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purchased grand luxxe yesterday, question- should I keep or rescind

seema

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Grand Luxxe residence club loft pre-construction NV -originlal price before fees and taxes $143K. Reduced by 2/3 through redemption of other timeshares. This is a red week.

Two loft one-bedroom units for 100 years, and third one for 10 yrs, Most reviews on the resort itself on tug or elsewhere quite good; most posts on sales pitch or customer service or on amenities and perks not so goo.

MIne include the Ambassador program, ability to accrue weeks, 2 Vida weeks for life, 2000 vida dollars, 2 year lifestyle concierge, 1 year registry collections membership.

Can exchange weeks through 2 for 1 or get upgrade through SFX. Free diamond SFX membership for two years.
Closest thing to maintenance fee is usage fee which gets? Reimbursed through a travel account.

Must pay usage fee every other year for the 10 yr unit.
Must pay usage fee? Every 10 years for each of the 2 loft units
I do not think that these fees get reimbursed to the travel accont.
 
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Karen G

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Once owned these: FirstFairway@Walden X 2; Lawai Beach; ManhattanClub; PuebloBonitoRose; 4 South Africa--now timeshare-free
Grand Luxxe residence club loft pre-construction NV -originlal price before fees and taxes $143K. Reduced by 2/3 through redemption of other timeshares.
If you have any questions whatsoever about whether or not you should rescind, RESCIND while you have the chance. Once the rescission period passes you won't have that option again. But, you will have unlimited opportunities to buy after you do more research and know exactly what you are getting yourself into.

If the $143K price was reduced by 2/3, are you saying you are paying about $47,000? Are you paying cash or are you financing this purchase?
 

Sugarcubesea

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I paid one-third down payment and rest oncredit at 10 percent interest.

Rescind, If you have to finance this purchase you really should not do this... You can always buy this deal later...
 

seema

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My quests are on all benefits. How useful is each benefit?

I can ask a question on each and every benefit - what have tug members have found is the practical value of each benefit listed?

I am surprised that they give free membership in 2 exchange companies for one and two year respectivly rather than permanently. I was hoping to exchange over half the time rather than stay at the resort. I presume the loft is considered a studio unit for exchange purposes.
 

Jason245

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If you paid more than 1 dollar you overpaid. . Get out while you can.

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GrayFal

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My quests are on all benefits. How useful is each benefit?

I can ask a question on each and every benefit - what have tug members have found is the practical value of each benefit listed?

I am surprised that they give free membership in 2 exchange companies for one and two year respectivly rather than permanently. I was hoping to exchange over half the time rather than stay at the resort. I presume the loft is considered a studio unit for exchange purposes.

Don't assume anything. Especially about exchanging.



We have met people at the pool who were also told they would be given "credit" for the other timeshares and that they would no longer own them. That never happened.

I suggest you rescind within your 5 day (Mexico) time frame and do some more research. I have a friend who purchased Grand Luxxe 2BR about 7 years ago and they are very unhappy.

Think long and hard about purchase but once your 5 days have passed, you are stuck forever.
 

seema

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I did bring up the comments posted on tug when we purchased the unit.

Their response is that unhappy people will always post but the vast majority of owners are happy and they will not post. If most owners were unhappy, why would they be making such profis and expandung such as building a Cirque du Soleil theme park at M.V. location.

They also quote that AAA 's only 5 diamond reward to a vacation club is the Grand Luxxe at N.V.
 

Jason245

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I did bring up the comments posted on tug when we purchased the unit.

Their response is that unhappy people will always post but the vast majority of owners are happy and they will not post. If most owners were unhappy, why would they be making such profits and expanding such as building a Cirque du Soleil theme park at N.V. location.

They also quote that AAA 's only 5 diamond reward to a vacation club is the Grand Luxxe at N.V.
Wait... you read tug.. have seen or read all the articles that indicate the pitfalls of buying from a developer, fully understand your obligations as an owner and are still questioning whether or not you should keep it?



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GrayFal

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I did bring up the comments posted on tug when we purchased the unit.

Their response is that unhappy people will always post but the vast majority of owners are happy and they will not post. If most owners were unhappy, why would they be making such profis and expandung such as building a Cirque du Soleil theme park at M.V. location.

They also quote that AAA 's only 5 diamond reward to a vacation club is the Grand Luxxe at N.V.

Seema, I just went to Redweek and looked up Grand Luxxe NV. 3 BR 2.5 Bath asking 10-15K
http://www.redweek.com/posting/R494526

If you REALLY want to own there, do some homework, see what transfers with change in ownership and then buy resale.

Good Luck with your decision.
 

Jason245

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Are there any happy tug owners of vidanta resort units out there?


Are you asking if people are happy visiting the resort or happy owning at the resort.

You indicated that you plan on exchanging at least half of the time.

Based on rough math you spent ~$50k to buy at a property that you don't even plan on staying at more than half the time for EXCHANGE purposes. On top of that you will have your MF costs.

My understanding is that the terms of those contracts make it next to impossible to sell or get rid of even if you were trying to give it away.

Let me put this another way:

Imagine you are staying at the resort and there are two units right next to eachother. Both are IDENTICAL in every way, except that the person in the unit on the right paid $50k and the person on the left paid next to nothing.

Are you ok being the person on the right or would you rather be the person on the left?
 

gmarine

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The OP is a TUG member for 10 years is asking if spending $50K on a unit in Mexico is a good deal ? And financing at 10% ? Rescind and stop thinking about it. A timeshare purchase doesnt get much worse than this one.
 

silentg

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Grand Luxxe residence club loft pre-construction NV -originlal price before fees and taxes $143K. Reduced by 2/3 through redemption of other timeshares. This is a red week.

Two loft one-bedroom units for 100 years, and third one for 10 yrs, Most reviews on the resort itself on tug or elsewhere quite good; most posts on sales pitch or customer service or on amenities and perks not so goo.

MIne include the Ambassador program, ability to accrue weeks, 2 Vida weeks for life, 2000 vida dollars, 2 year lifestyle concierge, 1 year registry collections membership.

Can exchange weeks through 2 for 1 or get upgrade through SFX. Free diamond SFX membership for two years.
Closest thing to maintenance fee is usage fee which gets? Reimbursed through a travel account.


Wait! What is meant by redemption of other timeshares? Did they take other timeshared in exchange for new deal? How many timeshares were redeamed?
Are you satisfied with what you bought? If you recind do you have to take back the timeshares you redeemed?
Silentg
 
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T-Dot-Traveller

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Reasons to buy- or not

Are you asking if people are happy visiting the resort or happy owning at the resort.

You indicated that you plan on exchanging at least half of the time.

Based on rough math you spent ~$50k to buy at a property that you don't even plan on staying at more than half the time for EXCHANGE purposes. On top of that you will have your MF costs.

My understanding is that the terms of those contracts make it next to impossible to sell or get rid of even if you were trying to give it away.

Let me put this another way:

Imagine you are staying at the resort and there are two units right next to eachother. Both are IDENTICAL in every way, except that the person in the unit on the right paid $50k and the person on the left paid next to nothing.

Are you ok being the person on the right or would you rather be the person on the left?

Jason brings up good points as do others .

more thoughts

Is the " trade in " written as an addendum to the contract - stipulating that the deal does not close until .. the transfer out of your name occurs .
If your trading in a Marriott I am sure it goes through but if it is no name resort xyz you better make sure this promise is in writing .
There are TUG threads on this - re Vidanta resorts and it seems (now) that they do have a legit system in place to wholesale used TS - but make sure you have details IN THE CONTRACT .

Their are some who always say " don't buy from the developer " and it generally makes sense - but Vidanta has been structuring contracts so that benefits do not transfer on resale and the " pay on use only" clause is a benefit.
That said - you list Ottawa as home so I will presume you want to be in Mexico Jan / Feb - how far in advance can you book your 3 weeks ? I would want min. 1 year in the contract .
TUG poster MIKENK who upgraded to Grand Luxxe about ? 2010 has said he made sure that an addendum in his contract states that one of his "100" year weeks takes on all the benefits of the 10 year " residence" week after it expires.
I believe he also has it listed in his contract how this can then be transferred
to family ( children) with out incurring a contract transfer fee ,< most Vidanta contracts are now 10 x MF if sold ( to discourage E Bay $1 sales)>
With this in place- you have bought 100 ( its really cold in Ottawa ) weeks at a per week cost of $ 470 Prepaid + MF / usage fee when used .If you or your heirs use it for 100 yrs.
ie You do not want to find out that after the 10 year week expires that the resort only lets you book the (2) 100 year weeks - 45 days out - which means May & June are available ( not Jan /Feb) and at that time of year you would rather be at your cottage in the Ottawa River Valley drinking a Labatt 50. ( and you paid $ 5000 USD per week for 10 -Jan/ Feb usable weeks )

The Vida dollar thing has been discussed on TUG and while they have some use value it is unclear how much of their existence is just so the TS sales force has another "benefit" to sell ( and confuse ) . I am not sure what " Ambassador " program is ?- perhaps a GL owner who has it can explain.

Some have posted " that buying Grand Luxxe to trade means your always trading down " and / or paying a higher MF to trade somewhere with a lesser. MF

Since Vidanta is RTU and is structured so that the developer is not competing with resales{see above} - ask yourself how many guaranteed PRIME TIME weeks am I partially prepaying now and at what cost- and can I use them -- or is trading , renting etc to get to that resort system occasionally a better option .

for disclosure <I own Mayan Palace (1+ VF wk pre 2010 contract) with the " no go -no pay" / 5% max increase MF/yr renew 25 yr / extra reno MF every 5 yr .- all good > bought from the developer before I found TUG - that said -if I had bought used some of those benefits do not transfer .

If you rescind - DO NOT TALK TO SALES -
 
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pittle

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seema - the resort is awesome, but some of those 'perks" may not be. Hubby & I chose not to upgrade to Loft units last year. We did not see any value in the Vida Weeks, Dollars and Travel Club. We were also skeptical of them "renting out some of your weeks for you" They seemed to apply those $ to discounting the price you actually pay them for the purchase or upgrade. I know some folks who do have the Vida $ deal, and it is kind of a shopping club. My friend said he got some great headphones at a good price. His wife was not so sure. The deal with that is that you pay your MF and they give you points (Vida $) like a credit card does and you can use those to shop on their site with. Key is - to get the $/points, you must pay your MF.

The pay MF every other year was new to me. Most have been that you do not pay unless you go.

Mayan World has always done a 1 or 2 year pre-paid exchange company and then you are on your own. I think when they first did Registry Collection, they did 5 years. We did not renew because we do not exchange very often. With SFX, those bonus weeks are nice, but some are expensive - depending on where you want to go. I have not deposited my GL, but did my PBEB. I will use it next year to go somewhere or send my kids on a vacation.

The key is to READ all of the fine print everywhere. Then make your decision. Even as a long time Mayan World owner, I had to go back to and ask questions and get the answers in writing.

Only you can decide it this is what you really want. I do agree that if you have to finance it, you might want to reconsider. You will never get your money out of it. (Someone posted that you can by one for around $15,000, and I would be surprised if they sold it because you have to pay 10 current MF to get it into your name.)

Depending on how old you are, you will need to figure that you might use it 20-30 years, so you are paying $1500-2000 per year BEFORE paying any MF for each week of vacation. MF on a Loft unit are pretty high, so before you even step into the unit you have exchanged into, you will have spent about $4000 (not counting airfare).

You will most likely still own those timeshares that you traded in.

After 25 years of timesharing, our motto is "Buy where you want to go, and go there". We have done the exchange thing, but like specific resorts and we love to go to those, so we made a point to buy units in those resorts - whether resale or from the developer.
 

DeniseM

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The financing is a deal killer: Rescind

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tschwa2

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Vida makes sure you can't buy a similar product resale. This also means what you buy will have $0 resale value. Not true about your Marriott Hawaii unit and trust points that you traded in.

I wouldn't trust the smoke and mirrors about paying usage fees through travel account. YOu will pay when you use it.

If you want to go rent from an owner. You may pay a little more than usage fees but you will save a lot from the buy in fee and still get the perks.

Sell your current TS and use that money toward renting if you want. Exchanging through SFX or registry collection would be a very bad use of Luxxe unit.
 

LannyPC

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Grand Luxxe residence club loft pre-construction NV -originlal price before fees and taxes $143K. Reduced by 2/3 through redemption of other timeshares. This is a red week.

Once you rescind, think about what you will do with the nearly $47,000 you saved, not to mention the interest that you would have paid. On top of that (I see you are a fellow Canadian), think of what that works out to with the exchange rate. You're now looking at around $63,000 CDN dollars plus interest! And, without speculating, who knows what the exchange rate will be 10 years down the road. All your MFs and possible special assessments will be in USD.

I will emphatically repeat what others have said. Rescind! Take the time to think about your purchase. The fact that you are coming on these boards asking about your purchase shows that you are unsure. If you are unsure about a $47,000 purchase, rescind while you have the very limited, one-time only opportunity to do so. Remember, there will always be the same deal down the road if, after taking plenty of time to analyze this purchase, you decide to take on this deal.
 

drguy

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Are there any happy tug owners of vidanta resort units out there?

My wife and I are happy Vidanta owners of a unit just like the OP purchased. There are a lot of exaggerations in the "updates" when we attend, but we now have a dedicated salesman, so he knows how not to annoy us.
Yes, we overpaid for what we have, but enjoyment is not just about money. For us, trading in our other timeshares and not having those required mf's has saved us more than we paid for our latest purchase.
Yes, the other timeshares were transferred out of our names and sold by the transfer company, but I had to keep in contact with the transfer company to make sure that it happened.
If in doubt, rescind. Otherwise, enjoy your new purchase.
 

DeniseM

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IMNSHO - There is no timeshare on the face of the earth that should be financed at 10%.

If you can't pay cash, then pass on it, and buy something that is affordable for you.
 

John Cummings

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Are there any happy tug owners of vidanta resort units out there?

We are very happy with the Vidanta resorts in Nuevo Vallarta and Riviera Maya having spent several weeks at both resorts. They are our favorite resorts by far.

However we are not owners and have always exchanged into the resorts with SFX. I would never buy any TS resort in Mexico. They have beautiful resorts but are very easy to exchange into.

If you want to visit the Vidanta resorts as well as others then buy a good quality resort with good trading power like Coastal California resorts.
 

tschwa2

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Per other posts the OP owns Marriott's Ko olina and destination points. He can exchange in through SFX or II but would lose the perks of ownership. He could also probably rent what he has and then rent a Luxxe unit from an owner.
 
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