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

[rickandcindy23]

I do expect truth when someone is selling me something. I called the Marriott salesperson on her lies last August at Westin Princeville. She started telling me lies, and I told her it was not true. It's too bad some people fall for whatever lies the salespeople say.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Your week disappeared from your RCI account?

No, I think the poster is saying that somebody booked the exchange week that he deposited. Meaning that person who made the exchange and now has a booking for week 52 is in for an unpleasant surprise when the resort closes halfway through his vacation.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

They tried to get my parents to pay $30000 to get 500,000 points (and I assume forfeit all rights of ownership of the condos)

@HitchHiker71 didn’t your contact indicate that sales wasn’t going to do this? Not that I’m surprised by Wyndham’s sales department…

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Hello all,

I am writing on behalf of my parents who are owners of 2 units at Newport Overlook, in Jamestown. We were brought to a “meeting to discuss the future of the resort”, where they told us that the resort will be closed down. We were told Wyndham owns more than 50% of the weeks at Newport Overlook. They tried to get my parents to pay $30000 to get 500,000 points (and I assume forfeit all rights of ownership of the condos) They used many sleazy sale tactics including but not limited to saying that they would be throwing away all the memories we had made if we didn’t join the points program.

At the end of the day my parents are not even remotely in the position to spend that kind of money so we declined. We are very unfamiliar with these sales negotiations as my grandparents bought the units in the 80s and we never go anywhere else with points or anything. Hopefully we will be getting some percentage of the sale price? However small that is.

The salesman tried to tell us it would only be $200 but I hope it’s at least a little bit more than that. Is there any way that we can protect our right to get a fair share of the value? Seems like we are getting screwed hard, and we are very disappointed.

@Cool791, if for some reason Wyndham doesn’t end up offering your parents a free equity trade for CWA points, know that you can still own at Wyndham by purchasing one of the many, basically free, resale options. You’ll likely find a resale option that has lower maintenance fees than you are paying right now, for an equivalent amount of Wyndham points, for a few hundred dollars at most. Your parents did the right thing by not taking the $30,000 offer!

 

[HitchHiker71]

@HitchHiker71 didn’t your contact indicate that sales wasn’t going to do this? Not that I’m surprised by Wyndham’s sales department…

My contacts on this particular issue are on the member services side of the business, not from sales. As is the case with every business, there are silos that have different priorities and aren't always in alignment. Every business I've ever worked with or within has these issues, it's by design really. In a sales oriented business like timesharing, where 75% of the revenues from the business are generated from VOI sales, Wyndham is really a sales led organization, so regardless of how much another area of the business tries to prevent the sales division from taking advantage of certain changes, at the end of the day they cannot simply pick up the phone and tell the CRO or SVP of Sales to stop this type of thing. Yes I'm reporting every instance of this, as asked, but that's all I can do. Wyndham is also monitoring the FB groups for these same types of reported issues - it's often easier for Wyndham to follow up and gather data on FB given most folks actually use their real names on that platform.

 

[bellesgirl]

I read her email as meaning that her deposit was successful/taken - not that her week disappeared from her RCI account. @bellesgirl care to clarify?

Correct. The week was accepted, and given to another RCI member as an exchange. Currently, I have the TPUs and the ability to use them. Sorry if I wasn't clear. But I am wondering what would happen if they close the resort in 2025. This week ends in 2026. I don't really expect anyone to know the answer, unless something similar has happened before.

 

[jp10558]

I commented about the noticeably less inventory in RCI. Maybe 10 years ago RCI was found guilty of selling inventory to third parties. Like to the vacation clubs. Iirc in the settlement owners got some money off their next exchange fee. If resorts aren't switching to II, then maybe RCI is up to their old tricks? This time is it being sold on the various travel sites like the ExtraHolidays and Vacation Share stays are?

Well, they get the inventory for the Armed Forces Vacation Club etc from somewhere!

 

[paxsarah]

I mentioned in my post that the exchange fee for those less than 7 night stays was now $299. That it used to be pro-rated. It still is for the non Wyndham/Worldmark resorts! That $299 exchange fee for less than full week stays is only at the Wyndham/Worldmark resorts!

Now, are you looking at Nightly Stays for less than 7 nights, or are you looking at the prepackaged variable-night stays when you say this? Because I don't have access to Nightly Stays so I can't test it, but I can tell you that for me, a resale (non-Points Weeks-only) user of RCI, the stays of less than 7 nights have the full $299 exchange fee whether they're Wyndham/Worldmark or non. Note it's also the full points cost as well, not prorated based on number of nights. Here's a couple examples:

Now, the vast majority of the resorts in RCI that do these prepackaged shorter stays seem to be the Wyndham/Worldmark locations, but the ones that aren't still charge the full $299 fee (or to be more accurate, RCI charges it). I would guess (and I can only guess, since I don't have access) that Nightly Stays all have a prorated exchange fee and points cost regardless of whether it's Wyndham or non-Wyndham.

 

[Arimaas]

My contacts on this particular issue are on the member services side of the business, not from sales. As is the case with every business, there are silos that have different priorities and aren't always in alignment. Every business I've ever worked with or within has these issues, it's by design really. In a sales oriented business like timesharing, where 75% of the revenues from the business are generated from VOI sales, Wyndham is really a sales led organization, so regardless of how much another area of the business tries to prevent the sales division from taking advantage of certain changes, at the end of the day they cannot simply pick up the phone and tell the CRO or SVP of Sales to stop this type of thing. Yes I'm reporting every instance of this, as asked, but that's all I can do. Wyndham is also monitoring the FB groups for these same types of reported issues - it's often easier for Wyndham to follow up and gather data on FB given most folks actually use their real names on that platform.

Sorry. That’s a cop out by Wyndham. These tactics go on because Wyndham has made it an environment for stuff like this, in addition to all their usual sales lies and taking advantage of people that don't understand what they are getting into, to go on. In any other world, this would be unconscionable contracting.

Edited to add the last line showcasing my night school lawyer education.

 

[CO skier]

My contacts on this particular issue are on the member services side of the business, not from sales.

Here is something from last November's WorldMark Annual Owners Meeting Q&A (emphasis added):

Q: “I’m frustrated with the sales process. They said I would learn new Club information during the owner update, but it was never discussed. How can I address this issue?”

Chris Faddick, Senior Vice President, Marketing: “Thank you for the question. We strive, hard, to make sure that we provide value and education when owners and guests attend updates. When we don’t, we need to know about it; very similar to the website, feedback is a gift, and when we are aware of it, we can address that. So, surveys as you’ve heard over and over again are very valuable to us in the sales and marketing arena. We look at them weekly and, in fact, weekly meetings occur with leadership at every site to review scores and comments and make specific changes and address issues to make sure owners are getting the best value they can through their updates.”

So if anyone, personally, has a bad experience at a (Club Wyndham or WorldMark) sales update and wants to “provide feedback” straight to the top of the sales department, here is the email address, if his follows the standard email naming convention.

Chris.Faddick@travelandleisure.com

 

[Floridaman76]

I think a lot of us have come to expect lies from the sales weasels and wristband mafia, but this particular thing, trying to get someone to buy something that they will in fact get for free anyway, if they want it, is particularly in bad form. Even from the used car salesmen rejects that Wyndham employs

It's not in any remotely way ethical or acting in good faith.

 

[Arimaas]

Here is something from last November's WorldMark Annual Owners Meeting Q&A (emphasis added):

Q: “I’m frustrated with the sales process. They said I would learn new Club information during the owner update, but it was never discussed. How can I address this issue?”

Chris Faddick, Senior Vice President, Marketing: “Thank you for the question. We strive, hard, to make sure that we provide value and education when owners and guests attend updates. When we don’t, we need to know about it; very similar to the website, feedback is a gift, and when we are aware of it, we can address that. So, surveys as you’ve heard over and over again are very valuable to us in the sales and marketing arena. We look at them weekly and, in fact, weekly meetings occur with leadership at every site to review scores and comments and make specific changes and address issues to make sure owners are getting the best value they can through their updates.”

So if anyone, personally, has a bad experience at a (Club Wyndham or WorldMark) sales update and wants to “provide feedback” straight to the top of the sales department, here is the email address, if his follows the standard email naming convention.

Chris.Faddick@travelandleisure.com

That's great. We can tell them all we want. They know this is going on. The entire timeshare industry is based on lies. It isn't news to them. Again, total cop out.

 

[Jan M.]

Now, are you looking at Nightly Stays for less than 7 nights, or are you looking at the prepackaged variable-night stays when you say this? Because I don't have access to Nightly Stays so I can't test it, but I can tell you that for me, a resale (non-Points Weeks-only) user of RCI, the stays of less than 7 nights have the full $299 exchange fee whether they're Wyndham/Worldmark or non. Note it's also the full points cost as well, not prorated based on number of nights. Here's a couple examples:
View attachment 113531
View attachment 113532

Now, the vast majority of the resorts in RCI that do these prepackaged shorter stays seem to be the Wyndham/Worldmark locations, but the ones that aren't still charge the full $299 fee (or to be more accurate, RCI charges it). I would guess (and I can only guess, since I don't have access) that Nightly Stays all have a prorated exchange fee and points cost regardless of whether it's Wyndham or non-Wyndham.

You're looking at your Wyndham RCI account. I'm talking about the non-Wyndham RCI points and weeks accounts. However this apparent change to Wyndham charging $299 for less than full week stays seems to be recent. Maybe with the last RCI fee increase and i didnt pay attention? Although with Wyndham's track record, maybe they just slipped that in on RCI.

This is the first time I've considered booking a Wyndham/Worldmark resort for less than 7 nights with our RCI points account. After checking the non-Wyndham resorts I was relieved to see that unlike Wyndham/Worldmark resorts, they're still a pro-rated exchange fee for less than 7 night stays.

Here's something else that's different and significant with the Wyndham/Worldmark listings. The Wyndham/Worldmark listings don't offer the ability to book more than 7 nights in a single reservation like many of the non-Wyndham resorts in a non-Wyndham RCI points account do. With the non-Wyndham RCI points account you can book 7-21 nights in a single reservation, if there's availability, and the exchange fee is $349 vs the $299 exchange fee when you book individual weeks. Based on the the amount of inventory in the multiple Wyndham/Worldmark listings of the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 night stays, they certainly could at least offer stays of up to 14 nights like we can book through Wyndham.

I brought the topic of RCI up because some people have mentioned eventually doing what we do. Using our non-Wyndham RCI points account from owning points weeks at Vacation Village Grandview at Las Vegas along with what we own with Wyndham to piece together longer trips. It's been working very well for us for our longer spring and fall trips in the 7 years since DH retired.

 

[bizaro86]

Here is something from last November's WorldMark Annual Owners Meeting Q&A (emphasis added):

Q: “I’m frustrated with the sales process. They said I would learn new Club information during the owner update, but it was never discussed. How can I address this issue?”

Chris Faddick, Senior Vice President, Marketing: “Thank you for the question. We strive, hard, to make sure that we provide value and education when owners and guests attend updates. When we don’t, we need to know about it; very similar to the website, feedback is a gift, and when we are aware of it, we can address that. So, surveys as you’ve heard over and over again are very valuable to us in the sales and marketing arena. We look at them weekly and, in fact, weekly meetings occur with leadership at every site to review scores and comments and make specific changes and address issues to make sure owners are getting the best value they can through their updates.”

So if anyone, personally, has a bad experience at a (Club Wyndham or WorldMark) sales update and wants to “provide feedback” straight to the top of the sales department, here is the email address, if his follows the standard email naming convention.

Chris.Faddick@travelandleisure.com

I somehow doubt that anyone in the sales organization is unaware that they routinely tell lies to sign people up for "updates" and sell product.

Therefore I doubt informing them of that fact will make any difference whatsoever.

 

[TUGBrian]

the bigger issue is turnover in sales offices, sure they can fire people who get constant bad feedback...but those same people just go across the street to westgate/holiday inn etc...and vice versa those cut from those other sales offices will try their hand at wyndham for 6 months or a year until it catches up to them again...and so on and so on.

this way they can say they do take action to weed out the bad apples, the problem is in many cases they are replaced with worse apples.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Sorry. That’s a cop out by Wyndham. These tactics go on because Wyndham has made it an environment for stuff like this, in addition to all their usual sales lies and taking advantage of people that don't understand what they are getting into, to go on. In any other world, this would be unconscionable contracting.

Edited to add the last line showcasing my night school lawyer education.

I never said otherwise, I am simply describing how it works in the real world. You can not like it all you want, it's not going to change any time soon. The plausible deniability and cognitive dissonance that the ELT practices at Wyndham is well known and well documented on this forum. My answer, when I'm pushed, is that complaining on an internet forum doesn't accomplish anything, other than to make people feel better about themselves really. For my part, instead of just complaining, I actually chose to do the hard work to build relationships and to work with the Wyndham ELT and other business and technical contacts to try to effect change. It's a slow and painful process, and at times feels like one step forward two steps back, and at other times we see progress. It's a mixed bag in other words. Still, @Richelle and I keep on keeping on.

One area, however, where we have never really seen any demonstrable progress, despite repeated attempts, outside of getting Wyndham to gift up front, is the predominantly suspect and oftentimes deceptive nature of the sales update meetings. Given the current suspect and deceptive sales practices bring in 75% of ALL T&L revenue, unless something is done legally to prevent these types of predatory sales practices, nothing is going to change. That's not defeatist, it's simply being pragmatic given most TUGGERs have been around for over a decade on this forum, and nothing has really changed. Everyone here on TUG feels the same way you do, we just by and large don't see the point of complaining about it because it's not going to change anything, especially on an internet forum. Yes, it absolutely sucks that the Wyndham sales and marketing team is using this portfolio shuffle in a dishonest manner, no doubt about it. We could, yet again, bring up elder abuse, or many other potential reasons not to engage in these types of sales tactics, but again, it's all been hashed out ad nauseum on this forum repeatedly over time, and nothing has changed substantively. Wyndham is 100% aware of all of this and actively deploys plausible deniability and cognitive dissonance to avoid any real accountability. Everyone is very aware of this. If anyone has any new bright ideas on how to combat this issue, please, we're all ears, otherwise, let's try to avoid continuing to post about this particular topic on this thread, we already have too many posts on it really.

 

[Arimaas]

I never said otherwise, I am simply describing how it works in the real world. You can not like it all you want, it's not going to change any time soon. The plausible deniability and cognitive dissonance that the ELT practices at Wyndham is well known and well documented on this forum. My answer, when I'm pushed, is that complaining on an internet forum doesn't accomplish anything, other than to make people feel better about themselves really. For my part, instead of just complaining, I actually chose to do the hard work to build relationships and to work with the Wyndham ELT and other business and technical contacts to try to effect change. It's a slow and painful process, and at times feels like one step forward two steps back, and at other times we see progress. It's a mixed bag in other words. Still, @Richelle and I keep on keeping on.

One area, however, where we have never really seen any demonstrable progress, despite repeated attempts, outside of getting Wyndham to gift up front, is the predominantly suspect and oftentimes deceptive nature of the sales update meetings. Given the current suspect and deceptive sales practices bring in 75% of ALL T&L revenue, unless something is done legally to prevent these types of predatory sales practices, nothing is going to change. That's not defeatist, it's simply being pragmatic given most TUGGERs have been around for over a decade on this forum, and nothing has really changed. Everyone here on TUG feels the same way you do, we just by and large don't see the point of complaining about it because it's not going to change anything, especially on an internet forum. Yes, it absolutely sucks that the Wyndham sales and marketing team is using this portfolio shuffle in a dishonest manner, no doubt about it. We could, yet again, bring up elder abuse, or many other potential reasons not to engage in these types of sales tactics, but again, it's all been hashed out ad nauseum on this forum repeatedly over time, and nothing has changed substantively. Wyndham is 100% aware of all of this and actively deploys plausible deniability and cognitive dissonance to avoid any real accountability. Everyone is very aware of this. If anyone has any new bright ideas on how to combat this issue, please, we're all ears, otherwise, let's try to avoid continuing to post about this particular topic on this thread, we already have too many posts on it really.

I only bring it up, because it was brought up. I don't regularly complain about Wyndham sales, I know what it is. I have been around TUG and been an owner for a decade (all resale BTW). But to use this as an excuse to try to get $30k out of an elderly couple, and then for Wyndham corporate to act surprised that stuff like this is going in is flat out DISGUSTING. If Wyndham really had any inclination to change anything, they could make a small change and stop calling sakes meetings, "owner updates" and be more transparent to folks that don't read TUG. But I don't see them doing that.

Believe me, I appreciate you bringing it up to them and trying to correct the issue, but, as you suggested, it will fall on deaf ears. Which is fine, but don't play it off like you are all shocked during an earnings call and blow smoke up everyone saying, "please let us know and we will put a stop to this." Yeah, sure, sure you will. While you go to sleep in your $3m home, getting annual bonuses after the sales people take advantage of folks that live in doublewides and don't know any better.

 

[Mr. Phil]

I own week 52 at Orlando International Resort. That runs from Dec 27-Jan 3, 2026. I deposited it with RCI last March and as far as I can tell, it's been taken. I wonder what will happen to that exchange.

Convert to points. Then use anywhere

 

[Mr. Phil]

When someone makes a statement like this, it's really tone deaf. Even if, hypothetically, the resort doesn't completely close and re-opens under new management, even if it is the RCI system, it's a net loss for us, because we, as owners, cannot book there using our Club Wyndham points. Even if it goes to an RCI compatible company, that's additional cost to owners in terms of exchange fees, possible resort fees, possible housekeeping fees, etc

True going to a RCI compatible company could not be ideal. But "tone deaf" is a pathetic statement. Yet there are hundreds of other resorts and as we speak Wyndham is building a few more.

 

[Mr. Phil]

Well, it’s officially public for Fairfield Glade at least:

Club Wyndham closing timeshare operations in Fairfield Glade

Club Wyndham is shutting down its timeshare operations at the end of the year, according to a statement released Friday afternoon by the Fairfield Glade Community Club.

www.crossville-chronicle.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There are ten OLDER facilities in consideration. What puzzles me we go to Fairfield Mountains NC often and in the past several years Wyndham has done extensive renovations to several buildings inside and out, They look good, yet a few others are old and tired.

 

[Mr. Phil]

The former. We regularly stay at Wyndham Shawnee for example, and without exception, the vast majority of people checking in, are not Wyndham owners, they are RCI exchangers or renters. I realize this is anecdotal in nature, but I've also talked to the sales director there on occasion in the past and I know this is the general makeup of who attends their updates - many more renters and exchangers compared to owners. I'd therefore bet dollars to donuts this resort will be on this list.

Besides, Individual property owners can switch to points, most likely CWA and use anywhere.

 

[Floridaman76]

True going to a RCI compatible company could not be ideal. But "tone deaf" is a pathetic statement. Yet there are hundreds of other resorts and as we speak Wyndham is building a few more.

I stand by my statement, and to my knowledge there are NO Wyndham resorts under construction for Club Wymdham owners. The last one built was Atlanta and also if I remember right, there were statements made that there were no plans for any new Wyndham resorts even on the radar, with the company shifting to an "aquire, not build" model because of "high construction costs". I distinctly remember this.

I'm talking Club Wyndham.

Not RCI
Not Worldmark
Not Margaritaville (where Wydham owners have limited booking privlages or limited booking windows)
Not some new "Sports Illustrated" resort system which Club Wyndham owners may or may not have have booking privlages

Club Wyndham.

And no, there;s nothing even on the radar. I see contraction, not growth. Prove me wrong.

And the idea that a resort possibly still exisitng in RCI is not an equvalency. Having to spend $299 for exchange fee plus my points for something I can book today and get suite upgrades, discounts and not be tied to a 7 day booking.

 

[chapjim]

I stand by my statement, and to my knowledge there are NO Wyndham resorts under construction for Club Wymdham owners. The last one built was Atlanta and also if I remember right, there were statements made that there were no plans for any new Wyndham resorts even on the radar, with the company shifting to an "aquire, not build" model because of "high construction costs". I distinctly remember this.

I'm talking Club Wyndham.

Not RCI
Not Worldmark
Not Margaritaville (where Wydham owners have limited booking privlages or limited booking windows)
Not some new "Sports Illustrated" resort system which Club Wyndham owners may or may not have have booking privlages

Club Wyndham.

And no, there;s nothing even on the radar. I see contraction, not growth. Prove me wrong.

And the idea that a resort possibly still exisitng in RCI is not an equvalency. Having to spend $299 for exchange fee plus my points for something I can book today and get suite upgrades, discounts and not be tied to a 7 day booking.

Proverbs 18:2

 

[randyz]

I think that is just because Equivest's resorts were old even back then.

Edit to add: And most of them were poorly maintained.

I entered Fairfield/Cendant through Equivest. The original ownership was Avenue Plaza which was bought new in 1998. Fairfield/Cendant bought that around 5 years later. Older building, remodeled and still going strong. Another Equivest remodel around the same time was Riverside in San Antonio which also appears to be going strong. Equivest had 2 properties in USVI. One (Bluebeards Castle) left Wyndham years ago with lots of litigation. The second Bluebeards beach has been recently majorly updated and is ongoing as Limetree and still in Wyndham.

I guess all three have been well maintained and all have year round appeal. They are all around 25-30 years since origination.

 

[chapjim]

There are ten OLDER facilities in consideration. What puzzles me we go to Fairfield Mountains NC often and in the past several years Wyndham has done extensive renovations to several buildings inside and out, They look good, yet a few others are old and tired.

So, if they are sold, it will be for a higher price.