Hard to rent out a HGVC HI timeshare?

[lschaaf]

As we contemplate where we want to purchase a Timeshare, if we bought a platinum week in HI, is it difficult to rent out, if we decided we didn't want to exchange that year? Would we convert to a week first and then list? Are we then allowed to rent via VRBO, here, or ebay?

I looked at the renting sticky and it dealt more w/how to determine price and contracts, I just want to make sure HGVC didn't have it's own restrictions.

 

[presley]

The restriction is you are only "allowed" to rent out exactly what you own. So, if you own a platinum week in the Lagoon Tower, you can only rent out a full platinum week in the Lagoon Tower. If you have ocean front/ocean view, it should be very easy to rent it out at a profit.

You would book the week as your home week reservation and then you can list it wherever you want to.

 

[tompalm]

The restriction is you are only "allowed" to rent out exactly what you own. So, if you own a platinum week in the Lagoon Tower, you can only rent out a full platinum week in the Lagoon Tower. If you have ocean front/ocean view, it should be very easy to rent it out at a profit.

You would book the week as your home week reservation and then you can list it wherever you want to.

Is this something new? I own Flamingo Las Vegas and have reserved Lagoon Tower several times over the past 10 years for my family to use when they come visit me. Each time I did a name change without any problem, but they are charging a fee for that now. The last time I did this was 13 months ago for my cousins. I have never had a problem doing this. In 2009, I was working in Japan for one year and could not use my timeshare so I reserved a week at the Lagoon Tower in Waikiki and advertised it on TUG. There was no problem finding someone to rent it. It is one of the most highly requested timeshares that Hilton has.

On a separate note, the maintenance fee is a lot higher in Hawaii than most places. Only buy Hawaii if you plan to stay in Waikiki a lot.

 

[DeniseM]

High season weeks, will be very good rentals - off-season, significantly worse.

Personally, I woud not use VRBO (really high fees) or ebay (too cumbersome, and people are expecting dirt cheap prices.)

I'd use websites that are designed for timeshare rentals - like the TUG Marketplace and Redweek - both.

 

[sb2313]

It is against the hgvc rules to rent out a club(non home resort/season/view) unit. However, I don't recall any posts here on enforcement by hgvc. That doesn't mean that they don't do it, just no one has posted here regarding that.

 

[PassionForTravel]

Is this something new? I own Flamingo Las Vegas and have reserved Lagoon Tower several times over the past 10 years for my family to use when they come visit me. Each time I did a name change without any problem, but they are charging a fee for that now. The last time I did this was 13 months ago for my cousins. I have never had a problem doing this. In 2009, I was working in Japan for one year and could not use my timeshare so I reserved a week at the Lagoon Tower in Waikiki and advertised it on TUG. There was no problem finding someone to rent it. It is one of the most highly requested timeshares that Hilton has.

On a separate note, the maintenance fee is a lot higher in Hawaii than most places. Only buy Hawaii if you plan to stay in Waikiki a lot.

HGVC differentiates between reserving units for friends/family and paying the guest fee vs renting the unit out in the open market. The implication is that money is not changing hands in the prior but it's not explicitly spelled out. How or if they enforcing that is not known. If you are reserving them for friends/family there would be no public record even if money changed hands. I view this as being permissible. If you have an ad on redweek, ebay, etc. then theoretically you could be caught and it would be a violation of the rules.

Ian

 

[tompalm]

HGVC differentiates between reserving units for friends/family and paying the guest fee vs renting the unit out in the open market. The implication is that money is not changing hands in the prior but it's not explicitly spelled out. How or if they enforcing that is not known. If you are reserving them for friends/family there would be no public record even if money changed hands. I view this as being permissible. If you have an ad on redweek, ebay, etc. then theoretically you could be caught and it would be a violation of the rules.

Ian

Thanks. I didn't know that. I find it amazing that rule exist and nobody seems to care. There are seven HGVC timeshares on Oahu for rent right now on TUG. I have called the customer service line every time I made a name change (about nine times including Orlando, Las Vegas and Hawaii), and talked to someone at HGVC and they made the name change for me. I was never told about this rule. They don't care.

 

[presley]

Thanks. I didn't know that. I find it amazing that rule exist and nobody seems to care. There are seven HGVC timeshares on Oahu for rent right now on TUG. I have called the customer service line every time I made a name change (about nine times including Orlando, Las Vegas and Hawaii), and talked to someone at HGVC and they made the name change for me. I was never told about this rule. They don't care.

It may not be a matter of not caring. We can book vacations for friends and family whenever we want if we aren't renting to them. I think members would get mad if they were questioned when ordering a guest certificate about if it is a gift or a rental.

Even the rentals seen on Tug could be true home week reservations, which are allowed to be rented out. As long as Hilton doesn't feel like they are in a competition with owners for renting units, they probably won't explore it too much. Now, if at some point many owners started complaining that they can't get reservations because mega owners are booking everything and renting them out for a profit, they will likely step in. Otherwise, it's probably a matter of don't ask, don't tell.

 

[brp]

It may not be a matter of not caring. We can book vacations for friends and family whenever we want if we aren't renting to them. I think members would get mad if they were questioned when ordering a guest certificate about if it is a gift or a rental.

Even the rentals seen on Tug could be true home week reservations, which are allowed to be rented out. As long as Hilton doesn't feel like they are in a competition with owners for renting units, they probably won't explore it too much. Now, if at some point many owners started complaining that they can't get reservations because mega owners are booking everything and renting them out for a profit, they will likely step in. Otherwise, it's probably a matter of don't ask, don't tell.

My guess (and this is just a guess) is that anyone doing this occasionally would not have a problem whereas someone who does this "a lot" (subject to interpretation) might get more questions.

So, what are the high seasons in Oahu anyway?

Cheers.

 

[tompalm]

My guess (and this is just a guess) is that anyone doing this occasionally would not have a problem whereas someone who does this "a lot" (subject to interpretation) might get more questions.

So, what are the high seasons in Oahu anyway?

Cheers.

HGVC on Oahu is the most requested of all Hilton Timeshares. Maybe New York is harder to get, but Oahu stays booked all year round. You need to be on your computer nine months in advance to reserve a unit if you don't own on Oahu. If you do own, make sure you book between 9 and 12 months in advance. Having said that, summer, spring break and Christmas are the most difficult to get because the kids are out of school and people travel with families. You will find opening from time to time during the year. You need to check often to see what comes up. Lot of people will book nine months out and cancel. So openings do happen. You need to be flexible with travel dates, get your timeshare first and than buy airline tickets.

 

[brp]

HGVC on Oahu is the most requested of all Hilton Timeshares. Maybe New York is harder to get, but Oahu stays booked all year round. You need to be on your computer nine months in advance to reserve a unit if you don't own on Oahu. If you do own, make sure you book between 9 and 12 months in advance. Having said that, summer, spring break and Christmas are the most difficult to get because the kids are out of school and people travel with families. You will find opening from time to time during the year. You need to check often to see what comes up. Lot of people will book nine months out and cancel. So openings do happen. You need to be flexible with travel dates, get your timeshare first and than buy airline tickets.

Thanks. I'm actually looking from the other perspective- as someone who has too many points and will probably look (not here, but in the appropriate TUG marketplace) to rent them. It's just good to know what's popular when I look to see what (if anything) I can find.

We prefer the Big Island, and generally don't have a problem using our Vegas points at Bay club. We also avoid all of those times as we don't have kids and would never want to be in Hawai'i in the summer. With that said, we are going to Bay Club for Thanksgiving

Chers,