What is your experience booking Grande Luxxe and Grand Mayan Neuva Vallarta

[hurnik]

So this is my back of the napkin summary, correct me if I am wrong: It seems that trading into GL has some financial benefits if you book through SFX, but in order to do that on a cost effective basis I would need to book an HGVC week using my points, and then deposit that week with SFX and hope that I get a match. Along with that I would likely be required to pay an SFX booking fee, an upcharge of approximately $299 and a resort fee of $75. If I needed to change or cancel it would likely be difficult to impossible. Then there is the issue of possible restrictions which have not yet been applied to the Vallarta properties, but could be based on their history on the east coast Mexico properties.

On the other hand I could go through HGVC for the booking, pay an $82 booking fee, and a $62 cancellation fee, and at GL I would have to pay a $75 resort fee. So the all in cash costs would be $217 USD and I am assuming I could book one or two weeks for the same total fee. I am also assuming that no restrictions apply when going through HGVC. With the points of over 12,000 for a one bedroom, we would probably only use a studio which is in excess of 7000 points.

The real tempting aspect of using SFX is I could possible get a GL 1 bdrm, (upgraded to a 2 bdrm if I become a Diamond member for another fee) for 3400 to 4800 HGVC points but I would be dealing with uncertainty as to whether I would be able to get a GL week that would work, and I would have to pay the upgrade fee of $299 to get into GL.

I'm just wondering if the extra hassle going through SFX is worth it?

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention:
If you book a studio Grand Luxxe in Nuevo, there's like 2 studio types. One has no kitchenette (coffee pot and that's about it).
The other has a microwave and a "bar" sink and a fridge (but the only dishes are small saucer/cups for coffee and spoons). No plates, forks, bowls, etc.

No biggie if you plan on eating out all the time (Not an AI resort).
We prefer the 1 BR with the kitchen as it saves on costs to make breakfast, IMO. Plus we find the meals are large enough to save leftovers and have for lunch the next day.

 

[terces]

Hurnik - I'm with you all the way on the way to look at this cost wise. The one thing I need to add from being scorched last year is the ability to make changes and cancellations. Last fall we had PV booked through RCI, and then months in advance of the travel date I found I needed surgery at exactly the time of our planned holiday. We had paid $299 US for the booking fee, and $89 for cancellation (points insurance only) times two weeks for a total of $776 USD. Converted to Canadian Dollars this equalled $1,046 CDN which was completely non-refundable and non-changeable. If I had booked and then cancelled a similar holiday using HGVC I would have been out the booking fee of $62 and the cancellation fee of approximately $80 - both one time fees for the two weeks for a total of $142 USD or about $200 CDN, or I could have changed the holiday to a different date for no penalty whatsoever. (HGVC now refunds points 100% at 30 days, 50% at 15 days and 0% with less than 15 days notice if you purchased insurance, but I had more than 30 days notice for that cancellation)

 

[hurnik]

Hurnik - I'm with you all the way on the way to look at this cost wise. The one thing I need to add from being scorched last year is the ability to make changes and cancellations. Last fall we had PV booked through RCI, and then months in advance of the travel date I found I needed surgery at exactly the time of our planned holiday. We had paid $299 US for the booking fee, and $89 for cancellation (points insurance only) times two weeks for a total of $776 USD. Converted to Canadian Dollars this equalled $1,046 CDN which was completely non-refundable and non-changeable. If I had booked and then cancelled a similar holiday using HGVC I would have been out the booking fee of $62 and the cancellation fee of approximately $80 - both one time fees for the two weeks for a total of $142 USD or about $200 CDN, or I could have changed the holiday to a different date for no penalty whatsoever. (HGVC now refunds points 100% at 30 days, 50% at 15 days and 0% with less than 15 days notice if you purchased insurance, but I had more than 30 days notice for that cancellation)

Oh yeah, forgot about that.
SFX does offer Travel Protection (TravelGuard/Berkshire Hathaway) for like $99. I'll try to get the details. I know it covers "typical" travel stuff, but I'm trying to remember if it protects the week (ie: you can cancel and get like 6 months to re-use the deposit or something). For Bonus weeks they offer Cancellation protection (I wanna say it's $49) which lets you re-use the bonus week within 6 months I think. I *think* that only covers if cancellation is 45 days or *less*. But don't quote me on the coverages for the deposits/bonus weeks.