# HCC Likes/dislikes



## capjak (Dec 20, 2007)

What do you like about HCC?


What do you not like about HCC?


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## Tedpilot (Dec 20, 2007)

Jack - From my point of view this is pretty simple.

Likes:  The quality of properties are very nice and the price is superb.  Locations.  Ease of reservations.  Service.  Not paying for extras or prime times/locations.

Dislikes:  I don't have enough days...  :annoyed:


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## Steamboat Bill (Dec 21, 2007)

Likes - Don't have to deal with II or RCI...need I say more.

Dislikes - I wish I joined earlier that I did and saved some money!


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## WhiteSand (Dec 21, 2007)

I like the convenience of travel planning and the service. The properties are really very nice.  For the quality of the properties the price is reasonable. The access is very good.  I personally like the locations they've chosen as we ski alot and also like the beach.

There is nothing I dislike about HCC.  I've been very happy with the whole experience-everything including dealing with Heath while joining, the reservation system, working with the concierge, and the quality of the properties has more than met my expectations.  I know that this probably sounds suspect to people who aren't members---You are probably wondering, "How can that be?  How can you not have one gripe with HCC--not a single thing???"  But its true--I don't have any complaints.


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## pwrshift (Dec 21, 2007)

This already reads like a 'love in' thread .... I'm gonna wait for a few more kissy posts and let 'em have it.


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## travelguy (Dec 21, 2007)

pwrshift said:


> This already reads like a 'love in' thread .... I'm gonna wait for a few more kissy posts and let 'em have it.



Bring it on PwrDog!  

I'll help you out here.  Most everyone knows that I have great things to say about High Country Club so I'll try to exaggerate a few "gripes" (a.k.a. areas for improvement potential) to balance out my hundreds of extremely pro-HCC posts.

_Rosemary Beach _- Waz up wit dat?  This is the ONLY HCC location that I don't get.  I know that Bill and others have made good points why the location is good and other DCs have properties there BUT I still don't get it.  I guess you have to experience it first hand.

_Vegas and South Beach _- Everyone has different opinions on properties they should add but, IMHO, these are the only two MUST HAVES that they don't have.  I understand why HCC doesn't have them due to market conditions and I would do exactly the same thing if I ran HCC.

_Beach Front _- I believe that everything that HCC buys should be as close to breaking waves as possible.  I understand this will mean smaller units with the HCC budget but I don't care.  I'm a hardcore beach bum and closer is better.  Remember, if you can't taste the salt, you're not at the surf.  (_The preceding has been a public service announcement for PwrShift_)

_Advanced Reservations _- I want all my reservations to be two year advanced reservations.  I don't care if I take all the availability from other members.  I believe in survival of the travel fittest.  

_What's with all the Niceness?_ - My experience with everyone at HCC, both in-person and on the phone, has been that they are extremely nice, friendly and responsive.  Then, after I get a warm and fuzzy feel from my HCC experience, I call HGVC or Marriott and get crushed by the typical travel industry indifference and incompetence.  Is HCC intentionally setting me up to be emotionally vulnerable?  Do they get a kick out of raising my customer service expectations so I'll get decimated by the reality that other travel professionals are cold, heartless and uncaring?  Oh the inhumanity!!  Why do they subject us the the Niceness when the world is so cruel??  Why???   

Sorry, I've collected myself and I see that my sarcastic rant has gotten out of control so I'll stop now.

PwrHat ... it's all yours.


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## Bourne (Dec 21, 2007)

Likes

1. Quality of properties at rock bottom price. ( Based on my buy in price )

2. Superb customer service. Their travel related services are well documented on this forum and I will not add to those. 
Here is an example. We are expecting our second baby soon and it all started with a reservation cancellation for early next year. Knowing the situation, HCC *offered *to tweak few things for my upcoming usage year. IMHO, they went out of their way to do so and I am grateful for that. 

3. Location of properties. Would like some locations to be added but understand that RE and global currency exchange rate play a major factor. Again, with physical location of existing properties, it is a factor of price I am willing to pay. If I want DC quality accomodation on the beachfront in prime locales, I have to buy into ER. 

Improvements...

1. Quality of Furnishing. - You can make a million dollar property look like a 2 mil one by using higher quality furnishing and upgrades. I would increase the budget of furnishings by 2.5 times for this change. Perception is everything. 

2. Lesser rules related to booking. A lot were taken care of during the change in December but I would like to see a "start on any day of the week for any number of days" reservation structure limited to 7 days. Same as HGVC. 

3. Allow private members to book 14 nights at any location using Long Term booking. That said, you can now book a 14 day block ( 28 days in Tuscany ) if you have two long term reservations available. 

4. A ball park pricing structure of some amenities unique to each location. I would like to see a ball park cost of Pre-stocking of groceries, Private Guide, Private chef, daily maid service and babysitting services documented in the member's section of the website. 

BTW, 
I owned a FS Aviara and 1400 HGVC points. Call it kool-aid but I am never go back to timesharing again.


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## Bourne (Dec 21, 2007)

travelguy said:


> _What's with all the Niceness?_ - My experience with everyone at HCC, both in-person and on the phone, has been that they are extremely nice, friendly and responsive.  Then, after I get a warm and fuzzy feel from my HCC experience, I call HGVC or Marriott and get crushed by the typical travel industry indifference and incompetence.  Is HCC intentionally setting me up to be emotionally vulnerable?  Do they get a kick out of raising my customer service expectations so I'll get decimated by the reality that other travel professionals are cold, heartless and uncaring?  Oh the inhumanity!!  Why do they subject us the the Niceness when the world is so cruel??  Why???



  Having been thorugh it too, this one hit home.


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## travelguy (Dec 22, 2007)

Bourne said:


> Likes
> 
> 1. Quality of properties at rock bottom price. ( Based on my buy in price ).



Maybe not "rock bottom" anymore, but still a great price (based upon the official TravelGuy Cost-Per-Night calcs)!



> 2. Superb customer service. Their travel related services are well documented on this forum and I will not add to those.
> Here is an example. *We are expecting our second baby soon *and it all started with a reservation cancellation for early next year. Knowing the situation, HCC *offered *to tweak few things for my upcoming usage year. IMHO, they went out of their way to do so and I am grateful for that.



Congratulations!!!



> 3. Location of properties. Would like some locations to be added but understand that RE and global currency exchange rate play a major factor. Again, with physical location of existing properties, *it is a factor of price *I am willing to pay. If I want DC quality accomodation on the beachfront in prime locales, I have to buy into ER.



Exactly correct.  It's nice that HCC has a good selection of properties that offer beach-front and ski-in/ski-out if you want or larger properties in slightly removed locations.  All these fit the HCC budget and are still awesome properties.



> Improvements...
> 
> 1. Quality of Furnishing. - You can make a million dollar property look like a 2 mil one by using higher quality furnishing and upgrades. I would increase the budget of furnishings by 2.5 times for this change. Perception is everything.



I don't know if I'd want to pay more just for better furnishings as I'm good with most of what I've seen so far.  As you stated above, I might be more inclined to pay more for location before I'd pay more for furnishings.  They are still way better than the high end timeshare's furnishings.



> 2. Lesser rules related to booking. A lot were taken care of during the change in December but I would like to see a "start on any day of the week for any number of days" reservation structure limited to 7 days. Same as HGVC.



Here's a topic for another post - Would you like to see High Country Club eventually convert to a points based program like HGVC?  I believe it would be semi-easy to convert and would allow much more flexibility for members and improve availability.



> 3. Allow private members to book 14 nights at any location using Long Term booking. That said, you can now book a 14 day block ( 28 days in Tuscany ) if you have two long term reservations available.



I thought you could book 14 consecutive days now and only use one long-term reservation, not two.  Is this incorrect?  If not, it should be!



> 4. A ball park pricing structure of some amenities unique to each location. I would like to see a ball park cost of Pre-stocking of groceries, Private Guide, Private chef, daily maid service and babysitting services documented in the member's section of the website.



Agreed.



> BTW,
> I owned a FS Aviara and 1400 HGVC points. Call it kool-aid but I am never go back to timesharing again.



I couldn't agree more.  Still waiting for the High Country Club timeshare trade-in offer....


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## vivalour (Dec 22, 2007)

travelguy said:


> Here's a topic for another post - Would you like to see High Country Club eventually convert to a points based program like HGVC?  I believe it would be semi-easy to convert and would allow much more flexibility for members and improve availability.



Maybe start a thread to sound out DCers on this. I'll bet many like DCs just because the concept is so simple. The thought of all that TS point juggling, etc. gives me a headache.


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## Tedpilot (Dec 22, 2007)

Aaahhhhh....no points!!!  That would be a slippery slope too quick.  1 night = 1 point period if you must think in points otherwise they'd start having holidays count as more and I'd hate to see that!!

Ted


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## travelguy (Dec 23, 2007)

Tedpilot said:


> Aaahhhhh....no points!!!  That would be a slippery slope too quick.  1 night = 1 point period if you must think in points otherwise they'd start having holidays count as more and I'd hate to see that!!
> 
> Ted




Ted,

The glass is half full!  

Points would also allow High Country Club to assign a lower value to off-season weeks such as summer in the mountains or "shoulder season" at the beach.


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## pwrshift (Dec 23, 2007)

Points would be a disaster for HCC, I think.  If Marriott did that, I'd sell all my timeshares.

DC's should be first-come, first-served for booking IMO.  Specific rules apply only to tiers of membership...those with the bread get the butter.  

But ... now the thread is getting off track.


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## Steamboat Bill (Dec 23, 2007)

I really liked the previous "week" based reservation system HCC had, not that it is 3/4/7/14 nights...it is a little more difficult to choose.

In other words, flexibility is great, but there are some downsides like the unpopular mid-week availabilities. I hope HCC members don't start booking  multiple short vacations and clog up the system.


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## travelguy (Dec 24, 2007)

To tie-in the posts about the High Country Club reservation system to the OP, I'd say that one thing I really like about HCC is that they are flexible to change when a majority of their members want change AND it fit's their business model.

Now if I can just get enough HCC members to lobby for a points reservation system and a time-share trade-in program ....


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