I have someone willing to give me an Aviara Four Seasons Gold week and am wondering if it is worth taking.
I do have some questions anmd any other comments would be appreciated.
1. Is there anything resale owners do not have access to.
2. Is day use available for local owners
3. What type of trades are people able to get and is it done strictly thru II or through Four Seasons?
4. Splitting two bedroom into 2 units or splitting week into multiple stays
5. Any big changes since Hyatt took over?
6. How difficult is it to reserve a week?
7. What is the yearly mtc fee?
I live nearby so would use this for exchanges and also as a place for relatives to stay.
Thanks for any info.
1. At the timeshare resort, nothing. At the hotel, nothing (but fees for use have increased).
Resale owners used to have to deal with an approved broker to use the Four Seasons trading system. That was changed about 3 years ago.
Now, any resale purchaser gets whatever rights original owners have. If you have the time to use and money to own at Aviara (and faith in Four Seasons), resale prices have been extremely low the past 2 years.
2. I don't think so.
3. II trades are very good. Value is affected by the high yearly MF at Aviara. Usually, the MF at the resort you trade into are less than Aviara's.
IMO, Four Seasons trades would be awkward matches and hard to accomplish since Aviara and Troon North are the the only Four Seasons timeshare resorts. You must reserve a week, advertise it with Four Seasons as available and hope someone is looking for your exact reserved week and you are interested in their exact reserved week. (Phillips Club in NYC also participates in this Four Season trade matching system; I've never tried internal trading.)
4. Yes. The 2-br, 3-ba is a lockoff. Either the (very) large 1-br or the smaller 1-br can be reserved for less than a full week (4-3 days) - subject to availability and a small fee.
5. Nothing big. There is no outward animosity I could detect between the 2 resorts.
However, fees for hotel use are up. Timeshare guests can still can use the hotel pool (free), day care, spa and golf course and charge purchases at the hotel to their timeshare room using their key. (But, I didn't charge anything that way during my stay this January.)
6. Not particularly. However, I make reservations early and haven't had any trouble making Gold week reservations at 8-9 months from arrival. Part of this is due to the Gold season being
everything but the 4 summer months (around June 7-October 15).
In general, Gold season is for snow bunnies from colder climates. Platinum season is for CA and AZ residents who need to get out of the desert heat or need a break from the big cities.
At 8 months from arrival, a Gold season week can be used to make a reservation for a Platinum season week - for a fee ($150?) and subject to availability. (Haven't tried this yet.)
7. The 2012 MF for my 2-br was $2,291 (plus separately billed real estate taxes calculated under Proposition 13 procedures).
Minor info: The timeshare resort is pet friendly ($100 extra cleaning fee for each entire stay). Daily maid service and tidy. 2 separate areas for the timeshare resort with separate pools, workout rooms and snack facilities: Meadows (lower with golf course and pool views; and check-in facility) and Summits (perched high on the hill with expansive landscape and some pool views).
Room renovations taking place this year. Try to get a renovated room. However, the unrenovated rooms were still in pretty good shape and very luxurious. Owning at Aviara is expensive. But, there are lots of little touches which make this timeshare resort different and, IMO, still better than all other timeshare resorts.
Useful (but lately un-updated?) link to Services and Amenities and other linked Aviara pages:
http://residences.fourseasons.com/r.../services_and_amenities/residential_services/