Best & most reasonable ski resort TS for ski week purchase?

[dchilds]

Best & most reasonable ... ?

We go to the mountains to go skiing, so we purchased timeshares at 30% of the Marriott and Sheraton resorts, and pay 30-50% maintenance fees. We like nice resorts, but we'd rather spend our money on food, entertainment, and more vacations.

 

[Pit]

I am going to have to do some research regarding Hyatt and the points system. Being a Marriott owner I have never dealt with points so not sure the particulars.

I did see a winter week Grand Timber 2BR lockoff go for $8600 on eBay. Not sure what the lottery refers to (maybe individual weeks) but I guess if you purchase a winter week you would at least get a week some time in the winter!!! $8600 is not too shabby for a 2BR lockoff though.

If you're considering Hyatt, you should really study the reservation system. I oversimplified when I stated to make sure you get enough points. That's important of course, buy you also need to pay attention to the deeded week vs. when you want to use the points.

The nice part about points is you can buy wherever the points are cheapest in terms of purchase price and MFs, and then use them anywhere in the Hyatt system. But, make sure you understand when your points become available (depends on your deeded week) vs. when the weeks you want to reserve are likely to become available within the reservation system (6 months prior to check-in typically). If you don't pay careful attention to this, you could end up with points that are difficult to use for your intended purpose. This has been discussed in detail on the "Other Timeshare Systems" board.

 

[lprstn]

I would suggest Worldmark or Wyndham.

They are points systems with large inventory of internal resorts that give you the flexibility to pick various locations to ski. Also, its cheap.

 

[sandkastle4966]

I would not consider Wyndham - can't speak to Worldmark. The only really good Wyn for skiing would be Steamboat. Availability is good at 10 months. Tahoe isn't bad, but the resort if very off mountain. Good 20 minutes to the base. Worldmark resorts do NOT have availability in Wyndham for anything "prime" and rarely for "good" seasons.

If you can go last minute, then Wyn is good for getting cancellations/inventory dump at 45 days for next to nothing thru RCI.

 

[gores95]

Wow lots of great advice....keep it coming! Regarding Hyatt.....say I am looking at a 2000 point purchase (which would be a SMV 2BR loockoff Plat/winter week). Am I better off purchasing another Hyatt that is cheaper with the same points? I would think that I would be occupying my unit every other year. Just curious if it is worth purchasing the ski week or owning at another Hyatt locale that is cheaper (with cheaper MF) and just trading into the ski week every other year.

In other words with Marriott they say you should own where you want to vacation. Is this true with points based TS systems...like Hyatt?

Thanks.

 

[K2Quick]

Wow lots of great advice....keep it coming! Regarding Hyatt.....say I am looking at a 2000 point purchase (which would be a SMV 2BR loockoff Plat/winter week). Am I better off purchasing another Hyatt that is cheaper with the same points? I would think that I would be occupying my unit every other year. Just curious if it is worth purchasing the ski week or owning at another Hyatt locale that is cheaper (with cheaper MF) and just trading into the ski week every other year.

In other words with Marriott they say you should own where you want to vacation. Is this true with points based TS systems...like Hyatt?

Thanks.

SMV is not Hyatt - It is Starwood. This is the best overview I've seen of the Hyatt system (it's by a tugger):

http://www.bywindkal.com/HVC.htm

 

[Judy]

I would suggest Worldmark or Wyndham.

They are points systems with large inventory of internal resorts that give you the flexibility to pick various locations to ski. Also, its cheap.

Worldmark has resorts in Steamboat Springs, Whistler, and near some other not-so-well-known ski resorts. Look at the "Resort Gallery" on www.worldmarktheclub.com if you're interested. Steamboat Springs and Whistler are not ski-in-ski-out. I don't think any of Worldmark's resorts are and many of them that claim to be ski resorts are a good drive from the slopes. Also IMHO, the Worldmark resorts I've stayed at don't match the quality of something like Grand Timber Lodge.

 

[gores95]

SMV is not Hyatt - It is Starwood. This is the best overview I've seen of the Hyatt system (it's by a tugger):

http://www.bywindkal.com/HVC.htm

You are of course correct....my brain is a bit foggy these days. Just trying to figure out if it is cheaper to purchase SMV ski week than a Hyatt ski week. I think SMV would be more reasonable...

 

[K2Quick]

You are of course correct....my brain is a bit foggy these days. Just trying to figure out if it is cheaper to purchase SMV ski week than a Hyatt ski week. I think SMV would be more reasonable...

A Hyatt ski week at Tahoe will run you about the same price as an SMV week. However, Hyatt ski weeks at any of their other resorts (Aspen, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge) will set you back a great deal more. With Hyatt, I think you need to ask around with Hyatt owners and find out how easy it is to exchange your points at the six-month mark for the Colorado ski resorts. Given those owners pay through the nose in maintenance fees, they may tend to use their weeks making exchanges difficult. If exchanges aren't difficult, then it makes sense to get the cheapest combination of purchase price and maintenance fees for a 2000 point week which seems to be Key West or Tahoe.

 

[RLG]

I don't really know about Hyatt, but I know getting reservations for SMV has been remarkably easy. Except for Christmas and New Years, I have been able to get any week I want. President's week, spring break, all no problem.

The Interval angle also works well. I have consistently been able to trade my single SMV week with $1050 maintenance for one 2br ski week at SMV or Lakeside AND a 2br at Westin Kaanapali.