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[2008] happy starwood posts

djp

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While there is no doubt that starwood is not perfect by any means, and there is plenty i would like to see changed or added...it does seem like on these boards we do dwell alot on the negatives of starwood......and those posts are certainly helpful.
so I thought that with so much negative happening in washington and on wall street constantly reported on the news the last few weeks, we might do well to think some happy starwood thoughts....so I thought I would begin a thread where we can post those things about starwood timesharing that we actually like......I like starwood because......
-prior to starwood we rarely vacationed.....now we feel forced to.....in a good way......so now we plan for it
-prior to starwood we would cram our family into a hotel room if we did vacation....the two bedroom condo definitely makes the whole experience better
-I have never been to a starwood resort that was not pleasant....SVV, SMV, WKORV
-i have had success renting for far more than maintenance fees
-I have used starpoints mostly from purchase got me 2 first class tix to hawaii and 4 coach and about 15 cat 4-5 hotel nights

Basically, while my first purchase was developer and overpriced, and while i would definitely change a few things.....i still consider my venturing into the world of starwood timeshares one of the better moves i have ever made.
 

Ken555

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The SVN resorts are GREAT! It's SVN Management we have problems with now...
 

Scott & Laura

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Happy Starwood.

We never took vacations.

We stayed at the Hotel on Kannapalli and during idle conversation with the concierge discovered the Westin Timeshares at WKORV.

Theconcierge set it up for us to look and we purchased (from the developer - yes we had not discovered Tug) two weeks OV 2-bd lockouts for about $42,000 a week.

We discovered later that WKORV-N so we bought two more weeks their.
They were about $42,000 each.


We now are taking so many vacations everybody asks were are you going next.

Also at WKORV-N and we swapped to Kauia the gracious hotel staff gave us upgraded rooms.

We have now been to, Orlando, Kierland, Scottsdale Sheraton (The rooms are really nice and its quieter) Westin Villas Kauia, WKORV,WKORV-N and to WSJ,

Also we have stayed at numerpous Westin and Sheraton hotels on short notice ll over the country.

Including the Sheraton NY that Bill Clinton;s Global Initiative was underway. They gave us a suite.
That was a media and secret service frenzy. A whole other story.


Scott & Laura
 

clsmit

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Happy Starwood

(I've mentioned this elsewhere, but it is a Happy Starwood story).

We bought WKV from the developer. Had we not bought we never would have started timesharing and would be stuck with 4 of us in a hotel room. That gets really crowded when the DD and DS each want their own bed.

We reserved 4th of July 08 at WKV. When we were using the other half of our options last March at SBP, SVO called us to tell us WKV wouldn't be done in time and offered us anywhere else we wanted to go. Originally they said Maui and Haborside were out, but we ended up being able to get either one. SVO gave us (for free, no options needed) a 1BR premium at Harborside for August 08, and paid the fees to change our frequent flyer tickets from Cancun to the Bahamas.

So we got a free week at a great place and are using the options we didn't need for Cancun to go to SVR for Thanksgiving.

And in the year since buying our first property the DH has bought a few more (see my info on the left!), we've done a successful II trade (the Dsister is sooo excited about using it), and we're so sold on staying in bigger places (and I know more about what I'm doing) that we rented from vrbo.com a flat for a week in London for New Years!
 

mitchandjeanette

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Happy Starwood

Leaving the kids behind and heading to Cancun on the 17th :wave: with zero guilt and or grief from them... why??? because we are taking them to Maui in April '09... :banana: :banana:
Thanks Starwood
 

jabak5

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WKORVN OF (Maui) 2bd (even year)
WLR (Cancun) 2bd (odd year)
WKR (Scottsdale) 1bd Premium X 2 (both even)
Westin Flex annual
And that’s it, no more. Definitely done!
We also recently had a very good experience with SVO. We are a family of 7 who originally had a reservation for Lagunamar the first week of August. We sadly were notified that the resort would not be open for our reservation. After a couple of weeks of work on SVO's part they were able to secure 3 one bedroom units at Harborside for us. Although we wanted a 2 bed LO none were available so they gave us 3-1bedrooms with kitchettes. This did make cooking dinners difficult so we did go out each night and that got expensive. However, SVO paid the difference in airfares and all the change charges. We were actually left with some staroptions because of the difference in value. SVO then added a few more options as compensation. As we are EOY WKOR-N we transfer these options to II so we could use in 2009 and tried to secure a 1 bedroom at WKOR-N. Our exchange went extremely smoothly and we secured not a 1 but a full 2 bedroom LO in Feb.
Needless to say we are extremely happy with the outcome. We did purchase through the developer and I am very please with the way SVO turned a very upseeting situation into a very pleasing one. This is our only timeshare and we are very happy to have it. We also own a vacation home at Lake Tahoe, so 1 timeshare is enough for a change of pace.
 
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DeniseM

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We were actually left with some staroptions because of the difference in value, SVO then added a few more options as compensation. As we are EOY owners we transfer these options to II so we could use in 2009
Welcome to TUG and I'm glad you were happy with the outcome of your canceled reservation. Can you please explain how you transferred your Staroptions to II?
 

jabak5

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WKORVN OF (Maui) 2bd (even year)
WLR (Cancun) 2bd (odd year)
WKR (Scottsdale) 1bd Premium X 2 (both even)
Westin Flex annual
And that’s it, no more. Definitely done!
Welcome to TUG and I'm glad you were happy with the outcome of your canceled reservation. Can you please explain how you transferred your Staroptions to II?

I quess I made a poor choice of words. we actually did a trade through II. SVO helped.
 

tomandrobin

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TWO days now!

You'll love Maui. Money back guaranteed.

Do you know what is terrible?

I have been so excited about the trip that I can't even sleep at night. I feel like I am 6 years old and its Christmes Eve. I want to sneak downstairs so bad, but I can't and have to wait until morning!
 

pointsjunkie

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we were staying at the comfort suites in paradise island, we had three rooms.a toilet and a bed. paying a fortune,but having a great time at the atlantis.
walked through the lobby and saw a miniature version of the hra. we questioned what it was. bought sight unseen and it changed our lives for the better.


have 3 kids so the 2 br l/o would not be split equally so we bought another in svv. now had 3. went to wkv and they explained 3* benefits bought another .and then found TUG.

the vacations we now go on are incredible and sooo frequent. staying around the house and just hanging around during my DH's vacations are a thing of the past.he gets 5 weeks and we go away for 4.5 of them.

we use starpoints all the time and the freedom we have to go and come as we please is amazing.

my TS salesman gave me a great tip. buy a coach ticket and use your starpoints to upgrade to first class. can i afford first class, i don't think so . but with that little phrase i learned how to maximize my hard earned dollar and get airmiles for everything i purchase. so when we travel now we go first class and for free.

i had 5 first class tickets this year alone. i hardly ever pay for air travel anymore.

so without starwood none of this would be happening for us.

we leave for williamsburg va on saturday with an II trade.


life is good. :cheer:
 

Ågent99

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I'm a mod on a car forum (BMW) and most of the posts there are negative towards the car, the dealers, etc. Most of the posts are about problems and how to fix them. It is just human nature to complain, I guess! ;)

I've got a buddy at work heading to Maui tomorrow and he is just glowing! haha :D

Yeah, we way overpaid for our 2-week LO IV but as I keep saying: no use crying over spilled milk and we'll just enjoy from here on out and this site constantly educates me. We're working on renting out our TS for 2009 so cross your fingers that that goes okay. :)
 

James1975NY

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This is refreshing!!! Great to hear about all of your experiences.

Coming from an ex-Starwood employee, I humbly ask all of you to give praises to any member of the SVO team (especially front line associates) when it is in order.

I will definitely keep watching this thread!!!!
 

grgs

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Coming from an ex-Starwood employee, I humbly ask all of you to give praises to any member of the SVO team (especially front line associates) when it is in order.

I do have to say that the customer service I have received from the front-line employees has consistently been excellent--both on the phone and at resorts. I have always found the staff to be pleasant and helpful.

Glorian
 

Henry M.

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My experience with Starwood has always been great. Of course, I wasn't in the middle of trying to upgrade to 5* Elite when they implemented their changes. I can understand how that would frustrate somebody that had bought a few resales than they would have otherwise. I never saw Elite status as a justification to purchase more weeks - you really should want the weeks for their own sake. I think the level of expectation for some of these transactions was too high and that has lead to disappointments. It would have been nice to give those within one purchase of achieving 5* some advance notice, or at least let the sales staff know so they could contact their preferred guests.

As far as the SVO, every time I've gone to Hawaii and needed a hotel to tie me over, I've gotten a suite (Maui, Hawaii and Oahu), due to the SVO - SPG affiliation. I've never had any issues with making reservations and getting a nice room. I might have had to be flexible moving a week before or after a particular date, but that is to be expected during high demand summer weeks. The people that answer the phones have always been very helpful and have taken care of me. I don't go through any angst trying to call in a minute before the lines open 365 days out. Mostly I reserve withing the home resort period. I don't have a single complaint in the area of making reservations or talking to customer service. I'd like an online reservation system but I don't really want it that bad to give it much thought. The only minor issues I've seen have had to do with housekeeping not quite cleannig up completely after the previous guest, but its been taken care of after a simple phone call.

I stay several weeks at a time in Maui every year and have to come to know many of the staff. I like seeing the same faces year after year. Everyone is usually very friendly and willing to go out of their way to help, especially if the guest is also in a good disposition. I've seen some guests behave terribly and it is amazing how the staff will just accept their behavior and still try to please the jerks.

I've stayed at other timeshares and I still like SVO the best. It has to do with the locations that I want to go to, the level of service that I've gotten from the local staff and the quality of the resorts (I've only been to Westins). I also like Starwood hotels overseas and have even had the pleasure of meeting FlyerTalk's Starwood Lurker in person (he's local to me). I travel a lot for business and I can tell you that the SVO resorts I've been to are among the best of the best in accomodations.

Is Starwood perfect? No. Is is a top tier company as good or better than any other company in its class? Yes.
 

Sea Six

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I bought an SVO resort because I was not happy depending on RCI to get what I want. Now, with SVO I am able to go to the resorts I want, and stay at hotels when I want. Meanwhile, I STILL can't can't get a decent trade thru RCI.
 

philyphan

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Now this is what i am talking about. This totally changes my perspective on reading these posts and hearing about the good things.
 

DeniseM

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1) Since I can't sell my Maui week without taking a huge loss, I'm happy that I can rent it for enough money to cover the maintenance fees of all 6 of my timeshares. (Of course that may change in this economy!)

2) Although I haven't done it yet, I'm happy that I can use my cheap little SDO resale week to exchange into the expensive new resorts using the II, 3-day priority, for a fraction of the cost of a SVN exchange.

3) Although I sure wouldn't do it over again, I'm glad that our WKORV developer purchase opened the door to TUG and timesharing for us and I love being a Mod on TUG!


OK - while we are at it, let's all post what we like about the economy! :D

Then we will all feel a lot better! ;)
 
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philyphan

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Denise, you sure do have a way of turning :) to :mad: . Did you notice all the good stories stopped after your sarcastic post.
 

DeniseM

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Phillyphan - Feel free to post your experiences with Starwood. Good or bad, this is the place to do it.
 
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Grandmama

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Phillyphan - Feel free to post your experiences with Starwood. Good or bad, this is the place to do it.

I thought this particular thread was ONLY about good SVO experiences. Apparently it is just not possible to have a single thread about SVO that is not negative, sarcastic, judgmental, disappointing, depressing, or regretful.

Darn, I was really enjoying this one particular thread for a while. It was a breath of fresh air for a change.
 

DeniseM

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I thought this particular thread was ONLY about good SVO experiences. Apparently it is just not possible to have a single thread about SVO that is not negative, sarcastic, judgmental, disappointing, depressing, or regretful.

Darn, I was really enjoying this one particular thread for a while. It was a breath of fresh air for a change.

Timesharing is kind of like parenting, you can love them and they can drive you crazy at the same time... The 3 things I listed as my favorite things about Starwood were not meant to be sarcastic - those are my favorite things about Starwood ownership. Even though I have fallen off the Starwood "band wagon" we are still making it work for us and I think we have been very successful. Right now we are timesharing with no out of pocket expenses at all and taking great vacations. I'm pretty happy with that or I wouldn't be here!

I have total respect for the opinions of experienced Starwood owners, but when someone who doesn't even own a Starwood timeshare comes here and defends Starwood....it makes me wonder why... :confused:
 
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