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Grand Luxxe Riviera Maya pool for owners only

T-Dot-Traveller

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DAMN, that's expensive. They typically consider "adult" anyone over 12 (even for occupancy). 4 people that's an extra $840 for the week. Makes it almost prohibitive to go there, IMO, by the time you pay your exchange fee and your MF for your week that you deposited.

Guess they probably only want owners to be there and not exchangers.

I only have RCI weeks to compare - Grand Bliss & Grand Mayan NV - 2 bedroom 9 TPU's / !bedroom 8 TPU
April - May - June 2018

at $ 25 per TPU
$225+ $259 + $630( resort fee for 4 / less 25% restaurant charge rebate) =$ 1114 for the week
daily housekeeping and towel service etc .

I don't think that is prohibitive and is line with what an owner MF for a week.
 

Eric B

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In 2017 a 2 BR GB usage fee was ~$1500 and a 2 BR GM was ~$1400, depending on when the owner bought in. The resort fee does get the relative costs close to a wash between the two ways of getting there. I'd say it winds up being a personal choice for folks as to whether it's worth it.
 

Tucsonadventurer

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Interesting; the detailed explanation in RCI for the Nuevo Vallarta resorts says the resort fee includes "cover to the 'Santuario'." That's not included in the discussion of the Riviera Maya ones. Didn't know they had a minimum drink at the pavilion in Riviera Maya, but then again, we didn't go to any of the shows there last time we were down. Good to know.
I heard it was a fairly new rule. We got kicked out when we ordered 1 drink. It was not crowded at all when we were told there was a minimum.
 

hurnik

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In 2017 a 2 BR GB usage fee was ~$1500 and a 2 BR GM was ~$1400, depending on when the owner bought in. The resort fee does get the relative costs close to a wash between the two ways of getting there. I'd say it winds up being a personal choice for folks as to whether it's worth it.

If it's a 2 BR Grand Luxxe, possibly (IMO) as i know the MF they quoted me at the sales presentation was approx. $1800 for a 2 BR GL.
for GM/GB, seems excessive, but I guess it depends.

With HGVC, it's 4800 points to get into a 2 BR GM/GB. Depending on what type of unit one bought with HGVC, that could be about $800 in MF (or more, but I'm going with mine which are cheaper).
Plus the $240 RCI Exchange Fee.
Plus the now, $30/adult (let's assume 4 adults) = 840
So: $800 + 240 + 840 = 1880. (edited) forgot to add in the $11/adult/day RCI fee, so another $308), brings it up to: $2188.

More than the GL MF (and a lot more than the GM MF if I recall as they kept wanting me to buy so they downgraded, etc.)
Average rental on Redweek for 2 BR GM during similar season (just for comparison) is about $1700-$1800.

Currently I can pick up 2 BR GM/GB via SFX for a cost of $702 plus the $75/unit charge, so let's just say $800 with my exchange. GL is $300 more.

As always, your mileage may vary. I think that's the highest charge I've seen lately on exchanges ($30/adult/day) for a non-AI resort. I know DVC is starting something like a $25/day/unit charge and some HGVC via RCI exchanges are around the same (but it's not per adult, AFAIK).

Given the wash between exchanging and renting direct from an owner, (in most cases) I'd say rent from an owner so you get the actual benefits (well mostly, depends on what their contract says) as sometimes you get a free spa or round of golf.
 
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Eric B

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For the 2 BR GL suite/condo level, it was ~$2,100 in 2017. You can get a 2 BR GL suite in Nuevo Vallarta through Save On Resorts for $2199. It's not really clear going through there if there are any resort fees attached. It also seems unlikely that these are owner deposits because of the availability; probably bulk deposits by Vidanta instead.

Given the wash between exchanging and renting direct from an owner, (in most cases) I'd say rent from an owner so you get the actual benefits (well mostly, depends on what their contract says) as sometimes you get a free spa or round of golf.

You're probably right about that. When the Cirque park opens, there are some other perks owners get that would work for rentals; I'm supposed to get 2 days entry for the price of one and access to the entry from the Vidanta resort side. I know there are some folks that go to the effort of trying to rent out their weeks, but I don't think the numbers really pencil out right to be worth it, particularly for a non-mandatory maintenance fee that's close to the rental amount you could get.
 

Lingber

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To book a 2 bedroom after I convert my Hyatt to II, I spend about $800 in Maintenance fees. Add the exchange fees and then the Resort Fees and I am well over $1600 a week. Its a great property and still a "deal" vs getting 2 rooms for 7 nights elsewhere, but there are better deals at beautiful properties in Mexico and elsewhere that are on the beach and don't have some of the drawbacks that this property GL RM does. Since they added the GL Jungle, the shuttles now stop there in addition to the residences. Makes for a much longer ride and wait time. They need to sort that out. They also are really making it harder for exchangers to use the amenities by taking away the GL pool and reserving so many of the chairs at the beach club for owners. I get why, but as an exchanger its an inconvenience. I really want to try the GL NV and still may go someday in a studio with just my spouse instead of the family trip we originally contemplated. But no plans to go to RM again anytime soon. And by the way, I know they want exchangers so they can sell units but we also spend quite a bit while on property on food and drinks. That has to be an incentive to them to keep us coming?
 

Eric B

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Spending on food and drinks is an incentive for them, of course, but Vidanta isn't a unitary organization. It's divided up into different corporate entities under an umbrella corporation, Grupo Vidanta. The sales side of the house is Vida Vacations and has a great deal of input into things that are inputs into the sales process, including making units available for exchange, room assignments for people checking in, etc. The hotel side of the house is Vidanta and is responsible for running the resort, restaurants, etc.

My interpretation of the behavior of of the organization as a whole is that there are actually competing incentives for the two sides that are in some ways aligned, but in some ways working at cross purposes. The hotel side would increase its profits and its contribution to the organization as a whole by filling the units throughout the year to the extent they can, keeping people entertained and happy on the resort itself so that they spend their vacation dollars there rather than just providing a base of operations for people to visit the surroundings. Both sides benefit from people coming in on exchanges, but to a different extent. The sales side has potential customers to sell to and the hotel side has restaurant customers; they can't be making much if anything at all from what it costs for an exchange customer to go there since the MF goes to their home resort and the exchange fee goes to II, RCI, SFX, or wherever (though there may be some share going to them of the exchange fee depending on the contract). Prior to the imposition of the resort fees, it may have actually have been costing the hotel side to have exchangers stay there, though that's just speculation on my part. The resort fees cover those costs for the hotel side and provide an additional set of incentives the sales side can use to get people to attend sales presentations and potentially buy in.

The thing to keep in mind if you exchange in there is that there are an awful lot of things that you can bargain for if you're willing to give them the time at a sales pitch. I've heard that some people have gotten owner's bracelet keys instead of exchanger's ones so they can use the GL pool and custom burger, etc.
 

PamMo

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...The thing to keep in mind if you exchange in there is that there are an awful lot of things that you can bargain for if you're willing to give them the time at a sales pitch. I've heard that some people have gotten owner's bracelet keys instead of exchanger's ones so they can use the GL pool and custom burger, etc.

Vidanta will lose guests and potential buyers if a prerequisite to enjoying the amenities of a timeshare resort is having to sit through hours of a sales presentation. Come on, we're booking an exchange, not a preview package.

Some of us own at great resorts with maintenance fees as high or higher than Grand Luxxe (for example, my Harborside and Westin Ka'anapali weeks), so they are pretty even trades. NOT when Vidanta adds crazy high resort fees and limits our access to amenities, though. Sadly, I will not be exchanging into Vidanta again in the future.
 

Eric B

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Vidanta will lose guests and potential buyers if a prerequisite to enjoying the amenities of a timeshare resort is having to sit through hours of a sales presentation. Come on, we're booking an exchange, not a preview package.

Some of us own at great resorts with maintenance fees as high or higher than Grand Luxxe (for example, my Harborside and Westin Ka'anapali weeks), so they are pretty even trades. NOT when Vidanta adds crazy high resort fees and limits our access to amenities, though. Sadly, I will not be exchanging into Vidanta again in the future.

That's completely understandable. Frankly, I wouldn't pay a usage fee at Grand Luxxe to trade elsewhere in RCI because of that trade off; I don't have any other resorts in II, so haven't used them. Vidanta doesn't seem to be applying the resort fees to some of the exchange methods to get there (i.e., the Registry Collection and Elite Alliance). That strikes me as being part of a market segmentation effort since the reciprocal resorts in those systems are all ones where maintenance fees are higher, weeding out on the part of the sales side of potential customers that are less likely to buy. From their perspective, they only care about how high your maintenance fees are at the other resort as an indication of your ability to pay for their product. Your maintenance fee at the other resort only contributes to their ability to pay there bills to the extent that owners at Grand Luxxe pay maintenance fees and exchange out to your resort. I might do that for Harbourside or Westin Ka'anapali, but not for the main run of resorts otherwise available; hence the lack of resort fees on more exclusive exchanges.
 

dioxide45

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At $30 per person per day, this is definitly getting in to AI territory. My wife has become a travel agent and we have been looking at all inclusives for several clients. One can go to Jamaica, Punta Cana or even Cancun/Riveria Maya for $1250 per person including air.

If we use the below as an example. The $1114 doesn't include air, so add anywhere from $500 to $600 for a couple. It also doesn't include any food or beverage. Perhaps $100 a day? So you are looking at $2400 all in for seven nights. I can get the same deal at an AI and not have to worry about the costs of booking the flight separately or daily costs for food and beverage. Of course the room may not be on par with what you can get at Vidanta, but I am not traveling to sit in my room.

I only have RCI weeks to compare - Grand Bliss & Grand Mayan NV - 2 bedroom 9 TPU's / !bedroom 8 TPU
April - May - June 2018

at $ 25 per TPU
$225+ $259 + $630( resort fee for 4 / less 25% restaurant charge rebate) =$ 1114 for the week
daily housekeeping and towel service etc .

I don't think that is prohibitive and is line with what an owner MF for a week.
 

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Regarding the new fine print: "Member will have a 25% on resort credits." Has anyone confirmed what this actually means? Someone suggested it meant 25% off the new resort fee but that doesn't seem to make sense to me. Might it be the case that you'll receive 25% off your resort purchases for the week (likely just food and beverages)? In other words, just yet another way to keep people from leaving the resort, but now also an incentive to have you stop making lots of meals in your room? We just spent a week at GLNV and 25% of our food/beverage bill would have exceeded the new fee if we'd have had to pay it. We ate most lunches and dinners at resort restaurants. If on the other hand you only eat at the restaurants occasionally, the new fee would be more onerous. When checking out yesterday I asked the check out fellow about the new 25% fee. He was clueless.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 

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My understanding is that it means 25% of the resort fee will be credited to your account for in-resort enjoyment of services, food and beverages.
 

Eric B

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Regarding the new fine print: "Member will have a 25% on resort credits." Has anyone confirmed what this actually means? Someone suggested it meant 25% off the new resort fee but that doesn't seem to make sense to me. Might it be the case that you'll receive 25% off your resort purchases for the week (likely just food and beverages)? In other words, just yet another way to keep people from leaving the resort, but now also an incentive to have you stop making lots of meals in your room? We just spent a week at GLNV and 25% of our food/beverage bill would have exceeded the new fee if we'd have had to pay it. We ate most lunches and dinners at resort restaurants. If on the other hand you only eat at the restaurants occasionally, the new fee would be more onerous. When checking out yesterday I asked the check out fellow about the new 25% fee. He was clueless.

My understanding is that it means 25% of the resort fee will be credited to your account for in-resort enjoyment of services, food and beverages.

I haven't been there on an RCI exchange since the new fees were instituted, but have interpreted the wording based on what it says later in the fine print, that "Resort credits are calculated on the final total of the mandatory resort fee." That would seem to make it a credit towards whatever you've charged to your room (not just food and beverages, but also including other stuff like suntan lotion and merchandise and possibly the taxes you have to pay) with the amount being essentially $7.50 per adult per day (25% of the $30), but potentially less if they make a deal with you for reduced resort fees to attend a sales pitch. I don't think they'd give you a 25% discount on all charges to the room because (1) they typically offer a 10% discount for the sales pitch and (2) they limit the credit in the terms I quoted above.

The other thing to look at is what their incentives would be; these fees and the associated credits to offset them are only for folks exchanging in, so if it were actually 25% off on resort purchases for the week there would be no discount for owners paying the full freight for a usage fee, which is typically higher than most exchanges in. I could see something like that happening inadvertently, but only for a short period of time before they got an awful lot of feedback from owners; it would be an immense disincentive to sales. On the other hand, they're pretty much guaranteeing they'll take in $7.50 per adult per day in the bars and restaurants; nowhere near an all inclusive fee, but at least it helps cover their costs.
 

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When I stayed at Grand Bliss in Riveria Maya, they charged a $72 fee for the entire unit. But offered to waive the fee if I attended a timeshare presentation. I told them I was OK with paying the $72 and didn't want the timeshare presentation. He was pretty upset and followed me to my room trying to convince me and offering me more stuff.

Would they waive the $30 per day resort fee if you did the timeshare presentation? It was easy to blow off a $72 fee, but if it is now over $1,440 for a family of three, I probably can suffer through a few hours of torture.
 

tschwa2

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From what I have heard they will wave about half of the fee but not necessarily the whole fee. So the question is would $500-$750 off be enough of an incentive to get you to the sales table.
 

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When I stayed at Grand Bliss in Riveria Maya, they charged a $72 fee for the entire unit. But offered to waive the fee if I attended a timeshare presentation. I told them I was OK with paying the $72 and didn't want the timeshare presentation. He was pretty upset and followed me to my room trying to convince me and offering me more stuff.

Would they waive the $30 per day resort fee if you did the timeshare presentation? It was easy to blow off a $72 fee, but if it is now over $1,440 for a family of three, I probably can suffer through a few hours of torture.

Not sure how you got to $1,440 unless it's multiple weeks. Three adults (assuming it's a child over 12) would be $630 per week ($472.50 with the 25% credit taken into account). Anyway, last time I was there I got half off the old resort fee ($11 pppd) as an incentive. You can always ask, but I wouldn't count on getting the whole thing off. They do make allowances for waiving part of the fee; that's why the resort credit is based on the final resort fee paid. I'd be willing to wager that they do the resort credit before they apply a 10% discount on charges to the room, which is one of the other incentives they tend to offer.
 

Eric B

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We are paying $999 for the week for the Grand Luxxe Riviera Maya Jungle Suite 1 Bedroom plus $75 per week resort fee. I think that sounds pretty good compared to what people are saying here.
 

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We are paying $999 for the week for the Grand Luxxe Riviera Maya Jungle Suite 1 Bedroom plus $75 per week resort fee. I think that sounds pretty good compared to what people are saying here.

Was it through SFX ?
I believe SFX exchanges into Vidanta are still using the $75 resort fee .
 

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Was it through SFX ?
I believe SFX exchanges into Vidanta are still using the $75 resort fee .

No, it was through ICE Rewards, but not affiliated with a timeshare program. I have my own account.
 

Eric B

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ICE is pretty closely associated with Vidanta like SFX & The Registry Collection. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve got the $75 fee as well. It probably depends on what contract through ICE it is, though; they’ve got a number of different relationships with various travel companies.
 

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Are Grand Luxxe Jungle Suite exchangers paying through ICE Rewards allowed to use the Grand Luxxe pool and Beach Club?
 

Eric B

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Not officially, but they will try to entice you to attend a sales presentation with access. We did see several non-owners at the Grand Luxxe pool the last couple of days, but didn’t check to see what wristbands they had; knew they weren’t owners because we rode in the same van from the airport and spoke with them.
 

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ICE is pretty closely associated with Vidanta like SFX & The Registry Collection. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve got the $75 fee as well. It probably depends on what contract through ICE it is, though; they’ve got a number of different relationships with various travel companies.

Yes, apparently ICE is actually the SFX-Travel store if you look close enough. (or perhaps vice versa).
Anything booked with SFX-Travel Store (not SFX-Resorts) is actually an ICE booking (at least for cruises and resorts, and car rentals, and hotels, which is the only 4 things I've ever used).

So makes sense they would have the $75 resort fee. Which is good. (I mean compared to $30/adult/day--ouch).
 
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