I will call the resort tomorrow and ask. Thank you so much for all of your help. I realize that you are having to explain things that most people already understand and I really appreciate you taking the time to do so.
The penalty for cancelling is they have to pay another exchange fee. Not worth $239 in most cases.
It was Paniolo Greens. The plan is to visit The Big Island for a week and then spend a week in Aulani in Oahu.If you don't mind, what resort did they reserve? Depending on what they chose, it may or may not have been a bad thing. While the open availability resorts tends to be the leftovers, every now and then a good deal shows up. There are many nice resorts in Hawaii, not everything is 5-stars, of course, but the truly dissatisfying resorts are pretty rare.
The thing about Ongoing Searches is you never know if you'll get what you request. That was why I said earlier that you have to be pretty flexible on what you'll accept. A regional area over a range of dates is much more likely to get a match than one specific resort in a narrow calendar window. I once wasted over a year waiting on an OGS to match for a resort in New York City. I had combined deposits to make sure I had enough TPUs for it, and time clicked away. Thirteen months later, with no results, I posted my frustration on Tug. In reply I learned that that specific resort rarely gets deposited to RCI - owners who aren't using their time have no trouble renting out their week. So I wasted all that time for a dead end. A Tugger then contacted me offline, and we arranged a private exchange. I got them what they wanted, and they got me into the NYC resort. It showed once again how awesome Tuggers are.
Keep researching. You've already learned a lot, and once over the general learning hump, it's not as difficult to grasp the concepts. Mostly it's about finer details of how to make the system work for you.
Dave
Yes, it was this resort. When making a request, do you call RCI or the resort itself? Thank you for the review.
Contact the resort about 2 weeks before check-in. Our friends requested a lower-floor corner unit, and that's what they got, but I didn't think to tell them to ask for renovated. (I had read that the renovations were mostly done by last summer, so I thought all units had been renovated.) The lower floor units are single level (no stairs inside). The second floor units have the bedroom(s) on the 3rd floor, so one has to walk up/down stairs within the unit.
Thank you!
Nice apartment setting sounds fine. No wild, crazy nightlife is needed. Day trips around to different attractions is the plan right now.Paniolo Greens is a nice place to stay. Not overly fancy, more like a nice apartment setting. Spacious units, and in a rather quiet area. It sits up the hills a ways from the main highway, and can be a tad windy. There is a bit of a drive involved to get to the Big Island attractions, but then, just about everything on the Big Island is a bit of a drive. It is a VERY big island. I recall seeing wild turkeys and peacocks wandering around the grounds. Unless your folks want wild and crazy nightlife, they will enjoy staying there.
Dave
It looks like it was 28. How does that compare to other resorts on the big island?
I do like Ocean City as well. However, we live fairly close and are there every other weekend or so as we have family and friends there. That is mainly the reason that they haven't used it. They bought their property on a whim on a shopping trip. Went for a pair of jeans, came back with a timeshare...lol.
Thank you! Sounds like there is quite a bit to do on the island. Should be a fun to plan trip