Hyatt Residence Portfolio

[Cropman]

Agreed with Lizap. Also you said,

if they decide to buyback from you

any bets on them buying back the points? Also, for almost $22,000, I'm betting you can find just about any Diamond, deeded week, you want on the resale market. The exception being Hawaii. At this point in time, rescind.

 

[bdh]

At $19.75 per point, the HPP product is a challenge for current HRC owners to justify the buy in to HPP - at $24.00 per point, HRC will never get the current legacy owners to buy in. And without the legacy owner weeks, the availability of units for the HPP owner to book is drastically reduced as HRC does not have/own enough units to keep new HPP buyers satisfied.

 

[WalnutBaron]

If you're looking for vacations at the San Antonio Wild Oaks property, you can acquire a Diamond week (high season) for around $13-14,000 with annual maintenance fees much lower than what you'll be paying in HRP. Check out www.redweek.com as well as the TUG Marketplace for listings. I agree with what others have advised: rescind while you still can. The HRC system is a much better value.

 

[Kal]

NOOB here - I just purchased the HPP at San Antonio Wild Oaks and wondering if this is a good decision. We can get a refund within 45 days. I can share details of the pitch and hope you all can let me know what you think! What is described on this page is mostly correct - http://www.thetimeshareguru.com/hyatt-residence-portfolio-program.html (there's an updated redemption chart in their booklet)

For the portfolio program, you can purchase a set number of points. Currently, they're $19.75 / point and they said it would go up in October 1 to $24+ / point. Hyatt guarantees a buyback rate of $19.75 if they decide to buyback from you. You can stay at ANY HRC property (not only the ones listed earlier in the thread) using the HRC booking system (grid with points for room sz / time of the year). You can convert HPP to World of Hyatt points at 1:41 ratio. You can also book through Interval International (ILG).

We purchased the 1,100 point package, which will buy us ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
1 week / 2 BR - low season (HPP - San Antonio)
OR
1 week / 2 BR - mid season (ILG exchange)
OR
45,000 World of Hyatt hotel points

As a purchase bonus, we got 100,000 WOH points, 2 ILG bonus weeks and 1 HRC bonus week.

Is this a good deal? Why or why not?

Thanks!!

What is your objective in using this system? Where and when do you want to stay? Depending on those goals, I seriously doubt you will get the value in return. If you look at the contract document you signed, it will most likely indicate the only provisions of the program are those in writing. Anything stated verbally has no basis in fact. Thus, forget anything the sales huckster stated as it is just a pitch to get you to purchase.

 

[echino]

We can get a refund within 45 days.

That's a lie. You can only rescind within 5-10 days, depending on state, so depending on the date you bought, you may be already stuck. Do it today!

Hyatt guarantees a buyback rate of $19.75 if they decide to buyback from you.

That's another lie.

 

[Kal]

That's a lie. You can only rescind within 5-10 days, depending on state, so depending on the date you bought, you may be already stuck. Do it today!



That's another lie.

Not necessarily. The key words are "IF they decide..". It's not going to happen. Why would they buy anything back??? They have far more points to sell than there is a market.

 

[Sapper]

I'm curious, if the point program were to fail, would they have to buy the outstanding points back? If so, they may be setting the price point in advance. If not, are the people who bought points just out of luck (as they don't own deeds or RTU like in the HVC side)?

 

[trendywendy]

I'm curious, if the point program were to fail, would they have to buy the outstanding points back? If so, they may be setting the price point in advance. If not, are the people who bought points just out of luck (as they don't own deeds or RTU like in the HVC side)?

Why do you guys think it'll fail? HVC has been using a point system for over 15 years. The HPP buyers do have a deed to the property they purchased at.

 

[trendywendy]

Not necessarily. The key words are "IF they decide..". It's not going to happen. Why would they buy anything back??? They have far more points to sell than there is a market.

You're right I have no idea why and IF they do buybacks. I figured it's like stocks - if I bought at $19.75 and the value increased to $24+, then the company would make money buying it back from me and reselling at a higher price. I have NO IDEA if this is actually a practice. Do you have experience with this?

 

[lizap]

I'm curious, if the point program were to fail, would they have to buy the outstanding points back? If so, they may be setting the price point in advance. If not, are the people who bought points just out of luck (as they don't own deeds or RTU like in the HVC side)?

Depends on what you mean by fail. There's a distinct possibility that those buying points in HPC will have major difficulty booking resorts where and when they want. I consider that a failure..

 

[lizap]

Depends on what you mean by fail. There's a distinct possibility that those buying points in HPC will have major difficulty booking resorts where and when they want. I consider that a failure..

Does ILG care? Under current leadership, most likely not. I am fairly certain they are aware of the concerns/confusion on this forum and the negative publicity it is bringing. They are choosing to do nothing. That says it ALL..

 

[trendywendy]

What is your objective in using this system? Where and when do you want to stay? Depending on those goals, I seriously doubt you will get the value in return. If you look at the contract document you signed, it will most likely indicate the only provisions of the program are those in writing. Anything stated verbally has no basis in fact. Thus, forget anything the sales huckster stated as it is just a pitch to get you to purchase.

My objective is actually not to "own" a timeshare. I see the $22K as sitting in a "hyatt bank account" and each year, the maintenance fee = discounted cost of rooms, money i would've spent anyway on hotels.

This assumption only works if I can get rid of it in the future for the price I paid. From what it sounds like, most people do not believe I can. Is that correct?

 

[echino]

My objective is actually not to "own" a timeshare. I see the $22K as sitting in a "hyatt bank account" and each year, the maintenance fee = discounted cost of rooms, money i would've spent anyway on hotels.

This assumption only works if I can get rid of it in the future for the price I paid. From what it sounds like, most people do not believe I can. Is that correct?

The resale value of your timeshare is close to zero. $22k is spend and you are not getting it back.

 

[Kal]

My objective is actually not to "own" a timeshare. I see the $22K as sitting in a "hyatt bank account" and each year, the maintenance fee = discounted cost of rooms, money i would've spent anyway on hotels.

This assumption only works if I can get rid of it in the future for the price I paid. From what it sounds like, most people do not believe I can. Is that correct?

That $22K is long gone. First off, Hyatt pays commissions for the sales transaction and profit to Hyatt. Then, the balance covers the purchase of units to place into the trust. If units are owned by "Hyatt" i.e. the developer, the developer gets paid for those units as they are placed into the trust. All you will have is points and Hyatt restricts private resale of those points.

The common theme for timeshare ownership is "pre-paid vacations". Most owners feel they can get some level of return when they sell the unit. Thus, every year you probably save vacation costs by staying in a unit that exceeds the quality of a hotel room. But over time, life styles change and if/when you get to a point where the program doesn't match your travel needs, the maintenance fees are a continuing cost. In the HRC there is resale value so an owner can END the process. In the HPP you basically have a hand full of points that you can't sell and the maintenance fees continue AND increase every year.

 

[trendywendy]

That's a lie. You can only rescind within 5-10 days, depending on state, so depending on the date you bought, you may be already stuck. Do it today!



That's another lie.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS WARNING! We would've read over the paperwork anyway, but we thought we could take our time. Looks like they were totally lying about "45 day - same as cash". The FL contract states a 10 day cancellation period but the TX addendum shortens it to 6 days. I will do this right away.

 

[trendywendy]

That $22K is long gone. First off, Hyatt pays commissions for the sales transaction and profit to Hyatt. Then, the balance covers the purchase of units to place into the trust. If units are owned by "Hyatt" i.e. the developer, the developer gets paid for those units as they are placed into the trust. All you will have is points and Hyatt restricts private resale of those points.

The common theme for timeshare ownership is "pre-paid vacations". Most owners feel they can get some level of return when they sell the unit. Thus, every year you probably save vacation costs by staying in a unit that exceeds the quality of a hotel room. But over time, life styles change and if/when you get to a point where the program doesn't match your travel needs, the maintenance fees are a continuing cost. In the HRC there is resale value so an owner can END the process. In the HPP you basically have a hand full of points that you can't sell and the maintenance fees continue AND increase every year.

Thank you also for your feedback. We will be cancelling!

 

[WalnutBaron]

Congratulations. You just made a wise decision, saved yourself a ton of dough, and can now relax, read this and other bulletin boards on TUG and get yourself educated, and eventually find just what you're looking for at a fraction of your original purchase price. Feel free to ask your fellow TUGgers anything. It's a great community, and always happy to help.

 

[NWTRVLRS]

Yes, congratulations! We purchased a resale on Hyatt with the iformation we learned on TUGG, and have been very happy!

 

[WalnutBaron]

Trendy, you should also consider ponying up the $15 membership fee for TUG. It will give you full visibility on the site, including Distressed Sightings, for example, which are usually short notice (within 90 days) listings on the exchanges for very nice properties that are trying to fill last minute openings with reserved guests at very reasonable costs or exchanges. You will also have access to the TUG reviews section to get an idea of what experienced timeshare users think of properties you might be considering buying.

 

[Ty1on]

Bullet dodged!

 

[bdh]

Variety of HPP information from a recent owner update/sales presentation.

According to the salesman, Hyatt is going to increase the number of properties as they're adding 5 new resorts - only location that was mentioned was Key West. (Not sure why they would need a fourth property in Key West - unless they haven't obtained enough KW inventory thru ROFR.) Construction has started at Coconut Plantation and Wild Oak on new buildings - these would obviously be in the HPP program in lieu of the HRC program. Would be interesting to know if they consider those as 2 of the 5 "new resorts".

When asked the specific question on HPP availablity, the salesman would answer "Oh, there's lots of availability" - there was never any specific information as to current availability.

When asked the specific question regarding the disposition of HRC weeks that roll from HRPP to CUP and if the HPP member would have access to the CUP unit, there was never a definitive answer. So the obvious inference is that until an HRC member buys into the HPP program and moves their HRC week to the HPP bucket, the HRC week remains in the HRC bucket and the HPP member does not have access to the HRC week.

Started selling points in May at $19.50 per point. A price increase to $19.75 in July and now $20 a point in October. They anticipate another price increase by the end of the year.

Annual maintenance fee is $0.93 per point.

They have four different tiers of point levels/benefits. The top tier is Elite at 8000 points and above. The benefit for Elite owners is that they can get on the wait list at 18 months as opposed to 12 months for all other HPP members.

The minimum number of HPP points that can be purchased is 660. With that purchase, they would allow a person to Hyattize one of their HRC weeks. Hyattizing a week would allow the person to move their HRC points into the HPP program on January 1 each year. The moving of HRC points to HPP is an owner's elective each year.

If an HRC owner has multiple weeks, the minimum HPP purchase is $18,000 to Hyattize two HRC weeks. If an HRC owner has more than two weeks, it seemed to be like Monty Hall's Let's Make a Deal as there was not a set price per week after two HRC weeks - however a $30,000 HPP purchase was bantered about to Hyattize all HRC weeks.

HPP points are good for 4 years. Points can be used for Residence Club (if moved by an HRC owner to the HPP program), Potrfolio Program reservations, Hotel reservations, Cruise reservations and Excursion reservations (jet ski, spa, site seeing, etc).

HPP allows the booking of single night stays - also allows the start of a reservation on any day of the week. They emphasized the fact that a Saturday night stay consumes 40% of a week's total points - so a person can maximize their point usage with six nights days of Sunday through Friday.

Contrary to what had been previously heard regarding the Hyatt Maui vote, the sales staff said the vote was not successful and that for now Maui would not be in the HPP program. Would be good to hear from anyone that has definitive information on that.


ROFR info not from the salesman.

The frequency of Hyatt exercising ROFR on Key West weeks over the past 12 to 18 months has varied. In 2016 they would take the occasional random week - 10 out of 100 presented. That picked up a little bit in early 2017, however they really kicked it up a notch in May. In the May to August time frame they were taking back over half of what was presented - 30 out of 50. However in late August the money spigot was turned off and pretty much everything has been getting through now.

 

[Kal]

....The frequency of Hyatt exercising ROFR on Key West weeks over the past 12 to 18 months has varied. In 2016 they would take the occasional random week - 10 out of 100 presented. That picked up a little bit in early 2017, however they really kicked it up a notch in May. In the May to August time frame they were taking back over half of what was presented - 30 out of 50. However in late August the money spigot was turned off and pretty much everything has been getting through now.

My guess is the lack of success in selling the HPP has directly impacted the cash flow in taking private sales on ROFR. Don't add more property into a program that is failing. And that decision was made before the hurricane hit Florida.

 

[Kal]

...
When asked the specific question on HPP availablity, the salesman would answer "Oh, there's lots of availability" - there was never any specific information as to current availability.

When asked the specific question regarding the disposition of HRC weeks that roll from HRPP to CUP and if the HPP member would have access to the CUP unit, there was never a definitive answer. So the obvious inference is that until an HRC member buys into the HPP program and moves their HRC week to the HPP bucket, the HRC week remains in the HRC bucket and the HPP member does not have access to the HRC week....

I can't wait to attend a presentation! What a wonderful time to enjoy the sport of "HPP catch me if you can".

 

[WalnutBaron]

Started selling points in May at $19.50 per point. A price increase to $19.75 in July and now $20 a point in October. They anticipate another price increase by the end of the year.

Annual maintenance fee is $0.93 per point.

They have four different tiers of point levels/benefits. The top tier is Elite at 8000 points and above. The benefit for Elite owners is that they can get on the wait list at 18 months as opposed to 12 months for all other HPP members.

Excellent report, bdh. Thank you!

A couple of comments regarding the buy-in costs:

1. I suspect that the price increases mentioned were part of a pre-conceived sales plan, meant to give the sales weasels the ability to say, "You've absolutely got to buy NOW, because a price increase is coming on (fill in the date). Typically, price increases are made in response to supply and demand, but methinks this is not the case for HPP. Instead, I'm guessing another reason for the shut-off of ROFR is quite the opposite--a sudden oversupply of bought-up inventory coupled with anemic sales. The original sales plan was likely to utilize sales revenue to roll right into additional ROFR purchases. When that didn't happen, the spigot shut off.
2. Elite level is 8,000 points at $20 per point=$160,000. $160,000. $160,000???!!!!??? No wonder this crazy program is not selling. Who was the genius at ILG that dreamed this one up and thought it was a good idea?

 

[JohnPaul]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS WARNING! We would've read over the paperwork anyway, but we thought we could take our time. Looks like they were totally lying about "45 day - same as cash". The FL contract states a 10 day cancellation period but the TX addendum shortens it to 6 days. I will do this right away.

45 days same as cash is totally different from the timeframe for recession. What it means is that if you come up with other financing/funds within 45 days you will pay the same as if you had that money when you bought. No interest or prepayment penalties.