[It's official] New Steamboat Springs timeshares to join Sheraton Flex?

[okwiater]

It's official: Steamboat Springs is part of Sheraton Flex

Dear Owner,

We’re excited to announce that Sheraton Steamboat Resort Villas has been added to the Sheraton Flex vacation plan, giving you even more vacation flexibility and preferred access at six Home Resorts.

Beginning with the 2017 Use Year, you’ll be able to use your Home Options to reserve stays 12 to 8 months before your planned arrival*, which is your Home Resort Reservation Period. Sheraton Steamboat Resort Villas joins a collection of stylishly designed villa accommodations, including Sheraton Vistana Villages, Sheraton Vistana Resort, Sheraton Broadway Plantation, Sheraton Desert Oasis and Vistana’s Beach Club.

If you have questions about this change to Sheraton Flex, please call Owner Services at 888-786-9637.

Please visit starwoodvacationnetwork.com for vacation ideas and online reservations.

 

[okwiater]

Looks like it's official.

 

[okwiater]

Looks like it's official. Steamboat Springs is now part of Sheraton Flex.

 

[okwiater]

The question now is, does this mean an announcement will be made soon about the hotel beginning its conversion to timeshare units? And, will this coincide with a StarOptions bump to align the 3-bedroom units with the 257,700 threshold set at WSJ and WNOV?

 

[Helios]

This development makes the Sheraton Flex appealing to me. I have never been to this location, how does it compare with other CO ski resort.

I wonder if they will add other Sheraton properties like the Sheraton Poipu that is being converted to TS.

 

[ValleyGirl]

Location, Location, Location

Steamboat is a great resort but!!! It is hard to get to.
By car from Eagle - its a long 2 lane road through mountain passes/snow???
By air to Bob Adams - STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) will require at least another hop or a regional "smaller" aircraft.
It would not be convenient to travel to other areas like Beaver Creek/Vail etc..
Also I'm not sure how everyone with a week vying for ski-weeks is going to work out!
Maybe they will still carve out a "Platinum Plus Ski Designation similar to OF?
Now if they add Kauai & Maui to the same group - now your talking!!

The view on Wood's site of the "front" of the mountain does not do it justice!
There is a whole other back basin similar to Vail but nowhere near as extensive.
Plus there is limited area night skiing if you have an abundant amount of energy. Usually a lot of locals "after work"

Of course I'm biased by 2 x 2BR "Ski Weeks" at Riverfront
We will be at Riverfront from Jan 20 - Feb 4 and will attend an update and see what more we find out

YMMV

 

[ValleyGirl]

Merge

Note to Denise
Merging the two Steamboat flex threads would make sense!

 

[okwiater]

Maybe they will still carve out a "Platinum Plus Ski Designation similar to OF?

I think there will be a lot of competition for desirable ski weeks because of how few are available as compared to how many deeds are in the Flex plan. There will not be a special ski designation. Here is the quote from the Flex terms:

"The Sheraton Flex vacation plan does not include the purchase of a single Home Resort or specific Season; therefore, the availability of highly demanded seasons for reservation may be limited. Early booking is strongly suggested."

As I've mentioned previously in other threads, I see the gradual expansion of both Sheraton and Westin Flex as causing a likely devaluation of SVN StarOptions (vs. HomeOptions) over the long term.

 

[SMHarman]

The above is true but you need the points to afford the rental. Your Florida owners only have 81k for their week and will need 148k for a week here.

You can't compete unless you are a 148k baller.

 

[okwiater]

The above is true but you need the points to afford the rental. Your Florida owners only have 81k for their week and will need 148k for a week here.

Not exactly -- there are no "Florida owners." Flex is sold in packages of varying sizes. Anyone with enough HomeOptions to book at Steamboat can book at Steamboat.

You can't compete unless you are a 148k baller.

True, if you are traveling for a week. But Flex allows nightly bookings, so it's feasible people may want to come for 3-5 nights.

One thing that doesn't enter the mix is StarOptions banking, fortunately. So you're right that will prevent some people from competing for desirable weeks.

 

[SMHarman]

Not exactly -- there are no "Florida owners." Flex is sold in packages of varying sizes. Anyone with enough HomeOptions to book at Steamboat can book at Steamboat.

True, if you are traveling for a week. But Flex allows nightly bookings, so it's feasible people may want to come for 3-5 nights.

Semantics. Perhaps I should have said flex owners who bought sufficient points for a week's use in a 2br in Florida.

Even the weekend usage will be constrained for those owners.

29,625x2 and a 22225 comes to 81475. Over budget.

 

[LisaRex]

Symantics.

Semantics. Just saying.

I wonder if Starwood will eventually allow banking or even buying necessary points if a buyer is short of the points necessary. It seems to be the natural evolution of these programs.

 

[DTD1990]

What is the price for 148,100 Homeoptions in FLEX? I am assuming that will be enough points for a 2br at Steamboat for a week.

I am very interested in this property. However, for Spring break 2016 we have reserved a 1br suite (sleeps 4) at this resort for just under $2000 for 5 nights. When you figure the capital cost for the number points you need to own here via FLEX, plus the annual MFs, and questions of availability in the FLEX system, I wonder if you could ever recoup your vacation investment.

 

[x3 skier]

Steamboat is a great resort but!!! It is hard to get to.
By car from Eagle - its a long 2 lane road through mountain passes/snow???
By air to Bob Adams - STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) will require at least another hop or a regional "smaller" aircraft.
It would not be convenient to travel to other areas like Beaver Creek/Vail etc..


YMMV

There's no commercial service to Bob Adams. All flights operate out of Hayden, about an easy 30 minute ride away. Delta, United and American operate full size jets from Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle and other major hubs during the ski season. In the summer, most connect thru Denver although there have been a few direct flights to Houston IIRC.

I often drive down to Summit County for a ski break and it's about 1:30 away. Winter Park is an hour away. If there's a heavy storm, all bets are off.

If you like jeans and boots, Steamboat's the place. If you like furs and Prada, Vail and Beavercreek are the place. If you like a mob scene on weekends, Breck, Keystone, Copper will deliver. . All offer excellent skiing with Vail having the most terrain.

Cheers

 

[x3 skier]

The question now is, does this mean an announcement will be made soon about the hotel beginning its conversion to timeshare units? And, will this coincide with a StarOptions bump to align the 3-bedroom units with the 257,700 threshold set at WSJ and WNOV?

The Villas are the light brown building on the left of the picture. AFAIK, there's some units in the hotel building on the right but most of that building is one room hotel units. If they were to convert the entire hotel to condos, it would mean major construction and a long time project.

Cheers

 

[okwiater]

The Villas are the light brown building on the left of the picture. AFAIK, there's some units in the hotel building on the right but most of that building is one room hotel units. If they were to convert the entire hotel to condos, it would mean major construction and a long time project.

It has already been confirmed by SVO that Steamboat will be converted to timeshare.

 

[okwiater]

29,625x2 and a 22225 comes to 81475. Over budget.

They sell Flex at literally every price point. You can buy Flex in 5,000-point increments, or in popular sizes like 81,000, 95,700, 148,100, etc.

What is the price for 148,100 Homeoptions in FLEX? I am assuming that will be enough points for a 2br at Steamboat for a week.

148,100 HomeOptions is just over $51K IIRC. That would make 257,700 HomeOptions about $90K which sounds like the going price point for prime season 3-bedroom SVO units these days.

 

[SMHarman]

They sell Flex at literally every price point. You can buy Flex in 5,000-point increments, or in popular sizes like 81,000, 95,700, 148,100, etc.



148,100 HomeOptions is just over $51K IIRC. That would make 257,700 HomeOptions about $90K which sounds like the going price point for prime season 3-bedroom SVO units these days.

I get that but if you are someone with flex points bought for a week in Florida in a 2bed (81k) and get this mail and think yay, steamboat 2017 here we come then come Jan 2016 when you go to make that booking you will be sorely disappointed at what your points buy you.

Great for the sales team to upsell you more points though.

 

[x3 skier]

It has already been confirmed by SVO that Steamboat will be converted to timeshare.

I don't have a dog in this fight but I just curious to know if the entire resort is going to be timeshares including the hotel rooms or just existing condo units or are they converting the hotel rooms to condo units or how is the conversion to timeshare from hotel plus condos plus timeshares going to be done.

Your initial post just mentions the Steamboat Resort Villas being converted.

Cheers

 

[DTD1990]

Okwiater

What's your prediction of the availability for prime ski weeks once the hotel is converted to TS?

This is why I hate the FLEX product - it is a black box with no way to determine the number of units available in various seasons verses the number of members and points competing for those units.

 

[DeniseM]

I get that but if you are someone with flex points bought for a week in Florida in a 2bed (81k) and get this mail and think yay, steamboat 2017 here we come then come Jan 2016 when you go to make that booking you will be sorely disappointed at what your points buy you.

Great for the sales team to upsell you more points though.

Logic tells you that giving a whole lot more people home resort priority, is bound to cause problems. Do you think all the people who bought into the flex program want to go to SDO in August? Of course not! They are all competing for the same prime weeks, and I'm sure that the sales people wax eloquently about how easy it is going to be to make home resort reservations with Flexpoints.

Of course, that will be Interval's problem, won't it?

*In many ways, this reminds me of when Starwood first rolled out Elite Status and promised that all Elite Owners would get upgrades. Within months, they discovered that it wasn't possible to do, and Starwood had to back pedal with the ridiculous, "instead, we will surprise and delight you," email.

I don't know if Starwood just doesn't care when they market something that they can't deliver, or if their planning and analysis is really that poor.

 

[SMHarman]

I think you are giving a lot of people the illusion of choice. It's working well for Marriott

 

[DavidnRobin]

148,100 HomeOptions is just over $51K IIRC. That would make 257,700 HomeOptions about $90K which sounds like the going price point for prime season 3-bedroom SVO units these days.

Not including the annual MFs for those FlexOptions...

I know a much (much) cheaper way to get 257.7K SOs via resale (hint: has private pool) - and while the annual cost (MF/Taxes) may be much higher - it would take a long time to equal a $90K cost (w/o including MFs). Of course, since resale - one loses out on the benefit of converting SOs to SPs.
If I only had 6-8 people to travel with, and needed to escape snow...
{sarcasm alert}

 

[ValleyGirl]

Buy Where, When and in What you Want

I know its more expensive but we buy fixed weeks and fixed units (*wood usually requires both at 10% + 10% upcharge). You will always have that unit and that week regardless and can compete with others for other weeks at 12 Mo.

 

[okwiater]

I know a much (much) cheaper way to get 257.7K SOs via resale (hint: has private pool) - and while the annual cost (MF/Taxes) may be much higher - it would take a long time to equal a $90K cost (w/o including MFs). Of course, since resale - one loses out on the benefit of converting SOs to SPs.
If I only had 6-8 people to travel with, and needed to escape snow...
{sarcasm alert}

The difference is that 257,700 SOs is unlikely to get you a 3-bedroom at Steamboat Springs since there probably won't be any inventory remaining at 8 months. St. John and Steamboat Springs are entirely different vacations which suit entirely different winter travel preferences, and I wouldn't recommend buying a resort in the Caribbean if mountains and skiing are your thing.