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Favorite "warm weather" winter destinations

Elan

Elan

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
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Location
Idaho
Now that my wife is retiring, we're going to be able to escape during the longish winters of Idaho. I'm curious what are some preferred warm weather resorts and/or destinations?

Some qualifiers: 1) Doesn't have to be ultra warm, but preferably warm enough to be outside in a light jacket -- highs over 50°. 2) Prefer timeshare based, but open to all accommodations if the destination warrants. 3) Can be either urban or rural/remote. 4) We like to explore, but also sometimes chill at the unit. So bonus points if the resort/unit/room is suitable for just hanging out. We (mostly me) also golf, so another bonus for accessible golf. 5) Limit to Continental US, west of the Rockies, such that we'd consider driving.

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Elan said:
Now that my wife is retiring, we're going to be able to escape during the longish winters of Idaho. I'm curious what are some preferred warm weather resorts and/or destinations?

Some qualifiers: 1) Doesn't have to be ultra warm, but preferably warm enough to be outside in a light jacket -- highs over 50°. 2) Prefer timeshare based, but open to all accommodations if the destination warrants. 3) Can be either urban or rural/remote. 4) We like to explore, but also sometimes chill at the unit. So bonus points if the resort/unit/room is suitable for just hanging out. We (mostly me) also golf, so another bonus for accessible golf. 5) Limit to Continental US, west of the Rockies, such that we'd consider driving.

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Click to expand...
Try looking at Arizona, timeshares in several parts of the state (all with golf nearby) and lots of interesting things to do and see. Are you open to moving around or are you trying to spend an extended period all in the one spot?

Palm Springs has lots of T/S resorts and golf, but is a more expensive location.
 
Vegas, Arizona (Sedona, Flagstaff and Phoenix areas), Palm Desert, Newport Coast, Carlsbad (CA), are all west of the rockies and are generally warmer than where we are in Colorado, that's for sure.

So many great resort choices, depending what you own and use to trade. Arizona is fun during baseball spring training months.
 
I think that Phoenix, Las Vegas, Palm Desert, and Southern Ca. (San Diego, Newport, Escondido, etc. etc.) are all likely to meet your desire for warmer winter weather with highs likely to be over 50 F. Sedona and Albuquerque might also meet that criteria although they won't be quite as warm during the winter. Flagstaff may have weather in the mid 40's during parts of the winter. I've been there when there was a bunch of snow on the ground.

40 plus years ago I got tired of the Minnesota winters and moved to the San Diego area. I have never regretted the move.
 
Thanks, all.

I've stayed at WM Anaheim, Dolphins Cove, Carlsbad Seapointe, GPP, and Marriott DSV2. Liked them all. But these were either spring break or summer stays when kids were younger. I have NCV booked for early Jan 2027. Been by the property numerous times, but not stayed. Looking forward to that trip. Most of these were quite some time ago via RCI Points exchange. The Palm Desert stay was booked retail.

ETA: Have also stayed at WM in SF and at the Grandview in Vegas. I go to Vegas every fall for a guys golf trip.

As far as moving around, yes, totally fine with that. First winter will likely be one or more, non-contiguous, 1 week stays. In the future, I'd hope to stretch into multi week trips, with a mix of TS and other accommodations.

As far as exchanging, I am now with II and have a winter holiday week (July, their winter) in Australia and red summer week at Eagle Crest as traders, though we've always used the EC week.

I really appreciate the general areas recommended, but also, if anyone has favorite resorts specifically, I'd love to hear about those. Aside from golf, we like touristy sight seeing, moderate hiking, etc.

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If you want to shorten your drive you could always visit the "Palm Springs of Washington", Yakima.... :)

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For us, Marco Island FL, Singer Island FL, Palm Desert CA and San Diego CA. We rotate through them
 
Can not contribute. All of our Winter Destinations are outside of the USA.
 
Elan said:
Now that my wife is retiring, we're going to be able to escape during the longish winters of Idaho. I'm curious what are some preferred warm weather resorts and/or destinations?

Some qualifiers: 1) Doesn't have to be ultra warm, but preferably warm enough to be outside in a light jacket -- highs over 50°. 2) Prefer timeshare based, but open to all accommodations if the destination warrants. 3) Can be either urban or rural/remote. 4) We like to explore, but also sometimes chill at the unit. So bonus points if the resort/unit/room is suitable for just hanging out. We (mostly me) also golf, so another bonus for accessible golf. 5) Limit to Continental US, west of the Rockies, such that we'd consider driving.

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Click to expand...

Palm Springs might be a good place. Plenty of golf in the area. Decent hiking. There is some easy off roading and motorcycling too. We usually do two or three weeks in this area after a month in Mexico or Hawaii.

We like the VI Oasis and the Worldmark Indio in the Palm Springs area.

We don't like anywhere around I 5 in Southern California.

Bill
 
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We have the same goal you do - escaping winter for a few weeks. This year we tried the Westin Desert Willow Ridge in Palm Desert. The one bedrooms are somewhere around 900 square feet. We loved that amount of space for hanging around “home”. It’s also on a golf course. The resort did attract lots of families over the MLK weeekend. Palm Springs hosts lots of sports tournaments that weekend. Other than that, it was relatively quiet. Lots of availability in January too. In future years we plan to stay there for a few weeks then head over to the coast for a few weeks. This year we are going to try Scottsdale though. That’s the fun part of timeshares - you aren’t locked in to any one plan.
 
Daytripz said:
We have the same goal you do - escaping winter for a few weeks. This year we tried the Westin Desert Willow Ridge in Palm Desert. The one bedrooms are somewhere around 900 square feet. We loved that amount of space for hanging around “home”. It’s also on a golf course. The resort did attract lots of families over the MLK weeekend. Palm Springs hosts lots of sports tournaments that weekend. Other than that, it was relatively quiet. Lots of availability in January too. In future years we plan to stay there for a few weeks then head over to the coast for a few weeks. This year we are going to try Scottsdale though. That’s the fun part of timeshares - you aren’t locked in to any one plan.
Click to expand...
What was the weather like? Looking to try WDW or southern coast such as Newport.
 
We stayed at Marriott Desert Springs Villas II for 4 nights in November of 2024 and really enjoyed it. As mentioned, I just booked a 1BR unit off a travel site, so not an exchange. The only real letdown was we had a ground floor unit, whose patio was effectively abutting the parking circle for the cluster of units. For us, the difference in not being able to enjoy this space, vs having a upper level balcony overlooking the GC was huge. Literally the difference between just lounging at the unit vs feeling like I needed to get away from the place.
Anyway, I'm definitely agreeable to the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area.

What about Scottsdale area? I've been to there a few times, but for very short periods. No resort stays .
 
Elan said:
What about Scottsdale area?
Click to expand...

If you like being around loads of people in the winter months, which is the draw back for me, the Phoenix, Scottsdale and surrounding areas are warm enough and there is plenty of golf.

Lake Havasu is fun for UTV, Jeeps, boats and motorcycles. There is a lot of cruise nights where cool cars , motorcycles and trucks cruise the Blvd.

Bill
 
West of the Rockies California, New Mexico, Neveda or Arizonia.
 
Oops!
 
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