# Southern California timeshares



## Vacationsarefun (May 19, 2011)

I am thinking of buying a week in Southern California. We would for the most part want to use it ourselves. As we are tied to the school schedule I would need an August/early September week (say week 32 to 35 or maybe 36). I was wondering if someone could share their experience on how difficult it is to reserve one of these weeks at the resorts with floating weeks (provided I plan about one year ahead of time). Any input/experience highly appreciated as we really won't be able to travel at other times.


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## tompalm (May 19, 2011)

Take a look at Hilton.  There are some great deals right now.  Sure, a lot of the other timeshares are almost free, but you can find 5000 points at Hilton for less than $4000.

The Hilton Lego Land timeshare in the Oceanside area might meet your needs.  But, the best deals on maintenance fees are in Vegas and then trade through RCI for the resort that you want.  You would have excellent trading power as a Hilton owner.


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## sjuhawk_jd (May 19, 2011)

tompalm said:


> Take a look at Hilton.  There are some great deals right now.  Sure, a lot of the other timeshares are almost free, but you can find 5000 points at Hilton for less than $4000.
> 
> The Hilton Lego Land timeshare in the Oceanside area might meet your needs.  But, the best deals on maintenance fees are in Vegas and then trade through RCI for the resort that you want.  You would have excellent trading power as a Hilton owner.



Hilton affiliated timeshares are in Carlsbad and not in Oceanside. The names are:

Grand pacific Palisades
Grand pacific Marbrisa
Grand pacific Seapointe resort

If you can find an owner who has paid money to convert their ownership to HGVC, then you are good to go.


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## Vacationsarefun (May 19, 2011)

Thanks, I have been looking at various timeshares in the area and reading reviews etc. But I am not sure which ones would be a good choice considering the limited time in which I could travel there. I know that some resorts have a lottery system or a rotating system to assign weeks (won't work at all for us). Some have fixed weeks (that makes it easiest of course) and some have floating weeks. 

What I am really looking for is some up to date information on which of the above systems the timeshares use (I know about some but not sure about others) and for the resorts that do use a floating week system I would love to hear some first hand experience on how difficult it is to reserve (late) summer weeks.


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## JudyS (May 20, 2011)

Early September may not be that hard. (Where do you live, by the way? Most schools are back in session by then.) 

I own a floating week at Aquamarine Villas in Oceanside and booking summer weeks is a hassle, but I have always succeeded in getting one. Aquamarine Villas allows booking TWO years out, so if you buy a week there, try to find one that already has a weeks booked for 2011 & 2012. Otherwise, 2013 would be the first year you could book for summer.

I also own a "high" season week at San Clemente Inn. "High" season there is about 40 weeks of the year, so there is a lot of competition for summer weeks. However, San Clemente Inn is a lot easier to book than Aquamarine Villas, because you can book via mail or fax, and at least they answer their phones. (Not always a given at Aquamarine Villas.) July 4th week is impossible at San Clemente Inn unless you go there in person at 5 am, but August should be doable without too much problem. San Clemente books one year in advance. (Of course, San Clemente may be too far from the urban areas for your needs.)

I also own a Winners' Circle (Solana Beach) week that has been converted to RCI Points. Booking any summer week at Winners' Circle using the RCI Points Home Resort Priority is very easy, but it has to be done about 11 months in advance.


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## Vacationsarefun (May 20, 2011)

Judy,

Thank you so much! This is exactly the information I am looking for. I am looking to buy now for use starting in 2012 so I should be okay for San Clemente Inn and Winner's Circle. There have been various offers for San Clemente Inn on Ebay going for very low amounts and if booking a late summer (say mid August to first week of September) week is doable it might fit my needs.

Would you mind telling me how happy you are with your timeshares? We would (hopefully) use it ourselves for the most part but as we live overseas (hence the late summer vacation) there may be years in which we need to trade. Which of the three (if any) would you personally recommend?


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## JudyS (May 20, 2011)

I actually haven't stayed at any of these!  I bought the Aquamarine Villas & San Clemente Inn to trade. I bought the Winners' Circle to use, but then my schedule changed, plus I've had health problems that have limited my traveling. All three are older resorts that are well-maintained. I think there are lots of TUG owners at all three. The locations are different (Winners' Circle is just north of San Diego, Aquamarine is in the nice beach community of Oceanside somewhat further north of San Diego, San Clemente is further north still at halfway between San Diego and LA) and given how bad SoCal traffic is, location really matters. 

Just to clarify, all the weeks at Winners' Circle are fixed, so when I referred to booking there, I was talking about RCI Points. There is a racetrack right near Winners' Circle and I believe they are open during the weeks you want to stay--this would result in more crowding (and flies) in the area.  The TUG reviews would give you more information.

In general, SoCal summer is a tiger trader, although MF fees are rather high, so they aren't the most cost-effective traders in RCI. If you are interested in trading via SFX, I would call and see which resorts/weeks they accept. I believe they take many SoCal summer weeks, even if they are below their usual quality standards.


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## Vacationsarefun (May 20, 2011)

Good to hear that all the Southern California timeshares seem to trade well.  Again, I am mostly interested in going myself but I am planning on a couple of visits to the East Coast and there may be an occasional year in which we won't be able to go - so it is great that we will have alternatives.

I have been reading the TUG reviews but would love to hear any personal experience people have had (especially recent one) and of course any further information on how easy or difficult it is to get summer weeks without a fixed week.


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## rhonda (May 20, 2011)

Vacationsarefun,

The Grand Pacific Resorts employ RCI's 1-in-4 Rule blocking inbound RCI trades _as a family group_.  That is, trading into anyone _one_ GPR property will lock you out of the family of properties for the 4 year period. (I'm not sure if the block spans _all_ GPR locations -- or only ones in San Diego area, but the block is significant.)  *This rule is waived for GPR owners.*  If you intend to _trade_ into SoCal through RCI frequently -- do consider owning at least an EOY at a GPR property.  (We own a fixed summer, odd year week at Grand Pacific Palisades for this very reason.)

As to your original questions, Grand Pacific Palisades offers fixed weeks for holidays and summer (weeks 21-35??).  The rest of the year is a single "floating week" period.  Owners of Floating Weeks cannot book summer except through trading (RCI, GPX, SFX, etc.) or through rentals (BonusTime or  ResorTime.com).   I'm not sure how other GPR locations operate. 

You might also consider Worldmark the Club for its Oceanside location.  In general, you'd likely want to book Oceanside at the 13-month window to get summer dates but the ownership offers great flexibility for years you are not traveling to the San Diego area as one's ownership is in "the club" not a single resort location.

Hope this helps.


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## Vacationsarefun (May 20, 2011)

I am actually looking to buy two timeshares: Wyndham points (primarily for the Anaheim/Ventura locations but also for flexibility when travelling to the East Coast) and a week (fixed or floating) near the beach. The Grand Pacific Resorts do look nice and are definitely on my list. A fixed week would be great (no worrying about getting what we need) but I was just wondering if a floating week would work too.

Rhonda, would you mind telling me how happy you are with your Pacific Palisades week? Would you recommend the resort. I believe it is a bit distant from the beach but otherwise does look very nice (and seems to offer a lot for children).


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## rickandcindy23 (May 20, 2011)

Whoops, I see Rhonda already recommended WorldMark. Consider WorldMark.  They have a newer resort in Anaheim, and a nice place in Oceanside.  There is a great resort in San Francisco, too, and they almost have the lock on all of Napa, except for Shell.  WorldMark points are at least not at $0, and there is a good reason for it.  

I would buy Grand Pacific myself, if I wanted a guarantee of a week that could be rented those years I wasn't using it.  

I would also consider buying a fixed Dolphin's Cove week in summer.  It's VERY difficult to get summer at Dolphin's Cove through Wyndham points.  I would rather buy it for the guarantee, and they are cheap enough, and they are rentable.  

There are quite a few Dolphin's Cove for summer 2012 on RCI right now.  It requires a lot of RCI Points to get the summer weeks, so apparently the TPU is high. 

Shell Points will get you the Peacock Suites in Anaheim, but it's definitely a converted motel (I think it's fine for us, and they do have 2 and 3 bedrooms, too).


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## rhonda (May 24, 2011)

Vacationsarefun said:


> Rhonda, would you mind telling me how happy you are with your Pacific Palisades week? Would you recommend the resort. I believe it is a bit distant from the beach but otherwise does look very nice (and seems to offer a lot for children).


Disclaimer:  In 10 years of ownership, we've only stayed a total of ~5 nights.  We use our GPP week primarily for trading or for sharing with family. 

That said:  Yes, I'd recommend the resort; we've been delighted with GPP/GPR.  The reasons are many: stable dues; consistent level of services/perks; friendly staff; great appearance each visit (we do swing by a few times each year for "day use"); my extended family loves it; etc.  In short, it delivers what it promised years ago and hasn't thrown in disappointing surprises.


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## fillde (May 24, 2011)

Another option are the Welk resorts in Esondido. I have traded into them during the summer. Very nice resort in a decent location. It was hot though in July.


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## DVB42 (May 24, 2011)

From what you have described about your situation, there are two things you should seriously consider before buying a timeshare. First, since you live overseas and would have to travel long distance, I am not sure a timeshare purchase is a good idea. Secondly, if you purchased a floater, your short travel window could make it difficult to get the desired week. I would only consider a fixed week unit to avoid a possible scheduling headache.

Personally, I would not jump into a timeshare purchase because of those two limitations. Additionally, Southern California has higher than average maintenance fees. With higher fees in addition to distance and rigid scheduling, you may be wise to rent.


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## Vacationsarefun (May 24, 2011)

Thank you so much everyone for the help.

rhonda, good to hear that you are happy with your timeshare. The Grand Pacific timeshares are definitely on my list to watch for!

The Welk resort is something else I have been interested in. However, I think this would more likely be a place that we would like to rent/trade into at this point (if we ended up loving it things might change).

DVB42, I am definitely thinking carefully before I purchase (that is why I have questions all over these boards). And I would prefer a fixed week in order to take the worry out of scheduling. I do think Wyndham points would work as I could bank them/borrow etc. and there are several places to use - making it easier to find something within the necessary timeframe. 

Of course noone can say for sure what the future holds. However, looking at the last 20 years of my life, I would say regular trips to the States (say at least 2 out of 3 years) are very likely. I think I would feel more comfortable owning than renting (which makes me nervous) and luckily our vacations are rather later than most which should make things a bit easier (i.e. we need August and early Sept. - not July). 

I am definitely not rushing it but at this point I am seriously looking and if I find something that seems to meet our needs (reasonable maintenance fees, fixed weeks or floating week with good availability, low initial purchase price) I might well take the plunge.

Also, in case someone with a similar question finds this thread at some point I wanted to mention that I have found a lot of information about the existence of fixed vs. floating weeks and reservation procedures for the Grand Pacific resorts at the following website: http://www.grandpacificresorts.com/owners/resort_info.aspx


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