- Joined
- Apr 5, 2009
- Messages
- 555
- Reaction score
- 100
- Points
- 403
- Location
- Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Resorts Owned
- Vistana Resort Orlando (2BR, Deeded Wk10) , Silver Lake Resort Orlando (3BRLO)
The wife and I had the opportunity to tour Diamante in Cabo recently and were quite impressed.
Not ones to normally attend TS presentations, and we are well aware of the pitfalls (our VOI's were all purchased resale). We had successfully navigated through the hall of vultures and made our way safely to the car rental shuttle. Check in at National Diamond Lane was a breeze and lots of idle chit chat with the rep on the counter. Once the contract was complete we were walked over to the next counter (where another gentleman had been quietly listening in) to get our keys. The usual "next desk" ploy.
The TS rep was very pleasant though, starting off with an offer to tour Quivira next door to our stay at PBSB. The ante got upped a bit to get us to Diamante, but we figured that the offer of cover $350 of our rental SUV (leaving us with only $45 to pay for the week), plus 2 sunset dinner cruises and the ubiquitous bottle of tequila (that turned out to an okay reposado) was worth a bit of our time. The proposal was a 2 hour tour, which was missed by a good margin more on that in minute.
Our first impression was that it is holy far away. We had our own vehicle, so we were following a cab to the resort, and started to have thoughts that we were being led out into the desert to be mugged. Seriously, the property is effectively "next door" to the PBSB/Pacifica/Quivira property, but took about 30 minutes to drive to. That said, access for owners is pretty good as the resort entrance is very close to the far end of the toll highway to SJdC and the airport. For amenities (grocery etc) it would be a bit of a drive to town.
The marketing company running the tours (IronMan) is a Canadian company, and reps all seemed to be Canadian or American. We had a great rep who hailed from Calgary AB. The tour was pleasant and took a full two hours. We were toured through the club house first where we enjoyed a nice buffet breakfast - much better than the rubber eggs we've suffered elsewhere. Next stop was the Lagoon section where we toured Studio, One and Two bedroom units. Fit and finish were very good and layout was really well thought out. The amenities at the lagoon were great - this is a 17 acre man-made salt water lagoon with beach areas, and lots of SUPs and Kayaks available. A very large fresh water pool abuts the lagoon. Next stop was the Ocean Front development. The first building was complete and construction was very active on the rest of the site. We toured a 2BR and an ultra-luxxe 4BR villa. Although well out of our price range, the 4BR was a great insight into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. I'm sure the guy with the yacht in Cabo Marina with the helicopter on board could afford this.
Back to the presentation centre to talk some numbers. The sales part probably took about 90 minutes. They knew we weren't really interested but they have to try. The initial (and really only) offer was for a 1BR in the Lagoon section for $13,500. Usage fees were in the $600 range for years when you book. This was a 100 year life lease, with option to renew lease length on resale and convertible to real estate if deciding on a more permanent presence. Included membership in their travel discount club and exchange privilege in the "keys" system.
All included, we were in and out in about 4 hours - sounds like a lot, but the touring took up the largest part of the time. Funniest thing was the final ploy by the girl who grabbed our valet ticket for the car to get us to a Vida presentation. Ummm, NO!
For the right person, this would probably be a pretty tempting offer. One of the nicest resorts we've seen. Two fully operational golf courses, with a 3rd under development. The price of entry didn't seem out of line with other resorts (we'd never pay that, but lots of people do). You could do much worse! Negatives for us were; we don't golf, we don't want to fly 8 hours each way for regular vacations (Pacific coast is an occasional treat for us), we really don't have that much interest in the ultra luxxe lifestyle they were pushing. Sure we like gold-crown properties, but we also like getting off the beaten path and exploring.
Given the opportunity, I would recommend this tour to the curious with a half-day to burn. The payouts were good, and the pressure was low. I was shocked that DW agreed to attend one as she would generally rather go for a hot iron branding session at the spa, but after this one, we might even do another sometime if the inducements are sufficient.
Not ones to normally attend TS presentations, and we are well aware of the pitfalls (our VOI's were all purchased resale). We had successfully navigated through the hall of vultures and made our way safely to the car rental shuttle. Check in at National Diamond Lane was a breeze and lots of idle chit chat with the rep on the counter. Once the contract was complete we were walked over to the next counter (where another gentleman had been quietly listening in) to get our keys. The usual "next desk" ploy.
The TS rep was very pleasant though, starting off with an offer to tour Quivira next door to our stay at PBSB. The ante got upped a bit to get us to Diamante, but we figured that the offer of cover $350 of our rental SUV (leaving us with only $45 to pay for the week), plus 2 sunset dinner cruises and the ubiquitous bottle of tequila (that turned out to an okay reposado) was worth a bit of our time. The proposal was a 2 hour tour, which was missed by a good margin more on that in minute.
Our first impression was that it is holy far away. We had our own vehicle, so we were following a cab to the resort, and started to have thoughts that we were being led out into the desert to be mugged. Seriously, the property is effectively "next door" to the PBSB/Pacifica/Quivira property, but took about 30 minutes to drive to. That said, access for owners is pretty good as the resort entrance is very close to the far end of the toll highway to SJdC and the airport. For amenities (grocery etc) it would be a bit of a drive to town.
The marketing company running the tours (IronMan) is a Canadian company, and reps all seemed to be Canadian or American. We had a great rep who hailed from Calgary AB. The tour was pleasant and took a full two hours. We were toured through the club house first where we enjoyed a nice buffet breakfast - much better than the rubber eggs we've suffered elsewhere. Next stop was the Lagoon section where we toured Studio, One and Two bedroom units. Fit and finish were very good and layout was really well thought out. The amenities at the lagoon were great - this is a 17 acre man-made salt water lagoon with beach areas, and lots of SUPs and Kayaks available. A very large fresh water pool abuts the lagoon. Next stop was the Ocean Front development. The first building was complete and construction was very active on the rest of the site. We toured a 2BR and an ultra-luxxe 4BR villa. Although well out of our price range, the 4BR was a great insight into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. I'm sure the guy with the yacht in Cabo Marina with the helicopter on board could afford this.
Back to the presentation centre to talk some numbers. The sales part probably took about 90 minutes. They knew we weren't really interested but they have to try. The initial (and really only) offer was for a 1BR in the Lagoon section for $13,500. Usage fees were in the $600 range for years when you book. This was a 100 year life lease, with option to renew lease length on resale and convertible to real estate if deciding on a more permanent presence. Included membership in their travel discount club and exchange privilege in the "keys" system.
All included, we were in and out in about 4 hours - sounds like a lot, but the touring took up the largest part of the time. Funniest thing was the final ploy by the girl who grabbed our valet ticket for the car to get us to a Vida presentation. Ummm, NO!
For the right person, this would probably be a pretty tempting offer. One of the nicest resorts we've seen. Two fully operational golf courses, with a 3rd under development. The price of entry didn't seem out of line with other resorts (we'd never pay that, but lots of people do). You could do much worse! Negatives for us were; we don't golf, we don't want to fly 8 hours each way for regular vacations (Pacific coast is an occasional treat for us), we really don't have that much interest in the ultra luxxe lifestyle they were pushing. Sure we like gold-crown properties, but we also like getting off the beaten path and exploring.
Given the opportunity, I would recommend this tour to the curious with a half-day to burn. The payouts were good, and the pressure was low. I was shocked that DW agreed to attend one as she would generally rather go for a hot iron branding session at the spa, but after this one, we might even do another sometime if the inducements are sufficient.
