# Need info plse. Marriot Frenchmans Cove and Westin St. John



## lobsterlover (Feb 5, 2010)

Can anyone give me some up to date details on these resorts. The reviews on TUG are quite old and Trip Advisor reviews are mostly horrible.

The ferry boat ride to the Westin sounds like the worst inconvieniece. Is it worth it?

Please someone give me some insight.
Thanks


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## DeniseM (Feb 5, 2010)

lobsterlover - Westin St. John is a Starwood resort and it is an impossible exchange - the resort has super high MF, taxes, and a special assessment and the weeks just don't get deposited in II.  For more info., go to the Starwood board and use the "search this forum" button to search for Westin St. John.  There is a recent post about the ferry.

I just checked and there are current reviews for the Westin St. John.


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## lobsterlover (Feb 5, 2010)

*Thanks*

Thanks Denise. It appears I was not searching corectly. There are in fact recent reviews and very detailed too.

I don't understand that the resort is affiliated with II but not available to trade into or is it just very difficult to get.

Denise, what do you think I could get into? You are saving me wasting my time with useless hope. As I'm sure you remember from my recent posts I want to deposit July 4, 2 bed at windjammer and get something Feb/Mar 2011. How about St. James club Antigua? Any suggestions?
Thanks for your help.


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## James1975NY (Feb 5, 2010)

lobsterlover said:


> Thanks Denise. It appears I was not searching corectly. There are in fact recent reviews and very detailed too.
> 
> I don't understand that the resort is affiliated with II but not available to trade into or is it just very difficult to get.
> 
> ...



The best advice anyone will give you with these resorts (especially St. John) is that you should be prepared with a back up plan. For the dates that you are lookingo for, it is going to be next to impossible.


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## DeniseM (Feb 5, 2010)

lobsterlover said:


> I don't understand that the resort is affiliated with II but not available to trade into or is it just very difficult to get.



I don't think you understand how exchanging works.  In order for there to be a week for you to exchange into, an owner at the WSJ has to deposit their WSJ week with II.  This is a VERY expensive resort to buy and own, so owners use their weeks or rent them.  Even if an owner did decide to deposit, Starwood would choose and deposit an off-season week - probably during the fall (hurricane season.)  Then, all other Starwood owners would get first priority for the exchange, before non-Starwood owners.

These are the WSJ Maintenance fees - depositing one of these weeks with II  is like trading your Mercedes for a Chevy!   

3BR Pool Villa EY - $3,439.31 
3BR Pool Villa EOY - $1,719.66 
Terrace Suite - $1,719.53
Townhouse Suite - $2,992.79
2BR Townhouse - $2,866.05
2BR Premium - $3,439.07
3BR Premium - $3.439.31


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## lobsterlover (Feb 6, 2010)

*You are correct...*

I did not know that is the way Starwood works and I am only now starting to understand. Why do they even bother being affilliated with II?

Denise, I'm setting my sights on Antigua, St James. Is this impossible too?

I'm starting to question the advantage of signing up with II if I'm not actually going to be able to go anywhere decent.


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## DeniseM (Feb 6, 2010)

To be successful with II, you need to be a lot more flexible.  Exchanging is more of an art, than a science.  For the best results, request several resorts and several dates.  Limiting yourself to one resort, or one week, limits your chances.



> I did not know that is the way Starwood works and I am only now starting to understand. Why do they even bother being affilliated with II?



The resort is affiliated with II to offer another option to their owners - it doesn't guarantee that owners will choose to deposit any number of weeks.  Affiliation of any resort never guarantees that deposits will be available - there are many resorts that seldom appear in II because they are basically too expensive to trade.  

Back to my analogy of trading a Mercedes for a pool of Chevy's.  If you own a WSJ week and pay a MF of $3,000 a year, there's not much motivation to deposit it in II, when you know that maybe 1% of the exchanges available to you are equal in cost/demand/perceived value.  

Have you tried checking online availability on the II website - something you hadn't thought of might just pop out at you.


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## lobsterlover (Feb 6, 2010)

*Thanks Denise*

I'm still ironing out getting my account going. Seems nothing is simple. I could not search, I did not have a reservation #. 
Finally got the number then II put my week in as a float when its a specific week. Still couldn't search.
While everyone tried to figure out who's fault it is.....I found out interval does not recognize my unit # in their system???? Windjammer is going to try to sort it out.
Since II is very new to Windjammer I assume they have some kinks to work out.
I can hardly wait to get goin!!


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## jimf41 (Feb 7, 2010)

When you get it sorted out I think you would be overly optimistic to expect a trade into the St John Westin in FEB/MAR time period. A trade into Frenchman's Cove is much more likely IMO but not very probable. As long as my bride and I are healthy enough to travel we will never deposit our weeks there. If for some reason I decided not to use them I would rent at cost before depositing.

But before all that happens you have to determine how good a trader a Windjammer cruise is in the II trading scheme. If it's the equivalent of a high season Caribbean or Hawaii unit at a quality resort then your trade desire has possibilities. If it's the equivalent of Utah in July or Hilton Head in January then you really have no hope.


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## lobsterlover (Feb 7, 2010)

*Hi Jim*



jimf41 said:


> When you get it sorted out I think you would be overly optimistic to expect a trade into the St John Westin in FEB/MAR time period. A trade into Frenchman's Cove is much more likely IMO but not very probable. As long as my bride and I are healthy enough to travel we will never deposit our weeks there. If for some reason I decided not to use them I would rent at cost before depositing.
> 
> But before all that happens you have to determine how good a trader a Windjammer cruise is in the II trading scheme. If it's the equivalent of a high season Caribbean or Hawaii unit at a quality resort then your trade desire has possibilities. If it's the equivalent of Utah in July or Hilton Head in January then you really have no hope.



Thanks for answering my question.
Lucky you!!! You're an owner. I own at Windjammer Landing Villa and Beach Resort. July 4th week, 2 bed. Its just getting annoying that I can't search but soon!! It apparently is sought after cause Windjammer just became affilliated with II and I guess they don't have many people signed up available to supply II some trades.
Anyhow, I've got lots of time and hope I can find something to make it worth not adding this week to my present RCI account.
Cheers


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