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Casa Ybel - Sanibel Island - Info please

kjsgrammy

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I have friends who are considering taking over (2) fixed weeks (last week in Sept., 1st week in October, 2 bed/2 bath units) from other friends at Casa Ybel I am trying to help them out on deciding whether to do this and advised them I would try and get info from any TUG member who owns at this resort.
1. Is anyone aware of upcoming assessment?
2. They were told that maintenance fees run around $1,000 per week.
3. I checked on RCI website and if they deposited either week, they would get 20 TPU's if they deposited 9 months or longer out. Not alot of TPU's in my opinion unless one is willing to "grab and go" on short notice. (I am only familiar with RCI as that is the exchange company I use.)
4. Our friends are in their mid-60's and have not dealt with owning a timeshare. I told them "just because you are being given these weeks for free - it's not necessarily a good thing.

Any info you can provide on this resort - pro's & con's would be GREATLY appreciated. I don't want our friends to regret taking this on. (Hubby and I own 5 weeks of timeshares - all in different locations, and being in our late 60's will be "downsizing" soon, so don't want our friends to take this on and regret it w/i 2 years!)
 

alwysonvac

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SOLD (DVC, FSRC)

PigsDad

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If they were planning on using those weeks on a regular basis, then I say it would be a good deal. Sanibel is beautiful, weather is usually very nice that time of year, and the resort is rated well. Given that it is under the HGVC umbrella, I would say the odds of a special assessment is quite low, as there have been very few special assessments across the whole HGVC resort collection. For example, hurricane Irma directly hit Marco Island, and none of the four HGVC properties there had a special assessment, as HGVC carries excellent insurance for their managed properties.

Now, if the main use of the weeks was for trading, then I think there would be better traders out there vs. these off-peak season weeks.

Kurt
 

wilma

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I would respectfully disagree with owning these weeks- it’s hurricane season. I was in sanibel last year in October in a hurricane and it wasn’t fun. Even though we were spared the brunt the bugs were crazy! I love sanibel but would never return in hurricane season during crazy climate change.
 

Laurie

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Hurricane season *and* potential red tide season, which is an increasingly serious factor. Also I believe FL bills taxes separately and in addition to maintenance fees. Based on that, plus their inexperience with owning timeshares and relatively low TPU's, I would say NO, even though I love Sanibel.

Anecdotally, I had an exchange into Casa Ybel for the very week Hurricane Charley happened. I knew our building and unit #. After the storm, I saw a satellite image, and our very unit had its roof blown off.

Also anecdotally, we had an exchange into Captiva this past December and even though I had followed the red tide maps closely and mostly it looked like it was over, it ended up being so bad off the coast of Captiva that we couldn't go to the beach 3 out of 7 days without coughing -- it was literally hard to breathe. On the days it wasn't lingering in the air, there were hundreds of stinky dead crabs littering a Sanibel beach.
 

Sea Six

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I'm not a fan of Casa Ybel. As I recall, this has 4 story buildings and no elevators. The ground level is just storage, no living space, because the buildings are on stilts in case of flooding. So, the first floor units are on the second floor, and the second floor units are on the third floor, with the master bedroom actually up on the fourth floor. Too many steps for me, carrying suit cases and groceries. Also, the resort faces south, not west. This means you don't get a sunset view over the Gulf of Mexico, you get a view of the hotels on Ft Myers Beach. If they were in their mid 30's that's one thing, but mid 60's won't like the steps.

PS - the buildings are frame construction, not masonry. If you get a 2nd floor unit, you WILL hear the patter of HUGE FEET from your ceiling.
 
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Sea Six

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Vistana Villages Key West (2) - Orlando
Also, the TPUs you mention are disappointing, but accurate. You own a 2 BR beachfront Sanibel resort (and assume you've got a REALLY nice place!) that gets you 20 TPUs, but it takes 45 or so TPUs to get a 1 BR Disney resort. Plus a bunch more for exchange and resort fees. Ain't worth it. I dropped my RCI account because of this. You also have to pay RCI to roll (combine) your TPUs into the next year just to accumulate more units. You would need to deposit 3 years of this resort (2 BR) to get one year of Disney (1 BR). And 45 TPUs is a low end Disney - the high end resorts never even come up in RCI.
 
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