[2024] MARRIOTT OWNERS: Important Update to our Guest of Owner Policy from Marriott Vacation Clubs [Related thread in the TUG Vistana forum.]

[dioxide45]

I don't see any reference to date of reservation nor has anyone at an MVC resort ever mentioned it.

The only resort on the MVC side I have seen this is in Maui.

 

[danill]

I don't see any reference to date of reservation nor has anyone at an MVC resort ever mentioned it. The top qualifying factors is using owned weeks. Points reservations are just an exchange whether some want to admit it or not. Personally I think they should be different but they aren't other than the fact that II doesn't transmit the information anymore. Multiple weeks or units are only a factor within that group. There certainly is variability from one resort to another such as some give priority to those who own at that resort even for weeks that they do not own. MGO for examples alternates EOY with a higher floor and middle floor for those using owned weeks.

I've been told the Waiohai prioritization is:

• Creation date of the reservation
• Weeks Owners booking multiple consecutive weeks
• Membership status
• Weeks Owners booking single or concurrent weeks
• Points Owners, based on length of stay

There are lots of reasons to question this (I would think 1 and 2 should be flipped) and I'm not in a position to defend it other than to say this is what I was told by staff at the resort. For what it's worth, I'm an owner at Waiohai but stayed several weeks this January using points on a reservation made 12 or 13 mos in advance and was given a prime location.

I've been given somewhat different lists at other resorts, but don't recall specifics. I've also overheard people complain about their assigned location being inferior to prior years and the explanation / excuse they were given is that they rotate the locations with better views 'to be fair' to all owners.

 

[ljmiii]

I've been told the Waiohai prioritization is:

• Creation date of the reservation
• Weeks Owners booking multiple consecutive weeks
• Membership status
• Weeks Owners booking single or concurrent weeks
• Points Owners, based on length of stay

There are lots of reasons to question this (I would think 1 and 2 should be flipped) and I'm not in a position to defend it other than to say this is what I was told by staff at the resort. For what it's worth, I'm an owner at Waiohai but stayed several weeks this January using points on a reservation made 12 or 13 mos in advance and was given a prime location.

Interesting. This is different than what I was told at Waiohai ten or so years ago when it was...

1) Weeks Owners booking multiple consecutive or concurrent weeks
2) Weeks Owners booking one week
3) Points bookings
4) II Trades
5) Everyone else

....and then within each group ties were broken first by MVC status and then if still tied by reservation date.

 

[Retired2025 aka AlmostRetired]

Unit assignment at all resorts have some pecking order, The top of the pecking order has to be owners. Within this group I would hope they would look at previous placements giving the best availability to this group. Next would be point owners followed by II exchanges. Within II exchanges priority is given to Marriott to Marriott exchanges. The last would be Marriott.Com.

I think anyone that believes replacement users (either renters, family or guests) are treated differently, I hope are mistaken. Moving forward, to make sure, when I fill out the guest form, I will be adding a guest name that keeps my name in place instead of changing the guest name which I have done in the past. For every zig there is a zag.

 

[Dean]

The only resort on the MVC side I have seen this is in Maui.

That doesn't surprise me since they are one of the few that add other factors in as well.

I've been told the Waiohai prioritization is:

• Creation date of the reservation
• Weeks Owners booking multiple consecutive weeks
• Membership status
• Weeks Owners booking single or concurrent weeks
• Points Owners, based on length of stay

There are lots of reasons to question this (I would think 1 and 2 should be flipped) and I'm not in a position to defend it other than to say this is what I was told by staff at the resort. For what it's worth, I'm an owner at Waiohai but stayed several weeks this January using points on a reservation made 12 or 13 mos in advance and was given a prime location.

I've been given somewhat different lists at other resorts, but don't recall specifics. I've also overheard people complain about their assigned location being inferior to prior years and the explanation / excuse they were given is that they rotate the locations with better views 'to be fair' to all owners.

I've seen the official recommendation from MVC to the resorts a few years ago and discussed this issue over time with GM's and room assigners. I am confident that this is not a routine practice and skeptical they even look at it unless they are trying to decide between 2 people at the most. Personally I would prefer more consistency though across all resorts but that would remove some of the issues as it'd boil down to view reserved, weeks owned, multiple vs single units/week, exchanges, direct cash reservations and promo's which was the components of the direction send from MVC to the resorts that I saw. Of course it has been a few years but if there had been any new and specific direction I'm pretty confident this group would have found that out.

 

[Dean]

Let me add that indirectly the date of reservations is a factor simply because multiple units/weeks tend to be reserved earlier than single weeks on average.

 

[peazee17]

[Moved from another thread]

I received an email from MVC on 7/24/24 days ago titled "Important Update to our Guest of Owner Policy," which reads:

"If a guest is utilizing an Owner’s reservation at one of the 90+ resorts and properties in Abound by Marriott Vacations, the Owner must provide the guest’s specific and accurate information no less than 30 days prior to the check-in date."
This will help prevent misuse of the reservation process. It also streamlines the check-in process and villa assignment procedures and will help ensure Owner and guest satisfaction. Guests who have not completed a Guest of Owner form at least 30 days prior to arrival at a resort will not be able to check in.

CAN I CHANGE A GUEST’S NAME AT MARRIOTT.COM?
The only way to add or modify a guest’s name on a reservation is to complete the Guest of Owner form available on your Owner website: marriottvacationclub.com. You may not change a name on a reservation on Marriott.com, the Marriott Bonvoy app, or the Marriott Vacation Club app. You will also not be able to call Owner Services or have it changed by the front desk."

I copied and pasted the above directly from the email. Of note, my husband and I own an MVC property in Hilton Head and Marriott would love nothing more than for us to convert to points. Since we own a specific week, the sales person indicated that Marriott collects the guest info due to Patriot Act requirements, and that Marriott can stop allowing rentals at any time. Right now, it appears that the 30 day requirement is what is being enforced. To me this means that if any owner tries to rent at the last minute, that will no longer be possible. Am I misinterpreting?

Regardless, if you own a MVC property, you should have received the same email. Look forward to any comments.

 

[danill]

Interesting. This is different than what I was told at Waiohai ten or so years ago when it was...

1) Weeks Owners booking multiple consecutive or concurrent weeks
2) Weeks Owners booking one week
3) Points bookings
4) II Trades
5) Everyone else

....and then within each group ties were broken first by MVC status and then if still tied by reservation date.

This seems more logical than the list that was given to me 3 or 4 yrs ago.

The reason I was interested is that I usually convert my weeks at Waiohai to points since I can book for the same point value. Using points, I can depart midweek and also have more flexibility if I need to cancel or shift reservations - but I didn't want to miss out on a great(er) ocean view because I booked with points. I feel we've been given some great locations, but it may be because I always point out in the pre-arrival submission that I'm an owner and have Chairman status. I also try to book extra early and adjust dates as plans become firm.

 

[kiko412]

Interesting. This is different than what I was told at Waiohai ten or so years ago when it was...

1) Weeks Owners booking multiple consecutive or concurrent weeks
2) Weeks Owners booking one week
3) Points bookings
4) II Trades
5) Everyone else

....and then within each group ties were broken first by MVC status and then if still tied by reservation date.

That is exactly what I was told while there also right around the same timeframe.

 

[LeslieDet]

"I learned something new today in response to thinking about the email from MVC regarding adding guest names 30 days or prior to check in and will share what I learned here. We have had guests join us many times in the past, but they have never checked in before us. I learned today that it is important to list the maximum number of guests that a unit holds when you book it if you want to easily add guest names using the online form later. For example, I have a reservation at St. John in November. Our daughter is joining us, but apparently I only said 2 people when searching the availability and booking the unit. So, the online form will only let me add one guest.
I called owner services and was told that the number of people booked as using a unit cannot be changed once it is booked. However, I was told that even though there is only a block to add one guest on the online form, I can submit multiple guest names by resubmitting the “Change arriving guest information” form multiple times up to the occupancy limit. We will see if that really works since the form is to change a guest, not add a guest.
I also confirmed that named account owners, such as a spouse, do not need to be listed as guests since their names are in the MVC database. So, even though the reservation is in my name, my wife could check in without me.
My contingency plan going forward is to always book the unit I want for the maximum number of guests allowed and submit names of family members who might be able to use the reservation at short notice if we are unable to go and do not want to use the insurance or cancel. Also, we have never rented any of our ownership and have no desire to."

I found this on a facebook site
I am not familiar with the site and the poster bases his info on a conversation he had with owner services
I have found that the advice I get from owner services is only as good as the advisor I am talking to so I am not sure that this is accurate but if accurate seems useful
Specically in my case if one of my adult children could not use a unit another could do so without issue as all are listed owners
Can anyone confirm or correct?

Please be aware that this is not entirely accurate information. If this is the post from my FB group, I responded to the comment to advise that the portion which reads "I also confirmed that named account owners, such as a spouse, do not need to be listed as guests since their names are in the MVC database. So, even though the reservation is in my name, my wife could check in without me."

The problem is that while the ownership information is indeed in the MVC database, that data is not accessible to the front desk staff at the various properties. And, while every owner does have the right to occupy any reservation made with that ownership, unless that owner's name is added to the reservation at the time it is made, whether by being actually named, or by the owner using their personal login to book the reservation, that co-owner who shows up for the reservation is not going to be allowed to check in simply because they are an owner. In that scenario, that man's wife could NOT check in unless her name was on the actual reservation. Her name can be placed on that reservation when it is first made, or it can be added by the Guest Form.

[EDITED TO ADD: Note that per a discussion with MVW, technically the wife in that hypothetical, should be able to call CS and have her name added because she is a co-owner, and not a "guest of owner"; however, CS apparently is requiring that the guest form be used. So, if CS gets better training (or direction from corporate) then hopefully a co-owner will be easily added by a simple call.]

 

[dioxide45]

Please be aware that this is not entirely accurate information. If this is the post from my FB group, I responded to the comment to advise that the portion which reads "I also confirmed that named account owners, such as a spouse, do not need to be listed as guests since their names are in the MVC database. So, even though the reservation is in my name, my wife could check in without me."

The problem is that while the ownership information is indeed in the MVC database, that data is not accessible to the front desk staff at the various properties. And, while every owner does have the right to occupy any reservation made with that ownership, unless that owner's name is added to the reservation at the time it is made, whether by being actually named, or by the owner using their personal login to book the reservation, that co-owner who shows up for the reservation is not going to be allowed to check in simply because they are an owner. In that scenario, that man's wife could NOT check in unless her name was on the actual reservation. Her name can be placed on that reservation when it is first made, or it can be added by the Guest Form.

Friends of ours had this problem. Both spouses own the timeshare but a home resort reservation was made in his name. She went to checkin and they wouldn't let her, she had to go to the car to get him. She wasn't happy.

I get around this for my wife and I by taking her ID in with me to checkin. So far no real issues with this for II reservations. Though one time DSV did walk out to the car to confirm my wife was with me. Perhaps II passes both member names to the resort, but I don't think the resorts can see that unless it is in some special notes section.

 

[Dean]

I just dug through my papers but was not able to find what I was looking for regarding unit assignments. However, I did find a lot of other interesting stuff including sales materials from many of the older resorts. One of the most interesting things I found was a listing of projects dated 2001 and projecting through 2005. Listings for Horizons included Cancun, Gatlinburg, Hawaii, Manor Club, Myrtle Beach, Orlando and Pompano Beach. There was a separate listing for Ko Olina. There were quite a number of other places listed I was unfamiliar with including some middle eastern and MX listings.

 

[LeslieDet]

Friends of ours had this problem. Both spouses own the timeshare but a home resort reservation was made in his name. She went to checkin and they wouldn't let her, she had to go to the car to get him. She wasn't happy.

I get around this for my wife and I by taking her ID in with me to checkin. So far no real issues with this for II reservations. Though one time DSV did walk out to the car to confirm my wife was with me. Perhaps II passes both member names to the resort, but I don't think the resorts can see that unless it is in some special notes section.

There is a definite disconnect between what CS is telling folks and how it actually works in the real world. This needs to be addressed by MVW. I've actually been communicating with my contact at MVW and requested an FAQ be published as well as clarification for the CS folks to not simply advise owners that any owner can check in. MVW confirmed directly to me that is not the case. The name must still be on the reservation.

 

[5finny]

Was afraid it was too good to be true


Leslie I don't believe it was your group as I ran across it searching for your group

 

[Marathoner]

I copied and pasted the above directly from the email. Of note, my husband and I own an MVC property in Hilton Head and Marriott would love nothing more than for us to convert to points. Since we own a specific week, the sales person indicated that Marriott collects the guest info due to Patriot Act requirements, and that Marriott can stop allowing rentals at any time.

GIve me a break, this is a complete lie!! Nobody looking to harm the country is taking the time to rent a timeshare in Hilton Head...

This is a small summary of the Patriot Act:

Congress enacted the Patriot Act by overwhelming, bipartisan margins, arming law enforcement with new tools to detect and prevent terrorism. The act's goal was to strengthen national security, particularly in relation to foreign terrorism. It gave law enforcement and intelligence agencies more power to investigate, indict, and bring terrorists to justice, and to search and surveil. The act also increased penalties for terrorism crimes and expanded the list of activities that could be considered terrorism​

 

[dioxide45]

GIve me a break, this is a complete lie!! Nobody looking to harm the country is taking the time to rent a timeshare in Hilton Head...

This is a small summary of the Patriot Act:

Congress enacted the Patriot Act by overwhelming, bipartisan margins, arming law enforcement with new tools to detect and prevent terrorism. The act's goal was to strengthen national security, particularly in relation to foreign terrorism. It gave law enforcement and intelligence agencies more power to investigate, indict, and bring terrorists to justice, and to search and surveil. The act also increased penalties for terrorism crimes and expanded the list of activities that could be considered terrorism​

Or confusion and similarities between the bank secrecy act, patriot act and OFAC. I can certainly see them wanting to block certain persons on SDN (OFAC) from staying at an MVC property. Though I thought OFAC only applied to financial institutions.

 

[Marathoner]

Or confusion and similarities between the bank secrecy act, patriot act and OFAC. I can certainly see them wanting to block certain persons on SDN (OFAC) from staying at an MVC property. Though I thought OFAC only applied to financial institutions.

Come on. Nobody is worried about a terrorist staying at a Marriott timeshare property because of OFAC regulations

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[dioxide45]

Come on. Nobody is worried about a terrorist staying at a Marriott timeshare property because of OFAC regulations

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk

It's more about money laundering than it is about terrorists.

 

[LeslieDet]

I copied and pasted the above directly from the email. Of note, my husband and I own an MVC property in Hilton Head and Marriott would love nothing more than for us to convert to points. Since we own a specific week, the sales person indicated that Marriott collects the guest info due to Patriot Act requirements, and that Marriott can stop allowing rentals at any time. Right now, it appears that the 30 day requirement is what is being enforced. To me this means that if any owner tries to rent at the last minute, that will no longer be possible. Am I misinterpreting?

Just FYI - the information is collected from all occupants, not just those who own deeded weeks. The manager is required to comply with the law. Knowing who is staying in the property is part of the compliance.

And, the Guest of Owner form is not brand new. It was revealed approx 14 months ago and has been in use since then. This communication seems to have been sent out again because in the past few months the back door access to name changes via the BonVoy app was finally closed. So now folks must use the form for their rentals. And, folks can't cheat the system and get ENC for nights rented out. And, under the T&C we all signed when purchasing, commercial activity has always been prohibited. The every now and again rentals have not been an issue, but folks who have acquired timeshares only to turn them into a rental business are definitely a target for these forms. And, I would agree that last minute rentals are going to be impacted. I won't go to the "impossible" level, but definitely very difficult to do.

BTW - it isn't that MVC wants you to "convert" to points. If your deeded week in enrolled, then electing points is your choice. What some of the misleading sales pitches have been about are encouraging deeded week owners to sell back their week and then to replace it with the purchase of MVC Trust Points. If your week is eligible to enroll, that is a positive thing. It isn't a negative. It simply gives you use options and does not take away your ownership to the week.

 

[dioxide45]

Just FYI - the information is collected from all occupants, not just those who own deeded weeks. The manager is required to comply with the law. Knowing who is staying in the property is part of the compliance.

Outside of international properties, I am not aware of any that collect occupant names for everyone staying in the room. At hotels or timeshares.

 

[LeslieDet]

Outside of international properties, I am not aware of any that collect occupant names for everyone staying in the room. At hotels or timeshares.

All I know is that the annual report includes disclosures relating to many different regulation imposed upon the industry. And, the comment I was responding to appeared to conclude that only because they were deeded week owners was information being collected. That is not accurate. Also, the data collection is not "everyone staying in the room"; but it will be the person named on the reservation.

Here is a segment of the wording from the annual MVW report:
"Our marketing and sales activities are closely regulated pursuant to laws and regulations enacted specifically for the vacation ownership and land sales industries, as well as a wide variety of laws and regulations that govern our marketing and sales activities in the jurisdictions in which we carry out such activities. These laws and regulations include the USA PATRIOT Act, Foreign Investment In Real Property Tax Act, the Federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act and fair housing statutes, U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and state “Little FTC Acts” and other laws and regulations governing unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices, including unfair or deceptive trade practices and unfair competition, state attorney general regulations, anti-fraud laws, prize, gift and sweepstakes laws, real estate, title agency or insurance, travel insurance and other licensing or registration laws and regulations, anti-money laundering, consumer information privacy and security, breach notification, information sharing and telemarketing laws, home solicitation sales laws, tour operator laws, lodging certificate and seller of travel laws, securities laws, and other consumer protection laws."

There are other disclosures too. I won't bother to copy and paste them here.

 

[davidvel]

All I know is that the annual report includes disclosures relating to many different regulation imposed upon the industry. And, the comment I was responding to appeared to conclude that only because they were deeded week owners was information being collected. That is not accurate. Also, the data collection is not "everyone staying in the room"; but it will be the person named on the reservation.

Here is a segment of the wording from the annual MVW report:
"Our marketing and sales activities are closely regulated pursuant to laws and regulations enacted specifically for the vacation ownership and land sales industries, as well as a wide variety of laws and regulations that govern our marketing and sales activities in the jurisdictions in which we carry out such activities. These laws and regulations include the USA PATRIOT Act, Foreign Investment In Real Property Tax Act, the Federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act and fair housing statutes, U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and state “Little FTC Acts” and other laws and regulations governing unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices, including unfair or deceptive trade practices and unfair competition, state attorney general regulations, anti-fraud laws, prize, gift and sweepstakes laws, real estate, title agency or insurance, travel insurance and other licensing or registration laws and regulations, anti-money laundering, consumer information privacy and security, breach notification, information sharing and telemarketing laws, home solicitation sales laws, tour operator laws, lodging certificate and seller of travel laws, securities laws, and other consumer protection laws."

There are other disclosures too. I won't bother to copy and paste them here.

This 30 day requirement and the claim it is needed to comply with financial regulations is utter BS. Anyone with a functioning brain recognizes there is no such collection and reporting to federal agencies at any other hotel (including Marriott brands). There is no citation to any particular law or regulation. Yes for an actual purchase they may need to verify the funds are not from barred foreign entities or for regulations related to money laundering. Why does the form have indemnity clauses and other waivers that are not in the governing documents? Because their lawyers charged them tons of money and are laughing all the way to the bank.

If they needed this info for those purposes why is it just starting now, when those laws and regulations have been on the books for years? How does Marriott rent a timeshare room on Marriott.com the day of the rental? How does II rent a timeshare the day of? How does II provide a guest certificate the day of or day before? How are hotels and all these things rented inside 30 days? It is so stupid it is laughable.

People are so gullible they eat up any BS fed to them, and try to prove it was caviar.

 

[John Cerra]

As an owner of a week, I have ownership rights, subject to the HOA rules, where the HOA can legally make rules.

While I fully understand that there is a clear and obvious need to know who is renting the room, the 30 day rule is unjustified. To wit, walk into any Marriott Hotel that has a vacancy, whip out your photo and ID, and viola....you are renting a room. Every HOA Board needs to challenge the management company on this, showing that standard. Any Board and Board member who isn't fighting that particular aspect of this rule is injuring the property rights of the owners, and frankly ought to wonder if the indemnification policy is sufficient to cover this.

Now I'm NOT saying that advance notice should not be provided, rather life changes a lot in the last 30 days before vacations and it is the right of the property owner to have the flexibilty.
We are able to make week usage transactions online, there is no reason that modifications cannot be made online up to the rental. If MVC's computer systems can't handle it, that's their problem.

However, I think this thinking may not hold for people on points usage. The Trust owns the week, you have a right to use, a one week lease essentially. I do not believe the position I took above is necessarily valid for this.

 

[John Cerra]

This 30 day requirement and the claim it is needed to comply with financial regulations is utter BS. Anyone with a functioning brain recognizes there is no such collection and reporting to federal agencies at any other hotel (including Marriott brands). There is no citation to any particular law or regulation. Yes for an actual purchase they may need to verify the funds are not from barred foreign entities or for regulations related to money laundering. Why does the form have indemnity clauses and other waivers that are not in the governing documents? Because their lawyers charged them tons of money and are laughing all the way to the bank.

If they needed this info for those purposes why is it just starting now, when those laws and regulations have been on the books for years? How does Marriott rent a timeshare room on Marriott.com the day of the rental? How does II rent a timeshare the day of? How does II provide a guest certificate the day of or day before? How are hotels and all these things rented inside 30 days? It is so stupid it is laughable.

People are so gullible they eat up any BS fed to them, and try to prove it was caviar.

See my post below yours. The logical conclusion to take would be that you cannot rent a room anywhere in the world from Marriott without a 30 day notice. That would put them...out of business.

 

[dioxide45]

As an owner of a week, I have ownership rights, subject to the HOA rules, where the HOA can legally make rules.

While I fully understand that there is a clear and obvious need to know who is renting the room, the 30 day rule is unjustified. To wit, walk into any Marriott Hotel that has a vacancy, whip out your photo and ID, and viola....you are renting a room. Every HOA Board needs to challenge the management company on this, showing that standard. Any Board and Board member who isn't fighting that particular aspect of this rule is injuring the property rights of the owners, and frankly ought to wonder if the indemnification policy is sufficient to cover this.

Now I'm NOT saying that advance notice should not be provided, rather life changes a lot in the last 30 days before vacations and it is the right of the property owner to have the flexibilty.
We are able to make week usage transactions online, there is no reason that modifications cannot be made online up to the rental. If MVC's computer systems can't handle it, that's their problem.

However, I think this thinking may not hold for people on points usage. The Trust owns the week, you have a right to use, a one week lease essentially. I do not believe the position I took above is necessarily valid for this.

Then you need to start sending emails to your HOA BOD.