Question about Mexican resorts

[kerkev]

Is there any area in Mexico that's not safe? We are looking for a timeshare. When the resale timeshare states $550.00 for maintenance fee for usage and also maintenance fee the same price what does that mean? Do you pay that for annual fee and an additional cost when you use it?? I'm confused. Thank you Suzanne

 

[Passepartout]

Is there any area in Mexico that's not safe? We are looking for a timeshare. When the resale timeshare states $550.00 for maintenance fee for usage and also maintenance fee the same price what does that mean? Do you pay that for annual fee and an additional cost when you use it?? I'm confused. Thank you Suzanne

The thread you refer to is from 2006, and you ask several questions. First, yes, there are unsafe places in Mexico. As well as in the USA and many other places in the world. Generally, the border areas of Mexico are good places to avoid right now. Again, generally, the resort areas have increased police and military presence and are safer for tourists.

Second, Maintenance fees and use fees are one and the same at ones's 'home' resort. If you exchange your week from your home resort to another one, there will be additionally an exchange fee, membership in an exchange compnay (RCI or II typically) on top of the MF. Clearer?

Jim Ricks

 

[kerkev]

The thread you refer to is from 2006, and you ask several questions. First, yes, there are unsafe places in Mexico. As well as in the USA and many other places in the world. Generally, the border areas of Mexico are good places to avoid right now. Again, generally, the resort areas have increased police and military presence and are safer for tourists.

Second, Maintenance fees and use fees are one and the same at ones's 'home' resort. If you exchange your week from your home resort to another one, there will be additionally an exchange fee, membership in an exchange compnay (RCI or II typically) on top of the MF. Clearer?

Jim Ricks

Thanks for explaining. I'm very new at this so I'll be asking lots of questions. Much clearer.

 

[Passepartout]

Suzanne, you may want to look over the threads in the 'Newbies' forum. Also try out the search function in the blue stripe near the top of this and every page. Most every question you could possibly have has been covered at one time or another.

If no one has said it before, Welcome to TUG.

Jim

 

[Karen G]

Suzanne, I've separated your questions into a new thread of its own since you initially posted to a thread from 2006. There is a sticky post at the top of the Mexico forum that deals with safety and you can find it here.

 

[easyrider]

There are many resorts that you can buy into in Mexico. For us it was important to be able to go to more than one location without extra cost and that the resort we bought from is from the USA.

Villa del Palmar resorts is part of UVC ( Universal Vaction Club) based in San Diego CA. and has seven locations in Mexico. www.myuvc.com

Worldmark is based in the USA and has 57+ resorts with some owned WM resorts in Mexico. Worldmark trades into most of the resorts in Mexico and internationally it is a good trader.
https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/

You can get both of these on Ebay for very little. VDP are going for $1.00 and WM is less about $2500.00 for 6000 points.

 

[DeniseM]

Owning in another country can be complicated and confusing, and you don't have the same protection of the law as you do in the US.

Mexico is a VERY easy place to exchange into with a US timeshare, and it's inexpensive to rent there, so I wouldn't buy in Mexico.

Instead, I'd buy a US timeshare, that I would enjoy owning, and use it to trade into Mexico.

My advice for buying your first timeshare - click here

Here are some questions to ask yourself before you buy - you can click the quote button and respond to them if you wish:

New buyer questions:

1) Where do you want your home resort to be?

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

4) How many people do you usually travel with?

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?

8) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?

9) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?

10) Are you a detail-oriented planner?

11) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?

 

[John Cummings]

I agree with Denise 100%. We have spent 20 timeshare weeks in Cancun, Riviera Maya, Nuevo Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan all on exchanges. You can exchange into the top resorts like the Grand Luxxe. I am not going to touch the safety issue. That is a hot button issue that has been discussed over and over on many different threads.

 

[kerkev]

There are many resorts that you can buy into in Mexico. For us it was important to be able to go to more than one location without extra cost and that the resort we bought from is from the USA.

Villa del Palmar resorts is part of UVC ( Universal Vaction Club) based in San Diego CA. and has seven locations in Mexico. www.myuvc.com

Worldmark is based in the USA and has 57+ resorts with some owned WM resorts in Mexico. Worldmark trades into most of the resorts in Mexico and internationally it is a good trader.
https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/

You can get both of these on Ebay for very little. VDP are going for $1.00 and WM is less about $2500.00 for 6000 points.

How many weeks a year do you get with UVC AND Worldmark? We like to go away 3x a year to the Caribbean. See the point system screws me up. How many days do you get with 6000 pts? Suzanne

 

[DeniseM]

Suzanne - How many days you get with 6,000 points depends on the resort, unit size, season, etc. Visit the TUG Wyndham board for expert help.

 

[easyrider]

How many weeks a year do you get with UVC AND Worldmark? We like to go away 3x a year to the Caribbean. See the point system screws me up. How many days do you get with 6000 pts? Suzanne

UVC owns the Villa del Palmar Puerto Vallarta, Villa del Mar- PV, Villa del Palmar Flamigos - Nuevo Vallarta, Villa del Palmar- Cabo, Villa del Arco-Cabo, Villa del Palmar- Cancun and Villa del Palmar -Loreto. This is not a point system. It is better to buy a floating winter week. There are 4 types of memberships. It is best not to buy a fixed week membership. The other memberships are "Premiere" , "Gold" and Villa Access Points.

With our 4 Premiere weeks we could stay 16 weeks in one year, in a really nice one bed, two bath unit for about $8000.00.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135084&highlight=villa+palmar

Worldmark is a really stong trader and is a point system membership. It takes 10,000 points to get a two bed unit in red season at most resorts. With a 6000 point membership you can buy points from other members to rent as many rooms as you need. We have two memberships here so we can take advantage of bonus time. This summer we have 9 two bed units rented for August in Seaside Oregon.

Point cost to Worldmark owners on ebay is about 6 - 8 cents a point.


Here is the resort gallery. https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/resorts/

Worldmark owners can call and instantly see inventory with RCI and Interval International. The big advantage for us is we can drive to many of the WM resorts.

Both UVC and WM are based in the USA with inventory in Mexico.


Im not sure I would buy at an all Mexican owned resort which most of them are. I would not buy any timeshare that doesn't have some other benifits such as staying at more than one location. Trading and renting is really easy with Mexican resorts right now with renting giving you a better owners unit verus trading where you might get a parking lot view.

Before a person buys into a resort they should actually visit it at the very least. imo

 

[easyrider]

Denise and John, do you folks even go to Mexico anymore ? Do either of you have a TS in Mexico ? I was just wondering as some of your other posts sugest you don't own or travel to mexico anymore.

 

[DeniseM]

I have traveled to Mexico in the past, but my DH won't go any more - he is concerned about safety. My DH has made lots of trips to Mexico on business in the past - I've only been twice.

I will probably take some trips in the future with my adult daughter, and I'll trade in through II. I'm a Starwood owner, and I'd like to visit the new Starwood resort in Cancun some day.

 

[pgnewarkboy]

Buying into Mexico used to be fine. I think, however, that Mexico is engaged in a de facto civil war. You don't really know where the next disaster will occur. From what I read the government is corrupt everywhere in Mexico. The drug cartels are more powerful than the police.

 

[easyrider]

Buying into Mexico used to be fine. I think, however, that Mexico is engaged in a de facto civil war. You don't really know where the next disaster will occur. From what I read the government is corrupt everywhere in Mexico. The drug cartels are more powerful than the police.

And you know this from your last visit ? When was your last trip to Mexico ? My last visit about a month ago tells me otherwise and I felt very safe every where I went, even at night.

 

[KarenLK]

I just returned from 6 weeks in Puerto Vallarta and always felt safe. I spoke to many Mexican locals and they think we are all crazy to have these worries.

 

[PigsDad]

Some people only believe what they hear on the main stream media. "Shock" stories sell, boring truth does not.

No skin off my back -- just leaves more availability for me whn I take my family there.

Kurt

 

[John Cummings]

Denise and John, do you folks even go to Mexico anymore ? Do either of you have a TS in Mexico ? I was just wondering as some of your other posts sugest you don't own or travel to mexico anymore.

The last timeshare visit we did to Mexico was 2 weeks in April, 2009 at the Grand Mayan - Riviera Maya. I have said over and over I would NEVER buy a timeshare in Mexico. All of our 20 weeks we spent there were exchanges. Prior to our visit in 2009, we went almost every year for 2 weeks at a timeshare resort at the places in my earlier post. We don't have any desire to do any more timeshare vacations in Mexico.

Interspersed with our timeshare vacations are many trips to visit family in Mexico.

As you know I have a lot of ties to Mexico.

 

[John Cummings]

Buying into Mexico used to be fine. I think, however, that Mexico is engaged in a de facto civil war. You don't really know where the next disaster will occur. From what I read the government is corrupt everywhere in Mexico. The drug cartels are more powerful than the police.

That is very true.

 

[bjones9942]

I disagree with Denise. If Mexico is where you want to go, then buy there! Yes, it is inexpensive to rent a nice hotel room, but the maintenance fees are also inexpensive as well. I could not rent for what my maintenance fees are. I also don't plan on ever trading, so what's the point in buying a U.S. timeshare?

Let me just give a brief breakdown:

U.S. Timeshare maintenance fees: $900
RCI/II Membership: $125 (?)

Trade to Mexico = 1000+

Mexico Timeshare maintenance fees: < $500

Really - if you're buying a timeshare because you love one area and want to save a few $$$ over time, then buy where you want to go (resale - don't buy from the resort!!!). If you want to pay-to-play the trading game then buy something with strong trading power.

And to the OP, When you 'buy' in Mexico (in costal cities) you are not buying property, but the 'right to use' the resort. Mexico has laws about non-nationals owning property.

 

[siesta]

ya, especially with mexican resorts with 1 in 4 rules like pueblo bonitos in cabo. If you want to stay there every spring break or during peak times, it may be harder in the future to trade into, or you may be blocked if you don't own there. but buy resale!

 

[pjrose]

U.S. Timeshare maintenance fees: $900
RCI/II Membership: $125 (?)

Trade to Mexico = 1000+

Mexico Timeshare maintenance fees: < $500

Maintenance fees at the Royal Resorts are more in the $850+ range...I don't remember the latest, but around that.

Nonetheless, they are my favorite place to be!

 

[DeniseM]

Maintenance fees at the Royal Resorts are more in the $850+ range...I don't remember the latest, but around that.

Nonetheless, they are my favorite place to be!

Yes, and there are US timeshares with MF lower than $850 that will trade in.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Or you can trade a quality, owner-controlled timeshare with maintenance fees of ~$550 for three Mexican weeks through SFX - getting the main week and two bonus weeks. All of those weeks can be used during peak periods without any problem, and will be Mayan Palace quality or above.

 

[pgnewarkboy]

And you know this from your last visit ? When was your last trip to Mexico ? My last visit about a month ago tells me otherwise and I felt very safe every where I went, even at night.

I have visited Mexico numerous times and on occasion felt that I was not safe. You definitely don't want to deal with police in Mexico. Even in Cancun. Every place in the world has its dangerous areas where you might be subjected to criminal behavior. It is much worse when the criminal behavior is by the police.

Mexico has some beautiful resorts. Staying on resort grounds is probably very safe. Venturing off resort becomes riskier. I was advised that over 15 years ago on my first trip to Cancun. We were specifically warned about renting a car and driving to one of the ruins ourselves. Particularly if we did not make it back before dark. We took a tour with a group instead of going by ourselves. That was 15 years ago and things have gotten worse. We have returned to Mexico several times since then and stayed on resort grounds without a problem.

Mexico has beautiful resorts and the people are generally very easy to like. What is happening there is a real shame. I wouldn't want to own a place outside the U.S , however, where I can't trust the government to provide for my safety.