Just bought today and were very excited. Bought 1 platinum floating week (week 13) per year for large 1 bedroom. Now we're having serious questions after reading more online. Any input those with Starwood might share would really be appreciated.
1. We were told that the home resort didnt matter. - getting in to any Starwood resort during any season would not be a problem. Thus we bought in Orlando where we have zero interest. Reading online it appears that the ability to book other Startwood properties that interest us - Hawaii, Bahamas, St. John, Cancun - might be limited by not having them as a home resort?
2. We were told specifically that a week in Starwoods equaled a week in II...that everything in Starwoods was considered red. Upon getting home we read that a week in Starwoods doesnt always equal at least a week in II. True or False?
3. We read that Starwoods assigns us a week when we want to trade into II....thus we might be assigned a low interest week in a low interest resort. Is this something to be concerned about?
4. We've just scratched the surface of reading about booking 8-12 months in advance. We never book vacations that far in advance - usually 3-4 months. Will our ability to use the program be compromised by not being able to pick a week 8-12 months in advance.
5. We were told that the price was always the price, that SVO cannot be resold except directly through them for a 7% fee. Thus the $17,900 we paid was the best possible price. Now I've seen other posts talking about a resale market and did a quick scan of redweek and see that they are listed there for much lower prices than we paid. (We were given 80,000 starwood points which has good value so maybe that offsets the higher purchase price)
Now we're wondering if Trendwest might not be a better option - on the surface it appears much more flexible? Now we're feeling that Starwood was portrayed very differently than it is. (we know the spg program is great) Any help?
1. We were told that the home resort didnt matter. - getting in to any Starwood resort during any season would not be a problem. Thus we bought in Orlando where we have zero interest. Reading online it appears that the ability to book other Startwood properties that interest us - Hawaii, Bahamas, St. John, Cancun - might be limited by not having them as a home resort?
2. We were told specifically that a week in Starwoods equaled a week in II...that everything in Starwoods was considered red. Upon getting home we read that a week in Starwoods doesnt always equal at least a week in II. True or False?
3. We read that Starwoods assigns us a week when we want to trade into II....thus we might be assigned a low interest week in a low interest resort. Is this something to be concerned about?
4. We've just scratched the surface of reading about booking 8-12 months in advance. We never book vacations that far in advance - usually 3-4 months. Will our ability to use the program be compromised by not being able to pick a week 8-12 months in advance.
5. We were told that the price was always the price, that SVO cannot be resold except directly through them for a 7% fee. Thus the $17,900 we paid was the best possible price. Now I've seen other posts talking about a resale market and did a quick scan of redweek and see that they are listed there for much lower prices than we paid. (We were given 80,000 starwood points which has good value so maybe that offsets the higher purchase price)
Now we're wondering if Trendwest might not be a better option - on the surface it appears much more flexible? Now we're feeling that Starwood was portrayed very differently than it is. (we know the spg program is great) Any help?
Last edited: