Sunset Harbor Unit 533 is available week 8 but asking $23,000. Seems very high.
Week 43 is $16,500.
What is a fair price for either of those weeks?
Hyatt Sunset Harbor:
Has a great Old Town location and is on the harborwalk. Very nice pool that is in sunshine all day - but if you want shade, just follow the shade provided by the palm trees as the sun moves across the pool. With the property's back toward Duval, there is no noise drifting into the pool or balcony side. Both units are in Building 5 (the most requested building at HSH) - all units in building 5 carry a little bit of a premium price tag, the higher the floor the higher the premium. 533 is a top floor townhouse unit, while 511 is a ground floor lock off unit. There are four units at HSH that are generally considered to be the best - 533, 534, 524 and 532 (most folks put them in that order with 533 being #1). In Hyatt's point system, weeks 1 - 17 are all 2200 point prime season weeks - however, weeks 4 - 14 are what I'd call ultra prime. Week 42 and 43 are Fantasy Fest weeks (FF toggles back and forth between 42 and 43 year by year) - so those weeks carry an elevated price as FF is a huge draw for KW (all the hotels and B&B's raise their prices and have 3 to 4 day minimum stays during FF).
$23K for week 8 in 533 is on the strong side (by $2500+/-), but it is not "very high". 533 has two balconies overlooking the harbor and sunsets - you'll never complain about the view!
$16.5K for week 43 in 511 is a tick strong (by $1000+/-). If it was up one floor (unit 521) or two floors (unit 531), the price would be $17K to $19K. The knock on 511 is that its a ground floor unit - while the unit is on the harbor and facing the sunsets, the view is extremely limited as its not up high enough to look out over the pier/water. The other knock on the 511, 521 and 531 stack is that they are on the alley next to the Margaritaville Resort - so pick up/delivery to Margaritaville creates some early AM (6:30 - 8:30) noise. The 511, 521 and 531 stack also has the smallest balconies of any units at HSH.
All of that said, if you aren't going to be using the deeded week you purchase, it makes no difference which unit you buy. A note on exchanging into a HSH week different than what you would own - due to the demand for HSH, it can be extremely challenging to get a prime week. If you are going to use the deeded week you purchase, be particular about which unit at HSH you buy as that will be the unit you'll be in every year. FWIW: If you're looking to exchange into different weeks in KW, you may want to consider buying at Hyatt Pinon Pointe as its yearly MF are in the $1050 range.
RE: Hurricane damage/costs
There has been no talk or indication of a special assessment as insurance covered what limited damage there was from Irma. The bulk of the damage was to landscaping and the pool/spa heat pumps. There was water intrusion into units in the 111, 121 and 131 stack - water blew in thru/around the sliding glass door in 131 and then migrated down to 121 and 111.
The $108 increase in 2017 to 2018 MF is solely due to the combining of planned renovation projects to 2018. Rather than impact owners/guests over multiple years, the HOA elected to do the pool deck renovations, the common walkway & unit balcony wood floor replacement, the unit bathroom upgrade & tile replacement, and the unit carpet replacement all at one time in the summer of 2018.
Bayan:
Has a similar advantage of being close to the happening end of Duval like HSH. Bayan is a nice KW property, has more of the original KW vibe as the property is eight older homes that were converted to TS. Every unit at Bayan is a different layout. Most are 1 bd units - not sure how many 2 bd units there are, but only a few (depending on how many are in your typical travel plans, you may need to be very very specific which unit you pursue). Has a small pool that is in shade pretty much all day. Being located on Whitehead and being one block closer to Duval, expect night time music from Duval to filter onto to the property.
Coconut Beach:
Similar building appearance as HSH. (Both Coconut and Sunset Harbor were developed by the Spottswood family - Coconut was built as an independent TS, then Spottswood teamed up with Hyatt for Sunset Harbor). Coconut's location is at the slower and quieter end of Old Town (if that's a positive or a negative depends on what each individual is looking for in the way of a vacation/TS) - but is right next to the wonderful Casa Marina and Louie's Bark Yard. Very nice pool area directly on the Atlantic. The units are a little smaller than HSH and they all share a common balcony/walkway (in lieu of individual HSH balcony).
I was recently sent images of the unit next door to the one we are considering. They advised that all units were just upgraded to the same kitchen remodel and furnishings. Standard but nice.
Since the unit in question is ground floor, now curious if ground literally means ground or if it is elevated at all. Would a view, when ships are gone, of the sunset be an option from this unit 511?
View attachment 6252 View attachment 6254 View attachment 6255 View attachment 6256 View attachment 6253
The cruise ships are supposed to be gone by sunset, however that is not always the case. If watching the sunset from 511, you would see most it - but doubt you would see the last 5 minutes of it as the sun melts into the ocean. FWIW: There is some mixing of units in the photos that were sent. The three pictures in the upper left are unit 532 (townhouse floor plan) - while the bottom three are of the 511, 521 or 531 stack (lock off floor plan). There are several different unit floor plans at HSH - look here for the various layouts.
http://www.bywindkal.com/HSH Layouts.html
