[ 2015 ] Westin Nanea on sale now

[DeniseM]

Hey Dave - If I thought you violated the rules, your post would be deleted.

For your consideration: GFY had 2 meanings, and since okwiater is relatively new to participating in this forum and doesn't know you well, he has no way of knowing which meaning you were using.

The "testosterone" comment was aimed at both of you.

Wouldn't jarta have a field day with this thread!

 

[DavidnRobin]

Hey Dave - If I thought you violated the rules, your post would be deleted.

For your consideration: GFY had 2 meanings, and since okwiater is relatively new to participating in this forum and doesn't know you well, he has no way of knowing which meaning you were using.

The "testosterone" comment was aimed at both of you.

Wouldn't jarta have a field day with this thread!

Oh - I see... Sorry I didn't intend it that way - nor did it cross my mind. Apologies. I will delete as that was not intended - the sarcasm was...

As you know - I met jarta (and wife) for drinks at WKORV a few years back, and he was much nicer in person - just challenged in BBS writing.

I was just relaying info and opinion - with good intentions as always...

 

[DavidnRobin]

Re: Prices - Sales doesn't like to give prices since they want people to come in to have chance to convince, justify, and sell. I haven't met anyone who bought Nanea yet - but if I hear anything I will relate. Sales seemed very busy - we can still do Owners Update and get $100 incentive, but likely will not (unless it rains becomes bad).
I wasn't prepare to discuss Nanea - I was looking into buying fix/fix WPORV and see what was available and what they would offer. Not much... and lost the villa I want, but at least I have it for this week.

 

[ThreeLittleBirds]

I'm sure once I graduate, we will eat out more and support the demographic profile of a millennial.

I do know as a family we eat out much more than I did when I was a child. Eating out used to be reserved for special occasions, now it is usually out of laziness. So, going along with Denise's idea, it is a win/win for Starwood to have efficiency kitchens - inconvenient eating in = more eating out and creating that inconvenient kitchen costs less to build.

I'm interested in the voluntary vs. mandatory part. Why would this benefit Starwood? I guess if the only way to get SO's attached to your purchase is to buy from the developer, that makes sense. And I can see this being different for Hawaii vs. other areas. Did this work to Starwood's benefit for WPORV?

(p.s..I'm in total dissertation avoidance mode -- you all feel free to tell me to get back to work at any time instead of contemplating Hawaii TS purchases...lol)

 

[DeniseM]

Building voluntary resorts definitely benefits Starwood:

1) HUGE sales point: You can only get Staroptions and Starpoints by buying from the developer.

2) When the resale market goes in the toilet because it's a voluntary resort (WPORV) they can buy resales for peanuts and resale them for full price.

My prediction: We will never see another new mandatory resort from Starwood.

 

[Mauiwmn]

IMNSHO: Kitchens are expensive - Starwood minimized the kitchens to save construction costs, and to encourage dining out at resort restaurants.

BINGO!!!!

Limited kitchens encourage dining out, especially for large groups.
It would be difficult to prepare dinner for 8 people in the kitchenette of the 3 bedrm unit.

That said, I do think the kitchens in the 1 bedrm premiums at North and South are too big. Too many cabinets and storage space.
A kitchen just a bit smaller at Nanea would have been fine for us.

Having the kitchenette and reduced cabinet space will translate to less cooking utensils and dishes in the unit. We mainly eat breakfast and snacks at the villa but we do eat 2 or 3 dinners on the lanai to catch the sunset during a week's stay. It is quite handy to have mixing bowls to toss a salad and platters, etc. It will be interesting to see the inventory list for the Nanea villas, I imagine it will be sparse just due to space alone.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Building voluntary resorts definitely benefits Starwood:

1) HUGE sales point: You can only get Staroptions and Starpoints by buying from the developer.

2) When the resale market goes in the toilet because it's a voluntary resort (WPORV) they can buy resales for peanuts and resale them for full price.

My prediction: We will never see another new mandatory resort from Starwood.

Sales stated to me that they will no longer build M resorts, and that V resorts are better for both SW and the buyer. Why? couldn't come up a reason other than they work better within SVO system, and that VOIs are not intended to be resold and meant to be passed onto family, or used to upgrade ownership as vacation needs change. seriously...

True - if WKORV/N were V resorts - they would have less resale value - thus cutting profit margin. WPORV Sales told me they are actively using ROFR at HI resorts thus keeping their values higher - when I said this was not true for WPORV - silence... then diversion.

 

[sgtdesi]

Building voluntary resorts definitely benefits Starwood:

My prediction: We will never see another new mandatory resort from Starwood.

Just curious, was there a reason they ever had mandatory resorts?

 

[taterhed]

FWIW: My 20 something daughter loves to cook on vaca.
A small kitchen--not my cup 'o tea.

Besides, the blender and ice and rum takes up so much space!

 

[DeniseM]

Just curious, was there a reason they ever had mandatory resorts?

Trial and error…

 

[sgtdesi]

Trial and error…

Ahh... I did a presentation at Westin Riverfront a couple of years ago and I asked if the resort was a mandatory resort. The sales guys' face actually started twitching and he asked how I new about that in a very confrontational way. I didn't know if there was some other reason for the mandatory resorts that they didn't want people to know about...LOL.

 

[grgs]

Does anyone know what the occupancy limits will be for Nanea? Given the bedding in the floorplans, I'm wondering if it will be:

1 bedroom: 4
2 bedroom: 6
3 bedroom: 8

Or, will the 2 bedroom match WKORV/N and allow an occupancy of 8 (an possibly 10 for athe 3 bedroom). If so, will they have a bunch of rollaways on hand?

 

[Mauiwmn]

StarOptions

Any speculation on SO values for Nanea? I think only one villa size has been reported, 81,000 for 1 bedrm resort view.

Here is my SO guess:

1 bedrm resort-81,000
2 bedrm resort-148,100

2 bedrm OF-176,700
3 bedrm OF-257,700

It seems like a huge jump for the 3 bedrm which is not a LO but I think 196,900 is too low. These values keep Nanea more in line with Coral Vista.

Hopefully, we can get the actual data. They have not even updated the SO chart for the Maui OF bump which was announced 10 days ago.

 

[DeniseM]

Ahh... I did a presentation at Westin Riverfront a couple of years ago and I asked if the resort was a mandatory resort. The sales guys' face actually started twitching and he asked how I new about that in a very confrontational way. I didn't know if there was some other reason for the mandatory resorts that they didn't want people to know about...LOL.

Originally, Starwood acquired the vast majority of their timeshares by buying existing resorts from other developers.

Then they built WKORV N/S - mandatory. Developers do not build timeshares with the resale market in mind. Their whole focus was on developer sales.

Over time, as they saw what happened with the resale market, it became absolutely clear that it was not in their best interest to build any more M resorts, and after WKORV-N/S, they didn't

 

[DavidnRobin]

StarOptions

Any speculation on SO values for Nanea? I think only one villa size has been reported, 81,000 for 1 bedrm resort view.

Here is my SO guess:

1 bedrm resort-81,000
2 bedrm resort-148,100

2 bedrm OF-176,700
3 bedrm OF-257,700

It seems like a huge jump for the 3 bedrm which is not a LO but I think 196,900 is too low. These values keep Nanea more in line with Coral Vista.

Hopefully, we can get the actual data. They have not even updated the SO chart for the Maui OF bump which was announced 10 days ago.

I have these - took photo, but seemed to have lost PhotoBucket which was great for copying photos to TUG.

Here they are: (You are correct...)
3Bd OF - 257.7K HomeResort Options
2Bd OF - 176.7K
2Bd RV - 148.1K
1Bd RV - 81K

Added - as the 2Bd OF is ~$76K - can probably calculate others based on $/HO

 

[Mauiwmn]

I have these - took photo, but seemed to have lost PhotoBucket which was great for copying photos to Tuc.

Here they are:
3Bd OF - 257.7K HomeResort Options
2Bd OF - 176.7K
2Bd RV - 148.1K
1Bd RV - 81K

Great! Good to know.

 

[Criselda]

I am very much a newbie to timeshare and just attended a sales presentation on the Wesin Nanea and purchased a 1 bedroom week. We still have a few days to cancel if its not a good deal and would really appreciate the forums help in making this decision - you folks know your way around this minefield!

Here's what we paid:
1 bedroom resort view $30,780. The total annual costs starting in 2017 will be about $1400 which also includes the annual Starwood/SPG membership fees. For this we have 81,000 SVO points and can every other year convert these to 43,740 SPG points. We received 100,000 SPG points signing bonus and the right to purchase 90,000 SPG points for $1875. We can purchase these additional points 4 times for a total of 360,000 points for $7,500. We also will be Gold status for life as part of the deal.

Unfortunately, it looks like our ownership is "voluntary" so if we sold our interest the ability to transfer points to their SPG program would not transfer to the new owner. Seems like this is a way to protect their retail sales by devaluing the after market sales.

Please help us decide - should we bail or stay?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[DavidnRobin]

Does anyone know what the occupancy limits will be for Nanea? Given the bedding in the floorplans, I'm wondering if it will be:

1 bedroom: 4
2 bedroom: 6
3 bedroom: 8

Or, will the 2 bedroom match WKORV/N and allow an occupancy of 8 (an possibly 10 for athe 3 bedroom). If so, will they have a bunch of rollaways on hand?

Hi Glorian - the occupancy for 1Bd is 4 based on photo of 1Bd layout I have. Their iPad layouts for the 2- and 3- Bd were incorrect (still showed 1Bd). I would assume the 2Bd will be 6 and 8 for 3Bd (2/Bd plus 2 for pullout).

 

[DeniseM]

I will give Starwood credit for one thing at WKORV-NN. They have finally learned their lesson about view designations.

WKORV-N: Designated some crappy views as Ocean Front.

WPORV: Designate Oceanfront views as Island View and lumped them in with all the rest of them.

These are 2 of Starwood's more spectacular failures.

 

[DeniseM]

Please help us decide - should we bail or stay?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

You should absolutely bail - WHILE YOU STILL CAN!

This SAME offer will be available next week, next month, and next year. So, after doing your research, if you decide you want it after all, you can absolutely still buy it later.

But if you don't rescind NOW - you will never have another opportunity to get out for free.

You will be paying big bucks, and interest, for an ownership which you could only re-sale for 10% of what you paid for it - maybe.

You should rescind, and then explore the resale market, take your time, with no pressure, and make an informed decision.

We can help with that!

REALLY IMPORTANT POINT: DON'T GO BACK TO THE SALES OFFICE, OR CALL THEM, OR TALK TO THEM - PERIOD!!!!

You should follow the instructions in your purchase documents exactly, to rescind in writing, by mail.

The sales office will NOT HELP YOU. They will go into over-drive to protect their commission, and talk you out of it. They will say whatever it takes, to bring you back in the fold.

 

[Mauiwmn]

Am I missing something on the floor plans? It seems very pricey to charge 257,700 SO for the Nanea 3 bedrm OF when all it adds is a 3rd bedrm and a larger balcony. That's all you get for 81,000 SO. No 3rd bathroom, no larger table or living space.

Starwood is most likely charging nearly 46% more for the 3 bedrm OF vs the 2 bedrm OF if it is sold by price of home flex option. That would make the 3 bedroom OF around $110,800.

And that price is the reason they have kept WKORV-N prices up via ROFR, IMHO. They can position the Nanea 3 bedrm OF as a better value vs the South -2 Bedrm LO OF selling at $110,000-$124,000. And doesn't the North 2 bedroom LO-OF sell for around $78,000 by Starwood? This is very close in price to the Nanea 2 bedrm OF at $76,000.

I think the Nanea 1 bedrm RV is a better value at 81,000 for what you get space wise in that phase. They were very strategic not to offer any 1 bedrm OF villas IMHO.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Remember - pre-construction layouts can change (they state this is their disclaimers) - and usually not for the better. (IMO)

 

[Mauiwmn]

MF's

And here is the real kicker IMHO:

MF's. If MF's are options based and the MF for 81,000 SO is $1250
(subtracted SVO fee/rounded), these are probable MF's at Nanea.

Approx MF, no SVN fees.

1 Bedrm RV-$1,250
2 Bedrm RV-$2,220
2 Bedrm OF-$2,650
3 Bedrm OF-$3,975-WOW***

 

[YYJMSP]

We (Robin) can live with it - but counter space and sink is lacking (IMO IMO IMO... To make sure people reading this knows this is IMO... )

We agree with you on the counter space issue, after our WSJ-CV experience last month. We don't cook, but there wasn't even enough space to make coffee and snacks at the same time, or even have somewhere to put something down as you took it out of the fridge...

 

[YYJMSP]

Ahh... I did a presentation at Westin Riverfront a couple of years ago and I asked if the resort was a mandatory resort. The sales guys' face actually started twitching and he asked how I new about that in a very confrontational way. I didn't know if there was some other reason for the mandatory resorts that they didn't want people to know about...LOL.

If you know the terms mandatory and voluntary, you're probably on TUG, and are therefore not going to buy anything from the developer, which starts the salesperson meltdown...