# Diamond Resorts - Good Value?



## TIRWIN62 (Apr 20, 2008)

I'm a newbie to TUG and am looking for a little advice.  My wife and I used our Disney Vacation Club to trade into the Sedona Summit Resort.  We ended up going to the sales presentation, and now my wife wants to buy.  They were offering 2500 points for $8,850, which includes membership in The Club.  I know this is a small amount of points, but we generally stay in a studio Sun - Thursday to maximize points with DVC, and would most likely try to do the same with Diamond.  Wondering if most Diamond owners are happy with the company and have normally been able to get the accomodations and time of year they wanted?  Any insight would be helpful - thanks in advance.


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## JoeMid (Apr 21, 2008)

TIRWIN62 said:


> I'm a newbie to TUG and am looking for a little advice.  My wife and I used our Disney Vacation Club to trade into the Sedona Summit Resort.  We ended up going to the sales presentation, and now my wife wants to buy.  They were offering 2500 points for $8,850, which includes membership in The Club.  I know this is a small amount of points, but we generally stay in a studio Sun - Thursday to maximize points with DVC, and would most likely try to do the same with Diamond.  Wondering if most Diamond owners are happy with the company and have normally been able to get the accomodations and time of year they wanted?  Any insight would be helpful - thanks in advance.


More and better answers on Diamond Resorts International may usually be found here. They'll tell you where you can get twice as much for half the money.


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## Werner (Apr 21, 2008)

I agree with JoeMid's answer.  The other forum has a group dedicated to the Diamond system.  

FWIW - I am happy with the Diamond System but I don't know if I'd be happy with only 2500 points.  You might be able to find some good short term (less then 60 days out) weeks for 2500 points but they are usually off season when they are that low.  Will you also automatically be enrolled in Interval International also?  That would give you a lot more options.  Also, any number of points will give you access to inexpensive "Getaways" at II which are paid for with cash but generally are very reasonable.  Diamond also includes "Diamond Select" which are non-Diamond resorts which are deposited in Diamond by their owners to get Diamond points.  They are available to Diamond club members either for points or cash.  

Good Luck,

You should get a look at the Diamond book which shows the points required for any Diamond resort.  Cut the number if half for < 60 day reservations.  The fine print on each resort also discusses whether they trade weekdays only, not all do.


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## dougp26364 (Apr 21, 2008)

Keep in mind that DRI only bought out Sunterra a year ago. There's going to be change coming down the line and no one really knows for sure what that will bring. I've owned with DRI since 1998 but, they didn't have the points system Sunterra had when DRI bought them out. I've been learning how to use the system and, as it stands now, looks like a very nice, flexible system for internal exchanges and a set point value for exchange through I.I. At this moment I'm very happy with the system. 3 or 4 years from now after DRI has had a good opportunity to put their stamp on the company who knows how I'll feel. So far DRI is moving in the right direction and I'm happy we paid the $2,995 joiner fee to get our Polo Towers units into THE Club, which is DRI's internal points exchange program.


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## JoeMid (Apr 21, 2008)

If you book weekenights only in the 59 day window you can stretch 2500 points, but it's not enough.  If you need to look at point values they're offered up here.   





TIRWIN62 said:


> I'm a newbie to TUG and am looking for a little advice.  My wife and I used our Disney Vacation Club to trade into the Sedona Summit Resort.  We ended up going to the sales presentation, and now my wife wants to buy.  They were offering 2500 points for $8,850, which includes membership in The Club.  I know this is a small amount of points, but we generally stay in a studio Sun - Thursday to maximize points with DVC, and would most likely try to do the same with Diamond.  Wondering if most Diamond owners are happy with the company and have normally been able to get the accomodations and time of year they wanted?  Any insight would be helpful - thanks in advance.





Werner said:


> I agree with JoeMid's answer.  The other forum has a group dedicated to the Diamond system.
> 
> FWIW - I am happy with the Diamond System but I don't know if I'd be happy with only 2500 points.  You might be able to find some good short term (less then 60 days out) weeks for 2500 points but they are usually off season when they are that low.  Will you also automatically be enrolled in Interval International also?  That would give you a lot more options.  Also, any number of points will give you access to inexpensive "Getaways" at II which are paid for with cash but generally are very reasonable.  Diamond also includes "Diamond Select" which are non-Diamond resorts which are deposited in Diamond by their owners to get Diamond points.  They are available to Diamond club members either for points or cash.
> 
> ...


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## KforKitty (Apr 21, 2008)

I would agree with what others have said, 2,500 points is too few even as an entry point and I don't think you can rely on 'working the system' around last minute stays.  I'd say double the points (5,000) would be a reasonable start.

Kitty


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## TIRWIN62 (Apr 21, 2008)

Thanks everyone for the help on this.  The sales rep. did say we would be enrolled in I.I. and could trade into those resorts.  I figured that 2500 points was probably too little, but we were thinking of using two years worth of points at a time every other year, alternating every year with our DVC.  With our families work and school/sports schedules we normally just take one big vacation every year (I know that's not nearly enough time off - we're working on that).  I'll do a little more research and try to find a better deal on a resale when we decide to buy.


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## Bill4728 (Apr 21, 2008)

This is a very bad deal!!

If you buy in Sunterra/DRI first buy a goodly amount of point resale, then buy direct from DRI and you'll get both the resale points and the DRI points in the club.

You'll save $5,000 - $15,000 doing this.

Good Luck


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