Yes I am a Starwood owner, but not part of SVN. We spent months mulling over a purchase through the developer and that "guarantee" was something that was very attractive to us. They have a term for it - but basically if you cannot get a week you are looking for - they will offer you something "similar" in another property they own. (With your star points of course) Starwood owns several differnt brands encompassing many different types of properties. If you can't get in to the timeshare you want to book you might be looking at a stay in one of their alternate properties. We found a re-sale at a voluntary resort so we bought at a fraction of the cost.
Hi again Jennifer - I hate to tell you this, but you were misled by a timeshare salesman...don't feel bad, we've all been there. That guarantee just doesn't exist.
For one thing, you have to convert to Starpoints by the end of March, and you can only do it every other year.
Even if you do convert to points, they don't give you nearly enough for an equivalent stay at a hotel. For instance, my 2 bdm. on Maui, isn't even worth enough points for a week in a
standard room at the Maui Westin or Sheraton Hotels.
Starwood leaves it completely up to the owner to make their own reservations or exchanges and they will not bail you out if you can't find what you want.
For more info. about how Starwood works, check out the Owner Resources sticky at the top of this page.
However - you were smart buying resale! I own at SDO too, but so far have only rented it out. How do you like it? Has it been a good exchanger.?
Hope you will be a regular here!
They literally followed us out to the parking lot. Poor things.