# Marriott featuring week sales in Aruba



## m61376 (Feb 6, 2016)

Sorry not to have details, but DH refuses to waste vacation time sitting at a presentation. I can't blame him, especially with the fabulous weather we enjoyed for the week. Anyway, naturally they did approach us a few times asking us to attend a presentation, and were hyping that they were now selling weeks since so many owners were asking for weeks for longer stays. Seems like it's become a winter escape for some, sort of a mini snowbird destination. What I found interesting is that in the past they tried to tell us how wonderful the DC program was and we should come learn about it, and this time their upsell was entirely weeks.

Curious if anyone went to the presentation and has more details.


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## Helios (Feb 6, 2016)

m61376 said:


> Sorry not to have details, but DH refuses to waste vacation time sitting at a presentation. I can't blame him, especially with the fabulous weather we enjoyed for the week. Anyway, naturally they did approach us a few times asking us to attend a presentation, and were hyping that they were now selling weeks since so many owners were asking for weeks for longer stays. Seems like it's become a winter escape for some, sort of a mini snowbird destination. What I found interesting is that in the past they tried to tell us how wonderful the DC program was and we should come learn about it, and this time their upsell was entirely weeks.
> 
> Curious if anyone went to the presentation and has more details.



I haven't been to a Marriott presentation in a while.  I thought they were done selling weeks in non Europe or Asia destinations...


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## dioxide45 (Feb 6, 2016)

I wonder if the push would be for the hybrid packages where you buy points and get a resale week also. Though looking on the MVCI resale website, they don't have any Aruba weeks listed. So perhaps they are reacquiring and selling at full price? I guess we won't know since you are a party pooper and won't go to a presentation


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## Helios (Feb 6, 2016)

My DW shares the OP DH opinion, I guess they both went to party pooping school together. :hysterical:

Last summer I got close to buying a Marriott direct resale, Barony OF fixed 4th of Juky week, but changed my mind last minute.  The interesting thing was that the Marriott price and what was being offered in the open market were comparable.  

I would have done it if the week was part of the point system but they wanted me to purchase a point package to allow the unit to be in the points system.


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## BocaBoy (Feb 6, 2016)

dioxide45 said:


> I wonder if the push would be for the hybrid packages where you buy points and get a resale week also. Though looking on the MVCI resale website, they don't have any Aruba weeks listed. So perhaps they are reacquiring and selling at full price? I guess we won't know since you are a party pooper and won't go to a presentation



I am pretty sure it was such a hybrid package.


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## m61376 (Feb 7, 2016)

moto x said:


> My DW shares the OP DH opinion, I guess they both went to party pooping school together. :hysterical:


:rofl:
good thing that they have other redeeming qualities:hysterical:
From my brief conversation all they were pushing was weeks, while in the past they tried to regale you with the benefits of points.


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## Seaport104 (Feb 7, 2016)

BocaBoy said:


> I am pretty sure it was such a hybrid package.



Surprisingly, this one isn't. 

The sales person I purchased from sent me the following email regarding the sale of PLATINUM Aruba weeks. If you buy the week, it is automatically enrolled in Destination Points, no need to buy a point purchase. 

For someone who wants both an Aruba week with points flexibility, it's a decent deal. The price per point is in line with bundled packages with not having an another week or points of maintenance fee and the maintenance fees of Aruba is less than paying .5025 in trust points. 2BR are $1,760 while the 1BR is $1,351

GOLD Aruba weeks is a different story, purchase of Gold weeks require 2500 purchase of trust points. The Gold weeks through Marriott are significantly cheaper than Platinum.

Here's a copy and past of his email regarding the details:

"For the last 2 weeks we have been selling reacquired PLATINUM weeks.
These weeks come fully vested with all benefits and enrolled in the Destination Points program.

If you divide the price by the amount of points you buy points around $8,49 per point.
Our current market price is $12.92 per point.


Ocean Club:

Room Type:                        Election:               View:                    Price:
1 Bedroom                          2900                       OV                          $24,500
1 Bedroom                          3750                       OF                          $31,800
2 Bedroom                          4425                       OV                          $37,500
2 Bedroom                          5650                       OF                          $48,100

Surf Club:

2 Bedroom                          4075                       OV                          $34,600
2 Bedroom                          4075                       OS                          $34,600
2 Bedroom                          5225                       OF                          $44,300


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## m61376 (Feb 8, 2016)

What strikes me as surprising unless your rep misprinted something is that The Ocean Club and Surf Club weeks were allotted the same points for the same season and view categories. I just looked back over GregT's point redemption values chart to confirm.So unless something has changed there has to be a mistake somewhere.


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## Seaport104 (Feb 9, 2016)

m61376 said:


> What strikes me as surprising unless your rep misprinted something is that The Ocean Club and Surf Club weeks were allotted the same points for the same season and view categories. I just looked back over GregT's point redemption values chart to confirm.So unless something has changed there has to be a mistake somewhere.



Good point. I'll email him to confirm and post the answer here. I just copied and pasted from his email.


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## lweverett (Feb 9, 2016)

Isn't there a legal problem with Marriott owning the Aruba weeks in the trust because they are built on land leased from the Aruban government?  Therefore they would want owners with enrolled weeks so they would exchange them for points so the point system would have some inventory.


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## Seaport104 (Feb 9, 2016)

lweverett said:


> Isn't there a legal problem with Marriott owning the Aruba weeks in the trust because they are built on land leased from the Aruban government?  Therefore they would want owners with enrolled weeks so they would exchange them for points so the point system would have some inventory.



Yes, that's what I understand the case to be as well. Leased properties cannot be conveyed to the trust; hence the reason for the Aruba and Boston properties not being in the trust. As a result, the only way it can have inventory for destination points booking is from Aruba weeks owners who elect for points.


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## SueDonJ (Feb 9, 2016)

Seaport104 said:


> Yes, that's what I understand the case to be as well. Leased properties cannot be conveyed to the trust; hence the reason for the Aruba and Boston properties not being in the trust. As a result, the only way it can have inventory for destination points booking is from Aruba weeks owners who elect for points.



I'm pretty sure they can also pull inventory that's been deposited to II or otherwise given up by Weeks Owners, to be mingled in the DC Exchange Company.  The only restriction for the land-lease properties as far as booking them through the DC is that they can't be conveyed to the Trust so can only be booked through the Exchange Company, never direct from the Trust.


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## steven89 (Apr 13, 2016)

I rented from an owner & went on a presentation last week at the Marriot Aruba Ocean Club.  They were initially focused on selling points.  After discounts for being a current MVC owner & discount for renting from an owner, incentives, etc the cost to buy points was:
2000 points started at $13.04/point & after discounts $19,944 or $10/pt
2500 points = started at $32,600  & after discounts $26,415  or $10.56/pt
Included in the offer was also 1 time bonus vacation club points.

They also had financing offers of up to 30% down payable for 10 yrs at 13% interest.  No pre-payment penalty, & if you make at least 18 payments they give one time bonus points equal to the points initially purchased, given at 19th month. You could then pay it off in full in the 19th month, or continue monthly payments. 

After I asked about buying a unit & does that come with points they suddenly became very focused on selling me an Ocean Club Gold, 2 BR ocean view for $24,219 (after a 10%  discount).  They said it can be turned in annually for 3075 points  which comes out to $7.88 per point or can be traded every other year for 90,000 marriot reward points, or can be rented out by me.  They did not say that purchase of trust points was required, though I didn't specifically ask. They of course said the offer was only good for that day and they only had that one 2BR Gold available.

The annual maintenence fee on the vacation club points at 50.3c per point ($1509 for 3000 pts) is less than the annual fee on the 2br Ocean Club gold at $1,809yr.  although buying 3000 pts at approx $10.56/point would cost $31,680.

They said the Gold 2br ocean view was all that they had available for sale. They did not have any Platinum, ocean fronts or 1 BR's.  They also said they were working on setting up a separate trust for Aruba & other leased land situations, but had no estimated date of completion of trust. 

I did not receive any follow up calls nor emails since the tour.


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## Queen (Apr 13, 2016)

Is that the same for the other Caribbean properties i.e. St. Kitts and St. Thomas?


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## Seaport104 (Apr 13, 2016)

steven89 said:


> After I asked about buying a unit & does that come with points they suddenly became very focused on selling me an Ocean Club Gold, 2 BR ocean view for $24,219 (after a 10%  discount).  They said it can be turned in annually for 3075 points  which comes out to $7.88 per point or can be traded every other year for 90,000 marriot reward points, or can be rented out by me.  They did not say that purchase of trust points was required, though I didn't specifically ask. They of course said the offer was only good for that day and they only had that one 2BR Gold available.
> 
> The annual maintenence fee on the vacation club points at 50.3c per point ($1509 for 3000 pts) is less than the annual fee on the 2br Ocean Club gold at $1,809yr.  although buying 3000 pts at approx $10.56/point would cost $31,680.
> 
> ...



A points purchase is not required if buying the Aruba week resale directly through Marriott. The sales person I purchased from sent me the following price list (before any discounts) for the gold weeks:

Ocean Club

1 Bedroom          OF          2575 DP                $22.540
2 Bedroom          OV          3075 DP                $26.910
2 Bedroom          OF          3975 DP                $34.790

Surf Club 

2 Bedroom          GV          2575 DP                $22.540
2 Bedroom          OS/OV    3075 DP                $26.910
2 Bedroom          OF          3975 DP                $34.790
3 Bedroom          OV          3975 DP                $34.790


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## rickxylon (Apr 13, 2016)

For a point of comparison, last year I bought a 1BR platinum ocean view for $8,500. It is not eligible for enrollment (at least not yet). Used it to snag week 52 for this year


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## Seaport104 (Apr 13, 2016)

rickxylon said:


> For a point of comparison, last year I bought a 1BR platinum ocean view for $8,500. It is not eligible for enrollment (at least not yet). Used it to snag week 52 for this year



Wow, week 52 via II is amazing! I didn't think anyone actually deposited them.


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## rickxylon (Apr 14, 2016)

Seaport104 said:


> Wow, week 52 via II is amazing! I didn't think anyone actually deposited them.


It was not thru II. I got it on the MVCI website. Not sure yet if we'll use it or rent it.


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## steven89 (Apr 15, 2016)

rickxylon said:


> It was not thru II. I got it on the MVCI website. Not sure yet if we'll use it or rent it.



I'm considering picking up an Ocean Club week, not through Marriott. How hard it it to find an available Aruba week (non-holiday) through the MVCI website, must it be booked at the 12 or 13 month window, or is there more fluidity in Aruba due to the longer seasons for both platinum & gold. 

The Platinum ski week I have in Utah needs to be booked on the 12 month opening date, due to short ski season.


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## dioxide45 (Apr 15, 2016)

steven89 said:


> I'm considering picking up an Ocean Club week, not through Marriott. How hard it it to find an available Aruba week (non-holiday) through the MVCI website, must it be booked at the 12 or 13 month window, or is there more fluidity in Aruba due to the longer seasons for both platinum & gold.
> 
> The Platinum ski week I have in Utah needs to be booked on the 12 month opening date, due to short ski season.



While I can't speak to your specific questions, longer seasons tend to mean making it harder to get the super prime weeks within a season. More people owning in a season all vying for the same prime weeks. Newport Coast is a prime example of this. Platinum goes from the beginning of summer all the way through late fall, but most of those owners bought hoping to travel in the summer.


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## m61376 (Apr 16, 2016)

If you want a specific week you are always better off booking at 12 months, and if plans change you can always try to change he reservation with a small fee for non-enrolled weeks. The Gold season is 8 months, but demand from late June through late August is highest. That said, I had reserved a prime summer week and needed to change it about 6 months out. I lucked out and got the exact date I wanted to change the reservation to- and that was for my 3BR Gold, which has very limited supply. So changes can be made with a little perseverance and some luck.


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## Seaport104 (Apr 17, 2016)

steven89 said:


> I'm considering picking up an Ocean Club week, not through Marriott. How hard it it to find an available Aruba week (non-holiday) through the MVCI website, must it be booked at the 12 or 13 month window, or is there more fluidity in Aruba due to the longer seasons for both platinum & gold.
> 
> The Platinum ski week I have in Utah needs to be booked on the 12 month opening date, due to short ski season.



Outside of holidays, end of June through mid August weeks are the first ones to get booked. I book at 13 or 12 months and I've been able to get what I wanted. One time my a unit I purchased didn't post to my account until January and the only summer weeks available were mid to end of August.


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## Travelmore (Apr 17, 2016)

Does purchasing a week in Aruba through Marriott allow you to enroll any post June 2010 weeks?


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## tschwa2 (Apr 17, 2016)

No, buying a week in Aruba would not allow you to convert any post 2010 resale weeks.


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## dioxide45 (Apr 17, 2016)

Travelmore said:


> Does purchasing a week in Aruba through Marriott allow you to enroll any post June 2010 weeks?



Only the week that you buy in Aruba could be enrolled. I suspect it would be enrolled for free. Keep in mind that you can buy an Aruba week resale for much less than they are charging for these weeks in Aruba. These weeks are similar to the old weeks based developer prices.


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## bazzap (Apr 18, 2016)

What everyone says is true, but what harm can it do asking - say to Marriott that you want to buy an Aruba week from them but would only do do if they will allow you to enrol your post 2010 week(s)?
They will almost certainly say no, but they also won't want to miss out on a sale - their dilemma, not yours.


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## Seaport104 (May 4, 2016)

m61376 said:


> What strikes me as surprising unless your rep misprinted something is that The Ocean Club and Surf Club weeks were allotted the same points for the same season and view categories. I just looked back over GregT's point redemption values chart to confirm.So unless something has changed there has to be a mistake somewhere.



Sorry for the delay I finally remembered to email the sales exec at marriott re this question and here is the reply :

"Yes, that's correct in the platinum season you get more points for Ocean Club.
In the gold season it's the same points value."


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## Seaport104 (May 4, 2016)

Seaport104 said:


> A points purchase is not required if buying the Aruba week resale directly through Marriott. The sales person I purchased from sent me the following price list (before any discounts) for the gold weeks:
> 
> Ocean Club
> 
> ...



Received an email recently and the gold weeks no longer require a points purchase. Here's the email I received:

"I just wanted to let you know that we are selling gold weeks, enrolled and fully vested.

"


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## m61376 (May 5, 2016)

Seaport104 said:


> Sorry for the delay I finally remembered to email the sales exec at marriott re this question and here is the reply :
> 
> "Yes, that's correct in the platinum season you get more points for Ocean Club.
> In the gold season it's the same points value."


Interesting- of course, OF always got more points in both resorts but I was sure that the same views got the same points, and I believe they cost the same number of points to reserve.


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## Pens_Fan (May 5, 2016)

I picked up a 2 bedroom Garden View at the Surf Club last year for $4000.

Much better deal than paying Marriott $22,540.


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## Seaport104 (May 5, 2016)

m61376 said:


> Interesting- of course, OF always got more points in both resorts but I was sure that the same views got the same points, and I believe they cost the same number of points to reserve.



That's what I thought as well since booking a platinum Ocean Club and Surf Club with same views requires the same amount of points but the sales person confirmed the points allocation is different. 

There's only a handful of 2BR's in Ocean Club (about 40% of the units in a smaller property) versus Surf is all 2BR's with the exception of 20+ 3BR's. Maybe that's the reason they do it for platinum season where Aruba is high demand?


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## Seaport104 (May 5, 2016)

Pens_Fan said:


> I picked up a 2 bedroom Garden View at the Surf Club last year for $4000.
> 
> Much better deal than paying Marriott $22,540.



Agree, the only benefit is the $22,540 gets you into the program without having to purchase DP and you can rent points at cost from other owners


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## Fasttr (May 5, 2016)

Seaport104 said:


> Agree, the only benefit is the $22,540 gets you into the program without having to purchase DP and you can rent points at cost from other owners



At a cost of $8.75 per Point.


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## Travelmore (May 5, 2016)

m61376 said:


> Interesting- of course, OF always got more points in both resorts but I was sure that the same views got the same points, and I believe they cost the same number of points to reserve.




These are the DP points values I was quoted when we were considering enrolling in Nov 2015:

Surf Club - Platinum

GV:3475
OV/OS:4075
OF:5225
Plat+ (wk 14) OS:5825


Ocean Club - Platinum

1 Bdr oceanview: 2900
2 Bdr oceanview: 4075


Surf Club - Gold 

OV/OS: 3075

We don't own any Ocean Club gold weeks, so we did not ask about these.


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## m61376 (May 5, 2016)

Travelmore said:


> These are the DP points values I was quoted when we were considering enrolling:
> 
> Surf Club - Platinum
> 
> ...


Which makes sense. Either Seaport's rep is misinformed or they are giving more points to new buyers than allocating to old owners, which would be an interesting first.


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