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Hawaii trading question and DC question

lumpy

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HI,
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but since we bought our timeshare at HHI we've done 5 trades to Hawaii and am wondering if it would be advantageous to get a Marriott Hawaiian timeshare since we like going there so often.

If so, any idea on a reasonable trader for other Hawaiian resorts. I was initially thinking KoOlina, we really liked that resort and it has lock offs. Do they all trade well between each other? If you get an island view week, can you ever upgrade to an ocean view?

DC question. I'm looking at retirement, possibly trading to stay a month at a time. If you get DC points and get a 2 bedroom, can you then split that week and take two weeks with that as if you are an owner?

Open to all suggestions and strategies.
 

BocaBoy

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Grand Chateau
HI,
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but since we bought our timeshare at HHI we've done 5 trades to Hawaii and am wondering if it would be advantageous to get a Marriott Hawaiian timeshare since we like going there so often.

If so, any idea on a reasonable trader for other Hawaiian resorts. I was initially thinking KoOlina, we really liked that resort and it has lock offs. Do they all trade well between each other? If you get an island view week, can you ever upgrade to an ocean view?

DC question. I'm looking at retirement, possibly trading to stay a month at a time. If you get DC points and get a 2 bedroom, can you then split that week and take two weeks with that as if you are an owner?

Open to all suggestions and strategies.

Ko Olina would be a good choice. All Marriott Hawaiian resorts trade well, with the least powerful being Kauai Beach club. Ko Olina will be cheaper to buy than Maui, which is the highest demand of all the Marriott Hawaiian resorts. If you own an island view week, you will always get an island view if you are reserving your owner's week. If you use DC points, you can reserve what you want if you have sufficient points and there is availability.

With DC points, you reserve what you want. You cannot reserve a 2BR and then split it. You would instead reserve a 1BR week and a studio week if you want two consecutive weeks in such accommodations.
 

dougp26364

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
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Location
Kansas
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grand Chateau
Marriott Shadow Ridge
Marriott Ocean Pointe
Marriott Destination Club Points
Hilton Grand Vacation Club Las Vegas Blvd
Grand Colorado on Peak 8
Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
HI,
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but since we bought our timeshare at HHI we've done 5 trades to Hawaii and am wondering if it would be advantageous to get a Marriott Hawaiian timeshare since we like going there so often.

If so, any idea on a reasonable trader for other Hawaiian resorts. I was initially thinking KoOlina, we really liked that resort and it has lock offs. Do they all trade well between each other? If you get an island view week, can you ever upgrade to an ocean view?

DC question. I'm looking at retirement, possibly trading to stay a month at a time. If you get DC points and get a 2 bedroom, can you then split that week and take two weeks with that as if you are an owner?

Open to all suggestions and strategies.

Keeping in mind this is only my personal opinion and nothing more.

1. I think the main reason to own any particular resort is to own the view you want rather than trading in and hoping you get a view of anything other than the parking lot. This may be especially true if it's a resort with high owner occupancy and/or your desired season is a high demand season.

2. If you like being higher up on the food chain as to getting a preferred location or view in your view category.

3. It's a resort you know you like, and want to go back to go back to that resort, more frequently than not.

As to buying a lower value week and getting bumped up to a better view, it's been my experience that Marriott always gives you the view you own. If you buy island view you would always be placed in an island view unit. It's the reason we purchased an ocean front unit at Ocean Pointe. We own a 3 bedroom lock-off. Even though we've locked off the unit many times we've ALWAYS been placed in the master suite for a 3 bedroom unit. We've never been placed in one of the other 2 bedroom ocean front units. Only the lock-off side of the 3 bedroom unit. My opinion is if you want the ocean view, buy the ocean view. If you're happy with an island view and buy an island view don't anticipate or expect you'll be bumped up to a better view when reserving and staying on your own time.

As to DC points: I like points in that I can reserve the view I want for as many or as few days as I want or can afford. Think of reserving with DC points like reserving a hotel room. You'll get the room you reserve for the amount of time you reserve it. Nothing more. There's no stretching a points reservation into more time. If you reserve a 2 bedroom unit for 2 weeks, that's what you'll get. You can't use points to reserve a 2 bedroom unit and then lock off that unit to get 4 weeks. You would need to make a points reservation for two weeks in a 1 bedroom unit and another points reservation for 2 weeks in a studio unit.....if that's the question your asking. I've been know to misinterpret meaning or intent in the past.

Which one would trade better? That's an entirely different can of worms. After nearly 20 years of owning timeshare I find it's impossible to anticipate much about exchanging. Some years it's very easy, others not so much. So many factors seem to play into it. Location, economy, the cost to get there and, in Hawaii the world economy, especially in Asia, can have a bigger impact on supply/demand than most continental USA resorts.
 
Last edited:

Quadmaniac

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Marriott Willow Ridge (x2), Ko Olina week 51 (x3) & 52(x2)
If you are looking at Ko Olina, it all depends on how picky you are in view. I've traded into Ko Olina on a regular basis for about $750/week using my cheap traders. As of the last year, they have tightened it up so that we only get low floors and the view is not guaranteed.

That is a far cry from buying a week at say $10-15K and $2100 MF per week, or in the case of DC points, anywhere from 4500-6800 (I think) at a cost of 2250-3400 in DC MF approxiamately.

Generally availability has been really good in getting 2 br units, but you have to use a 1 br most times now. I used to be able to use my studio units to grab 2 weeks in Ko Olina back to back, but it has become harder to do that lately and it is only available with studios closer to the check in date. Still I have found studios to be good for more immediate bookings.

If you are thinking of multiple weeks or a month there, I would encourage you to look at traders. I know of another TUG member who trades into Ko Olina for most of the year (currently he has every week from Jan-Jun) using the huge number of weeks he has. It is certainly alot more cost effective than owning that many Hawaii weeks unless you have lots of money burning a hole in your pocket.
 

lumpy

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Thanks, that pretty much verifies what I thought about DC points. Been trading my HP week pretty well but not able to really snag the nicest weeks, so usually get decent weeks. Will be in Aruba in April, 2nd trip there to Surf Club, but only in a one bedroom. I really like the idea of having a lockoff, 3 bedroom would be the best but don't want to pay the Hawaiian MF for that kind of unit.
Any more ideas as to traders?
 
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