# SVC Vino Bello, Napa



## markb53 (Jan 3, 2015)

I am current staying in the Vino Bello Resort in Napa CA. It was booked through Wyndham. I am staying in a 2 Bedroom Lockoff unit. It is comprised of a quite large 1 BR unit with a large bathroom with a large walk-in shower, plus a jetted Tub at one end of the bedroom. Also a full kitchen and dinning area with seating for 8 (6 at the table and 2 at the bar) and a living room area with pullout sofa bed and fireplace. The other part of the Lockoff is a Studio with bed, sofa bed, and partial kitchen in one room. One nice touch is that each room came with a complementary bottle of wine. I would say it is a cut above the Wyndhams I have stayed in. Very nice. 

 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## Don40 (Jan 3, 2015)

The picture looks great, similar to a presidential unit.  I tired to find a room over spring break nothing available.


----------



## markb53 (Jan 3, 2015)

Don40 said:


> The picture looks great, similar to a presidential unit.  I tired to find a room over spring break nothing available.



I'd say that is pretty accurate. It is similar to the Wyndham presidential unit I have stayed in. And the points reflect that. I'm curious if the Shell resort in say Arizona are as nice as this one is. When I picked up this one back in August, I think, there were only a few units available during January and February and within a few days they were all gone. Then a while back some showed up for July. And they were similarly gone quick. 
I live less that an hour from Vino Bello so it will be a good place to go for s weekend. Which is what I am doing now. 
Here is another picture. 




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## learnalot (Jan 3, 2015)

Hi Mark,

It looks beautiful.  Enjoy your stay.


----------



## markb53 (Jan 3, 2015)

learnalot said:


> Hi Mark,
> 
> It looks beautiful.  Enjoy your stay.



I definitely will. Thanks



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## markb53 (Jan 5, 2015)

*Shell Sales Presentation*

Well, I decided to do a sales presentation. First time in a Shell property and all. I was curious. Got $100.00 in wine coupons, good at several really good  wineries. It was easy to spend in Napa, and I did. I also got a Card that would get me a week at a Interval International property at a discount. That was not really worth anything. Basically the type of resorts and in the season that show up on RCI Last Call for less. But the free breakfast was very good. They had a chef there making omelets. The presentation was pretty painless. Started out as a group presentation, then went to the usual sales rep at a table. They took NO for an answer  pretty easily. I bit my tongue and resisted calling them out on the half truths they tell. It just makes everyone in my party uncomfortable when I do that and it just slows down the process. I just say "NO" and keep my mouth shut otherwise. We were in and out in an hour and 10 mins. Not quite a record for me but pretty close. 
It was worth it for the 4 bottles of wine I bought on Wyndham. 

Oh, I forgot one interesting thing. In the presentation, they had no idea who I was and just believed what I told them about my ownership. Every other presentation I have been to, they have always had a printout of my ownership. They didn't have that there. I guess Shell doesn't have access to the Wyndham computer system yet.

I am a little curious about how the maintenance fees for Shell work. I know from experience that you don't get to that unless your willing to stay there for hours.  I asked how much the maintenance fees were for 7000 points. All I got was, about $1500.00. Which I assume is code for more like $2000.00. I said "aren't there some other fees like a SVC program fee or a home club fee or something". "yeah", he says "that comes to about $150." . Okay sure, I'll buy that. If there is a shell owner that wants to fill me in on how the maintenance fees are calculated, I'm curious to know. 

The Napa resort was really nice and the service was great. I called the front desk cause I didn't have any dish towels. Someone showed up with some in less than a minute.
I will probably go back sometime. Maybe next time I'll use my own points instead of renting from another Wyndham owner.


----------



## spackler (Jan 5, 2015)

These "Associate Resort Locations" can only be booked by VIP owners, not resale owners, correct?


----------



## markb53 (Jan 5, 2015)

spackler said:


> These "Associate Resort Locations" can only be booked by VIP owners, not resale owners, correct?



I am not a VIP owner and I can book the Associate Resorts. The Shell Associate Resorts have very little availability, however. I believe resale owner can book the Associate Resort Locations. It is the Club Pass Resorts that you must have purchased your Wyndham ownership from Wyndham. At this point those are all the WorldMark Resort. Some of those used to be Associate Resort before they moved into Club Pass. 
I suspect that, eventually, the Shell resorts will move to Club pass and then resale owners will not be able to book into them.


----------



## vacationhopeful (Jan 5, 2015)

Hi Mark,
Have stayed March, 2014 at the Phoenix, AZ Legacy Golf Resort on my Shell points. And also during that belief time frame, I book it again using my Wyndham points for March 2015.

Your description of the unit layouts read like the Legacy resort unit's layouts --- my browser does NOT like embedded TUG pictures- it just spins forever. Yes, I just went and got the FREE Shell points for booking the AZ resorts - my brother took a job 2013 in AZ and he has very limited vacation days.

Just bite the bullet - my MFs are $1600 for 5500 points. Buy the size of points you need verses a bunch of smaller contracts (with the $299 transfer fee).


----------



## alexadeparis (Jan 6, 2015)

Price for Maintenance Fee varies by Shell club. Base price is $x for club fee, $y for first 2,000 points then $0.xx per point after that. 

Vino Bello is in the West club. I am in Hawaii club which is the most expensive, about $1800 for 7550 points (all in). So the west club is probably about $1600 or so for the equivalent. 

I have only ever stayed at one bad Shell resort, the Desert Rose in Las Vegas. avoid it like the plague unless you like rundown,noisy, poorly kept, dingy,dark units, hoes on the stroll  and street hustlers in the parking lot . Aside from that glaring exception, every other Shell resort I have been to is top notch.


----------



## Beefnot (Jan 6, 2015)

markb53 said:


> I am not a VIP owner and I can book the Associate Resorts. The Shell Associate Resorts have very little availability, however. I believe resale owner can book the Associate Resort Locations. It is the Club Pass Resorts that you must have purchased your Wyndham ownership from Wyndham. At this point those are all the WorldMark Resort. Some of those used to be Associate Resort before they moved into Club Pass.
> I suspect that, eventually, the Shell resorts will move to Club pass and then resale owners will not be able to book into them.


 

For West club, the club fee is $159.99, plus a base fee of $330.41 for the first 1350 points, and $0.1975 per point thereafter.  So alexadeparis was pretty spont on, a 7,000 point contract would be $1,606.28

For Americana, it is more expensive.  $165.00 club fee plus $321.91 for the first 1250 points (no typo, different point base), and $0.2331 per point thereafter. A 7000 point Americana contract would run $1,827.24.


----------



## markb53 (Jan 6, 2015)

Beefnot said:


> For West club, the club fee is $159.99, plus a base fee of $330.41 for the first 1350 points, and $0.1975 per point thereafter.  So alexadeparis was pretty spont on, a 7,000 point contract would be $1,606.28
> 
> For Americana, it is more expensive.  $165.00 club fee plus $321.91 for the first 1250 points (no typo, different point base), and $0.2331 per point thereafter. A 7000 point Americana contract would run $1,827.24.



Thanks Beefnot,
That is what I wanted to know. 
So Americana is the Hawaii Club?


----------



## Beefnot (Jan 6, 2015)

markb53 said:


> Thanks Beefnot,
> That is what I wanted to know.
> So Americana is the Hawaii Club?


 
No American is the "Arizona club".  I don't know the fee structure for Hawaii, but I believe it is closer to West Club, in between West and Americana.


----------



## alexadeparis (Jan 7, 2015)

Beefnot said:


> For West club, the club fee is $159.99, plus a base fee of $330.41 for the first 1350 points, and $0.1975 per point thereafter.  So alexadeparis was pretty spont on, a 7,000 point contract would be $1,606.28
> 
> For Americana, it is more expensive.  $165.00 club fee plus $321.91 for the first 1250 points (no typo, different point base), and $0.2331 per point thereafter. A 7000 point Americana contract would run $1,827.24.



Yikes! Looks like Americana club is the same as or MORE expensive than Hawaii club MF, which is counter intuitive if you ask me. Wonder what properties in that club are commanding all that maintenance?!


----------



## markb53 (Jan 7, 2015)

alexadeparis said:


> Yikes! Looks like Americana club is the same as or MORE expensive than Hawaii club MF, which is counter intuitive if you ask me. Wonder what properties in that club are commanding all that maintenance?!



And, aside from the Kona Coast resort, the Arizona resorts mostly cost more points. Which is also counter intuitive. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## Beefnot (Jan 7, 2015)

alexadeparis said:


> Yikes! Looks like Americana club is the same as or MORE expensive than Hawaii club MF, which is counter intuitive if you ask me. Wonder what properties in that club are commanding all that maintenance?!



Yes Americana has been more expensive than Hawaii.  It absolutely seems counterintuitive.  Americana has six resorts, three in AZ (Orange Tree Golf Resort, Starr Pass Golf Suites, and Legacy Golf Resort), one in Wisconsin (Little Sweden), one in NH (Crotched Mountain Resort), and one in San Antonio (Salado Creek Villas). The only thing I can think of is that AZ club has lowest demand (and the points are dumped by the thousands on ebay), and current owners are being okie doked by at least partially subsidizing the unsold points in their MFs, I dunno.


----------



## alexadeparis (Jan 7, 2015)

For the Americana resorts, maybe its the maintenance of and water bills for the golf courses that makes the MF so high? It looks like four of the six have golf courses: LS: 9 holes OT: 18 holes LG: 18 holes SP: 27 holes looks like most are PGA rated and some are celebrity designed.

OAN, I usually use my points for Little Sweden (about 3 hours away from me) and always thought I was getting screwed using Hawaii club points for the reservations. Now it looks like it is a wash, so that makes me feel better.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Jan 7, 2015)

Maybe you all could put your Shell MF's in this thread:

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220447&highlight=shell+maintenance+fees


----------



## Ironwood (May 2, 2015)

Heading to Vino Bello in a week.  Any suggestions from TUGGers for moderately priced tastings or tours?   TA has threads ranging from 'rip off' to 'avoid' for advice but haven't found any 'shouldn't miss' suggestions.  Thanks.


----------



## christye77 (May 2, 2015)

Most wine tasting rooms charge about $15 for a flight of about 4-6 wines. The tour of the Robert Mondovi winery is nice. I think it was about $30-40 per person and includes walking tour of winery grounds and wine making process and a tasting at end of tour. If they are making wine during your visit then it is worth it to see the place working.


----------



## SmithOp (May 2, 2015)

We enjoyed Castello di Amorosa, general admission tasting is $20 but we upgraded to the cheese pairing in the Il Passito room with a private steward, well worth it. The general admission was in the dungeon and very crowded.

http://www.castellodiamorosa.com/Visit-Us/General-Admission

Its a long way from VB at the other end of the valley, we drove up the west side, then cut over to the east side and returned.

We ended up buying 2 bottles of Barone at $90 a pop, one went on our 25th anniversary, this last one we will celebrate when we sell our house, its being listed this week.


Sent from my iPad using the strange new version of Tapatalk


----------



## kpeiper (May 3, 2015)

When you arrive the TS concierge will generally give you some free tasting coupons as well.  They are pretty helpful with maps and advice.


----------



## Ironwood (May 3, 2015)

Thanks for the suggestions, which I will add to my short list   But, I suppose there is no point planning my winery visits in advance as I could well find myself out voted by my wife and sister who will be joining us for a few days.  I prefer big reds and they'll be wanting to sample summer sipping whites.   I guess I'll just have to go with the flow!


----------



## Rumpled (May 4, 2015)

Ironwood said:


> Thanks for the suggestions, which I will add to my short list   But, I suppose there is no point planning my winery visits in advance as I could well find myself out voted by my wife and sister who will be joining us for a few days.  I prefer big reds and they'll be wanting to sample summer sipping whites.   I guess I'll just have to go with the flow!


You'll have better luck than the ladies. Napa Valley is all about big reds. 
Sutter Home has complimentary tastings and inexpensive wines. You can drop a lot of coin in Napa. 
Check out V Sattui, Oakville Grocery and Dean and Duluca (sp?) for good varieties of cheeses and other interesting foods. 
We're at Vino Bello and have had poor service from the front desk. Still our favorite resort. 
I'll probably describe it all later this week.


----------



## taterhed (May 4, 2015)

Rumpled said:


> You'll have better luck than the ladies. Napa Valley is all about big reds.
> Sutter Home has complimentary tastings and inexpensive wines. You can drop a lot of coin in Napa.
> Check out V Sattui, Oakville Grocery and Dean and Duluca (sp?) for good varieties of cheeses and other interesting foods.
> We're at Vino Bello and have had poor service from the front desk. Still our favorite resort.
> I'll probably describe it all later this week.



how was the reservations concerning room view?  There are clearly some 
'parking lot patios' in the complex.  Any recommendations for bldg/view request?

thanks.


----------



## SmithOp (May 4, 2015)

taterhed said:


> how was the reservations concerning room view?  There are clearly some
> 'parking lot patios' in the complex.  Any recommendations for bldg/view request?
> 
> thanks.




High floor is the best option, the ground floors are either parking lot, pool, or retaining wall.  The parking lot side has sunset views, the other side look over the pool and vineyard.  We were in building 3 furthest from the check in every time, the best unit was top floor parking side above the old sales center.  We dont care for pool side, too many shrieking kids. Building 1 closest to the restaurant / hotel is the noisiest, there is highway noise and thunking from the cars as they go over a bridge ( the expansion joint where the bridge connects to the highway). 


Sent from my iPad using the strange new version of Tapatalk


----------



## Ironwood (May 4, 2015)

SmithOp said:


> High floor is the best option, the ground floors are either parking lot, pool, or retaining wall.  The parking lot side has sunset views, the other side look over the pool and vineyard.  We were in building 3 furthest from the check in every time, the best unit was top floor parking side above the old sales center.  We dont care for pool side, too many shrieking kids. Building 1 closest to the restaurant / hotel is the noisiest, there is highway noise and thunking from the cars as they go over a bridge ( the expansion joint where the bridge connects to the highway).
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using the strange new version of Tapatalk



Thanks for this.  We check in to a two bedroom unit next week and we are three mature adults.  I'm calling the resort in the next day or two to confirm reservations and one specific request.  We are flying into LA for a couple of days then heading up 5 to Napa. I'll see if they'll accommodate your suggestions. 
We spent just a day in Napa Valley many many years ago, driving in from SF.  We just drove up the valley, and hit a few wineries in the time we had, the longest visit being at Mondavi.  I opened a Mondavi CabSav last night just to get acclimatized for the trip!  We can't bring back to Canada much more than a bottle each, as customs duties are excessive...you are better just to buy the same label here.  So we'll just have to drink up while there!


----------



## Ironwood (May 4, 2015)

Rumpled said:


> You'll have better luck than the ladies. Napa Valley is all about big reds.
> Sutter Home has complimentary tastings and inexpensive wines. You can drop a lot of coin in Napa.
> Check out V Sattui, Oakville Grocery and Dean and Duluca (sp?) for good varieties of cheeses and other interesting foods.
> We're at Vino Bello and have had poor service from the front desk. Still our favorite resort.
> I'll probably describe it all later this week.



Yes.....tastings were free as I recall, when we were last there many years ago.  Having surfed a few wineries on line, I see you can easily drop a lot of coin making the rounds.  This is a budget 16 day trip from Ontario Canada with our dollar at a 20% discount, spending a week at the resort, so I need to stretch our travel dollars as best I can.  What difficulties did you have at the resort?  Anything we should we wary of?  How is wifi connection.  I need reasonable hi-speed service to run my market trading platform which I will need to access a few minutes each day.  Thanks.


----------



## presley (May 4, 2015)

Rumpled said:


> We're at Vino Bello and have had poor service from the front desk. Still our favorite resort.
> I'll probably describe it all later this week.


Please do as I am going there for the first time later this year.


Ironwood said:


> We check in to a two bedroom unit next week and we are three mature adults.



I'd be interested in reading a trip report if you are inclined to write something up when you get back.


----------



## Ironwood (May 4, 2015)

presley said:


> Please do as I am going there for the first time later this year.
> 
> 
> I'd be interested in reading a trip report if you are inclined to write something up when you get back.



I'll provide a brief report on our visit.


----------

