Now Vidanta is depositing 3 bedroom Grand Luxxe suites into Interval International as exchanges to get sales prospects to Grand Luxxe. So yes, they are selling Grand Luxxe to first timers now. They are doing massive deposits through 2019 in Interval International from what I read on other TUG posts. I have even read that some folks have exchanged into the 3 bedroom Lofts. This is pretty demoralizing to those of us who are Grand Luxxe members. I think Grand Luxxe should allow exchanges for sales purposes but limit it to 1 bedroom inventory. They are allowing Marriott timeshare owners to trade into 3 bedrooms. Ridiculous!
RussellSun, the high season for the Grand Luxxe locations runs from January through early April. I don't believe you will find those deposited in II, although I am not a member of II, so don't know for sure. Like you, we bought directly into GL at the studio loft level in the last year because we loved it. There are some elements of the sales process, however, that can be grating. When I heard of the availability through II, I, too, was a bit disappointed, but not demoralized. You can also get to GL in the low season through SFX with a fair degree of availability and for a lower overall cost than going through Vidanta directly; you wind up paying an exchange fee to SFX plus a luxury upgrade fee plus the sunk cost of whatever you pay in MFs to your other timeshare. For me, the result was $449 to SFX plus ~$400 in MF for a week in a 2 BR GL suite, for a total of less than $1,000. I've also gotten down there through RCI when they deposited a bunch of weeks in the RCI Platinum Priority Access for the fall; then it was essentially just the $239 RCI exchange fee. With SFX there don't seem to be any return restrictions; with RCI the Vidanta properties list a limitation of once per year in high season and twice per year overall. Based on other posts, I understand that they (Vidanta) actually enforce these limitations. I don't know if there are limitations on II exchanges into GL or any other Vidanta property. I accept that what I bought was the right to go to GL during the high season at a fair price (we own 3 weeks at GL for the next 10 years plus additional availability through privilege weeks via SFX and ICE). I'm happy to take advantage of their having availability for sales prospects through exchanges at lower prices to go there in the low season when I can, too. Oddly enough, we met some folks down there that do the same thing, but were too embarrassed to admit having gotten there on the cheap by exchanging a different TS when they own there anyway until we were discussing things.
I believe the commercial reality is that the GL inventory in the shoulder and low seasons must include a fair number of suites and lofts that are bigger than the 1 bedroom ones. If they didn't make them available for exchanges to sales prospects or other vacationers, there would be a great opportunity cost for the times that those are empty and not in need of painting and refurbishment. As a result, I don't believe we will ever see a complete lack of availability through the exchanges. My suggestion is to embrace the availability and reduce your cost of going down there when you can. I don't plan on paying the usage fees to go there in the off seasons when I can do so for less, even accepting that we may not get the best views. (By the way, I also enjoy going to the Mayan Palace in Marina Vallarta because it's easier to get out in the community and see Puerto Vallarta and the local area; the accommodations aren't as nice as GL, but sometimes you may want a different experience.) I think we are all better off if the company is able to fill rooms in the off season and generate income, allowing a slower rise in usage fees than we would otherwise see. When I was there this last September, there were also a fair number of Mexican nationals in the resort; demonstrating the other approach they are using to run the business efficiently by segmenting the market calendar and filling the place up in the hotter months with folks that aren't just trying to escape the cold.
Also like you, we've pre-negotiated the cost of upgrading to a GL 1 BR penthouse loft for the next year. This seems to be an approach their upgrade sales team uses. I plan on doing that sometime next year so that I can spend February of the next year in one of those. It won't take me all that long to accomplish that though; I would hate to spend 2 1/2 days negotiating. Based on some of your other posts, I believe we will be in RM at the same time in January; we exchanged into GM rather than GL for that trip, though. The biggest value I see that TUG provides is a forum to exchange information on how best to use timeshare ownership efficiently and effectively - happy to get together down there to compare notes on Vidanta if you like. I've learned a lot by reading the postings here, including some tidbits you've included. I've been trying to point out things I've learned both from TUG and from my interactions with Vidanta, SFX and ICE (Vida Lifestyle), but have probably left some stuff out that others could benefit from.