# diamond resort



## coffeeman (Sep 1, 2009)

how are these resorts are they up to par with marriott or a step below how many points do u need for a ski vacation for pres.week in feb. or somewhere warm for chrismas/new years


----------



## Rent_Share (Sep 1, 2009)

IMHO some of the highest maintenance fees out there -

There a Lake Tahoe Based Membership on eBay for $99

15,000 Points Annual Maintenace Fee $1,686.00

Here is the resort directory for points requirements

https://www.diamondresorts.com/pdf/ReservationsDirectory.pdf

Keep in mind a resale purchase will only have access to the 19 resorts in the USA Trust, and Maui is not one of them. (And I thought only Continental Airlines considered Hawaii an international destination)

*DIAMON RESORTS INTERNATIONAL - US COLLECTION (19) RESORTS*​BENT CREEK GOLF RESORTGATLINBURG, TN
CYPRESS POINT GRAND VILLAS PHASE IIORLANDO, FL 
DESERT PARADISE RESORTLAS VEGAS, NV
FLAMINGO BEACH RESORT & VILLASST. MAARTEN
GRAND BEACH VACATION RESORT PHASE 1ORLANDO, FL 
GREENSPRINGS PLANTATION RESORTWILLIAMSBURG, VA
ISLAND LINKS RESORTHILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC
LAKE TAHOE VACATION RESORTLAKE TAHOE, CA 
LONDON BRIDGE RESORTLAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ
MARQUIS VILLAS RESORTPALM SPRINGS, CA 
POWHATAN PLANTATION RESORTWILLIAMSBURG, VA
RIDGE ON SEDONA SEDONA, AZ
ROYAL PALM BEACH RESORTST. MAARTEN
SAN LUIS BAY INN AViLA BEACH, CA
SCOTTSDALE LINKS RESORTSCOTTSDALE, AZ
SCOTTSDALE VILLA MIRAGE SCOTTSDALE, AZ
SEDONA SUMMIT RESORTSEDONA, AZ
THE PLANTATION AT FALL CREEKBRANSON, MO
VILLAS DE SANTA FESANTA FE, NM

As to the Lake Tahoe Property which is the only Ski Destination available resale


*Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort *
​​​​​​901 Ski Run Boulevard | South Lake Tahoe, California 96150 | 530.541.6122​

*Accommodation Max/Private Occupancy *
*Peak Season*
​​​*Studio 2/2 4,000*
*1 Bedroom 10,000*
*2 Bedroom 14,000*
2009 Weeks ​
​
​​​​​​15-16, 27, 48, 51-52​

2010 Weeks 
​
​​​​​​14-15, 27, 48, 51-53​

Extensive discussion over here​ 


http://www.timeshareforums.com/forums/diamond-resorts-international-fka-signature-sunterra-epic/​ 

Marriott or Hyatt would be my choice

You can pick these up for nothing resale - And get a gift the keeps on gviving, but to get access to the entire catalogue you will have to buy developer points


----------



## Bill4728 (Sep 1, 2009)

As anyone who has ever posted here on TUG, you must know that almost all advice here will be to buy resell and SAVE  big bucks. This is also true with Diamond (DRI). BUT with DRI if you buy resell, you are not allowed in the "CLUB" and therefore can not do internal trades to other DRI resorts. 

BUT you can buy resell into the US collection (AKA Florida trust) and do point trades into the 19 resorts in the US collection. 

For these reasons, IMHO stay away from DRI. Unless you want to buy into the US collection and do internal point trades within the US collection. Also, Stay away from the California collection. It has two CA resorts (both in the US collection) and that's it. 

Be sure to read the  FAQ of DRI thread


----------



## pgnewarkboy (Sep 1, 2009)

I am a DRI Club member for many years.  I like DRI very much and have had great success with it.  DRI offers great flexibility in their points system.  You can get resorts at DRI or II, buy vacation packages, airmiles, and cruises.  DRI is not a hotel based chain and therefore does not offer the same kind of experience.  I find their resorts to be of high quality and provide good value for your money.  I suggest that you go to their website and check out their offerings.  If you already own Marriott you can deposit your Marriott unit with them for points once you join the Club.  A good friend of mine owns Marriott and DRI and uses them both to great advantage.

As with anything else, one size does not fit all.  Your decision should be based on your travel preferences.


----------



## csalter2 (Sep 2, 2009)

*I like DRI Too*

I own DRI and Marriott. They are not the same. DRI's resorts are not of the same quality as Marriott's. DRI's resorts vary in quality. You may have a really nice property like The Point at Poipu in Hawaii and the Lake Tahoe property or you can end up in a property like the Marquis Villas or the London Bridge resorts (stay away from those). 

The maintenance fees are as high if not higher than Marriott's. I own in Hawaii at Marriott's Ko Olina and it's only $1500, but as you read above DRI's Lake Tahoe is about $1600. I have been stayed at both properties. They don't compare. Ko Olina is in a class by itself. 

However, DRI with its Club Select program and its properties all over the world with no exchange fees is great. They usually have really nice size accommodations. I was at the Grand Beach in Florida this summer and it was a great resort because the accommodations were large and the resort was clean and intimate. It did not have restaurants and fancy pools like Marriott, but it was stocked and well maintained. I like that. you can use your DRI points to exchange into Interval International's resorts like Marriott. I do that fequently. 

DRI has lots of flexibility. I also like being able to stay longer than 7 days if I need to do so. I like DRI for different reasons than I do Marriott. DRI is a great buy too. However, make sure you know what you are getting and what you want to use it for. If you don't then you will be upset with your purchase if you cannot use it and it goes to waste every year.


----------



## dougp26364 (Sep 2, 2009)

DRI's MF's are on par with Marriott resorts. DRI's quality is not on par with Marriott resorts at this point. DRI is making improvements to their resorts but I doubt they will ever achieve Marriott standards throughout their resort collection. They have to many affiliated resorts that they don't control to reach Marriott standards across the board. 

Right now I'm worried about the direction DRI MF's are going. The last couple of years, many of the old Sunterra resorts have seen large MF increases. In many cases this was actually needed to bring the resorts up to standards for a quality resort. Unfortunately, it takes time and money to renovate a lot of resorts. Sunterra's MF's were among the industries lowest as far as I can tell. DRI has always been among the industries highest but, DRI quality was, IMHO, a few steps above Sunterra's. As DRI attempts to bring the quality of the old Sunterra resorts up to what they consider a decent level, I look for MF's to continue to climb.

My big beef with DRI is the add on fee's. If you buy resale, it's $2,995 at a minimum  to join THE Club, their points based internal exchange reservation system. THE Club has a seperate management/membership fee of $255. If you happen to buy one of their trust based products, there's a $205 management fee for that as well. So if you want to be in both THE Club and own a trust based ownership interest, there's $460 in fee's BEFORE you've even paid one cent on your MF's. MF's in the trust based ownerships are slightly over 10 cents per point. So if you own 15,000 point (IMHO minimum number of points to really do anything of significance), you paying $1,500 plus $460 in add on fee's for what amounts to two 2 bedroom units based on present Interval International exchange values (7,500 points for a 2 bedroom high, not peak, season). So that's almost $2,000 for enough points to manage two external exchanges or, $1,000 each in fee's. Is that a good deal? Only you can decide on that one. Some resorts I own are far beneath that threshold but others are at/or above it to manage the same exchanges.

Now, exchanging internally is a whole different ballgame. Points vary from resort to resort, season to season and unit quality (standard vs deluxe). 15,000 points might get you two exchanges internally, they might get you one 2 bedroom unit or, you might have to borrow from the next year to get a premium peak season week if it's even available. IMHO 15,000 points is the minimum for decent high/peak season exchanges throughout most of the DRI system. But that's just my opinion. Your milage may vary.

I like DRI well enough but, I'm not as pleased with the fee to quality ratio as it stands now. I will say that they are making improvements. I'm just nervous about the end cost of those improvements and how they will affect my ability to continue to pay their fee's into the future.


----------



## dude-luv (Sep 2, 2009)

*DRI Maintenance Fees and Points System*



dougp26364 said:


> Right now I'm worried about the direction DRI MF's are going. The last couple of years, many of the old Sunterra resorts have seen large MF increases. In many cases this was actually needed to bring the resorts up to standards for a quality resort. Unfortunately, it takes time and money to renovate a lot of resorts. Sunterra's MF's were among the industries lowest as far as I can tell. DRI has always been among the industries highest but, DRI quality was, IMHO, a few steps above Sunterra's. As DRI attempts to bring the quality of the old Sunterra resorts up to what they consider a decent level, I look for MF's to continue to climb.
> 
> My big beef with DRI is the add on fee's. If you buy resale, it's $2,995 at a minimum  to join THE Club, their points based internal exchange reservation system. THE Club has a seperate management/membership fee of $255. If you happen to buy one of their trust based products, there's a $205 management fee for that as well. So if you want to be in both THE Club and own a trust based ownership interest, there's $460 in fee's BEFORE you've even paid one cent on your MF's. MF's in the trust based ownerships are slightly over 10 cents per point. So if you own 15,000 point (IMHO minimum number of points to really do anything of significance), you paying $1,500 plus $460 in add on fee's for what amounts to two 2 bedroom units based on present Interval International exchange values (7,500 points for a 2 bedroom high, not peak, season). So that's almost $2,000 for enough points to manage two external exchanges or, $1,000 each in fee's.



After attending a DRI presentation at KBC and subsequently purchasing a KBC week on e-Bay, I chose to not join The Club.  I am very concerned about the perks that have disappeared from KBC and the 20% increase per year in maintenance fees.  Yes, DRI has improved the quality of the units (a very positive thing) but their annual increase in maintenance fees is concerning.  From the e-mails that I have been receiving, there is a movement by owners to recapture control of the maintenance fees and there is a strong movement amongst 'weeks' owners to resist joining DRI's points system.

I believe that the alarming rate of increase in maintenance fees at the Point at Poipu has caused the resale value of those units to plummet.  Many sales on e-Bay are very enticing until you see the current maintenance fees ($1500) and realize the trend that DRI is setting.  I would have bid seriously on several e-Bay auctions had it not been for the 'explosion' in maintenance fees.  While The Club sounds like a decent exchange system, the extra fees are deal breakers.  Those are my thoughts.


----------



## dougp26364 (Sep 4, 2009)

dude-luv said:


> After attending a DRI presentation at KBC and subsequently purchasing a KBC week on e-Bay, I chose to not join The Club.  I am very concerned about the perks that have disappeared from KBC and the 20% increase per year in maintenance fees.  Yes, DRI has improved the quality of the units (a very positive thing) but their annual increase in maintenance fees is concerning.  From the e-mails that I have been receiving, there is a movement by owners to recapture control of the maintenance fees and there is a strong movement amongst 'weeks' owners to resist joining DRI's points system.
> 
> I believe that the alarming rate of increase in maintenance fees at the Point at Poipu has caused the resale value of those units to plummet.  Many sales on e-Bay are very enticing until you see the current maintenance fees ($1500) and realize the trend that DRI is setting.  I would have bid seriously on several e-Bay auctions had it not been for the 'explosion' in maintenance fees.  While The Club sounds like a decent exchange system, the extra fees are deal breakers.  Those are my thoughts.



I suppose one could look at the increases from the perspective that Sunterra greatly underfunded their resorts by keeping MF's unrealisticly low. There is always a price to pay for keeping fee's to low. Routine maintenance doesn't get done, when things break they don't get fixed, units begin to look worn and run down, quality falls off and so does exchange value. 

Some of the Sunterra properties had four bedroom units with MF's in the $700 range if I understood correctly. That equated to a 2 bedroom unit with a MF of $350. No matter how you look at that, it's to low to maintain a 5 star timeshare resort in the long run. 

In order to get the MF's where they should have been, it was going to take a few painful years to get the fee's to a level fit to maintain the resorts. But then what about the work that should have been done BEFORE the fee's went up? Money to maintain/refurbish resorts has to come from somewhere and it sure won't be the developers pocket just because they're nice people. That makes the hit a double whammy.

20% on $700 would get the fee's to $840. Another 20% increase would get the fee's to $1,008. I'm paying over $1,000 for one two bedroom unit and a little over $900 for another two bedroom unit with DRI. That's nearly $2,000 per year for 4 bedrooms with DRI. 

Now this is a long stretch but, if DRI is to bring all formerly managed Sunterra resorts up to speed with what DRI believes quality should be, it's would be another 4 years of 20% increases. Now consider that figure isn't taking into account the normal increases (3 to 7 %) that might have occured normally in that time span and you're looking at possibly 5 years of 20% increases to get some of the old Sunterra resorts up to speed with the fee's charged by DRI's Polo Towers units. OUCH!

I don't know that this is feasable but, it causes me to be concerned about the future increases DRI owners of old Sunterra weeks could be facing. I believe if DRI attempted to maintain those sort of increases year after year to get the MF's where they feel they should be, there would be a major owner revolt. 

The question is who to blame? Sunterra ran themselves financially into the ground but they kept MF's very low by industry standards. So you blame the failure of Sunterra or do you blame DRI that's trying to pick up the pieces and keep the promises of great vacations made by the former developer. In the end it really wouldn't matter who's fault it was. It just has the potential to be very painful the next few years. 

Then again I could be reading this all wrong and things will revert back to nominal increases for the next several years.


----------



## hvsteve1 (Dec 11, 2009)

As a long-time DRI/Sunterra owner I try to remain philosophical. We did pay about $800 MF for two two beddroom units for a number of years and the resort was run into the ground from lack of funding. We were then hit with substantial additional assessments for two years to cover rehab and the MF has gone up about 50 percent. So I underpaid for years but they came back and recaptured it. I converted to points and the Club which solved the problem of the weeks being difficult to trade. The 15,000 points on our two units easily get us two weeks. As we are flexible regarding where and when we go, the last few years we've been able to get trades at 50% off due to late trading. Using late trading and long weekends or four night trades I can see us getting in four or five vacations per year. That's not bad. BTW, Marriotts *are* nicer and that's a trade we make through II, though the internal trades through the club have no exchange fees.


----------



## friedshrimp (Dec 17, 2009)

My first timeshare purcahse was in May, 1989 at Powhatan Plantation (4 bdrm lockout) and our maintenance fees for the first 5 years were only $250 a year (I still have the receipts). I feel once Sunterra took over, things started to go downhill and now DRI is trying to bring the resort, along with others (Marquis Villas.....ugghhhhhh), up to DRI standards, but it will take time and money. Considering I get some vacations at half price of points and no exchange fees on any internal exchanges (something like 150 resorts now), I feel it is still a good investment for our vacation dollar. To get 5-6 1&2 bdrm units a year for less than $2,500 is a good value to me (beats the hell out of a $100 hotel room with no privacy). My only wish is that they would aquire more resorts on the East Coast and the Gulf Coast.


----------

