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Hilton Grand Vacation Management

jabberwocky

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I fully agree the BLVD is not walkable - especially at night. The main reason I requested the Elara was because I am genuinely curious about the property (I’ve never stayed there) and want to learn more about the HGVC system as I’m considering a purchase there (resale of course) and unsure whether Elara would be a better fit than the BLVD. We were going to be staying in Vegas anyways for that Thanksgiving long-weekend so the “free” accommodations made this a win-win.

We’ve owned in the Vistana system for many years now and I think HGVC would be a good compliment to our existing portfolio - particularly as my BIL owns a timeshare in Vegas and we’ve been spending a bit more time down there.

This coming weekend be my fourth trip to Vegas in the past 12 months - so I’ve had plenty of exposure to the strip lately. To be honest most of my time on that November stay will be with my in-laws (my parents have agreed to babysit the kids!). Our in-laws will be staying at the Grandview and I plan on doing some hiking in Valley of Fire so we will need a car anyways. I’m pretty good at finding free strip parking for when we’ll be hitting some shows.

Like I said - not the end of the world but it doesn’t leave me with a good feeling about the company overall. Perhaps I should stop by the Elara sales office and ask to speak to the manager this Sunday. Just not sure whether it is worth the effort and time. :ponder:

It was interesting to note that the agent I spoke with this week said that there was a note from when the package was sold that the Elara was the preferred location - so they were aware of it - they just are choosing not to honor it.


I would not be as happy with the outcome as you are and I will explain why. This thread started with a member being given the Doubletree instead of the HHV for their stay in Honolulu for their presentation. While that was a disappointment, it is a very short easy walk from the Doubletree to the HHV. However, the difference between staying at the Boulevard Resort rather than the Elara is great. We stay at the Elara all the time without a car. The Elara is in Planet Hollywood in the Center Strip with easy walking to so many of the major hotels and the ability with a longer walk particularly at night to great areas a little North and South of the Center Strip. We don't view the Boulevard as walkable to most of the strip, and since there is a large area with no activity South of the Boulevard Resort it might not be walkable at all at night.
 

jabberwocky

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What troubles me is that while they don’t control the inventory my other request (1 year use) was noted and honoured without me having to ask. They could also see that the original request had been for the Elara. The sales agent put me on hold for a lengthy period of time to talk to a manager. I bought the package in December and then booked during the first week of January with no apparent issues.

I only called in this week as I’m looking to book flights and I wasn’t able to log in to view our package details (I always verify the hotel dates and locations before booking flights) - turns out the agents mistyped our last name so the system could not match our confirmation number (despite me being a Honors Gold member for many years).

As I mention in my other post - it won’t derail our plans too badly as we were going to be there anyways. Just leaves a bitter taste for HGVC.

Since the phone sales people don't have control over the inventory, unless they have been given the units to market like "the next six months at the HGVC on the Boulevard" which was the initial offer, there is probably nothing that can be done. When I make travel plans they are usually far in advance and for an extended period of time so canceling the 3 night stay for this promotion could disturb my other plans and cost me more if I canceled. I would rethink my entire vacation plan and make my decision on what I would do based on what I wanted to do for my entire trip.
 

Tamaradarann

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What troubles me is that while they don’t control the inventory my other request (1 year use) was noted and honoured without me having to ask. They could also see that the original request had been for the Elara. The sales agent put me on hold for a lengthy period of time to talk to a manager. I bought the package in December and then booked during the first week of January with no apparent issues.

I only called in this week as I’m looking to book flights and I wasn’t able to log in to view our package details (I always verify the hotel dates and locations before booking flights) - turns out the agents mistyped our last name so the system could not match our confirmation number (despite me being a Honors Gold member for many years).

As I mention in my other post - it won’t derail our plans too badly as we were going to be there anyways. Just leaves a bitter taste for HGVC.

It is great that this is not derailing your plans.

The salesman and sales manager did what they had to to get the sale. We all have experienced this with the timeshare industry as well as in other industries. The sales people may not be HGVC employees but a contractor marketing the timeshare presentations. Many timeshare companies and destination clubs use marketing firms for the booking so they only pay commissions and have no employees to concern themselves with. They could extend the 1 year use without issue. (as long as you go they get their commission even if it is some months later) However, you can't be put into an accommodation that is not available since HGVC has already used or will be using for members using their points.
 

CalGalTraveler

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Sorry to hear about your issues. Usually they try to accommodate us but perhaps availability is low. We also prefer Elara over Blvd for the location although both properties are nice. At a minimum, I would demand that the presentation give a tour of the property so you can see if you like it or not.

HGVC is different than Vistana. The system is very points-oriented so inventory is more fluid than Vistana; you don't need to own to stay at Elara. So get the best deal for the points in Vegas at one of these properties: Flamingo, Elara, Paradise, Strip (Blvd) and user your club points to stay at Elara because Vegas availability is very good. We got a great deal on 7k point Paradise but use our points (the equivalent of Vistana SOs) to stay at Elara (or Hawaii!) We will probably never use our home resort. We also own resale Vistana and find it is a good complement to HGVC locations. (Hopefully Marriott won't mess with success on Vistana).

Good luck!
 
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jabberwocky

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What troubles me is that while they don’t control the inventory my other request (1 year use) was noted and honoured without me having to ask. They could also see that the original request had been for the Elara. The sales agent put me on hold for a lengthy period of time to talk to a manager. I bought the package in December and then booked during the first week of January with no apparent issues.

I only called in this week as I’m looking to book flights and I wasn’t able to log in to view our package details (I always verify the hotel dates and locations before booking flights) - turns out the agents mistyped our last name so the system could not match our confirmation number (despite me being a Honors Gold member for many years).

As I mention in my other post - it won’t derail our plans too badly as we were going to be there anyways. Just leaves a bitter taste for HGVC.

Well - the "concierge" called to confirm our stay. I asked about whether there was any new availability at Elara and they said there was - so they switched us over from the BLVD! :cheer:

Only downside is that they are no longer doing tours for non-owners at Elara so we'll have to drive over to BLVD for our 2 hour session.

Overall I'm pleased.:banana:
 

mjm1

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Well - the "concierge" called to confirm our stay. I asked about whether there was any new availability at Elara and they said there was - so they switched us over from the BLVD! :cheer:

Only downside is that they are no longer doing tours for non-owners at Elara so we'll have to drive over to BLVD for our 2 hour session.

Overall I'm pleased.:banana:

Congratulations.

We are new HGVC owners and are staying at Elara this Thursday and Friday night using open season cash rates. It’s a staycation. We wanted to try Elara (first time) and we are going to a Journey concert Friday night.

Like you, we received a call from the concierge, and were invited to a 60 minute owner presentation. The main attraction for us is she said we would be shown the various room types. Should be interesting. Of course we will not be tempted to buy from them.

Best regards.

Mike
 

CalGalTraveler

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Congratulations.

We are new HGVC owners and are staying at Elara this Thursday and Friday night using open season cash rates. It’s a staycation. We wanted to try Elara (first time) and we are going to a Journey concert Friday night.

Like you, we received a call from the concierge, and were invited to a 60 minute owner presentation. The main attraction for us is she said we would be shown the various room types. Should be interesting. Of course we will not be tempted to buy from them.

Best regards.

Mike

Congrats on your ownership. You will enjoy this for years to come.

For your presentation, please update us as to what they are building on the higher floors.
 

mcsteve

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they are no longer doing tours for non-owners at Elara so we'll have to drive over to BLVD for our 2 hour session
Last time we did an owners update in Vegas (2 years ago) they said they only did presentations at the Blvd location and no longer did tours at Elara. That was fine with us as Elara is our home property and but we usually stay at the Blvd location. This made it easier to close the presentation at 90 minutes since we did not need to time our departure with a bus ride.
 

Caligirlfrtx

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Well - the "concierge" called to confirm our stay. I asked about whether there was any new availability at Elara and they said there was - so they switched us over from the BLVD! :cheer:

Only downside is that they are no longer doing tours for non-owners at Elara so we'll have to drive over to BLVD for our 2 hour session.

Overall I'm pleased.:banana:
Make sure you get that n writing in your confirmation email or it could still end up not being true. I’ve learned from my experiences
 

jabberwocky

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Make sure you get that n writing in your confirmation email or it could still end up not being true. I’ve learned from my experiences

It's confirmed. I got the e-mail and it is showing up in the app. I've learned my lesson!
 

mjm1

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Hyatt Pinon Pointe
Congrats on your ownership. You will enjoy this for years to come.

For your presentation, please update us as to what they are building on the higher floors.

Our presentation at Elara was only 60 minutes and the sales rep wasted a lot of the time talking about how good of a sales rep she is and how she helps her customers. The entire focus was on getting us to Elite, converting our points to HH points, and using them to pay for all of our travel expenses. Right!! She never asked us about our travel habits, interests or what else we own. She proposed a 1BR equal to 7,000 points that would requalify our resale unit for only $53k. I didn’t ask but I assume about $20k of that was to requalify our unit. No matter, we weren’t buying. It was very low pressure.

She showed us the presidential suite on the 57th floor (?) that has 4 bedrooms and a sitting area that jets out from the rest of the building. Very nice space. However, when I asked about what they are building on the higher floors, she just said everything was already built out. I didn’t pursue it any further.

We are staying in a studio on the southern facing side of the resort. It overlooks the pool, part of the airport runway and Marriott’s Grand Chateau. The unit is very spacious for a studio and has a dishwasher, but only a small refrigerator.

Best regards.

Mike
 
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