Advice Request :

[amithab]

Marriott has offered me a timeshare 2 br. gold season at St. Kitts Oceanside or 3100 DC points annual usage. Also $185/ yr for annual exchange company dues.
Cost: $25100.00.
Closing cost: $592.87
I paid the down payment of $2510.00 but I am now having cold feet. It seems quite expensive especially after I see the cost for resale.
Hurricanes are devastating.
I feel it would be better to get something in a place we would most likely travel to more than once such as Aruba.
I wanted a situation where I can have my immediate and extended family visit consistently, especially as my kids have just become adults and have lives of their own.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[jadejar]

If you look in the bargain section above, someone is giving away a gold season Marriott St Kitts

 

[dioxide45]

I think you will get much better answers in the Marriott forum. I have asked to have this thread moved.

I think the general consensus will be to rescind your purchase and take time to do more research in to what you want and what you thing you will fit your travel needs. Buying on impulse while in the bliss of vacation may not always be the best move. If you rescind, you can then take the time to do more research, the same offer (or similar) will be there later. But when your rescission period ends, you are stuck with something that may not work for you. Rescind and give yourself some time to figure out your true needs, and you wont' be under the gun of a set deadline.

 

[LannyPC]

If you are having second thoughts, then rescind. That is usually the sage advice given here on TUG. Make sure you follow the rescission instructions carefully including who must sign the letter and how the letter should be sent.

After that has been taken care of, come back here on TUG and do a lot more research about the ins and outs of timeshares. Take several months if you have to. Then you can make an informed decision in the right frame of mind.

 

[Talent312]

RESCIND. The sales-weasels are laughing all the way to the bank.
The instructions are in your contract. Follow them to the letter.
Then do more research so you can make a more informed decision.
.

 

[Passepartout]

Rescind and buy resale someplace you'll visit often. Exchanging is not as cheap and easy as they make it out to be.

 

[bazzap]

The advice you have received earlier is very sound.
I would just respond to your comment “Hurricanes are devastating” which is clearly true sadly, but Gold Week season in St Kitts is outside of Hurricane season and has never been a factor to impact our Gold week ownership there.

 

[vacationtime1]

Rescind now, then research.

Your research will show you that 3100 points won't be enough to reserve a unit large enough for your stated goal of traveling with extended family.

 

[dioxide45]

The advice you have received earlier is very sound.
I would just respond to your comment “Hurricanes are devastating” which is clearly true sadly, but Gold Week season in St Kitts is outside of Hurricane season and has never been a factor to impact our Gold week ownership there.

The problem is, as this year has proven, owning outside of Hurricane season may not isolate one from issues related to hurricanes. If something devastating hits, you could be locked out of your week for a year or more, all along with having to pay the MF and ongoing loan payments if you have them.

 

[bazzap]

The problem is, as this year has proven, owning outside of Hurricane season may not isolate one from issues related to hurricanes. If something devastating hits, you could be locked out of your week for a year or more, all along with having to pay the MF and ongoing loan payments if you have them.

I agree this is a risk we all have to make a judgement call on.
If you want to avoid all risk, you would have to exclude anywhere within the hurricane zone - the Caribbean, Florida, Hilton Head..., Tsunami zone - Phuket, Volcano zone - Bali, Hawaii?...etc
I would judge St Kitts to be within acceptable risk but I accept others may decide differently.

 

[Hi I'm new here]

Rescind ASAP.
Rent condos, private homes and timeshares including Marriotts from other owners. You don't need to "own" any of these properties in order to visit.
Your 25K is as good as gone the minute you buy. You will also pay a hefty fee every year in maintenance fees.
As far as St Kitts goes I was there once on a cruise. The island is barely worth a day trip of a couple hours from a cruise ship. Have you ever seen this place? What are flight connections like to get there?

 

[amithab]

Thank you all for your kind advice.
I have never been to St. Kitts. The travel is more expensive with several plane changes of which I am not a fan.
It was not my intent to ever travel there but possibly once.
The way it was presented to me, I would not need to because I could convert it to points. In this way I had the option for both points or timeshare week.

Thanks again.
Most appreciative.
Excellent, very helpful site.
Glad I joined.

 

[JIMinNC]

Thank you all for your kind advice.
I have never been to St. Kitts. The travel is more expensive with several plane changes of which I am not a fan.
It was not my intent to ever travel there but possibly once.
The way it was presented to me, I would not need to because I could convert it to points. In this way I had the option for both points or timeshare week.

Thanks again.
Most appreciative.
Excellent, very helpful site.
Glad I joined.

If you are looking at the week primarily as a point generator, then $25,100 is not a bad price for 3100 points (about $8.10 per point versus Marriott's typical prices in the $10.50/point to $13.80/point range). You could probably do a little better with resale points - probably somewhere around $7/point - but all in all, it's not a bad price for a direct purchase. But having said that, before going through with the purchase you need to clearly understand what 3100 points will get you, and you may be disappointed with what you can actually reserve with only 3100 points. Many desirable locations and dates require significantly more than 3100 points for a full week trip. Given that, the advice to rescind - at least for now until you understand your needs better - is probably wise advice.

 

[bazzap]

If you are looking at the week primarily as a point generator, then $25,100 is not a bad price for 3100 points (about $8.10 per point versus Marriott's typical prices in the $10.50/point to $13.80/point range). You could probably do a little better with resale points - probably somewhere around $7/point - but all in all, it's not a bad price for a direct purchase. But having said that, before going through with the purchase you need to clearly understand what 3100 points will get you, and you may be disappointed with what you can actually reserve with only 3100 points. Many desirable locations and dates require significantly more than 3100 points for a full week trip. Given that, the advice to rescind - at least for now until you understand your needs better - is probably wise advice.

I agree, 3100 points would not be enough to get you a full week in any of the other 4 MVC resort weeks (Silver, Gold and Platinum) we own in addition to St Kitts.

 

[Xpat]

You should also consider your maintenance fees per point. MFs at St Kitts are on the high end at $1900. For a gold week worth 3100 points your MF/point ratio would be $0.61, which is higher than trust points at $0.53 (not that I recommend trust points). Maintenance fees come back every year, so in my view they are at least as important to consider as the purchase cost.

 

[Hi I'm new here]

You should also consider your maintenance fees per point. MFs at St Kitts are on the high end at $1900. For a gold week worth 3100 points your MF/point ratio would be $0.61, which is higher than trust points at $0.53 (not that I recommend trust points). Maintenance fees come back every year, so in my view they are at least as important to consider as the purchase cost.

We are former owners of a Platinum Marriott and sold for many reasons. The yearly rising maintenance fees were a big concern. These fees approach, equal or even exceed the cost of a weekly rental readily available on many web sites, including this one. Why would a newbie come into this system? How does a salesperson present the information with a straight face?

As previously mentioned I was once in St Kitts off a cruise ship. This is an unimpressive island. Much of the Caribbean is unimpressive and uninviting. Our tour drove around the island and they showed us the new Marriott hotel, no timeshares yet. Years later I was shocked to learn Marriott timeshares were being built there.

 

[StevenTing]

You should also consider your maintenance fees per point. MFs at St Kitts are on the high end at $1900. For a gold week worth 3100 points your MF/point ratio would be $0.61, which is higher than trust points at $0.53 (not that I recommend trust points). Maintenance fees come back every year, so in my view they are at least as important to consider as the purchase cost.

Below is a link to my calculations on trust point MF's for 2018. They're higher than your $0.53. In my opinion they're closer to $0.62 based on the equivalent of 3000 trust points.

http://vacationpointexchange.com/2018-point-pricing/

 

[Xpat]

Below is a link to my calculations on trust point MF's for 2018. They're higher than your $0.53. In my opinion they're closer to $0.62 based on the equivalent of 3000 trust points.

http://vacationpointexchange.com/2018-point-pricing/

Thanks, that's very insightful information. I was basically just comparing 2017 DC points MFs with the St Kitts week maintenance fees, excluding the annual dues in both cases, so I think it's a valid, like for like comparison. I agree that one should include the annual dues when working out their true cost of ownership.

 

[Xpat]

We are former owners of a Platinum Marriott and sold for many reasons. The yearly rising maintenance fees were a big concern. These fees approach, equal or even exceed the cost of a weekly rental readily available on many web sites, including this one. Why would a newbie come into this system? How does a salesperson present the information with a straight face?

As previously mentioned I was once in St Kitts off a cruise ship. This is an unimpressive island. Much of the Caribbean is unimpressive and uninviting. Our tour drove around the island and they showed us the new Marriott hotel, no timeshares yet. Years later I was shocked to learn Marriott timeshares were being built there.

I generally agree with you - in most cases, the numbers don't work for first time developer purchases. The maintenance fees on DC points and most enrolled gold weeks are too high to generate an attractive return on the developer purchase cost.

But I would say this - I was a newbie just three years ago. I've worked my way into the system in a way that was cost effective for me. My cost per point for my enrolled portfolio is $3.04 and MF per point $0.35 ($0.37 including club dues). These are numbers that make ownership work very well for me.

Now I wouldn't know if a newbie can predictably get close to these numbers today, but if one likes the week system I think there are some good values to be had in the resale market. Some of the lock-off resorts with "low" maintenance fees and where hotels/rentals are expensive in high season can be a good entry into the system for both usage and exchanges. Overtime, opportunities may present themselves to get into the DC point system, but I would consider these a bonus and not expect them, which was my state of mind when I bought resale. So far, I've not been disappointed.

 

[Tokapeba]

Where do you plan to vacation? The second rule of buying timeshares (the first rule is don't buy from the developer)is buy where you want to go, if you don't want to go to St. Kits, where do you want to go?

 

[dioxide45]

Below is a link to my calculations on trust point MF's for 2018. They're higher than your $0.53. In my opinion they're closer to $0.62 based on the equivalent of 3000 trust points.

http://vacationpointexchange.com/2018-point-pricing/

Thanks, that's very insightful information. I was basically just comparing 2017 DC points MFs with the St Kitts week maintenance fees, excluding the annual dues in both cases, so I think it's a valid, like for like comparison. I agree that one should include the annual dues when working out their true cost of ownership.

You would also have to add the annual fee to the $1900 St Kitts MF since it would also be enrolled. So no need to take the annual DC fee in to consideration since you would pay it either way.

 

[amithab]

Thank you.
Marriott was kind enough to rescind my partial purchase.
They have also refunded my deposi

 

[amithab]

I am now trying to determine if getting destination points versus a timeshare would be a good first step.
Apart from taking a 2 week time off to visit family annually in December, we tend to take 3-4 day weekends off during the year.
I am not sure if the destination points are allotted by day versus week.
Picture below:
I am having trouble typing from my I pad to this post.

 

[amithab]

I now trying to determine if getting destination poin

 

[Fasttr]

I am now trying to determine if getting destination points versus a timeshare would be a good first step.
Apart from taking a 2 week time off to visit family annually in December, we tend to take 3-4 day weekends off during the year.
I am not sure if the destination points are allotted by day versus week.
Picture below:
I am having trouble typing from my I pad to this post.

You are looking at the Interval International chart for exchanging points for an II week.

Here is the point chart for using points within the MVC program....
http://www.marriottvacationclub.com...Tools/resorts/charts/pdfDisplay/2018_full.pdf

As noted at the bottom of each page.... points are per night except for those listed as full week.