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Frustrated with Starwood Vacation Ownership?

WestinOwner said:
...My suggestion - use your WLR weeks and book Atlantis Harbourside in the spring, summer or fall - and rent them out online. I do this quite successfully. You should be able to more than cover your annual maintenance fees and still have a week or more for your family to use...
Click to expand...

I just *knew* someone would recommend this strategy. Although many people do this, it is against SVN policy which states you are not allowed to rent StarOption exchanges.
 
a Tug member maytake your membership if you aregiving it away.

There aretug members who would take your timeshare if you really just want out of it as you mentioned in an earlier post.
 
Positive suggestion: Since the OP decided to buy a timeshare she does not want in lieu of spending $50k on children's' education, perhaps she can make a reservation for her children at Lagunamar. I am sure they will be appreciative. A week in the sun in Cancun may have educational benefits. I would go there more except I am helping pay for four grandchildren to go to college.

I am appreciative of all the TUGGers providing positive suggestions here. But I feel we are all being taken for a ride.
 
WestinOwner said:
My suggestion - use your WLR weeks and book Atlantis Harbourside in the spring, summer or fall - and rent them out online.
Click to expand...

Might want to be careful about suggesting that, as it's technically against the SVN rules (you can only rent out at your home resort), and there are reports that the online reservation system is now spitting out a warning to this effect when you make a StarOptions reservation...
 
Bad element

No one is asking you to post here. I never approached you to intervene. You made a choice to type few sentences and waste your time here, take responsibility for it. Don't blame me for taking a ride on you.
or Are you just a bad element of the society where you have to spread negativity only because you are probably hurting in your own life. I do not wish to read your comments so you can say all the trash its all on you and reflects back upon you. May you find peace.




Rsauer3473 said:
Positive suggestion: Since the OP decided to buy a timeshare she does not want in lieu of spending $50k on children's' education, perhaps she can make a reservation for her children at Lagunamar. I am sure they will be appreciative. A week in the sun in Cancun may have educational benefits. I would go there more except I am helping pay for four grandchildren to go to college.

I am appreciative of all the TUGGers providing positive suggestions here. But I feel we are all being taken for a ride.
Click to expand...
 
As others have suggested:
1. Book both units for the last week of the year.
2. List these rentals on both on TugBBS and on RedWeek. The fee to list on both is nominal.
3. Price them competitively. Use RedWeek as a frame of reference to see how much you can get.
4. Assuming you rent out a coveted week, you should be able to make an annual profit off of your WLR ownership. Use these proceeds to finance the vacation that best suits your needs and desires.

I did last year - split my 2BR lockoff up, rented the studio for more than my annual maintenance. The rental amount covers our airfare cost to Cancun for President's Week, and then some.

Good luck.
 
Folks - any further unpleasant off-topic posts will be deleted from this thread.

Let's focus on the TOPIC - please.
 
Interesting that the subject line, "Frustrated with Starwood Vacation Ownersip" must have struck a chord with a lot of people, because I just noticed there have been over 2,300 eyeballs on this thread in only two days...
 
Frustrated with Starwood Ownership

So today I learnt the reason why voluntary resorts have no resale value. I learnt that if I resell it to someone, Starwood does not allow me to transfer my Star Options to the new buyer. They only have access to the villa which they can use among 19 villas within the network during the same reason as the villa or exchange at II.

This is crazy, I had no clue. I also learnt in the resale case of mandatory and voluntary resort, the choice to convert StarOptions to Starpoints is not offered. But i think lot of people don't mind this probably because of poor conversion value.
 
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That is correct - have you been reading our FAQ at the top of the page?
 
Frustrated with Starwood Ownership

Can anyone help me in figuring out about II exchange? I want to know if i can use my banked StarOptions to exchange into II? Am I too early looking to make II resort reservation for end of March or beginning of April 2016?
 
neeson7981 said:
Can anyone help me in figuring out about II exchange? I want to know if i can use my banked StarOptions to exchange into II? Am I too early looking to make II resort reservation for end of March or beginning of April 2016?
Click to expand...

You can't use banked Staroptions - you must use a week you haven't banked.

It is never too early to put in an on-going search with II - in fact, it's recommended. We have a FAQ for that, too.
 
I have no idea as how to use II. How do I convert my week and how do i submit the request? I am assuming once the week is submitted for exchange, its gone and won't be returned to my account at Starwood? Sorry if its silly question
 
neeson7981 said:
I have no idea as how to use II. How do I convert my week and how do i submit the request? I am assuming once the week is submitted for exchange, its gone and won't be returned to my account at Starwood? Sorry if its silly question
Click to expand...

Look at the FAQ at the top of the forum...
 
Question on II

I created a web profile on II. The first thing I saw the units available to deposit.

Here is what i read written below my weeks:
Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort - P Plus - what does this mean?
WL 3 (with logo of leaf) - whats the significance of this?
Unit 2 bed - 52wk ( what does 52wk mean here)
Lock-off capable
Then it asks me to select the year 2015, or 2016.

Can you please advise?
 
sorry to spam it here but when i logged in I found this certificate which is expiring Feb 10, 2015. What can i do with this?

All confirmations are made on a space available basis and no guarantee is made that any specific request can be confirmed. The redemption of the Accommodation Certificate is subject to certain terms and conditions. A redemption fee will be required.

This Certificate cannot be combined nor used in conjunction with any other certificate or fee waiver certificate.

All other terms and conditions of individual membership, exchange and flex change must be adhered to.

This certificate must be completed prior to the expiration date FEBRUARY 10, 2015.


This certificate has no cash value.
 
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These have very limited use - II uses them to get rid of extra inventory in areas with over supply.

In other words, you can only use them for the exchanges that they list. If you click on the link in the certificate, it will show you a chart of available exchanges.

It is about to expire: Feb. 10

I usually let them expire.
 
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That "certificate" is probably a bonus certificate. II periodically gives it out to people. If you can use it to get a cheap vacation, great. If not, don't sweat letting it expire.

Good luck neeson. I read this whole thread and feel for you. One thing - before trying to trade for a week on the interval website, you may need to call Starwood (svowner?) to "assign" your week to II for trade.

-j
 
neeson7981 said:
I created a web profile on II. The first thing I saw the units available to deposit.

Here is what i read written below my weeks:
Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort - P Plus - what does this mean?

I think this means "platinum plus". Its the week you own.

WL 3 (with logo of leaf) - whats the significance of this?

I think some timeshares have a "leaf" designation that means its beter than the average timeshare. Sort of a mark of distinction.

Unit 2 bed - 52wk ( what does 52wk mean here)

Not sure - probably just means that within iI's system, your week is considered as good as any other week

Lock-off capable
Then it asks me to select the year 2015, or 2016.

I believe its the 2015 week youre trying to trade, right?

Oh, and by the way, you should try to reserve your home resort for 2016 at the one-year mark. Set an iphone alert or something. That way youll have a guaranteed reservation for 2016.

Can you please advise?
Click to expand...

Again good luck. Im not an expert by any means but hopefully if i tell you something wrong someone will correct me.
 
I bought a Marriot, not from the developer but from resale but also had some buyers remorse when I learned it was nearly impossible to book a spring break week. Here on Tug I have learned valuable lessons on how to get the most out of the TS for both Marriot and starwood. One of the best lessons learned was about the starwood american express card. The owner can use it to pay MF, expenses, and earn points. The points can be transfered to a variety of travel rewards programs, for both airfare, rental cars etc which lessens our travel costs. I just returned from Portugal and used my starwood points to book 5 days at the sheraton in Lisbon. It is a nice perk, and any charges at a starwood facility earn double points. I know I may sound like an Ad, but my family has made the most of the TS systen and it's associated travel benefits. For those weeks banked, or not used I have been donating vacations to my daughters school for their fundraising auction. I have used the "almost" useless AC from II to book weeks to donate. This year I split my MCV lockoff, and used the lockoff to exchange for a week in July at the Marriot Ocean Club (1 Bedroom!) :rofl: for an employees honeymoon through II. II costs you a little money on exchanges but you definitely can get creative, and if you learn the systems, the systems can work for you. Hope is not lost, although it may feel like quite a bit of money is. I am a relative newbie, but Denise (the evil genius) was very helpful when I first started too!
 
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