I like Sunterra Resorts...

[Kazakie]

But another concern with sunterra, is that they don't seem to be proud of their own name! Most TS companies proudly names all their resorts with the company name, Sunterra hides behind the Embassy name at several of their resorts. WHY?

Sunterra & Embassy Vacation Resorts end naming

http://evr.sunterra.com/faq.html

http://evr.sunterra.com/pdf/2321-KB-ltr.pdf

...Although I'm still not sure why the name SUNTERRA is not in the property name. There's the Wesin Ka'anapali, the Marriott Maui, and now the Ka'anapali Beach Vacation Resort.

If you're trying to establish a brand why wouldn't you call it the Ka'anapali Sunterra or Sunterra Ka'anapali or Sunterra Maui? Associating Sunterra with a premium name like Maui or Ka'anapali has to be good for the overall brand, and i wouldn't think the Sunterra name is so tarnished to have a negative impact on the property over a "generic" name.

 

[PeelBoy]

I also like Sunterra resorts

I have done Westgate for 4 years, before buying Sunterra in 1998.

I like Sunterra for:
1. European resorts. Los Amigo Beach Resort is as good as any quality resort in North America. Palazzo Catalani is the best experience I have so far. Le Manoir des Deux Amants sits at the banks of a very beautiful river. I have booked Alpine Club and Alpen Club for 2007.

2. Good quality resorts in North America. South Beach cannot be beat, but we can no longer use it anymore. Coral Sands, Sedona Ridge (my home resort) and Grand Beach are better than Westgate, slightly superior than Intrawest resorts, but also slightly inferior to Marriott's. I was disappointed with Cypress Pointe and Powhatan, but they are still very nice places for a one week vacation.

3. 59 day rule. I have 10,000 SunOptions. In theory, I can book a one bed room and one studio each for a week, that is it. Being an empty nester, I can fully utilize the benefits of flexibility by booking last minute. Now, I am having 4 weeks in a one bed room every year, during shoulder or off season though.

4. Very II friendly. I have no difficulties pulling Sheraton and Marriott in the last minute. I can book and pay online. Sunterra is not involved in the process, unless I have to pay MF for the coming year.

Sunterra is not perfect. There is still room for improvement:
1. Their web site sucks. Speed is slow. Search is very user unfriendly. The best feature is their central payment.

2. Very difficult to find availability in some affilitated resorts, e.g. in Washington, Oregon, Hawaii and Italy.

3. Too many resorts in one area, e.g. UK, Sedona, Florida.

4. Resale unfriendly. I am looking for my second timeshare in the resale market. Some tuggers have advised me I have to pay $2995 to convert the fixed week to SunOptions, though I am a member already (No way, too expensive). Some told me to buy a non-Sunterra property and deposit it via their Club Select program. I will have to pay $100 (sounds good, but too good to be true). Some said I can buy the new Trust and then collapse the 2 accounts into 1. I have called Sunterra office but none of them can explain clearly to me how the system works. They promised to do it for me if I will purchase 2000 new points from them (get lost). I still want more SunOptions, but lately, I am looking for RCI points.