Offer Help - Westin Lagunamar

[K.Miguel]

Hello All,

New to this Timeshare scene.

I never thought I would be thinking of getting a timeshare. My parents always said stay away, it's a scam.

I recently got back from a week stay at Westin Lagunamar. We had our 2 hour presentation and now are some what thinking of buying in. Our "host" didn't do that good of a job explaining how everything worked.

Basically I was offered ~37k options + 35K starpoints + unlimited "Gold Vacation"(I think thats what it was called) uses for about ~$14k (~$700 Maintenance fee).

I'm not sure if this is a good deal, how far those 37k options can go, any other fees I will see if I try to move dates, should I pay more and get more options, should I negotiate for a lower price or more options for that price.

Thank you for any help.

 

[Maui_ed]

37k options will not go far at all. Another think to remember is that maintenance fees are the same regardless of season, so it is generally better to buy a higher season - you can usually trade into a lower season if you want/need to.

 

[amycurl]

Start by reading the Vistana Stickies (the threads at the beginning of this forum.) This is the beginning of your research. You were smart not to buy from the developer. There are better deals to be had.

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

Lagunamar seems fairly easy to exchange into so it may work to look at mandatory resale weeks. Buying Lagunamar resale would restrict you from exchanging within the system. There is good info on here as Amycurl referred to

 

[Clarkrock7]

Hi, I just went there a couple weeks ago and got pretty much the same pitch as you. I loved the resort and am also looking at getting something where I can go there. I've been researching on here since I got back and it seems to me that the best deal is to buy a mandatory staroptions property and then use the staroptions at lagunamar. Sheraton Vistana Villages (Bella and Key West) offer the best bang for your MF buck from what I can see.

 

[Smithsingeneva]

Hi, I just went there a couple weeks ago and got pretty much the same pitch as you. I loved the resort and am also looking at getting something where I can go there. I've been researching on here since I got back and it seems to me that the best deal is to buy a mandatory staroptions property and then use the staroptions at lagunamar. Sheraton Vistana Villages (Bella and Key West) offer the best bang for your MF buck from what I can see.

Most on TUG would say that Kierland offers best bang for the MF buck, but the initial outlay for a resale unit is much higher there than SVV. Keep in mind the seasons - MFs are usually the same but the SOs will be fewer for the low seasons (reducing the bang for the buck regardless of which resort you choose).

 

[Clarkrock7]

Most on TUG would say that Kierland offers best bang for the MF buck, but the initial outlay for a resale unit is much higher there than SVV. Keep in mind the seasons - MFs are usually the same but the SOs will be fewer for the low seasons (reducing the bang for the buck regardless of which resort you choose).

the platinum plus weeks at kierland are definitely the best option, but they're not free or mostly free to acquire from what I've seen. So yes, I completely agree.

 

[bizaro86]

If you really like Lagunamar, I would consider getting a resale week at Lagunamar. The fees are low and they are pretty cheap.

 

[K.Miguel]

Thank you everyone for your feed back, We did do the "Explorer package" which included locking in the price, 70k hotel points, gold status, and another week stay next year for about $2k. Seemed like an okay deal just because the week stay ~$1.2k and the 70k points can pay for a few short trips we had planned.

The reason we liked the deal was it included some sort of unlimited "internal" vacation uses. How they explained it was theres this website that has vacations for extremely cheap, like going to the Bahamas for $49 a night at. And they said you can sell those or rent your Lagunamar vacation out and use these cheap vacations for yourself. I'm not sure exactly what it was called but it seemed pretty cool. Does anyone know what I'm talking about and has used these?

 

[DannyTS]

If you like Lagunamar and think you will travel there regularly in prime season (platinum plus) you can buy resale. You can PM me if you need more info, we are new resale owners so we just went through the process. You can also exchange in Interval International when you want to travel somewhere else.

If you like more flexibility and a reasonable cost you can also buy a 2 bedroom platinum season Sheraton Vistana Villages Bella or Key West phases. The phases are very important because you need a mandatory resort in order to be able to use the Staroptions, about 81k for the above. The advantage with Staroptions is that if you do not have to travel during the prime season, it will be very economical. A one bedroom at Lagunamar is 81k SOs platinum season, while the same condo in gold season is 44k SOs.

There is a third option that is popular for SOs, Westin Kierland. A one bedroom platinum comes with 81k SOs, the maintenance fees are lower than at Sheraton Vistana Villages. The purchase price is much higher though, IMO not worth it if you do not intend to rent your week. When you take into consideration that you can invest the difference between the price of Westin Kierland and the Sheraton Vistana Villages , the opportunity cost makes SVV a better choice but it depends of course on the expected rate of return.

 

[Ken555]

There is a third option that is very popular for SOs, Westin Kierland. A one bedroom platinum comes with 81k SOs, the maintenance fees are lower than at Sheraton Vistana Villages. The purchase price is much higher though, IMO not worth it if you do not intend to rent your week. When you take into consideration that you can invest the difference between the price of Westin Kierland and the Sheraton Vistana Villages , the opportunity cost makes SVV a better choice but it depends of course on the expected rate of return.

I would also suggest that the expected length of ownership should be considered when making a purchase. For shorter time periods (~<7 years) SVV is likely the better choice, but if longer the more effective MF from WKV will start to tip the balance the other way.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[DannyTS]

I would also suggest that the expected length of ownership should be considered when making a purchase. For shorter time periods (~<7 years) SVV is likely the better choice, but if longer the more effective MF from WKV will start to tip the balance the other way.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

how much do u estimate is the market value for 1 bedroom platinum at Westin Kierland?

 

[Clarkrock7]

there's one on redweek for 7500 right now.

 

[K.Miguel]

If the season doesn't really matter to us is it still worth it to get more SO? With No kids, travel can basically be whenever. I was looking at the SO chart of different resorts and it seems like whenever we would travel it would be about Gold Plus maybe platinum in some locations. As of now we basically only travel during off seasons just to get a better deal.

Looking at the chart I think 44k SO would be enough but I'm not the experienced ones. What is the average people get?

Also the only draw back from the resale is not getting the extra perks that was in the deal from Vistana.

 

[Ken555]

how much do u estimate is the market value for 1 bedroom platinum at Westin Kierland?

I don't follow the market too closely. It seems 148k weeks are about $14-16k.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Ken555]

there's one on redweek for 7500 right now.

That would be a great price, IMO.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Ken555]

If the season doesn't really matter to us is it still worth it to get more SO? With No kids, travel can basically be whenever. I was looking at the SO chart of different resorts and it seems like whenever we would travel it would be about Gold Plus maybe platinum in some locations. As of now we basically only travel during off seasons just to get a better deal.

Looking at the chart I think 44k SO would be enough but I'm not the experienced ones. What is the average people get?

Also the only draw back from the resale is not getting the extra perks that was in the deal from Vistana.

Keep in mind that the annual maintenance fees are based on size of unit, not the season or associated SOs. I typically suggest buying the highest season so you have the most SOs for the least per SO cost. My single 148k week usually gets me 19-22 nights every year in a studio or 1-bed unit (this year I'm actually getting 27 nights, some of which are obviously at lowest season).

The extra perks from buying direct are, for the vast majority of buyers, not worth the many extra 000s you would be spending.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[DannyTS]

I would also suggest that the expected length of ownership should be considered when making a purchase. For shorter time periods (~<7 years) SVV is likely the better choice, but if longer the more effective MF from WKV will start to tip the balance the other way.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

If you consider even a conservative rate of return on your investment, say 5%, Sheraton Vistana Villages Bella is actually cheaper than Westin Kierland when you include the annual opportunity cost regardless of the length of ownership:

There is one more aspect to take into account. There is some speculation (totally unfounded in my opinion) that Marriott will try to mess with the StarOption system for the resale mandatory resorts. In that scenario both resorts would lose a lot of value, just that Westin Kierland has much more room to drop so i think that SVV Bella is not only cheaper to buy and to maintain but also less risky.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Can you rent SVV-Bella Plat for more than 2x the MFs?
You can with WKV Plat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DannyTS]

Can you rent SVV-Bella Plat for more than 2x the MFs?
You can with WKV Plat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you own one or even 2 or 3 weeks it is unlikely you are going to want to rent anything. From what i gather from the OP, the gentleman intends to use not to rent. My comment about Bella vs Kierland was strictly from the POV of using them for SOs. Also, rental does not come without work, headaches and potential losses if you cannot rent.

 

[Ken555]

If you consider even a conservative rate of return on your investment, say 5%, Sheraton Vistana Villages Bella is actually cheaper than Westin Kierland when you include the annual opportunity cost regardless of the length of ownership:
View attachment 7134

There is one more aspect to take into account. There is some speculation (totally unfounded in my opinion) that Marriott will try to mess with the StarOption system for the resale mandatory resorts. In that scenario both resorts would lose a lot of value, just that Westin Kierland has much more room to drop so i think that SVV Bella is not only cheaper to buy and to maintain but also less risky.

Yes, opportunity cost is always a consideration. We have discussed that very item for at least the 13-14 years I've been on TUG. However, many of us don't like to include that in our obvious rough comparisons since it is predicated on a consistent rate of return, which in my view isn't necessarily a smart item to consider when deciding on a luxury vacation purchase.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Ken555]

If you own one or even 2 or 3 weeks it is unlikely you are going to want to rent anything. From what i gather from the OP, the gentleman intends to use not to rent. My comment about Bella vs Kierland was strictly from the POV of using them for SOs. Also, rental does not come without work, headaches and potential losses if you cannot rent.

Not speaking for David, but I would suggest that the ability to rent when and if absolutely needed is something to consider when choosing where to purchase.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[DannyTS]

Yes, opportunity cost is always a consideration. We have discussed that very item for at least the 13-14 years I've been on TUG. However, many of us don't like to include that in our obvious rough comparisons since it is predicated on a consistent rate of return, which in my view isn't necessarily a smart item to consider when deciding on a luxury vacation purchase.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Well, it is hard to talk about costs without talking about money and investments. The question is not if you achieve consistently 5% per year but rather if you achieve it in average in the long run. And i think that I was being conservative at 5%. The break-even is 3.3% by the way ( if you make more than 3.3% per yer with your investments you are better off with Bella, for less you are better off with Kierland). Nothing wrong in offering the OP that perspective. By the way, from what I have seen on Ebay, platinum Bellas are rare and have 10s of bids while Kierland is often listed and many times it expires unsold which is one more aspect to consider in case the travel/life goals change.

 

[Ken555]

Well, it is hard to talk about costs without talking about money and investments. The question is not if you achieve consistently 5% per year but rather if you achieve it in average in the long run. And i think that I was being conservative at 5%. The break-even is 3.3% by the way ( if you make more than 3.3% per yer with your investments you are better off with Bella, for less you are better off with Kierland). Nothing wrong in offering the OP that perspective. By the way, from what I have seen on Ebay, platinum Bellas are rare and have 10s of bids while Kierland is often listed and many times it expires unsold which is one more aspect to consider in case the travel/life goals change.

Consistent, average, inconsistent...it almost doesn't matter from my perspective. I used to think like you but over the years have realized that a timeshare purchase should not be done with necessary money...that's the primary reason I don't consider the opportunity cost any longer for this type of purchase. If you want to be more exact, then you would of course naturally consider opportunity cost but it's also one more variable which can change the total cost if the economy doesn't go the way you expect etc etc. I just make it easy for myself and don't bother to add that in, and for the vast majority of timeshare owners I would suggest thats the way they also look at it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[DannyTS]

Consistent, average, inconsistent...it almost doesn't matter from my perspective. I used to think like you but over the years have realized that a timeshare purchase should not be done with necessary money...that's the primary reason I don't consider the opportunity cost any longer for this type of purchase. If you want to be more exact, then you would of course naturally consider opportunity cost but it's also one more variable which can change the total cost if the economy doesn't go the way you expect etc etc. I just make it easy for myself and don't bother to add that in, and for the vast majority of timeshare owners I would suggest thats the way they also look at it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Not considering it is like saying that regardless of the price to pay it is the same thing since you do not buy with necessary money. 5k, 10k, 15k whatever right? Not considering all costs is not my style (i agree that i can be over analytic sometimes). I do not buy the lifestyle argument (used by the way by the developer sales people) , you can have that and a lower cost, nothing wrong with it.