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[2012] Westin Lagunamar

dioxide45

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Lifetime Member
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Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
We are Marriott owners looking to stay at the Westin Lagunamar for a week in May 2013. We have never traded outside of the Marriott system yet but there area alas no Marriott's in Cancun. The Westin Lagunamar looks fabulous and from searching through the forum it looks like Starwood owners that have been there love the resort.

We were to Cancun in April of 2011 but stayed at the JW Marriott hotel. Our only issue with that property was it's proximity to most of the many restaurants and shopping in Cancun. It was a hike to the entrance of the property to the bus stop and then a harrowing trip on the Cancun public "bus racing league" to many of the restaurants and shops we went to. It looks like the Lagunamar is closer to places we visited on our last visit, so that is a plus.

Looking at the Sightings forum, it looks like we probably missed the May 2013 bulks as those look like they happened back in April. This pattern is a little different than we are used to with Marriott who tends to bulk in the 12 month window and up through very close to checkin. There are still studio units available but no 1BRs. The studios look great and we would be happy to be in one of those for a week. Is there any other bulk we should watch out for? We probably wouldn't want to wait too long though to book something.

Anything else we should know about this resort? I have done some searching on this board and found some great threads on restaurants and such and definitely have much more reading to do.
 
There have been several getaways available in II recently.
I booked one for my son last week, as it was cheaper than using one of my weeks, trading in!

Very nice resort, with La Isla mall directly across the street.
 
Starwood seems to consistently bulk WLR, and they continue to do mini bulks as well. I think that if you place an ongoing request you could snag a 1 br, im sure they will bank more.

You could also reserve the studio now to secure your dates, and look for a 1br to upgrade to for the price of another exchange fee.

I was at Lagunamar May 2011 for the week of Mother's day, I booked it a few months in advance via XYZ. I know if you go you'll have a wonderful time, beautiful resort in a convenient location.
 
Thank you both for your responses.

svwoude said:
There have been several getaways available in II recently.
I booked one for my son last week, as it was cheaper than using one of my weeks, trading in!

Very nice resort, with La Isla mall directly across the street.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I checked Getaways and there were not any out there at the moment.

siesta said:
Starwood seems to consistently bulk WLR, and they continue to do mini bulks as well. I think that if you place an ongoing request you could snag a 1 br, im sure they will bank more.

You could also reserve the studio now to secure your dates, and look for a 1br to upgrade to for the price of another exchange fee.

I was at Lagunamar May 2011 for the week of Mother's day, I booked it a few months in advance via XYZ. I know if you go you'll have a wonderful time, beautiful resort in a convenient location.
Click to expand...

From reading the information posted in the Sightings forum related to XYZs, WLR is no longer a resort that you can use XYZs for. We are also traveling over Memorial Week, so that to may cause an exclusion for the XYZ. We also didn't want to have to wait until 5 months out to book it.

Unfortunately I am using an existing exchange to reexchange in to the resort, so another reexchange isn't an option. The studios look so well appointed we probably wouldn't bother anyway. We are also using a stuio week to offer up, so we would only be able to get a studio in exchange if we did a request. The only downside is the queen size bed when we are used to a king.
 
Westin Lagunamar 2 br May 2013

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dioxide45 said:
Thanks, but we have already exchanged in to WLR, so we are no longer in need of a week there.
Click to expand...

Were you able to get anything bigger than a studio?
 
Ron98GT said:
Were you able to get anything bigger than a studio?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately no, at the time of our trade there were only studios available. At least outside of preference. There is now a 2BR unit available, but since we did a reexchange we can't reexchange again. Of course we also used a studio to reexchange in to it and doing a trade test, it looks like we would have needed a 1BR at a minimum in order to trade for that 2BR.

We will be fine with the studio unit though. Our last stay in Cancun was in a hotel room at the JW Marriott. So this will seem like an upgrade to us.
 
The Studio is the smaller side of the 2 bedroom lock off .It's small but very nicely appointed .The units are similar to Marriott lockoffs .The property is great and the location is exceptional. Just about every room has a good veiw. Plenty of places to shop and eat in walking distance.Enjoy
Pics
 
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Going with another couple next month. Anyone have an opinion about the advisability of renting a car for the week?
 
We never rent a car in Mexico. We walk or take shuttles or taxis.

I am a fraidycat when it comes to foreign jails.

elaine
 
stevens, we never rent a car in Mexico. It is really easy and cheap to use the bus system. Taxis are very economical too. I'm not sure where you're thinking about going, but for getting around the hotel zone, or heading into downtown, you really don't need the expense of renting a car.
 
I traded for a 2 bedroom recently for July. I know that's not the busy season but it is a school holiday. They had all of the summer weeks available which was what I was looking for. This trade was with my worldmark so I'm sure I'm paying less than maintenance fees.

Joan:D
 
glypnirsgirl said:
We never rent a car in Mexico. We walk or take shuttles or taxis.

I am a fraidycat when it comes to foreign jails.

elaine
Click to expand...

Elaine, are you afraid that you will get into an accident in your rental car and be thrown in jail? I'm perplexed how the two are related.
 
glypnirsgirl said:
We never rent a car in Mexico. We walk or take shuttles or taxis.

I am a fraidycat when it comes to foreign jails.

elaine
Click to expand...

The advantage of Mexico is that you don't have to go to jail unless you kill someone. In the US, it is much more difficult to bribe law enforcement. In Mexico, you just pay the nice officer $10-50 (depending on what you did wrong and how good your Spanish is) and then you are on your way! :hysterical:
 
Okay - let's get serious again. Anyone know anything about good golf in the area?
 
Well, we're here now. Traded the small half of our Mission Hills for a 2 BR here thru II since our WMH was a resale. Place is gorgeous. We are in building 11, 4th floor right in the middle. Our view is over the smaller pool straight out to the Carribean - outstanding. Staff could not be more helpful.

Played golf yesterday at Riviera - the Jack Nickalus course, and it was outstanding. Very windy and challenging - and I guess this is really low season since the place was truly empty. Playing again there tomorrow and at the Greg Norman course on Tuesday. Westin has a special deal on Tuesday mornings - take a bunch of people and it only costs $100. At Riviera,it was $165 but that included RT transfers in a van that they sent for us.

Funny, going to Mexico seemed like a big deal but the flight was no longer than our annual flight to Scottsdale and Kierland and a lot shorter than the trip to Mission Hills.

Not sure I would have ever wanted to own here but a really lovely vacation.
 
stevens397 said:
Well, we're here now. Traded the small half of our Mission Hills for a 2 BR here thru II since our WMH was a resale. Place is gorgeous. We are in building 11, 4th floor right in the middle. Our view is over the smaller pool straight out to the Carribean - outstanding. Staff could not be more helpful.

Played golf yesterday at Riviera - the Jack Nickalus course, and it was outstanding. Very windy and challenging - and I guess this is really low season since the place was truly empty. Playing again there tomorrow and at the Greg Norman course on Tuesday. Westin has a special deal on Tuesday mornings - take a bunch of people and it only costs $100. At Riviera,it was $165 but that included RT transfers in a van that they sent for us.

Funny, going to Mexico seemed like a big deal but the flight was no longer than our annual flight to Scottsdale and Kierland and a lot shorter than the trip to Mission Hills.

Not sure I would have ever wanted to own here but a really lovely vacation.
Click to expand...

That's a good thing to know, since we'll be going there in the fall.

October is hurricane and tropical storm, so hopefully no problems there.

What's the temperature like? How's the humidity?

Being from Las Vegas, when we go to the Caribbean in May and September with with 90 degree temps and 90% humidity - it's a killer.
 
80's during the day and 70's at night. Constant, Aruba-style breeze so it is pretty comfortable.
 
If anybody is interested, I see a number of 2-BRs available in September, 2013. I'm seeing them with a Marriott, which is what Dioxide has.
 
siesta said:
Starwood seems to consistently bulk WLR, and they continue to do mini bulks as well. I think that if you place an ongoing request you could snag a 1 br, im sure they will bank more.

You could also reserve the studio now to secure your dates, and look for a 1br to upgrade to for the price of another exchange fee.

I was at Lagunamar May 2011 for the week of Mother's day, I booked it a few months in advance via XYZ. I know if you go you'll have a wonderful time, beautiful resort in a convenient location.
Click to expand...
Went to the sales presentation there last week. Buildings 1-9 are on sale and apparently buildings 10-14 are not yet up for sale so that means *Wood have 250+ rooms a week that are not even available to buy to owners. No idea of the % sold in buildings 1-9 either.

With all that open inventory they will be pushing these empty rooms anywhere they can!
 
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