• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

HGVC vs Marriott timeshare

Uscjusto

newbie
Joined
Nov 27, 2013
Messages
86
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
California
I am a HGVC owner (bought in 2013) with little experience in the timeshare industry.
I was browsing the TUG forums and looking at HGVC vs Marriott threads/posts, there are 4-5x more Marriott threads/posts than HGVC.

Is Marriott that much more popular, or do they have have so many issues that come up that people need to post about?

We bought HGVC without doing much comparison research, so I'm asking after the fact.
 

presley

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2011
Messages
6,313
Reaction score
1,121
Points
448
Most likely there are just more active Marriott owners on Tug than Hilton owners. Also, once you get the system down with Hilton, there's not much left to post about, other than to try to help new people with questions.

I like Hilton better. Some people like Marriott better.
 

PigsDad

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
10,072
Reaction score
7,075
Points
898
Location
Colorado and SW Florida
Resorts Owned
HGVC Elite: SeaWorld, Surf Club, Charter Club, Valdoro
Marriott has more properties --> more owners --> more forum traffic.

I think it is as simple as that.

Kurt
 

dsmrp

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2014
Messages
2,527
Reaction score
1,847
Points
398
Location
MI Washington
Resorts Owned
Sheraton Vistana, Waikoloa Bay Club, Hyatt Pinon Pt
In my very limited knowledge of Marriott (by occasional look at their posts) their rules seem much more complicated with the Destination Club, legacy points and resale prohibitions on joining the club in some cases. HGVC is simpler because they are more flexible for resale IMO.

But Marriott does have many more resorts at more locations than HGVC.
 

Helios

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
2,297
Reaction score
134
Points
173
In my very limited knowledge of Marriott (by occasional look at their posts) their rules seem much more complicated with the Destination Club, legacy points and resale prohibitions on joining the club in some cases. HGVC is simpler because they are more flexible for resale IMO.

But Marriott does have many more resorts at more locations than HGVC.

Marriott rules are more complicated than Starwood (which I know well) and they also seem more complicated than HGVC. HGVC is definitely the most resale friendly system of the 3. From what I've seen, IMHO, their quality is below Starwood (Westin Resorts) and HGVC. But, they have a lot more locations even though they have a large concentration in Hilton Head and Orlando.
 

Seaport104

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2012
Messages
1,522
Reaction score
272
Points
294
Location
NJ
I am a HGVC owner (bought in 2013) with little experience in the timeshare industry.
I was browsing the TUG forums and looking at HGVC vs Marriott threads/posts, there are 4-5x more Marriott threads/posts than HGVC.

Is Marriott that much more popular, or do they have have so many issues that come up that people need to post about?

We bought HGVC without doing much comparison research, so I'm asking after the fact.

I own both Marriott and HGVC. HGVC is hands down simpler. Marriott rules are complicated because of all the various types of ownerships and rules that come with them- legacy, enrolled/non enrolled, pure trust points :crash:

However, IMHO, I prefer Marriott because of the variety of locations it offers and II trading.
 

Jodi0415

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2015
Messages
136
Reaction score
0
Points
126
Location
Altadena, California
Marriott rules are more complicated than Starwood (which I know well) and they also seem more complicated than HGVC. HGVC is definitely the most resale friendly system of the 3. From what I've seen, IMHO, their quality is below Starwood (Westin Resorts) and HGVC. But, they have a lot more locations even though they have a large concentration in Hilton Head and Orlando.

I'm new to timesharing and did a fair amount of due diligence before purchasing. I've been going to timeshare presentations for the free stuff for about 18 years and almost bought retail twice! One was this past August in Maui at a Diamond presentation!! So glad I did not! But I bought a sampler and can already see that it was good I did not purchase a full contract!

The only reason I didn't buy Marriott in addition to HGVC AND STARWOOD is because there were too many rules and restrictions on resales. I may one day purchase a Marriott trader but I have to wait until all the Timshare heat cools down!!

I'm grateful Hilton came through very quickly and I already have 2 reservations!
 

presley

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2011
Messages
6,313
Reaction score
1,121
Points
448
I've been going to timeshare presentations for the free stuff for about 18 years...

You may get the prize for living through all of that. What is it that prompts you to go to the presentations? They must not annoy you very much.
 

Ron98GT

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2010
Messages
2,299
Reaction score
15
Points
38
Location
Las Vegas, NV
Resorts Owned
HGVC (7k Hawaii), Marriott (2-Bdrm L/O), & RCI Points (80k Grand View)
Marriott rules are more complicated than Starwood (which I know well) and they also seem more complicated than HGVC. HGVC is definitely the most resale friendly system of the 3. From what I've seen, IMHO, their quality is below Starwood (Westin Resorts) and HGVC. But, they have a lot more locations even though they have a large concentration in Hilton Head and Orlando.
I own a Marriott 2-BDRM Lock-off (L/O) week and I also own a HGVC worth 7K points.

1. The HGVC points system is nice and easy to use, although I don't like being limited to to a 9 month reservation window instead of 12/13 months (Marriott) or even 24 months (RCI).
2. I really like the Marriott preference, which always gives Marriott owners access to Marriott properties before others in II.
3. Each year, I L/O my Marriott week and deposit both weeks into II. This always gets me 2 weeks, which I use in Hawaii, for a 2-BDRM Marriott or Westin TS. Last year we even stayed in a 2-BDRM TS at the Marriott Aruba Surf Club.
4. From my experience, I'd say Marriott's are definitely of better quality than the HGVC's: granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, seem to be maintained and upgraded more often, etc.
5. On Oahu, HGVC is on Waikiki Beach and Marriott is in Ko'Olina: both are nice and different. HGVC is on the Big Island. Marriott is on Maui and Kauai. I've stayed at all of the properties including the Westin on Maui which was super nice.
6. HGVC has properties in NYC, which we've stayed at. HGVC also has a TS in Miami Beach.
7. Marriott is in the Caribbean: St Thomas, St Kitts, & Aruba. HGVC is not.
8. Marriott also has TS's in Paris, Spain, and Thailand.
9. Marriott weeks uses II for all Marriott-to-Marriott exchanges, whereas all HGVC exchanges are internal.
10. You can use HGVC for Italy, Portugal, Scotland, & Mexico.
11. HGVC is good for short points stays, like Las Vegas New Years Eve, NYC, and the Lagoon Tower for a few days.
12. Marriott has a lot more locations along the East Coast.

Both systems are completely different, the resorts are different, and for the most part the locations are different.

I really like owning both systems and highly recommend it to others. I wouldn't say one is better than the other, I like them both, but would never buy into the Marriott points system.
 
Last edited:

Jodi0415

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2015
Messages
136
Reaction score
0
Points
126
Location
Altadena, California
You may get the prize for living through all of that. What is it that prompts you to go to the presentations? They must not annoy you very much.

Lol! I guess they didn't! They certainly do now (our last presentation was nightmarish!) and can't see myself going again after we've used all the sampler points. I will set a timer on my cell for exactly 60 min and without a word we will stand and exit.

And with our timeshare ownership I will simply take the phone off the hook!

We always went for the free and discounted stuff!
 

JSparling

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Messages
362
Reaction score
17
Points
128
Location
Castle Pines, CO
I really like owning both systems and highly recommend it to others. I wouldn't say one is better than the other, I like them both, but would never buy into the Marriott points system.

Ron appears to be an expert on both so owning both is a good thing for him. I consider myself an expert on HGVC and decided it would be fun to own another system and see what that was like. So we bought a SVO week last year and I hate it. I don't understand the system, I don't like that I can't borrow from next year until I pay next year's MF's, and I don't like the restrictions with II when I want to change my reservation 10 months out.

In other words, I wish we never bought it because I don't have the time to learn the ins and outs and secrets of the SVO system like I did for HGVC. If you don't have time to become an expert with whatever system you buy you're probably not going to get the most out of it and may not enjoy it as much as you would if you knew everything and how to work the system.
 

JSparling

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Messages
362
Reaction score
17
Points
128
Location
Castle Pines, CO
Lol! I guess they didn't! They certainly do now (our last presentation was nightmarish!) and can't see myself going again after we've used all the sampler points. I will set a timer on my cell for exactly 60 min and without a word we will stand and exit.

And with our timeshare ownership I will simply take the phone off the hook!

We always went for the free and discounted stuff!

Good for you! And you've proven that people can say "no". :clap: :clap: :clap: How many times do you see the victims on here that blame the salesman for their $40K resale purchase because "they wouldn't let me say no" or they "made me sign the contract even when I wasn't comfortable doing so"?

Jodi knows the systems, knows her rights, and capitalizes on the free-bees. Good for her. And thanks for not being a crybaby who wants to blame everyone except the person in the mirror for signing on the dotted line.
 

Helios

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
2,297
Reaction score
134
Points
173
I'm new to timesharing and did a fair amount of due diligence before purchasing. I've been going to timeshare presentations for the free stuff for about 18 years and almost bought retail twice! One was this past August in Maui at a Diamond presentation!! So glad I did not! But I bought a sampler and can already see that it was good I did not purchase a full contract!

The only reason I didn't buy Marriott in addition to HGVC AND STARWOOD is because there were too many rules and restrictions on resales. I may one day purchase a Marriott trader but I have to wait until all the Timshare heat cools down!!

I'm grateful Hilton came through very quickly and I already have 2 reservations!

Marriott has some pros. IMHO Marriott makes sense when you have specific goals. In my case, I bought Marriott Ko Olina because I wanted access to Oahu since Starwood does not have properties there. That was before purchasing King's Land. I would probably not buy Marriott now because I think their quality is not on par with Starwood.

Marriott is terrible for resale owners. You really need to buy where you want to go or can rent the years you cannot use your VOI. The Marriott to Marriott preference in II is a nice perk.
 

Helios

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
2,297
Reaction score
134
Points
173
You may get the prize for living through all of that. What is it that prompts you to go to the presentations? They must not annoy you very much.

No kidding.
 

frank808

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
4,177
Reaction score
2,333
Points
448
Location
Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club
Resorts Owned
Disney Vacation Club (Aulani,SSR,VGC,VGF) Hilton Grand Vacation Club(Bay Club, Kohala Suites, The District) Marriott Vacation Club (Aruba Surf Club, Grand Residence, Grand Chateau, Grand Vista,Harbour Lake, KoOlina,Willow Ridge & DC points)
I own hgvc, dvc and marriott (weeks owner only)and bought them in that order. For my needs these systems complement each other very well. Hgvc and marriott are strong in different areas.
DVC treats their resale owners the best followed by HGVC and then Marriott.
Quality of units in my opinion start with marriott, hgvc and dvc the worat of the three systems. Not that the units are bad but just seems like the furnishings and maintenance of dvc units are not as good as marriott.
DVC is the most expensive in maintenence fees but there are no fees to book your stays and the most flexible of the three. Marriott points owners have the same flexibility as dvc. If you are a marriott weeks owner you have to book full week stays. Hgvc allows a minimum of 3 night bookings so not as flexible as the other two. Worst thing about hgvc is they nickel and dime you to death. Charge you to make each booking, there is a charge to rescue points and many other fees. Worst for me is that they even charge you to park at their waikiki timeshares.
In the past 7 years our patterns have changed. We now donot stay at hgvc very much anymore. That leaves us with a ton of points left evey year that i pay to rescue to the next year. I have mainly used those points to stay 8 weeks at aulani last year and 6 weeks this year. But the exchange beast has changed yet again and there has been no deposits lately. We are using our marriott timeshares the most followed by disney. In orlando we have not stayed in an hgvc unit for over 3 years. We would rather stay in marriott for a few weeks and dvc for about a week. Even my son gets tired of the mouse now after a week and tells me he would rather goto stay at a marriott lakeshore reserve.
We prefer marriott ts right now and love all the different locations it offers. Hgvc is only on oahu, carlabad, las vegas, florida and new york in the US. Marriott has way more locations. Well dvc is mainly only in orlando. They do have a big presence here on oahu but only a small presence hilton head, vero beach and grand california.
Also love that marriott presence in Interval. I can't figure out why rci penalizes hgvc owners trying to book back into hgvc. Would prefer hgvc get first dibs at trading back into the same system like marriott does.
 

hockeybrain

TUG Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2009
Messages
183
Reaction score
9
Points
228
Location
new jersey
Ron / Frank - Marriott always seemed the best to us because of number of locations and II availability. However, Marriott seems horrible for resale owners and the maintenance fees were by far the highest last I looked. Can a resale owner even use the Marriott time share system with the exception of staying in the resort they purchased resale?
 

Helios

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
2,297
Reaction score
134
Points
173
Ron / Frank - Marriott always seemed the best to us because of number of locations and II availability. However, Marriott seems horrible for resale owners and the maintenance fees were by far the highest last I looked. Can a resale owner even use the Marriott time share system with the exception of staying in the resort they purchased resale?

If resale owner does not enroll in DC, then the answer is no. Unless, you trade via II.
 

Ralph Sir Edward

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2013
Messages
2,873
Reaction score
3,501
Points
448
Location
Plano, Texas
I'm a recent refugee from Marriott, and I would like to provide an alternative viewpoint.

First, I only buy resale. Second, I don't buy naked points (a la MVC points).

I owned a single Platinum (Red) week, and a single Bronze (Blue - hurricane) Week at an Orlando Marriott resort. Being different seasons, they could not be combined for booking.

The Marriott booking system discriminates against single week owners. HGVC does not. This is something to consider, if you plan to be a single week owner.

A multi-week owner gets two windows to book, once at 13 months in the future, and once at 12 months in the future. A single week owner only get access at the twelve month window.

But it doesn't stop there...With Marriott, you can book multiple weeks at a time when the 13th month window opens. Example, say you own 4 Platinum weeks at a resort, and you wanted to book President's Day week, above all. You could start booking at the 13th month window, 3 weeks in advance of President's Day week, and book the 4 consecutive weeks, Getting President's Day week, at nearly 14 months in advance, and then cancelling the other 3 weeks reservations, for other uses.

This is great if you are a multi-week Marriott owner, not so great for a single week Marriott owner.

The HGVC system is much friendlier to a single week owner, and to home use owners. You have a 3 month window, where you only compete with other owners at your home resort. Each week is open to all at the window, no booking ahead for multiple weeks.

I don't even want to go into the respective points system...
 

SmithOp

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2010
Messages
7,609
Reaction score
3,403
Points
499
Location
Huntington Beach, CA
Resorts Owned
HGVC King's Land 2BR Premier 23.040K Points.
I can't figure out why rci penalizes hgvc owners trying to book back into hgvc. Would prefer hgvc get first dibs at trading back into the same system like marriott does.


I agree with all of Franks points, and this last one really sticks in my craw. HGVC dumps a lot of weeks into RCI well in advance of the 9 month limit so we never get a shot using HGVC points through the RCI gateway access. The only way is to own a separate RCI account, which is the direction I took when expanding beyond HGVC.


Sent from my iPad Mini 4 using Tapatalk
 

Jason245

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2014
Messages
1,920
Reaction score
171
Points
173
I agree with all of Franks points, and this last one really sticks in my craw. HGVC dumps a lot of weeks into RCI well in advance of the 9 month limit so we never get a shot using HGVC points through the RCI gateway access. The only way is to own a separate RCI account, which is the direction I took when expanding beyond HGVC.


Sent from my iPad Mini 4 using Tapatalk
Might have something to do with the fact that we are booking through hgvc portal into rci. . They don't like the idea of you booking into their system with more lead time then you should have.. I do wonder if the same nine month window applies for hilton club ny.. since technically non hilton club owners can't ever book from source other than rci..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
 

tompalm

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
2,073
Reaction score
347
Points
293
Location
Honolulu, Hawaii
A lot of interesting views here. I guess it really matters what type of travel you are looking for. I have traveled to all the places around the US that I care to visit and only have an interest in Vegas, Hawaii and Florida. So HGVC works great for us. I love the flexibility of reserving 3 days or 3 weeks if I want, or getting a studio or two bedroom. I agree that staying with one TS company is best and would not consider buying into a different system.
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2010
Messages
24
Reaction score
2
Points
163
Location
Alabama
***
I really like owning both systems and highly recommend it to others. I wouldn't say one is better than the other, I like them both, but would never buy into the Marriott points system.

Confused I am. You say you would never buy into the Marriott points system, but you do indeed own Marriott.
 

SueDonJ

Moderator
Joined
Jul 26, 2006
Messages
16,612
Reaction score
5,778
Points
1,249
Location
Massachusetts and Hilton Head Island
Resorts Owned
Marriott Barony Beach and SurfWatch
Confused I am. You say you would never buy into the Marriott points system, but you do indeed own Marriott.

Marriott has both a Weeks system, the original product, and a Points system, introduced in 2010. Many Weeks Owners have no interest at all in buying into the Points system.
 

Ron98GT

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2010
Messages
2,299
Reaction score
15
Points
38
Location
Las Vegas, NV
Resorts Owned
HGVC (7k Hawaii), Marriott (2-Bdrm L/O), & RCI Points (80k Grand View)
Confused I am. You say you would never buy into the Marriott points system, but you do indeed own Marriott.

I own a 2-BDRM L/O "week" in the old legacy Marriott weeks system, which is in the Palm Desert (Shadow Ridge). I can L/O my week (the 1-BDRM & the studio), deposit both weeks into II, and then get 2 weeks in Hawaii (or somewhere else) in a 2-BDRM Marriott or Westin TS, with a full kitchen and W/D. If I was using Marriott points, I wouldn't have enough points for 1 full week, let alone 2 weeks, but I really do like Ko'Olina and have stayed there several times.

We leave on Sunday morning for a 2 week stay at the Marriott Maui Ocean Club (MOC), Lahaina & Napili towers, which will be in a 2-BDRM Ocean Front TS with full kitchen and W/D: we couldn't have done this with Marriott points nor could we have done this with any number of HGVC points (HGVC isn't on Maui and when they do open a TS they will be in Kihei and they won't be on the beach). I also really like the Marriott Waiohai Beach Club (WBC) on Kauai in Poipu: no HGVC's on Kauai. On Oahu, you can chose between the Marriott Ko'Olina and the HGVC HHV: one year we stayed at both over 2 weeks.

Note that all of my TS's have been purchased on the resale market, using eBay or here on TUG. I never purchased from the developer and never will.

As stated, Marriott's seem to me to offer slightly better quality over HGVC and Marriott offers more locations and over-all more TS's. I won't say that one is better than the other, I think that they compliant each other very well. Example, next year we'll be spending 2 weeks on the BI in Waikoloa at HGVC Kings' Land and the Kohala Suites (aka WBR): no Marriott TS on the BI. We'll be at the Flamingo here in Vegas for 3 days over new Years: can't do this with my Marriott. And we'll be at the HGVC W57th St in NYC again in 2017: again no Marriott. Like I said, I like owning both and they compliment each other.

Lastly, I'm not a proponent of buying where you want to vacation. Things change and we mix up locations a lot, I like trading.
 
Last edited:
Top