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Diamond Resorts Int'l or Diamond Ripoff Int'l

biafrate

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I have just received my 2009 Maintenance Fees Invoice and am floored by what I am reading. Diamond Resorts has provided the 2009 budget as:
Increase in Maintenance Fees of 20%
Increase in Reserve Contribution of 25%
Increase in Gen & Admin Expenses of 16%
But the best is:
Increase in MANAGEMENT FEES of 49.33%

Then they try to blame the increase on spiraling prices for oil and fuel??????
They suggest everything is increased due to the affect of the oil pricing on every other expense.
BUT the increase in Management fees is not affected by oil????Is it????
They have now priced the Maintenance Fees of the Scottsdale Villa Mirage more than my Gold Crown Property in Aruba?????
Wow talk about pathetic Management. Now I know why they need the increase. They could not manage their way home let alone a resort.
 

dougp26364

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After having given them the benefit of the doubt for much of this year I got a look at the MF's coming out of DRI. I agree 100%. DRI is one of the bigger ripoff's in the timeshare industry. To top it off, delivery on their promises is only superficial. While everything else went sky high, reserve collections went down. That means a resort that is unsustainable without the need for a special assessment somewhere down the line.

DRI promises more, charges more but delivers LESS. As an example, my platinum season 2 bedroom HGVC LV Strip maintenance fee's are $805 this year. They have two large pools, two smaller hot tubs and one large hot tub, valet parking AND a parking garage with over 3,000 parking spaces, a huge convience store with made to order pizza's, made to order sandwhich's, a Starbucks Express with prices cheaper than in the strip hotels and seating for several people, a pool side restaurant with table service, a full spa, an owners lounge, an elite owners lounge et...... To top it all off, HGVC collects $122 of the MF for their cash reserve AND that MF's includes club dues of $95!

Now, compare that to our Villa's and Suite's at Polo Towers units who's MF's are a little over $1,000 and $900. Polo Towers did away with it's owners lounge and turned it into personal office space for S. Cloobeck (now it's general office or so I'm told), one small/shallow roof top pool, one small roof top hot tub, a pathetic excuse for a convenience store that only has high prices but very little selection, pay laundry machines on every third floor rather than washer/dryer combo's in the units as at HGVC and that's about it. Out of those large MF's guess how much is going into the cash reserve? $35 is all. Oh, and let's not forget, DRI's MF's do NOT include club dues which, BTW, went up another 5% this year to $235. Club dues are NOT included in the MF but are in ADDITION to the MF. Of course this 5% is for those who are math challanged. Last year the club dues were $155. Seems to me that a $80 increase in club dues over a 12 month period is a far site from any 5% increase!

HEY DRI! WE'RE NOT ALL COMPLETELY STUPID! You are RIPPING owners off with your high priced management but shallow delivery. You're charging far more than the major hotel chains charge but delivering far less in return. It's a sad day when you realize that the old Sunterra management may have been better management than DRI.
 
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dougp26364

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Opps, I forgot to mention DRI's defense when people challenge them on their MF schedule. Granted the HOA's set the MF's but, DRI CONTROLS THOSE HOA'S! So they can blame the HOA all they want but, when DRI controls the seats on those boards and essentially prevents them from giving DRI the boot is so richly deserves, then THEY control the MF's of each resort they manage.
 

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Granted the HOA's set the MF's but, DRI CONTROLS THOSE HOA'S!
I don't believe that DRI controls ALL of the HOA's. It is important to owners who have owner elected HOA's to elect a good, strong board. I know the impact a great board can have and will publicly thank the Cypress Pointe I board anytime.

Charles
 

dougp26364

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Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
I don't believe that DRI controls ALL of the HOA's. It is important to owners who have owner elected HOA's to elect a good, strong board. I know the impact a great board can have and will publicly thank the Cypress Pointe I board anytime.

Charles

The only HOA's that are not under DRI control are the affiliate resorts that are not managed by DRI. DRI maintains a large enough block, either through developer owned inventory or through one of their trust, to keep control. DRI employee's can also own one week and, since DRI has the block of units to vote, they can vote in whomever they want to vote in.

Probably the best way to be in THE Club would be to own at a resort NOT managed by DRI. For instance, Gatlinburg Town Square is managed by Summer Bay, even though GTS is listed as a resort in THE Club. Those owners don't have to put up with DRI controling their resort and their MF's.
 

dwsupt

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:shrug: You have to pay for all those take overs some how. I mean how else do you expect them to be the biggest company in TS sales.
 

pianodinosaur

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dougp26364:

We were in Las Vegas for a weekend course this past summer. There was a great deal of construction going on right next door to the Jockey Club. Is the new construction going to be to the betterment or the detriment of the Jockey Club membership? Is the Jockey Club in any way related to the Polo Towers?
 
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pedro47

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The best manage HOA board in the Diamond Resort chain is at Cypress Pointe I in FL.. Just looked at all the projects that this HOA board have completed in the past five (5) years and please look at their plan renovation villas for the future. This HOA board even provides pictures of their completed projects and their on going projects.
 

dougp26364

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dougp26364:

We were in Las Vegas for a weekend course this past summer. There was a great deal of construction going on right next door to the Jockey Club. Is the new construction going to be to the betterment or the detriment of the Jockey Club membership? Is the Jockey Club in any way related to the Polo Towers?


Jockey Club was originally developed as a timeshare by S. Cloobecks father and, at one time, was managed by what eventually became DRI.

When we first bought into Polo Towers back in 1998, DRI was promoting itself as having two resorts, JC and PT. When I posted something on these forums about JC and PT being managed by the same company, owners at JC were quick to point out that they tossed DRI out as their management company a few years back.

The construction going on next to JC is the Cosmopolitan. How it will affect JC in the long run has yet to be seen. The original developer of the Cosmopolitan went bankrupt and is completely out of the picture. The build has been forclosed on and is the hands of the bank at this time. They are actively looking for a new buyer/owner/developer. Starwood, Hyatt and Hilton seem to be the top contenders to take over the project.

JC had an agreement with the original developer and, they gave up ground and views for promised amenities. Amenities which may or may not be honored by whomever the new owner of the Cosmo will be. Essentially, JC sold out.

It was published in an article sometime back that the owner of the land in front of Polo Towers that they had or were negotiating a deal to remove the height restriction in front of Polo Towers. From that article it appeared that the owners of units who's view would be blocked would be pennies on the dollar compared to the money DRI would take in.

I see this much like the situation JC finds itself in now. DRI would sell out it's owners in a minute if there was a dime in it for them. Selling out that height restriction would put quick dollars in their pocket and could cause years of missery for PT's owners who bought based upon the view being sold by PT's along with the knowledge that DRI owned that land in front of PT's. Of course, DRI sold out that land but, sold prospective owners on the fact that they had an easement and a height restriction built into the sale so there would ALWAYS be access from LV Blv and owners would ALWAYS have that view. I guess they conveniently forgot that, built into the contracts was DRI's right to sell that view for a couple of dollars in hand.
 

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I have just received my 2009 Maintenance Fees Invoice and am floored by what I am reading. Diamond Resorts has provided the 2009 budget as:
Increase in Maintenance Fees of 20%
Increase in Reserve Contribution of 25%
Increase in Gen & Admin Expenses of 16%
But the best is:
Increase in MANAGEMENT FEES of 49.33%

Then they try to blame the increase on spiraling prices for oil and fuel??????
They suggest everything is increased due to the affect of the oil pricing on every other expense.
BUT the increase in Management fees is not affected by oil????Is it????
They have now priced the Maintenance Fees of the Scottsdale Villa Mirage more than my Gold Crown Property in Aruba?????
Wow talk about pathetic Management. Now I know why they need the increase. They could not manage their way home let alone a resort.

[Text removed at request of poster - Makai Guy, BBS Admin.] I am aware of the negative situation but I personally do not believe it is pathetic management, I believe that this is simply greed. I would suggest you go to www.timeshareforums.com and read their threads. This is a BAD situation?

Their resorts are impossible to sell and "if" you turn them back to DRI, and I understand this is happening in droves, you will have to prepare the ocuments yourself and they will charge you $250.00 for their administrative cost.

DID YOUR REALIZE THIS? Fee Options have been devalued again, doubly. You only get 5 ¢/point when you trade in your points for Maintenance Fees or Club Dues, down from 5.85¢/point last year and ~ 7¢/point prior to that. Sunterrs gave .08 credit. In the same time span the Trust MF has risen form 6.5¢ to 7.3¢ to the current 8.03¢/pt. Oh, and THE CLUB dues was increased by $75.00 this summer.

ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS!​
 
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biafrate

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DRI Maintenance Fee Increases

I don't mean to sound too harsh but a 49% increase coupled with the other increases around the 20% mark seems absurd during the current economic crisis. Forcing owners to pay exhorbitant increases does not make sense at this time. We are all experiencing the effects of the recession. Are they looking for defaulted payments? I would think it best to try to keep the increases to a minimum and continue to allow owners the capability to afford the maintenance fees and over time post modest increases. Travel and vacations will be the first item crossed off many lists of non-essentials with the current state of affairs. DRI, it appears, does not see the BIG PICTURE.

Ten Maintenance fees with modest increases beats six with four defaults anyday in my books.
Just my opinion.
 

pgnewarkboy

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Greed? How do you know who is greedy and who is not? What exactly is a greedy corporation? Is Marriott greedy because it devalues owner points every few years or are they just doing business to maximize profit? Isn't that the goal of every business - to maximize profit? Cancelling dissenters reservations? I would like to see the proof that DRI is cancelling dissenters reservations! It is an absurd allegation on its face.

This board is being infested with hysterical and unsubstantiated claims and statements about DRI concerning their motives and actions.

If you think maintenance fees are too high or other fees are too high then say so. The hysteria is not adding anything to the discussion.
 

dougp26364

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Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
I am aware of the negative situation but I personally do not believe it is pathetic management, I believe that this is simply greed. I would suggest you go to www.timeshareforums.com and read their threads. This is a BAD situation?

Their resorts are impossible to sell and "if" you turn them back to DRI, and I understand this is happening in droves, you will have to prepare the ocuments yourself and they will charge you $250.00 for their administrative cost.

DID YOUR REALIZE THIS? Fee Options have been devalued again, doubly. You only get 5 ¢/point when you trade in your points for Maintenance Fees or Club Dues, down from 5.85¢/point last year and ~ 7¢/point prior to that. Sunterrs gave .08 credit. In the same time span the Trust MF has risen form 6.5¢ to 7.3¢ to the current 8.03¢/pt. Oh, and THE CLUB dues was increased by $75.00 this summer.

ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS!​


The points were only worth 5 cents last year (2008) as well. So there has been no further devaluation of point value for 2009.........yet.

It's going to be tough for them to cancel my reservations unless they have control of I.I. We haven't been pleased enough with DRI resorts or the ability to book internal exchanges through them that we've used them......or plan to use them.....for an internal exchange. Right now I'm holding enough points for two exchanges with I.I. and using the remaining points to offset these ridiculous management fee's DRI is charging owners.
 
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dougp26364

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Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
Greed? How do you know who is greedy and who is not? What exactly is a greedy corporation? Is Marriott greedy because it devalues owner points every few years or are they just doing business to maximize profit? Isn't that the goal of every business - to maximize profit? Cancelling dissenters reservations? I would like to see the proof that DRI is cancelling dissenters reservations! It is an absurd allegation on its face.

This board is being infested with hysterical and unsubstantiated claims and statements about DRI concerning their motives and actions.

If you think maintenance fees are too high or other fees are too high then say so. The hysteria is not adding anything to the discussion.

They probably are not cancelling dissenters reservations. It's more likely that it's just DRI doing business as usual.

As an example from my own experience. DRI's Polo Towers requires MF's to be paid in advance if you're wanting to exchange next years week. I have often paid my MF's in advance and then deposited next years week with I.I. for an ongoing search. Almost every time I.I. has informed me that DRI-Polo Towers has refused to release the week.

It became habit for me to call Polo Towers reservations after making an exchange request for next years week to get them to release the week. Without fail they tried to tell me that my MF's must be paid in advance and then had to look it up after I gave them the confirmation number and date when I paid my fee's. Only then would they release the week for exchange.

It's not that they're retaliating, it's that they can't find their bums with both hands.

I would like a few examples of the "infestations" about hysterical and unsubstantiated claims. I believe I can susbstanitiate any claim I've personally made and, I've seen very few complaints on these forums that are hysterical. I find NOTHING funny about the high MF's and the lack of cash reserve's when compare to other resorts in the same neighborhood such as Hilton or Marriott.

Would you like me to give you the complete numbers breakdown for the Suite's at Polo Towers, The Villa's at Polo Towers, Marriott's Grand Chateau and HGVC's LV Stip resorts? Since I own at all of these, it's very easy to do.
 

pianodinosaur

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Jockey Club was originally developed as a timeshare by S. Cloobecks father and, at one time, was managed by what eventually became DRI.

When we first bought into Polo Towers back in 1998, DRI was promoting itself as having two resorts, JC and PT. When I posted something on these forums about JC and PT being managed by the same company, owners at JC were quick to point out that they tossed DRI out as their management company a few years back.

The construction going on next to JC is the Cosmopolitan. How it will affect JC in the long run has yet to be seen. The original developer of the Cosmopolitan went bankrupt and is completely out of the picture. The build has been forclosed on and is the hands of the bank at this time. They are actively looking for a new buyer/owner/developer. Starwood, Hyatt and Hilton seem to be the top contenders to take over the project.

JC had an agreement with the original developer and, they gave up ground and views for promised amenities. Amenities which may or may not be honored by whomever the new owner of the Cosmo will be. Essentially, JC sold out.

It was published in an article sometime back that the owner of the land in front of Polo Towers that they had or were negotiating a deal to remove the height restriction in front of Polo Towers. From that article it appeared that the owners of units who's view would be blocked would be pennies on the dollar compared to the money DRI would take in.

I see this much like the situation JC finds itself in now. DRI would sell out it's owners in a minute if there was a dime in it for them. Selling out that height restriction would put quick dollars in their pocket and could cause years of missery for PT's owners who bought based upon the view being sold by PT's along with the knowledge that DRI owned that land in front of PT's. Of course, DRI sold out that land but, sold prospective owners on the fact that they had an easement and a height restriction built into the sale so there would ALWAYS be access from LV Blv and owners would ALWAYS have that view. I guess they conveniently forgot that, built into the contracts was DRI's right to sell that view for a couple of dollars in hand.

dougp26364:

Thank you for the detailed explanation about the relationship between the Jockey Club and Polo Towers. It seems that history is about to repeat itself to the detriment of the owners at Polo Towers.

DVI seems to have purchased the Embassy Vacation Club at Lake Tahoe and the Embassy Resort on Maui. Are the owners at these TS being shafted as well?
 

pgnewarkboy

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They probably are not cancelling dissenters reservations. It's more likely that it's just DRI doing business as usual.

As an example from my own experience. DRI's Polo Towers requires MF's to be paid in advance if you're wanting to exchange next years week. I have often paid my MF's in advance and then deposited next years week with I.I. for an ongoing search. Almost every time I.I. has informed me that DRI-Polo Towers has refused to release the week.

It became habit for me to call Polo Towers reservations after making an exchange request for next years week to get them to release the week. Without fail they tried to tell me that my MF's must be paid in advance and then had to look it up after I gave them the confirmation number and date when I paid my fee's. Only then would they release the week for exchange.

It's not that they're retaliating, it's that they can't find their bums with both hands.

I would like a few examples of the "infestations" about hysterical and unsubstantiated claims. I believe I can susbstanitiate any claim I've personally made and, I've seen very few complaints on these forums that are hysterical. I find NOTHING funny about the high MF's and the lack of cash reserve's when compare to other resorts in the same neighborhood such as Hilton or Marriott.

Would you like me to give you the complete numbers breakdown for the Suite's at Polo Towers, The Villa's at Polo Towers, Marriott's Grand Chateau and HGVC's LV Stip resorts? Since I own at all of these, it's very easy to do.

By using the term "rip off" the whole "title" of this thread is hysterical and potentially defamatory. As I stated in my earlier post the use of the term "greed" which I have seen in many DRI threads is a loaded and unsubstantiated term. Perhaps DRI and its owners are very charitable and great people. I don't know them personally and the odds are great that nobody else on this board knows them either.

We all have the right not to like, or to like, the way DRI or any other company does business. I sometimes wonder what is on the mind of people who are posting these inflammatory statements. When they bought their time shares did they think they were buying into a benevolent society for timeshare owners? Buying a timeshare, like most things, is a calculated risk. One of the most obvious risks is the cost of maintenance or other fees. I am not aware of any timeshare company that makes a guarantee that there will be no increases in fees or other costs. Further, there is no guarantee that your timeshare will be properly managed or maintained. Similarly, there are no guarantees that your timeshare will maintain value. Anybody who has lived long enough realizes there are no guarantees of any kind in life.

There is absolutely no justification for calling DRI ripoffs (crooks), greedy, or any other inflammatory name unless you can actually prove in a court of law that they have done something crooked to you. Some people may find themselves in a court of law having to defend these statements.

I have had no problem making reservations in II or Diamond for 09 using the club. I have never had a reservation cancelled by Sunterra or Diamond for any reason.

The TUG BBS can take this post as a complaint about how this thread is being managed.
 

dougp26364

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dougp26364:

Thank you for the detailed explanation about the relationship between the Jockey Club and Polo Towers. It seems that history is about to repeat itself to the detriment of the owners at Polo Towers.

DVI seems to have purchased the Embassy Vacation Club at Lake Tahoe and the Embassy Resort on Maui. Are the owners at these TS being shafted as well?

I have no idea. I don't know of anyone that owns these resorts and I haven't read any complaints that I recall from anyone who owns at these resorts.
 

dougp26364

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Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
By using the term "rip off" the whole "title" of this thread is hysterical and potentially defamatory. As I stated in my earlier post the use of the term "greed" which I have seen in many DRI threads is a loaded and unsubstantiated term. Perhaps DRI and its owners are very charitable and great people. I don't know them personally and the odds are great that nobody else on this board knows them either.

We all have the right not to like, or to like, the way DRI or any other company does business. I sometimes wonder what is on the mind of people who are posting these inflammatory statements. When they bought their time shares did they think they were buying into a benevolent society for timeshare owners? Buying a timeshare, like most things, is a calculated risk. One of the most obvious risks is the cost of maintenance or other fees. I am not aware of any timeshare company that makes a guarantee that there will be no increases in fees or other costs. Further, there is no guarantee that your timeshare will be properly managed or maintained. Similarly, there are no guarantees that your timeshare will maintain value. Anybody who has lived long enough realizes there are no guarantees of any kind in life.

There is absolutely no justification for calling DRI ripoffs (crooks), greedy, or any other inflammatory name unless you can actually prove in a court of law that they have done something crooked to you. Some people may find themselves in a court of law having to defend these statements.

I have had no problem making reservations in II or Diamond for 09 using the club. I have never had a reservation cancelled by Sunterra or Diamond for any reason.

The TUG BBS can take this post as a complaint about how this thread is being managed.

You're certainly entitled to you opinion. Others are entitled to theirs as well. As on owner with DRI since 1998, I have a long history with them. As an owner of 7 timeshares, I can compare what I own with DRI to what I own with other companies and how they are managed. I feel I have earned the right to my opinion.
 

pgnewarkboy

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I agree with you completely. You are entitled to your opinion and the board is all about opinions. Opinions can be very helpful and this is basically a very helpful group of people on TUG. The discourse, however, is only improved when there is civility - not hostility.
 

pianodinosaur

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Resorts currently owned or managed by Diamond Resorts International

I am providing a link to the DRI website. This lists all the resorts currently owned or managed by DRI. The Embassy resorts in Lake Tahoe and in Maui have had their names changed but I have seen both resorts before when they were managed by Embassy.
https://www.diamondresorts.com/index.aspx

This controversy affects me because I am considering an exchange into these resorts and possible exchange into the Sahara Sunset Club in Malaga.
 
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dougp26364

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Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
I am providing a link to the DRI website. This lists all the resorts currently owned or managed by DRI. The Embassy resorts in Lake Tahoe and in Maui have had their names changed but I have seen both resorts before when they were managed by Embassy.
https://www.diamondresorts.com/index.aspx

This controversy affects me because I am considering an exchange into these resorts and possible exchange into the Sahara Sunset Club in Malaga.


I really don't think you'll have issues exchanging into these resorts as an internal exchange. The only issues I see are reports that internal exchange availability seems to be less than in the past. Since I've not been a member of THE Club very long (less than 1 year), I can't comment on how easy, or hard, internal exchanges were before DRI took over Sunterra. I have read posts that seem to indicate availability is less than a couple of years ago but, I've seen no hard proof of that as of yet.

I can say that, I looked at last minute internal exchanges into the Suite's at Fall Creek in Branson both this year and last year. Last year, there was plenty of availability for standard units. This year there was nothing available for the dates we we wanted to go. Now DRI has made changes to their web site and it is possible that I could have called and found that the web site wasn't accurate and that units were actually available. Since I really wasn't that interested in exchanging into the Suite's at Fall Creek, I didn't take the extra step of making that phone call. Instead, I made exchanges through I.I. into Horizon's by Marriott.

DRI is a lot of things but, I don't seem them as intentionally canceling confirmed reservations to get back at those that speak out against them. I can see them having issues with acknowleding that MF's have been paid, crediting the account properly and, canceling an exchange because they don't show the MF's as paid. I've personally had that happen to me more than once when making exchanges through I.I. and DRI refusing to release my unit week because they can't keep up with the bookeeping on their end of the deal.

I recently had an issue with DRI over a $155 overcharge. When I converted to THE Club, part of the deal was the first years club dues were to be waived. In the middle of the year, they added the $70 assessment to THE Club dues, which I paid. Then, they hit me with an additional $155 charge because I hadn't paid 2008's membership dues.

Knowing their past and how trigger happy they can be to cancel memberships, I paid the $155 fee and proceeded to protest through the correct channels at DRI. I believe I still have all the E-mails that ensued and you'd be surprised at the number of excuses they would come up with trying to convince me that, despite what I had in writing from them, I owed them that $155.

Finally, they acknowledged that they had agreed to waive that 2008 fee but, they still did not refund the money. It took another 2 or 3 e-mails to get them to understand that I had paid the fee and they needed to refund that money. They agreed to refund the money but, they didn't do it. After another couple of e-mails I was informed that the refund would show up as a CREDIT on my account.

Hmmm, I give them the money that I did not owe them but, they refuse to give it back to me. All they would have had to have done was issue a credit to the credit card I used to pay the fee. This was to inconvenient for them to do so I was issued a credit. It took several weeks but the credit did finally show up on my account.

I supose I could argue the loss of interest on that $155 but, it really wouldn't have been a lot of money to me. What makes me wonder is how many other Polo Towers owners that converted to THE Club found themselves in the same situation. I also wonder how many of them were not as peresistant as I was an just gave up, allowing DRI to keep the money. I've learned the hard way to keep the paper trail with DRI to prove my point when necessary and I wasn't going to let them off the hook.

Now, if this falls into the catagory of crook then so be it. I personally feel it just falls into the catagory of incompetence. I don't believe it was intentional. I do believe they just don't have the ablitity to run their operation in an efficient manner. IMO it's been an ongoing problem and, with larger size comes larger mistakes.
 

dougp26364

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OK, I have recieved paper copies of our DRI-Polo Towers, HGVC LV Stip and Marriott's Grand Chateau MF's and their break down. All are based on 2 bedroom units.

As you can see, DRI is providing LESS value for what they're charging. Some might equate this with the word ripoff.
-----------------------------------------------------------
DRI's the Suite's at Polo Towers
Total Maintenance fee's $898
of which you will find included:

Management fee's $76
Administrative expenses $157
(total management and administrative fee's of $233)
Cash Reserve's $45
Taxes $50
------------------------------------------------------------
Marriott's Grand Chateau
Total Maintenance fee's $922
of which you will find included

Management fee's $83.88
Administration $38.12
(total management and administrative fee's $122)
Cash Reserve's $178.86
taxes $45.50
-------------------------------------------------------------
HGVC LV Strip
Total MF's of $806.75
of which you will find included

Total administrative fee's (includes management fee) $108.60
Cash reserves $122.80
Taxes $53.44

Also included in the HGVC fee's are their club dues of $95. With DRI, club dues are in ADDITION to the MF's and are now $235.

So, you tell me, what sort of "deal" is it to own with DRI? Would you call it a rip off when two similar resorts, both of which offer MORE amenities than the DRI resort, charge considerably LESS in management fee's and put considerably MORE into cash reserves to take care of the resort? It seems to me that DRI takes care of itself first with left overs going to take care of the resort. Marriott and Hilton, on the other hand, are putting considerably more money aside to take care of the resort which in turn protects the owners of the resort.
 
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dougp26364

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Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
If you'd like, I could also compare and contrast the amenities provided by each resort. But if I do that, you'll once again find that DRI provides LESS value than either Marriott or Hilton while charging owners more for their management ability. Did I mention that I've had more trouble with DRI when reserving, depositing and exchanging that I've had with Hilton and Marriott combined?

If DRI provided value for what they're charging, I wouldn't complain so often or loudly. However they have continually provided less quality, fewer amenities and charged higher prices than either Marriott or Hilton.
 

pgnewarkboy

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How do you know that the marriott cash reserve that you quote is sufficient? Perhaps it is not. It is hard to tell without more detailed information. Perhaps the DRI and MARRIOTT cash reserves are both insufficent. Or maybe, they are both sufficient based upon the circumstances of each resort. Hard to know without many more details, but you are entitled to your opinion. If you think Marriott is a better value for your money, you are also entitled to that opinion. But to say you are being "ripped off" is to imply that you are being stolen from by DRI. That is what the term rip off means, as in "ripping off" someone's purse or wallet in a robbery. I am unaware of any law that says offering an inferior product, in your view, at a high price is a crime. Buyer beware. Purchasers of all sorts of things may at one time or another feel that they didn't get the best deal. They may be right or wrong depending on their circumstances. It doesn't mean they have been ripped off.

I have belonged to Sunterra then Diamond for over 10 years. Overall, I am extremely satisfied.
 

dougp26364

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Hilton Grand Vacation Club Las Vegas Blvd
Grand Colorado on Peak 8
Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
How do you know that the marriott cash reserve that you quote is sufficient? Perhaps it is not. It is hard to tell without more detailed information. Perhaps the DRI and MARRIOTT cash reserves are both insufficent. Or maybe, they are both sufficient based upon the circumstances of each resort. Hard to know without many more details, but you are entitled to your opinion. If you think Marriott is a better value for your money, you are also entitled to that opinion. But to say you are being "ripped off" is to imply that you are being stolen from by DRI. That is what the term rip off means, as in "ripping off" someone's purse or wallet in a robbery. I am unaware of any law that says offering an inferior product, in your view, at a high price is a crime. Buyer beware. Purchasers of all sorts of things may at one time or another feel that they didn't get the best deal. They may be right or wrong depending on their circumstances. It doesn't mean they have been ripped off.

I have belonged to Sunterra then Diamond for over 10 years. Overall, I am extremely satisfied.

So how much detail do you want?

DRI has hit Polo Towers owners with two special assessments in 10 years time. One was a little over $200 for every two bedroom unit to install a water treatment system to prevent another outbreak of legionaires, improve security and remove the tennis courts and replace them with a family water park. The second SA cost owners of 2 bedroom units >$1,000 each to refurbish their units to maintain 5 star status with I.I. I believe it's obvious that $45 per two bedroom unit is not sufficient cash reserves to maintain the resort for an extended period of time without requiring owners kick in another special assessment down the line.

Of, I guess I should mention that that SA for the water treatment system to prevent another outbreak of legioniares was for nothing. Polo Towers recently got hit with additional cases of legionaires and had the health department on their case.......again. Gee, I wonder what happened to the money for that water treatment system that was suppose to prevent this from happening again?

I guess you'll have to come up with reasons why DRI's management fee's are so much higher than either Hilton or Marriott. Marriott is well known for having some of the highest management fee's in the industry. DRI's management fee's are actually 90% higher than Marriott's. Things that make you go hmmmmmmm.

One last thing. Since DRI has taken over Sunterra, club dues, which were $155 this time last year are now $235. That's a 50% jump in fee's in less than 12 months. Do you feel that your getting 50% more value for your money?
 
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