Is Starwood / Sheraton Timeshare Business Up for Sale?

[lprstn]

Well went to Diamond Tour and they stated that Marriot and Starwood was up for sale. That Sheraton and Marriott want out of the Timeshare business.

I didn't believe it of course when I toured with Westin in Maui (who was charging just a measly $33K for a Garden View 2br unit) but wanted to check with Tuggers first.

 

[DeniseM]

Starwood doesn't own the timeshares - they just manage them, and they make a lot of money doing it, so I think this is just typical TS sales weasel BS.

 

[K2Quick]

Marriott is out of the timeshare business. They spun their timeshare business off into a separate publicly held company about a while back. Marriott does still license its name to the new Marriott timeshare company, though.

 

[lprstn]

Okay so the timeshare salesperson was partially correct. Hopefully the quality of their timeshare resorts doesn't deplete.

 

[SueDonJ]

Marriott is out of the timeshare business. They spun their timeshare business off into a separate publicly held company about a while back. Marriott does still license its name to the new Marriott timeshare company, though.

That's a little bit misleading. Marriott Int'l. (MAR) spun off the timeshare business in Nov '11 but the new company is Marriott Vacations Worldwide (VAC) and Marriott family members still own the same percentage of the new company as they own in MAR. It's practically the same relationship that MAR has with the overwhelming majority of hotels that are licensed to carry the Marriott name, except the companies that own the hotels don't have "Marriott" in their names the way VAC does. MAR still provides extensive IT and other services for VAC which absorbs at least some of the licensing fees paid by VAC to MAR.

The partner relationship between MAR's Marriott Rewards (hotel/resort customer loyalty) Program and the timeshare owners/members is unchanged. The spin-off really hasn't caused any changes for the timeshare owners/members and I don't think you'll find any of us thinking that we own something other than a Marriott product. The only thing different is that those who owned MAR stock at the time of the spin-off/dividend have since seen its value significantly increase in VAC.

The spin-off is certainly a significant business event but I don't believe that it's entirely correct to simply say, "Marriott is out of the timeshare business." Especially on a non-Marriott TUG forum which may be read by folks who, without knowing anything different, might interpret it as Marriott completely bailing on its timeshare business.

 

[Scott & Laura]

In Starwoods last margin call Q! 2013 in April) , Vince Van Paaten was specifically asked if they were considering selling off the SVO operation.

He replied NO, it fits Starwoods vision and produces a steady cash flow.

Scott

 

[jarta]

In Starwoods last margin call Q! 2013 in April) , Vince Van Paaten was specifically asked if they were considering selling off the SVO operation.

He replied NO, it fits Starwoods vision and produces a steady cash flow.

Scott

The OP went to a Diamond presentation. The salesperson dissed Marriott and Starwood. What else is new?

Things are always subject to change. Profits could go down. Starwood actually could pull out and shut down the SVN. But, a Diamond salesperson would not have a pipeline to Starwood management's thinking Salty

 

[Scott & Laura]

Salty makes a good point.

That was actually hinted at in their margin call.

Starwood feels its a great cash generator--resales are about 300 million a year but if things turn ugly they could/would sell off SVO possibly, but at this time they are not considering.

They were asked about expansion and they would consider if deal was absolutely right
Starwoods business model is NOT to tie up own money, but to manage properties for others.

Scott