# HELP from DRI–US Collection Owners Please



## msutton33 (Aug 5, 2011)

I live in AZ and I want to stay in the following US Collection Resorts only:
Ridge on Sedona Golf Resort, Sedona, AZ 
Sedona Summit Resort, Sedona, AZ 
Scottsdale Links Resort, Scottsdale, AZ 
Scottsdale Villa Mirage, Scottsdale, AZ 
I want to stay 8 weekends each year.  Each weekend will be 3 nights.
Here are my questions:
1.	Is this possible?
2.	How many points will I need?
3.	Are there reservation fees?
4.	If I cancel last minute do I loss my points?
5.	Are the resorts above good quality and well run?
6.	Are they easy to book at the last minute? Like a week in advance.
7.          We will need a 1 bedroom or smaller (just 2 people).

Thank you for the help this is a great informational website.

Martha


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## Bill4728 (Aug 5, 2011)

DRI is discussed in the "other Timeshare Forums" 

So I'm moving this thread there.


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## dougp26364 (Aug 5, 2011)

msutton33 said:


> I live in AZ and I want to stay in the following US Collection Resorts only:
> Ridge on Sedona Golf Resort, Sedona, AZ
> Sedona Summit Resort, Sedona, AZ
> Scottsdale Links Resort, Scottsdale, AZ
> ...



1. Yes it's possible but, if you buy resale, you must buy US Collection trust points and you'll be limited to the resorts in that collection only. Bassed on your statment that you only want to visit those resorts, that may not be a problem. Of course, if you buy direct from DRI, you'll have full access to all the resorts in the DRI collection as well as options to spend your points on other services such as rental cars, MF payments, FF miles et....

2. I would have to look at the points chart, which I don't have in front of me right now. Generally speaking I believe weekend stays (Fri. & Sat) are 30% of the required points for the full week while week night stays (Sun thru Thur) are 10%. So you'd be paying 70% of the points required for a full weeks stay to spend a three night weekend at any resort. Point totals will also depend in the season. When I have more time I'll try to look up the point totals for you.

3. Reservation fee's are included in your trust dues, which are in addition to your MF's. I believe Trust fee's are somewhere along the lines of $235/year. We don't actually own trust points but own two deeded weeks that are in THE Club. THE Club is DRI's points based system which covers all the resorts in their collection.

4. YES. Cancellation penalty's start at 90 days. By 30 days, you lose all your points. Again, I'll have to look later when I have a little more time than I do right now. 

5. YES. The correlation is that MF's are higher than some owners would like them to be. Quality doesn't come cheaply.

6. I'm going to answer no to this question. I have not found them to be easy to book last minute unless you're not particular about the size of unit you want or the season (off season is considerably easier than high or prime season). I'm sure this varies from resort to resort and, I have seen some excellent deals last minute. I recently booked two Orlando weeks for my boss and her father at deeply discounted rates. This has been the exception for me and not the norm. I have also booked last minute vacations for other co-workers but, we had to do a little searching on one to fit their needs. So it is possible but, you have to be very flexible. Based on your resort criteria I wouldn't recommend banking on availability. After you've owned for a while and done your own searches, you'll have a better feeling for what's possible and what's not likely. 

7. Studio units are the easiest to get last minute. Personally, as years have gone on we find the studio units a little to small for our needs but, if you're only traveling on the weekends and you're already accustomed to hotel rooms, this could work well for you. If studio's are fine than I'll change my answer to #6 to maybe. Studio units are usually what I see last minute when I look. Keep in mind this is still dependent upon season. In high or peak season your chances are considerably lower that you'll get three weekend nights at popular resorts. Low and medium season weeks are much easier to come by. Especially if all you require is a studio unit.

In general, right now we are very happy owners with DRI. True the MF's are higher than some resorts but, so long as the over all quality is there it's not something I complain about. We enjoy the flexablity of DRI's THE Club, enjoy being able to spend only 3 or 4 nights rather than reserving an entire week and leaving early and we enjoy the quality of their resorts. DRI purchased Sunterra and it's taken them a couple of years but we feel the quality has reached a level we're comfortable with. For reference to our comfort level, we also own at Hilton and Marriott. While DRI resorts aren't Hilton or Marriott, the quality or the units is nearly equal and, in some cases superior. 

DRI does have different levels of quality at some of their resorts. Sometimes we prefer the deluxe units, most times the standard units are more than fine for us. Of course, deluxe units cost more in terms of points to reserve. 

One thing to consider is that we purchased direct from the developer back in 1998 and1999. As direct purchasers, we enjoy the maximum in flexiblity offered to DRI deeded week owners. We elected not to convert our deeds to trust points because it added cost without adding enough benefit for our needs. 

DRI continues to expand their resort offering by aquiring other timeshare properties. They've recently added the ILX collection of resorts as well as Mystic Dunes Golf Club in Orlando. I don't know if resorts added are placed into trust collections or if they're only available thru THE Club reservations. Since we're not trust based owners, it's not something to which I pay a great deal of attention.


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## msutton33 (Aug 5, 2011)

*Thank you Doug*

I have been on the phone all afternoon with DRI trying to find out how many points I would need to own to reserve a studio at:

Scottsdale Links Resort:
1. If I booked a thrusday, friday and saturday night
2. With 2 weeks notice 
3. With 90 days notice

Scottsdale Villa Mirage:
1. If I booked a thrusday, friday and saturday night
2. With 2 weeks notice 
3. With 90 days notice

If I know that answer then I can start thinking about how points I might need to buy.  I don't want to buy to many due to MF's of course.

Did I understand that the reservations are unlimited with the monthly club fees.

What about housekeeping charges?

If I buy resale do i have to join the club seperatly?  If I don't join the club do I have to pay reservation and housekeeping fees?

Any advice you have is greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

Martha

Martha


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## aliikai2 (Aug 5, 2011)

*Here is a link to the DRI  point chart*

https://www.diamondresorts.com/pdf/ReservationsDirectory.pdf

To the best of my knowledge as a resale buyer you will not receive any discounts on close dated reservations, I believe that those perks belong to Club Members and increase as their level of investment increases.

fwiw,

Greg


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## msutton33 (Aug 5, 2011)

*thank you*

That's interesting thank you.


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## dougp26364 (Aug 6, 2011)

msutton33 said:


> I have been on the phone all afternoon with DRI trying to find out how many points I would need to own to reserve a studio at:
> 
> Scottsdale Links Resort:
> 1. If I booked a thrusday, friday and saturday night
> ...



If you buy resale, you'll need to buy trust points rather than a deeded week to have the flexablity of points. You'll be restricted to only using the resorts in the trust you buy into but, that doesn't seem to be an issue for you.

Each trust has a trust management fee. You are essentially a home resort owner at every resort in the trust. As I understand it, the trust management fee covers all your reservation fee's. 



> *What about housekeeping charges?*



There are no housekeeping fee's.



> *If I buy resale do i have to join the club seperatly?  If I don't join the club do I have to pay reservation and housekeeping fees?*



If you buy resale, you'll either have to pay a joiner fee, which was $2,995 last I knew, if that option is even still available or, you'll have to buy a points package from the developer. 

DRI has their program set up where, if you want full access, you almost have to buy direct rather than resale.

If you don't join THE Club, you still won't pay reservation fee's for home resort reservations. If you buy a deeded week, then you won't have the flexability of points and you can only go to your home resort unless you exchange and, then there are exchange fee's and the exchange will be facilitated through I.I. or one of the smaller independant exchange companies. 

If you buy trust points on the resale market, then your stuck with the resorts in that trust but, there are no reservation or housekeeping fee's.


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## pedro47 (Aug 6, 2011)

Doug 26364, DRI just added The Dunes Village Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC to The Club starting 2012 .


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## dmbrand (Aug 6, 2011)

Martha,
I know nothing about DRI, but the resorts that you listed have oodles of units available in Interval's Getaway vacations.  Someone else would have to do a price-per-stay analysis to see if these getaway rates are actually a better deal than ownership costs.  Currently they are listing availability through the end of 2011.  

As an example, a 1bd at Scottsdale Links is $267 in August, $287 in Sept & Dec, and $327 in Oct & Nov.  This is for a one week stay, but you can leave whenever you'd like.

Scottsdale Villa Mirage pricing is $20 lower per unit for the same pricing model above.

Both Sedona Summit and Ridge have similar pricing as the Scottsdale resorts, but the availability of 1bds doesn't start until end of October.


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## msutton33 (Aug 6, 2011)

*I can't thank you all enough!!!*

 

Could someone confirm that a Friday and Saturday night stay (2 nights only) is 70% of a weeks points.  I don't know to calculate what a 3 night stay (Th, F and Sat) would be at Scottsdale Links Resort during high season. 

1. what would the MF's be for 10,000 points?
2. what would the other fees before? (resort fee, HOA fee, etc.)
3. what would the other fees cost?
4. What would the total cost be annually for 10,000 points for the us collection only.

Could someone could tell me what it would cost to join "The Club" for sure or tell me how I can find out.  I will be happy to do the research I just don't know where to look and I was on the phone with DRI yesterday and no one could help me they just kept transfering be around and I got hung up on twice.

I am sorry for all of these lame questions but this can be confusing and I do thank you all for your help and input I will consider everything before my husband and buy anything.


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## dougp26364 (Aug 6, 2011)

msutton33 said:


> Could someone confirm that a Friday and Saturday night stay (2 nights only) is 70% of a weeks points.  I don't know to calculate what a 3 night stay (Th, F and Sat) would be at Scottsdale Links Resort during high season.
> 
> 1. what would the MF's be for 10,000 points?
> 2. what would the other fees before? (resort fee, HOA fee, etc.)
> ...



MF's on 10,000 trust points would be approx. $1,100 plus the trust management fee's. The only other fee would be the trust management fee and that would be somewhere around $235 but, I don't have an exact figure. There are no other fee's.

Fri/Sat nights are 30%, weeknights are 10% fo the total weekly points.

Weekly points costs:

Links 1 bedroom
weeks 28-33 4,000
weeks 25-57, 43-50 6,000
weeks 1-17,- 8,500

Villa Mirage Studio
weeks 1-3, 48-50 3,000
weeks 4-15, 18-25, 27-46 4,000
weeks 16-17, 26,47, 51-52 6,000

Sedona Summit and Ridge Sedona Stuido
same weeks sched. as Villa Mirage points totals are 3,500, 4,500 and 6,500

I'll let you do the math for weekend stays.


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## msutton33 (Aug 6, 2011)

*Thank you Doug*

I did the math and I understand the numbers so thank you very much for that confirmation.  

I feel that I am starting to learn from you now so I have a few more questions.

1.  If you can join The Club for $3000.00 ish is there an annual club fee?
2.  If you are a member of The Club and you have resale points (let's say from the US Collection) can you use those points to book at a NON US Collection resort say another one of the Trust programs?
3.  Is there a fee for making a NON US Collection reservation?
4.  Do I understand this point correctly? The DRI resorts have different reservation alotments for different types of programs.  Example: there might be 30% reservation availablity for US Collection points at certain resorts.   So even if there are rooms available there may not be any for US Collection points owners is this right?
5.  Even if you had to pay to join The Club it might be worth it.  Am I on the right track at all?

I am interested in points because I can't stay an entire week and really I can only stay friday and saturday nights in resorts that I can drive to so the US Collection might be the right choice.  I'm not sure about joing The Club yet.

Doug, thank you in advance for helping me understand this system.  It seems like a very user friendly system and it looks like the resorts are wonderful.  Now if I can just understand it a little better before I buy so I buy the right resale program that would be wonderful.

Thank you all for your comments it is a big help.


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## dougp26364 (Aug 6, 2011)

msutton33 said:


> I did the math and I understand the numbers so thank you very much for that confirmation.
> 
> I feel that I am starting to learn from you now so I have a few more questions.
> 
> ...



1. There is no guarentee that DRI is allowing resale buyers to join THE Club. I have not heard of anyone being allowed to join just by paying a joiner fee. the last time I heard the fee was $2,995 but, they may have discontinued that program. 

The last that I had heard was that DRI was requiring a retail purchase direct from DRI. The amount of points they've required has varied from report to report but, a 5,000 point package is what sticks in my brain.

2. If you are a member of THE Club, you have full access to all resorts, US and abroad, based on availability. I have not yet looked into exchanging into foreign resorts yet so I can't comment on the availability. The key is to be a member of THE Club if you want full access. Again, I can't guarentee that DRI is allowing resale weeks to become a part of THE Club at this point. It's been a long time since I've read where someone has succesfully joined THE Club with resale points. 

3. If you are a member of THE Club, there is a membership fee which is currently $235. That covers all your reservation fee's for member resorts. You'll only pay an exchange fee if you're requesting an exchange outside of THE Club utilizing I.I. 

4. Because there are different programs, deeded weeks, trust points and deeded weeks converted to THE Club points, there are different inventories. Each inventory has it's own priority period whereby only owners of that inventory can reserve during the "home resort" reservation window. 

For instance, I have two deeded weeks at Polo Towers. I can reserve a stay at Polo Towers at the 12 month mark. At 10 months, anyone with THE Club points can reserve at Polo Towers. Trust owners have a 13 month availability window and anyone who is a member of THE Club can reserve at 10 months. Essentially, anyone belonging to THE Club can reserve any resort that has availability 10 months in advance. 

The only time I've had a problem reserving at the 10 months mark has been with affiliated resorts (not directly managed by DRI) which have limited inventory. I have been successful in reserving Crags Head Lodge in Estes Park CO, Villa's De Santa Fe in Santa Fe NM and The Suite's at Fall Creek in Branson MO. I have also made reservations in Orlando and Maui for co-workers with excess points

5. Here's my personal opinion. Take it for what it's worth. Both major exchange companies have made changes in the past few years that don't favor owners. RCI has been accused of taking deposits and renting them rather than putting them into an exchange pool. There is substantial information that I.I. is coming out with a points based exchange system that could be leading them down the same line as RCI. While both I.I. and RCI provide exchange opportunities, it's better to be in an internal exchange system such as DRI's THE Club. Reservations are easier, you know the quality and, if the system your in provides you with the locations you like, then you can contain costs by paying one fee vs paying an exchange fee every time you want to go somewhere other than your home resort. 

As an example, we tend to go to The Suite's at Fall Creek two to four times per year and, we tend to only go for 3 or 4 nights. Our membership fee for THE Club is $235 and covers all exchange fee's. With I.I., I'd need to do a full week exhange and, each exchange would cost me $149. two exchanges would be $298 AND, I'd have to hope I.I. could match the week I wanted. 

With THE Club, I simply look online to see what's available and book what I want. I can book as few as two nights or as many nights in a row as are available and I have the points to pay for them. For us, THE Club is the only way to go with DRI. It was worth the price of admission.


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## msutton33 (Aug 7, 2011)

*Doug, thank you again!*

I can't thank you enough for the time you spent with your answers.  We really learned a lot today from you.  My husband and I were thinking The Club might be the way to go.

Any idea what a decent developer price might be today?  If the fee to join was 3000.00 the last time it was offered then I wonder what a decent price might be today for the minimum developer points to joine The Club.

Any thoughts???


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## dougp26364 (Aug 7, 2011)

I have no idea. I haven't done an owners update for a couple of years. To be honest, when we did the last update, it was only to see if there was something I was missing or didn't understand. I didn't pay much attention to the pricing.

As to the minimum number of points that needs to be purchased, again, I have no idea. A few years ago, before DRI had fully integrated the sales rooms, they would write into a new contract that you'd be allowed to puchase resale points and bring them into THE Club so long as the sale closed by a certain date. I don't know if they're still offering this option.


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## msutton33 (Aug 7, 2011)

*Many Thanks*

Doug thank you so much for all the time you spent on this.

Thank you everyone else as well.

I have enough information to keep me busy researching for a long time.

Everyone have a great day!!


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## nightnurse613 (Aug 10, 2011)

WOW!  That was a LOT of information.  I didn't see this but let me add one more item to this comprehensive list.  If, for example, you buy 2000 points of the US Trust Collection, the 13 month reservation window can only be applied if your reservation will require 2000 points or less.  This means, even if you have other points that are being credited into your account (from other resorts DRI accepted into the account) - those points do not count when using the 13 month window.  I was not aware of this limitation until I tried to make a 13 month reservation of 6000 points (even though I had plenty of points to cover this reservation-they were not US Collection points).


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## dougp26364 (Aug 10, 2011)

nightnurse613 said:


> WOW!  That was a LOT of information.  I didn't see this but let me add one more item to this comprehensive list.  If, for example, you buy 2000 points of the US Trust Collection, the 13 month reservation window can only be applied if your reservation will require 2000 points or less.  This means, even if you have other points that are being credited into your account (from other resorts DRI accepted into the account) - those points do not count when using the 13 month window.  I was not aware of this limitation until I tried to make a 13 month reservation of 6000 points (even though I had plenty of points to cover this reservation-they were not US Collection points).



That would make sense. Only trust points can reserve trust units during the home resort reservation period. A mixture of THE Club points and trust points or, trust points from two different trusts (US Collection and Hawaii Collection for instance) shouldn't be combinable to make a reservation during the 13 month home resort reservation period.


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## msutton33 (Aug 10, 2011)

*Thank you*

That is very good to know.


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## loafingcactus (Aug 10, 2011)

*Another thank you.*

Indeed, thanks for writing that all out!


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## msutton33 (Aug 11, 2011)

*Diamond Resorts*

Do I understand this topic correctly?

If you are a ClubSM(select member) you can deposit timeshare weeks that you own from another timeshare organization (like Wyndham) into Diamond's depository and recieve diamond points in return to use in the Diamond general system.

1.  Is anyone doing this?
2.  What are the problems?
3.  What are the costs?
4.  Is this OK with Wyndham?
5.  Is this a good reason to buy non resale points from Diamond?

I have wyndham points and from what I understand I would have to book a week using a guest certificate and then turn it over to Diamond.  Diamond would then evaluate the week and determine the point value and give that number of points to me to use in their system.

Any comments?


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## tlsbooks (Aug 11, 2011)

Hi Martha -

In answer to your question about last minute bookings, that would totally depend on the resort and time of year.  If you are in the Phoenix area, you know that you are probably not going to get a weekend at either of the Scottsdale resorts during Phoenix Open/Barrett Jackson/spring baseball season.  From just browsing, I think there is usually something in Sedona available, even last minute.

By just for a idea of what you could get last minute right now:

Check in Friday, Aug 19/checkout Monday Aug 22
Scottsdale Villa Mirage Studio (sleeps 4) - 1400 pts  Fri/Sat 1200
Sedona Summit Mesa Studio (4) - 1750 pts  F/S 1500
Sedona Summit Sunset 2 bedroom (6) - 4725 pts  F/S 4050
The Ridge at Sedona Studio (4) - 1575  F/S  1350

Pretty much the same availability for a Thursday through Sunday stay minus the 2 bedroom at Summit.

Hope this is helpful


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## msutton33 (Aug 11, 2011)

*Thank you!*

You bet that information is helpful!   That seems to be a good value on those points and you are right Scottsdale will be pretty seasonal I'm sure.

Thank you again.


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## dougp26364 (Aug 11, 2011)

msutton33 said:


> Do I understand this topic correctly?
> 
> If you are a ClubSM(select member) you can deposit timeshare weeks that you own from another timeshare organization (like Wyndham) into Diamond's depository and recieve diamond points in return to use in the Diamond general system.
> 
> ...



I have read post by several people who use Club Select but, we have never used it. Our other ownerships when are with Marriott, HGVC and a couple of timeshares we own in Branson for personal use. Club Select has never been an option that interested us. Perhaps someone else will chime in about Club Select.


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## ccwu (Aug 13, 2011)

If you buy resale, you'll either have to pay a joiner fee, which was $2,995 last I knew, if that option is even still available or, you'll have to buy a points package from the developer. 

DRI has their program set up where, if you want full access, you almost have to buy direct rather than resale.

If you don't join THE Club, you still won't pay reservation fee's for home resort reservations. If you buy a deeded week, then you won't have the flexability of points and you can only go to your home resort unless you exchange and, then there are exchange fee's and the exchange will be facilitated through I.I. or one of the smaller independant exchange companies. 

If you buy trust points on the resale market, then your stuck with the resorts in that trust but, there are no reservation or housekeeping fee's.[/QUOTE]
_______

You can no longer paid $2995 to join the Sunterra club.  You will have to buy around 5000 points from DRI developer in order to bring your resale points to the club.


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## dougp26364 (Aug 13, 2011)

> You can no longer paid $2995 to join the Sunterra club.  You will have to buy around 5000 points from DRI developer in order to bring your resale points to the club.



This is the feeling I get. I have not seen anyone post in a long time about buying resale and joining THE Club for the joiner fee. I also use to read that salesmen would tell prospects that, if they bought direct, the joiner fee would be waved, which would indicate there had to be a joiner fee. No one has posted they've been told that in a long time.

I suspect that the joiner fee is history. I'm not even certain that DRI will allow resales into THE Club if you buy direct from DRI. I assume that offer is still on the table but, I haven't seen anyone post for a long time about getting resale purchases into THE Club by purchasing more points at developer pricing either.


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## msutton33 (Aug 13, 2011)

*Thank you all very much!*

I am still researching DRI and the different collections.

Can anyone post an up to date list of the ILX Premiere Vacation Club Resorts?


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## dude-luv (Aug 18, 2011)

*Joining THE CLUB*

We currently own a deeded week at Kaanapali Beach Club.  I attended a sales presentation in August, 2010.  To become a member of THE CLUB would require that I purchase 2000 club points at a cost of $9000.  Apparently, the $2995 program is out.  

While at the presentation, I purchased a sampler program for less than the cost of maintenance fees giving me 8500 points to use for a period of 18 months.  The available resorts for the program included KBC, Poipu Pointe and some other resorts in Sedona, Branson, Scottsdale, Williamsburg, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas and Orlando.  I booked five nights in Williamsburg for about 800 points (Sunday to Thursday) and used the remaining points for Poipu Pointe (which I have been to several times).

I am required to attend a sales presentation for each stay and let them know my decision on whether I will join THE CLUB.  I already know my answer but was willing to experiment with the Sampler Program at the price that was offered.  Interestingly enough, on my first visit I will be permitted to apply the cost of the Sampler Program to the purchase price of the 2000 points.  On the second visit, I can apply only 50% of the Sampler purchase price to the $9000.  

Maintenance fees have skyrocketed over the years and most of the resorts in the North American destinations are relatively easy to get through various sources.  I have been to most of the locations in the various trusts over the years.  In any case, I like the offerings that the CLUB opens up (especially the affiliated International offerings) but I will not pay the outrageous price to join.  Also, I will never surrender my deeded week to DRI.  Just my thoughts.


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## msutton33 (Aug 18, 2011)

Thank you very much that information helps a great deal.


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