# HGVC Future



## Aquaman55 (Mar 12, 2012)

With HGVC acquisitions/expansions in Vegas, Hawaii, Tuscany and elsewhere, does anyone have a handle, or a good guess, on what corporate is going to do in the next few years?

The Future:

Will Club add more units that cost more points?
How will Elite develop?  Any changes there?
Where else will HGVC expand?  Caribbean, maybe?
Any Club resorts or affiliates fairing poorly?
Any Club resorts or affiliates skyrocketing?
Anyway insight or inside knowledge on what corporate wants to do with HGVC?



A few specific questions:

When will Elara be listed on HGVC site, not just Hilton?  How many club points for a room?
When will Tuscany be available and how many points for a unit there?
Will HGVC/Karen continue as is?


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## sjuhawk_jd (Mar 12, 2012)

Sorry, my crystal ball is not showing anything about the HGVC.

It is telling me what stocks to pick, which commodities to stock up, and to avoid ski vacations.


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## GregT (Mar 12, 2012)

Aquaman55 said:


> With HGVC acquisitions/expansions in Vegas, Hawaii, Tuscany and elsewhere, does anyone have a handle, or a good guess, on what corporate is going to do in the next few years?
> 
> The Future:
> 
> ...



I think Hilton will continue to focus on its core markets (Hawaii, Orlando and Las Vegas) and add existing buildings opportunistically -- I certainly hope one of them is in the Caribbean, but I'm not holding my breath.

I also think that Blackstone will take the Hilton company public (hotels and timeshares) -- perhaps going so far as to split them into two separate companies if Marriott's spin-off is viewed as a financial success.  If not, perhaps they will sell HGVC directly to the Marriott SpinCo.

We will see -- interesting times owning timeshares!

Best,

Greg


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## GregT (Mar 12, 2012)

More speculation --> I think that HGVC will stay with the accepted point chart for future properties (4,800/6,200 for 1BRs and 7,000/8400/9600 for 2BRs).

I may be reading too much into this, but I believe the decision at KingsLand to go back to the original point chart for this next phase (and presumably construct smaller units) is recognition that it was too much of a reach to have the significant increase in points.   I hope that is the case and we will learn if this is true when HGVC Waikiki BeachWalk is opened next year.

All the best,

Greg


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## whatsburning (Mar 13, 2012)

I also read that HGVC is focusing more on acquiring existing buildings instead of building from scratch.

Frankly, I think the Oahu/Vegas/Orlando areas are tapped out with so many HGVC offerings.  I'd like to see them look into other vacation destinations, even if staying in Hawaii like Maui and Kauai... that would be a BIG hit!  How about places like Lake Tahoe, near Los Angeles (Hollywood, Anaheim perhaps), or even San Francisco?

Has there ever been a HGVC thread polling members where HGVC should establish their next resorts?


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## barond (Mar 13, 2012)

My last conversation with hgvc was that they have learned that its better to buy resale than to buy retail :rofl: 

They will not be building any new hgvc resorts from scratch in the near future.  They will be acquiring other timeshares and converting them to hgvc and buying back resales of their units (if the price is right) to resale at full price to new victims of the timeshare sales departments.

Baron


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## sjuhawk_jd (Mar 13, 2012)

barond said:


> My last conversation with hgvc was that they have learned that its better to buy resale than to buy retail :rofl:
> 
> They will not be building any new hgvc resorts from scratch in the near future.  They will be acquiring other timeshares and converting them to hgvc and buying back resales of their units (if the price is right) to resale at full price to new victims of the timeshare sales departments.
> 
> Baron



:hysterical: :rofl: :hysterical:


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## Remy (Mar 13, 2012)

barond said:


> My last conversation with hgvc was that they have learned that its better to buy resale than to buy retail :rofl:
> 
> They will not be building any new hgvc resorts from scratch in the near future.  They will be acquiring other timeshares and converting them to hgvc and buying back resales of their units (if the price is right) to resale at full price to new victims of the timeshare sales departments.
> 
> Baron



Isn't there an entire thread on the construction plans at HHV? $760 million in new construction is taking place over the remainder of the decade.

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160298


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## Aquaman55 (Mar 13, 2012)

Remy said:


> Isn't there an entire thread on the construction plans at HHV? $760 million in new construction is taking place over the remainder of the decade.
> 
> http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160298



You have all given such good insight.  With the massive construction projects at HHV and the new acquisitions in Vegas, does this mean they will not add to Parc or the Strip?  I think Parc was supposed to have as many as 6 buildings and the Strip 4. What do they do with all that space now...put down a lawn and sell street food?  

I haven't been to HHV, but will head to the Big Island soon.  I guess my idea of Hawaii is not staying at a resort in a big city.  Does anyone think, HGVC might jettison a few of the resorts that are not performing well, i.e. Karen?


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## Remy (Mar 13, 2012)

Aquaman55 said:


> You have all given such good insight.  With the massive construction projects at HHV and the new acquisitions in Vegas, does this mean they will not add to Parc or the Strip?  I think Parc was supposed to have as many as 6 buildings and the Strip 4. What do they do with all that space now...put down a lawn and sell street food?
> 
> I haven't been to HHV, but will head to the Big Island soon.  I guess my idea of Hawaii is not staying at a resort in a big city.  Does anyone think, HGVC might jettison a few of the resorts that are not performing well, i.e. Karen?



If they are aggressively pursuing right of first refusal at the resort I wouldn't consider it a poor performer. Hilton wants Karen units so badly they're willing to pay $13,500 for a 2 bedroom platinum.


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## ricoba (Mar 13, 2012)

Just my two cents, but I don't think that towers 3 & 4 will ever be completed at the Strip property, now that HGVC has taken over Planet Hollywood/Elara.  If it does happen it will be years from now.  The north end of the Strip is still a ghost town.

Remy, I find your comments about Karen Street interesting.  I know they bought back our unit, but what other units are you aware of that HGVC is buying back at Karen Street, and why are they doing it?


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## blackfoot (Mar 13, 2012)

What is Karen?


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## ricoba (Mar 13, 2012)

blackfoot said:


> What is Karen?



The street name of the HGVC@the LV Hilton (now LVH Hotel Casino)


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## Talent312 (Mar 13, 2012)

I suspect that it'll be awhile before we see any substantive changes, except around the margins.
Before that occurs, a large meteor will impact Earth causing the extinction of humankind.

------------------------
"In order to cause the extinction of human life, the impacting body would probably have to be greater than 1 km in diameter. The dinosaurs extinction 65 million years ago is linked to the impact of an asteroid between 10 and 15 km in diameter on the Yucatan peninsula."
--  Bostrom, Nick (March 2002), "Existential Risks: Analyzing Human Extinction Scenarios and Related Hazards." Journal of Evolution and Technology


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## Remy (Mar 13, 2012)

ricoba said:


> Remy, I find your comments about Karen Street interesting.  I know they bought back our unit, but what other units are you aware of that HGVC is buying back at Karen Street, and why are they doing it?



I attempted to purchase one at $13k and it was bought back. Seth or Judi could probably chime in as to success getting any Vegas unit past ROFR. It's not being treated any different than the Strip when it comes to the buyback pricing. In January I made a call to HGVC sales to see what my Flamingo unit originally sold for through the guise of wanting to "trade up". They attempted to sell me a Karen 2 bedroom Platinum for $39,500. I'm going to guess that it wasn't an original developer unit.

As to why... well, why not? They sell. They are making $25k off a two bedroom platinum. Vegas has the lowest maintenance fees and the knee jerk unit of choice to sell when talking to the sales folks is Vegas for the points. Opinion alert: If you think about it, it's in a better location than the LV Strip, which is in a field where someday Vegas may grow toward. If age is a concern, the Flamingo is older as the first HGVC property and there's no sign of that ever getting punted. Elara is a recent acquisition, implying they want more Vegas to sell, not less.

I haven't been around too long in the timeshare game, but it's my understanding only one timeshare property in the HGVC portfolio has ever been removed, and that was an action by the owners at the affiliate property, not HGVC.


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## SmithOp (Mar 14, 2012)

Just finishing up a stay at Flamingo. They hounded me to attend an owners update at LVH, even called to say the limo would pick me up at 9:45am, i had to call back and cancel. They are pushing Elara. 

I had an interesting cab ride, the cabbie was honking and yelling at everyone, so I asked how long she had been a cabbie, 3 yrs. She said, I used to sell timeshares for $150K a yr. 

No wonder they hound us.


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## Aquaman55 (Mar 14, 2012)

SmithOp said:


> Just finishing up a stay at Flamingo. They hounded me to attend an owners update at LVH, even called to say the limo would pick me up at 9:45am, i had to call back and cancel. They are pushing Elara.
> 
> I had an interesting cab ride, the cabbie was honking and yelling at everyone, so I asked how long she had been a cabbie, 3 yrs. She said, I used to sell timeshares for $150K a yr.
> 
> No wonder they hound us.



OP, Do you know what HGVC is asking for units at Elara?


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## SmithOp (Mar 14, 2012)

No sorry, I didn't ask. All contact was by phone, didn't want to be in the same room with a vegas ts salesman, much less being stranded at LVH since I didnt take a car.


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## Remy (Mar 14, 2012)

SmithOp said:


> No sorry, I didn't ask. All contact was by phone, didn't want to be in the same room with a vegas ts salesman, much less being stranded at LVH since I didnt take a car.



SmithOp, I had the same experience, but they were hauling me to the LV Strip location. Are you sure it wasn't the Strip they were taking you to? That's their Vegas sales office as far as I know. LVH is the Karen St. location.

They are sneaky with getting you "set up" for that particular presentation. A nice lady called and left messages repeatedly saying it was "urgent" and they "needed to confirm my stay" which got me to call back. Then the lady offers you some free dinners and some other coupon stuff, eventually leading to the limo for the presentation. I said no for a couple reasons. First, the prize wasn't big enough for my time and second, I imagine I'd be on my own getting back. The LV Strip location really is out there. Not that I'd mind owning there for the points and low MF.


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## tahoeJoe (Mar 14, 2012)

Aquaman55 said:


> With HGVC acquisitions/expansions in Vegas, Hawaii, *Tuscany *and elsewhere, ......?



Did I miss something? Is HGVC building a resort in Tuscany, Italy?


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## Remy (Mar 14, 2012)

tahoeJoe said:


> Did I miss something? Is HGVC building a resort in Tuscany, Italy?



Generally that's a nickname for a resort in Orlando (I-drive). However, there's some buzz from a salesdude floating around... http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167039


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## Aquaman55 (Mar 14, 2012)

Remy said:


> Generally that's a nickname for a resort in Orlando (I-drive). However, there's some buzz from a salesdude floating around... http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167039



HGVC  IS building a resort in Tuscany, Italy. That is certain. It's not going to be very big and I would guess, it will take a truck load of points to stay there...let alone to purchase a TS there.  Imagine your MFs in Euros!


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## whatsburning (Mar 14, 2012)

Remy said:


> SmithOp, I had the same experience, but they were hauling me to the LV Strip location. Are you sure it wasn't the Strip they were taking you to? That's their Vegas sales office as far as I know. LVH is the Karen St. location.
> 
> They are sneaky with getting you "set up" for that particular presentation. A nice lady called and left messages repeatedly saying it was "urgent" and they "needed to confirm my stay" which got me to call back. Then the lady offers you some free dinners and some other coupon stuff, eventually leading to the limo for the presentation. I said no for a couple reasons. First, the prize wasn't big enough for my time and second, I imagine I'd be on my own getting back. The LV Strip location really is out there. Not that I'd mind owning there for the points and low MF.



A few years back we were "limo'd" to the LV strip for our owner's update during our stay at the Flamingo.  We really didn't need/want an update, but we were intrigued by the offer of a $100 restaurant gift certificate for Planet Hollywood (we were going there anyway) and $15 tickets to the "V" show.  Since our kids were 9 and 13 at the time, the limo ride was another "exciting" thing we did in Las Vegas during our week there.

As for the update, we were there for about two hours and everything went fine until we declined to purchase more points.  After saying "no thanks" for about the third time, they gave us the cold shoulder, basically said, "Fine then!", and escorted us out of the lounge.  We enjoyed the dinner, the show was fun, and the kids loved the limo rides.  Hate the pressure talks, but love the gifts!


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## gnorth16 (Mar 14, 2012)

dupicate post


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## gnorth16 (Mar 14, 2012)

gnorth16 said:


> Source?
> 
> The only reference I have heard was of the newest complex in Orlando...



Addition....

http://www.timesharebrokersales.com...open-italy-timeshare-fractional-property.html

I guess I found the answer myself!


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## tahoeJoe (Mar 14, 2012)

*Already Posted*



gnorth16 said:


> Addition....
> 
> http://www.timesharebrokersales.com...open-italy-timeshare-fractional-property.html
> 
> I guess I found the answer myself!



I posted this link this morning on the other thread on this topic (see tahoeJoe reply #11). I also posted a second link from another site on my post. 

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167039

 Check it out.


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## Remy (Mar 14, 2012)

That is one tiny resort. 31 units where some will be fractional leaves little for HGVC owners to get excited about. If it were all timeshare there'd be 1612 weeks available. Compare that to the new Elara where over 60,000 weeks are available.

That's not to say I won't be obsessively attempting to book it when it goes live.


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## SmithOp (Mar 14, 2012)

Remy said:


> SmithOp, I had the same experience, but they were hauling me to the LV Strip location. Are you sure it wasn't the Strip




I'm sure you are correct, I'm not a Vegas type. I got married there 22 yrs ago and this was my first return visit. 

What pissed me off was I told him right up front I was coming for a wedding and bringing my father who is a stroke survivor and I am his primary caregiver. He didnt care, went right into the update spiel so I hung up.


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## danoquinn (Mar 15, 2012)

Remy said:


> That is one tiny resort. 31 units where some will be fractional leaves little for HGVC owners to get excited about. If it were all timeshare there'd be 1612 weeks available. Compare that to the new Elara where over 60,000 weeks are available.
> 
> That's not to say I won't be obsessively attempting to book it when it goes live.



Definitely I'm with Remy on this one.  I will give it many tries as well and maybe have some luck.  Tough with only 31 units though.


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## Maverick1963 (Mar 20, 2012)

Late response!

HGVC sent questionnaire to Japanese owners last month.  They asked where owners would want HGVC to build a resort.  The choices included Australia, Korea, Hong Kong, Guam and Okinawa.  I suspect anything would not happen in the near future.  But if HGVC wants to penetrate into the Asian markets beyond Japan, they may do something.


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## GregT (Mar 20, 2012)

Maverick1963 said:


> HGVC sent questionnaire to Japanese owners last month.  They asked where owners would want HGVC to build a resort.  The choices included Australia, Korea, Hong Kong, Guam and Okinawa.  I suspect anything would not happen in the near future.  But if HGVC wants to penetrate into the Asian markets beyond Japan, they may do something.



That's pretty interesting, a direct contact to Japanese owners asking where they'd like to expand.

I doubt they will say the Caribbean.... 

Thanks for posting this,

Greg


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## Maverick1963 (Mar 21, 2012)

Greg, my pleasure.

Hawaii is the Caribbean for us!


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## Wings2812 (Mar 23, 2012)

It's interesting that HGVC is asking the Japanese.  Expansion into Asia for HGVC makes sense.  Whilst not perfect, the economy is strong and timeshare concept reasonably sound (Wyndham has done well in Australia and has a good reputation).

There is new great Hilton Residence tower with studios, 1, 2 3 bedrooms just opened in Surfers Paradise Queensland  Australia.

http://www.hiltonsurfersparadise.com.au/

It's not part of HGVC, but I've always thought this would make a great starting point for a HGVC entry point into this region and associated sales office. They could buy, rather than build, which suits their current model. 

Surfers Paradise Queensland is a top spot - on a great beach location. It's on the list for many tourists coming to Australia from Asia and USA. The Japanese really like to come to Queensland for vacations. And so do many Australians on the eastern coast.

Not sure whether it's even being thought about, but there is good market expansion here for HGVC. Another good non-traditional location added to the HGVC resort range (like Tuscany) and a potential new sales office for member growth in a new region makes good business sense.


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## itradehilton (Mar 25, 2012)

Surfers Paradise Queensland, I just checked out the webite and the hotel looks breathtaking. Now I wish it was a HGVC since it has 1 - 3 Bdr units. This would be on my bucket list of travel destinations.


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## TheWizz (Jul 2, 2013)

I just returned from the Gold Coast (Surfers Paradise) and stayed in a rented condo near the Hilton Residences.  I wondered while there why at least a few of the units at the Hilton Residences aren't apart of HGVC.  Would be an excellent addition for that part of the world.  We LOVED Australia and the Gold Coast and plan to return in the future.  Would be great to use HGVC Points! 

I was wondering if anyone has done a HGVC update recently that might have heard of any plans to expand the HGVC brand to Australia and the Gold Coast?

Cheers!!


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