How can I ever book Hilton Head for less than a week?

[Mark I]

We purchased a minimum amount of points in Dec '19 (1,000 points, which is now 3,000 due to bonus and banked). We typically like to book 4-5 day vacations and it seems even if I try 10 months in advance, Hilton Head gets entirely booked before I even log in on the day it is available. I'm trying for early June which, I know can be busy, but they do have like 8 resorts there. Customer Service was useless when I called.n Had the same issue with multiple other resorts. Any hidden tricks would be appreciated.

 

[Dean]

There is availability for Harbour Club currently for one of the weeks in June but it's more than 10 months out. I don't follow availability after 12 months for HHI but it's not uncommon for weeks to show up due to cancelations so keep checking.

 

[jont]

June is an extremly popular month for the south carolina resorts since most southern schools are already out. You mighy have to lower your expectations and concentrate on going during the monts between october and april. I would not give up tho. keep trying every day and you may get lucky. good luck

 

[Swice]

You have to remember to a large extent, even after ten years, we're still in the transition period for the points system. I'm thinking there are still a gigantic number of "week" owners in Hilton Head compared to pure trust time. For there to be point availability, a Hilton Head weeks owner has to elect "points" in a given year instead of using "their" week. It's the same concept as Interval... it has always been hard to trade into Hilton Head during the summer because a large percentage of Hilton Head owners used their weeks instead of depositing the week into Interval.

Over the past decade, we've generally seen a VERY slow decline of Marriott Interval deposits/availability as people have elected points instead of depositing in Interval. Over more time, week owners will either elect points or sell back to Marriott (or right of first refusal) and then those weeks will turn into point availability.

 

[mbstn6254]

June is an extremly popular month for the south carolina resorts since most southern schools are already out. You mighy have to lower your expectations and concentrate on going during the monts between october and april. I would not give up tho. keep trying every day and you may get lucky. good luck

Yes! Lower your expectations. Hilton Head in February is "gorgeous". That's what your purchase will get you. That and Phoenix in August.

 

[sail27bill]

Hilton Head is extremely popular during the summer. I know a number of people who own multiple weeks at Barony, Surfwatch and Grand Ocean. They either use them or rent. They never convert them to DC points. I too bought the minimum amount of DC points so I can rent points for my stays. I did this because I felt that this strategy would work for all places except Hilton Head because I knew after years of exchanging in that Hilton Head was a very popular destination and partial weeks would be unlikely. I did not need Hilton Head since I bought a home here. I do check the Marriott website often and this past month I have seen availability for July and August but at most 3 days in a row (Surfwatch) and Grand Ocean for 2 days--both during the week, no weekends. So it is doable. But this is last minute. I can concur that September to November and March through May is lovely here if this is a time of year that works for you. The points required are more reasonable and stretch farther than if staying during the summer.

 

[Steve A]

"I can concur that September to November and March through May is lovely here if this is a time of year that works for you. The points required are more reasonable and stretch farther than if staying during the summer."

And less humidity and mosquitoes but more hurricanes in September through November.

 

[rthib]

One of the reasons that I recommend against buying minimum number of points if you want to travel when everyone else is traveling.
There are a lot of folks who booked those vacations 13 months out, so your only hope is someone happens to need to cancel their trip.
Those do happen as I cancelled a HHI 5 day a few months back when everyone's schedule changed.
One other thing is they have also been playing games at some of the resorts. Check to see if a 7 day is available then call or get on chat and they will "discover" the problem and book you for less than 7 days (assuming you are within your booking window for less than 7 days.)

 

[jmhpsu93]

You could try wait-listing too - probably is that it ties up your points until you cancel or you get a match / cancellation. COVID has thrown everything around as well.

Just keep trying. I was able to book 5 nights at SurfWatch in June 2021 back in October of 2020. Right now I can see Memorial Day weekend available at Barony.

You're also outside your booking window other than the first few days of June right now.

 

[Dean]

You have to remember to a large extent, even after ten years, we're still in the transition period for the points system. I'm thinking there are still a gigantic number of "week" owners in Hilton Head compared to pure trust time. For there to be point availability, a Hilton Head weeks owner has to elect "points" in a given year instead of using "their" week. It's the same concept as Interval... it has always been hard to trade into Hilton Head during the summer because a large percentage of Hilton Head owners used their weeks instead of depositing the week into Interval.

Over the past decade, we've generally seen a VERY slow decline of Marriott Interval deposits/availability as people have elected points instead of depositing in Interval. Over more time, week owners will either elect points or sell back to Marriott (or right of first refusal) and then those weeks will turn into point availability.

I've seen a fair amount of availability for Grande Ocean for weeks 25, 26 & 27 but it goes quickly. I do think that there is a decent volume of owners taking points for Platinum time at MGO, I would suspect this holds true for the big 3. It might or might not be represetative for the lessor resorts because of the lower points value returned.

 

[SueDonJ]

... I'm thinking there are still a gigantic number of "week" owners in Hilton Head compared to pure trust time. For there to be point availability, a Hilton Head weeks owner has to elect "points" in a given year instead of using "their" week. ...

I don't understand why this thinking persists that the only time owned Weeks intervals become available to DC Points users is when owners of DC-enrolled Weeks elect points for their Weeks. From the DC inception and continuing through the duration, Marriott can and does pull II inventory to satisfy DC members' requests. We don't know what exchange metric Marriott has to satisfy in order to do that but they made it clear in an early-edition FAQ on the owners' website. That FAQ disappeared when the website underwent a major overhaul but the relevant information is quoted on Page 2 of the TUG FAQ - MVC DESTINATIONS Points Program:

~~ Inventory Sources for DC Points Usage ~~

MVCI Weeks and MVCD Points inventory is kept separate according to the terms of each system's governing documents in order to protect Owners/Members ownership and usage rights. Inventory available through the DC Exchange Company is sourced from Marriott-controlled deposits as well as (according to a no-longer-available FAQ that had been posted to the owners' website during the early DC years,) "... other Marriott Vacation Club Owners who enroll their weeks and elect Vacation Club Points, and non-enrolled Owners who trade their usage for Marriott Rewards points or exchange their week through membership in Interval International."

I do agree that Hilton Head Platinum season is limited in the DC because the vast majority of those Weeks were sold prior to the DC to owners who occupy or rent those high-demand intervals. But many also use them as high-value II deposits, or as (relatively) high-value Bonvoy Points generators, and those usages can result in DC availability, too.

 

[Swice]

I was speaking in general terms. Historically, people who bought at Hilton Head (and Myrtle Beach to some degree) bought them to "use." Yes, they trade/deposit/elect points, but not in large numbers. Yes, Marriott can pull Interval inventory, but as we all know, there has never been a huge amount to pull from in the first place. I was trying to say "point" inventory will become easier to get as the years go on in Hilton Head because owners age out... give back, sell, or whatever. Marriott will get more inventory to divide up ... but it's going to be a slow process for that to happen. I think all of that is an important consideration for someone buying points specifically with the intent to use in Hilton Head.

 

[hangloose]

HHI in summer (Plat season) is hard at the big 3 (Barony, Surfwatch or Grande Ocean) whether via DC Pts or II exchange. Monarch not far behind, as the 4th beach property. Other HHI may be easier, but not beachfront.

As other stated, there is a high number of HHI weeks owners...who go to the resort and use their week annually. Or, they rent it for 2x their maintenance fees. Fewer II deposits and DC Pts exchanges. While not impossible to obtain via II or DC Pts, one will have to search, waitlist, or get lucky at 10 months or less...as most are reserved at 12 - 13 + months out.

In the case of the OP, this is one situation where being a higher DC Pts status...allowing reservations at 12 or 13 months...would increase odds. Booking at 10 months out for a summer HHI...is unlikely.

 

[ahdah]

I own two three bedroom platinum villas at SurfWatch and my son owns one. I bought them to use. During COVID I did deposit to II. I would never do that again. It was 4th of July week and what I was able to trade for did not compare to my deposit. If I can't go, then I will rent on RedWeek and use the money to go to a timeshare that was better than my II trade. I would think most platinum owners on HHI feel the same. It is a very special place to vacation, my children and grandchildren look forward to going every year, and so do I.

 

[Fasttr]

One option, if you can live with some holding account points, is to book a full 7 nights at 12 months, and then later drop the 2-3 nights you don’t want. Since you were not able to book less than 7 nights at 12 months due to ownership status, the cancelled points would go into a 60 day holding account, but at least you may have a better chance at your 4-5 summer nights on HHI this way. Then your challenge becomes how to use your holding account points….but perhaps those can be used for resort credits???

 

[SueDonJ]

I own two three bedroom platinum villas at SurfWatch and my son owns one. I bought them to use. During COVID I did deposit to II. I would never do that again. It was 4th of July week and what I was able to trade for did not compare to my deposit. If I can't go, then I will rent on RedWeek and use the money to go to a timeshare that was better than my II trade. I would think most platinum owners on HHI feel the same. It is a very special place to vacation, my children and grandchildren look forward to going every year, and so do I.

I also own 3BR SurfWatch Weeks, Plat and Gold season. I also bought them mainly to use but after buying a home on Hilton Head they are exchange bait.

My limited experience with II in our early days of ownership was of getting 2BR units in exchange, but that was understandable because comparatively few 3BR non-lockoffs exist in the timeshare world and most 3BR lock-off owners split their Weeks before depositing to II. I would if I could, too! But my irritation was due to hearing from other people that they were getting additional AC's from II to make up the difference in deposit/exchange value, and not being offered the same or being able to ask for the same on a regular basis.

I get far more exchange value in the DC electing points for my enrolled 3BR SurfWatch Weeks. I may not get enough points for a 3BR unit at a highest-demand resort in its highest-demand season, but I at least get a 2BR with a balance remaining (and on several occasions, the total has covered two 2BR units at lesser-demand resorts.) That's more than I ever got from II, for sure.

 

[Superchief]

When platinum season members don't plan to use or rent their week, I'd think they would get much better value by converting to VC points than depositing to II unless they don't plan to stay at an MVC resort. The number of VC points provided for a big 3 platinum week should be significant, and they have the flexibility to use them for smaller units, shorter stays, or off-peak reservations. The smaller resort/ off season HHI owners get shafted in the points system, so I understand why they don't deposit weeks for VC points.

 

[Wanderlustgrl]

We have had success with the waitlist feature. It does tie your points up but it’s worked for us.

 

[BocaBoy]

Yes! Lower your expectations. Hilton Head in February is "gorgeous". That's what your purchase will get you. That and Phoenix in August.

I actually prefer December or January, points then go even farther than in February, and restaurants are much less crowded than in the hot months.

 

[Superchief]

I actually prefer December or January, points then go even farther than in February, and restaurants are much less crowded than in the hot months.

And even though it isn't beach weather, it is a lot better than Wisconsin or Ohio!

 

[David10225]

We used up our remaining points for 2021 by reserving a 5 night stay at Grand Ocean in December. Looking forward to bike riding, uncrowded restaurants, and even some Christmas shopping in Savannah!