# time share vs hotel



## cimmel (Aug 29, 2011)

I am trying to learn as much about timeshares as I can before I purchase. I know what it will cost per year. Compare that to a hotel room the cost is alot more. Why would I buy a timeshare?


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## DeniseM (Aug 29, 2011)

A timeshare is a full-sized condo with a bedroom(s), kitchen, living room, dining area, washer-dryer, etc.  They usually sleep 4-8 people.

-You can cook or just have convenient snacks, drinks, and light meals.
-You have one or more private bedrooms.
-Many units have 2 bathrooms.
-You have more privacy and room to spread out.
-You often have a washer and dryer so you don't have to take so many clothes.
-You can accommodate a family or 2 couples in one unit.

A hotel room is a room with a bathroom, and 1 or 2 beds, that sleeps 2-4 people.

However, I disagree that the cost of a timeshare is a lot more.

When you compare accommodations in the same area, and of the same quality, the timeshare will usually be less $$$ per night.

Don't buy from the developer - there are hundreds of timeshares on ebay for $1.


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## falmouth3 (Aug 29, 2011)

Add in the taxes you'll spend on a 1 room hotel.  I think it's likely that you'll be spending more than for a whole condo.  Of course, that doesn't take into account the purchase price, but there are a lot of opportunities for getting a free timeshare.  You'll see them posted here nearly every day.


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## ronparise (Aug 29, 2011)

They say that the way to win an argument is to attack the other parties assumptions. 

I cant accept yours....In my experience timeshares are not More expensive than hotels. In my experience (and for my intended use) they are not only cheaper , but better

Here are some numbers to consider

To compare. Several times a year I drive from Ft Myers Fl with my wife and two small dogs to visit relatives  in Annapolis Md. We make the trip in two days, staying one night at  Jameson Inn. We stay at Jameson because they are convenient, they accept my dogs, and they have Belgian Waffles for breakfast. and because there is  a Crackle Barrel restaurant nearby.  I generally spend about $100 for the room $25 at Crackle Barrel, (as noted, breakfast is free) The room is a room about 400 sq ft. with a private bath, microwave and 2 queen sized beds. If I want a midnight snack I need to walk to a vending machine or drive to the nearest 7/11

We also own 385000 Wyndham Timeshare points: mf about $2200 a year (I know, I know, I bought the wrong contracts)

So far this year those points have gotten us 28 nights in various sized units studios to 2 bedrooms.  Thats an average of $78 a night. Not only cheaper, but better with kitchens and often 2 bathrooms, and a washer and dryer...I dont have to go quite as far for my midnight snack.  Bigger, better , cheaper. Timeshares win on all counts

I know that there are motels in and around Orlando where you can stay for under $40 a night...but they dont compare with even the Jameson Inns, let alone my timeshares. but if this is what you want to compare timeshares to; I suggest a look at RCI Last Call vacations where you can get a week for under $300 (a membership in RCI comes with my Wyndham account)

There are lots of good reasons not to buy timeshares and stay in hotels when you travel, but "hotels are cheaper" is not one of them


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## lprstn (Aug 29, 2011)

I have a family of 6. There ain't no way we would enjoy staying in a hotel. :-D


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## ampaholic (Aug 29, 2011)

cimmel said:


> I am trying to learn as much about timeshares as I can before I purchase. I know what it will cost per year. Compare that to a hotel room the cost is alot more. Why would I buy a timeshare?



It depends a lot on which hotel room you are talking and which timeshare.

I'm semi retired so I like to travel.

Mind you we only stay in 1 and 2 bedroom suites with kitchens - not just crappy little "hotel rooms". Also we have stayed in beach and mountain resort areas where the only hotels are pretty expensive.

My average cost this year is $50.25 per night - not too bad for the semi-premium spaces we like

I defy you or anyone to supply me with nights in decent places at $50.25 per night at even Red Lyon grade hotels (my minimum standard).


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## fishingguy (Aug 29, 2011)

*big difference for us*

cimmel asked:


> "Why would I buy a timeshare?"



There's a big difference between a hotel/motel/or even a suite, when compared to a typical timeshare.  [A lot has already been covered.]  However, for us, the difference between a 350 sq ft suite, and a 1500 sq ft condo was like night and day.  (I used to do a lot of traveling in my work, and eventually got burned out on even upscale suites.)  But a big condo with private balcony, great view, well kept, and all the niceties has put fun and relaxation back into traveling again.

We do a lot of fishing and outdoor actities in some really great places now, via exchanges.  The properties we own allow us to travel at significantly lower prices, or to places where motel/hotels/suites are no longer acceptable.  In addition, we spend a lot of time planning and preparing for our vacations now, so a condo fits in nicely with things.

But to each his own; since preferences, disposable income, amount of travel, areas of interest, etc. will vary for one to another.  I suggest you rent one to see what they are like, from a fellow Tugger listing in the Rental Section of the forum.  But be forewarned -- it's easy to get hooked on them; just never buy retail from the resort or developer, always buy resale!
  ...simply put, we've been spoiled.


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## Margariet (Aug 30, 2011)

cimmel said:


> I am trying to learn as much about timeshares as I can before I purchase. I know what it will cost per year. Compare that to a hotel room the cost is alot more. Why would I buy a timeshare?



You would buy TS if you travel a lot or if you have a big family with whom you travel. It is cheaper if you stay away for a long time, it is cheaper if you need several hotel rooms, and it's easier because you can cook your own meals, wash your clothes etc. You will have much more space. If you don't travel much it might not be interesting for you.


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## presley (Aug 30, 2011)

I love having a kitchen and a washer/dryer.  

Also, I don't know what type of rooms you normally stay in, but the annual dues for a TS are much less than a standard hotel room for me.


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## glypnirsgirl (Aug 30, 2011)

There are pluses and minuses to owning timeshares.

I think that the pluses have been well-covered. 

Here are what I see as the minuses:

There are no timeshares AT ALL in several of the places that we want to go. 
(Astoria, OR - the closest timeshare is Seaside, OR; Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion, Vicksburg MS).

Timeshares do not lend themselves to a touring-type vacations. 

You have to pay the maintenance fees even if you don't want to use your time. 

In order to effectively use them, you must plan in advance. OR, you can just go where you can get in if you don't plan in advance. 

Overall, I am very happy with my purchases.

elaine


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## pkyorkbeach (Aug 30, 2011)

We were spending more on hotels rooms for one week or a full rental week at a cottage-then what I am paying for MF....Wish I had found timeshares a few years ago....


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## Conan (Aug 30, 2011)

If you plan on spending $700/yr on maintenance plus $200 in exchange fee plus $200/yr to amortize the resale purchase price, that's $1,100/year or $160/night.  If you only expect to travel off-season or to low demand locations you might pay about the same renting other people's timeshares or suites-type hotels.

We prefer timeshare because we're willing to plan far ahead and live with the other inconveniences that Elaine mentions.  And for off-season and low demand areas we know the TUG tricks of getting on average two weeks for the price of one.


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## Margariet (Aug 30, 2011)

glypnirsgirl said:


> There are pluses and minuses to owning timeshares.
> 
> I think that the pluses have been well-covered.
> 
> ...



I often have e-mailed the big TS companies like Wyndham/Worldmark to pursuade them to buy something closer to some main attractions you mentioned but no result! However, we liked the TS at BrianHead which was practically next door to Cedar Breaks and only a lovely drive away from to the red rocks and Bryce Canyon; the TS in St George is really not far from Zion; and for Grand Canyon you can choose Flagstaff. What we sometimes do, is plan a night in a motel nearby or sometimes we have a spare night in between two TS-weeks and we plan a overnight stay.


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## catcher24 (Sep 6, 2011)

In order to compare costs fairly, you would have to compare the cost of what a hotel suite would cost in comparing to a decent time share with at least one bedroom. Most hotel suites begin at around $150 per night and go up, and that won't include a washer/dryer as most time share units do. I keep a spread sheet with all of my time share expenses listed, and tracking the number of nights I've stayed. The cost per nightly stay is quite expensive to this point; however, I haven't had the opportunity to use my time share points as often as I'd like because my wife was still working. Now that she's retired, I expect to do a lot more traveling and that nightly cost will drop quickly as we spend more time at the resorts.


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## sue1947 (Sep 6, 2011)

glypnirsgirl said:


> There are pluses and minuses to owning timeshares.
> 
> There are no timeshares AT ALL in several of the places that we want to go.
> (Astoria, OR - the closest timeshare is Seaside, OR; Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion, Vicksburg MS).  The Worldmark at Seaside Oregon is only about a 20 minute drive from Astoria and the WM at Long Beach is maybe 30 minutes.  With timeshares, you won't find them in the middle of National parks, but you trade a lot of comfort with kitchens/WD in exchange for drive.  That decision is a personal choice.  Personally, I'm willing to drive an hour to the attraction if I can get a good night's sleep and a good meal that I cook myself.
> ...



Timeshares aren't for everybody.  I bought my first one from somebody who wanted to be able to book summer ocean weeks in April of the same year.  He was limited to the school calendar and without advance planning, was never able to book anything he wanted.  He thought the whole thing was a big scam.   I, on the other hand, like to plan and do most of me travel off season.  With the kitchens, my travel budget is way lower than staying in motels.  I had it down to $35/night for awhile there until I bought another one.  The other piece is that if I was limited to motels, I wouldn't travel near as much.  Partly cost, but mostly just comfort.  Being able to spread out and to just be able to get away into a bedroom when you don't feel like talking, etc.  makes all the difference.  With motels, I am always living out of a suitcase.  With TS, I unpack and feel at home.


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## sylvia (Sep 6, 2011)

I have loved timesharing for the past 10 years, but now that we're retired we want to travel to places where timeshares are hard to get, and we also want to bring our pet.  Timesharing is becoming more of a burden.  We're going to keep just one of our three.


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## bogey21 (Sep 6, 2011)

I travel alone or with one buddy.  A Timeshare is my first choice.  If one is not available, I (we) stay in a Motel 6 or the like.  If I can't live right, I go cheap!

George


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## pefs65 (Sep 6, 2011)

My family loves TS.  
We are a family of six and we would have to buy two hotel rooms.
Even with doing that there would be no guarantee that the 2 hotel rooms would be together and with a young family( 4 kids under 8) we need to have that. Plus we love the kitchen to store the formula and other snacks and cook when we want a night in. Also the washer and dryer is great for us because it helps us to take less clothes and thus less luggage.
Also the large rooms with 2 br and the living room allows all of my family to spread out. We also love the larger pools and the activities that they offer.
With the marritott point system and the dvc point system that we are in we can even do multiple weekend trips plus week trips during the year.
I just wish I knew Tug before I brought our DVC BLT points from the developer but Tug did help me buy my MOC 2br resale. 
IMHO TS are the way to go for us a large family who loves to travel multiple times throughout the year and love to plan ahead.
As the time goes on I know I will have saved thousands of dollars rather than staying at hotels.:whoopie:


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## GeraldineT (Sep 6, 2011)

Before I had children I could not see the benefit.  We could travel whenever we wanted, only needed the 1 room so it didn't make sense.  After our first child was born and he fell asleep in our hotel room at 7:30 and hubby and I sat huddled in front of the TV because we didn't want to turn up the TV and wake him we quickly realized that hotels were no longer for us.  Then add in 2 more children.  So with 3 kids under 4 the timesahre was the way to go.   

Since our kids are still small we can travel off season and rent others timeshares for what we spend but down the road when we want to do Disney during Spring Break the timeshare is the more affordable option.  

I think that the thing with the timesahre is how wisely you use your points. I am currently booking a week at Bonnet Creek.  For a 7 night stay in a 2BR villa my cost (which is my total MF divided by my total points) and then multiplied by the number of points used it comes out to $398.  Not sure where I could get anything near that for $56 a night.  

Even if I booked a room during peak season it would be the 2BR villa would be $1246 for a week during spring break.  A hotel room would be cheaper but only by about $50 for the entire week and would pale in comparison to what I am getting.  I have a 2BR villa with 5 pools, lazy rivers, waterslides, spraygrounds versus a room with a regular pool.  

I did buy resale.  I did pay a small fee but it was for a large chunk of points (469K) at a great resort (Bonnet Creek) so we felt that it was worth it.  I could have gotten cheaper but the points were not enough or I would have to combine contracts, etc.  So the convienance of having what I want when I want was worth the small amount of money I spent.  

My suggestion would be to stay at a TS resort if you haven't already.  If you want to rent a week from me let me know.  I have extra points that I am willing to let go cheap and make your own evaluation.  Its about your vacation needs and what works for you.


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## Passepartout (Sep 6, 2011)

In looking over cimmel's prior posts, I think (s)he is doing exactly the right thing. That is, asking questions about the viability of timeshare use in his own application. 

This person has attended a couple of presentations, has figured out that resale is the way to go, and is now working through whether to buy at all and if so, which system to get in bed with. 

Bravo, cimmel! This is exactly how one should approach a major purchase, and potential (at least vacation) life changer.

Bottom line (imo)- timeshare makes sense if you have and can use significant vacation time- especially off, or shoulder season. If you have the temperament- and desire to plan ahead, go for timeshare- if last minute is your chosen way to go- hotels are your best choice. If you want to go to resort-y places, go timeshare. If you like big cities, hotels will give you more choice. 

Bear in mind that neither hotels or timeshares are mutually exclusive. Owning a TS won't keep you out of hotels, nor will checking into a hotel room or two for a few nights make your expenditure for the TS have less value. We TS, hotel, RV, cruise, rent from VRBO and still feel that each vacation mode has it's place in the mix. 

I have a hunch you will keep looking and attending timeshare presentations, and sooner or later you'll see the 'one' that will fit for you at the price you can't pass up and you'll pull the trigger and then wonder what took you so long.

Happy hunting!

Jim Ricks


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## aandmrun (Sep 6, 2011)

*Timeshares beat out hotels everytime in my book*

After owning and staying in our Marriott timeshare, we are spoiled!  I own 4 timeshares that come out to approx. $2400 a year in maintenance fees.  With one timeshare being a 2-bd, split with Marriott points every other year, we can accually stay 5 weeks for 7 nights in timeshares.  That equals to less than $75 per night in facilities that have plenty of space, private living, patio and kitchen areas (some with laundry facilities in the units).  A hotel room seems very cramped after staying in timeshares.  However, we do use our Marriott points on hotel stays between travels for one or two nights at a time.  This gives us the best of both worlds, especially if we stay at Residence Inns or hotels with mini kitchens.  True, timeshares aren't for everyone, but if you like to plan ahead and travel with family and/or friends, timesharing is the way to go!


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## roadtriper (Sep 7, 2011)

cimmel said:


> I am trying to learn as much about timeshares as I can before I purchase. I know what it will cost per year. Compare that to a hotel room the cost is alot more. Why would I buy a timeshare?



I would suggest renting a couple of timeshares before making any decisions. inexpensive rentals can be found here on TUG and sometimes through Ebay etc. some resorts have rental programs as well for their unused weeks.   
the thing I hate about hotels is...  the sink is always full of Ice and Beer!      RT


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## cgeidl (Sep 7, 2011)

*Are the total costs being considered??*

Many of these responses seem to totally disregard the initial purchase price of their timeshares in considering cost.Of course those buying recently often have no initial cost as the timeshares are free .
We have 5 weeks but are always given an extra week for deposits in trading so end up with 8 weeks. We paid a total of $8000 for our 5 weeks. Each year we pay a total of $2200 in maintenance fees.We usually trade three weeks and use two weeks so have 8 weeks of usage.That's 56 nights at a cost of:
5% of $8000 for loss of interest on purchase=$400
maintenance fees                                       =$2200
Trading Costs for 6 weeks                           =$900
Total cost $3500 divided by 56 night = $62.50 per night
And you can eat breakfast in your whatevers!!!


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## catcher24 (Sep 8, 2011)

cgeidl said:


> Many of these responses seem to totally disregard the initial purchase price of their timeshares in considering cost.Of course those buying recently often have no initial cost as the timeshares are free .
> We have 5 weeks but are always given an extra week for deposits in trading so end up with 8 weeks. We paid a total of $8000 for our 5 weeks. Each year we pay a total of $2200 in maintenance fees.We usually trade three weeks and use two weeks so have 8 weeks of usage.That's 56 nights at a cost of:
> 5% of $8000 for loss of interest on purchase=$400
> maintenance fees                                       =$2200
> ...



Good point about not including the original purchase price of the time share in when figuring your "per night" cost. With the resale market such as it is, I think it's important to include that cost, since a lot of these units will eventually go for pennies on the dollar. I DID include the original purchase price of my time shares in my spreadsheet figuring per night costs, thus I have a per night cost to this point of $235.11. I still don't consider this a terrible cost when you compare what I get (resort facilities available for use; private entrance; full kitchen; washer and dryer) to what a hotel two bedroom suite would cost. I also expect this cost to diminish considerably now that my wife is retired and we can go on short notice. A full week for 9000 points would provide me with around ten full week stays each year, and we can and will travel on short notice with both of us now retired.

Others here though seem to be simply using the cost of maintenance and exchange fees in their computations. That would reduce my cost per night to well under $100, which is a steal when compared to what I get as opposed to staying in a hotel/motel.


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## ampaholic (Sep 8, 2011)

cgeidl said:


> Many of these responses seem to totally disregard the initial purchase price of their timeshares in considering cost.Of course those buying recently often have no initial cost as the timeshares are free -snip-



We just got back from a stay a Meadow Lake - which I bought for $55. a couple years ago. We stayed in the new building 14 and it was fabulous, the huge deck overlooked the 10th fairway and inside it was like a $500K top end home, not even like a hotel or TS. - very nice - as nice as any Hilton or Marriott. 

I *did* include the $55. it cost me in my $50.25 per day calculation in my original post - not everyone is buying retail these days.


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## catcher24 (Sep 9, 2011)

> I did include the $55. it cost me in my $50.25 per day calculation in my original post - not everyone is buying retail these days.



WOW! I didn't buy close to retail, but I sure paid a lot compared to $55!   Great work on that purchase.


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