# Grand Colorado on Peak 8 club membership



## amm45 (Sep 13, 2018)

Hi Everyone -

Last weekend, I did the tour at Grand Colorado on Peak 8 and, despite going into it adamant that we wouldn't be buying anything, we fell for the sales pitch hook, line and sinker and bought a 2 bedroom spring/fall week. Fortunately, I found this site just in time and was able to rescind the contract. 

My thinking had been that we would almost always trade for a beach vacation...one of my favorite hotels is the Westin Princeville and once I saw that it was on the list of resorts we could trade for, I was pretty much sold, as we would be perfectly happy going there every year. We don't kids and I have a very flexible work situation, so we can go pretty much anytime, which the salesman assured us would pretty much guarantee that we would have our pick of resorts. Upon finding out here that it would be almost impossible to get Starwood properties, a lot of the appeal was lost. However, I am really disappointed to be losing out on the club membership, which allows for day use and bonus nights. I only live about an hour from Breckenridge and envisioned myself going up to the mountains to hike and then hitting the pool and hot tub. Even better, I was excited about the prospect of going up for a night or two once or twice a month in the spring, summer, and fall and working from there (I work remotely) just to get away to the mountains and be able to enjoy all of the amenities. I was able to convince myself to look at the maintenance fees as the yearly fee for those benefits, which would be worth it to me.

I hunted around online and found a resale for a biannual 2 bedroom spring/fall for $7k, which I know is still high, but I would probably consider with the hope that my flexibility would still allow me to at least get a good beach resort in exchange, even if not my top choice...except that resale purchases don't get you club membership. I eventually found something online that says that resale owners can get access to club benefits....for a $20k initiation fee!!!!! My question is this: would you expect that fee to go down at some point and/or is there any other way to get club membership in situations like this? 

Many thanks! I'm so glad I found you all!


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## Marathoner (Sep 13, 2018)

Owner benefits transfer for RESALE units at Grand Timber Lodge. It's not as nice or convenient as Grand Colorado but it is still a good property and also owned by BGV.

I've stayed at Grand Timber Lodge and can confirm that it is comfortable, convenient, and enjoyable. 

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 13, 2018)

We live by Denver, and you definitely need to buy resale, and I think that is a ridiculous price to pay for an off-season week on the resale market.  I would never do that.  I guarantee that buying something else, something like Sheraton Desert Oasis or Sheraton Broadway Plantation, would have a better chance of getting the Westins via exchange (I just exchanged into two studios at Westin Ka'anapali Resort for our son for 2/23 and 3/2), and you can DEFINITELY exchange into Peak 8 during the off-season weeks easily. 

You can get a lockoff unit at SBP or SDO and get exchange preference into those Westins.  So buy a 2 bed lockoff and enjoy two stellar trades.  And guess what?  Those units are literally FREE on eBay, closing costs included.  Just watch for a week or two to get what you want.  You definitely want summer for SBP, not off-season, so 9-43 on the deed. 

So for a maintenance fee of $1,200 or so for a 2 bedroom lockoff, you can get 2 weeks of vacation, including Peak 8 during off-season in the studios.  You have to pay exchange fees of $144 per week and you have to have an II membership, too.  But gee, this is the way to go.


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 13, 2018)

Grand Timber is not that old, and it's down in value significantly.  That is the norm for all timeshares.  So buying Peak 8 because it's especially pretty and nice and high altitude (not good for me) is not a good deal now.  It may be in a few years, but right now, you are feeling a bit impulsive because you were impressed.  I get it.  I did it a few times in my 40 years of owning timeshares (they were a pretty new concept back then).  We bought two places that you cannot give away now because they are old, people have walked away, and we are paying way too much for what it is that we own.  Try to control yourself.   I didn't do that, so it's wise advice from a happier timeshare owner because I know what to buy.


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## dougp26364 (Sep 14, 2018)

Be very careful thinking you’ll buy a low season week and trade it easily for high end high season weeks. It’s not always that easy. Especially since resort systems have caught onto this and have taken steps to make their systems more “exclusive”, forcing people who want to stay there to own there. 

If you want to stay in the Westin family of resorts, your better off buying in the Westin family of resorts and not an off season week, even if that off season week is at a II premier rated resort.


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## amm45 (Sep 14, 2018)

Thanks for all of your input! You're absolutely correct that I'm just enamored with Peak 8 because it's pretty and new and completely my modern style! Perhaps in a few years when the prices come down (and if they change the ability to get club benefits when buying resale) it will make more sense. I really do want to be able to go up for day use and bonus time (especially since I could take my dogs up at as owner) so I'll see what is out there in terms of resale for Grand Timber and Peak 7 (it looks like there might be a loophole that allows resale buyers to get club benefits if they buy from someone who bought from the developer, but that will definitely take some more research). I know winter is more desirable, so I'll focus my search there, but since summer is a red season, does it trade similarly? 

Looking at those Sheratons is a great idea for Westin trade purposes, so I'm going to look into that too. 

Thank you, this is very helpful!


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 15, 2018)

What are the maintenance fees on those Peak 8 units?  I would assume they are about the same as Sheraton Broadway Plantation.


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## dougp26364 (Sep 15, 2018)

In the $900 range for 1 bedroom Breckenridge units (Smaller unit and generally not the best views) and $1,800 for 2 bedroom Colorado units (larger units with better views)


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 15, 2018)

dougp26364 said:


> In the $900 range for 1 bedroom Breckenridge units (Smaller unit and generally not the best views) and $1,800 for 2 bedroom Colorado units (larger units with better views)


That is a lot of money per week.  The quality of those units is high, but look at the older units this company originally built, and I am not talking Grand Timber.  It's the other resort in Breck they did years ago.  Those Gold Point units need updating.  The units are huge on the interior.  The company has let those go, in my opinion.  They are not up to par with the newer properties.  

Maybe they have updated in the last few years.  It's been a while....  But it's only Silver in II.  These are not like a Marriott at all, but Grand Timber, Peak 7 and Peak 8, those are very much like Marriott and Westin for quality.  

I just think Gold Point is an indication of this developer's inability to maintain what they built.


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 15, 2018)

Sheraton Broadway Plantation and Sheraton Desert Oasis are the thing to own for you.  Buy an SDO platinum week, which is deeded in winter season, not summer, spring or fall, and it's a season that is specified as float 51, 52, and 1-15, I think.  You will be amazed at what you can do with that.  

I used small one bedrooms at SBP to get studios at the Westin Ka'anapali.  So my cost per week was slightly under $600.  YMMV, of course.  SDO high season should have better trading power than even summer Myrtle Beach.


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## PigsDad (Sep 15, 2018)

rickandcindy23 said:


> That is a lot of money per week.  The quality of those units is high, but look at the older units this company originally built, and I am not talking Grand Timber.  It's the other resort in Breck they did years ago.  Those Gold Point units need updating.  The units are huge on the interior.  The company has let those go, in my opinion.  They are not up to par with the newer properties.
> 
> Maybe they have updated in the last few years.  It's been a while....  But it's only Silver in II.  These are not like a Marriott at all, but Grand Timber, Peak 7 and Peak 8, those are very much like Marriott and Westin for quality.
> 
> I just think Gold Point is an indication of this developer's inability to maintain what they built.


They do a fine job at maintaining Grand Timber Lodge, and that has been there for a few decades now.  Gold Point was in a terrible location (far away from skiing), so I can see why they would not put as much money into that place.  Maybe they are looking to sell it??

Kurt


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 15, 2018)

Unfortunately, when owners get the reins for management, there can be a lot of cheap people who don't want to do the upgrades expected.  We have this at Val Chatelle, where owners are not happy with SA's or higher fees, but we have had many owners die and walk away, so fees are rising, and just to maintain what we have is costing us twice as much as it did 10 years ago.  Owners are right to be concerned.  There is a sunset clause at Val Chatelle.  I would love to have the owners choose to sell those townhouses.  They are in a residential area with no timeshares, so it would be a breeze to sell them, and for a crazy price tag, like $550K each, I think.


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## dougp26364 (Sep 15, 2018)

rickandcindy23 said:


> That is a lot of money per week.  The quality of those units is high, but look at the older units this company originally built, and I am not talking Grand Timber.  It's the other resort in Breck they did years ago.  Those Gold Point units need updating.  The units are huge on the interior.  The company has let those go, in my opinion.  They are not up to par with the newer properties.
> 
> Maybe they have updated in the last few years.  It's been a while....  But it's only Silver in II.  These are not like a Marriott at all, but Grand Timber, Peak 7 and Peak 8, those are very much like Marriott and Westin for quality.
> 
> I just think Gold Point is an indication of this developer's inability to maintain what they built.



I’ll have to go back and look but I recall telling my wife they have a VERY aggressive refurbishment schedule proposed for Grand Colorado. More so than even Marriott, which does a soft refurb every 5 years and full refurb every 10. Aggressive enough I felt it unrealistic from a MF standpoint. How it pans out we shall see.

FWIW, my opinion is Grand Resorts has been nice, but not upper echelon timeshare nice until Grand Colorado, which compares favorably with our Marriott and Hilton ownerships but not on par with the Westin Kirkland Villas we stayed at several years ago


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