"Marriott Beyond" - Vistana owners, please post in this thread ONLY

[DeniseM]

On the Marriott Forum there is a post regarding a new program called "Marriott Beyond," which supposedly is starting Monday, and includes Marriott, Vistana, and Hyatt.

But the info came from a sales person, so color me skeptical.

To avoid opening a million different threads on this topic, if such a thing comes to pass, I am asking Vistana owners to post in THIS thread, for the same of continuity.

Thank you for your assistance!

 

[DannyTS]

given that this comes from the Marriott sales people and their eagerness to meet the MVC owners to show off this program, on the surface it seems that this is not what we were hoping for: cheap mass enrollment of the Vistana weeks. At least not at this moment.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Wow, I am "beyond" excited.

Denise, I am glad to see you getting this thread started.

I am personally hoping for better management of the resort where we own many weeks and rent a lot of them each year, and that is SBP. Got most of them free, some with free use, some with free use promised but not given (probably a SO block because I don't have those SO's).

The only other Vistana resort we own is SDO, an EOY 2 bedroom in 1-52 season.

I can see a future of Marriott getting rid of both of my Sheraton resorts because they don't want the burden of taking on the HOA's. But that could be just paranoia after the roach issue of this week with two of our guests.

 

[SteelerGal]

Actually it came from Hyatt Forum. Hyatt is in the same boat as Vistana.
Hyatt’a point system is actually similar to MVC. However HPP is under performing so curious(16k buyin), so curious if MVC has actually created a new program.
I know many thought Vistana would be first but if MVC is actually testing new product, Hyatt is small enough to test market response.

 

[SteelerGal]

Wow, I am "beyond" excited.

Denise, I am glad to see you getting this thread started.

I am personally hoping for better management of the resort where we own many weeks and rent a lot of them each year, and that is SBP. Got most of them free, some with free use, some with free use promised but not given (probably a SO block because I don't have those SO's).

The only other Vistana resort we own is SDO, an EOY 2 bedroom in 1-52 season.

I can see a future of Marriott getting rid of both of my Sheraton resorts because they don't want the burden of taking on the HOA's. But that could be just paranoia after the roach issue of this week with two of our guests.

I don’t see MVC getting rid of SDO. Scottsdale is resort city and zero presence, TS wise, before purchase.
Our last vacation was a RCI week because we have EOY. TS resorts were full. MVC will not give up a prime location to their competitors

 

[echino]

I don’t see MVC getting rid of SDO. Scottsdale is resort city and zero presence, TS wise, before purchase.

Marriott's Canyon Villas...

 

[controller1]

I'm currently at Westin Riverfront Mountain Villas and have an owners update scheduled for Sunday morning. I'll update this thread with anything the Vistana side is saying about it.

 

[SteelerGal]

Marriott's Canyon Villas...

Phoenix. 20-30min from Scottsdale.

 

[bogey21]

Actually it came from Hyatt Forum... I know many thought Vistana would be first but if MVC is actually testing new product, Hyatt is small enough to test market response.

This makes too much sense to be true...

George

 

[CPNY]

Hmm, I do hope it’s hyatt, would love to see how this plays out. But isn’t there some sort of licensing issues with that on the Hyatt hotel side of things? Just basing that off of tidbits if read here but didn’t pay attention to being that I don’t own in Hyatt or MVC legacy resorts. It will be interesting to see. I was hoping it would be a bit later as I’m still waiting for my resale units to close on the Vistana side lol

 

[CPNY]

@pchung6 Guess us little ole Vistana owners are only allowed to post in here hahah. At my second Marriott this week. A renaissance. You can tell the difference

 

[sparty]

Doesn't this sound like the well known diversity, inclusion, equity initiatives Marriott is doing?

 

[DeniseM]

Guess us little ole Vistana owners are only allowed to post in here hahah.

hahaha - in case you don't understand what I wrote above, I'm asking Vistana owners not to start multiple threads on this topic on the Vistana forum. Sorry if that was confusing for you.

 

[dioxide45]

Phoenix. 20-30min from Scottsdale.

Isn't Kierland in Scottsdale?

 

[SteelerGal]

Yes. SDO and WKV are 5min away from each other. Vistana had 2 TS in the same area and they thrived so I doubt MVC will get rid of SDO.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Get rid of?
What does that mean?
Stop with the affiliation/branding?
Why would they do that, or even care?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SmithOp]

Get rid of?
What does that mean?
Stop with the affiliation/branding?
Why would they do that, or even care?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Its the chicken little effect, the sky is falling, things are changing, a few cockroaches came out of the woods.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[CPNY]

hahaha - in case you don't understand what I wrote above, I'm asking Vistana owners not to start multiple threads on this topic on the Vistana forum. Sorry if that was confusing for you.

Haha It was a joke, I understood perfectly fine, hence all the emojis lol.

 

[CPNY]

Wow, I am "beyond" excited.

Denise, I am glad to see you getting this thread started.

I am personally hoping for better management of the resort where we own many weeks and rent a lot of them each year, and that is SBP. Got most of them free, some with free use, some with free use promised but not given (probably a SO block because I don't have those SO's).

The only other Vistana resort we own is SDO, an EOY 2 bedroom in 1-52 season.

I can see a future of Marriott getting rid of both of my Sheraton resorts because they don't want the burden of taking on the HOA's. But that could be just paranoia after the roach issue of this week with two of our guests.

They are selling Sheraton flex and Westin flex programs along with MVC DC points.
3 resorts in a popular resort area that fit into each other their programs. Don’t think they would get rid of SDO. SBP on the other hand who knows. Does MVC have a beachfront property there? Idk if they would need SBP

 

[SueDonJ]

given that this comes from the Marriott sales people and their eagerness to meet the MVC owners to show off this program, on the surface it seems that this is not what we were hoping from: cheap mass enrollment of the Vistana weeks into an integrated system. At least not at this moment.

Actually it came from Hyatt Forum. Hyatt is in the same boat as Vistana.
Hyatt’a point system is actually similar to MVC. However HPP is under performing so curious(16k buyin), so curious if MVC has actually created a new program.
I know many thought Vistana would be first but if MVC is actually testing new product, Hyatt is small enough to test market response.

Just to reiterate, there haven't been any reports from Marriott sales presentations that mentioned, "Marriott Beyond." That specific name - as if it's a real thing - came from an owner who's scheduled to visit a Hyatt next week and was contacted by an onsite sales rep to do a presentation because whatever this thing is, it's supposedly coming Monday. Speculation had already been swirling with respect to Hyatt and Vistana because of sales-speak that's been ramping up since they both came under the Marriott Vacations Worldwide umbrella, so naturally the expectation is that if Hyatt is facing a something, Vistana will probably be facing it, too.

For what it's worth, if anything, all of this is eerily reminiscent of the 6/20/10 Marriott Destination Club roll-out that Marriott owners faced. Interesting times, for sure.

 

[SueDonJ]

Doesn't this sound like the well known diversity, inclusion, equity initiatives Marriott is doing?

That's the hotel company, Marriott, Int'l, which rolled out their "Beyond Barriers" marketing campaign last year. The timeshare company, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, is a separate company and this is the first that any TUG Marriott people have heard about, "Marriott Beyond."

 

[CPNY]

Just to reiterate, there haven't been any reports from Marriott sales presentations that mentioned, "Marriott Beyond." That specific name - as if it's a real thing - came from an owner who's scheduled to visit a Hyatt next week and was contacted by an onsite sales rep to do a presentation because whatever this thing is, it's supposedly coming Monday. Speculation had already been swirling with respect to Hyatt and Vistana because of sales-speak that's been ramping up since they both came under the Marriott Vacations Worldwide umbrella, so naturally the expectation is that if Hyatt is facing a something, Vistana will probably be facing it, too.

For what it's worth, if anything, all of this is eerily reminiscent of the 6/20/10 Marriott Destination Club roll-out that Marriott owners faced. Interesting times, for sure.

It would be really sad if these sales personnel are just throwing out vague concepts and false promises of a joint program that may or may never come just to get people at the table or to sign a contract. Clearly intentions are being made and if no program comes within the year and it turns out just to be a short term sales tactic, I’d say it would look terrible for MVC and it’s affiliate sales teams in these other programs as well. I guess we shall find out when Monday comes.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

They are selling Sheraton flex and Westin flex programs along with MVC DC points.
3 resorts in a popular resort area that fit into each other their programs.

This sounds right. Setting up the sales force to cross-sell the existing Flex, DC and HPP programs would be a logical first step because the reps are probably complaining loudly that they have had nothing to offer to Vistana and Hyatt owners for almost a year who come to presentations. (E.g. we used the excuse "We are Vistana owners and thought you would have something to offer us on the merger to leverage our ownership." The rep was not happy because he didn't have anything to offer us so we were able to leave the presentation quickly i.e. we had a golden "Get out of jail" card. )

Cross selling points programs still doesn't allow booking other properties without owning the other portfolio, but if true, this would signal that they intend to keep the trusts of all 3 programs and then potentially create a layer via the DC exchange (or other mechanism) to book the three trusts. Given @JIMinNC's excellent diagram of the MVC points system, adding those trusts to offer reservations via the general exchange would involve the least disruption and lowest cost infrastructure.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Here is the chart by @JIMinNC that I found helpful to understanding the current MVC program. Similar to DC trust in Red, I could envision similar Flex and Hyatt points trusts being added as their own red circles and eventually adding cross bookings into the DC exchange over time.

Deeded weeks would be similar to the green box and would be enrolled to participate in the exchange (For Vistana, there would be another yellow box tied to the Green Deeded week labeled "StarOption Exchanges." (MVC owners don't have this option because DC was their equivalent to the SO program.) What is unknown is whether the SO program will tie into the DC program or remain separate (I hope separate and Vistana owners will have the option to deposit in either exchange similar to II or SO today.)

Key question is how much it will cost to enroll and participate in the DC exchange (or whatever they call this)?

 

[JIMinNC]

It would be really sad if these sales personnel are just throwing out vague concepts and false promises of a joint program that may or may never come just to get people at the table or to sign a contract. Clearly intentions are being made and if no program comes within the year and it turns out just to be a short term sales tactic, I’d say it would look terrible for MVC and it’s affiliate sales teams in these other programs as well. I guess we shall find out when Monday comes.

Well we do know for a fact that SOMETHING is coming because the Marriott Vacations Worldwide CEO said as much in their last earnings call, and that has to be fact-based. We just don't know WHAT is coming. Next earnings call is the morning of August 1. Maybe they'll have another nugget for us to chew on and create another 34-page thread (at least the one on the Marriott Board is that long).