[ 2013 ] Lagunamar Purchase - Sanity Check

[tomandrobin]

For ST John and Harborside, we own gold weeks since we prefer and want to travel there during the summer.

 

[PamMo]

Tomandrobin, I was sorely tempted by this! http://www.ebay.com/itm/390657748286?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 This was the second week offered by the seller - they had week 19, too.

 

[tomandrobin]

Tomandrobin, I was sorely tempted by this! http://www.ebay.com/itm/390657748286?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 This was the second week offered by the seller - they had week 19, too.

Geez....$100 for a 2-bedroom.

I saw Bay Vista listed earlier today.

Would be perfect for a upgrade....

 

[channimal]

Geez....$100 for a 2-bedroom.
..........

yeah, but this: Estimated Maintenance fee: $3,140.00

 

[tomandrobin]

yeah, but this: Estimated Maintenance fee: $3,140.00

2-Bd Premium: $2886.97 for 2013.

 

[dioxide45]

yeah, but this: Estimated Maintenance fee: $3,140.00

2-Bd Premium: $2886.97 for 2013.

Don't think I want to pick one of those up to get in to Lagunamar

 

[Quadmaniac]

Have you considered the bottom line dollar of the whole trip to Cancun ? With how cheap flight and resort packages are, even at the 5 star resorts, does it even make sense to trade into Cancun ? I'm sure its even cheaper in the US, but in Canada, we get all inclusive for $800-1200 depending on the time of year. Separately flight alone is sometimes $600-700. Adding up the costs, I'm not sure too many are further ahead buying flights separately, booking a timeshare vs going all inclusive 5* ?

 

[dioxide45]

Have you considered the bottom line dollar of the whole trip to Cancun ? With how cheap flight and resort packages are, even at the 5 star resorts, does it even make sense to trade into Cancun ? I'm sure its even cheaper in the US, but in Canada, we get all inclusive for $800-1200 depending on the time of year. Separately flight alone is sometimes $600-700. Adding up the costs, I'm not sure too many are further ahead buying flights separately, booking a timeshare vs going all inclusive 5* ?

Are those all inclusive prices you mention per person based on double occupancy and include air? They could also be for a 4 or 5 night trip instead of 7. Either way, we wouldn't go AI in Cancun. We are not big drinkers and there are a tonne of great restaurants in Cancun. Being tied down to three or four options at an AI resort just isn't for us.

 

[SMHarman]

Have you considered the bottom line dollar of the whole trip to Cancun ? With how cheap flight and resort packages are, even at the 5 star resorts, does it even make sense to trade into Cancun ? I'm sure its even cheaper in the US, but in Canada, we get all inclusive for $800-1200 depending on the time of year. Separately flight alone is sometimes $600-700. Adding up the costs, I'm not sure too many are further ahead buying flights separately, booking a timeshare vs going all inclusive 5* ?

The UK and Canadian markets both do the 'package' far more than the US.
Those flights are often cheap as it is a chartered plane (esp out of the UK).
I think the more sprawling population of the US makes running charter airlines not work as well as the dozen or so departure points you can operate from in Canada or the UK.
The problem I find with AI is often it is 'kinda AI'. The alcohol is $3 bottles of 'well' liquor, the food is buffet food and dining hall dining. As a result I go buy my own better bottle of Rum to add to their mixers, or decide their mixers are so bad I am buying fresh pineapple and cream of coconut and getting the blender out.
Similarly 7 nights stir crazy on the same dining hall food I'm looking for something different. There are some great restaurants in Cancun.

 

[margolism]

Are those all inclusive prices you mention per person based on double occupancy and include air? They could also be for a 4 or 5 night trip instead of 7. Either way, we wouldn't go AI in Cancun. We are not big drinkers and there are a tonne of great restaurants in Cancun. Being tied down to three or four options at an AI resort just isn't for us.

The AI packages I have seen (even those with air) for a stay of seven nights (or more) never came out cost effective. If you want to only go for four nights, for two people, then in some instances it does. With three or more people, for a week stay, or for holiday weeks, forget it.

BTW, if you want some additional "off the beaten path" restaurant recos in Cancun, from a foodie's perspective, let me know.

 

[heathpack]

The AI packages I have seen (even those with air) for a stay of seven nights (or more) never came out cost effective. If you want to only go for four nights, for two people, then in some instances it does. With three or more people, for a week stay, or for holiday weeks, forget it.

BTW, if you want some additional "off the beaten path" restaurant recos in Cancun, from a foodie's perspective, let me know.

Totally off topic but we should start a foodie thread! The first question I have whenever we book a trip is "where are we going to eat?"

H

 

[channimal]

Totally off topic but we should start a foodie thread! The first question I have whenever we book a trip is "where are we going to eat?"

H

Absolutely agree, but maybe as a sticky in the respective regional forum, independent of ts system?

 

[SMHarman]

Totally off topic but we should start a foodie thread! The first question I have whenever we book a trip is "where are we going to eat?"

H

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=186217&highlight=cancun+dining

 

[Quadmaniac]

Are those all inclusive prices you mention per person based on double occupancy and include air? They could also be for a 4 or 5 night trip instead of 7. Either way, we wouldn't go AI in Cancun. We are not big drinkers and there are a tonne of great restaurants in Cancun. Being tied down to three or four options at an AI resort just isn't for us.

No these are for 7 day trips per person. For us here, if we are paying $700 for a flight and AI is $1200. For two, the flights would be $1400 plus $700 for timeshare equals $2100. AI for two is $2400. I am not a drinker either, but for the difference in price and what I am going to spend on food anyways, it does not make much sense. It does not prevent me from eating out elsewhere a few times, but I am not saving much doing it separately.

Maybe flights are cheaper from the US, I don't know, but I know it is hard to beat the packages. I went to Mexico independently twice and after what I paid for accommodations and flights, I would have been better off buying a package than doing it all separately.

I haven't tried AI in Mexico, I know I did not like it in Jamaica as it was supposed to be 4.5* but really 3* and the food was pretty bad to be honest. From what others have said if you go 5* it is supposed to be pretty good.

 

[dioxide45]

Resurrecting an old thread!

Okay, I am resurrecting this old thread. I skimmed through it again. I am kind of glad that we didn't pull the trigger any buy anything back in 2013. It seems that if we had bought a non mandatory property other than WLR back then, we might not be able to easily get what we wanted. II deposits seem to have really slowed down for Starwood.

We are again perusing Ebay and some other sources for a potential week to pick up. A 1BR EOY week was recently offered up in the Bargain Basement that I unfortunately missed until it was too late. Though after looking at completed Ebay auctions, it doesn't look like Lagunamar Gold Plus weeks sell for very much. A 2BR annual ended with zero bids, though it has some hefty closing costs and with 2016 MFs of close to $1600 due soon. So I suspect that had a lot to do with it when there are a lot of auctions where the seller is paying closing.

The one new question I have in our new search is WLR vs mandatory. As I previously indicated, the only other property we would be at all interested in visiting would be the Westin St John. In my reading about St John, it seems like it is also a very hard exchange through SVN? Is that true?

We would probably visit Cancun two our of every 6 years (two out of three use periods). Buying Lagunamar probably makes the most sense with this in mind. If we had a 2BR we would probably either take friends or family along with us or if no one was going we would book two weeks in a row. If we go the WLR route, I have concluded that we probably want an an EOY 2BR or 1BR Gold Plus week and Though if we bought WLR, we would probably end up going to WLR every use period because exchanging through II isn't going to give us many more options that our Marriott's offer. Plus, we wouldn't want to have to pay the additional membership and exchange fees. We wouldn't be buying WLR as an exchanger.

However, if St John is a possibility with StarOptions, I would be more inclined to give a mandatory property a much closer look. Perhaps it would be worth the little extra money to buy mandatory. So what does availability look like these days using StarOptions in St John?

 

[DeniseM]

Personally, at this juncture, I would not buy anything, because there is no way to know how the acquisition of Starwood by II is going to impact availability. I'd hold off until we know more about how Interval will manage the Starwood properties.

 

[DavidnRobin]

How many are you traveling with?

 

[dioxide45]

How many are you traveling with?

In most cases it would be either two or four adults. If two adults, we would lock off and stay two weeks. If four, then we would book the whole 2BR unit.

 

[dioxide45]

Personally, at this juncture, I would not buy anything, because there is no way to know how the acquisition of Starwood by II is going to impact availability. I'd hold off until we know more about how Interval will manage the Starwood properties.

You're just too logical Denise, what fun is there in that? It could be two or more years before we have any idea how the II/VSE merger will mean for II invetory. I want instant gratification!

Of course, I have waited two years already. Though, even if Starwood inventory does come back to II I was thinking that buying at Lagunamar would give me a sure thing since they really can't take away what I physically own. The next best thing would be to buy mandatory, but Starwood can of course change that game any time they wish.

 

[Henry M.]

Only the Virgin Grand section of St. John is mandatory. The rest are like WLR. In the mandatory section you buy a fixed week and a fixed unit. There are no lock-offs. It is theoretically possible to float within your season, but practically, it is difficult to move your stay. Be sure you can commit to go a specific week if you buy there. Some people love the fixed week concept. It doesn't work for me. I need the flexibility to move my travel dates. I also really like the lock-off concept. It greatly adds flexibility to my plans. Too bad it is not offered in St. John.

 

[dioxide45]

Only the Virgin Grand section of St. John is mandatory. The rest are like WLR. In the mandatory section you buy a fixed week and a fixed unit. There are no lock-offs. It is theoretically possible to float within your season, but practically, it is difficult to move your stay. Be sure you can commit to go a specific week if you buy there. Some people love the fixed week concept. It doesn't work for me. I need the flexibility to move my travel dates. I also really like the lock-off concept. It greatly adds flexibility to my plans. Too bad it is not offered in St. John.

Thanks for the information. I wasn't necessarily looking to buy mandatory in St John. I was looking to possibly buy mandatory outside of St John and use the StarOptions to secure St John. So my question was, how hard is it to book St John using StarOptions eight months out? We don't travel high season, but certainly don't want to travel in peak hurricane season either. We usually tend to travel in April/May or late fall (mid Oct though early Dec).

I like the idea of just owning at Lagunamar, but if we bought non mandatory there, we would be tied to Lagunamar every use period. Not a bad thing, but would like other options if the need ever arises and ST John is the first place that would be our my list.

 

[Henry M.]

I don't know how difficult it is to exchange in anymore. I exchanged in a few years ago, and then actually purchased there at Bay Vista. I like it a lot on St. John. It seems like the expansion of the resort and the availability of floating weeks in the new sections should make it easier to trade in, but it is not guaranteed.

I've always bought where I would want to go, so don't trade very much. I also don't worry too much about the upcoming changes. I'm pretty confident the locations I own will continue to be well kept, regardless of any splits or changes in management, and I will want to be visiting them for years to come. I would prefer mandatory properties too (though I did buy Bay Vista due to the floating weeks and nicer finish).

 

[okwiater]

Thanks for the information. I wasn't necessarily looking to buy mandatory in St John. I was looking to possibly buy mandatory outside of St John and use the StarOptions to secure St John. So my question was, how hard is it to book St John using StarOptions eight months out? We don't travel high season, but certainly don't want to travel in peak hurricane season either. We usually tend to travel in April/May or late fall (mid Oct though early Dec).

I like the idea of just owning at Lagunamar, but if we bought non mandatory there, we would be tied to Lagunamar every use period. Not a bad thing, but would like other options if the need ever arises and ST John is the first place that would be our my list.

Lagunamar (WLR) is a much easier trade than St. John (WSJ) at all times of the year. WSJ has been easier lately and will likely remain that way for a few years while the remaining hotel rooms are converted to [unsold] timeshare inventory. However, I expect that it will become more difficult.

The advantage to buying at WLR is that it appears to be your primary destination. You can almost never go wrong buying where you want to go, since everything else (II, SVN, etc.) can feasibly be taken away at some point in the future. In addition, it is a lockoff, so you can potentially trade 1 week for 2 weeks in II, although the value of doing so is diminished as compared to the 2011 timeframe.

The advantage to buying a mandatory property is of course access to the SVN. You would need to decide if it's important to you to be able to access other resorts within the network. If so, you can buy SVV, WKV, or WSJ-VGV.

Most of the folks here would tell you to buy either SVV or WKV by deciding between lower up-front purchase price and higher MFs (SVV Bella or Key West phases) and higher up-front purchase price and lower MFs (WKV Platinum Plus season). In your case, unless you are married to the idea of being able to split a lockoff to trade each side in II, I think purchasing WSJ Virgin Grand could be the best choice. Reason being, it guarantees you access to the resort no matter what happens with SVN availability, and also gives you a boatload of StarOptions for being able to trade into WLR. In fact, a WSJ Pool Villa in April (one of your preferred travel months) will yield 257,700 StarOptions which is easily enough to book 11 days at WLR in a 2-bedroom lockoff.

Anyway, food for thought...

Editing for full disclosure: I own at all of the resorts mentioned -- WLR, WKV, WSJ, and SVV -- so I am speaking from experience.

 

[SandyPGravel]

So my question was, how hard is it to book St John using StarOptions eight months out? We don't travel high season, but certainly don't want to travel in peak hurricane season either. We usually tend to travel in April/May or late fall (mid Oct though early Dec).

.

I have been able to book St. John in Oct & Nov, but had to do it exactly 8 months out. (Lots of businesses closed still in October though.) We fell in love with St. John and bought resale. Now we can go every year, in the dead of winter!!

 

[margolism]

There always seems to be availability during the Gold Plus weeks, either directly through Starwood, or as rentals on Redweek.com. They don't command super high prices since there is so much inventory during those weeks.

I personally wouldn't purchase a WLR Gold Plus week.

(I own a WLR PP resale week which we are extracting tremendous value from.)