Cedar at Streamside - Vail, CO

[stevew407]

Looking at buying a time share at Cedar at Streamside Vail. I am new to the process and trying to make sure I do a good job on research. Does anyone have any help or information on how to best buy and of any existing or potential situations or issues? This looks like a great website, thanks in advance. Steve

 

[Robert D]

I'd check out the maintenace fees and special assessments at Streamside before you buy. Many weeks, even ski weeks, sell for little or nothing because of the very high maintenace fees and a big special assessment. Also, note that not all Streamside buildings are Marriott's and the ones that are with the possible exception of Evergreen are not up to Marriott's standards.

 

[Steve]

Cedar is no longer managed by Marriott. It is managed by a company called VRI. As such, you will not be a Marriott owner nor will you have any exchange preference to other Marriotts if you purchase there.

The Streamside complex has very high maintenance fees in relation to the quality of the resort. Many owners in the Apsen and Cedar buildings...both of which are no longer managed by Marriott...have struggled to sell or even give away their weeks.

I'm a former owner of a Birch week and an Evergreen week at Streamside...and I'd be very cautious about buying at this resort. Unless you want to visit Vail most years and stay in your specific unit during your owned week, I would not suggest you purchase at Streamside. There are better values elsewhere.

Steve

 

[curbysplace]

If you buy at Streamside you need to seriously consider Birch, Evergreen or Douglas as these are Marriotts. If your buying to trade look at buying a Birch fixed week in the very early ski season (Thanksgiving or the week before), the MFs are relatively low compared to all other ski weeks (1 bdrm $526 for 2010). My fixed week 47 has been an excellent trader.

 

[EducatedConsumer]

Remove the polish, and what people are really saying is that if you buy at Streamside you should have your head examined.

The place has more bad history than Carter has pills, dating back to the pre-Marriott, Steadmside at Vail era.

While one can not refute the reasons to want to vacation in Vail, if you want a Marriott timeshare in a ski town, I'd consider one of the lock-off resorts in Park City, UT or Lake Tahoe, or a non-lock-off one bedroom villa at Mountain Valley Lodge in Breckenridge. The problem with Mountain Valley Lodge is that the largest villa there is a large, one-bedroom villa, and although it sleeps 6, II treats it as a one bedroom, so when you trade into a lock-off resort, all you'll ordinarily get is a one bedroom. II counts bedrooms and not beds for exchange purposes.

 

[sernow]

"Remove the polish, and what people are really saying is that if you buy at Streamside you should have your head examined."

Well said.

 

[drgary]

I Own at Streamside / Cedar

I own a 1 bedrm, red, week 34 at Streamside / Cedar. I have owned it for three years and I bought it to trade. (It was a Marriott when I bought it on eBay......soon it changed.)

The reviews on Tripadvisor.com are very good for Streamside / Cedar. Same with reviews on Redweek.com. II calls it a Silver / Select Resort.

It is managed by VRI so you have the option of trading through VRI, RCI or II.

I was in Vail last year so I went by to see the new recreation/pool building and it was very nice. Plenty of parking and the Cedar building looked good. Everything appeared to be well maintained.

It has traded well for me on II. I have been given an AC each year for three years.....not sure if I will get one this year (no offers yet).

I just wrote out my maintenance fee check today for $846.00 (This fee has been the same each year, no special assessments and no complaints.)

I have considered selling my Cedar TS just because I now own four TSs and get to ACs annually (in the past)......I feel that I don't need so many weeks.

Vail is a year around vacation destination with many deluxe and costly TSs in the area. Most have high maintenance fees. So often, TSs with lower maintenance fees surprise the owners with major special assessments......

Anyone actually stayed at the Streamside / Cedar? I would be interested in your input. Thanks.

drgary

 

[carollynn]

Cedar at Streamside

We inherited a 2-bedroom unit at Evergreen. When we tried to get a week there in the summer, Interval assigned us to a unit in Cedar. This was 4 years ago so maybe it has changed, but my husband and I were so upset about the Cedar unit (a dank place with no elevators and on the 6th floor) that we phoned Interval and demanded they move us. Long story short, we were re-assigned a unit in Douglas. Not as nice as Evergreen, but WAY better than Cedar.

 

[Robert D]

I just wrote out my maintenance fee check today for $846.00 (This fee has been the same each year, no special assessments and no complaints.)


drgary

Are you saying that there have been no special assessments the past 3 yrs. at Streamside? I heard that there was a large special assessment to pay for the new recreation / pool building.

 

[Dean]

I would also caution that there is a good chance NONE of the resort at Vail will be with Marriott going forward. I'd be surprised if it made it through more than one contract renewal. So if it being Marriott is a large part of the decision, I'd look elsewhere. If Vail is the main objective, it's a great option and the non Marriott portions might be the better value.

 

[drgary]

My Experience

Are you saying that there have been no special assessments the past 3 yrs. at Streamside? I heard that there was a large special assessment to pay for the new recreation / pool building.

You are correct. (My fees have been the same for the past three years. I guess it is possible that a special assessment was applied before I purchased.)

drgary

 

[dlpearson]

Are you saying that there have been no special assessments the past 3 yrs. at Streamside? I heard that there was a large special assessment to pay for the new recreation / pool building.

There has been a special assessment for the past three years (something like $160/yr for 3 years) to pay for the common building/pool refurbishment. I believe all 5 buildings shared in the cost/assessement. I "thought" last year was the 3rd year, and expected my fee to drop by a comparable amount this year (I own at Cedar, managed by VRI), but the price is right in the same ballpark. No mention of the special assessment one way or the other in the mailing.

David

 

[jasonv32]

I stayed in Cedar at Streamside last week. We felt the complex was OK, certainly convenient to Lions Head via shuttle. I wouldn't mind buying into Streamside, but the MF fees seem awefully high for what you get. I understand there has been an assessment, but it certainly doesn't appear as if much of that money is going toward updating the units themselves.

 

[dlpearson]

I stayed in Cedar at Streamside last week. We felt the complex was OK, certainly convenient to Lions Head via shuttle. I wouldn't mind buying into Streamside, but the MF fees seem awefully high for what you get. I understand there has been an assessment, but it certainly doesn't appear as if much of that money is going toward updating the units themselves.

The special assessment (spread out over the past 3 years) wasn't for refurbishing the units. It was strictly allocated for renovating the main clubhouse and pool. Supposedly 2010 is the last year of the 3 year assessment, so hopefully the maintenance fees will drop by $150 or so for 2011.

David

 

[janej]

There is a one bedroom week 52 at the Cedar building right now on ebay for $195, no bid yet. The MF listed is $1033.

 

[ondeadlin]

Sometime strikes me as "off" with that week 52 auction.

They're stressing it as an RCI points purchase, not a week 52 purchase.

And there are no closing costs, which there always are with a deeded week.

I'd proceed with caution.

 

[Robert D]

$1,033 is pretty high maintenance fee for a 1BR/1Bath unit that isn't in the best condition. Will be interesting to see if this one sells. I've heard you can buy ski weeks at Streamside for no more than the $195 they want for this one due to the high maintenance fees. Also the closing costs are $574 which is at least $200 more than what a title company in the are will close it for.

 

[jasonv32]

After staying in Cedar a week ago I seriously considered buying something at Streamside. No they are not super updated, but nice enough. However, the more I read it appears the MFs in the streamside complex are awefully high, I'd say $1300-1500 on average on 1 bedrooms for both Marriot and non-Marriot units. That just doesn't appear to be a good value to me when you could rent a unit off RedWeek during ski season for $1100-$1400 without the liability of ownership. If the MFs were reasonable I would buy there, as I'd like to go back year after year.

As noted previously they had an assessment to fix up the club house, but when are the room remodels coming? Great location and nice enough digs, but too many questions.

 

[Robert D]

The week 52 in the Cedar building just sold for $2,025 so someone sees value there. Went for lot more than I thought it would.

 

[jasonv32]

The week 52 in the Cedar building just sold for $2,025 so someone sees value there. Went for lot more than I thought it would.

Robert,

Maybe I'm viewing this timeshare stuff the wrong way. I thought the idea of timeshare was to secure vacation digs at a value price in the long term picture. That's the point right, otherwise everyone would continue to rent? If there is little or nothing to be gained in equity then it really does boil down to how much does it cost me in MFs versus how much does it cost me to rent in the same resort. If the rental rates are equal to, less than, or even just a tad bit higher than MF what's the point?

I don't own a timeshare and am seriously looking at all of the angles. Like I said, I seriously considered the Streamside complex. However, what I see so far is a complex where MF average $1200-1500 for a 1 bedroom unit during ski season and rental postings for $1100-1500 on average for ski weeks. Plus, I know the units themselves in the Cedar and Aspen complexes have yet to be updated. All together there's concern there for the value.

Please, if I am missing something about the overall picture fill me in. This is very much a learning process for me in general and you guys are the folks who have been around the block...

 

[Robert D]

Jason, I agree with you totally. IMHO, if you can rent the unit for even a little more than the maintenance fee there's no reason to own it. That's why most Streamside (and many many other TS) weeks are worthless. The other thing to consider is that maintenance fees never go down and they can and have gone up substantially and it can be a snowball effect - the more the fees go up the more owners stop paying and that makes them go up for everyone else even more. I think we've been in an upward spiral for some time now and I hope it stops soon. That said, I think there can be some really good buys in this atmosphere but you have to own peak weeks in high demand areas in resorts that have a track record of contolling costs. That eliminates 95% of them.

 

[ondeadlin]

(mistake on my part, sorry)

 

[janej]

The week 52 in the Cedar building just sold for $2,025 so someone sees value there. Went for lot more than I thought it would.

I am surprised too. There were 5 streamside weeks on ebay for the past month. Only one had a bid for $1 with no closing cost. The other 4 including a week 6 went with no bid. The one that was sold was 34,500 RCI points for MF of 846.00. That is such a bad points/fee ratio, I would not take it at any cost.

I think week 52 is really nice if someone can use it every year. We stayed at the Cedar building last year. Our unit really needs a new mattress. But the resort is very nice. It is great for skiing at Vail.

 

[stevew407]

These are great comments. We ended up doing an exchange instead of the purchase. The MF were just too high with the risks. Would basically look to take over some reasonable MF from someone who didn't want the obligation anymore in this market, don't see things picking up anytime soon.

 

[jasonv32]

I kind of feel sorry for the folks that own in the Cedar or Aspen buildings. Their VRI MFs are not much less, if at all, than the Douglas, Birch and Evergreen buildings who are managed by Marriott. I understand the units in the Marriot buildings are MUCH nicer than the VRI managed Aspen and Cedar building. Kind of stinks for those folks, on top of the fact that you can rent in the complex for what they are paying in MFs. Poor folks...