Is Owning a Marriott Timeshare Week Still Popular?

[RussellSun]

Just doing a survey. Is owning a Marriott timeshare week still popular? Are Marriott weeks still in demand by timeshare owners? Even though maintenance fees are going up, are owners still okay with owning Marriott weeks? We just bought a 2 bedroom lockoff for a very low upfront fee and we feel it is a good deal compared to the cost of renting a small hotel room for a week in the same location. Plus we can deposit the studio and get one week for almost free elsewhere. If you buy where you want to use, like Hawaii, it seems like an excellent deal because one week in a 2 bedroom rents for $5000-$8000 per week with an ocean view, I believe.

 

[VacationForever]

Absolutely. There are still a ton of Marriott deposits in II and you get Marriott preference. The only issue is that using a studio to trade takes a little more work, as the trading power given to studios is very low.

I used a studio side to obtain a 2BR Ko Olina in Dec 2015 6 months before, so it was not in Flexchange window, a month ago traded for Newport Coast (all 2BR there) for Sep 2018. I was also matched to 1BR Ko Olina during Thanksgiving week 2017 at 13 months. Using a studio to trade certainly causes a little more anxiety, but great trades can still be had.

Using the 1Br is certainly alot easier. We used 2 1BR and traded for 2 weeks of 3BR at KoOlina in March 2017 at about 8 months out.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Plus we can deposit the studio and get one week for free elsewhere.

The only issue is that using a studio to trade takes a little more work, as the trading power given to studios is very low.

It is also not free. It is a minimum of $219($80+$139) but usually more if upsizing outside of flex.

 

[mjm1]

I agree with VacationForever. We own week and points and are happy with both. We have locked off our DSV unit and traded both the 1BR and Studio with very good results. The trades have been for units in shoulder seasons for the most part, but that was what we were looking for.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[Saintsfanfl]

The difference today versus 20 years ago is it actually made sense in some situations to buy from Marriott. The fees were low and the benefits were high that it could justify the large upfront cost. Today it only makes sense to buy resale for next to nothing. With little to no upfront costs and compared to alternatives it still works out financially for many situations.

 

[MOXJO7282]

Absolutely. It's also very popular to rent. I know everyone doesn't agree but Marriott is arguably the best program out there. Disney might be better is some ways but that has a limited resort system.

It just has a certain level of very good quality that you can count on and generally is located in the best spot in any given tourist area. Somewhat pricey entry point and costs keep going up but still a good value in my book and you generally won't lose money on a resale.

 

[jme]

Just doing a survey. Is owning a Marriott timeshare week still popular? Are Marriott weeks still in demand by timeshare owners? Even though maintenance fees are going up, are owners still okay with owning Marriott weeks? We just bought a 2 bedroom lockoff for a very low upfront fee and we feel it is a good deal compared to the cost of renting a small hotel room for a week in the same location. Plus we can deposit the studio and get one week for almost free elsewhere. If you buy where you want to use, like Hawaii, it seems like an excellent deal because one week in a 2 bedroom rents for $5000-$8000 per week with an ocean view, I believe.

Of Course!!!!!

If you think maintenance fees are high, try renting Hilton Head Marriott's Grande Ocean in June or July----it's $2300-3200+ per week, and mf is only $1400+. It's not Hawaii, but we never wish to be committed to flying to Hawaii from our home near the east coast....way way way too expensive every year, especially for a family. A 2.5 hr drive to HH is just fine----our home away from home---- and frankly, we stay there cheaply now, given everything. MF for a week is a real bargain.

We've owned since late 90s, and it only gets better. We own 6 weeks at Grande Ocean (exclusively use for consec week stays in June/July), and use each one, but if we only rented them out, we'd have a nice positive cash flow. We also own 4 more Marriotts, and enjoy it all---- occupying, trading, swapping for points.

Kids still love it too, and they still visit even tho they're on their own at 28 and 31. We've done lots of trades, too---used them to see all of this country, Caribbean and elsewhere, and Europe too....one is a lock-off and we definitely maximize our options. Most are enrolled, so we also benefit from longer stays in different seasons when we trade for destination points. We almost have too many weeks to utilize, but we force ourselves....lol.

We wouldn't change a thing!!! I would NEVER buy points, but I would, and have recently, bought more resale weeks, so it's still a great way to go. We use most weeks, trade for others. Use a couple of enrolled weeks differently, and will alter our travels as needed by using hotels and boutique hotels worldwide as we go forward, maybe even some Explorer Collection options. So many more alternatives now!

 

[DeniseM]

$5000-$8000 per week with an ocean view

You might get that much for Ocean Front in the Napili or Lahaina Towers for Christmas week, but not for most other resorts/dates/views. For ocean front at the Maui Ocean Club, you are looking at around $4,000-$4,500 for a popular date - less for ocean view.

 

[Quadmaniac]

Absolutely the best deal out there ! Buy for cheap (most weeks) and can trade for better weeks. I've found it to be a great value and wouldn't change a thing either (except maybe lower MF which have been going up and up like everything else)

 

[littlestar]

We still like weeks. We fly and I want a week minimum. Bought a resale Grande Vista platinum week and my reasoning is if trading through Interval goes away tomorrow, I will just book Grande Vista my home.

 

[JIMinNC]

$5000-$8000 per week with an ocean view, I believe.

You might get that much for Ocean Front in the Napili or Lahaina Towers for Christmas week, but not for most other resorts/dates/views. For ocean front at the Maui Ocean Club, you are looking at around $4,000-$4,500 for a popular date - less for ocean view.

It depends on what you mean by "rentals." If you're talking person-to-person rentals, then what Denise says is probably right, but for rentals on traditional reservation booking sites like Marriott.com, I think the OP is right. Even OF 1BR in the old towers are $800+ per night with taxes and resort fees in high season. A 2BR OV unit would be at least $900+/night, I believe. Many people aren't willing to take the risk of a P2P transaction for a $4000+ vacation, so for those us us who feel that way, the appropriate yardstick is traditional online booking engines instead of the P2P sites.

 

[bazzap]

It is also not free. It is a minimum of $219($80+$139) but usually more if upsizing outside of flex.

Or potentially quite a bit less, if you have a DC Points corporate Interval account and especially if you have a Platinum Interval membership.
We pay $49 or $59, I can’t immediately recall which.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Agreed but the OP just bought resale on the cheap so DC is not an option.

Don’t you pay zero in my example unless you are upsizing?

 

[bazzap]

Agreed but the OP just bought resale on the cheap so DC is not an option.

Don’t you pay zero in my example unless you are upsizing?

True, if DC is not an option then you are facing some significant fees.
If you are in DC and do not need upsizing, there is no additional cost within MVC resorts.

 

[bogey21]

I'm an ex Marriott owner. IMO Resorts are great. Whether it is worthwhile owning depends on how much your paid; the direction of the MFs; how you plan to use your Week or Points; and your exit strategy. The answer to the foregoing is probably different from person to person depending on where you are in your life experience.

George

 

[Quadmaniac]

I'm an ex Marriott owner. IMO Resorts are great. Whether it is worthwhile owning depends on how much your paid; the direction of the MFs; how you plan to use your Week or Points; and your exit strategy. The answer to the foregoing is probably different from person to person depending on where you are in your life experience.

George

I think you are quite correct on all points. For myself personally, I didn't pay that much for my resale trader weeks. With buying/selling of weeks (flipping) I've had over past few years, I think I made some money, that eventually went into buying my Hawaii weeks. The rent I get from those Hawaii weeks basically pays for all of my maintenance, exchange, and advertising on Redweek fees so essentially I travel for free.

The maintenance fees have been climbing, like everything else, but overall I find it still worthwhile to own based upon what I get in return in terms of the quality of the Marriott properties. In terms of exit strategy, all the units I own shouldn't be that hard to get rid of, as they are all platinum and in relatively high demand at the present. As I'm not into the traders for any money, I could afford to get rid of them for free if necessary. The Hawaii weeks are in high demand so I think there will always be a market for them and I should be able to get my money out of them as they're currently selling for more than what I paid for them.

 

[BocaBoy]

I think you are quite correct on all points. For myself personally, I didn't pay that much for my resale trader weeks. With buying/selling of weeks (flipping) I've had over past few years, I think I made some money, that eventually went into buying my Hawaii weeks. The rent I get from those Hawaii weeks basically pays for all of my maintenance, exchange, and advertising on Redweek fees so essentially I travel for free.

The maintenance fees have been climbing, like everything else, but overall I find it still worthwhile to own based upon what I get in return in terms of the quality of the Marriott properties. In terms of exit strategy, all the units I own shouldn't be that hard to get rid of, as they are all platinum and in relatively high demand at the present. As I'm not into the traders for any money, I could afford to get rid of them for free if necessary. The Hawaii weeks are in high demand so I think there will always be a market for them and I should be able to get my money out of them as they're currently selling for more than what I paid for them.

I agree for now, but I fear that the day will come soon when the maintenance fees will get so high that the demand will go away for the resorts (like Hawaii) where demand is still high. This has already happened with other Marriott resorts. Ten years ago a high season Sabal Palms week could be sold through Marriott Resales for a bit over $20,000 (I netted about $11,000 seven or so years ago) but now they are worth only something like 10% of that. The skyrocketing maintenance fees are a big reason.

 

[VacationForever]

My hotel point junkie husband really wanted to buy timeshares from the developers so that we could convert the interval to hotel points. We first bought Westin Lagunamar and I talked him out of it and we rescinded but to satisfy him, I reluctantly agreed to buy 2 weeks at DSV I through Marriott resales so that we could get Marriott Reward Points every year.

Fast forward, we retired last year and to reduce our financial obligation, we contacted Marriott resales to sell through them but were told that they could only put us on the waitlist. However, in September of this year, Marriott offered to enroll our weeks, and instead of getting out, we got deeper into it and bought more from Marriott to get us up to Presidential level. A month later, we were contacted by Marriott resales to sell our Marriott Desert Springs weeks. Talk about timing. If the weeks were not enrolled, we would have sold them and be done with Marriott.

We enjoy our units very much but the trades that we have gotten with Marriott Desert Springs have been amazing. Moving forward, we are not too sure how we will be using the Marriott vacation portfolio. We are trying to figure out the balance between hotel points conversion, use of DC points and of course II exchanges.

 

[Quadmaniac]

I agree for now, but I fear that the day will come soon when the maintenance fees will get so high that the demand will go away for the resorts (like Hawaii) where demand is still high. This has already happened with other Marriott resorts. Ten years ago a high season Sabal Palms week could be sold through Marriott Resales for a bit over $20,000 (I netted about $11,000 seven or so years ago) but now they are worth only something like 10% of that. The skyrocketing maintenance fees are a big reason.

Always a possibility that they will get crazy. I look at some of the MF for the Westin Nanea at $3K and I think wow that's crazy. As long as it rents for more than my MF, I'm content to hold onto them if I don't use them myself. I'm not sure Hawaii will get to that point when demand drops off as its so different than the mainland. With how expensive accommodations are in Hawaii, I think it will sustain.

I think one factor in Sabal Palms is the rental price of the units vs the MF, in addition to the saturation of the area when the supply is higher than the demand with so many timeshares down there. While there are a lot of timeshares in Hawaii, I think the demand for certain ones are still strong. I'm not sure it is at the super saturation level of Florida though.

 

[TXTortoise]

MR Points Conversion - I would think MR points conversions are very resort/MF specific. The most anyone gets is what, 150K/yr? I know I get 110K EOY with my Vail Streamside Birch and given how trading power has weakened for it, it's definitely an option with a MF of around $650, but anything higher it just doesn't seem to make sense, e.g., the 150K points is for a MOC Lahaina/Napili 3BR, with a $3000 MF.

With respect to Hawaii rents, I expressed the same concern to another long-time Hawaii renter on TUG of what happens at the next recession. He said he was concerned after 2008 also, but folks with money still seem to have enough to continue renting Hawaii. That said, 5+% annual compounding will do a number on MFs, particularly for Hawaii. But the impact is just relative to how fast the hotels and high-value VRBO rentals increase, I suppose.

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

MR Points Conversion - I would think MR points conversions are very resort/MF specific. The most anyone gets is what, 150K/yr? I know I get 110K EOY with my Vail Streamside Birch and given how trading power has weakened for it, it's definitely an option with a MF of around $650, but anything higher it just doesn't seem to make sense, e.g., the 150K points is for a MOC Lahaina/Napili 3BR, with a $3000 MF.

With respect to Hawaii rents, I expressed the same concern to another long-time Hawaii renter on TUG of what happens at the next recession. He said he was concerned after 2008 also, but folks with money still seem to have enough to continue renting Hawaii. That said, 5+% annual compounding will do a number on MFs, particularly for Hawaii. But the impact is just relative to how fast the hotels and high-value VRBO rentals increase, I suppose.

The question is, whether or not the MF for timeshares (any brand) will be competitive with hotel rentals (in a particular area). The underlying cost structures are comparable. In 2008-9, the hotel costs were significantly less, due to the recession, dropping the values (in some cases) to below $0. (The MF were more than what the cost of an equivalent hotel was.)

Marriott has been very aggressive with their MFs, particularly in Hawaii. OTOH, they are ocean front, which should go for more. Still, they are approaching pricing themselves out of comparable choices.

 

[BocaBoy]

Marriott has been very aggressive with their MFs, particularly in Hawaii. OTOH, they are ocean front, which should go for more. Still, they are approaching pricing themselves out of comparable choices.

Maintenance fees have absolutely nothing to do with view or demand vs. hotels. They are the OWNERS' cost of maintaining their property.

 

[BocaBoy]

I think one factor in Sabal Palms is the rental price of the units vs the MF, in addition to the saturation of the area when the supply is higher than the demand with so many timeshares down there.

Rental price vs.maintenance fees is exactly my point. And for Sabal Palms it is not that the rental price has come down, but rather that you can now rent cheaper than owning in terms of your marginal costs. That is because of the out of control maintenance fees.

A point of history: We bought Sabal Palms pre-construction from Marriott in 1987 for $13,000, and it was a lucrative FINANCIAL, as well as lifestyle, investment for us. (Yes, it was a good investment back then.) Since then, maintenance fees have quadrupled, half of that in the past 10-12 years (mostly in and after the Great Recession!) and prices have dropped 90%, also in those same 10-12 years. We fortunately sold after about a 50% drop. Now I see the signs of that in Hawaii prices too. MVCI recently dropped resale price of a Maui OF unit in the new Towers from $47,000 to less than $40,000.

 

[RussellSun]

Hawaii hotels (one room) that are 4 star with any peak of an ocean view rent for about $400 per night plus tax. Anything bigger and better can range from $400 to $1000+ per night. We just rented a oceanfront studio condo on the north shore of Oahu which is one of the cheapest places to rent in all the islands of Hawaii and it was $3400 for the week. The view was very nice but the condo was not perfectly maintained inside. We’ve been renting 4 and 5 star hotel rooms for years before finding TUG and we have never spent less than $3400 to $5000 for one week in a hotel room in Hawaii with ocean view. So $2200 for a 2 bedroom lockoff ocean view Marriott in MFs seems like a good price. I know this is not a perfect comparison since most Tuggers will not rent from Marriott direct or on Expedia. However, the direct price for a 2 bedroom with ocean view is $8300 per week.

 

[BocaBoy]

Hawaii hotels (one room) that are 4 star with any peak of an ocean view rent for about $400 per night plus tax. Anything bigger and better can range from $400 to $1000+ per night. We just rented a oceanfront studio condo on the north shore of Oahu which is one of the cheapest places to rent in all the islands of Hawaii and it was $3400 for the week. The view was very nice but the condo was not perfectly maintained inside. We’ve been renting 4 and 5 star hotel rooms for years before finding TUG and we have never spent less than $3400 to $5000 for one week in a hotel room in Hawaii with ocean view. So $2200 for a 2 bedroom lockoff ocean view Marriott in MFs seems like a good price. I know this is not a perfect comparison since most Tuggers will not rent from Marriott direct or on Expedia. However, the direct price for a 2 bedroom with ocean view is $8300 per week.

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