Hyatt Sunset Harbor, Key West; shocking rental price...

[theo]

I received a RW "notification" regarding a newly available rental at HSH (2 BR, sleeps 6); priced at $850 per night. By my math, that's just shy of $6,000 for a week.

Yes, it's the week immediately following Christmas and surely a week of very high demand, but I'm still curious to know if anyone here would ever pay $6,000 to rent a timeshare week at HSH --- or anywhere else on Planet Earth, for that matter. Any informed thoughts or opinions?

P.S. It is not my ad and we don't own there (but yes, we have stayed at HSH before). I am just surprised (dumbfounded, actually) by the exorbitant rental price.

 

[GrayFal]

New Years week in Key West?
2BR unit on the water?
Probably the highest demand time of the year?

I imagine these would rent for at least '$4,500.

Marriott Aruba Surf Club New Years week rents for $4,000-6,000 depending on view.

So yes, high, but in the ball park.

 

[Tank]

renting directly from the Hyatt Sunset Harbor, Key West, what would it cost?
Would be a interesting comparison. and
No I would not pay that but when I searched to rent at the hyatt web sight non are available so someone is spending the money.

 

[silentg]

Yikes! I would stay home and light a sparkler in the backyard!

 

[theo]

renting directly from the Hyatt Sunset Harbor, Key West, what would it cost?
Would be a interesting comparison. and
No I would not pay that but when I searched to rent at the hyatt web sight non are available so someone is spending the money.

A rhetorical question frankly, since that ultra-high demand week would likely never be available for rent directly from "the house" in any imaginable scenario anyhow.

I'm sure that particular week is completely sold out as fixed week / units and, if ever "released" by owners seeking to use the associated Hyatt points elsewhere instead, promptly scooped up a full year in advance by other Hyatt owners with the 1800 points required to book it, intending either to use it themselves or rent it out for profit.

In any case, I was surprised by the hefty $6k rental cost, which I personally wouldn't consider paying in a million years (although I do believe that HSH is the best timeshare facility in all of Key West). Maybe I'm just a frugal Yankee, but for that kind of money I'd probably rent a whole house somewhere in Old Town KW instead. YMMV.

 

[bdh]

I received a RW "notification" regarding a newly available rental at HSH (2 BR, sleeps 6); priced at $850 per night. By my math, that's just shy of $6,000 for a week.

Yes, it's the week immediately following Christmas and surely a week of very high demand, but I'm still curious to know if anyone here would ever pay $6,000 to rent a timeshare week at HSH --- or anywhere else on Planet Earth, for that matter. Any informed thoughts or opinions?

P.S. It is not my ad and we don't own there (but yes, we have stayed at HSH before). I am just surprised (dumbfounded, actually) by the exorbitant rental price.

No doubt $850 a night is high rate, however, Key West is the quintessential example of high demand/low supply - add in the time frame of New Years week and there are no reasonably priced accommodations in Key West.

For entertainment, checking Key West prices at the big name properties for the same time frame yielded "similar" rooms at the Hyatt Hotel ($1225 a night), The Marker Hotel ($1390 a night), Ocean Key ($1450 a night) and Pier House ($2150 a night) surprisingly makes the $850 a night of the RW listing plausible. I noted "similar" as The Hyatt and Marker prices are for a 450 sf marina/balcony unit, Ocean Key is 600 sf marina/balcony unit and the Pier House is a 1200 sf 2 bd marina/balcony unit (with Pier House being the only comparable unit size).

The bad part of the RW listing is that the unit is listed as "unassigned" - that's a wild card as the unit could be a great townhouse unit with 2 balconies overlooking the harbor and KW sunsets or the HC unit that is a 1st floor unit next to the restroom and doesn't even have a view of the pool. The really bad part is that as an assigned unit means that the person listing the unit does not own that deeded week - so they are breaking the HRC rules on renting of non-owned weeks.

In answer to the question "curious to know if anyone here would ever pay $6,000 to rent a timeshare week at HSH or anywhere else on Planet Earth" - no one here on TUG would pay any of the above rates (but they would offer $100 a night for it - lol).

 

[alwysonvac]

Sunset wasn't available but Hyatt Beach House and Hyatt Windward Pointe in Key West are available.


From the Hyatt website....


Hyatt Beach House, A Hyatt Residence Club
5051 Overseas Highway
Key West, Florida, 33040, USA

1 Room : Two Bedroom Room Details
Weekly Rates Rate Rules
2 Adults / No Child
7 Nights : Sat Dec 26 - Sat Jan 2

Average Daily Rate 538.43 USD
Subtotal 3769.01 USD ( 7 Nights / 1 Room )

Additional Fees & Taxes
State Tax 282.68 USD
Resort Fees 133.91 USD
County Tax 188.45 USD

Total Per Room 4374.05 USD


Hyatt Windward Pointe, A Hyatt Residence Club
3675 South Roosevelt Boulevard
Key West, Florida, 33040, USA

1 Room : 2bdrm Condo Room Details
Weekly Rates Rate Rules
2 Adults / No Child
7 Nights : Sat Dec 26 - Sat Jan 2

Average Daily Rate 571.29 USD
Subtotal 3999.03 USD ( 7 Nights / 1 Room )

Additional Fees & Taxes
State Tax 299.93 USD
County Tax 199.95 USD
Resort Fees 157.50 USD

Total Per Room 4656.41 USD

 

[DeniseM]

Yes, it's the week immediately following Christmas and surely a week of very high demand, but I'm still curious to know if anyone here would ever pay $6,000 to rent a timeshare week at HSH --- or anywhere else on Planet Earth, for that matter. Any informed thoughts or opinions?

Harborside at Atlantis - Chrismas week - 3 bdm.: $6,600.

 

[theo]

Sunset wasn't available but Hyatt Beach House and Hyatt Windward Pointe in Key West are available.

...and with good reason. The Windward Pointe property is not on the water and it directly abuts the Key West airport runway.
Beach House is at the opposite end of Key West from Sunset Harbor, 4+ miles away from Old Town, HSH, Mallory Square.

Thanks for that info nonetheless. We are not actually looking for any KW rental for that week, regardless of pricing. With schools almost universally out in the U.S. and the family hordes loose en masse, that's a week we just stay home, heading south only after the school bells ring to summon all the cherubs back into their classrooms.
My original post was just an expression of shock at a $6k HSH weekly rental price, not reflecting any interest in that particular week --- regardless of price.

 

[theo]

<snip> The bad part of the RW listing is that the unit is listed as "unassigned" ....<snip> - The really bad part is that as an assigned unit means that the person listing the unit does not own that deeded week - so they are breaking the HRC rules on renting of non-owned weeks.

I'm confused. I certainly claim no detailed knowledge of the Hyatt system or its' internal rules, but have rented from others at HSH before (several times), and our names were overtly on the internal HSH paperwork relayed to us in advance by our "landlord" (always with a specific pre-determined unit number). I never knew (or asked) if the "landlord" owned the week, since there was HSH confirmation paperwork with our names in each instance, so figured if it was o.k. with HSH it was o.k. with us.

Clearly, there are a number of people with a large quantity of Hyatt points who openly advertise and reserve weeks (certainly including at HSH) and then rent out those reserved weeks. Am I to understand correctly from the highlighted portion of your post above that this practice is actually "outside the HRC rules"? Is HSH in fact part of Hyatt Residence Club in the first place?

 

[bdh]

I'm confused. I certainly claim no detailed knowledge of the Hyatt system or its' internal rules, but have rented from others at HSH before (several times), and our names were overtly on the internal HSH paperwork relayed to us in advance by our "landlord" (always with a specific pre-determined unit number). I never knew (or asked) if the "landlord" owned the week, since there was HSH confirmation paperwork with our names in each instance, so figured if it was o.k. with HSH it was o.k. with us.

Clearly, there are a number of people with a large quantity of Hyatt points who openly advertise and reserve weeks (certainly including at HSH) and then rent out those reserved weeks. Am I to understand correctly from the highlighted portion of your post above that this practice is actually "outside the HRC rules"? Is HSH in fact part of Hyatt Residence Club in the first place?

Am I to understand correctly from the highlighted portion of your post above that this practice is actually "outside the HRC rules"? - you correctly understand.

From The Club rules:

6.2 Club Member Rentals. A Club Member may reserve a Week or Split Week during a Home Resort Preference Period and rent it for the Member’s own account. ------ Rental by a Club Member of accommodations reserved through the Club (other than a Week or Split Week reserved during a Home Resort Preference Period) is prohibited

As info, "Home Resort Preference Period" in HRC lingo translates to the owned deeded week. Due to how the HRC system works, a HRPP week/unit is a specific week and unit - any/all HRPP reservations can only be that specific week/unit. So an HRPP reservation will list the unit number - and conversely, the unit number is unknown on a non-HRPP reservation and will be listed as "unassigned".

There are 8 to 10 HRC high point owners that have made a business out of renting non-owned HSH reservations on Ebay - HRC is aware of the practice and are supposedly "reaching out" to the those that abuse/break the rules - not sure I believe that due to the numerous HSH studio rentals still on Ebay.

The HRC system uses the "Guest Certificate" document to change the name of a reservation from one person to another - so the HRC Ebay renters pay the $40+/- to put the reservation into the Ebay winner's name. While each Hyatt property does a good job of making sure the name of the person checking in matchs the name on the reservation at check in, they are currently woefully inadequate at enforcing the rules on the rental of non-HRPP reservations. Hopefully ILG will tell HRC management to crack down on the improper Ebay rentals. If they would enforce the club rules a few times and not allow a renter to check in, the cheap HRC Ebay rentals would dry up in a couple of months.

HSH was the 1st property in the HRC system - combine Key West's allure with HSH's location in Old Town KW and the small number of units at the property, it has a 95%+/- year round occupancy rate (HSH and Highlands Inn in Carmel occupancy are the highest in the HRC system every year).

 

[theo]

Thanks for the above detailed information; I will now certainly be more attentive in future HSH rentals --- I wouldn't want to get "caught in the cross-fire" if we in good faith rented from someone who acquired a HSH week with their Hyatt points but actually has no right to then rent the acquired week out to others. Good to know.

Fwiw, I never conduct (or even consider) any timeshare transactions via eBay, whether it's buying, selling or renting. Never. Just my own personal preference and policy.
In retrospect, I believe that the (2 or 3) HSH rentals we've conducted over the years were all found advertised on RedWeek. I would of course always choose and prefer to deal with a TUGGER, but have never actually seen the only weeks in which we'd ever be occasionally interested (6 or 11 or 12) ever advertised in TUG Marketplace.
No big surprise there I guess, since all three of those weeks are prime, high demand winter weeks, whose owners likely want to use and enjoy them themselves.