Hey I'm new to this timeshare thing. My uncle has owned one in Virginia Beach for about 35 years and loves it! I'm trying to find one in Virginia Beach, NC beaches or SC beaches. But I was wondering if anyone can explain how these that advertise multiple locations and multiple dates work? And maybe explain the pros and cons of the point system timeshare. We don't get to do much traveling due to work so just trying to figure the best option for us. TIA!!!
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Looking for a timeshare
- Thread starter kalley
- Start date
Every points system is different with differing costs, so there is no one answer to your question. The main considerations with a points ownership is scheduling flexibility and ability to plan ahead -- maybe more than a year ahead for the really popular locations and times like summer.
Start here to see if a points timeshare is right for you. The answers will lead you to some options to explore in detail.
tugbbs.com
Start here to see if a points timeshare is right for you. The answers will lead you to some options to explore in detail.
"What to Buy" Questions for New Timeshare Owners
Here are some questions you can answer to focus your timeshare wants/needs. Suggestion - copy the questions below, and start a new thread entitled "My Survey" or "What should I buy?," or something similar, and answer the questions in a NEW thread. 1) Is there a vacation destination you wish...
tugbbs.com
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
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- 34,902
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- 11,090
- Location
- The Centennial State
- Resorts Owned
- Wyndham Founder; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge, Shadow Ridge and Grand Chateau; Val Chatelle, Pines at Meadow Ridge and Twin Rivers in CO; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few); WKORV-OFC-4 and Westin Desert Willow.
Highly recommend Sheraton Broadway Resort in Myrtle Beach. It's now managed by Marriott, has reasonable MF's, but it's not oceanfront. I consider the fact that it's not oceanfront to be positive because OF resorts are more expensive due to weather conditions. Fees for a 2 bedroom are around $1350, maybe less. You can get those pretty much free on ebay, so I wouldn't pay anything for them.
The lockoff units have higher fees but are also well worth the MF cost.
There was a recent update to the Sheraton, and it's pretty nice. Marriott cannot quite bump it up to the quality of their Myrtle Beach resort, which is a shame that they held back their design just enough to not match the Marriott standard. But it's close and we are very happy to own there. You can see pictures on Marriott's website.
Of course I would always love to own in Hilton Head but haven't done that quite yet. We wouldn't really go in summer, and off-season weeks have been easy enough to trade into Marriott resorts in Hilton Head.
Point systems can be a great way to get where you want, but the advantage in getting the Atlantic coast beaches would be to own there. I am not a fan of Wyndham. Many TUG members just think Wyndham is so great, but I disagree.
The lockoff units have higher fees but are also well worth the MF cost.
There was a recent update to the Sheraton, and it's pretty nice. Marriott cannot quite bump it up to the quality of their Myrtle Beach resort, which is a shame that they held back their design just enough to not match the Marriott standard. But it's close and we are very happy to own there. You can see pictures on Marriott's website.
Of course I would always love to own in Hilton Head but haven't done that quite yet. We wouldn't really go in summer, and off-season weeks have been easy enough to trade into Marriott resorts in Hilton Head.
Point systems can be a great way to get where you want, but the advantage in getting the Atlantic coast beaches would be to own there. I am not a fan of Wyndham. Many TUG members just think Wyndham is so great, but I disagree.
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2022
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- Location
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- HGVC Seaworld
Wyndham Smoky Mountains
Foxrun Lake Lure
Gatlinburg Town Square
Answer the questions, but if Marriott I'm pretty convinced what RickAndCindy said is the best bet - get a cheap week to trade via II - ideally a week where you'd like to use it.
I'm just still pretty sure that the Marriott system is the most opaque and / or expensive option(for trading). Abound pretty much is just teetering on making sense - for me I'd say it didn't make sense a couple years ago and is getting worse. There's a thread on here under "why buy points" that goes over it.
OTOH, HGVC if you like their resorts and locations still makes a lot of sense, and if you get a cheap or even middling point generator MF/pt ratio it's pretty good.
Wyndham is good IMHO - the reasons I like it is they have a lot of locations on the east coast through the middle of the country so it's easy to drive to for me. So you don't have to get into the complications of trading, you can just book via their site. The MFs can be pretty reasonable if you pick decent locations to own at. If you stay weeks there's basically no extra fees aside from parking in some limited city locations. They also have bonus time which might be good for last minute bookings for cash for cheap. The downside to Wyndham is there's a lot more variety by location, so you don't always get the "brand standard" - in more locations than the others IMO. They also are aggressive in getting you to do sales pitches each time you check in, but I've found that you can eventually say no, and the two I've gone to recently were surprisingly chill and had decent gifts / incentives / free stuff. So there's that.
Oh, and HGVC and Wyndham build in an RCI account, which while not great for exchanges, is much better IMHO for the extra vacations than II which Marriott uses.
I'm just still pretty sure that the Marriott system is the most opaque and / or expensive option(for trading). Abound pretty much is just teetering on making sense - for me I'd say it didn't make sense a couple years ago and is getting worse. There's a thread on here under "why buy points" that goes over it.
OTOH, HGVC if you like their resorts and locations still makes a lot of sense, and if you get a cheap or even middling point generator MF/pt ratio it's pretty good.
Wyndham is good IMHO - the reasons I like it is they have a lot of locations on the east coast through the middle of the country so it's easy to drive to for me. So you don't have to get into the complications of trading, you can just book via their site. The MFs can be pretty reasonable if you pick decent locations to own at. If you stay weeks there's basically no extra fees aside from parking in some limited city locations. They also have bonus time which might be good for last minute bookings for cash for cheap. The downside to Wyndham is there's a lot more variety by location, so you don't always get the "brand standard" - in more locations than the others IMO. They also are aggressive in getting you to do sales pitches each time you check in, but I've found that you can eventually say no, and the two I've gone to recently were surprisingly chill and had decent gifts / incentives / free stuff. So there's that.
Oh, and HGVC and Wyndham build in an RCI account, which while not great for exchanges, is much better IMHO for the extra vacations than II which Marriott uses.
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 34,902
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- 11,090
- Location
- The Centennial State
- Resorts Owned
- Wyndham Founder; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge, Shadow Ridge and Grand Chateau; Val Chatelle, Pines at Meadow Ridge and Twin Rivers in CO; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few); WKORV-OFC-4 and Westin Desert Willow.
If we lived back east, we would certainly visit Williamsburg and other coastal locations much more than we do now, and we would make use of Wyndham for that purpose. But Marriott has a pretty nice resort in Williamsburg, and if I got Governor's Green or Kingsgate, I would probably wish I was at the Marriott.
Places I would like to see Wyndham acquire are Breckenridge and Estes Park, CO; Cape Cod; Maui; Hilton Head; and of course anything near National Parks, like Yellowstone and Yosemite. WorldMark has a few of those, and I am glad of it. There are other areas where Wyndham could expand, but I cannot think of them right now. It would be nice to have a Wyndham near Mount Rushmore. Love the area and the history.
We like Pagosa Springs and Durango, but Pagosa Springs is hit or miss for unit quality. The Avon Wyndham we wouldn't stay because of the parking fee (outrageous). Marriott doesn't charge us parking fees for exchanges into their resorts in CO. Wyndham Steamboat Springs is nice, but the Sheraton is nicer. I struggle with this, as you can tell.
The Branson resorts are awful compared to Marriott and a few others in Branson. Wyndham are last choices for us.
Places I would like to see Wyndham acquire are Breckenridge and Estes Park, CO; Cape Cod; Maui; Hilton Head; and of course anything near National Parks, like Yellowstone and Yosemite. WorldMark has a few of those, and I am glad of it. There are other areas where Wyndham could expand, but I cannot think of them right now. It would be nice to have a Wyndham near Mount Rushmore. Love the area and the history.
We like Pagosa Springs and Durango, but Pagosa Springs is hit or miss for unit quality. The Avon Wyndham we wouldn't stay because of the parking fee (outrageous). Marriott doesn't charge us parking fees for exchanges into their resorts in CO. Wyndham Steamboat Springs is nice, but the Sheraton is nicer. I struggle with this, as you can tell.
The Branson resorts are awful compared to Marriott and a few others in Branson. Wyndham are last choices for us.
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Wyndham Smoky Mountains
Foxrun Lake Lure
Gatlinburg Town Square
Yea, I'm not loving the Nashville location. Hence the variance with Wyndham. But AFAIK they are in a lot of places with only independents as other options. Which is even more all over the place in quality.
I did find that Branson is pretty easy to trade into the Marriott with a non-branded place - I think I used Gaitlinburg Town Square for that this year. So I would want very low MFs (sub $1300 all in) if I was planning to trade a Marriott into there IMO.