Wyndham is closing a handful of legacy resorts - dedicated chart/tracker located in the first post for this unfolding set of events

[Rolltydr]

I guess the point is this is a complete mess and we won’t know until we get official word.

Considering all we know right now is that Fairfield Glade is leaving the Wyndham portfolio, I think it's a little early to make this observation. It may very well turn out to be true but 95% of the comments so far are outright rumors and speculation. I guess I'm not that bothered by this because, as I said above, I was starting to think about unloading this FG contract, anyway. I'm wiling to sit back and see what my options actually are and, at worst, it looks like I'll be losing the 161k points and the associated MF's. Considering I may have had to give it away, and possibly, pay closing costs, I may actually come out ahead. I know it's very little to go on, but Wyndham's last actual change went amazingly well. The app is a major improvement over the website and I don't remember there really being any problems with the implementation or in daily use since then. I know, I know, it's hard to trust them but let's wait and see what they say, what they do, and the results before we jump to it's a mess.

DW and one of her brother's used to go to FG every year for the World's Longest Yard Sale. It was a great location for them to spend a few days shopping and just spending time together. I went twice, not sure why I went the second time, and I was bored out of my mind. If you don't play golf, I don't, there is nothing to do anywhere nearby. The resort, IMHO, is old and tired. I'm sure there are others who love it, but it's not anywhere I want to visit again.

 

[Floridaman76]

I went to Fairfield Glade a handful of times. I can see how it really doesn't offer very much for a lot of people, especially younger people or people with families and young kids. I last stayed there in December of this last year, it was a nice halfway stopping point between home and Branson. Was able to book a studio at the 50% off sale and instant upgrade into a 1BR Deluxe in Stonecastle that was obviously recently renovated. With the 50% off, I got the unit for $19.95 using bonus time and was thrilled. I had previously booked it using WR points, but this to me was even better. Was very nice and good for what it was. Have stayed in a couple of the 2 bedroom split level plans they have there, and even with upgrades, I can see how those units seem very dated.

My family spent 2 weeks there during the pandemic right after they opened the resorts back up, we just about had the whole place to ourselves. But it was memories.

I wasn't at all surprised to see that site on the list to be honest, but will miss having our halfway stopping point to/from Branson no longer be a timeshare.

 

[Edsolomon]

I purchased a fixed week unit at Orlando International in the 1980's. At some point, Wyndham offered me the option to switch to Points. That option was a benefit to me at the time. I am not familiar with CWA, so if offered an option to convert to that, I would not know if I should or not. Can someone tell me if I will still be able to exchange in the Wyndham system and what the MF will be on those 175k points, and other fees like exchange fees etc.
Thank you for helping me to understand this transition.
Ed

 

[Arimaas]

Considering all we know right now is that Fairfield Glade is leaving the Wyndham portfolio, I think it's a little early to make this observation. It may very well turn out to be true but 95% of the comments so far are outright rumors and speculation. I guess I'm not that bothered by this because, as I said above, I was starting to think about unloading this FG contract, anyway. I'm wiling to sit back and see what my options actually are and, at worst, it looks like I'll be losing the 161k points and the associated MF's. Considering I may have had to give it away, and possibly, pay closing costs, I may actually come out ahead. I know it's very little to go on, but Wyndham's last actual change went amazingly well. The app is a major improvement over the website and I don't remember there really being any problems with the implementation or in daily use since then. I know, I know, it's hard to trust them but let's wait and see what they say, what they do, and the results before we jump to it's a mess.

DW and one of her brother's used to go to FG every year for the World's Longest Yard Sale. It was a great location for them to spend a few days shopping and just spending time together. I went twice, not sure why I went the second time, and I was bored out of my mind. If you don't play golf, I don't, there is nothing to do anywhere nearby. The resort, IMHO, is old and tired. I'm sure there are others who love it, but it's not anywhere I want to visit again.

No, as a FG owner who has points rolled into 2026 and 2027 and also reservations in 2026, the one thing I confidently say is this is likely going to be a mess. I don’t see Wyndham just allowing me to keep my points and reservations so easily, unless I was to convert to CWA (not happening ).

 

[bnoble]

I am not familiar with CWA, so if offered an option to convert to that, I would not know if I should or not.

CWA works just like the wyndham points you have now, with one exception. Your current deed only allows you to use ARP to book your specific week at OIRC. A CWA contract would allow you to book inventory in a fairly large subset of Wyndham resorts during the ARP period.

As for costs, wait to see what you are offered. At that point, they should be able to explain what your options are. I have a feeling that the options are: convert to whatever they offer, or revert to having just your specific fixed week. But, that's pure speculation.

 

[Arimaas]

I purchased a fixed week unit at Orlando International in the 1980's. At some point, Wyndham offered me the option to switch to Points. That option was a benefit to me at the time. I am not familiar with CWA, so if offered an option to convert to that, I would not know if I should or not. Can someone tell me if I will still be able to exchange in the Wyndham system and what the MF will be on those 175k points, and other fees like exchange fees etc.
Thank you for helping me to understand this transition.
Ed

CWA allows you to own points across a spectrum of resorts. You don’t own any real property, rather you own an interest in a general trust that consists of multiple properties. This allows you to get 13 month priority at any of the properties in the trust. The MFs are something like $9 per thousand, which is an average of all the properties in the trust. As a TUGer, you likely can find a resale contract for next to nothing with lower MFs than CWA. CWA is nice if you need ARP but otherwise it’s a waste (it did get me Mardi Gras in NOLA next year).

 

[bnoble]

As for the larger issues: As a KBV owner, I've been in the will-they-or-won't-they boat for a good year and a half. What I've learned in that time is: Until something actually happens, nothing has happened. Until something happens, I am still going to go on vacations like I always have.

And while Wyndham doesn't always get these things right, they sometimes do. For exmaple, I was pretty happy with how the pandemic was handled. So I know it is hard to do, but if I can remember to sit back, take a breath, and maybe touch some grass, everything will be fine. I may not get use out of every last point, but in the grand scheme of things a little breakage doesn't change my overall experience as an owner.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Is there any chance that Wyndham isn't really selling the resorts, but taking them out of Club Wyndham and putting them in another system under the T&L umbrella? Or creating a spin off company (a wholly owned subsidiary) that they manage that strictly AirBNB's them

I swear there was some talk of them creating a new system a couple years ago.

If so, would this be legal? It seems at minimum this would be extremely unethical because they are in some cases using owners monies (MF) to renovate the resorts, then selling or moving the appreciated assets (again, paid for with owners money), and giving the incumbance a pittance (CWA, which is virtually worthless)

I doubt it but I suppose anything is possible. Not all resorts are being sold from what I have gathered. Some resorts are only partially being deprecated - like in Edisto for example - only a certain subsection - so essentially Wyndham is downsizing at some resort locations and may be selling others where feasible and where it makes sense. The solutions will vary basically, based upon market conditions in those areas, along with what the bylaws and founding trust documents and applicable state laws require/permit. It’s not a one size fits all process.


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[Floridaman76]

I doubt it but I suppose anything is possible. Not all resorts are being sold from what I have gathered. Some resorts are only partially being deprecated - like in Edisto for example - only a certain subsection - so essentially Wyndham is downsizing at some resort locations and may be selling others where feasible and where it makes sense. The solutions will vary basically, based upon market conditions in those areas, along with what the bylaws and founding trust documents and applicable state laws. It’s not a one size fits all process.


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Considering how big Fairfield Glade is, and how ecclectic the offerings are there, it's a little surprising that they are closing that resort in it's entirety. They have many different styles of units built at different times, ranging from single level duplex/triplex type units, split level duplex/triplex type units, two-level units like Shawnee and even a multi level modern condo style buildings like Smokey Mountains, Nashville, Governors Green, etc.

Also, from hearing people talk about Bentley Brook, it seems like it's a very popular resort almost year round, in a part of the country where Wyndham doesn't have much of a presence, so that one seems kind of like a cash grab

 

[Sandi Bo]

More speculation regarding BB -- it is very cheap to stay there. With VIP benefits/upgrades, crazy cheap. Jiminy Peak ski resort is really nice, they work like crazy to keep the slopes open (making snow and grooming), Jiminy does an excellent job. Ski resorts now adays are very pricey, IMO. BB is a gem (ski in - ski out). If they were to sell it, I imagine they'll catch a decent amount of $.

it's very family oriented. My nephews - 30's - now go further north. But for old folks and younger kids, it's a great family ski resort option. And, thy still might stay at BB and head north to ski for the day.

It's been forever since we've seen any sales presence. Maybe my sister went to a presentation 10 or so years ago and that seemed like a transient type setup.

 

[Floridaman76]

Coinicidance or not, but there's some of the properties in question available for virtually nothing on the various places like ebay. I wonder if it would be a money making propisiton to buy some of these for $1 and wait for whatever payout is coming or possibly end up with some developer points out of it, even if it is CWA

 

[Arimaas]

Coinicidance or not, but there's some of the properties in question available for virtually nothing on the various places like ebay. I wonder if it would be a money making propisiton to buy some of these for $1 and wait for whatever payout is coming or possibly end up with some developer points out of it, even if it is CWA

I would think there’s less riskier ways of making money, but I’m a career civil servant, not a Wall Street guy. So you can see my risk tolerance from there.

 

[inishbofin]

As a northeasterner who likes to drive to places this is a big disappointment. In the past year we have been to 5 of the places on this drop list; Shawnee, Bentley Brook, Newport, Edisto, and Patriot's Place. Shawnee and BB are favorite spots for a quick trip. While we are not direct owners at any of the 14, it will still impact the value we get out of Wyndham.

 

[Arimaas]

As a northeasterner who likes to drive to places this is a big disappointment. In the past year we have been to 5 of the places on this drop list; Shawnee, Bentley Brook, Newport, Edisto, and Patriot's Place. Shawnee and BB are favorite spots for a quick trip. While we are not direct owners at any of the 14, it will still impact the value we get out of Wyndham.

I concur. I’m in the NYC suburbs (Rockland county) and I used Newport yearly (2.5 hour drive) and both shawanee and Newport any time I had some extra points.

 

[mh101499]

This makes me so sad (and frustrated). We are presidential/founder level, and we own at King Cotton in Edisto (most of our 1.5 million points) with 300K points of this at Waikiki Beach Walk. I actually have a reservation in Edisto the week after Christmas, December 27 - January 3. So if the dump Edisto, then do I just get kicked out on December 31?

I'm SUPER frustrated that we are hearing about this in the ether and they are not being transparent with us about what's to come. So unethical (and, no, I'm not surprised)

Has anyone thought of converting future year points into Wyndham Rewards Points? I know the conversion rate isn't great, but that's one thing we could do with our future points. And, I've actually booked a month's worth of cottages in Scotland with Wyndham Rewards Points using Cottages.com. So there are some travel options that use those points besides just hotels.

Anyone own in King Cotton on here that happens to be in my boat? I'm so sad - I really like Edisto. My kids were raised going there and my daughter is getting married there in September.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

This makes me so sad (and frustrated). We are presidential/founder level, and we own at King Cotton in Edisto (most of our 1.5 million points) with 300K points of this at Waikiki Beach Walk. I actually have a reservation in Edisto the week after Christmas, December 27 - January 3. So if the dump Edisto, then do I just get kicked out on December 31?

I'm SUPER frustrated that we are hearing about this in the ether and they are not being transparent with us about what's to come. So unethical (and, no, I'm not surprised)

Has anyone thought of converting future year points into Wyndham Rewards Points? I know the conversion rate isn't great, but that's one thing we could do with our future points. And, I've actually booked a month's worth of cottages in Scotland with Wyndham Rewards Points using Cottages.com. So there are some travel options that use those points besides just hotels.

Anyone own in King Cotton on here that happens to be in my boat? I'm so sad - I really like Edisto. My kids were raised going there and my daughter is getting married there in September.

Can I ask what your Edisto maintenance fees are? Extrapolating from our last report years ago made it seem like they might be really high, north of $10/k.

 

[Roger830]

This makes me so sad (and frustrated). We are presidential/founder level, and we own at King Cotton in Edisto (most of our 1.5 million points) with 300K points of this at Waikiki Beach Walk. I actually have a reservation in Edisto the week after Christmas, December 27 - January 3. So if the dump Edisto, then do I just get kicked out on December 31?

It's likely that you can swap into Wyndham Club Access at no cost.

 

[Floridaman76]

It's likely that you can swap into Wyndham Club Access at no cost.

King Cotton is Presidential, i'm not sure getting CWA in swap is a very equitable trade. MF may in fact be lower, who knows. I hear some of the Edisto HOA's are pretty expensive.

 

[HitchHiker71]

More speculation regarding BB -- it is very cheap to stay there. With VIP benefits/upgrades, crazy cheap. Jiminy Peak ski resort is really nice, they work like crazy to keep the slopes open (making snow and grooming), Jiminy does an excellent job. Ski resorts now adays are very pricey, IMO. BB is a gem (ski in - ski out). If they were to sell it, I imagine they'll catch a decent amount of $.

it's very family oriented. My nephews - 30's - now go further north. But for old folks and younger kids, it's a great family ski resort option. And, thy still might stay at BB and head north to ski for the day.

It's been forever since we've seen any sales presence. Maybe my sister went to a presentation 10 or so years ago and that seemed like a transient type setup.

We were at BB two Christmas’s ago now. When there we were called on our room phone and offered an owner update via iPad remotely, but we turned it down. So at least back then, they were offering remote sales updates to owners, not sure how common that was or still is for resorts that have no sales center, which makes me wonder, of the resorts on our prospective list, how many have sales centers? I know BB does not. Maybe I will create a table format to track these different kinds of attributes so we can try to identify some underlying logic.

It also occurred to me yesterday, regarding your point about how cheap BB is, that many of the legacy resorts require much lower points values to book. Since Wyndham cannot change the points values, if they want at a macro level to discourage use of resorts with lower points values, the only real option is to remove these resorts from the system over time. Using a certain logic, taking this approach means owners then have to use their points at the newer resorts that require higher points values to book, and that means owners are more likely to buy more points to cover the same amount of vacationing right? So if own 1.4mm points today and can vacation for 45 nights total using a mix of legacy and non-legacy resorts, tomorrow I may need 1.6-1.7mm points to cover those same 45 nights. Pure speculation on my part of course. Thoughts?


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[jp10558]

Yikes, just got back from a trip, I had a lot of catching up today.

Bentley Brook is probably our #1 place to stay, as far back as i can remember. We are not owners at Bentley Brook - but sure get lots of use / value out of that one! And the staff there is simply the best!

They have done massive renovations over the past i would say 2 years (roofs, siding, rooms, you name it). I have no clue how that works, but if this ends up true -- could Wyndham have been preparing it for sale?

This resort is always sold out. I'll follow that up with, in the winter, you might catch it during the week, but it's hard to catch a weekend there from mid December thru mid March. Right now it's completely sold out for July and August. It's such a great area to visit, so much to do. Winters have been challenging. President's week (3rd week or so in February) used to be one of the hardest weeks to book (it was a reason to own at BB), if you wanted to go. Very, very lucky - for my sister that has gone there for over 20 years - her kids had the week before President's week for winter break. That could be booked 10 months out (and often rebooked at a discount).

Thanks for posting, we appreciate the heads up and will be following closely. And bummer on the RI places, those too have been great stays! It'll be disapointing for us to lose some east cost resorts (already miss Crotched Mountain - if I remember right, that happened last minute and we had a reservation they simply cancelled - but that's testing my memory).

Yea, one thing that would really suck for me is east cost losses - one major benefit of Wyndham is east coast locations, and places close to me like RI. I was hoping to go to RI in the next 2 years...

 

[mh101499]

Can I ask what your Edisto maintenance fees are? Extrapolating from our last report years ago made it seem like they might be really high, north of $10/k.

Sure - For all 1.5 m points I pay $800/month in maintenance and other fees. King Cotton is separate - we have a separate HOA meeting every year via Zoom and our fees are not the same as the older Ocean Ridge units. I pay FAR lower in maintenance than I would with CWA.

 

[Roger830]

It also occurred to me yesterday, regarding your point about how cheap BB is, that many of the legacy resorts require much lower points values to book. Since Wyndham cannot change the points values, if they want at a macro level to discourage use of resorts with lower points values, the only real option is to remove these resorts from the system over time. Using a certain logic, taking this approach means owners then have to use their points at the newer resorts that require higher points values to book, and that means owners are more likely to buy more points to cover the same amount of vacationing right? So if own 1.4mm points today and can vacation for 45 nights total using a mix of legacy and non-legacy resorts, tomorrow I may need 1.6-1.7mm points to cover those same 45 nights. Pure speculation on my part of course. Thoughts?

Two of Newport resorts are mostly suites with low mf of 88,000 for prime season. They could be removed, then renovated and come back with more points required to book. One them has a restaurant on the first floor and the other has a private condo built about 5 years ago in a large empty room that might have been sales at one time. They could also be converted to Hotels that would fetch very high rates. Both have roof decks and are on the harbor.

 

[mh101499]

King Cotton is Presidential, i'm not sure getting CWA in swap is a very equitable trade. MF may in fact be lower, who knows. I hear some of the Edisto HOA's are pretty expensive.

King Cotton is the least expensive there and much lower than CWA. I have no idea what they will do with presidential owners and the "perks" we get for being presidential. We'll lose all of that with CWA.

 

[Floridaman76]

Two of Newport resorts are mostly suites with low mf of 88,000 for prime season. They could be removed, then renovated and come back with more points required to book. One them has a restaurant on the first floor and the other has a private condo built about 5 years ago in a large empty room that might have been sales at one time. They could also be converted to Hotels that would fetch very high rates. Both have roof decks and are on the harbor.

That completely goes against the core values of timeshare systems, ie: "the points charts are locked in".

Them playing games and "bringing back resorts" under a different name or something and higher points chart goes against one of their MAIN selling points. IE: locking in vacation prices now, forever. That's one of the fears I have, and if they can do it at these resorts, nothing is stopping them from doing it elsewhere.

Remember people, Wyndham is not a struggling company, they are making a lot of money year over year.

 

[Floridaman76]

RE: closing locations with sales centers:

As of today's list:

1. Fairfield Glade - yes
2. Bentley Brook - no
3. Patriot’s Place - all of the Williamsburg resorts share the sales center at Governors Green
4. Fairfield Bay - I don't know, never been there
5. Lake Lure - no
6. Star Island - all of the Orlando resorts share the sales center at Bonnet Creek
7. Orlando International - all of the Orlando resorts share the sales center at Bonnet Creek
8. Edisto - yes
9. Wyndham Shawnee - I think they do
10. Wyndham Skyline - yes
11. Unknown Rhode Island Resort 1 - there is no sales presence at any of the Newport/Jamestown RI resorts
12. Uknown Rhode Island Resort - there is no sales presence at any of the Newport/Jamestown RI resorts
13. Unknown California Resort 1 - would depend which one
14. Unknown California Resort 2 - would depend which one