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[2018] How happy are you with your Marriott ownership?

How happy are you with your Marriott ownership?

  • I'm very happy with my ownership.

    Votes: 123 44.2%
  • I'm happy despite occasional problems, e.g., availability issues, Destination Club confusion, etc.

    Votes: 89 32.0%
  • I'm neutral.

    Votes: 10 3.6%
  • I'm a bit unhappy with my ownership, but have no current plans to dispose of my Marriott ownership.

    Votes: 32 11.5%
  • I'm unhappy, want to sell and would not buy another Marriott.

    Votes: 30 10.8%
  • My eyeballs are bleeding from trying to keep up with changes.

    Votes: 18 6.5%

  • Total voters
    278

winger

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Resorts are nice, but current website problems preventing me from paying maintenance fees is really weighing in me.
 

gwberg

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Not sure how we feel. In 2017 we purchased 1500 MVC points and finally used our bonus 1500 points last November at Grand Chateau and banked our 2019 year’s 1500. Love the Grand Chateau resort. We went to an “update” there but didn’t buy more points. We did purchase a package for $1495 and agreed to return for another pitch this May on a 4 nite stay at Chateau (1 bedroom). Why the package? It comes with 150K reward points. We had used Marriot reward points and SPG points for hotel stays and loved them. The main reason we’re ambivalent is we also own Vistana (our first timeshare), which we bought long before Marriott. We recently purchased another 60K Flex points which brings us to level 3. We bought in order to take advantage of Marriott buying Sheraton and we hope to combine both program points to maximize our ownership. The glitch is no one can tell us when or how the two programs will be combined (or if?). On top of that we are Gold owners of Wyndham. It’s getting very complicated and expensive. On the hand, we’ve had wonderful vacations over the years. I welcome any and all comments or suggestions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

jmhpsu93

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Maryland, USA
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MVC Abound Points
MVC Grande Vista (x2)
MVC Cypress Harbour (x2)
MVC Harbour Lake (x2)
Golden Shores (Mexico)
I just wish Marriott's would add some resorts in North Carolina, Ocean City, Maryland and Charleston, SC.
I think OC MD is a non-starter...no place to put it with the footprint MVCs usually have. Also that is a nine month resort town (that place is dead in January - like nothing is open) vs. a place like Hilton Head which has some year-round interest.
 

BostonKingB

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NONE! Looking for a good trader to purchase.
How do you lock off your unit and trade it separately? I have always used II for trading using a friend's account who was an owner. Thinking about just buying a 2BR Marriott timeshare of my own and either trading it for a week I want (or 2 weeks, assuming what people are saying about trading a lockoff unit could work on II). Plus II has given me accommodation certs and we don't mind trying different places even if they aren't super fancy.
 

Yuz

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A few primarily in Western USA
I purchased my first annual 2B White week at DS II in 2001 on the secondary market for $10K. The second every other odd year at the same resort in 2008 for free during the market slide . We could be poster ads for the program. We annually have booked the units for Thanksgiving week. With the location in one of M premier resorts and with TH week we have received every trade request we have every made including deciding summer of 2018 we wanted to do the Ko Olina at NY eve with the family. I will say we typically make a request 9 months or so out and the exchange criteria has modified over the years with MVCI and II but we continue to work out all our requests including several into the Hyatt Carmel and a few of the Four Seasons properties.
We generally lock off and exchange into whatever is available plus don’t mind the small uptick for a larger room if required to get what we want. We are both retired and have grown children, grandchildren and friends that are always willing to travel with and so filling the extra space is a pleasure.
We have sat through the Destinations Points Program and it is filled with mis-representations, false promises, has needs for continual investments to secure time in the premier resorts, during peak times and has a very small inventory pool.
If you want to use a M effectively you must have a Legacy timeshare and hold on to it dearly. We have cousins that bought into the program and gave up their Hawaii legacy units... they are dealing with the disappointment and the $90K additional investment to go Presidents Club.
Now that M owns II it’s a dream come true...Accomodation Certs deposited continually, reduced Plat 5 year memberships and no exchange fee for Sheraton or Westin ...

LOVE OUR M TS
 

dr.debs

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I am always happy with the Marriott facilities, but I own resale and find it difficult to reserve the weeks I want (I have a school age DTR) and all the changes and escalating fees, increasing II fees, and more restrictions on exchanging make my units less useful. Once retirement sets in I might be happier with them.
 

Linselmann

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Marriott Grande Ocean, Hilton Head, SC; Marriott Newport Coast, CA
I’m happy but I wish Marriott would have more resorts in the Southwest, I.e., New Mexico, Colorado, Utah...
 

win555

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worldmark
I'm not an owner but I could not understand why so many people are happy with Marriott? My reading is Marriott is not very nice to resale owners. Are most of the responses from people who bought from developer? Perhaps there a bit of Stockholm syndrome going on? What am I missing?


I am always happy with the Marriott facilities, but I own resale and find it difficult to reserve the weeks I want (I have a school age DTR) and all the changes and escalating fees, increasing II fees, and more restrictions on exchanging make my units less useful. Once retirement sets in I might be happier with them.
 

Mroze

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Seattle, WA
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MKO,MRD,MCV,DCP
WKV,WNA
HYS,HYN,HYB
I am happy with both DCP-Points Exchanges [MVCI] & Weeks-Exchanges [via II].
Like the MF-Payments online using our AMEX-Bonvoy [6-Points/$].
Really like the ability to search [Filter on Location/Name] and check based on monthly calendar.
Like that Marriott lets me check availability [13-Months out] whether I have points or not.
Really like the Single-Fee Club-Dues that covers Exchanges/Changes/Cancellations/Banking/Borrowing.
Like that I can bank 2-Years out and not pay any fees.
Really like that I can put a reservation On-Hold while I check other permutations and make other arrangements.
Like the consistency of quality and standards across all resorts.
RITZ: Really like the ability to book Ritz properties and more recently the expanding choices in cities with the Pulse collection.
BONVOY: Love the ability to get preferred treatment [due to Bonvoy Titanium] and upgrades in some resorts [e.g. Breakfast in Australia & Free-Breakfast at Ritz St. Thomas].
INTERVAL: Love the fact that I have paid ZERO M-M Exchange Fees [exception Size-Upgrade] in the last 3 years. Like the unlimited Zero-Fee II-Changes now includes Westin/Sheraton.

The one thing I dislike is having to call up to cancel a reservation. With COVID they are only operational 9:00-5:00pm EST which is inconvenient.

Q: Why is the total of the Poll 109%?
 
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win555

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I am happy with both DCP-Points Exchanges [MVCI] & Weeks-Exchanges [via II].
Like the MF-Payments online using our AMEX-Bonvoy [6-Points/$].
Really like the ability to search [Filter on Location/Name] and check based on monthly calendar.
Like that Marriott lets me check availability [13-Months out] whether I have points or not.
Really like the Single-Fee Club-Dues that covers Exchanges/Changes/Cancellations/Banking/Borrowing.
Like that I can bank 2-Years out.
Really like that I can put a reservation On-Hold while I check other permutations and make other arrangements.
Like the consistency of quality and standards across all resorts.
Really like the ability to book Ritz properties and more recently the expanding choices in cities with the Pulse collection.
Love the ability to get preferred treatment [due to Bonvoy Titanium] and upgrades in some resorts [e.g. Breakfast in Australia & Free-Breakfast at Ritz St. Thomas].

The one thing I dislike is having to call up to cancel a reservation. With COVID they are only operational 9:00-5:00pm EST which is inconvenient.

Q: Why is the total of the Poll 109%?

Maybe I should start a separate thread. But quick Q: did you purchase from developer? Are any of these benefits available to resale buyers?
 
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Mroze

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HYS,HYN,HYB
We purchased 2BR EY-IV Ko'Olina resale and enrolled when given the option by paying the $995 Enrollment-Fee.
Later purchased a hybrid POINTS + 2BR Desert-Springs to reach Presidential. The hybrid sale worked out to $6.50/Point.
Recently purchased 3K-POINTS to make Chairman's [not sure why] as we already had Titanium for as long as we own [hope for life] + 13-Months preference.
Even though the POINTS purchase was expensive ~$10/Point we received close to 1M-Bonvoy [including CC 6X] as incentive.

Waiting on the update of the merged programs [VSN + MVCI] as we are both Chairman's [MVCI] + 5-Star [VSN].
 

win555

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We purchased 2BR EY-IV Ko'Olina resale and enrolled when given the option by paying the $995 Enrollment-Fee.
Later purchased a hybrid POINTS + 2BR Desert-Springs to reach Presidential. The hybrid sale worked out to $6.50/Point.
Recently purchased 3K-POINTS to make Chairman's [not sure why] as we already had Titanium for as long as we own [hope for life] + 13-Months preference.
Even though the POINTS purchase was expensive ~$10/Point we received close to 1M-Bonvoy [including CC 6X] as incentive.
Ok. Looks like you have invested six figures or more in Marriott.
 

Mroze

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HYS,HYN,HYB
Ok. Looks like you have invested six figures or more in Marriott.
Very close to 6 figures.

However, I have no regrets as we have enjoyed some very nice vacations having visited almost every Ritz & St. Regis in the world.
Between Marriott [7-Weeks/Year] + Vistana [14-Weeks/Year] we accrue 21-Weeks [After Lock-Off] which results in ~$21K-MF/Year.
Figured out a way to travel for close to free by renting out almost all of our VSN-Weeks for ~$35K/Year.
 
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csalter2

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Orange County, California
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Marriott Ko Olina
Marriott Aruba Surf Club
Marriott Ocean Pointe
Diamond Resorts Gold
I'm not an owner but I could not understand why so many people are happy with Marriott? My reading is Marriott is not very nice to resale owners. Are most of the responses from people who bought from developer? Perhaps there a bit of Stockholm syndrome going on? What am I missing?

give me a second and I’ll explain.
 

TravelTime

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All Resale: MVC DPs, Marriott Ko Olina, Marriott Marbella, WKOVR-N, Four Seasons Aviara
I'm not an owner but I could not understand why so many people are happy with Marriott? My reading is Marriott is not very nice to resale owners. Are most of the responses from people who bought from developer? Perhaps there a bit of Stockholm syndrome going on? What am I missing?

I bought Marriott resale (weeks and points) and all my weeks are enrolled in the MVC DP program. I was not happy with weeks but I really do like the DP program. It is expensive, even resale. I like the flexibility of booking what I want and rolling DPs over. I am Presidential level and have extra perks that I wish I could figure out how to use. I also like getting extra Marriott hotel points as a Presidential level member. I can have the best of both the timeshare and hotel world. The DP program has been especially helpful this year with Covid since many owners lost their fixed weeks and had to deposit them in II. I canceled all my DP reservations for 2020 and will roll over the points to 2021. My fear now is what will be available to book with DPs in 2021 if the worldwide shutdowns continue. I would like to visit the MVCs in Hawaii, Aruba, and St Thomas. But the travel restrictions and lack of flights are getting in the way. I am in a wait and see mode to see where we can go in 2021. But the longer I wait to book, the harder it gets to find reservations. It is like a chicken and the egg. I may just need to book some DP reservations and cancel if I can‘t get there. MVC is being flexible if we book something and need to cancel later because it is not open or we can‘t get flights. Keeping my DPs unbooked is problematic now because they will eventually expire. Also since I canceled DPs for 2020, I have way too many DPs to use in 2021. I am not sure I can use them all in 2021 and once rolled over, it is use it or lose it unless MVC makes an exception since travel is unopen.

P.S. MVC has treated me like an owner even though I bought resale. They do not discriminate after you close. They hassle you a bit during the closing process but all is well after that. At least that has been my case with the DP program. I paid MVC $2 a point to enroll my weeks (now they charge $3 a point). That was not a small amount of money. After you pay to enroll points, MVC loves you. And being Presidential level, they thank me at the resorts and give me extra service. Perhaps they are hassling resale week owners who are unenrolled. MVC does not like weeks owners since they want all weeks in the trust. They have no way to differentiate developer purchases from resale purchasers in the DP program. They would need to look up my account and look for the data hidden within it that says how I bought. If they ever do that, I correct them and tell them that I paid MVC to enroll my points and I paid to enroll my weeks directly with MVC so I am a full member. This never happens at the resorts and rarely happens on the phone either. I am not sure the front line workers have access to that data anyway.
 
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csalter2

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Marriott Aruba Surf Club
Marriott Ocean Pointe
Diamond Resorts Gold
Maybe I should start a separate thread. But quick Q: did you purchase from developer? Are any of these benefits available to resale buyers?

Marriott owners are happy for the most part because they are pleased with the quality and consistency of he resorts as well as the resort locations. When Marriott sold only weeks the only thing the were not able to do is to exchange their week for hotel points. That wasn’t the best value for your week so there really wasn’t a downside to buying resale.

‘Now Marriott only sells points in the US. You can buy points on the resale market but Marriott changes an additional $3 per point on the resale purchase. Once that fee is paid those points have all he same benefits as points bought directly from Marriott.

So you’re correct in not being an owner, it’s hard to understand why owners like it so much. However like all other timeshare owners we don’t like having t pay that maintenance fee each year. We do at least knowing that whatever property is it’s well maintained and provides great accommodations. I can’t say that for my other timeshare Diamond Resorts.
 

TravelTime

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Marriott owners are happy for the most part because they are pleased with the quality and consistency of he resorts as well as the resort locations. When Marriott sold only weeks the only thing the were not able to do is to exchange their week for hotel points. That wasn’t the best value for your week so there really wasn’t a downside to buying resale.

‘Now Marriott only sells points in the US. You can buy points on the resale market but Marriott changes an additional $3 per point on the resale purchase. Once that fee is paid those points have all he same benefits as points bought directly from Marriott.

So you’re correct in not being an owner, it’s hard to understand why owners like it so much. However like all other timeshare owners we don’t like having t pay that maintenance fee each year. We do at least knowing that whatever property is it’s well maintained and provides great accommodations. I can’t say that for my other timeshare Diamond Resorts.

Yes I agree with @csalter2 and @MICROZE I like the ability to book the Ritz Carltons. That is why I wanted to get to Presidential level. I really like the quality and consistency at all MVC resorts and having the kitchen and separate bedroom compared with a hotel. I like views so I like that we can pick the view with points. That is not possible with II. I never liked the uncertainly with private rentals through Airbnb. Now with Covid, I am really happy to be a Marriott owner. My biggest wish is that MVC had more resorts and more places to use my DPs. MVC does have the most internationally but it is still not enough. I wish they would expand in the Caribbean, Mexico and ocean side resorts in Asia. I am a beach goer and would like to have more coastal and beachside destinations. Some owners want more locations in the USA and Europe. With Covid, I would now like more options in the USA that we could drive to. They do have good coverage in California (where we live) and Florida though. But I would like more. I would like as many options as possible to use DPs. They have many non-MVC options like cruises and tours but they are a bad deal using points.
 
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TravelTime

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The one thing I dislike is having to call up to cancel a reservation. With COVID they are only operational 9:00-5:00pm EST which is inconvenient.

Yes I hate this. They need to allow online cancellations. Vistana has online cancellation so I rarely need to call. We used to be able to text MVC and cancel. That at least was better than calling but not as convenient as online cancellation would be. Now they have gotten rid of their texting service. Why did they get rid of texting?
 

TravelTime

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If you want to use a M effectively you must have a Legacy timeshare and hold on to it dearly. We have cousins that bought into the program and gave up their Hawaii legacy units... they are dealing with the disappointment and the $90K additional investment to go Presidents Club.

I am confused with this part. Why did they lose their Hawaii legacy weeks? I have enrolled weeks and I can still use it as a week or convert to DPs every year. If they paid the pre-2010 enrollment fee, I think it was only $995 to enroll a week and they would still own the underlying week and could use it of they wanted. I would love to know what happened in their case.
 

bazzap

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I am confused with this part. Why did they lose their Hawaii legacy weeks? I have enrolled weeks and I can still use it as a week or convert to DPs every year. If they paid the pre-2010 enrollment fee, I think it was only $995 to enroll a week and they would still own the underlying week and could use it of they wanted. I would love to know what happened in their case.
I recall that it was even cheaper than that, I believe $595 to enrol one week.
We paid just $695 to enrol all of our eligible weeks.
As you say though, this just gave the option to elect our weeks for points each year (or not), we still retained our weeks ownership with all the benefits they offer.
 

TravelTime

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I recall that it was even cheaper than that, I believe $595 to enrol one week.
We paid just $695 to enrol all of our eligible weeks.
As you say though, this just gave the option to elect our weeks for points each year (or not), we still retained our weeks ownership with all the benefits they offer.

Wow, I wish I had owned MVC pre-2010. It was a bargain back then. Now it is expensive to get into the DP program even via resale. I paid a fortune even though I bought resale and a hybrid package. I am happy as long as I don’t think about my investment or the MFs. I hope I will get a break when they merge MVC and Vistana. I am holding onto my Westin Marriott week with the hope they will offer cheap enrollment. Otherwise, I am happy using Vistana’s program.
 

Mroze

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WKV,WNA
HYS,HYN,HYB
I recall that it was even cheaper than that, I believe $595 to enrol one week.
We paid just $695 to enrol all of our eligible weeks.
As you say though, this just gave the option to elect our weeks for points each year (or not), we still retained our weeks ownership with all the benefits they offer.
Just checked my XLS-FIle. We paid $1495 to enroll.
  • $595: Enrollment-Fee
  • $900: Penalty for Resale-Enrollment.
The $595 was credited back when we later purchased Points. Thus we ended up paying a sum total of $900 to enroll our 2BR-EY Ko'Olina-Week [purchased Pre-2010].

As time went on, I got wiser to not purchase anymore Hawaii units due to the high MF.
Thus I settled on Kierland [Resale: 5 x WKV 2BR-EY Platinum+ for ~$65K].
These accrue 740500-SO/Year [148100 x 5].
These have MF: $8K/Year but bring in $25K/Year Rental-Income.
 
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TravelTime

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Just checked my XLS-FIle. We paid $1495 to enroll.
  • $595: Enrollment-Fee
  • $900: Penalty for Resale-Enrollment.
The $595 was credited back when we later purchased Points. Thus we ended up paying a sum total of $900 to enroll our 2BR-EY Ko'Olina-Week [purchased Pre-2010].

As time went on, I got wiser to not purchase anymore Hawaii units due to the high MF.
Thus I settled on Kierland [Resale: 5 x WKV 2BR-EY Platinum+ for ~$65K].
These accrue 740500-SO/Year [148100 x 5].
These have MF: $8K/Year but bring in $25K/Year Rental-Income.

How much were MVC developer weeks pre-2010?
 
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