Looking for Nanea 3bedroom. Best options?

[ren7321]

Hello,
I've been lurking for a while and can't find the information I need. I am sure it's here but I am a complete newbie, so I am still trying to wrap my head around all the terms, points, etc... I own a couple of 2br units at the Sands of Kahana that I received years via marriage, so that is my only point of reference. For those, I simply call or book the week I want online and done. I've never come across anything regarding points, I just know that I can book a 2-bedroom for a week each year.

I stayed at the Nanea in a 3-bedroom Ocean Front and really enjoyed it. I have not been to the other Westin resorts but I am not sure I like the 2-bedroom lock-off style layout. The 3bd at Nanea was perfect for my family. I also enjoyed having great snorkeling right out front. So with that said, what are my best options for picking up a resale to guarantee me a one-week stay, Ocean Front in the 3 bedroom? I am seeing lots of listings but I keep reading that they are deeded points? It's very confusing because the listing will say the details of the room (2bedroom ocean view, etc..) but then give a breakdown of how many nights for this or that depending on points. So is everything at the Nanea based on points? Can I simply buy something that says you are entitled to one week (1-50) Ocean Front 3bedroom?

The going rate for this type of room is $10k+ a week and 99% chance we would be going every year. For what it would cost on the resale market, any idea on the timeframe where it starts to make sense financially? Feel free to talk me out of it, if I am missing something. Or if there is a similar property with a similar style room, I'm open to suggestions.

Once again, this might be completely obvious to many but I can't seem to find an answer. Every email I have sent to a seller has been replied to with something other than an answer to what I was actually asking.

Thank you. Any advice or insight is much appreciated!

 

[echino]

Nanea is all points. Note there are two different point flavours at Nanea: Resort View points and Oceanfront points. These are different ownerships. To book a 3br at Nanea for a week, you will need to own 257,700 Oceanfront points at Nanea. You may find a resale ownership for fewer points, then you will be able to book fewer days, not the whole week.

When looking for a resale at Nanea, the ads often do not mention if it's Resort View or Oceanfront ownership. If they don't mention, assume it's Resort View - don't buy those. You will not be able to reserve a 3br with Resort View points at Nanea.

Edit: I see only one Oceanfront Nanea ownership for sale on Redweek, and it's no good since it's only 100,000 points. That's only enough for 2 or 3 midweek nights or only 1 weekend night in a 3br (claims in the ad are wrong):

The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas Resale $10,000

Lahaina, Hawaii / Posting R1012942

www.redweek.com

 

[ren7321]

ok got it. Very helpful. So Oceanfront points are a must. My immediate thought then is, can they move the goalpost? Say in a few years they simply say you now need 300,000 points for a week in a 3br?

 

[echino]

Owning at Nanea will allow you to reserve starting 12 months in advance. You will need 12 months if you have to travel during high season, such as March or July.

Alternatively, you could buy two or more resale weeks at a Mandatory property that come with StarOptions, so you own at least 257,700 StarOptions, then you can reserve Nanea starting 8 months before check in. You will likely not be able to reserve high demand weeks, but if you are OK with travelling in a shoulder or low season, then it will work and it will be a lot more economical that owning Oceanfront points at Nanea.

 

[ren7321]

I see... The trade-off is the 12-month window vs the 8-month window. Possibly losing out to others during those four months in exchange for the lower cost. I'm tracking. Thank you for that.

I'll throw in another couple of questions:

What are good examples of Mandatory resorts that would qualify for the scenario you explained above?

And what are Flex Points? Are those the same as the OF or RV points you mentioned above, or different systems completely? So far I'm seeing Nanea only OF points and RV points, StarOptions, and Flex Points.

 

[sponger76]

ok got it. Very helpful. So Oceanfront points are a must. My immediate thought then is, can they move the goalpost? Say in a few years they simply say you now need 300,000 points for a week in a 3br?

No, the points charts are fixed (don't change) from what I understand.

 

[echino]

I see... The trade-off is the 12-month window vs the 8-month window. Possibly losing out to others during those four months in exchange for the lower cost. I'm tracking. Thank you for that.

I'll throw in another couple of questions:

What are good examples of Mandatory resorts that would qualify for the scenario you explained above?

And what are Flex Points? Are those the same as the OF or RV points you mentioned above, or different systems completely? So far I'm seeing Nanea only OF points and RV points, StarOptions, and Flex Points.

Flex points can be Sheraton Flex or Westin Flex. Sheraton Flex will not get you to Nanea. Westin Flex will, at 12 months, but only Resort View.

If I was in that situation when I wanted Nanea 3br Oceanfront, I would buy these 3 week resale:

148,100 StarOptions Westin Kierland
2 x 81,000 StarOptions Sheraton Vistana Villages Bella phase or Key West phase
310,100 StarOptions total

This will give me 8 nights at 3br Nanea Oceanfront Sat-Sun, or 9 nights Sun-Tue. But it's a bit advanced, you will need to do a lot of research to pull it off.

 

[ren7321]

ok got it. So I can erase Flex points from my list. thank you so much. You've cleared up so much in just a few minutes. I will look into those resales you mentioned. So if I understand, as long as I buy something that has StarOptions and is a Mandatory resort, that will count towards that 257,700 I need, correct?


A quick search brought up these:

Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, Maui, Hawaii
Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas North, Maui, Hawaii
Westin Kierland Villas, Scottsdale, Arizona
Sheraton Vistana Villages- Bella and Key West sections, Orlando, Florida
Harborside at Atlantis, Bahamas, Caribbean
Virgin Grand Villas, St John, US Virgin Islands


Which include the two that you mentioned. I imagine the trick is finding the cheaper listings that still get you the points you need even if you plan to never visit that actual resort.

 

[sponger76]

ok got it. So I can erase Flex points from my list. thank you so much. You've cleared up so much in just a few minutes. I will look into those resales you mentioned. So if I understand, as long as I buy something that has StarOptions and is a Mandatory resort, that will count towards that 257,700 I need, correct?


A quick search brought up these:

Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, Maui, Hawaii
Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas North, Maui, Hawaii
Westin Kierland Villas, Scottsdale, Arizona
Sheraton Vistana Villages- Bella and Key West sections, Orlando, Florida
Harborside at Atlantis, Bahamas, Caribbean
Virgin Grand Villas, St John, US Virgin Islands


Which include the two that you mentioned. I imagine the trick is finding the cheaper listings that still get you the points you need even if you plan to never visit that actual resort.

Just be careful when purchasing to check what the annual maintenance fees (MFs) are, for any resort. Some on your list have higher fees than others. What I've learned from people here is to figure out what the MF per point is and try to get the cheapest possible.

 

[echino]

Correct. Those 3 weeks will cost you about $20k to buy, and annual maintenance fees will be about $4k - $5k, increasing every year. The tricky part will be to find actual availability to book 3br Oceanfront at Nanea, for 8 nights Sat-Sun, or for 9 nights Sun-Tue (those days of the week only if you want to avoid wasting points). You are unlikely to find that availability during the high season. Only consider this plan if you are very flexible with your travel dates and are able to travel off-season or when kids are in school.

 

[ren7321]

yes, understood. thank you!

 

[ren7321]

Correct. Those 3 weeks will cost you about $20k to buy, and annual maintenance fees will be about $4k, increasing every year. The tricky part will be to find actual availability to book 3br Oceanfront at Nanea, for 8 nights Sat-Sun, or for 9 nights Sun-Tue (those days of the week only if you want to avoid wasting points). You are unlikely to find that availability during the high season. Only consider this plan if you are very flexible with your travel dates and are able to travel off-season or when kids are in school.

Got it. Luckily I have a very open schedule, which is why I think it can work. The other option is to pony up enough $$ to buy Nanea-only points and pretty much be guaranteed on getting whatever I want (since I can book 12 months out), correct?

 

[echino]

Got it. Luckily I have a very open schedule, which is why I think it can work. The other option is to pony up enough $$ to buy Nanea-only points and pretty much be guaranteed on getting whatever I want (since I can book 12 months out), correct?

Correct. If you buy 257,700 Oceanfront Nanea points, the annual maintenance fees will be similar to those 3 weeks I mentioned above, but the purchase price for Nanea will be a lot higher than $20k for those 3 week. If you find it at all. There are very few Oceanfront Nanea points for sale on the resale market and prices are very high.

 

[echino]

Here's the StarOptions chart for Nanea:

257,700 + 51,540 = 309,240
257,700 + 25,770 + 25,770 = 309,240

310,100 StarOptions cover those 8 or 9 nights nicely, with very little breakage.

 

[ren7321]

Can I ask why you're adding the extra 1-2 nights onto the week (and the needed points) in your example?

I know you mentioned "The tricky part will be to find actual availability to book 3br Oceanfront at Nanea, for 8 nights Sat-Sun, or for 9 nights Sun-Tue (those days of the week only if you want to avoid wasting points). "

Is that because it's tricky getting the exact amount of points to get one week exactly? Or is there a bigger benefit to booking Sat-Sun or Sun-Tues?

 

[echino]

Can I ask why you're adding the extra 1-2 nights onto the week (and the needed points) in your example?

I know you mentioned "The tricky part will be to find actual availability to book 3br Oceanfront at Nanea, for 8 nights Sat-Sun, or for 9 nights Sun-Tue (those days of the week only if you want to avoid wasting points). "

Is that because it's tricky getting the exact amount of points to get one week exactly? Or is there a bigger benefit to booking Sat-Sun or Sun-Tues?

That's the lowest breakage I could find with resale weeks with typical StarOptions amounts like 81,000 or 148,100.

For example, if you get 2 resale weeks with 148,100 StarOptions each, for 296,200 total, you have enough to book a week in a 3br Oceanfront at Nanea, but you will have 38,500 left. That's slightly short of 38,655 night, but if you add 25,770 night, you are left with 12,730 breakage. You can manage it by borrowing, but it's a major pain because it can only be done on the phone (not online), and requires prepayment of fees, so it's just easier to buy the amount of StarOptions that will minimize breakage and just book online.

 

[ren7321]

ok yes, got it.

One last thing and I'll stop for now

I see a few listings that look like this:

*Platinum Plus status with 148,100 StarOptions that renew every year to exchange within the Vistana Signature Experiences resort network of 24 luxury timeshare resorts.

*Maximum Trading Power in the world of exchange. Trade your week on Interval International for access to over 3000 destinations, cruises, and travel deals. Book unlimited last-minute GETAWAYS year-round in addition to your Maui week!

*Bank up to 2 years and Borrow from an upcoming year

*Buyer pays half closing costs.

Restrictions: StarOptions and Marriott BonVoy/Destination Points exchange do not transfer to buyer. Reservations may be deposited into Interval International for exchange to over 3000 resorts in their directory. A resale does not come with automatic Interval membership. A resale will not earn a buyer higher levels of status such as elite status within Vist

Do those two statements contradict each other or are they referencing two different things?

Once again thank you so much for all of this. Incredibly helpful.

 

[echino]

There's even better option on the second thought:

95,700 Sheraton Vistana Bella 2br lockoff
2 x 81,000 Sheraton Vistana Bella 2br non-lockoff

257,700 exactly, no breakage.

It's cheaper to buy too.

 

[sponger76]

ok yes, got it.

One last thing and I'll stop for now

I see a few listings that look like this:

*Platinum Plus status with 148,100 StarOptions that renew every year to exchange within the Vistana Signature Experiences resort network of 24 luxury timeshare resorts.

*Maximum Trading Power in the world of exchange. Trade your week on Interval International for access to over 3000 destinations, cruises, and travel deals. Book unlimited last-minute GETAWAYS year-round in addition to your Maui week!

*Bank up to 2 years and Borrow from an upcoming year

*Buyer pays half closing costs.

Restrictions: StarOptions and Marriott BonVoy/Destination Points exchange do not transfer to buyer. Reservations may be deposited into Interval International for exchange to over 3000 resorts in their directory. A resale does not come with automatic Interval membership. A resale will not earn a buyer higher levels of status such as elite status within Vist

Do those two statements contradict each other or are they referencing two different things?

Once again thank you so much for all of this. Incredibly helpful.

For Voluntary resorts, StarOptions do not transfer, meaning you can only book at that Home Resort. They do for Mandatory resorts though. The status you would get for that amount of points in the Vistana system do not transfer, nor ability to play in the upcoming Abound (currently Destination) system unless you purchased Mandatory prior to August 9 of this year I believe.

 

[ren7321]

For Voluntary resorts, StarOptions do not transfer, meaning you can only book at that Home Resort. They do for Mandatory resorts though. The status you would get for that amount of points in the Vistana system do not transfer, nor ability to play in the upcoming Abound (currently Destination) system unless you purchased Mandatory prior to August 9 of this year I believe.

That is what I thought but that listing is for Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, Maui, Hawaii which I thought was a Mandatory resort. ?

 

[ren7321]

There's even better option on the second thought:

95,700 Sheraton Vistana Bella 2br lockoff
2 x 81,000 Sheraton Vistana Bella 2br non-lockoff

257,700 exactly, no breakage.

It's cheaper to buy too.

If I am able to piece this together, should I be aware of when the points become available? Meaning: does Property A's year start on a certain date (and pts available to use) and Property B's year starts at a different time of the year? or do they all go by a calendar year and all points are available to be used at any given time?

 

[sponger76]

If I am able to piece this together, should I be aware of when the points become available? Meaning: does Property A's year start on a certain date (and pts available to use) and Property B's year starts at a different time of the year? or do they all go by a calendar year and all points are available to be used at any given time?

For weeks ownerships, I believe it's in line with the calendar year. For Flex ownerships, they are usually in line with the calendar year but sometimes I've seen them start in other months.

 

[sponger76]

That is what I thought but that listing is for Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, Maui, Hawaii which I thought was a Mandatory resort. ?

It is. So despite what the listing says, you'll get the StarOptions. But you won't get status or the ability to use Abound.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Lost me at good snorkeling in front of Nanea


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[magicjourney]

There's even better option on the second thought:

95,700 Sheraton Vistana Bella 2br lockoff
2 x 81,000 Sheraton Vistana Bella 2br non-lockoff

257,700 exactly, no breakage.

It's cheaper to buy too.

A good option, but I would be cautious to pursue this path for a couple of reasons:
1. 3bdr OF is tough to book using staroptions. You need to compete with a large group of people at 8 month. Be prepare to sit in front of a computer at 12am EST every Fri/Sat/Sun for a straight month in order to grab one.
2. Westin Nanea has its own point system - homeoption, which is separated from staroption. Right now, weeks not reserved by the owners are put in the staroption inventory, but in the future can Marriott deposit them into Abound pool instead?
After Marriott/Vistana merger, the future of staroption program is unpredictable. If you really like the 3bdr OF at Nanea, I'd say buy the OF homeoption from the resale market. Keep checking redweek patiently, you will eventually find one. That's how I got mine.