My $0.02 worth...
We have a request for Key West next spring and received this confirmation last night. I have read some reviews that somewhat concern me. Not sure if we should hold out for another offer.
I would think owners would be depositing their weeks still or am I way off? We have never been to KW and really would like this to happen next year.
Any thoughts?
I stayed at this particular facility for a week this past February (2008) on a one-for-one private swap. The 2BR unit was nice, spacious, with a small adjoining deck. The staff was decidedly unfriendly (bordering on hostile, actually), but we had little need or desire to interact with them anyhow. The small pool was nice, the hot tub broken, and the location of the facility about as far away from the "action" of Duval St. as is humanly possible --- several miles clear across the other end of the "island". The resort is located just over the bridge as you first enter Key West, just off to the left. The facility is not really within walking distance of any beach, store or restaurant. We used bicycles (rented off site) for most of our "travel".
We had a great time in Key West, but certainly not because of the resort itself. BTW, an aggressive on site sales staff is still peddling weeks at CM, using the (now former) bar/lounge building next to the docks as a staging area to squire "prospects" (...after a few free Margeritas and some Karaoke frivolity...) off into a little "Tiki hut" to extol the virtues(?) of developer-direct purchase. We didn't witness (or want any part of) the actual presentation itself, however. I don't really understand how there could possibly still be developer weeks being sold at a place which is clearly at least 20 years old now --- reselling foreclosures maybe?
As far as I know, all weeks at this resort are "floating" week ownerships --- there are no fixed week ownerships. "Open season" for the next calendar years' reservations commences on September 1 of each year, according to owners I met there. With that fact in mind, 2009 reservations by owners have only been possible for about the past week or so --- subsequent owner deposits for 2009 obviously likewise.
FWIW, I overheard the on-site sales weasels claim that CM was switching from II to RCI (i.e.,
not to be
dual affiliated) by the end of calendar year 2008. If true (is
anything those sales weasels say
ever actually true?...), I don't know how or if that might affect your potential exchange.
Exchange availability in Key West in "prime time" can be slim. Depositing for exchange would seem to be about the
least valuable thing a Key West owner could ever do with a week, since rentals tend to command big bucks. If the offered exchange is available at a time you want to go, consider taking it (despite the resorts' shortcomings) since you may well not see much (if anything) else in Key West offered to you. I'm not sure if there is actually even another II affiliated resort anywhere in Key West.
Your call...
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P.S. Although the 2BR units were spacious and well away from the road, there is a separate single story building located along (nearly on, actually) S. Roosevelt Blvd., which apparently contains studio and/or 1BR units. That building looks to me like the remnants of a former motel in long ago days and those units look truly tiny (and are situated right on a very busy street). I wouldn't touch any of those particular units with a long stick.
If it's
not a 2BR unit being offered, I'd personally run away, run away....