Bought a timeshare at Westin Lagunamar

[crazyrider3076]

Hi All,

Long story short, we got an invite in mail for Westin Lagunamar for $299 for 4 nights. We paid $300 extra and upgraded to the 1 bedroom villa. The stay was good without being over the top luxurious and during the presentation, ended up buying a timeshare here.

• 44000 Options for roughly $18000 + 995 (VOI type Annual)
• $873 annual HOA + $240 exhange company dues
• Got a bonus of 88000 Options to be used in next two years
• I already had a paid up "Encore experience" for Maui and the amount that I had already paid ($1495) was reduced from the initial price.
• They also reduced the price of this trip ($598) from the initial price
• Threw in a "black diamond" for the wife, which we picked up from the jewelry store at JW Marriott down the road.

I was told that 44000 options translate to roughly 1500 MVC points
Salesman mentioned that I am not tied to any particular resort and can book Gold and Platinum days at any resort in the program

Having said that, did we get a good deal or should we rescind? I understand that this won't appreciate in value but is it worth it if we keep visiting different resorts every year?

Thanks in advance!

 

[x3 skier]

Rescind and buy resale.

 

[cubigbird]

There’s a reason they threw in all these extras. You didn’t get a good deal. You are correct that it doesn’t appreciate in value. In fact, it depreciates to close to $0. This is the basic intro purchase that doesn’t do much that brings people back to the sales well. Sales knows this, that’s why they sell it. 44,000 options doesn’t do much in Vistana and 1500 MVC points equates to maybe a couple of nights on the Marriott side. You can buy this very ownership on the resale market for almost free. I’d rescind now while you still have time and research what you actually need for your family usage habits and then purchase what you actually need. You can still go back to sales and purchase and pay full retail anytime but you’ll be surprised to find it much cheaper on the secondary market.

 

[crazyrider3076]

There’s a reason they threw in all these extras. You didn’t get a good deal. You are correct that it doesn’t appreciate in value. In fact, it depreciates to close to $0. This is the basic intro purchase that doesn’t do much that brings people back to the sales well. Sales knows this, that’s why they sell it. 44,000 options doesn’t do much in Vistana and 1500 MVC points equates to maybe a couple of nights on the Marriott side. You can buy this very ownership on the resale market for almost free. I’d rescind now while you still have time and research what you actually need for your usage habits and then purchase what you actually need. You can still go back to sales and purchase and pay full retail anytime but you’ll be surprised to find it much cheaper on the secondary market.

44,000 options doesn’t do much in Vistana and 1500 MVC points equates to maybe a couple of nights on the Marriott side.
Thanks for your reply! Can you please elaborate on this?
They shared a diagram showing what 44000 Options can do. During Gold season, it gets 7 nights in a One Bedroom and 4 nights in a one bedroom during Platinum season? Is this not the case and is the real world scenario much different? I have no idea how the actual booking process works using the ownership dashboard.

 

[DanCali]

I think you will find a consensus here that you should rescind.

The only way your purchase (possibly) makes sense is is someone has a few resale weeks in their back pocket and the "retros" them into the system as part of the direct purchase, thus getting rid of all the resale restrictions.

You should first rescind, then research (a lot), then decide what to do. The deal you got is not going anywhere.

 

[DeniseM]

Rescind - this is an easy resort to exchange into for a far lower cost.

 

[DanCali]

44,000 options doesn’t do much in Vistana and 1500 MVC points equates to maybe a couple of nights on the Marriott side.
Thanks for your reply! Can you please elaborate on this?
They shared a diagram showing what 44000 Options can do. During Gold season, it gets 7 nights in a One Bedroom and 4 nights in a one bedroom during Platinum season? Is this not the case and is the real world scenario much different? I have no idea how the actual booking process works using the ownership dashboard.

This is actually true with the caveat that the 4 nights cannot include a Friday or Saturday.

But you can buy a 2BR Lockoff Platinum resale week for under $10,000 and get a full week in a 2BR in Platinum season, or split it into a studio and a 1BR for a 2-week stay. Alternatively, but a 2BR Platinum week in Scottsdale (Westin Kierland) with 148,100 Staroptions and use it throughout the Vistana system at 8 months out, including Lagunamar.

It takes some research to understand the benefits and avoid the pitfalls, and even then it's still dangerous to go to a sales pitch - they are very good at making you part with your money while you are there....

 

[TUGBrian]

congrats on finding TUG in time to rescind and save 19k!

 

[Cornell]

Rescind. Several Westin timeshares for sale here in the group . You can buy for cheap and then use your Star Options to vacation at Lagunamar -- which is a great resort.

 

[crazyrider3076]

This is actually true with the caveat that the 4 nights cannot include a Friday or Saturday.

This definitely is a red flag! However, what happens if I book a One- Bedroom for 7 nights during Gold season? Will I not be able to book in that case?

 

[WorldT]

The sequence of actions for you is:
1. Rescind within the stipulated period.
2. Come back here and research.

There are definitely other ways to get the same thing for less.

 

[crazyrider3076]

Thanks all! Looking at the responses, I am glad I came here and will be initiated the rescind process.
Now for the tough part - identifying the process for a rescind/cancel process. I signed on Saturday so I believe I have 5 business days.
If anyone is aware of the cancelation process, I would appreciate the help!

 

[DeniseM]

You need to get our your purchase papers and find the rescission process that is described there and follow it exactly.

 

[Ken555]

Run away! Bad deal.


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[Tucsonadventurer]

This definitely is a red flag! However, what happens if I book a One- Bedroom for 7 nights during Gold season? Will I not be able to book in that case?

You are not going to want to stay in off season, 120 degrees at Kierland in the summer, mud season in Colorado. But resale and stay a week when you truly want to be traveling

 

[crazyrider3076]

You need to get our your purchase papers and find the rescission process that is described there and follow it exactly.

I looked through the purchase papers and found a section where they have listed the means and ways to reach out in case I would like to cancel within 5 days

 

[WorldT]

I looked through the purchase papers and found a section where they have listed the means and ways to reach out in case I would like to cancel within 5 days

Perfect. Follow the process on there exactly. If there is more than one option, do both. Keep copies of what you send.

 

[crazyrider3076]

You are not going to want to stay in off season, 120 degrees at Kierland in the summer, mud season in Colorado. But resale and stay a week when you truly want to be traveling

Honestly, not looking to spend any time at US resorts except for Hawaii

 

[echino]

Bad deal. Mainly because it's Aventuras points which have zero resale value - for a reason - high maintenance fees compared to weeks.

If you want to stay at Lagunamar, buy a resale Platinum season week at Lagunamar. 2br annual maintenance fees are $2,000 for 148,100 points equivalent - but you don't actually get the points with a resale week, you can only book a week at Lagunamar. It's super cost effective if you want to stay at Lagunamar.

If you want to stay at other Vistana resorts like Hawaii, buy a resale week at Westin Kierland. High season 2br. It's more expensive to buy compared to Lagunamar. It comes with 148,100 points which you can use to book Lagunamar, Hawaii and others at 8 months before check in.

 

[Venter]

I am going to get slaughtered again by everybody.

There are ways to do things much cheaper but with restrictions. You will probably get the same price if you try again with bonus points incentives but the discounts of the diamond and your current encore may not be included. Maybe the other encore discount will. Are you happy to take the chance. You will not loose much discount anyway.

As far as being able to get the exact same thing for free this is not true. Aventuras do go for free on the secondary market but can only be used at the three Mexican resorts. You cannot use the points at any other Vistana resorts, and you cannot convert to Abound to use with any other Marriott resorts. You cannot (this is a bad conversion to make) convert to Bonvoy points. You cannot bank or borrow VSN points or Abound points. You pay for your own Interval International account with all the associated fees (you can use Interval International to trade into other Vistana/Marriott resorts). Buying from the developer allows you to do all these things. Only you can decide if the price is worth it

If you want flexibility now this is not a bad deal. You seem to be aware that you can mainly stay in like accommodation of 1 bedroom during Gold season. The MF of under $1000 may be reasonable to you for staying 1 week in a 1 bedroom. As a case in point I was looking at end June at Marriott Streamside at Birch 1 bed 2 bathrooms and the cost for the week is 1000 Abound points. There are gems during gold season like this to be found and if you stay in lower mud seasons you could even extend the stay as for example at Hilton Head.

Now if you want a 2 bedroom in the same season or a 1 bedroom in platinum you will have to bank and borrow but it could be done.

You will struggle to get high demand high season accommodation however and like accommodation in Hawaii but settling for a studio it can be done.

I do agree to rescind as making the 'happy informed' decision to go with this deal may not be possible due to the time it takes to do your research. I just really dislike it if people take the rescind mantra and do not give you the facts properly like that you can get exactly the same thing for free.

Yes, buying a resale week that has all the restrictions do work out cheaper if you like to just stay at that specific resort or are willing to play the week trading game, but takes some learning too.

Sometimes dipping your toe into a system to learn it for this amount of money is not a bad thing, but then you have to make the conscious decision of trying to learn to make the best you can out of it. I do not know of cheaper packages to get into other systems at this price and going through Marriott or buying other Flex points will be more expensive.

 

[Ken555]

I am going to get slaughtered again by everybody.

Well, someone has to pay the marketing costs, right?


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[rcv82]

I am going to get slaughtered again by everybody.

There are ways to do things much cheaper but with restrictions. You will probably get the same price if you try again with bonus points incentives but the discounts of the diamond and your current encore may not be included. Maybe the other encore discount will. Are you happy to take the chance. You will not loose much discount anyway.

As far as being able to get the exact same thing for free this is not true. Aventuras do go for free on the secondary market but can only be used at the three Mexican resorts. You cannot use the points at any other Vistana resorts, and you cannot convert to Abound to use with any other Marriott resorts. You cannot (this is a bad conversion to make) convert to Bonvoy points. You cannot bank or borrow VSN points or Abound points. You pay for your own Interval International account with all the associated fees (you can use Interval International to trade into other Vistana/Marriott resorts). Buying from the developer allows you to do all these things. Only you can decide if the price is worth it

If you want flexibility now this is not a bad deal. You seem to be aware that you can mainly stay in like accommodation of 1 bedroom during Gold season. The MF of under $1000 may be reasonable to you for staying 1 week in a 1 bedroom. As a case in point I was looking at end June at Marriott Streamside at Birch 1 bed 2 bathrooms and the cost for the week is 1000 Abound points. There are gems during gold season like this to be found and if you stay in lower mud seasons you could even extend the stay as for example at Hilton Head.

Now if you want a 2 bedroom in the same season or a 1 bedroom in platinum you will have to bank and borrow but it could be done.

You will struggle to get high demand high season accommodation however and like accommodation in Hawaii but settling for a studio it can be done.

I do agree to rescind as making the 'happy informed' decision to go with this deal may not be possible due to the time it takes to do your research. I just really dislike it if people take the rescind mantra and do not give you the facts properly like that you can get exactly the same thing for free.

Yes, buying a resale week that has all the restrictions do work out cheaper if you like to just stay at that specific resort or are willing to play the week trading game, but takes some learning too.

Sometimes dipping your toe into a system to learn it for this amount of money is not a bad thing, but then you have to make the conscious decision of trying to learn to make the best you can out of it. I do not know of cheaper packages to get into other systems at this price and going through Marriott or buying other Flex points will be more expensive.

The points are valid. But buy a nearly zero cost resale first and then maybe do this to retro into StarOptions and Abound.


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[crazyrider3076]

I am going to get slaughtered again by everybody.

There are ways to do things much cheaper but with restrictions. You will probably get the same price if you try again with bonus points incentives but the discounts of the diamond and your current encore may not be included. Maybe the other encore discount will. Are you happy to take the chance. You will not loose much discount anyway.

As far as being able to get the exact same thing for free this is not true. Aventuras do go for free on the secondary market but can only be used at the three Mexican resorts. You cannot use the points at any other Vistana resorts, and you cannot convert to Abound to use with any other Marriott resorts. You cannot (this is a bad conversion to make) convert to Bonvoy points. You cannot bank or borrow VSN points or Abound points. You pay for your own Interval International account with all the associated fees (you can use Interval International to trade into other Vistana/Marriott resorts). Buying from the developer allows you to do all these things. Only you can decide if the price is worth it

If you want flexibility now this is not a bad deal. You seem to be aware that you can mainly stay in like accommodation of 1 bedroom during Gold season. The MF of under $1000 may be reasonable to you for staying 1 week in a 1 bedroom. As a case in point I was looking at end June at Marriott Streamside at Birch 1 bed 2 bathrooms and the cost for the week is 1000 Abound points. There are gems during gold season like this to be found and if you stay in lower mud seasons you could even extend the stay as for example at Hilton Head.

Now if you want a 2 bedroom in the same season or a 1 bedroom in platinum you will have to bank and borrow but it could be done.

You will struggle to get high demand high season accommodation however and like accommodation in Hawaii but settling for a studio it can be done.

I do agree to rescind as making the 'happy informed' decision to go with this deal may not be possible due to the time it takes to do your research. I just really dislike it if people take the rescind mantra and do not give you the facts properly like that you can get exactly the same thing for free.

Yes, buying a resale week that has all the restrictions do work out cheaper if you like to just stay at that specific resort or are willing to play the week trading game, but takes some learning too.

Sometimes dipping your toe into a system to learn it for this amount of money is not a bad thing, but then you have to make the conscious decision of trying to learn to make the best you can out of it. I do not know of cheaper packages to get into other systems at this price and going through Marriott or buying other Flex points will be more expensive.

Thanks for taking the time for the great writeup!
I am very new to this game so I don't understand this game. I went to the "For Sale" posts and there were quite a few things that I did not grasp.
I appreciate all the replies so far and everyone told me to rescind since its a bad deal but I honestly, did not understand why its a bad deal since I don't know what a good deal is!

Why it made sense to buy this deal - I wish to do one trip with my family in a year for 6/7 days and the accommodation costs for me would be in the ballpark of $4000-$5000 assuming $500+ per night at least with current day pricing. 10 years of these trips are going to set me back $40-50k as opposed to the villa cost of $18000 + 10 years of MF + the discounted rates offered by Interval. Is this a wrong way of looking at things in the TF world?
3 or 4 such trips would set me back the cost of the timeshare I just purchased. I like to stay in properties like St Regis or Ritz but they are cost prohibitive for me and so I can definitely "settle" for a resort like Westin.
I can only assume that things will become expensive in the future. I remember staying at the Bellagio in Las Vegas for $66 a night during the 2008 recession - Gone are those days!

You are right - a bedroom is good enough for me. Its just me, my wife and our 3 year toddler looking to go trips together and build memories.
I do not want to be tied to one resort and visit it year after year. In fact, far from it. I was hoping to start off with a trip to the Marriott resort in Mallorca next year followed by Carribean in 2026.

 

[crazyrider3076]

Aventuras do go for free on the secondary market but can only be used at the three Mexican resorts. You cannot use the points at any other Vistana resorts

This is news to me! I asked a million times during the presentation and they said the 44000 options can be used worldwide at any of the Westin, Marriott locations.
For the 88000 options, they told me that those have restrictions and I will be able to use them only at Westin properties and not at MVC's which I thought wasn't a bad compromise.

 

[WorldT]

It is okay @crazyrider3076 . It takes time and patience to understand how these systems work. That time will be longer than the recision period that is why almost everyone said to rescind. The biggest mistake people make with timeshare purchases is that they do not fully understand what they are buying.
It seems Marriott and Westin properties interest you. There are forums for Marriott and Westin/Sheraton systems. Hop on over there, do some reading and ask some questions. Should you still decide to buy what you bought, it will still be there at that price 6 months from now. Don't sweat it and don't rush it.