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Just Purchased Westin Timeshare - Is it worth it?

dylisa

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Hello, my husband and I purchased a Westin timeshare today. We purchased the points option with our home resort being the new Westin Desert Willow in Palm Desert, CA. What are the downsides to timeshare ownership? Does anyone regret their purchase? Of course, it all sounds great when you're in the presentation, but after coming home and doing some research, seems we can find better deals for vacations online. Any advice or suggestions?
 

dneveu

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Marriott Cypress Harbor, Marriott Shadow Ridge, Marriott Grand Chateau
Hello, my husband and I purchased a Westin timeshare today. We purchased the points option with our home resort being the new Westin Desert Willow in Palm Desert, CA. What are the downsides to timeshare ownership? Does anyone regret their purchase? Of course, it all sounds great when you're in the presentation, but after coming home and doing some research, seems we can find better deals for vacations online. Any advice or suggestions?

If you were having any second thoughts regarding the purchase i would encourage you to strongly considering recinding within the allowable time. This may save you a lot of regrets, not to mention money. Follow all instructions laid out in the documentation you received. Be sure to mail your written recision (via the post office and purchase proof of receipt). You do not need to call the sales offices as they may try talk you out of recinding.

There's a wealth of information on how to recind Purchases on the tug boards from folks who have done this and/or have been able to provide advise. You will also have plenty of time to research what type of ownership you might like to have (in the future) at you leisure without regretting an expensive purchase. Also Consider joining TUG for $15 year and gaining valuable experience from the members. We have saved thousands of dollars buying resale based on advice learned here on tug. We love our timeshares and are very happy with our ownerships. Best of luck in your decision
 

mjm1

TUG Review Crew: Expert
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Westin Kierland Villas;
HGVC Flamingo & Blvd;
Hyatt Pinon Pointe
Hello, my husband and I purchased a Westin timeshare today. We purchased the points option with our home resort being the new Westin Desert Willow in Palm Desert, CA. What are the downsides to timeshare ownership? Does anyone regret their purchase? Of course, it all sounds great when you're in the presentation, but after coming home and doing some research, seems we can find better deals for vacations online. Any advice or suggestions?

Congratulations on finding TUG.

I agree with the prior Tugger regarding rescinding your purchase. Vistana is an outstanding system, but you can save a great deal of money by buying a mandatory resort on the resale market. As suggested, rescind and do more research about time sharing and the various systems to make sure you identify and buy something that will work best for you and your travel plans.

You will see it during your research, but basically a mandatory resort in Vistana, which includes Westin, will allow a resale buyer to have StarOptions and use the SVN system to reserve units at other Vistana resorts. The only benefits you don't get are being able to convert your week into StarPoints (hotel points) and have elite status.

We bought a resale unit at Westin Kierland Villas (WKV) and have enjoyed our ownership. WKV is one of the five mandatory resorts in the system.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Best regards.

Mike
 

TUGBrian

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the biggest reason anyone should rescind a purchase is if they are having second thoughts and still need time to do research and get questions answered!

the same exact deal you purchased today will be available next week, and next month...the ability to rescind legally however will be gone in just a few short days.
 

Talent312

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Buying a TS direct from the developer/management sales office means that you are paying thousands more than necessary to get the same or a similar deal on the secondary = resale = market. Sad to say, but in reality, you TS is worth nothing like what they charged you.

Check out closed-auctions on eBay or redweek.com or the many R/E brokers who specialize in the TS market, and you'll see how much you could save. So yes, if there's still time, RESCIND.

.
 

WalnutBaron

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To the OP: as others have said, you need to rescind right away as your time to do this is very limited--often less than a week from date of purchase. Your contract will have specifics not only on how much time you have, but specific instructions on how to rescind. Follow those instructions to the letter, and mail your rescission letter certified, return receipt requested so that you will have not only a record of delivery, but the date your letter was received. As you yourself have discovered, Westin Desert Willow is available for a fraction of what you have agreed to pay on the resale market. Moreover, within the Vistana system, only a handful of resorts carry a designation of a "mandatory" resort, and WDW is not one of them. What is a mandatory resort? It allows resale owners to retain internal trading rights to visit other Vistana properties through the Vistana system. Without this feature, resale owners at so-called "voluntary" resorts like WDW can only visit their voluntary resort and no others unless they try their luck through Interval International, which is not at all a sure thing.

Already your head might be spinning with all of the terminology thrown at you, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. This whole timeshare thing is incredibly detailed, complicated, and confusing--as the title of your thread implies. I want to encourage you by saying that you're doing a number of things right: 1) if you still have time to rescind and save your hard-earned $$--nice going!; 2) you're trying to unpack this whole timeshare thing and learn what it's all about; 3) you've come to the right place--TUG is a tremendous resource.

You also should understand that it's complicated for a number of reasons: 1) there are many developer companies, all of which have developed their own systems, their own points scales and pricing, and their own rules about reservation windows, upgrade opportunities, cancellation policies, and the like; 2) it actually behooves the developers to make their systems complicated, because they are first and foremost motivated by profit--and if they can keep their owners from fully understanding their systems and squeezing every last penny out of their ownership, that tends to work to the advantage of the developer; 3) the market is dynamic--so that just when you feel like you've got a good handle on things, the rules get changed or new programs are introduced that must be learned all over again. This is happening now within both the Wyndham and Hyatt systems, for example.

The advice you've received is sound. It really will take you months to read and absorb how these systems work. TUG moderators have provided very useful stickies at the top of each of the various systems' BBS boards which will help familiarize you with how the systems work, property locations and points and seasons charts. You should read and absorb those, as that will also help you to begin to narrow down which system or systems you think will best meet your needs for future vacations. Once you've done that, I advise you to just dig into the BBS of the system(s) you prefer. Vistana, for example, while a very nice system with high quality and beautiful resorts, tends to carry ongoing annual maintenance fees that are among the highest in the timeshare industry. As you study here on TUG, your questions will begin to be more pointed, more precise and less general, and you'll have more confidence about making your first purchase--on the resale market.
 

vacationtime1

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Your $30K - $40K purchase is worth a couple of thousand dollars on the resale market because Vistana strips benefits from resale purchases.

You have only one opportunity to avoid this economic loss -- rescind now.

After you rescind, do your research. If you still want to do this deal after doing your due diligence, it will be still available later.
 

theo

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Another voice echoing the advice to rescind now. After completing the cancellation by following the rescission instructions to the letter, make the effort to learn lots more about timeshares before proceeding any further. Try a rental before buying anything. If still interested in a timeshare purchase after building a knowledge base and experiencing a property first hand via rental, buy on the resale market for pennies on the dollar compared to developer-direct pricing.
 

dagger1

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Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch, Hyatt Main Street Station, Hyatt Ka’anapali; Marriott Ko’Olina, Marriott Waiohai; Marriott Maui Ocean Club; Wyndham CWA points, Worldmark credits.
Are you still here, dylisa?
 

LannyPC

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What are the downsides to timeshare ownership?Any advice or suggestions?

Ever-increasing maintenance fees (MFs) and special assessment fees that seem to pop up at the most inopportune time. Sometimes the MFs exceed what you can rent for from a current owner. Also, if/when you figure that this timeshare is no longer for you, getting rid of it can be costly and rigourous.

I will give the same advice that others have given. Take lots of time to do research and analyze your personal travel needs, desires, and circumstances. Maybe even rent from current owners to start out with. That will give you a no-obligation trial to see if timeshare vacations are right for you.
 

theo

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Your $30K - $40K purchase is worth a couple of thousand dollars on the resale market because Vistana strips benefits from resale purchases.

I know absolutely nothing about Vistana, but am still curious how Vistana strips benefits from resale purchases. I know that Westgate does so by allowing resale buyers only a shortened advance reservation window before usage dates. Same deal with Vistana, or something additional and / or entirely different? :shrug:
 

vacationtime1

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I know absolutely nothing about Vistana, but am still curious how Vistana strips benefits from resale purchases. I know that Westgate does so by allowing resale buyers only a shortened advance reservation window before usage dates. Same deal with Vistana, or something additional and / or entirely different? :shrug:

StarOptions -- Vistana's internal exchange currency -- do not transfer on Vistana resale purchases (with the exception of the half dozen "mandatory" resorts).

As a result Kierland (a "mandatory" high end desert resort where a two bedroom unit comes with 148100 transferrable StarOptions) sells for about $16K resale whereas Mission Hills and Desert Willows (non-mandatory high end desert resorts where a two bedroom developer unit comes with 148100 non-transferrable StarOptions) has a resale value of $3K - $5K. Same discrepancy with WKORV vs. Princeville.
 

theo

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StarOptions -- Vistana's internal exchange currency -- do not transfer on Vistana resale purchases (with the exception of the half dozen "mandatory" resorts).

As a result Kierland (a "mandatory" high end desert resort where a two bedroom unit comes with 148100 transferrable StarOptions) sells for about $16K resale whereas Mission Hills and Desert Willows (non-mandatory high end desert resorts where a two bedroom developer unit comes with 148100 non-transferrable StarOptions) has a resale value of $3K - $5K. Same discrepancy with WKORV vs. Princeville.

Thanks for this explanation. :thumbup:
 

kenzie

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Hello, my husband and I purchased a Westin timeshare today. We purchased the points option with our home resort being the new Westin Desert Willow in Palm Desert, CA. What are the downsides to timeshare ownership? Does anyone regret their purchase? Of course, it all sounds great when you're in the presentation, but after coming home and doing some research, seems we can find better deals for vacations online. Any advice or suggestions?
No it is not worth it. If you want to vacation in the Palm Desert area go after market. I own at Westin mission hills and now you can buy them extremely cheap after market.
 
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