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Booking week 34 2013 at SBP..what do i need to know?

Ridewithme38

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I've called up and talked to them and they said, as long as i've paid in full, i can book at 24 months out my week(week 34), so pretty much anytime now...well, anytime after my next payment....

But what do i need to know about View/Rooms/Buildings at SBP before i book?
My ownership is Floating, but for 24 months i believe i can only get book my deeded week, which is week 34....Can i also only stay in my Deeded Room, which is room 1310?

Room 1310 would be building 13 right? would that be a first or 2nd floor room? How is building 13? Should/could i request a different view/building/room at the 24 month mark?
 

woodyd70

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You may want to check as I believe you may actually own building 1, unit 310. If so, that would be more than likely building 1, 3rd floor, unit 10 which would likely be a corner or near one end or the other. I may be wrong, but if your are deeded building 1, I would stay away from buildings 1-5 especially, these were the buildings that have been there since Vistana was the developer and Starwood inherited these original units in the takeover of the Vistana properties over 10 years ago. The trick for you would be to attempt to book palmetto phase during week 34, this would be the newer buildings that are closer to the pools, pirate ship, pool bar, etc.....
Week 34 is quite a bit easier to get than 24-33 due to summer school break. Week 34 is "end of August" and I really don't see much challenge getting that week at 8 months out.

Did you buy from the developer? and do you have Staroptions? If not, you may just need to book your week in bldgs 1-5 and check in to your unit and walk straight down to check in an complain, there should be plenty to complain about, and beg to be moved to the Palmetto Phase or into a refurbished Plantation phase unit, which will arguably be well nicer than a Palmetto unit if you can land a refurb unit. You should stay active here on TUG and try to find out when refurb will be/has been performed on your building and it may be a non-issue by the time you travel. For the MF you pay by owning in the Plantation Phase, you should at the very least get a nice unit while on property. The maintenance fees are "JACKED UP" in the original phase beyond belief.

Hope this helps
 

DeniseM

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Im new to this whole thing but 24 mo out would mean you cant call until june 2012, right?

SBP has some special rules left over from the previous developer that owned it before Starwood - with most Starwood resorts you can make your home resort Resv. at 12 mos. out.

I own a true fixed week at SVR, and it is automatically reserved for me, and can be deposited, at 24 mos. out.
 

Lennyk325

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SBP has some special rules left over from the previous developer that owned it before Starwood - with most Starwood resorts you can make your home resort Resv. at 12 mos. out.

I own a true fixed week at SVR, and it is automatically reserved for me, and can be deposited, at 24 mos. out.

I just learned today that the reason starCentral didn't have my options was because of that auto reservation (i own a fixed week deeded to a room @ SVR) and i have to call to cancel that before i can use the options.
 

DeniseM

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I just learned today that the reason starCentral didn't have my options was because of that auto reservation (i own a fixed week deeded to a room @ SVR) and i have to call to cancel that before i can use the options.

You don't actually "convert" to Staroptions, until you are ready to make the StarOptions reservation, so that can be done in one phone call.

In other words, when you call to make the Staroptions reservation, you tell them to use that week. Normally, you don't have to notify Starwood that you are going to be using the Staroptions, in advance. You just use them when you make an SO reservation.

It's different than converting to StarPoints.
 
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Ridewithme38

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You may want to check as I believe you may actually own building 1, unit 310. If so, that would be more than likely building 1, 3rd floor, unit 10 which would likely be a corner or near one end or the other. I may be wrong, but if your are deeded building 1, I would stay away from buildings 1-5 especially, these were the buildings that have been there since Vistana was the developer and Starwood inherited these original units in the takeover of the Vistana properties over 10 years ago. The trick for you would be to attempt to book palmetto phase during week 34, this would be the newer buildings that are closer to the pools, pirate ship, pool bar, etc.....

Good to know, so i want to avoid building 1-5 and if i can try for buildings in the palmetto phase, what is the ideal building, room number to try to get?...I'm going to call back i think tomorrow, just to try to get some more information...I know i can book ONLY week 34 from 24-12 months out, from 12-8 months i'm Gold Plus(9-43 + 47), but i'm not sure if the room/building is locked also

Did you buy from the developer? and do you have Staroptions? If not, you may just need to book your week in bldgs 1-5 and check in to your unit and walk straight down to check in an complain, there should be plenty to complain about, and beg to be moved to the Palmetto Phase or into a refurbished Plantation phase unit, which will arguably be well nicer than a Palmetto unit if you can land a refurb unit. You should stay active here on TUG and try to find out when refurb will be/has been performed on your building and it may be a non-issue by the time you travel. For the MF you pay by owning in the Plantation Phase, you should at the very least get a nice unit while on property. The maintenance fees are "JACKED UP" in the original phase beyond belief.

The bolded question is a great question, that i'm going to ask next time i call "What is the schedule for refurbishment and what buildings are already done and refurbished?"

I didn't buy from the developer(i paid a TOTAL of $114 for it), so no star options for me...does that mean i'm locked to room/building when i stay there?

Hope this helps

This has been ALOT of help! Thank you soo much!!
 

scootr5

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The bolded question is a great question, that i'm going to ask next time i call "What is the schedule for refurbishment and what buildings are already done and refurbished?"

All the refurbishment of the original phase is supposed to be completed by June of 2012.
 

tschwa2

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They won't let you be very specific with your requests. Some of it is dependent on your check in day. If you look at the SBP info in the Starwood owners info sticky, it shows which buildings go with which days. There is also a map which gives you a general idea of the layout. The kind of requests they allow are "as close to the pirate pool, or top/ground floor, near/far from elevator" or such. They don't usually let you request a specific building. While I might worry that they won't be done by summer 2012 like planned, I couldn't imagine it not completed by 2013. Unless you REALLY need week 34 you might as well wait until summer and book at 12 months out the best summer week for you. 99.5% do not take advantage of the 24 month window and all summer weeks would be available at 12 months.
 

Ridewithme38

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The kind of requests they allow are "as close to the pirate pool" or such. They don't usually let you request a specific building. While I might worry that they won't be done by summer 2012 like planned, I couldn't imagine it not completed by 2013. Unless you REALLY need week 34 you might as well wait until summer and book at 12 months out the best summer week for you. 99.5% do not take advantage of the 24 month window and all summer weeks would be available at 12 months.

Nice! I was hoping to be as close to the Pirate Pool as possible!! As for 'needing' week 34, i don't really 'need' it, but i own a week 27 at a different resort and both my daughter grandmothers birthdays are the beginning of august, so its the most convenient week for me to go
 
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