# HGVc West 57th Street by Hilton Club



## goodtease (Jan 17, 2011)

Hello Everyone,

Well I just came on here to explore more about time shares and what I just went through with HGV West 57th Street.

I went to the new york city over the weekend like I usually do about once a month because I just want to take the family sometimes to hang out.  Stayed at the Hilton on Ave of Americas and lady asked me to go to HGV presentation.  I had been to one before in Hawaii on the big island but just wanted to 100 bucks that day.  I have been looking into this but really didn't do toooo much research.  So all in all I walk in and they offer me the following

5250 points for Platinum Studio Plus
800,000 hhonors points
Gold VIP life membership (2)
another 5250 hgv points
50:1 ratio for conversion to hhonors points
1330 maintenance
$49000 price

I put down $6280.  Walked away and then started googling.  That is when I came upon this site the next day.

So since I came on this site my wife and i just sent in the rescission letter and faxed the office too.

Now what I wanted to know is if anyone can tell me what I can actually get here on the resale market.  Here is what I am looking for.

I think I need at least 300000 hhonors points per year.  I am currently a Diamond member and I have been for the last 10years.  So I am guessing that means I need 14,000 hgv points a year. 

Now my plans are to go around the world and just stay everywhere.  I highly doubt I will stay in my "home base" location because I never like going to the same place twice unless I have to.

So is there anyone here who can tell me what the best way to get what I want or who is the best reseller of HGVC timeshares?

I mean I do really enjoy hilton but I figured they were raking me over the coals and those bonus points were enticing to me....but it seems everyone here suggest you can always get it on the resale market for a much lower cost.


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## Karen G (Jan 17, 2011)

goodtease said:


> So since I came on this site my wife and i just sent in the rescission letter and faxed the office too.


Welcome to TUG. Congratulations on finding us in time to rescind your purchase. You are among the fortunate few who do so.

I'm sure the HGVC experts will be along soon and answer your questions.


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## optimist (Jan 17, 2011)

I am new to Hilton myself so I would not presume to offer you advice other than to say that it's an incredible gall to charge someone almost 50K for any kind of time share.  I bought 6200 platinum plus 1 br EOY for a little over $3000.  I didn't get any bonus points but the way I figure it,  600K bonus points translates to roughly 13 nights stay at one of their top hotels. You could pay cash at a rate of $450 a night and not spend more than $6000.  

Good luck with your resale purchase and thank God for Google


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## pianodinosaur (Jan 17, 2011)

goodtease said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> Well I just came on here to explore more about time shares and what I just went through with HGV West 57th Street.
> 
> ...



Welcome to TUGBBS. I had been at HHonors Diamond status for about four years and then dropped back to gold status the past two years as I visited more Westin and Marriott hotels.  With HHonors Diamond or HHonors Gold status it is so easy to redeem a week in a nice Hilton Hotel room in NYC using the Going Global Option.  If you are already at the Diamond Level, you are easily earning well over 200,000 HHonors points a year when you consider the the bonus points and Hilton AmEx points. 

The easiest way to find out what is available in the resale market is to visit ebay.  You may also find the TUG market place an excellent source of information as well. The nice thing about HGVC is that Hilton will treat your resale points the same way it treats the points of someone who purchased directly except for Elite Status.  The benefits of Elite Status are nice but not worth the money you will save by purchasing resale.  

However, HGVC does not build new resorts with the intent of having someone else purchase them resale.  HGVC only builds new resorts with the intent of selling them direct.  If you really want a a TS in NYC and plan on going there every other year, then you might reconsider purchasing direct.  On the other hand, if your are like me, and only visit NYC occasionally, then simply redeem some of your numerous HHonors points and stay in hotel.


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## goodtease (Jan 17, 2011)

Well I live an hour away from New York City.  So I am not planning on staying in nyc for a vacation.  I plan on visiting the other 3000 hilton location around the world.  I love traveling and so far I have had a great experience with Hilton Honors.  Being a Diamond Member for me has been very valuable because I guess they really don't want a Diamond Member to give them a bad review.  I even had the ceiling in a hotel fall down in the bathroom....due to a busted pipe on the roof last winter....and they didn't charge me for the room and gave me a Zen Suite.  This goes for about 2000 a night.  And they did this immediately.  And whenever I ask for something they get it done right away and always compensate me.  I had a manager give me 60000 points because I wasn't happy about some service.   So having the status is great.  Just wish they would give that to me without spending 100k for hgv.

Anyways.....also does it matter which home base you buy from??  I mean when i actually called HGV last year the guy told me to buy the cheapest one and get the most points.  At that time it was Scotland.  So is this true?  Just buy whatever bargain is out there with the most HGV points?  And it transfers equally everywhere except west 57th?


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## KathyA (Jan 18, 2011)

goodtease said:


> Well I live an hour away from New York City.  So I am not planning on staying in nyc for a vacation.  I plan on visiting the other 3000 hilton location around the world.  I love traveling and so far I have had a great experience with Hilton Honors.  Being a Diamond Member for me has been very valuable because I guess they really don't want a Diamond Member to give them a bad review.  I even had the ceiling in a hotel fall down in the bathroom....due to a busted pipe on the roof last winter....and they didn't charge me for the room and gave me a Zen Suite.  This goes for about 2000 a night.  And they did this immediately.  And whenever I ask for something they get it done right away and always compensate me.  I had a manager give me 60000 points because I wasn't happy about some service.   So having the status is great.  Just wish they would give that to me without spending 100k for hgv.
> 
> Anyways.....also does it matter which home base you buy from??  I mean when i actually called HGV last year the guy told me to buy the cheapest one and get the most points.  At that time it was Scotland.  So is this true?  Just buy whatever bargain is out there with the most HGV points?  And it transfers equally everywhere except west 57th?



It doesn't trade equally at The Hilton Club in NYC either.  We don't get 50 to 1 Hilton Honors points, but we do get 25 to 1 (as opposed to 23 to 1 with HGVC).  You will have better luck finding resale opportunities for The Hilton Club than for W 57th--there have been offers for around $1 per point.  Hilton will undoubtedly invoke ROFR for W 57th, and possibly also for The Hilton Club.  I own 19000 points at The Hilton Club and have used them to trade all over the world into Hilton Hotels, plus we go to NYC two or three times a year. Like you, we've never had less than excellent service from Hilton.   Keep in mind, however, that the maintenance fees high and are only going up.


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## goodtease (Jan 18, 2011)

Let me ask you this then.....do any of you guys ever have issues using the hhonors points??  And reserving the places you want to go?  Even with hgv points?

And in anyone ones opinion is there a better home base than others?  Does that make any sense?

I never have but my wife thinks it might become a probably in the future.


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## amisco (Jan 18, 2011)

*New York Club... Why not Avenue of the Americas location.*

I thought I would add my input... I think that you would be better off buying a resale at the Hilton Club of New York on the Avenue of the Americas.  I think that the location is comparable, the rooms are better in many ways..there are more options (2 Bedroom units, a working sofa bed.. access to the hotel amenities at the NY Hilton).  While the annual dues are higher (W.54th Street dues being subsidized by the developer) the value to me is better.  The only negative is that the location at the Hilton on Avenue of the Americas expires in 2032...(I believe that they will offer owners to renew if they renew their lease with Hilton).  

Good luck on your decision.


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## pianodinosaur (Jan 18, 2011)

goodtease:

I personally think your home resort matters a great deal.  That determines your MFs.  Therefore, we own in Orlando rather than Hawaii.  However, if you want to go Hawaii at least every other year at your desired time, you would be better off purchasing in Hawaii. We have only been to our home resort once in the past ten years.  The best MFs seem to be in Las Vegas.  I would suggest looking into one of the three Las Vegas HGVC TSs on ebay and the TUG Marketplace.  I would also suggest no less than a 4800 point purchase.

If you love HHonors, I am pretty sure you will love HGVC.


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## RoshiGuy (Jan 18, 2011)

goodtease said:


> Well I live an hour away from New York City.  So I am not planning on staying in nyc for a vacation.  I plan on visiting the other 3000 hilton location around the world.  I love traveling and so far I have had a great experience with Hilton Honors.  Being a Diamond Member for me has been very valuable because I guess they really don't want a Diamond Member to give them a bad review.
> 
> So having the status is great.  Just wish they would give that to me without spending 100k for hgv.
> 
> Anyways.....also does it matter which home base you buy from??  I mean when i actually called HGV last year the guy told me to buy the cheapest one and get the most points.  At that time it was Scotland.  So is this true?  Just buy whatever bargain is out there with the most HGV points?  And it transfers equally everywhere except west 57th?



It sounds as if your primary interest in purchasing HGV is for HHonor points. If so, just a quick caveat that HHonor conversion of HGV points does not "generally" represent good value; of course there are several exceptions and I have benefited from this myself.

Also, you will not get any HHonor status through a resale HGV purchase. so your Diamond will have to be maintained through hotel stays or spending $40K annually using the Surpass card. You probably knew this already.

Home base does not matter unless there is a HGV resort you'd like to visit often. In my case I bought 7000 points in Scotland but have no plans to visit that location. My expectation is that I will use this for TS stays about half the time and HHonors stays the other half. It was a great deal and should provide excellent value over the next few years.


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## alwysonvac (Jan 18, 2011)

goodtease said:


> So since I came on this site my wife and i just sent in the rescission letter and faxed the office too.
> 
> Now what I wanted to know is if anyone can tell me what I can actually get here on the resale market.  Here is what I am looking for.
> 
> ...



Definitely do your homework...I personally don't think HHonors via HGVC is a good long term strategy. 

*First - You have to look at HHonors points from Hilton Grand Vacation Club(HGVC) differently.*

I'm assuming you probably earned your Diamond status via Hilton family hotel stays or based on your Hilton AMEX usage.
In either case, your HHonors points didn't cost you anything since you simply earned your HHonors points by staying at their hotels or making charges to a specific card. With HGVC you are paying for those HHonors points via the initial purchase price and ongoing maintenance fees. 

Depending on the nightly hotel rate it may be more expensive to use your HGVC points vs. paying cash.

*Second - Since you've been a HHonors Diamond Member for 10 years, you seen lots of changes in the program *

HHonors devaluation
http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113305
http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18628
http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90868

Keep in mind
(a) The number of HHonors points required for a nightly stay will continue to increase.
(b) Your cost for those HHonors points will increase. (NOTE: All HGVC related fees will continue to increase over time.)
(c)There is no guarantee that the number of HHonors points for each HGVC point will increase at the same rate.

See this post for more details see post #7 in this thread - http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121130

*Third - With HGVC you get Silver HHonors status via resale at most HGVC resort *

NOTE: The one exception that has been reported on TUG is for the Hilton Club New York which is still giving Gold HHonors Status - see this thread http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130671

If you lose your HHonors Diamond status, you will drop down to either Silver or Gold HHonors depending on what you own.
No suite upgrades for Gold members and no upgrades at all for Silver HHonors members.

Some exceptions have been identified - see this thread http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90256

*Fourth - HGVC has the right to change the program at any time.*

From the HGVC Club Member Guide - http://multimedia.hiltongrandvacations.com/mg/Book_Reader.cfm?BookId=3

Under "Program Changes" 
Club program use options and rules, including but not limited to, the RCI Exchange Program, special exchanges, nightly point values, the Hilton HHonors program, ClubPoint Depositing/Borrowing/Converting, and ClubPartner Perks that may be offered from time to time, are subject to change, adjustment, suspension or discontinuation without notice. Any such changes will not apply to transactions confirmed prior to the effective date of any such change.

JMHO...I believe as long as HGVC stays in sales mode, HGVC will try to maintain a reasonable value for Hilton Hotel stay via HGVC points
I think the idea of using HGVC points for hotel stays is probably seen as a major benefit to potential buyers during their HGVC sales presentation.


Good Luck with your decision and Welcome to TUG


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## pianodinosaur (Jan 19, 2011)

Alwaysonvac is absolutely correct.

HGVC and HHonors are two separate programs.  Timesharing can be lots of fun.  The main reason to join HGVC is if you want to enjoy the benefits of timesharing.  We stayed at The Residences at The Crane in a 2 bedroom luxurious timeshare for 1 week at the cost of 4800 HGVC points. The Hilton Bardados is very nice, but it cannot begin to compare with The Residences at The Crane.  The Hilton Barbados is currently a category 7 hotel.  A 1 week stay at the Hilton Barbados in a 1 bedroom unit would currently cost somewhere between 240,000 to 300,000 HHonors points depending upon if you are Going Global or not.  I strongly recommend The Hilton Barbados if you would like an excellent vacation in a luxurious hotel.  However, a timeshare vacation is different than a hotel vacation.


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