Marriotts Marbella Resort

[pearcey101@gmail.com]

I am looking to make a large purchase in this resort (I have just sold my business) and would really welcome your advice. We have looked around this resort and want to spend three weeks every year as a family. (not really bothered with exchanges as we live close to Spain and love the area) We need the platinum weeks and a three bed unit. My key question is over the price...

They want £90,000 for three weeks ($180,000). Is this price fixed or should I be trying to get it down especially for multiple week purchase?

They won't give me a discount but they are prepared to offer me 750,000 Marriott points if I buy this year (I will not be able to use it until next year) - I know this is alot but should I be asking for more or is that really a good deal?

I notcied that Virgin Atlantic have joined Marriotts Reward schem as a Virgin FF will I get Airmiles on my purchase? If so how many?

The last and maybe the really hard one for me to understand is the real value of these weeks in the market now (if you could buy them). If someone could give me a view that would be really useful.

I really appreciate any other views or thoughts as this is a all new to me and would really appreicate your thoughts - they want me to sign tomorrow...please help!

 

[cwtkm3]

To buy or not to buy

Have just read your post and would say don't buy until you really know what the Marriott system is all about! You've now found TUG and I'd suggest you spend a lot of time digesting everything you can.

You can buy re-sale platinum weeks from the Travel and Leisure group. They're often listed on the UK e-bay site. There aren't so many re-sale Spanish units out there as say American ones but it'd be worth your while to investigate. Another site which advertises is www.redweek.com plus a whole load of others which you can find on the buying and selling page of TUG.

If you're not intending on trading the unit and plan to go every year then I'd consider maybe just buying one week. Then for the other two you could rent an apartment in Elviria practically next door to the Marriott for less than you may think. Have a look at www.holidayrentals.co.uk Once you're an owner you'd be free to go into the Marriott everyday and use the facilities.

I'm heading off to Marbella in the morning for 2 weeks! Have to go and finish the packing! Absolutley love it there and have been going since 2002. We bought a developer gold holiday week and added a gold Playa Andaluza week soon after. Then we got the bug and bought a week in the USA at Hilton Head. The latter two were pre-construction so good prices. Our trip tomorrow was done with exchanges.

Don't worry about losing the deal. Marriott won't shift on price. Don't know if they'll offer you more points.

Good luck.

 

[Beverley]

If you are planning on using these weeks yourself every year, then it will not be important to get Marriott Reward points for turning them in instead of using them. The only thing you lose if you buy resale is the ability to trade your timeshare unit in for Marriott Reward points every other year. Otherwise, your use and the ability to trade is exactly the same as if you bought direct from Marriott.

I believe you would save tons of money if you bought resale. Generally, Marriott will exercise their right of first refusal if a resale price is less than about 60% of their selling price. This would mean that you would stand a good chance of being able to pick up a resale at 60% of the price quoted you by the sales rep. What is lost is the points. What is gained is is about $72,000,(40% of $180K) With that kind of savings, buying the airline tickets is minor.

By the way ... Hi Carole

Beverley

 

[radley]

Marbella Beach Resort

I'm pretty sure that with some work on the phone and the web you'll be able to find what you want much cheaper than £90k.

There are currently two 3 bed Platinum weeks at MMB on Ebay.co.uk at £17,900. That may be a negotiable price and it's quite a saving on £30 each.

We bought a developer week from Marriott at Playa Andaluza and loved our first stay so much we almost bought another one. Then I discovered TUG and cancelled our contract and bought resale for a great price. In fact we found our week right here on the TUG boards, but I also registered with a few UK timeshare resale agents and got lots of calls offering me MMB weeks at good prices.

Good luck with your search.

 

[jme]

don't ignore the advice to "take a deep breath" and delay your purchase until you see what it's all about...for that money, you could do so many things....the points are nice, but they will go VERY fast, and then it's too late, they're gone. You need to buy something, or DO something, that lasts...jme

 

[Ireland'sCall]

Normally Marriott do not excerise their right of refusal for their 4 locations in Europe .
G

 

[IanMcM]

Think you would be crazy to pay £90k unless you just have to have the Marriott points and it doesn't sound as if you do. Take your time - there is just no need to buy "today". Unlike double decker buses there will ALWAYS bee a another timeshare salesman along in a few minutes.

You have got some excellent advice above. Do your homework. Read and re- read TUG and not just the Marriott board. Google for timeshare resale companies in UK, and maybe USA also. Perhaps buy one week as suggested above and rent nearby for the first year. That way gives you nearly 2 years to get what you want.

You ask the value of what your units will be - certainly not £90k after you have bought from Marriott. It will be whatever the second market says it is - perhaps 50-60% and maybe not even that if you ever have to sell in a hurry. Time share purchase should not be considered a business enterprise - if you bought a package holiday the money spent on that is dead and gone, you only have the memories! Similarly a Marriott time share will give you great holidays but it will cost you. That's why I think you should do your homework and I think you would be wrong to spend £90k.

On a personal note, and not really my business, but if you are retired are you sure you really want to go to Costa del Sol for 3 weeks Platinum time every year - very hot and very crowded. If you ever want to go any other time of year you will have to exchange back in through Interval International. Unless Marriott introduce an internal exchange system of which there is some talk.

All the best. Marriott is a quality buy.

 

[Ireland'sCall]

Think you would be crazy to pay £90k unless you just have to have the Marriott points and it doesn't sound as if you do. Take your time - there is just no need to buy "today". Unlike double decker buses there will ALWAYS bee a another timeshare salesman along in a few minutes.

You have got some excellent advice above. Do your homework. Read and re- read TUG and not just the Marriott board. Google for timeshare resale companies in UK, and maybe USA also. Perhaps buy one week as suggested above and rent nearby for the first year. That way gives you nearly 2 years to get what you want.

You ask the value of what your units will be - certainly not £90k after you have bought from Marriott. It will be whatever the second market says it is - perhaps 50-60% and maybe not even that if you ever have to sell in a hurry. Time share purchase should not be considered a business enterprise - if you bought a package holiday the money spent on that is dead and gone, you only have the memories! Similarly a Marriott time share will give you great holidays but it will cost you. That's why I think you should do your homework and I think you would be wrong to spend £90k.

On a personal note, and not really my business, but if you are retired are you sure you really want to go to Costa del Sol for 3 weeks Platinum time every year - very hot and very crowded. If you ever want to go any other time of year you will have to exchange back in through Interval International. Unless Marriott introduce an internal exchange system of which there is some talk.

All the best. Marriott is a quality buy.

Agree with Ian. July and August are just too hot , crowded and dangerous for driving
G

 

[Palguy]

Have just read your post and would say don't buy until you really know what the Marriott system is all about! You've now found TUG and I'd suggest you spend a lot of time digesting everything you can.

You can buy re-sale platinum weeks from the Travel and Leisure group. They're often listed on the UK e-bay site. There aren't so many re-sale Spanish units out there as say American ones but it'd be worth your while to investigate. Another site which advertises is www.redweek.com plus a whole load of others which you can find on the buying and selling page of TUG.

If you're not intending on trading the unit and plan to go every year then I'd consider maybe just buying one week. Then for the other two you could rent an apartment in Elviria practically next door to the Marriott for less than you may think. Have a look at www.holidayrentals.co.uk Once you're an owner you'd be free to go into the Marriott everyday and use the facilities.

I'm heading off to Marbella in the morning for 2 weeks! Have to go and finish the packing! Absolutley love it there and have been going since 2002. We bought a developer gold holiday week and added a gold Playa Andaluza week soon after. Then we got the bug and bought a week in the USA at Hilton Head. The latter two were pre-construction so good prices. Our trip tomorrow was done with exchanges.

Don't worry about losing the deal. Marriott won't shift on price. Don't know if they'll offer you more points.

Good luck.

Do I understand correctly, if I am a Marriott owner staying next door I can still use the pool facilities, etc.?

 

[pearcey101@gmail.com]

Thanks for the advice here is the update

I went down to the office and told them I could get it for £18,000 per week on ebay (thanks for that advice) however they said they would buy it back at that price. The issue and I am sure it is not sales speak is that 3bed platinum are in big demand on the resort. To cut a long story decided to go for it (have a 14day cooling off period). The other decider was that they said if I buy it direct I could put down my children as joint owners which means it is excluded from my death duties. I am only 34 with 2 young kids but it makes sense. They said if I brought resale this would not be allowed. It has been an expensive day but I feel thanks to TUG I have gone in with my eyes wide opened.

I thought about just buying a week but I just don't want the hassel of renting.

Got a sweetner of 400,000 points

Anyway thanks for the advice and I hope to be an active member of the forum and share my experience.

Regards,

Milan

 

[Art]

Milan

Welcome to the MVCI family of owners.

Some of us have bought resale, some of us have bought from Marriott (I've done it both ways) but nearly all of us are absolutely delighted by our Marriott timeshare.

If there are any comments on what you could have done better, cheaper, etc., the important thing is that you found out about the alternatives here on TUG, and then made a decision that pleased you.

Enjoy your week. Marbella Beach Club is a fabulous resort; we loved it when we traded in a few years ago.

Art

 

[thinze3]

W E L C O M E !

You are going to love Marriott Vacation Club. I think you picked one of the best of the best. Marbella and/or Playa Andaluza are on my very short list of Marriotts to visit. I just wish I had more weeks to trade in there.

C O N G R A T S !

 

[taffy19]

I went down to the office and told them I could get it for £18,000 per week on ebay (thanks for that advice) however they said they would buy it back at that price. The issue and I am sure it is not sales speak is that 3bed platinum are in big demand on the resort. To cut a long story decided to go for it (have a 14day cooling off period). The other decider was that they said if I buy it direct I could put down my children as joint owners which means it is excluded from my death duties. I am only 34 with 2 young kids but it makes sense. They said if I brought resale this would not be allowed. It has been an expensive day but I feel thanks to TUG I have gone in with my eyes wide opened.

I thought about just buying a week but I just don't want the hassel of renting.

Got a sweetner of 400,000 points

Anyway thanks for the advice and I hope to be an active member of the forum and share my experience.

Regards,

Milan

Congratulations having bought where you like to vacation. It looks like a beautiful resort as I have seen the pictures and people have mentioned it too.

I have a question for Dave M or any attorney. Is it really true that one cannot add family members to a deed later? I thought you can do that anytime once the property is in your name. Is this different with timeshares? I hope you were told the truth. It is better to find this out now while you can still rescind.

Welcome to TUG.

 

[m61376]

I don't know the answer to adding family members to a deed later on, but I do know that you can put whomever you want down as joint owners when buying resale, because we put our daughter's name on it so she could have use/trading in II.

 

[Dave M]

Emmy -

Sorry that I didn't see your question earlier. I have been traveling this weekend (Saratoga Springs, NY) and have had limited access to TUG.

I'm not an attorney, but...

A timeshare is like any other real estate when it comes to who is on the title. Thus, generally, it's as easy as preparing a new deed, recording it and complying with whatever the resort or resort chain's requirements are related to name changes.

I have added a name to one of my timeshares. There are often threads on the BSR forum about people adding family members (usually children) to their timeshare ownership or adding a name so that all timeshares that someone wants in a single exchange company account will have the same ownership.

My response is for the U.S. I wouldn't presume anything with respect to laws in Spain or other countries. The law might be different there.

 

[taffy19]

Sorry, Dave as there had to be an explanation as you are normally so good in replying to all posts.

I hope some of the Europeans can tell us how it works over there with the real estate laws in GB or in Spain but it may be different in each country too. I will ask my family in Holland but they know nothing about timeshare resorts but they know about owning a home. I believe that there is only one timeshare resort in Holland and I have stayed there once but would never stay there again.

 

[englishowner]

Emmy

I added my children's names about two year's after I bought at Son Antem. We had put them on originally but then when I bought at Playa it transpired their names were no longer on, (I know why but it's too complicated to go into here), anyway I just had to sign a form asking for their names to be added to the ownership. Hope this answers your question.

Lynne

 

[davewasbaloo]

Welcome aboard. We just bought in to Paris earlier this year and we are very happy. Marriott certainly seems to be a cut above the rest. We chickened out as we only bought a 2 bed one week, but I am sure you will enjoy it. I really want to try out your resort, maybe next year (though we are going to try to trade in to Newport Beach as we are going to California next year).

 

[Ireland'sCall]

Welcome to all the Marriott Europe people
G

 

[Zac495]

I own Aruba - but got a direct exchange this year for your resort. I am so excited. I hear it's great!!!

 

[ArtsieAng]

Congrats on your purchase, and welcome to the Marriott Family!!

I stayed at the Marriott Marbella Beach for the first time this past May. I absolutely loved the resort, and the area. It's one of Marriott's best, for sure. I will definitely return.

 

[dougef]

I stayed at the Marriott Marbella Beach for the first time this past May. I absolutely loved the resort, and the area. It's one of Marriott's best, for sure. I will definitely return.

We were there in July. DITTO - we loved it and want to go back.