Hyatt Kaanapali Beach - fixed week vs floating pro’s/con’s and more questions!

[LLJS]

I am brand new to this forum and timeshare world! I’ve read the beginner thread, and still have so many questions to help my Mom decide on a timeshare (see context below).

1) she is most excited about HVC in Kaanapali Beach, but I know this has the highest maintenance fees.

2) she was keen on a floating (1-50) odd year mid floor deeded contract direct from hotel (since cancelled). She has four grandkids, with 3 either in college or headed to college in next 3 years. They are exceptionally close to each other and to grandma herself, and actively plan vacations together. While it’s likely some of those vacays will successfully land in Maui, going abroad or to Caribbean is also of interest.

3) I noticed the resale mkt has some well priced fixed week units - for both 2 and 3 bedroom units, but she had initially rejected a fixed week as the vacation timing will never be able to land on some fixed week.

What are pros and cons of a fixed week vis floating? If you hold a fixed week, can you trade it for another week at the same property for one that works better?

If you have a floating week, with just 33 units dedicated to the float pool at the Maui resort, How hard is it to book a desirable week a year out (thinking spring break, July 4th or thanksgiving week)! Do you have to be online at midnight with your hand on mouse at the ready?

I understand if you want to exchange in II, you need to deposit a confirmed week at your home resort, and that that week has to be booked a year in advance to maximize your points.

4) death by fees? I’ve read that the Hyatt charges cancel fees, and makes it hard and/or impossible to roll over points among other things. What are the frustrating elements to the HVC program?

5) Annual vs alt years? Annual contracts can be found for less capital dollars in the resale mkt than the every other year she initially purchased and then cancelled . Given that those alt years at the HVC in Maui can easily be rented on redweek for more than the annual maintenance costs, wouldn’t it make sense for her to get an annual contract (vs alt year), even if she really only plans on using the vacation benefit in odd years.

6) is looking at the Marriott Vacation Club a good idea? Or another HVC location? Maui is the most likely vacation destination, so the Maui Ocean Club Napili or Lahaina tower could be an alternative.

7) 3 bedroom vs 2 bedroom thoughts?

Details:
We (me, F53, my Mom, F77, and my two boys ages 9 and 15) just returned from a 12 night stay in Maui (10 at the HVC in a 2 bedroom lower floor unit, with 5 nights using Hyatt hotel points and 5 nights on a $2500 timeshare mktg package purchased in ‘21.) This was my third stay at this resort and my Mom’s first.

Fwiw: I thought I’d hate staying on the 2nd or 3rd floor there having only stayed on high floors previously, but I didn’t at all! It was lovely!

My Mom surprised me by buying an odd year timeshare (‘for her grandkids’), for $37K which came with a cache of Hyatt hotel points (250k).

We have rescinded this - per recommendations here - but she 100% wants to explore the timeshare market more but per my advice, take more time to know what she is getting into.

Fwiw: she can afford this without making a dent in her life, but I want her to be smart.

I’d love any and all advice to help guide her to best resale decision.

 

[echino]

Only buy Hyatt Maui if you will be using it at Hyatt Maui 100% of the time. Don't buy to exchange.

If you cannot commit to a fixed week, buy a floating week resale. It's harder to find, but possible. Don't buy a fixed week with a goal to use it during a different week.

Sounds like money is no object, so a floating week is the best and easiest solution. You will also be guaranteed a floor band (low,mid,high).

If you want to save money, the most cost effective way will be to buy at a different Hyatt resort with lower purchase price and lower maintenance fees (like Sedona or San Antonio), and then use points to book Maui internally. This will require a lot of learning, work, flexibility and patience and no floor band guarantee.

 

[LLJS]

Only buy Hyatt Maui if you will be using it at Hyatt Maui 100% of the time. Don't buy to exchange.

If you cannot commit to a fixed week, buy a floating week resale. It's harder to find, but possible. Don't buy a fixed week with a goal to use it during a different week.

Sounds like money is no object, so a floating week is the best and easiest solution. You will also be guaranteed a floor band (low,mid,high).

If you want to save money, the most cost effective way will be to buy at a different Hyatt resort with lower purchase price and lower maintenance fees (like Sedona or San Antonio), and then use points to book Maui internally. This will require a lot of learning, work, flexibility and patience and no floor band guarantee.

It sounds like the developer deal my Mom was offered then wasn’t so outrageous vs resale. It came in net around $31k, valuing the 250k points based on how I’ve used 250k Hyatt points for great vacays. I saw two odd year float resales listed for around $25k, so the delta isn’t huge.

On the Maui front, this forum makes it seem like it is very difficult to exchange into a desirable week into Maui from a cheaper resort. That would be a non starter for my Mom.

However, other threads make it seem like trading a fixed week for another week is doable but your perspective is helpful.

 

[ScoopKona]

However, other threads make it seem like trading a fixed week for another week is doable but your perspective is helpful.

In general, Hyatt trades extremely well.

If you're trading HKB, though, you are ALWAYS trading down. You're paying the maintenance fee. And someone else is enjoying your property. It's a bad, bad deal.

If trading is a goal, I would buy any other Hyatt. Sedona in particular because it's natural disaster-free. Trade for awhile and get a feel for the program. If you buy a 2200 point resale deeded week, you can even occasionally trade for Maui. (Can't count on it, though. It's the most desired timeshare on the planet at the moment. There are no full weeks available at the moment. Although four days in Maui and then a week at some other timeshare wouldn't be a bad vacation.)

 

[socaltimeshare]

What are pros and cons of a fixed week vis floating?

Fixed- variable pricing. High demand weeks very expensive, so getting a float can theoretically get you into a high demand week for cheaper. Or, if wanting to go when less demand, a fixed can be cheaper than a float.

Fixed- Pro- you have your desired week. If you get a high demand week you can rent it for good $$ whenever you don’t use it. Con- if you want another week, you have no special priority as a HKB owner vs owners at other HVC resorts so can be difficult to trade for another HKB week.

Float- Con- you have to compete with others to get your desired reservation. Those who are good planners are currently having good success, but there is no guarantee it will remain this way.

exchange in II, you need to deposit a confirmed week at your home resort, and that that week has to be booked a year in advance to maximize your points.

II is best IMO for off-season and availability within 6 months. I have not had good success booking elite resorts during peak a year out. I would never use my HKB to exchange in II. If that is desired, get a lower maintenance cost trader week. The rule with HKB is use it or rent it, to maximize HKB’s value.
I

Given that those alt years at the HVC in Maui can easily be rented on redweek for more than the annual maintenance costs, wouldn’t it make sense for her to get an annual contract (vs alt year), even if she really only plans on using the vacation benefit in odd years.

There is no guarantee you will be able to rent it, but if you do, yes you can typically get at least double the MF for a peak week. Some owners started with EOY then switched to Annual as they realized they did want to come annually, so having an annual would give you this option.

On the Maui front, this forum makes it seem like it is very difficult to exchange into a desirable week into Maui from a cheaper resort. That would be a non starter for my Mom.

If you want to go to Maui outside peak times and you put a request in 18 months out, you can experience better success. Part of what makes peak times hard to get at HKB and other places is there are some individuals who know the system, grab peak weeks via exchange , and then rent them out, and HVG is doing little to stop this even though it violates the club rules.

3 bedroom vs 2 bedroom thoughts?

3 bedroom MF are significantly more but if you follow rentals on Redweek they don’t typically rent for a significant premium over 2 week. If I needed that space, and was planning on also renting sometimes, I’d be inclined to do a 2 bedroom along with a 1 bedroom vs a 3 bedroom. Then, pretty much just use the 1 bed for sleeping. You can also host guests at the adjacent Hyatt Regency using WOH points.

 

[LLJS]

Such AMAZING advice! Thank you.

I was completely floored when my mom wanted to do this. Not that she isn’t generous, she 100% is. She wants to put this into her trust.

In the end, I think my Mom wants uncomplicated. Does she want to eke out every possible dollar in value? No.

Why? She did just that throughout my entire upbringing (trust me, I have stories to tell of ‘the less than’ Motel Six accommodations that came with algae filled pools, creepy men hitting on me, a then16 year old girl, wall sockets with exposed wiring, and hot showers guaranteed to only to the first two in queue.

I digress…

She is enormously proud of the frugal choices that led her and my Dad (now gone) to this now very financially secure space.

 

[ScoopKona]

In the end, I think my Mom wants uncomplicated. Does she want to eke out every possible dollar in value? No.

I'd go with a fixed week HKB then.

I live a scant 100 miles from the resort. The difference between the hottest day of the year, and the coldest day is roughly 10 degrees. During the "dry" season, the skies can open up and it pours for a week. And you can have great weather during the "wet" season.

And any long-range forecasts are probably inaccurate.

The trade off for "dry" is "it's going to be warmer." Never really gets THAT hot here, though. I need a blanket at night, even in the summer.
The trade off for "cool" is "it's going to be wetter." But the west side doesn't get a whole lot of rain -- hence the wildfire problem.

And a final suggestion: Does it HAVE to be Hyatt HKB? I'm sure it's great. (We'll never go there because Hawaii is no longer a vacation destination for us.) But we've stayed in many Hawaii timeshares -- scouting missions prior to our move. Not once have we looked around and said, "This place is a DUMP. Let's get out of here and rent a hotel." There's a timeshare just down the road from me on the Big Island which is absolutely lovely -- and easy to trade into. You could buy almost any Interval tiger trader and get something like that reliably. It would save thousands -- if not tens of thousands.

 

[Kal]

I am a 2BR, float week, high band HBK owner. I am soooo happy with the transaction and feel the high maintenance fee is the price paid for the very best resort in the Hyatt program. It was opened in 2015, so there is little or no concern about major needs for serious maintenance. Sunset Harbor was the first resort in the Hyatt system, built in about 1995. It is situated in a waterfront maritime climate where it's a 30 year old structure. Every year there is a chance of a major hurricane. One bad direct hit to Key West and it's "game over". Consider the history of Coconut and Puerto Rico and the hurricane impacts are serious money grabbers.

I will never use my points to stay elsewhere as it is a serious step down. Plan ahead for reservation and you get almost exactly what you want. There are 33 float units every week out of a total 131 in the building. Our biggest problem is actually determining what week we want in Maui. Everything is on the table. In 2024 it was whale season and there were a ton of whales to see. The most serious problem is it's a long plane ride from everywhere except the West Coast. For me, I'm a West Coast dweller, so the ride is easy.

 

[WalnutBaron]

In general, Hyatt trades extremely well.

If you're trading HKB, though, you are ALWAYS trading down. You're paying the maintenance fee. And someone else is enjoying your property. It's a bad, bad deal.

If trading is a goal, I would buy any other Hyatt. Sedona in particular because it's natural disaster-free. Trade for awhile and get a feel for the program. If you buy a 2200 point resale deeded week, you can even occasionally trade for Maui. (Can't count on it, though. It's the most desired timeshare on the planet at the moment. There are no full weeks available at the moment. Although four days in Maui and then a week at some other timeshare wouldn't be a bad vacation.)

For the benefit of the OP, I second everything @ScoopKona has said here. I own at Sedona and Carmel, and have used my Club Use Points (known as CUP to Hyatt owners) to trade into HKB three times in the past four years. The secret has been to make an advance request well in advance (up to 15 months in my case) and then wait. It hasn't always worked, but my batting average is about .700.

HKB is a spectacular resort--one of the very best in America and certainly THE best in the Hyatt system. MFs are high, both because Hawaii is extraordinarily expensive and because nearly everything from food to building supplies to fuel to transportation has to be shipped in from the mainland. But if you can stand the annual fees, it's a fantastic place to make memories with your mom and her grandchildren.

One more thing about trading: as has been mentioned here, Hyatt's Heritage Collection (also known as the legacy resorts before the acquisition of Welk) are excellent traders through Interval International. Despite Marriott (which owns II and Hyatt) watering down the trade power of Hyatt last year, the Hyatt resorts are under heavy demand on II and command excellent trades with other top notch resorts like Marriott and Westin. (You can't trade with the Hilton properties, as they are listed on the RCI exchange platform.)

All in all, I think you'll be happy with your purchase, but you might consider buying a second Hyatt property (like Sedona) for trading purposes if that's a goal of yours.