Hilton GRAND Vacation Club Palm Desert Coming Q3 2022

[middleoforchid]

If I remember correctly, I booked Lagoon Tower(only 1 or 2 bd plus available for booking) at 11 months out and the next year booked Grand Waikikian( plus units only) about 11 months out also. I had to join Embarc’s internal exchange for $189 USD per year so joined 2 yrs. At the time of booking, I was told by the members’ call centre that there was only a certain amount of units available to us. Hope this helps

 

[dayooper]

@middleoforchid Thanks!

Question, how far in advance can you start booking your Embarc reservations?

 

[holdaer]

There is marginally more information (and a pretty-looking gallery) on the Hilton dot com website regarding an August opening timeframe (at least for Hotel bookings?)

Hilton Grand Vacations Club Palm Desert

Book your stay at our conveniently located Hilton Grand Vacations Club Palm Desert full-service hotel, offering spacious guest rooms and exceptional amenities.

www.hilton.com

Wow! The units look like they have been newly updated and they look great! Thanks for sharing.

I'm wondering, why does Hilton.com get the better pictures and HGVC website has the old pictures? Hmmm?

 

[middleoforchid]

@middleoforchid Thanks!

Question, how far in advance can you start booking your Embarc reservations?

For Embarc resorts---6 days or more can book 11 months out and 6 days or less at 6 months out.
After Diamond took over, we were given some of their units at Royal Regency Vincennes Paris, Club Mougins near Nice and also Portugal and Italy that we can book at the same time frame. We took a couple of weeks in France, their units are clean and comfortable not luxurious.

 

[middleoforchid]

Wow! The units look like they have been newly updated and they look great! Thanks for sharing.

I'm wondering, why does Hilton.com get the better pictures and HGVC website has the old pictures? Hmmm?

Hi, what you are looking at are the newest type of units called Casitas and they are all located in one bldg, they are bigger, not much view but require a lot more points. Just like Hilton Elara, there are so many different types of units available to book.

 

[NOLA47]

When we joined HGVC, they MANAGED club intrawest in sandestin, Florida. As an elite member, we could book twelve months out so when we returned from vacation there, I would immediately book the following year. When it became an EMBARC property, we no longer had access to the property which was very disappointing. HGVC has no properties at all in that area just a hilton hotel which requires a lot of hilton honors points and has resort fees. When HGVC bought diamond, I immediately thought we would again have access to EMBARC sandestin (formerly Club Intrawest) only to find out that we would not have access to the EMBARC properties even if you joined the max deal. I certainly hope they are giving consideration to the sandestin property to be converted to HGVC since they have no other property there. Some years ago, I was certain I saw a sign indicating a HGVC property was being built there then it just disappeared.

 

[letsgobobby]

I tested trying to search for and book this resort for spring 2023 and it doesn't come up. Has anyone successfully searched and booked?

 

[MikeinSoCal]

I tested trying to search for and book this resort for spring 2023 and it doesn't come up. Has anyone successfully searched and booked?

It says at the top of the page, "accepting reservations yet." I believe it's meant to say, "not accepting reservations yet."

 

[Bill4728]

Years ago, Club Intrawest (CI) had a deal with HGVC to allow for some internal trading of inventory between the two companies. So you could contact CI and ask if they had access to a given week at a HGVC resort if they did, you'd use your CI points to book that room. That deal between HGVC & CI went away many years before DRI bought CI.

RE the purchase of CI by DRI.
CI bylaws allow the developer to have 10 votes / ownership point and regular owners have one vote / ownership point. So the vote to allow the purchase of CI by DRI needed the developer to hold only 10% of the club ownership to be able to control the vote. The developer also can get more ownership points by buying or building a resort and adding points from resort to the ownership trust which they did a few months before the sale of CI to DRI.

 

[cd5]

All,
Looks like former Club Intrawest/Embarc Palm Desert location will get rebranded as a Hilton Grand Vacation Club resort in Q3 2022. It appears that current HGVC members will have access to this resort without being a HGV Max member. On the flip side, Diamond Resort members will need to be a HGV Max member to gain access. I see the highest value of HGV Max to be with Diamond Resort owners and not for current HGVC members. Just my opinion.

View attachment 57863

Re-branding for the Embarc clubs is the first step being done starting this fall and will take several months. Nothing has been finalized nor announced concerning exchanging with Hilton or HGV Max. Note that currently, since Embarc is a "mature" timeshare with 95% of its points already sold to individual members, availability will mostly depend on reciprocal exchanges in HGV Max between Embarc members and Hilton owners or Diamond member/owners (or other exchange company offerings if one has an II or SFX membership for example) ...

 

[NOLA47]

Not sure where all the information is being found but please continue to share. It’s interesting and appreciated.

 

[PcflEZFlng]

I visited Embarc Palm Desert about 10 days ago while staying at a nearby resort, and spoke to the people at the front desk. Since I hadn't seen it offered this year among Interval International getaways (I've stayed there on II Getaways in the past, including last year), I assumed they would no longer be using II as their exchange company, which of course made sense since HGVC is affiliated with RCI. As expected, the front desk confirmed that to me, but they also told me they wouldn't be showing up as getaways on RCI either. That bit surprised me. They said they're only using third-party outlets (such as Expedia) for unit rentals. They also confirmed that the physical rebranding of the property as HGVC will occur at the end of the summer.

 

[cd5]

I visited Embarc Palm Desert about 10 days ago while staying at a nearby resort, and spoke to the people at the front desk. Since I hadn't seen it offered this year among Interval International getaways (I've stayed there on II Getaways in the past, including last year), I assumed they would no longer be using II as their exchange company, which of course made sense since HGVC is affiliated with RCI. As expected, the front desk confirmed that to me, but they also told me they wouldn't be showing up as getaways on RCI either. That bit surprised me. They told me they are only using third-party outlets (such as Expedia) for unit rentals. They also confirmed that the physical rebranding of the property as HGVC will occur at the end of the summer.

Slight misinformation there. Interval is no longer the "official" exchange company in Embarc's Extraordinary Escapes program - it is now Destination Xchange (same as the Diamond properties) however many Embarc members took an independent Interval memberships when the Interval relationship was severed last year, and you should still see exchanges there - perhaps only through request first though. Members can still exchange points in Interval although the poi t cost of exchanges has gone up slightly. Embarc members can now also freely register with other exchange programs and I do know that SFX Resorts also has Embarc exchanges regularly as well.
For sure no getaways in II as those would be developer points offered and Hilton will want to use those possibly in HGV Max or just to sell - the developer only owns about 5% of the points in the Embarc trust.

 

[cd5]

Not sure where all the information is being found but please continue to share. It’s interesting and appreciated.

I'm an Embarc member, board director, and admin of the 6000+ members' Facebook group. We listen in on all the board meetings and info is shared quite extensively in the members-only FB group. Naturally, I can only repeat what is in the "public" arena, nothing from executive (in-camera) sessions

 

[Sugarcubesea]

There is marginally more information (and a pretty-looking gallery) on the Hilton dot com website regarding an August opening timeframe (at least for Hotel bookings?)

Hilton Grand Vacations Club Palm Desert

Book your stay at our conveniently located Hilton Grand Vacations Club Palm Desert full-service hotel, offering spacious guest rooms and exceptional amenities.

www.hilton.com

I was looking to exchange into this resort for 2025 but when I got to the final screen I see a $40.00 USD resort charge per night. Dang, I hate resorts that do this...

 

[GT75]

If you book on hilton.com into an HGVC resort, you can expect to have resort fees.

 

[PcflEZFlng]

We used to go there, mostly in low season, using II Getaways pretty regularly. Last year was our first visit after the re-branding, and the first time we had to pay the daily resort fee. It was also our final visit. They priced themselves out for us; there are too many other nice places to stay in Palm Desert that don't add on a fee that nearly doubles the Getaway price.

 

[cd5]

We used to go there, mostly in low season, using II Getaways pretty regularly. Last year was our first visit after the re-branding, and the first time we had to pay the daily resort fee. It was also our final visit. They priced themselves out for us; there are too many other nice places to stay in Palm Desert that don't add on a fee that nearly doubles the Getaway price.

Unilateral Hilton decision to add resort fees. They had them at $25usd at first and increased to $40usd recently. Applies to exchanges as well, not just getaways. I'm not sure if they charge this for DEX exchanges, would be interesting to know.
It's probably part of their tactics to make HGV Max purchases more "attractive" but there's very little good inventory left at 6 months out (not that anyone is told this) so what little choice there would be would cost a lot more per week reserved, than the resort fees.
Hilton is the king of extra fees. We've never had any previously, even after Diamond took over.

 

[GT75]

I'm not sure if they charge this for DEX exchanges, would be interesting to know.

We will find out for this resort (@CalGalTraveler) and also Embarc Panorama and HGVC Sandestin. We will report back after we stay there on DEX bookings. It has already been verified that there is no resort fee for DEX booking into Cabo Azul.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

That would be a huge devaluation for owners. It would be time to walk away and seek greener pastures. It costs almost $400 if you add protection to exchange. In addition to higher MF from base deposit. Resort fees are a race to the bottom.

 

[dioxide45]

I'm not sure if they charge this for DEX exchanges

I understand that DEX has different resort fees that are specified in the DEX guide. They don't apply to all resorts and also not the same as what they might charge to RCI or II bookings.

 

[PcflEZFlng]

Hilton is the king of extra fees.

Indeed. We recently spent a week at HVC Cancun Resort Las Vegas on a Getaway to attend a convention. Fees there as well, for a barely 3-star resort with terrible WiFi. The fees hiked the price substantially, but it was still a lot roomier than a tiny hotel room. If there had been a better TS available via Getaway, I would have chosen it.

 

[rc51]

Looking back at the topic of the original postings, it appears that this resort did not, in fact make it into HGVC. Do I read correctly?

 

[dayooper]

Looking back at the topic of the original postings, it appears that this resort did not, in fact make it into HGVC. Do I read correctly?

It's listed as HGVC, but works as a separate system (which it is) like HVC does.

 

[cd5]

Looking back at the topic of the original postings, it appears that this resort did not, in fact make it into HGVC. Do I read correctly?

Embarc has 9 (+ 4 in Europe, part of Diamond) resorts we can exchange into with no fees if booking with our points. We members ourselves, don't pay fees for much. Only cancellations ($25usd). Banking, guest certificates etc have no "transactional" fees. Hilton considers us HGVC however we can't be "integrated" because of the way our incorporation documents were created.