• A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!
  • The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 31 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 31st anniversary: Happy 31st Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $24,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $24 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!
  • The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!

DVC Owner looking into Hilton

kentwo

newbie
Joined
Dec 7, 2021
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Resorts Owned
Grand Californian
We have a DVC property and were thinking of adding on a Hilton or possibly a Marriott timeshare.

I've read through the link to the information for new owners, but that is a lot of info to comprehend. Can anyone help with a few questions?

1. The systems sound similar, but for DVC we didn't have a Gold/Platinum week element to our purchase. Just a resort and number of points. I understand that booking rooms during certain weeks can use more points, but how does the week play into purchasing points to begin with?

2. For DVC, besides looking into resorts near our home to purchase, we also looked into older/cheaper resorts since they cost less and had lower maintenance fees. This worked well since we were just basically looking for points to use elsewhere. Is Hilton similar? If so, where would be some resorts that we should look into for those cheaper points?

3. Any other tips or comparisons we should be aware of?

Thanks
 
We have a DVC property and were thinking of adding on a Hilton or possibly a Marriott timeshare.

I've read through the link to the information for new owners, but that is a lot of info to comprehend. Can anyone help with a few questions?

1. The systems sound similar, but for DVC we didn't have a Gold/Platinum week element to our purchase. Just a resort and number of points. I understand that booking rooms during certain weeks can use more points, but how does the week play into purchasing points to begin with?

2. For DVC, besides looking into resorts near our home to purchase, we also looked into older/cheaper resorts since they cost less and had lower maintenance fees. This worked well since we were just basically looking for points to use elsewhere. Is Hilton similar? If so, where would be some resorts that we should look into for those cheaper points?

3. Any other tips or comparisons we should be aware of?

Thanks

As a DVC and HGVC owner, let me chime in :)

1. Just as DVC has seasons the different seasons cost more points, HGVC has that, but fewer than DVC. Much like DVC, points are points in general, but home resort advantages exist in both.

2. HGVC is even more of a "points are points" program to us. For DVC, we actually do use our 11-month window since we can still book as many days as we want. For HGVC, Home Week needs a whole week, your purchased season and room type. We own cheaper (Vegas) points and use places like Hawai'i.

3. HGVC has more little fees than DVC (Banking Fee, Booking Fee, Guest Certificate Fee). Oh, and HGVC loses value unlike DVC. Otherwise, I find them very similar.
Also, buy resale only. For DVC it can make sense to buy from the developer since even resale prices are so high. Does not make sense here.

Cheers.
 
As a DVC and HGVC owner, let me chime in :)

1. Just as DVC has seasons the different seasons cost more points, HGVC has that, but fewer than DVC. Much like DVC, points are points in general, but home resort advantages exist in both.

2. HGVC is even more of a "points are points" program to us. For DVC, we actually do use our 11-month window since we can still book as many days as we want. For HGVC, Home Week needs a whole week, your purchased season and room type. We own cheaper (Vegas) points and use places like Hawai'i.

3. HGVC has more little fees than DVC (Banking Fee, Booking Fee, Guest Certificate Fee). Oh, and HGVC loses value unlike DVC. Otherwise, I find them very similar.
Also, buy resale only. For DVC it can make sense to buy from the developer since even resale prices are so high. Does not make sense here.

Cheers.


Thanks.
I think I read that HGVC points need to be used for at least three night stays, was that correct?

For DVC we were fortunate to get Grand Cali resale when prices were pretty low ($80/point). At the time, we were also looking at Saratoga or Old Key West as their points were way cheaper than Grand Cali etc...

Does HGVC have specific resorts that you would recommend we look into for resale? Vegas? We live in Hawaii so can travel to the various resorts here pretty easily.

Finally, any specific resale sites you recommend?

Thanks again.
 
@brp has a good explanation above. I will add the resale purchasers have the same booking windows and privileges as any other member. The only difference between resale and developer purchased deeds is that, in most cases, you can’t earn elite status. Most say it really doesn’t effect much until you get into the higher tiers, now you are talking 34,000 points. I own 2 Vegas deeds (both platinum 2 bedrooms) and I spent a fraction of what the developer charges.

If you are looking at HGVC, the you want the lowest MF per point ratio you can find. Usually, the better ratio, the higher the up front cost, but the dollars will usually flip within 5 years. I would start at a standard platinum 2 bedroom in Vegas that gives 7000 points.
 
Take a look at the following thread which has a table of the relative maintenance fees per point. Keep in mind that the purchase price will differ dramatically for those with lower rates. Some of the Hawaii units have compelling maint. fee values, but a platinum week in Vegas worth 7000 points (I own a 2BR 7000 point LV BLVD which I picked up for around $2500 all-in) is usually a good value when balancing purchase cost and ongoing maintenance.

https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/2020-hilton-grand-vacations-maintenance-fees.296273/post-2344467
 
There are also two tiers to HGVC, the regular HGVC resorts and the Hilton Club resorts. While you can use HGVC to book Hilton Club locations, it is only at 60 days out. Hilton Club points can be used at any of the HGVC resorts and Hilton Club resorts. I own at The District which is the Hilton Club location in Georgetown, D.C.
 
Thanks.
I think I read that HGVC points need to be used for at least three night stays, was that correct?

Yes, except for the upper tier "by Hilton club" (think higher priced city locales, generally) locations.

Does HGVC have specific resorts that you would recommend we look into for resale? Vegas? We live in Hawaii so can travel to the various resorts here pretty easily.

See the link posted below.

Finally, any specific resale sites you recommend?

Thanks again.

eBay can work with caution. Then there are several reputable realtors: Judi Kozloski, Seth Nock, Diane Nadeau...you can find discussions here.

So, become a paying/supporting member here, pull up a virtual chair and do some research :)

Cheers.
 
Last edited:
Does HGVC have specific resorts that you would recommend we look into for resale? Vegas? We live in Hawaii so can travel to the various resorts here pretty easily.
The major drawback (negative) on HGVC (IMO) is not enough resort locations (now, maybe the purchase to DRI and Embarc (Club Intrawest) might add some locations but way too early to tell). Since you are located in HI, then there are several resorts on BI and HHV
to pick from should your travel options be limited (like due to a pandemic). Honestly, HGVC is a great system which treat their resale owners very well.
 
Thanks all.
I'm learning a lot.

Our main goal is to stay locally in Hawaii a couple weekends a year. Or maybe go to Vegas for 3-4 days.

So would 7000-8000 points be a good amount? Just looking at the point chart a lot of the Hawaii Waikaloa resorts are around 1400 a night (Platinum/Weekends/1 Bedroom).
 
HGVC supplements my DVC points pretty well. HGVC is mainly clustered on Oahu, Big Island, Las Vegas, Carlsbad, Orlando and New York. Since you want to do a few staycations a year I would look for a 7k point 2br Platinum in Las Vegas at Boulevard.

The priority booking period is not as brutal as DVC. Unless you are booking Lagoon tower unit. Lagoon you pretty much want to book at the 9 month mark like the 7month mark with DVC.

Have been with HGVC for over 13 years now. Have always been able to book what I need for my staycations in Waikiki. Might not be my first choice or tower, but am able to get something.

As others have mentioned, HGVC treats resale owners very well. Save thousands and purchase resale for HGVC. I have bought resale and direct with DVC and Marriott but only resale with HGVC. Did not find elite benefits worth paying for a direct contract with HGVC for my needs.

Congrats on getting VGC for $80. That was also the time I bought OKW and SSR in the lower $30's. 2009/2010 was a great time. Was able to purchase VGC direct during a black Friday event for $86 a point. Wish I bought more back then!

Might want to look at Marriott Ko olina as I prefer this over hustle and bustle of Waikiki. But we do spend a few weeks down there to hit up all the restaurants and live a little of that night life. Will be down at Lagoon from Dec 19th for a couple weeks in 2br oceanfront. If you want to stop by and see what HGVC is like compared to DVC, send me a PM. If you want to see Marriott Koolina, you are also welcome to come and check it out here.

Sent from my SM-T290 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
I'd agree that 7000 points is the minimum to start with, one thing that may be of interest to you is that within 30 days you can do cash bookings in the "Open Season". These have a two night minimum while Club Season reservations are a three night minimum. Those rate are available in the Club Reference Booklet. I can only find a link to the 2020 one here: https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/h...icle-links-and-information-for-owners.274977/
 
I also really like HGVC. However, some areas/resorts (SW FL) are very tough to book (few deposits) and if you want to stay there more than a one-off, you should own there to get preference. Those resorts have a different reservation system directly thru resort for owners at 1 year out.
 
HGVC supplements my DVC points pretty well. HGVC is mainly clustered on Oahu, Big Island, Las Vegas, Carlsbad, Orlando and New York. Since you want to do a few staycations a year I would look for a 7k point 2br Platinum in Las Vegas at Boulevard.

I would also include coastal South Carolina. HGVC has 3 properties in Myrtle Beach, 1 in Hilton Head Island and a bHC property in Charleston. While we don't know how hard the Charleston resort (it just opened up) will be to book, the Myrtle Beach resorts are fairly easy and the HHI resort can be pretty difficult.
 
HGVC supplements my DVC points pretty well. HGVC is mainly clustered on Oahu, Big Island, Las Vegas, Carlsbad, Orlando and New York. Since you want to do a few staycations a year I would look for a 7k point 2br Platinum in Las Vegas at Boulevard.

The priority booking period is not as brutal as DVC. Unless you are booking Lagoon tower unit. Lagoon you pretty much want to book at the 9 month mark like the 7month mark with DVC.

Have been with HGVC for over 13 years now. Have always been able to book what I need for my staycations in Waikiki. Might not be my first choice or tower, but am able to get something.

As others have mentioned, HGVC treats resale owners very well. Save thousands and purchase resale for HGVC. I have bought resale and direct with DVC and Marriott but only resale with HGVC. Did not find elite benefits worth paying for a direct contract with HGVC for my needs.

Congrats on getting VGC for $80. That was also the time I bought OKW and SSR in the lower $30's. 2009/2010 was a great time. Was able to purchase VGC direct during a black Friday event for $86 a point. Wish I bought more back then!

Might want to look at Marriott Ko olina as I prefer this over hustle and bustle of Waikiki. But we do spend a few weeks down there to hit up all the restaurants and live a little of that night life. Will be down at Lagoon from Dec 19th for a couple weeks in 2br oceanfront. If you want to stop by and see what HGVC is like compared to DVC, send me a PM. If you want to see Marriott Koolina, you are also welcome to come and check it out here.

Sent from my SM-T290 using Tapatalk

Awesome!
I was also looking at OKW and SSR when it was in the $30's.

Do you like the Marriott system better than the Hilton one? We went to the sales pitch at Marriott Koolina, but they seemed to be using weeks and not points which seemed like more trouble than the DVC system. Of course, this was years ago, so it could be different now.

We do like Hilton in the Kohala area since I have a lot of family on that island.
 
Marriott has not sold weeks and are sold points since mid 2010. Word of advice is not to buy points directly from Marriott. You can buy them resale for $3 a point and pay another $3 a point to Marriott so that points are treated like direct bought(direct it is about $15 minus some dollars off ususally bringing price down to high $11). You will find that you will need far more points than just buying a comparable resale week from another owner. If you plan on visiting the same area at least every other year, I suggest buying that property on the resale market. Much cheaper than buying the equivalent points.

I like both systems but HGVC has a very limited footprint compared to MVC right now. Maybe with the acquisition of DRI it will change? If your area is Kohala, then HGVC would be your best bet. I actually own quiet a few units at Kohala Suites and Bay Club. But the maintenance fees are more than a comparable Vegas unit unless you buy one of those high point Kingsland units with very nice MF per point ratios. I am more invested with MVC because we own weeks and trade to Marriott Ko Olina often.
 
like both systems but HGVC has a very limited footprint compared to MVC right now.

Financially, HGVC is cheaper to acquire in resale, as well as $1 of MF buys you way more, compared to Marriott trust points.

With smart use of HGVC points - own low MF-per-point units (Platinum season, large units, cheap locations) and book low season and smaller units - you can go as low as $50/day for a Studio room, which is insane, given most Hiltons are 4 star. I'm not saying you should do that, but it's just showing how great HGVC is from a financial point of view.

ROI on acquiring a Platinum Las Vegas property worth 7k points is, depending how you value it, is from 1 year to 3 years. 1-2 years if you value it fairly, ie what it costs to book an equal unit on the market. I valued my night unfairly at only $150/night - the amount I currently spend on regular hotels in mediocre locations - and ROI was less than 3 years. For a tremendous bump in quality of accommodations, this is a steal.

Long story short, resale HGVC truly fulfills the promise that a timeshare is an investment that pays off long term. I wasn't able to reach the same conclusion for resale MVC (at least the trust points). Holiday Inn appeared similar to HGVC, if not slightly better, but most of their deeds have resale restrictions and the "good" deeds are hard to come by.

... I eventually purchased 3x the amount of HGVC points I originally anticipated. This way it's no longer a money saving endeavor for me, but rather a way to increase the quality of my vacations tenfold (seriously), and the quantity of vacations by 1.5-2x, all that when spending the same amount every year on MF as opposed to direct hotel bookings.
 
I own DVC, HGVC that I use both as weeks and points, and both MVC weeks and points. Each system has its positives and negatives. That said...

If all you want are weekends in Hawaii and maybe Vegas then buying HGVC points is your best bet. Buy a resale platinum week with low MFs/point - probably though not necessarily Vegas. Another route to explore would be Scotland - basically buying direct at resale prices. I think if I were in the market to buy HGVC weeks to use as points that is where I would purchase.

If you want to consider week long stays in Hawaii then your options expand. You could buy a week at HGVC's HHV Lagoon tower (which we own and love) or one of the many MVC resorts (we own at Waiohai on Kauai and Maui Ocean Club). Resale weeks are a comparatively inexpensive way to buy MVC with the downside that you have to trade through II if you don't want to use or rent your week.

All that said, if you can't plan in advance to book as the reservation windows open then timeshares might not be for you. I also think timeshares work best for those who want to stay in larger villas (since hotels make you pay through the nose for 1 and 2BR suites) or have flexibility in when you vacation.
 
Fellow DVC owner here. I bought into HGVC (specifically Ocean Tower on the Big Island) the past few years. Tactical comparison attached, in case its useful. Some fees have changed and DVC’s replacement of RCI with Interval International haven’t yet been updated since this document was created this summer. Good luck!
 

Attachments

  • Comparison DVC and HGV 2021 in pdf.pdf
    330.5 KB · Views: 39
Fellow DVC owner here. I bought into HGVC (specifically Ocean Tower on the Big Island) the past few years. Tactical comparison attached, in case its useful. Some fees have changed and DVC’s replacement of RCI with Interval International haven’t yet been updated since this document was created this summer. Good luck!
This is great! Thanks for sharing! Very educational.

Do you have the source document? Would you turn it into a Google Doc, or share it for edits if it's already a Google doc? I'd happily update and correct some things on HGVC side.

We should have a table like this with all timeshares!
 
Fellow DVC owner here. I bought into HGVC (specifically Ocean Tower on the Big Island) the past few years. Tactical comparison attached, in case its useful. Some fees have changed and DVC’s replacement of RCI with Interval International haven’t yet been updated since this document was created this summer. Good luck!

Thanks.
That was awesome.
Answered a lot of questions I had.

Any idea on what a "good" price for 7000 points in a 2 bd platinum week in Vegas would cost?
Just so I have some baseline to compare as I have been checking our some resale listings, but have not clue if the prices are up/down etc...

Thanks again for all the effort you put into that comparison.
 
I own DVC, HGVC that I use both as weeks and points, and both MVC weeks and points. Each system has its positives and negatives. That said...

If all you want are weekends in Hawaii and maybe Vegas then buying HGVC points is your best bet. Buy a resale platinum week with low MFs/point - probably though not necessarily Vegas. Another route to explore would be Scotland - basically buying direct at resale prices. I think if I were in the market to buy HGVC weeks to use as points that is where I would purchase.

If you want to consider week long stays in Hawaii then your options expand. You could buy a week at HGVC's HHV Lagoon tower (which we own and love) or one of the many MVC resorts (we own at Waiohai on Kauai and Maui Ocean Club). Resale weeks are a comparatively inexpensive way to buy MVC with the downside that you have to trade through II if you don't want to use or rent your week.

All that said, if you can't plan in advance to book as the reservation windows open then timeshares might not be for you. I also think timeshares work best for those who want to stay in larger villas (since hotels make you pay through the nose for 1 and 2BR suites) or have flexibility in when you vacation.

Thanks for the advice.
I'm leaning towards Vegas. What kind of price point should I be looking for? My target is 7000 points 2 Bedroom on a Plat week.
 
7k Blvd/Paradise/Elara will cost you around $5k-$6k.
7k Flamingo $4k.

You can also look at Gold 5k Blvd/Paradise, or Gold 5k 1 BR Grand Elara (plus a couple other Elara variations) - they can be found even for free + closing ($1.5k) because its resale value ($1k) is very low and trying to sell them for $1k-$2k takes time & commission, so there's people willing to give it up for free if you handle everything.

You should calculate ROI and decide if you want to spend real money on Platinum, or spend pennies on Gold. I did the latter, picked up free properties from a couple folks, and got a ton of 2020 and 2021 points.
 
I found this site too little too late. We considered buying a Las Vegas property for $5K, but ended up going for a $1K basic in Florida, 3,400 points. We have our first HGVC presentation coming up in a month at the Elara, and maneuvered beforehand in the resale market. We're looking for a few weekday studios off season, to enhance how we like to travel anyways. If there are last minute deals from RCI, all the better.
 
Top