# Taranova Vacation Club



## bobbyoc23 (Jun 25, 2016)

Hello,

Does anyone here own a timeshare with Taranova Vacation Club? If so, would you be so kind as to provide your opinion on this system? How are the resorts? How easy is it to book the weeks you want? How is customer support?

I know the number of resorts is very limited, but there is an Attitash Mountain timeshare for sale and I'm very interested. I have reservations in that I've never heard of this system before, the website is t that great, and I know Attitash has fixed week timeshares (Taranova's are supposedly floating here), and am worried about how many resorts are dedicated to Taranova and how easy they are to reserve.

Any info you have would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks,
BobThe


----------



## T-Dot-Traveller (Jun 26, 2016)

Hi Bob ,
I am a Taranova member . Taranova is a Canadian vacation club based in the Toronto area with about 1200 members it has existed for 25 years + . It is a member run HOA / board of directors format . They say it is for Canadians  and was structured as a Vacation Club  in part so that members did not in incur USA tax issues by owning deeded property .The club holds the deeds or similar  The resort properties are on the website  and include Costa Rica and the 4 USA locations . The MF is $ 699 US dollars and I get  16-20 TPU' 
when deposited into RCI .

It is well run & MF has been very stable 

We have used by depositing into RCI 
You can PM or email if you wish 


Club  supervisor is Rosanne Guanabara  /rosanne@taranova.com
416 499 8600. ext 30 
1 800 914 2582 ( North America )

.


----------



## md8287 (Dec 12, 2017)

bobbyoc23 said:


> Hello,
> 
> Does anyone here own a timeshare with Taranova Vacation Club? If so, would you be so kind as to provide your opinion on this system? How are the resorts? How easy is it to book the weeks you want? How is customer support?
> 
> ...


I have owned several units with Taranova for the past 5 years. I mostly use it for Christmas/New Year vacation at Attitash or through RCI.  Membership also gives you equal access rights to resorts at Myrtle Beach, Lake Tahoe and Costa Rica.

If you have ever stayed at Attitash Mountain Village you would not be able to tell the difference between a Taranova and a traditional Attitash Mountain Village unit.  Essentially Taranova owns some units year round at Attitash Mountain Village. The only difference to owning a Taranova membership is that you get the 3 other resorts and it is a Right to Use for 23 years. Always expect to get a two bedroom unit but sometimes you get a 3 BR instead.


----------



## JohnPaul (Dec 12, 2017)

What is the Lake Tahoe resort?


----------



## md8287 (Dec 12, 2017)

JohnPaul said:


> What is the Lake Tahoe resort?


Tahoe Summit
TaraNova's stunning high Sierra resort retreat is close to Tahoe's south shore just northeast of the California -Nevada border. The resort is just minutes away from Heavenly Valley's ski slopes and lifts.


----------



## T-Dot-Traveller (Dec 12, 2017)

The current  MF remains $699 for $2018 ( 4th year )

As per the Taranova news letter (TaraNotes Fall 2017) -" additional TPU  availability - expiring RCI weeks are available of as low as $99 USD ."  **

** these are HOA -management  deposits that are available on a first come /  first serve basis . 
Rosanne G .the club manager explained this to me (again) recently - and I was able to purchase 2 weeks expiring in Feb 2018 for $99 USD each .
I then combined these TPU's with an older Taranova deposit and some leftover stubs and achieved an overall cost per TPU of just over $20 .

The combined deposit is now good for 2 years since RCI is running the "combine and get 24 months" promo ( now extended until Dec 31 2017 )
RCI currently  charges $194 Canadian for this .

I remain very pleased with Taranova as a member run  TS .with a value to members focus .

< It took me a while to "figure out" how to best use our membership ; and part of figuring it out is due to becoming a TUG member >


----------



## theo (Dec 13, 2017)

I know absolutely nothing about Taranova Vacation Club and I do not for one moment claim otherwise.

That said, what I do not see mentioned anywhere within this thread is the buy-in cost which (...or so it seems to me) would be an important factor to evaluate before signing on for what sounds like a 23 year RTU contract commitment.


----------



## md8287 (Dec 13, 2017)

theo said:


> That said, what I do not see mentioned anywhere within this thread is the buy-in cost which (...or so it seems to me) would be an important factor to evaluate before signing on for what sounds like a 23 year RTU contract commitment.


I’m pretty sure TaraNova is all resale at this point so buy in is between buyer and seller. I’ve seen $500 to $3,000 in the past on eBay. I think developer was $8500-$10000 initially


----------



## T-Dot-Traveller (Dec 13, 2017)

theo said:


> I know absolutely nothing about Taranova Vacation Club and I do not for one moment claim otherwise.
> 
> That said, what I do not see mentioned anywhere within this thread is the buy-in cost which (or so it seems to me anyhow) would be an important factor to consider before signing on for what I assume is (based upon comments in this thread) a 25 year RTU contract commitment.




Hi Theo
As I noted I am a member .

Current " Buy In" cost would be close to this years MF and perhaps a small transfer fee .
There are resale memberships available ( one on TUG currently for $1 )   - and it may  also possible to get a membership with a shorter  expiration time line (ie 5 or 10 years )
Like all smart HOA's  - there is a requirement that the resale owner be "approved " - to make sure it is not a Viking Ship etc.

 From speaking to club manager - Rosanne G , I believe most memberships are through 2034 .

We originally paid 11K Canadian Loonies  in 2003 for a EOY -25 yr membership ( at least 6 years before I found TUG ) .
In 2014 Taranova offered all EOY members a upgrade for $400 , with a  one free week bonus . I also was allowed to extend the ownership to 2034.
I chose to do so ;  since EOY ownership and RCI deposited weeks created either expired deposits or a need to pay RCI to extend deposits .It also helped the HOA,
since there can be an imbalance of odd & even year EOY ownerships  This is one reason HOA already deposited (bonus) weeks are available to sell to members for $ 100 per week for extra TPU's

I would call Taranova: a member owned  independent HOA  ( based in Canada / with all properties outside Canada ) MF is in USD $ - so that currency conversion rates due not effect HOA / Club management of the properties , since most of those costs are in USD $ .

IMO - it is similar to WIVC  ( World International Vacation Club )
WIVC owns properties in Mexico ( 6 ) and Spain as well in the USA .( WIVC lists Magic Tree in Orlando and seems to own units as a partner with the lead owner .)
I believe WIVC,  was set up as a "Club ownership  in the 1980's , in part because Mexico did not allow individual / foreign l deeded ownership .

In neither "Club" do you have a deed . The HOA entity is the property  owner and you are a member /owner of the HOA .


Taranova owns units within a Myrtle Beach TS . Canadians go to Myrtle Beach in the spring , fall & winter, - NOT ( generally ) July 4th week .
As a member you can prepay MF (up to 2 years ) and get a prime July week to deposit into RCI . If you do this you will get TPU's in the mid 20's .

Attitash Mountain Village and Tahoe Summit  is similar - owned units within a larger enitity TS .
IMO -Md8287 found this info  & bought into Taranova to access Christmas / New Years weeks at Attitash on a first come / first serve booking basis .

I believe Costa Rico is fully owned . It is in the capital San Jose and is a great base for eco tours / with a local (long time) tour partner that offers these.

Club manager Rosanne G . told me recently about 80 % of members currently deposit into RCI .
< and the 75 year olds aren't skiing >

As I said - it took me a while but I now understand how to use this ownership effectively .
In  2034  - we will be 78 - so we have an exit strategy


----------



## theo (Dec 13, 2017)

T-Dot-Traveller and md8287: Thank you for those details.  With the right (i.e. a low)  "buy in" cost, Taranova VC doesn't sound like a bad arrangement at all-- if the properties themselves are of interest and use to Taranova members.

Some years back, I had a RTU membership (acquired resale for peanuts) in something called Perennial Vacation Club, based in Nevada. In that instance, I believe that PVC actually owned all of the (about 6, iirc) available properties outright. Used several of them once each, exchanged one other year via RCI, but was generally less than thrilled with their properties. Got rid of the membership for the same (or even fewer) peanuts I'd acquired it for in the first place. One noteworthy difference from Taranova VC was that Perennial VC did *not* have an "end date" to the RTU membership iirc and therefore no "built in exit strategy".
I had to work a bit at finding someone to whom to transfer that PVC membership, but I was ultimately fortunate to find a willing, legitimate, new recipient.


----------



## md8287 (Dec 13, 2017)

Thanks T-Dot, I didn’t see those on TUG until you pointed them out as they are showing at one of the Resorts I don’t watch. There’s one on eBay too. I believe, and correct me if I’m wrong, that there is no difference in any of them, they are all TaraNova memberships. 
Yes you are right, we bought our 4 to use primarily at Attitash for Xmas/NYE. Going directly through Attitash was much more expensive to potentially get those weeks.


----------

