How happy are you with your HGVC ownership?

[Maverick1963]

It's not perfect. But very happy. With HGVC, we could afford roomy one/two bedroom units for our family vacation in Hawaii every year. Without HGVC, I could not go on solo vacations in Hawaii like I do now. Reservation is not easy but I don't give a complaint because $1,200 MF allows me to stay in Waikiki for a week. Fortunately, I booked 100% the week/unit I wanted over the past +10 years.

 

[LizC]

I’m thinking of buying set weeks of an HGVC owner and Wondering if the set weeks are all you can use or can you change to other weeks. Additionally can these weeks he used at other resorts just like points

 

[phil1ben]

I think the outcome would be different if you had two polls. One for people who only paid retail and one for people who only own HGVC that they bought resale. Respondents that own retail and resale would only complicate the results. My suspicion is you will have much more satisfied campers coming form the resale camp.

We own 7000 points in South Beach that we bought resale in 2010. Paid about $1.00/point. We live 2 hours from NYC so we normally split the points each year between club days at 57th Street, The Residences and South Beach. Although, we have gone to Borgo alle Vigne, Valdoro and are headed to Scotland in a few months. We use the timeshare for about 20% of our annual vacation days and it is a great mix with the other vacations we take. As a result, I am happy with our purchase. If I had to do it over again, I probably would have bought 7000 points resale from a location with lower annual maintenance fees because we have rarely used the Home Week at South Beach (normally staying 3-4 days there). Probably would have saved about $350.00/year in maintenance fees. At the time, I thought my purchase was "safest" owning in a location where I knew that the underlying real estate would always have value. This was more a factor of my distrust of the entire timeshare industry but I felt I really couldn't go wrong for $7,000.00. One time share is sufficient for us but buying HGVC resale for us was a good decision.

Lastly, I continued to be surprised how many people do research 2-3 weeks after they purchase.

 

[Talent312]

I continued to be surprised how many people do research 2-3 weeks after they purchase.

Instant gratification... and they sell it like it's an "orgasmatron."
-- From Woody Allen's movie "Sleeper" (1973).
.

 

[brial05]

We are happy ... we've not yet used to fullest potential.

We paid off our contract, direct to Hilton no less and are still pleased and would never sell.
I hope to add another unit from resale market.

 

[ColonelFur]

Would be interesting to see of all the "happy" votes, how many of those purchased secondary market.

 

[Tamaradarann]

Would be interesting to see of all the "happy" votes, how many of those purchased secondary market.

We purchased 6 HGVC timeshares from the resale market and are very happy with out membership. I believe if we purchased from the developer we would still be happy with our membership but would have about $200,000 less in our bank account. We probably wouldn't have purchased 6 HGVC timeshares from the developer since the cost would have been prohibitive in our retired economic situation. If we had significantly more income we might have purchased those timeshares or more since the system is pretty flexible. However, very high income people don't need timeshares they just buy second and third homes.

 

[WhatTheDogSaid]

Greetings from the Anantara resort in Koh Samui, Thailand. I am glad we got to visit here and also the Anantara in Phuket last year. If Elara is comparable to a full service Hilton, then either of these resorts is the Conrad or the Waldorf Astoria. Truly first class. I’m definitely less happy with HGVC now that the Anantara option has ended, but will try Scotland, Japan and Mexico.

 

[Mondo1964]

Love HGVC!!!!!! Great program, great resorts. We own at Kings' Land, Valdoro, and a variety of places in Vegas.

Question for you, Do you pay multiple maintenance fees? I'm thinking of buying more points at the Elara where I own, Will I have two maintenance fees or just one?

 

[josegm888]

I created this thread to determine the overall satisfaction we have with HGVC. You can also use this thread to post any overall comments you may have.

Best timeshare thus far, I put it close to DVCs level of satisfaction. Only reason I find DVC better is because of the parks, perks, availability, and amenities. There’re some resort in Hilton that are almost never available.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dougp26364]

As time marches on I realize how confining HGVC is with so few choices that interest us. Essentially, Vegas and the Big Island…..and we prefer Maui and Kauai.

I’m not hopeful when it comes to HGVC’s new Maui resort. If it’s like HHI, the pent up demand for more destinations will make it difficult to book.

I’d like to think the new DRI properties will bring much needed diversity, but I don’t anticipate anything happening for upwards of 5 years.

I’m not there yet but selling our week is becoming a thought in the back of my head. At any rate I see no reason to increase our ownership.

 

[linsj]

Question for you, Do you pay multiple maintenance fees? I'm thinking of buying more points at the Elara where I own, Will I have two maintenance fees or just one?

You will have two maintenance fees. Although the points go into one account, each deed carries its own maintenance fee.

 

[Mondo1964]

You will have two maintenance fees. Although the points go into one account, each deed carries its own maintenance fee.

Thanks for the reply, so since I own at the Elara already with 7000 points, I should upgrade there. I'm seeing listing on this site. I'll keep a look out.
Regards Gary

 

[brp]

As time marches on I realize how confining HGVC is with so few choices that interest us. Essentially, Vegas and the Big Island…..and we prefer Maui and Kauai.

For us it includes NYC as we own there. While we have stayed once at Seaworld in Orlando (we own DVC for Disney stays), our stays match what you say - Hawai'i Island and a few Vegas trips with NYC added. Since that suits us (places we like to go repeatedly) it works. But I can certainly see it being limiting for folks who want to range wider within their timeshare. We use hotels for wider travels and that works well for us. The HGVC is purpose-bought for what it offers.

Maui may be interesting after the pent up demand that you mention subsides. DRI options could be interesting down the road. But we still have what we bought for.

Cheers.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

As time marches on I realize how confining HGVC is with so few choices that interest us. Essentially, Vegas and the Big Island…..and we prefer Maui and Kauai.

I’m not hopeful when it comes to HGVC’s new Maui resort. If it’s like HHI, the pent up demand for more destinations will make it difficult to book.

I’d like to think the new DRI properties will bring much needed diversity, but I don’t anticipate anything happening for upwards of 5 years.

I’m not there yet but selling our week is becoming a thought in the back of my head. At any rate I see no reason to increase our ownership.

I would have agreed with you a year ago. We have been going to the same places (plus NYC) and would like something new. Now with Diamond adding properties to HGVC I am excited about new locations e.g. Lake Tahoe, Poipu, Maui (KBC on Kaanapali), Cabo Azul, Palm Desert, Whistler, Sedona.

In a recent presentation, sales reps indicated that we at the highest level of the system so will have access to Diamond properties (bHC and/or HGV Club - they didn't specify and we own both). Whereas Diamond members will be urged to upgrade for HGV access. If true, we will be buying more points and will not add to our Marriott/Vistana holdings because we like the points flexibility, and better management of MF of HGVC; Marriott/Vistana MF is 1.5 to 2x more expensive, the MVC system is less flexible and available for high-end units which tend to get rented out or used by owners (or not enrolled so will never be available), Vistana has points but has significantly fewer locations than HGV. With HGV I can use points to get consistent access to penthouses and oceanfront if desired during peak season. Not confident that I can do the same with MVC with only 60% of units enrolled in the points program.

Besides to get access to more MVC locations and points we are not willing to pay $10 - $30k to enroll our resale in MVC when we already get access to flexible points via HGVC. and Vistana. Waiting on announcements in 2022 before acting because...well...they are reps so who knows what this or the new MVC program will entail.

 

[dougp26364]

I wouldn’t hold my breath on access to DRI properties. Integrating seems to be a painfully slow process

I also wouldn’t believe a thing a salesman tells you today about what will or won’t happen. They’re as clueless as everyone else. We’ve been told so many different things by so many different Marriott salesmen with the ILG/MVC integration my eyes just roll when they start in with the latest BS. It’s always next quarter or the first quarter of next year. I think we’re going on three years and the only thing we can do is weeks exchanges thru II with no exchange fee

If they get the systems integrated and if it’s financially reasonable, the DRI properties will be a plus, just don’t expect HGVC quality

 

[dayooper]

To me, it comes down to cost. The entrance AND yearly fees are lower with my resale HGVC than would be with resale MVC. The only way I would purchase MVC would be a resale deed at HHI, and those are very expensive as well (listed prices $8000-$24000 on Redweek). With the amount we travel, our 2 resale platinum 2 bedrooms are more than enough for us. Our total buy in cost for our 2 deeds are around $10,000 with MF's around $2200 (including club dues). I can't get close to that with MVC. I love the flexibility and the way HGVC treats its customers (non sales team of course). It may not be a big deal to most, but things like skimming points on reservations and the high junk fees (MVC is at least 3 times as much as HGVC to enroll resale points) really turn me off. I don't like the HGVC $59 club booking fee, but I still am way ahead in the long run. My wife and I personally don't want to front the costs of MVC ownership, but don't look down upon those that do (much like we don't look down on those that purchase from a developer). My wife and I have looked at a mandatory Vistana deed, but, with the MVC acquisition of Vistana, there's just too much uncertainty and the locations are even more limited than HGVC. We also don't want to commit too much of our travel budget to timesharing. While we love the space of our HGVC units, we still want the flexibility to go other places outside of our ownership.

I understand the biggest drawback to HGVC is locations. Yes, I agree they are limited, but they are improving. Besides the DRI acquisition (who know what locations will open up to HGVC members or when), they have been slowly adding locations. Since I became a member in 2018, they have added Charleston (Liberty Square), an additional resort in Myrtle Beach (Ocean Enclave), more access to Hilton Head (2nd building), adding Los Cabos (La Pacifica), 2 new NYC resorts (Central on 5th and The Quin), Chicago, Maui, another resort in Japan and Barbados. In the 2nd quarter 2019 investors call, they announced they have a fee for service resort coming in the Gatlinburg, TN area (who knows the accuracy of this statement or even if the 3rd party developer is still on board). This isn't including any DRI resorts that will possibly be upgraded into HGVC (that was mentioned in one of the original announcements back in March). Do all of these locations intrigue us? Absolutely not! We have already been to Chicago (and would go again) and will visit NYC at some point. We love HHI (going again next summer on a mini family get together, 2 rooms) and also like Myrtle Beach. Vegas will always be a draw for my wife and I as well. Would love to visit the Cali resorts, Los Cabos and any of the Hawaii resorts (haven't been to any yet). Obviously, if you don't like the locations, HGVC isn't for you.

As @dougp26364 says above, I wouldn't trust a word of what salesmen have to say on DRI access (or anything, for that matter). We all, salesman included, will know when it's announced. My guess is there won't be any freebies and there will be a cost no matter what. Mark Wang said it himself back in July and I tend to believe what's said in investor calls more than what a salesman says. Honestly, if we get no access to the DRI resorts, my wife and I are still fine with what we have.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I agree about sales reps. However unlike Vistana/MVC they weren't trying to convince us to buy a Flex or DC-like package for DRI access prior to program rollout - so what incentive would they have to lie about this? Wouldn't it have been more lucrative to go the MVC/Vistana pitch route - i.e. buy now so you can get access?

Agree in-system access could take a while as @dougp26364 said and it may not be free. However, nearer term, many of those DRI properties will probably come available on RCI just as preferred Vistana/MVC trades came available on II so we can trade our HGVC points into those resorts via RCI. The best part? We can only trade weeks on Vistana/MVC/II. Therefore, with HGV/RCI we get short stays to more locations and it saves us at least $25k not to enroll our MVC/Vistana in DC. This is a no brainer unless MVC waives their enrollment fee (highly unlikely). Most of the DRI properties that interest us are in the Embarc portfolio (plus Cabo Azul) so those are already to HGVC standards.

OTOH, in MVC/Vistana we can lock-off the unit and trade for 2 weeks in II which we cannot do on HGVC. I can also see situations where someone is invested in MVC DC, bought prior to 2010 , or has a unit with lower MF than ours that may view this differently. I respect that position.

Let the games begin!

 

[Nomad420]

As time marches on I realize how confining HGVC is with so few choices that interest us. Essentially, Vegas and the Big Island…..and we prefer Maui and Kauai.

I’m not hopeful when it comes to HGVC’s new Maui resort. If it’s like HHI, the pent up demand for more destinations will make it difficult to book.

I’d like to think the new DRI properties will bring much needed diversity, but I don’t anticipate anything happening for upwards of 5 years.

I’m not there yet but selling our week is becoming a thought in the back of my head. At any rate I see no reason to increase our ownership.

I bought with "confinement " to NYC being what I wanted. I have a home and work in Hawaii so Hawaii has zero interest to me. However, I am not particularly happy with my HCNY ownership. I won't go into all the details about what is going on with the property as it is discussed on other threads. I am at a point now that if things don't change soon I will look at either selling (probably at a big loss) and/or looking into legal action. So for me after 5-6 years of ownership I have stayed ONCE at my home property. I have been to Vegas several times and it is a been there done situation now. Not saying I didn't like Vegas it but would love to get back to NYC. My 2 cents.

 

[letsgobobby]

We bought primarily for home week access to HHV and if that's all we ever get we'll be very happy. In the process of shopping for the above, we picked up an ultra cheap 7000 point deed so now every other year we can go to Hawaii twice, or stay longer. So far so good, have not had a problem getting the weeks we want. Haven't ever cared to look where else we could go since 1-2 weeks on Oahu is what we've done for decades and what we plan to do for many years to come. So for us HGVC has been perfect.

 

[OneOldGuy75]

I would have agreed with you a year ago. We have been going to the same places (plus NYC) and would like something new. Now with Diamond adding properties to HGVC I am excited about new locations e.g. Lake Tahoe, Poipu, Maui (KBC on Kaanapali), Cabo Azul, Palm Desert, Whistler, Sedona.

In a recent presentation, sales reps indicated that we at the highest level of the system so will have access to Diamond properties (bHC and/or HGV Club - they didn't specify and we own both). Whereas Diamond members will be urged to upgrade for HGV access. If true, we will be buying more points and will not add to our Marriott/Vistana holdings because we like the points flexibility, and better management of MF of HGVC; Marriott/Vistana MF is 1.5 to 2x more expensive, the MVC system is less flexible and available for high-end units which tend to get rented out or used by owners (or not enrolled so will never be available), Vistana has points but has significantly fewer locations than HGV. With HGV I can use points to get consistent access to penthouses and oceanfront if desired during peak season. Not confident that I can do the same with MVC with only 60% of units enrolled in the points program.

Besides to get access to more MVC locations and points we are not willing to pay $10 - $30k to enroll our resale in MVC when we already get access to flexible points via HGVC. and Vistana. Waiting on announcements in 2022 before acting because...well...they are reps so who knows what this or the new MVC program will entail.

Hello - in process of researching and purchasing resale - live in CA and would want to use locations that can drive to on occasion, along with Hawaii as two primary destinations. Curious of your opinion as we are now in 2024 and believe some changes with major systems …. Do you still favor HGVC?

 

[CalGalTraveler]

@OneOldGuy75 I still like HGVC. Where do you want to drive to? HGVC has limited west coast locations (Vegas, Carlsbad) vs. Worldmark which has many options including Oregon and Washington which HGVC does not have.

OTOH if you buy resale HGVC Craigendarroch Lodges you get access to week stays in HVC via Destination Exchange such as Palm Desert, Arizona, Tahoe and California coast e.g. (Avila beach) but 3 star accommodations. If you want long weekends this is not a fit. For Hawaii this will also give you options on Kauai and Maui in addition to HGVC on Waikiki, BI. HGVC Maui is also a possibility (but takes a lot of points).

 

[jp10558]

Hello - in process of researching and purchasing resale - live in CA and would want to use locations that can drive to on occasion, along with Hawaii as two primary destinations. Curious of your opinion as we are now in 2024 and believe some changes with major systems …. Do you still favor HGVC?

Driving from CA is probably better served by Worldmark. IDK about their Hawaii locations, but I have to imagine they have at least one.

 

[SmithOp]

@OneOldGuy75

HGVC works well for us living about an hour north of Carlsbad, we like to vacation in Hawaii and have done so for the last 30 years. We started renting private condos, then bought HGVC in 2001. It's been a good vacation investment. We do short staycations in Carlsbad. We use the RCI access to find other drive to locations, for example we will be driving to Napa in October.

We mostly stay free in hotels when in Vegas using comps from the Native American maintenance fees we pay . Several casinos are close by that we avail ourselves of for short stays.

We also like to cruise from local ports, those are the most relaxing vacations.

 

[dazzlingheart]

I am happy but I wish HGVC have an Aruba resort soon

Bluegreen has an Aruba resort. Maybe we will get access to that?