# Choosing a "desirable location" home resort?



## zoodle (Jan 31, 2014)

I see quite a bit of advice on the Buying/Selling forum on choosing a home location that will be desirable for trade. And not to get FL or Vegas as they are overbuilt.  (and that eliminates a whole lot of options)

I know that this does not apply when using my points within HGVC, so does that become an issue  if I want to use RCI?  Or is that not relevant in the Hilton system?


----------



## vacationhopeful (Jan 31, 2014)

zoodle said:


> I see quite a bit of advice on the Buying/Selling forum on choosing a home location that will be desirable for trade. *And not to get FL or Vegas *as they are overbuilt.  (and that eliminates a whole lot of options)...



QUESTION - Florida????

Or do you mean* the Orlando Area*?

I believe the South Beach resort is NOT overbuilt although the MFs might be higher ....

(Not an owner of HGVC and just browsing this thread. Just asking.)


----------



## RX8 (Jan 31, 2014)

zoodle said:


> I see quite a bit of advice on the Buying/Selling forum on choosing a home location that will be desirable for trade. And not to get FL or Vegas as they are overbuilt.  (and that eliminates a whole lot of options)
> 
> I know that this does not apply when using my points within HGVC, so does that become an issue  if I want to use RCI?  Or is that not relevant in the Hilton system?



Using RCI with HGVC means using a predetermined number of points.  It does not matter where you own in HGVC as everyone pays the same points for an exchange. This is one reason why many like owning in Vegas due to the lower MF cost.


----------



## SmithOp (Jan 31, 2014)

That conventional wisdom doesn't apply to HGVC, trade power is based on HGVC points only in RCI.  Get the cheapest points in HGVC if you will be trading out.

If you are buying a resort to trade in RCI then you need to be concerned with trade power (TPU), and like going there if for some reason you can't exchange.



Sent from my iPad Gen 4 using Tapatalk HD


----------



## presley (Jan 31, 2014)

zoodle said:


> I know that this does not apply when using my points within HGVC, so does that become an issue  if I want to use RCI?  Or is that not relevant in the Hilton system?



Hilton uses a corporate RCI account.  You won't have a traditional RCI membership like what you read about.  Things like trading power and TPUs don't exist for us.  

Hilton is at the top of the food chain in RCI and you will always use a set # of points for trading in RCI.  That works both for and against us.  It is good because you can trade to pretty much anything, any season and never wonder if you have enough trade power.  The downside is some resorts are blocked from our view (they are considered beneath us) and we don't get discounted point stays on short notice.


----------



## zoodle (Jan 31, 2014)

*That is good to know*

Thanks,  It seems that a lot of the general advice does not apply when buying HGVC.


----------



## UWSurfer (Jan 31, 2014)

zoodle said:


> Thanks,  It seems that a lot of the general advice does not apply when buying HGVC.



Points are points in HGVC.  Doesn't really matter where they come from.

That said, I'd still recommend purchasing someplace you'd want to stay at in the event the rules change and we find ourselves with a property we'd need to use differently than they system now allows.


----------



## cdnewmanpac (Jan 31, 2014)

I'm not sure "points is points" is completely accurate. In my research, it seems that if you want to get a ski week in colorado/utah or a prime hawaii week year after year, you need to buy there. Am I wrong? The same might apply to orlando properties if you want to go Christmas every year.


----------



## zoodle (Jan 31, 2014)

*which resort to pick in FL?  Gulf coast??*

We seem to go to Florida more than anywhere as we have family in the Fort Lauderdale area.  I was thinking of a gulf coast location as we like that area.  Any advice on Hilton resorts in that area?


----------



## UWSurfer (Jan 31, 2014)

cdnewmanpac said:


> I'm not sure "points is points" is completely accurate. In my research, it seems that if you want to get a ski week in colorado/utah or a prime hawaii week year after year, you need to buy there. Am I wrong? The same might apply to orlando properties if you want to go Christmas every year.



Like many things in life, the answer is that depends.

In your scenario buying a week at the resort & in the season you are interested in staying in gives you a home week advantage, allowing you to book 12 months out from the date of check-in.   The catch here is you must book your same size unit in the season you own to qualify. 

Home week is a 3 month advantage.  At 9 months prior to check-in, remaining inventory becomes available to the rest of HGVC owners which is when many of us line up to book our dates to place like this while owning an HGVC property in Las Vegas or elsewhere.   Typically though, the MF's are lower in Las Vegas than the same size unit in the places you mention.

I'm also unclear if there are event weeks at those locations (ex: New Years Eve in Las Vegas).  If there are, they are likely separate tier/week sales from the rest of the point system, but someone else on the system can chime in on that.

Thus, if you want that week & location you likely need to buy there to get a much better crack at booking there.


----------



## buzglyd (Jan 31, 2014)

cdnewmanpac said:


> I'm not sure "points is points" is completely accurate. In my research, it seems that if you want to get a ski week in colorado/utah or a prime hawaii week year after year, you need to buy there. Am I wrong? The same might apply to orlando properties if you want to go Christmas every year.



The only difficult Hawaii property are the Oahu locations.

There is a ton of inventory on the Big Island. In fact, I just booked my recent trip with Open Season and used my points for something else.


----------



## Seaport104 (Jan 31, 2014)

zoodle said:


> We seem to go to Florida more than anywhere as we have family in the Fort Lauderdale area.  I was thinking of a gulf coast location as we like that area.  Any advice on Hilton resorts in that area?



Marco's Island was my choice! Maintenance fees are higher than Orlando or Vegas and they are affiliates but for me I chose Eagle's Nest due to the following-

- Love the gulf coast area with the Carribean beaches but domestic flights
- I'm in NJ/NY area and do not want to go to Hawaii every year with the 12-14 hour flights while NY/NJ flights to FL are reasonable and frequent.
- Eagle's Nest trades with Interval, RCI (without HGVC) and of course, can convert the week into HGVC points. Yearly election for conversion is a plus just in case I want to trade with Interval
- You can wait until 30 days out from checkin to convert your week to HGVC rather than use or rent it (added flexibility) without any HGVC points devaluation.
- High demand, low supply area (specially during winter months)

One other item- my husband's family is in Miami so with this location, they can also go on vacation with us without added flight expense for them 

So yes, the maintenance is not as low as Vegas and Orlando but if you get a fixed week of 5,000 or 7,000 points it's great or a winter flex that gives you 5,000 or 7,000 HGVC points to use within HGVC system.


----------



## zoodle (Jan 31, 2014)

*If eagles nest is HGVC, then I don't understand  some of your points*

sorry my first time trying to quote text and I made an error


----------



## zoodle (Jan 31, 2014)

zoodle said:


> - Eagle's Nest trades with Interval, RCI (without HGVC) and of course, can convert the week into HGVC points. Yearly election for conversion is a plus just in case I want to trade with Interval
> - You can wait until 30 days out from checkin to convert your week to HGVC rather than use or rent it (added flexibility) without any HGVC points devaluation.



can you explain what you mean here?


----------



## Seaport104 (Jan 31, 2014)

zoodle said:


> can you explain what you mean here?



With the exception of the Orlando resorts, the SW Florida resorts you see in the HGCV website are affiliates, i.e. they were not built by Hilton but are HGVC managed. I don't remember the whole background but the yellow stickies on tug has some good information on this.

Since all the SW FL resorts are "affiliates", they work a little different than the original HGVC properties. 

- Original HGVC are automatically enrolled in HGVC and you trade in RCI via the HGVC portal vs affiliate FL owners can choose to enroll in the HGVC system
- The cost to enroll a unit is one time $399 enrollment fee and yearly club dues of $136 that all HGVC members pay
-  Even if you are part of HGVC, it does not require that you convert the unit into HGVC points (choice can be made each year) so one year I might want to use Eagle's Nest to trade into the Marriotts using Interval or deposit it into SFX- up to me PLUS 
- If I do want to use my week via HGVC points, I have until 30 days before check-in date and I still get my full point allotment based on my week. In my opinion this is an added flexibility, in case of last minute changes or let's say I was looking to rent my unit out but I had no takers. At 30 days out, I can elect to deposit into HGVC and get 100% of my points to use within the HGVC system per the regular rules.


----------



## phil1ben (Feb 1, 2014)

We bought resale in South Beach and enjoy it very much. However, we rarely go to another resort. We use our full 7000 points each year with 3 long weekends. Not looking to buy other timeshares because this one is all we want. We love the location on Ocean Ave across the street from the Ocean. However the maintenance fees are higher and this property is more like an apartment than a resort.  It consists of two historically protected Art Deco buildings and has no pool but the location cannot be beat. We used Judy Kozlowski as a broker and paid $7500 4 years ago.  To pass ROFR now I think the price might be around $9000 but she can give you a better idea. The purchase price is a small factor compared with $1500 annual maintenance fees. Yet this is still much cheaper than a week at a resort there and we could never get 2 bedrooms 2 baths virtually on the ocean. Good Luck.


----------



## dougp26364 (Feb 1, 2014)

zoodle said:


> I see quite a bit of advice on the Buying/Selling forum on choosing a home location that will be desirable for trade. And not to get FL or Vegas as they are overbuilt.  (and that eliminates a whole lot of options)
> 
> I know that this does not apply when using my points within HGVC, so does that become an issue  if I want to use RCI?  Or is that not relevant in the Hilton system?



Most of the time, this advice is given by those who don't actually own these locations. For instance, we own 4 Vegas timeshares and have never had an issue making good trades, even into Hawaii. 

Having said that location, as previously pointed out, isn't a major factor in owning HGVC. points are points and can be used to reserve any unit with HGVC during any season. The exception would be if you wanted to ensure a specific view or type unit during a specific season. Examples would be a corner suite at Elera in Vegas, one of the units with a hot tub during ski season at Valdoro in Breckenridge, or any of the Oahu units. Otherwise it just doesn't matter.


----------



## presley (Feb 1, 2014)

Something to add about buying affiliates.  When you purchase an affiliate, you basically get what the resort offers its owners + the option to convert your annual points to HGVC points.

I own an affiliate that gives day use and bonus time (cheaper nightly rentals) to owners.  It also has an internal exchange company that it less expensive than RCI.  So, I can either use it as the resort that it is or decide to use my week as HGVC points.  The nightly stays are usually less expensive booking through the resort rather than booking open season in HGVC.  

If there is an affiliate you would use regularly, there may be benefits to buying there.


----------



## Seaport104 (Feb 1, 2014)

presley said:


> I own an affiliate that gives day use and bonus time (cheaper nightly rentals) to owners.  It also has an internal exchange company that it less expensive than RCI.  So, I can either use it as the resort that it is or decide to use my week as HGVC points.  The nightly stays are usually less expensive booking through the resort rather than booking open season in HGVC.
> 
> If there is an affiliate you would use regularly, there may be benefits to buying there.



That's a nice perk! Which hgvc affiliate has those benefits?


----------



## presley (Feb 1, 2014)

Seaport104 said:


> That's a nice perk! Which hgvc affiliate has those benefits?



Carlsbad Seapointe Resort and Grand Pacific Palisades.  There are some old Marbrisa contracts (pre HGVC) that have the same benefits.


----------



## buzglyd (Feb 1, 2014)

Just keep in mind day use is only valuable if you live close to the resort. I live just a few miles from Seapointe and use it frequently.


----------



## panda33 (Feb 6, 2014)

*Where do we start?*

Have been watching Tug for a few months now trying to learn as much as I can. This is my first post.....be patient with me.
My wife and I just returned from Eagles Nest on Marco Island last night and we love it. We are interested in timesharing, but know it is something you do not jump in to. We would like to make Eagles Nest our home resort, and go to it week 5 of each year. This time works well for us, and we have friends who are there then. What are our options, and where do we start looking? I was going to talk to sales at the resort, but decided not to. I am regretting it a little today, because I would have liked to hear what they had to offer. 
Any advice would be great.


----------



## PigsDad (Feb 6, 2014)

panda33 said:


> Have been watching Tug for a few months now trying to learn as much as I can. This is my first post.....be patient with me.
> My wife and I just returned from Eagles Nest on Marco Island last night and we love it. We are interested in timesharing, but know it is something you do not jump in to. We would like to make Eagles Nest our home resort, and go to it week 5 of each year. This time works well for us, and we have friends who are there then. What are our options, and where do we start looking? I was going to talk to sales at the resort, but decided not to. I am regretting it a little today, because I would have liked to hear what they had to offer.
> Any advice would be great.


If you are looking for a fixed week at that resort, I would definitely start by talking to the sales rep there onsite.  Just call the front desk and they will put you in contact with them.

We were in a similar situation last year -- we ended up purchasing a fixed week 52 at The Surf Club (just down the road from Eagles Nest).  We worked with the salesperson onsite, and she had contacts of owners that were wanting to sell.  We made a low-ball offer, and it was accepted by the owner.  All of the closing was handled through the salesperson and everything went very smooth.

Kurt


----------



## TerriJ (Feb 6, 2014)

Is there a rule about trading into DVC if you own HGVC in Orlando?  That could be a factor.


----------



## Talent312 (Feb 6, 2014)

No. This has been a source of much confusion over the years...
Because HGVC members do not have their own RCI account, members do not trade "their" unit.
Rather HGVC makes space available to RCI using their own corporate "club" account.
What space they make available to RCI has nothing to do with where you own a unit. 

OTOH, HGVC enforces 1 in 4 limits becuz your stay is recordable as an individual stay.


Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk 2


----------



## TerriJ (Feb 6, 2014)

Thank you for clarifying.


----------



## Seaport104 (Feb 6, 2014)

panda33 said:


> Have been watching Tug for a few months now trying to learn as much as I can. This is my first post.....be patient with me.
> My wife and I just returned from Eagles Nest on Marco Island last night and we love it. We are interested in timesharing, but know it is something you do not jump in to. We would like to make Eagles Nest our home resort, and go to it week 5 of each year. This time works well for us, and we have friends who are there then. What are our options, and where do we start looking? I was going to talk to sales at the resort, but decided not to. I am regretting it a little today, because I would have liked to hear what they had to offer.
> Any advice would be great.



Week 5 is a Winter Week in Eagle's Nest so you would either need to buy a Winter Flex Week and request that week every year or a Fixed Week.

The sales reps there are not pushy or high pressured and quite helpful. I spoke to Lisa before and she is very helpful. 

Contact: Lisa Seymour
Office: 239-394-5167 ext. 3081
Email: lseymour@hgvc.com


----------



## panda33 (Feb 7, 2014)

Seaport104 said:


> Week 5 is a Winter Week in Eagle's Nest so you would either need to buy a Winter Flex Week and request that week every year or a Fixed Week.
> 
> The sales reps there are not pushy or high pressured and quite helpful. I spoke to Lisa before and she is very helpful.
> 
> ...



Thanks Seaport. When you say "winter flex", we wouldn't be able to get a gold week in the summer lets say, and request the 5th week? They are both "gold" weeks.


----------



## Seaport104 (Feb 7, 2014)

panda33 said:


> Thanks Seaport. When you say "winter flex", we wouldn't be able to get a gold week in the summer lets say, and request the 5th week? They are both "gold" weeks.



Yes, you can but only by booking through HGVC which would require you enrolling and opting to convert your week to HGVC points.

Eagle's Nest (and all SW FL resorts in HGVC) are affiliates. Since they are affiliates, not all owners enroll in HGVC and have a different seasons from HGVC season/points chart. 

For Eagles Nest, when you purchase a floating week (called flex week), there are only 2 seasons - 

*Winter Flex-* Weeks 5-16, if converted to HGVC points is either 5,000 or 7,000 for a 2BR (HGVC gold or platinum seasons)
*Summer- *All Other Weeks, if converted to HGVC can be 3,400, 5000, or 7,000 for a 2 bedroom (HGVC silver, gold or platinum- although only Week 51 of those weeks is platinum in HGVC's calendar)

If you purchase a Winter Flex week of 5-16, you cannot request a week outside that span with the resort for your reservation and vice versa. 

If you want to go to a week outside of your Eagle's Nest resort season, you can only do this via 

1) Booking with HGVC if you opt into the HGVC system and enroll your unit
2) Trade your unit to II or RCI (Eagle's Nest is dual afiliated) and request an exchange
3) Find another owner to exchange their week with you.

I would think the easiest is #1 via HGVC.


----------



## panda33 (Feb 7, 2014)

Seaport104 said:


> Yes, you can but only by booking through HGVC which would require you enrolling and opting to convert your week to HGVC points.
> 
> Eagle's Nest (and all SW FL resorts in HGVC) are affiliates. Since they are affiliates, not all owners enroll in HGVC and have a different seasons from HGVC season/points chart.
> 
> ...



Thank you! You have been a big help. I'll continue to do my homework.


----------



## Seaport104 (Feb 7, 2014)

panda33 said:


> Thank you! You have been a big help. I'll continue to do my homework.



My pleasure, I read through tons of posts on Tug before buying my first timeshare and this forum has been of great help to me so just hoping to do the same.


----------



## jbird (Feb 20, 2014)

*converting affiliates to points*

Seaport have you had any experience with this:  Suppose you want to use your affiliate to go somewhere else with the HGVC and the places you want to go are not available can you change your mind and keep your week at your affiliate or are you commited  to give up that week.  Thanks JB


----------



## Seaport104 (Feb 20, 2014)

jbird said:


> Seaport have you had any experience with this:  Suppose you want to use your affiliate to go somewhere else with the HGVC and the places you want to go are not available can you change your mind and keep your week at your affiliate or are you commited  to give up that week.  Thanks JB



Once you convert the reservation to hgvc points you can't revert back to the original week reserved. But you can rebook that week or another week in the resort if available using your points (but now you will pay the reservation fee).

Once you convert the week to points you released the week to inventory. 

If I were you, I would check availability first. If I see something's want, call hgvc and cancel your reservation for points and book the unit in the same call. This would depend of course on. Your resorts procedure on opting for hgvc points and how long it takes. 

For eagles nest, I just call hgvc to opt for points and they can do it on the call. I think some resorts need you to call the resort first.


----------



## jbird (Feb 20, 2014)

*changing to points*

If I understand you right, you are saying check for availabilty if you see what you want call switch to points and book at the same time.  also I understand that if you own winter flex at eagles nest and you request weeks 7-9 you will get one of the three true or false?


----------



## bogey21 (Feb 20, 2014)

phil1ben said:


> We bought resale in South Beach and enjoy it very much. However, we rarely go to another resort. We use our full 7000 points each year with 3 long weekends. Not looking to buy other timeshares because this one is all we want. We love the location on Ocean Ave across the street from the Ocean. However the maintenance fees are higher and this property is more like an apartment than a resort.  It consists of two historically protected Art Deco buildings and has no pool but the location cannot be beat. We used Judy Kozlowski as a broker and paid $7500 4 years ago.  To pass ROFR now I think the price might be around $9000 but she can give you a better idea. The purchase price is a small factor compared with $1500 annual maintenance fees. Yet this is still much cheaper than a week at a resort there and we could never get 2 bedrooms 2 baths virtually on the ocean. Good Luck.



Great thinking.  You thought it through and bought exactly what you wanted.  Too many of us skip this step.

George


----------



## Seaport104 (Feb 20, 2014)

jbird said:


> If I understand you right, you are saying check for availabilty if you see what you want call switch to points and book at the same time.  also I understand that if you own winter flex at eagles nest and you request weeks 7-9 you will get one of the three true or false?



Yes, that's right. 

As for Winter Flex weeks, if the requests for a week is greater than the pool, they hold a lottery for that week. If you do not get picked in that lottery, your 2nd requested is next and goes throught the same process. With the 3 week timeframe request, it is not likely you will not get one of those weeks but it is possible if 7-9 are highly requested and you do not get picked in the lottery.

I had no problem getting my first request of Week 7. If you don't really care what week you actually get an just want the 7,000 HGVC points, put in the first 3 weeks and put a note n the Flex Form that you are requesting a 7,000 HGVC points week.


----------



## jbird (Feb 20, 2014)

*thanks*

Thanks for your insight.  I will probably call on you again.


----------



## Seaport104 (Feb 20, 2014)

jbird said:


> Thanks for your insight.  I will probably call on you again.



No problem!


----------



## phil1ben (Feb 21, 2014)

bogey21 said:


> Great thinking.  You thought it through and bought exactly what you wanted.  Too many of us skip this step.
> 
> George


Thank you Bogey21. We have brought guests down to South Beach. Most of them before we went swore they would never buy a timeshare. However, since visiting ours, three friends have purchased resale at South Beach and two considering it. If you boil the resale purchase down to the simple concept of it being "an advance payment for vacation" (not an investment of any kind) and then compare that cost to what a similar vacation would cost in that destination then it is not a bad purchase. The equation does not work if you buy retail or do not use your points. The ability to pay cash in the 30-day window is just icing on the cake.


----------



## Bxian (Feb 24, 2014)

We bought at the Charter Club on Marco Island via their on-site sales rep, Jeanne Shook.  the main resort number is: 239- 394-4192. Jeanne is a pleasure to deal with-no pressure at all.  The Flex weeks have the lowest prices.


----------



## Bxian (Feb 24, 2014)

Forgot to add-the flex weeks have the lowest prices when compared to prime winter weeks.  Not sure what summer or fall weeks cost-they may be lower.


----------

