# Question for Starwood owners at Harborside



## califgal (Mar 6, 2006)

We own in Maui and really enjoy our Starwood ownership.  We are thinking of buying addditional time on the secondary market, possibly at Harborisde.  At Maui all of our weeks are the same level.  When I look at the Harborside reasales there is everything from floating weeks to specific weeks, to general gold season, etc.  Since we have to travel when our kids are out of school we've had no luck trading.  If we buy a plat. season, as owners will we have a good possiblity of getting the week we want if we call 12 months ahead??  Otherwise we would buy more Maui time.  We want to get to elite status so we can have the most flexiblity with our timeshare points and starpoints.


----------



## mariawolf (Mar 6, 2006)

If you want summer you need to buy that season--I am a platinum owner at Harborside which is the high season and I have been pretty much been able to get what I want in that season--the new phase is mostly float while section one is, I believe, a mix of both.  I have been able to trade to Thanksgiving which depending on the dates is usually the mid season time--but as an owner there wanting to switch to another season I am in competition with other Starwood owners wanting to get in at their exchange period.  So basically if you want summer you need to probably buy summer which is gold I think.  Once you buy that season you can call to get your week 12 months out so at that point you are only in competition with Harborside owners who own that season.  HOpe this makes sense--if not let me know what questions you have.


----------



## grgs (Mar 6, 2006)

I just wanted to make sure you're aware that if you buy resale those StarOptions will not be eligible for elite status.

Glorian


----------



## califgal (Mar 7, 2006)

*to Maria and Glorian*

Thanks for the response.  I had not idea Glorian, that the staroptions, if bought resale were not eligible for elite status. That's very important info .  They must have that in the fine print somehwere. but where??  Anyhow, I'm glad to know NOW, but it's a let down.


----------



## arlene22 (Mar 7, 2006)

Just to underscore what Maria said, if you buy platinum, you will only have preference (12-8 months out) if you are trying to reserve within your season and phase and the unit type that you own. If you own platinum and want to reserve summer, you will have to wait until 8 months out and compete with all the other Starwood owners at other resorts. Some people think Platinum means you have preferred access to all weeks. It doesn't. If you want summer, buy Gold season. It's cheaper and you will have a better chance at reserving the week you want. 

For Phase 1, you have a deeded week and a season. If you want your deeded week, you just have to confirm with Starwood by 10 months prior in order to keep it. If you don't confirm it by 10 months, then it begins to float and other owners within your season have a crack at it. That is why 10 months in advance is the optimal time to try to reserve a different week within your season. At the 8 month mark, there is no more owner-within-season preference and you compete with all of Starwood owners. 

When you see Harborside for sale,  you really need to find out what Phase it is, what is the deeded week and season (if Phase 1), and what check in day (that will determine what building you are in). I believe Phase 2 is more of a pure float, but I'm  not sure. Perhaps a Phase 2 owner can clarify how that works.

And yes, as Glorian pointed out, resales don't count toward Elite status. I don't think it says that anywhere, it's just what Tuggers have experienced and reported here. Yes, it's a bummer, but I do think it makes sense from their perspective to give an incentive to those who buy from the developer. Most people, I would think, would still rather buy resale, but there may some for whom elite is a big enough draw that they will choose to buy directly from Starwood.

There have been scattered reports here on TUG of people who owned resale weeks at non-mandatory resorts and subsequently purchased developer weeks who have convinced Starwood to "pull" their non SVN weeks into SVN. I don't know whether or not those "pulled in" weeks count toward elite status.


----------



## grgs (Mar 7, 2006)

Here's an earlier thread on the Elite issue:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=999&highlight=elite+resales

Glorian


----------



## vic714 (Mar 7, 2006)

arlene22 said:
			
		

> There have been scattered reports here on TUG of people who owned resale weeks at non-mandatory resorts and subsequently purchased developer weeks who have convinced Starwood to "pull" their non SVN weeks into SVN. I don't know whether or not those "pulled in" weeks count toward elite status.



If you have a resale unit and purchase another developer unit you can get a one time 50,000 Staroption upgrade to help you qualify for the next level of elite membership. If multiple weeks are purchased multiple resale weeks can be brought in. The resale unit doesn't get the yearly staroptions and you can't convert the week to starpoints. This is according to the original agreement that I was given when I became 3* elite. This was in the SVN Elite Business Rules dated 9-20-04. At that time it was called a " Special Elite Level Qualification Credit". If anyone wants a copy I would be more than happy to make a copy and email it.

I am working on getting another week and demanding that they bring in my resale week with FULL privileges. I guess we'll see how much pull my sales person has.

Victor


----------



## tsl (Mar 8, 2006)

*Gold season*



			
				arlene22 said:
			
		

> Just to underscore what Maria said, if you buy platinum, you will only have preference (12-8 months out) if you are trying to reserve within your season and phase and the unit type that you own. If you own platinum and want to reserve summer, you will have to wait until 8 months out and compete with all the other Starwood owners at other resorts. Some people think Platinum means you have preferred access to all weeks. It doesn't. If you want summer, buy Gold season. It's cheaper and you will have a better chance at reserving the week you want.



We needed a Gold season b/c of the kids' school schedule.  We paid more on the resale market for Gold.  I could have purchased several Platinum units for about $5K less.  It's a bummer b/c it is less StarOptions; but, I figured I would never use the StarOptions anyway.  I will only direct trade it.  I took the TUG advice and bought what we would use even though it seemed odd to pay more for Gold and less StarOptions.


----------



## JudyS (Mar 8, 2006)

tsl said:
			
		

> We needed a Gold season b/c of the kids' school schedule.  We paid more on the resale market for Gold.  I could have purchased several Platinum units for about $5K less.  It's a bummer b/c it is less StarOptions; but, I figured I would never use the StarOptions anyway.  I will only direct trade it.  I took the TUG advice and bought what we would use even though it seemed odd to pay more for Gold and less StarOptions.



It sounds to me that Starwood didn't really plan their seasons right.  The don't seem to have taken into consideration that Harborside appeals to families with school-age kids, who want to travel in summer.

Tsl, congrats on your purchase!  Can you tell me where you have been looking for Harborside resales?


----------



## jerseygirl (Mar 8, 2006)

I used to think it was a mistake -- but I now believe it was a calculated error.  Gold is 18-34 and 47-49.  That enabled Starwood to sell 20 weeks on the promise that the owner will be able to book weeks 26-33 if they call early!


----------



## tsl (Mar 15, 2006)

JudyS said:
			
		

> It sounds to me that Starwood didn't really plan their seasons right.  The don't seem to have taken into consideration that Harborside appeals to families with school-age kids, who want to travel in summer.
> 
> Tsl, congrats on your purchase!  Can you tell me where you have been looking for Harborside resales?




We used Timeshare Resales USA--Michelle Donato who did a very nice job.


----------

