes a floating week. You would also have internal exchange preference for internal exchanges within the Club Sunterra system and would be under a corporate account with I.I. that is paid for with your club dues. Club Sunterra members have reported having stonger exchange power through I.I. using their Club Sunterra corporate account rather than their individual I.I. accounts. I have converted my two weeks into Club Sunterra but do not have my membership number yet. Without my membership number I can't access the Webres system in Club Sunterra to compare the exchange power between the one Villa's week I have on deposit with I.I. and what I could pull via the corporate Sunterra account with my Sun Options points. I am very anxious to see if the corporate account has better power than my individual account has. 

Using Club Sun points for my 2 bedroom units (12,000 points for a suites week) I can reserve a premium high season 2 bedroom unit (6,500 points) and a 1 bedroom premium resort high season unit (5,500 points). Before the conversion the studio unit could be exchanged for a 1 bedroom unit and sometimes even a 2 bedroom unit but it was often shoulder season and mostly over developed areas. 

My studio exchanges that were upgrades have been into Branson, MO for Spring or Fall and into the Ridge Crest 1 bedroom unit for July. Ridge Crest is not a 5 star resort and has very few amenities onsite. Branson is heavily developed and there is always availability that's easy to get in the Spring (April/May) and fall (Oct/Nov/Dec). Having the required 5,500 points for a 1 bedroom unit means I'm not trying to pull off an upgrade but am just spending the required points for any 1 bedroom available during any season at any resort that qualifies for exchange with the Sunterra corporate account. Sun Options points will not necessarily pull any and all resorts within I.I.

One other advantage of converting to Club Sun would be the availability of the strip view from tower 1 if your ownership is in tower 2. Since you'll be using Sun Options to make your home resort reservation, you should now be able to reserve any available week be it in tower 1, 2 or 3 so long as you have enough points to make the reservation. If you only on a 2 bedroom suites week you'd need to borrow points from the next year (2,500 points more would be necessary) to reserve a Villa's unit but it can be done. I think it would be of some advantage to tower 2 owners that desire that strip frontage view but can't get it because they are relegated to staying in their tower 2 unit.

Like I said, I'm anxious to get my membership number and see what my money ($2,995) has bought me.


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