# RCI Availability



## JoeVacation (Oct 31, 2012)

I'm relatively new to HGVC and purchased (resale) a 1 bedroom plus platinum in Hawaii. We've reserved our first vacation for next year in March at KingsLand on the Big Island. We're really excited about staying there as we took a tour of KingsLand last year from Hilton. We're thinking about planning another vacation and we were interested in going to Italy. I know it's very popular but it appears in searching the RCI Website that there's only one resort in the Italy inland (Tuscany region) from now through June 2014. Does additional inventory become available at specific times or is it really just that difficult to stay at popular places? We're pretty flexible since we don't have kids to worry about in school.

Thanks in advance for any ideas. Joe


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## Talent312 (Oct 31, 2012)

To get find a TS in Italy, you need to be patient... and flexible.
The resorts will be in rural areas... where city folk go for holiday.
Just check back often over the course of a few months.

HGVC is building its own resort in Tuscany but its not available for booking.


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## alwysonvac (Nov 4, 2012)

JoeVacation said:


> I'm relatively new to HGVC and purchased (resale) a 1 bedroom plus platinum in Hawaii. We've reserved our first vacation for next year in March at KingsLand on the Big Island. We're really excited about staying there as we took a tour of KingsLand last year from Hilton. We're thinking about planning another vacation and we were interested in going to Italy. I know it's very popular but it appears in searching the RCI Website that there's only one resort in the Italy inland (Tuscany region) from now through June 2014. Does additional inventory become available at specific times or is it really just that difficult to stay at popular places? We're pretty flexible since we don't have kids to worry about in school.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any ideas. Joe



With RCI, it's wise to always research the properties that are listed in the RCI Directory to make sure it meets your vacation needs in terms of location, quality, amenities, etc.  Depending on the RCI choices, you may decide to visit this location via some other means (hotel/resort stay, etc).

You can sometimes find reviews on RCI, Tripadvisor, Yelp, various travel related sites and from other fellow TUG members by searching the forums or by accessing the TUG Resort Database.

For example, the RCI directory lists 162 timeshares in Italy. Only 4 out of 162 timeshares are Gold Crown Resorts with one being in the Tuscany area (Borgo di Vagli (#5884)). This appears to be an RCI weeks resort but it's a fractional ownership with only a handful of online TUG sightings in the last two years.
NOTE: HGVC members have access to both RCI Weeks inventory (available up to 2 years in advance) and RCI Points inventory (available up to 10 months in advance). Ongoing RCI search requests only searches RCI Weeks inventory. RCI Points inventory requires a manual lookup.

With exchange requests, it's best to be as flexible as possible on your requested unit size (there is more competition for larger unit sizes) and travel dates (like any time in 2014) and even then you may not snag week at your selected resort. The number of deposits by each resort various. You will have no idea how many weeks actually get deposited in RCI (it could be a 1, 10, 30, 60 or 100) , during what time of year they make deposits, which weeks do they deposit (Winter, Spring, Fall or Summer week) and where are you in the exchange queue (there could be several folks already ahead of you requesting the same location with equal trading power). NOTE: Some of us try to determine availability based on past sightings posted on the TUG Sighting forum.

Sites regarding Borgo di Vagli:
Tripadvisor review for Borgo di Vagli - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...le_di_Cortona_Province_of_Arezzo_Tuscany.html
TUG Ranking for Borgo di Vagli - http://tug2.com/RnR/ResortsGrid.aspx?ResortName=5884
Borgo di Vagli website - http://www.borgodivagli.com/

General Links:
RCI Directory - https://www.rci.com/RCI/
RCI Resort Designations - http://pgs.rci.com/landing/ptr/awards/index.html (TIP: It's best to research all resorts regardless of desgination)
TUG Member Rankings & Reviews** - http://tug2.com/RnR/ResortsGrid.aspx
TUG Sighting forum** - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

**NOTE: You must be a TUG member to gain access to TUG Reviews in the Resort Database and TUG Sighting forum.

If you want to look at other accommodation options, Tripadvisor is helpful in determining where to stay - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g187893-Tuscany-Hotels.html. I also found this site when I googled Tuscany accommodations - http://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/about-us.html

Good Luck


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