HGVC Marbrisa purchase of 14k points

[Dom Mason]

Hi there,

My wife and I are from the UK. We stay at HGVC Tuscany on a regular basis but have never gone through official owners site.

We are thinking of buying a resale at HGVC Marbrisa aiming to go to there annually 20th (ish) March to mid (ish) April and possibly again late summer.

Any Marbrisa owners here? How's the resort? I see it gets a kinda low score in the TUG reviews (from fussy Americans LOL not constantly ripped off Brits - never come to London if you think US 4 star hotels are kinda not good enough! just kidding guys).

Also - one for all HGVC owners - I imagine us camped on a keyboard overnight 365 days before our booking window, trying to get a booking on the HGVC website... what's the practical chances? Should you always have 3/4 options in mind even if you have XXk 'Platinum' points?

Thanks in advance! If anyone on here ever travels to the UK or Europe and wants friendly advice please ping me. I'm an IT consultant in London and travel all over.

Dom

 

[SmithOp]

I'm not aware of a 14K unit at Marbrisa, it may be two deeds with two maint fees. I think you can do better if its just pure points you are looking to buy.

Springtime and late Summer is nice in Carlsbad, you should be able to book something at 9 months if you can commit to booking early.

Thats a long haul for you, are you sure you want that every year? I've done the LA to London flight on BA, I hear you on prices in London.


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[Dom Mason]

Hi Smithop,

Cheers for the fast answer.

"You can do better if it's pure points"

OK... so here come the questions... if there's no 14k units, how do you get 14k points for two weeks? (Excuse the dimness!)

Do you mean buy elsewhere and commit at 9 months in order to book Carlsbad?

Can you get HGVC Elite without 14k points?

Thanks for the advice on booking and the weather.

Long haul - this is medium haul for me. Try Tokyo or Shanghai on BA so called first class! My family is used to it an my son will probably go to a US college.

Also CA gives us great options to take a train along the coast in US (I know, we must be loco going on US trains, but remember everything is relative!).

Dom

 

[Talent312]

You can't get elite status (which starts at 14K) thru buying resale. You'd have to buy direct and even elite-owners will tell you that the perks are not worth the extra $USD you'd pay to do that.

Using the 12-9 month "home week" booking window should not be necessary in your case, as "club" reservations starting 9 months out would likely suffice. As a practical matter, the home-resort advantage is only necessary for really high demand locations like Hawaii and NYC. In the last 7 years, I've only stayed at my home resort twice, for a total of 6 days.

One strategy with club bookings is to book 3-days at the 9-month mark and each day, add another day. But if you can be flexible with either the places, dates or size, not even that is necessary.

.

 

[buzglyd]

Marbrisa is really nice and most of the complaints stem from GOFs who don't like the no elevators issue.

Keep in mind, not all of the Marbrisa units are HGVC. There are some that were sold by Grand Pacific prior to becoming an HGVC resort. There are also fixed weeks. Typically Carlsbad units were sold as fixed summer and float off season. Of course if you add an HGVC affiliated unit to the mix, then you are looking at either a 12 month or 9 month booking window which should be easy if you're not planning to be here in summer.

I'll give you an example. I own a fixed week 35 at Carlsbad Seapointe. I can either take my week 35 unit and use it, exchange it or contact GP and tell them I would like to give it to them in exchange for 6200 HGVC points annually.

BTW, how is the Tuscany property? We haven't been yet but would love to go someday.

 

[DazedandConfused]

also, make sure to use a reputable Hilton broker like Judi Kozlowski or Seth Nock and avoid any too good to be true eBay sales

 

[Dom Mason]

Thanks talent321 and buzglyd, very useful info.

Tuscany is great, the units are very clean and large but I am used to European family accommodation ie a shoebox, but I can see why it's 3 star. No restaurant in site eg. It has two great pools, activity club, good quality gas bbqs, walk to Publix and beat discount mall in Orlando. There's plenty to do around here but it's Orlando stuff not, you know, culture or villagey or nature rambles or beaches. Not bad just different!

 

[Dom Mason]

Thanks DazedandConfused,

Trying to raise Judi or Seth on Easter weekend. Hopefully will get resoonse next week. Currently speaking to Steven Pichardo of sellmytimeshare.

 

[klpca]

Thanks DazedandConfused,

Trying to raise Judi or Seth on Easter weekend. Hopefully will get resoonse next week. Currently speaking to Steven Pichardo of sellmytimeshare.

You may also want to check out sumdayvacation.com They have a Mar Brisa unit (every other year). I have used them on 4 or 5 purchases and they are a good reseller.

 

[buzglyd]

Oh. I thought you meant the resort in Tuscany, Italy. I've been to all the Orlando properties.

 

[seagila]

Currently speaking to Steven Pichardo of sellmytimeshare.

If you mean www.sellmytimesharenow.com, proceed with caution and only after you've done all your market research. I believe they're a legitimate outfit, but their prices and transaction fees are high compared to going market rates for resale.

There's a discussion thread here regarding a buyer inquiring about Steven Pichardo.

 

[hurnik]

I'd also try Diane Nadeau at timesharebrokersales.com
I don't know if she has any Marbrisa though.

 

[presley]

I own at Marbrisa. It has good and bad things about it. It is still being built. One of the nicer things about it is that it has a Sheraton Hotel in the middle of the property. The Sheraton Hotel has a nice spa and a great restaurant. Marbrisa doesn't have its own restaurant, but does have limited room service from the Sheraton restaurant. The pool bar probably won't be open during the spring. It has very limited hours. You should have no problem booking Marbrisa at the one year mark. I'd be surprised if anyone has a hard time booking there at the 9 month mark, actually.

Something I don't like about it is how far it is from the beach. I have a unit that is "ocean view" and I can see the ocean off in the distance, but I like being much closer to the beach if I am staying in a beach town. What is it that you plan on doing in the area once or twice per year? If you just want a vacation home/apartment, Marbrisa is great for that. If you want to walk out your door and get your feet in the sand and then buy something to eat and do some shopping without having a car, you may be happier somewhere else.

 

[SmithOp]

Hi Smithop,

Cheers for the fast answer.

"You can do better if it's pure points"

OK... so here come the questions... if there's no 14k units, how do you get 14k points for two weeks? (Excuse the dimness!)

Do you mean buy elsewhere and commit at 9 months in order to book Carlsbad?

Can you get HGVC Elite without 14k points?

Thanks for the advice on booking and the weather.

Long haul - this is medium haul for me. Try Tokyo or Shanghai on BA so called first class! My family is used to it an my son will probably go to a US college.

Also CA gives us great options to take a train along the coast in US (I know, we must be loco going on US trains, but remember everything is relative!).

Dom

If you need two weeks in a two bedroom, it would be 7,000 points each week in platinum season. If you go in May, that would only be 5000 points, study the weeks calendar and the point charts. That many points will mean you pay two or even three maint fees, depending on how much you want to pay for the buy in. There are some high point single week (maint fee) deeds but the buy in is high. You might want to check the Scotland resorts, they have low fees per point and you could work with a UK reseller. I think there is a resale office at Craigendarroch.
http://www.craigendarroch.co.uk/sale.htm

Week Calendar:

https://d1m2ucn09z2f8d.cloudfront.n...7bf1e/2017-HGV-Vacation-Planning-Calendar.pdf

Point Chart - scroll to the bottom of the page, point chart tab is on the right.

https://club.hiltongrandvacations.com/en/resort/california/hilton-grand-vacations-club-at-marbrisa/

Trains aren't bad over here, but there aren't as many options as over there. There is a station within easy walk of Seapointe, it has float weeks that work up to June, then fixed weeks for the July/Aug summer months, then back to float starting Sep. The fees might be a little more and don't have HGVC points like Buzglyd, but they are cheap to buy in.


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[Dom Mason]

Presley,

Thanks for your reply. Do you go a lot to the area or rent it out?

I know it's not a beachfront place with my toes in the sand, but thanks for your honest observations. Got to trade that 'nothing to do and that's the way I like it' with 'great surrounding area and access to CA'.

We'll probably drive to Oceanfront one day 07:00-23:00, then San Diego the next, then a hike/camp out... don't get much 'doing nothing' time on my hols!

 

[SmithOp]

Presley and Buzglyd live in Carlsbad, I'm about an hour north in Orange County.


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[Dom Mason]

Cool, residents of 'Titanium Valley'!

 

[buzglyd]

One nice perk about my Seapointe and Carlsbad Inn ownership is Day use. We use the pools and gym and beach gear anytime we want. Owners also get Bonus Time which is discounted nightly rentals.

Coastal north county is a great area to be. Nice beaches and places to eat and live music.

 

[presley]

Do you go a lot to the area or rent it out?

I actually live about 30 minutes away, but go to Carlsbad often. I used to do frequent short stays, but now that my kids have moved out, I don't have the built in pet sitters anymore and frequent holidays is no longer a thing for me. Since Marbrisa has HGVC points, I use the points for other things.

I know it's not a beachfront place with my toes in the sand, but thanks for your honest observations. Got to trade that 'nothing to do and that's the way I like it' with 'great surrounding area and access to CA'.

It sounds like may not need a HGVC property. If you always want to stay at Hilton, owning Marbrisa with points helps with that. If you are just looking for a normal vacation home, you may want to consider some of the other timeshares in the area. Some can be purchased for very cheap (like $1,000 USD or even less) for a spring week. Buzz mentioned a couple of them above, there are also Four Seasons (the best one in my opinion, also has the highest annual dues), Grand Pacific Palisades, Tamarack, a couple more in Oceanside, a couple in Del Mar and a couple in Solana Beach - all those areas are beach towns that are close together.

You'd probably want to buy fixed weeks, but some of the float week places are extremely easy to book for spring weeks, like Grand Pacific Palisades. That one allows you to book your float weeks 14 months before the year of travel. You may want to consider traveling here and spending a day or 2 just doing a day visit to all the timeshares and figure out which ones you'd most want to have a vacation home. If you prefer full service, check out Four Seasons. They have daily housekeeping, room service, very nice and large rooms with fireplaces. If you want to just kick back and are able to do things for yourself, Carlsbad Inn has tons of things within walking distance - a nice little breakfast place onsite, short walk to beach, more restaurants in walking distance than you'd probably get around to trying.

If you buy HGVC, you can trade those points to stay somewhere else in Hilton. If you buy something other than HGVC, you'll just use an exchange company to trade for other places if you want to stay somewhere else. It's pretty easy with planning a year in advance. Grand Pacific Resorts, the management company for many of the timeshares in the area is currently buying resale contracts from resale agents. If you see something you want from a good resale agent and the price is low, get it before the management buys it. They don't seem to be going after moderately priced resales.

 

[coronacars]

I live about 1 hr from carlsbad. I have both Grand Pacific Palisades and Marbrisa. Two weeks ago I stayed at Sea Pointe. I like all of them and you can't go wrong buying any of them. I would just buy 1 first then consider buying another you come and stay. I would start with Marbrisa with 7k points. You can always just rent nights at the others and see what you like and go from there. Although I have 2 timeshares I'm selling one as I have discovered I can get by with just one and then buy additional nights as I need to. Something you can consider.

 

[Dom Mason]

Thanks all for the very helpful responses.

This forum is slick, friendly and very professional.

I'll dig out Judi K then report back, see you all at the beach!

 

[ontilt]

Just adding my two cents here. I think you could do better. I just stayed at Tuscany this past week and enjoyed the stay there. I've also been at Marbrisa and wasn't really impressed (I've also stayed in your London hotels as well , although Legoland is nice for the kids.

If you're just doing it for points, it may be ok, but I think there are better properties IMO.




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[Dom Mason]

Thanks ontilt, will DM you!

 

[SmithOp]

Just adding my two cents here. I think you could do better. I just stayed at Tuscany this past week and enjoyed the stay there. I've also been at Marbrisa and wasn't really impressed (I've also stayed in your London hotels as well , although Legoland is nice for the kids.

If you're just doing it for points, it may be ok, but I think there are better properties IMO.




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I think that is just personal taste of the surrounding area because the units at Tuscany and Marbrisa are comparable. You know what you're getting with an HGVC unit.

We were at Tuscany recently and found the area devoid of character. Fine if you are visiting the parks but just mile after mile of strip malls, chain restaurants, and timeshare resorts. We'd much rather hang out at the beach and Carlsbad village, catch a California sunset.


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