I have a friend who owns a lot of Welk points. She went to an update in Palm Springs about a year and a half ago and came back telling me that soon she would be able to use her points in Hyatt properties. She wanted to know all about the various Hyatt timeshares. At that point I was not sure what was going to happen but I told her I didn't think that would happen without her having to pay a hefty sum. We'll see...
I own the timeshares previously known as Hyatt Residence Club at Carmel and Pinon Pointe (does this remind you of some singers and rappers?). Just went to log on and when I type hyattresidenceclub.com it takes me to Hyatt Vacation Club. Won't let me log in with my previous info. And of course, Hyatt being Hyatt, reps are not available on the west coast past 2:00pm on Saturdays. THAT part hasn't changed. I would like to access Santa Fe - maybe Palm Springs (actually Cathedral City) - but Escondido is to San Diego almost as Ventura is to Los Angeles, though I hear it's nice if you play golf. That combined with expected large rises in maintenance fees (since it is owned by Marriott...fill in the initials) makes me plan to get out now! I am happily converting over to RCI points/Grandview which gets me Palm Desert, Santa Fe, San Diego, New York, Vail, Washington DC, and whatever Club Wyndham/Worldmark/Shell or Hilton/Diamond has to offer. Airbnb or VRBO for the rest. Not a golfer so many Marriotts or other high end resorts don't interest me.
As an aside, I really was attracted by the option of going to Aspen for summer music/arts festival. Managed to get a 10 day reservation in a studio during festival. Portfolio points have no extra charges I hear. As an owner of former HRC I got hit with $40/day "resort fees", $40/day parking (closest parking otherwise a 10 mile bus ride away), tax on those charges plus a $60 or so fee for not being a Portfolio (what initials are those now?) owner, with tax. And a midweek cleaning fee. Over $1000 extra.
I'm done. The studio, btw, was lovely but the kitchenette was basically useless and since I was traveling alone for that part of the trip, I expected to mostly eat indoors. At least there was a microwave, which I needed a stepladder to reach as well as a flashlight to read. And I'm not short.