Looking to buy a Wyndham and/or Hyatt timeshare

[mikaela7073]

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?
Both Hawaii & North Lake Tahoe

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
Visit home resort at least half the time.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Hawaii, Tahoe, Europe, and Asia? Not sure on the last two. Those are places we'd like to visit but have never been to before.

4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself?
3-4

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Locked into school schedule for 4 1/2 more years.

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
We can. Do we...No, because it takes my wife too long to decide what she wants to do...

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
Yes. Even 2 weeks sometimes.

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
Prefer 4-5 stars. 3 stars are acceptable depending on the accommodations.

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
$5K

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
$2500-$3000

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
Not sure what this one means. I usually take care of the flight, hotel, & car rental by myself.

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?
Yes, although my understanding is that both Wyndham & Hyatt will take your timeshare back as long as you don't owe anything?


I recently saw this ad for a Hyatt timeshare for free. It's seems like a lot more points than we would need for a couple of weeks at Lake Tahoe. And from what I remember, Hyatt is on II and I think most of the timeshares in Waikiki are RCI.

Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum / Welk Points Timeshare For Sale By Owner

Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum / Welk Points Timeshare Discount Resales & Rentals By Owner in, User rating with 0 reviews

tug2.com

 

[Hindsite]

4-5 stars is not common for timeshares, so if you haven't already done so, try out the various resorts by renting from owners for a couple of years.

Also learn up on the different Hyatt branded timeshares to ensure that what you want is what is in this advert. They are former Welk properties, and their points system, is quite different from Hyatt Residence Club and their points system. Timeshare salespeople will probably tell you the Welk ones are easy to use at HRC, but that may not be quite as easy as they imply, particularly for school vacation dates.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Do you want to stay in all of Hawaii, or a particular island? Wyndham has a few on Oahu, a few on Kauai in Princeville, a few on the Big Island, and none on Maui. For Hawaii, maybe buy Hilton points in Vegas or buy where you want to stay. Hilton has all of the islands after acquiring Diamond (Point at Poipu). None of the Wyndham units is 4-5 star on the islands. Hilton is a cut above.

Ten years ago, I really wanted Hyatt points. Not the Hyatt that used to be Welk, but Hyatt points, deeded to Sedona or San Antonio. The price was high for those points, and I knew that the Hyatt Maui would be tough to get with those points. I looked into buying Hyatt Maui. Whoa! High fees, no ability to lockoff those units, and of course the inventory would be tough to get with points because it's not a huge resort. So much competition to get those units.

Exchanging is a game I play but it's still better with II. I love Westin and Marriott, and those are the accommodations I enjoy. Trading our weeks up has been more of a challenge lately. Ongoing searches have always worked better for pulling the best inventory with the least maintenance fee weeks.

 

[CO skier]

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?
Both Hawaii & North Lake Tahoe

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
Visit home resort at least half the time.

WorldMark SouthShore (Zephyr Cove - Lake Tahoe) is an option. Both Hyatt Sierra Lodge and WM Southshore are rated 3-star by Tripadvisor. The WorldMark offers some 3-bedroom units, if that is of value. These do need to be reserved right at 13 months in the winter and 12-13 months ahead for summer. WorldMark has a waitlist, if you miss the early booking window. Credits are good for two years, if a vacation does not work in any particular year.

12,000 credits will book a full week during Red Season in a 3 BR unit at SouthShore. 2026 maintenance dues = $1455. There are a number of cash options to use in addition that include the housekeeping charge, if you want to stay in WorldMark for more than a week in a year. The average ownership in WorldMark is 20,000 credits at $2193 maintenance dues. If you are local to the general area, there are a number of other WorldMark resorts to choose in Gold Country, Wine Country, Central CA, etc.

WorldMark has excellent trading power in Interval International. Join II and put in a Request First a year or more in advance for some Hawaii locations, book a WorldMark vacation using your credits 12-13 months in advance. If the II exchange comes through, cancel the WM reservation and book the exchange.

There are some good deals on WorldMark resales in the TUG Marketplace.

Search Timeshares for Sale, Rent, or Exchange by Owner | Save Thousands on your next Family Vacation!TUG Timeshare Marketplace Search Results - Worldmark Points For Sale Points

Search thousands of timeshares for sale, for rent, or exchange by owner. Save money dealing directly with the owners—no hidden fees, just great deals for your next vacation!TUG Timeshare Marketplace Search, Worldmark Points, For Sale, Points

tug2.com

 

[mikaela7073]

4-5 stars is not common for timeshares, so if you haven't already done so, try out the various resorts by renting from owners for a couple of years.

Also learn up on the different Hyatt branded timeshares to ensure that what you want is what is in this advert. They are former Welk properties, and their points system, is quite different from Hyatt Residence Club and their points system. Timeshare salespeople will probably tell you the Welk ones are easy to use at HRC, but that may not be quite as easy as they imply, particularly for school vacation dates.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know the Welk points were differnt than HRC.

 

[mikaela7073]

Do you want to stay in all of Hawaii, or a particular island? Wyndham has a few on Oahu, a few on Kauai in Princeville, a few on the Big Island, and none on Maui. For Hawaii, maybe buy Hilton points in Vegas or buy where you want to stay. Hilton has all of the islands after acquiring Diamond (Point at Poipu). None of the Wyndham units is 4-5 star on the islands. Hilton is a cut above.

Ten years ago, I really wanted Hyatt points. Not the Hyatt that used to be Welk, but Hyatt points, deeded to Sedona or San Antonio. The price was high for those points, and I knew that the Hyatt Maui would be tough to get with those points. I looked into buying Hyatt Maui. Whoa! High fees, no ability to lockoff those units, and of course the inventory would be tough to get with points because it's not a huge resort. So much competition to get those units.

Exchanging is a game I play but it's still better with II. I love Westin and Marriott, and those are the accommodations I enjoy. Trading our weeks up has been more of a challenge lately. Ongoing searches have always worked better for pulling the best inventory with the least maintenance fee weeks.

We usually spend most of our time in Waikiki. Sometimes we spend a few additional days on one of the other islands.

 

[mikaela7073]

WorldMark SouthShore (Zephyr Cove - Lake Tahoe) is an option. Both Hyatt Sierra Lodge and WM Southshore are rated 3-star by Tripadvisor. The WorldMark offers some 3-bedroom units, if that is of value. These do need to be reserved right at 13 months in the winter and 12-13 months ahead for summer. WorldMark has a waitlist, if you miss the early booking window. Credits are good for two years, if a vacation does not work in any particular year.

12,000 credits will book a full week during Red Season in a 3 BR unit at SouthShore. 2026 maintenance dues = $1455. There are a number of cash options to use in addition that include the housekeeping charge, if you want to stay in WorldMark for more than a week in a year. The average ownership in WorldMark is 20,000 credits at $2193 maintenance dues. If you are local to the general area, there are a number of other WorldMark resorts to choose in Gold Country, Wine Country, Central CA, etc.

WorldMark has excellent trading power in Interval International. Join II and put in a Request First a year or more in advance for some Hawaii locations, book a WorldMark vacation using your credits 12-13 months in advance. If the II exchange comes through, cancel the WM reservation and book the exchange.

There are some good deals on WorldMark resales in the TUG Marketplace.

Search Timeshares for Sale, Rent, or Exchange by Owner | Save Thousands on your next Family Vacation!TUG Timeshare Marketplace Search Results - Worldmark Points For Sale Points

Search thousands of timeshares for sale, for rent, or exchange by owner. Save money dealing directly with the owners—no hidden fees, just great deals for your next vacation!TUG Timeshare Marketplace Search, Worldmark Points, For Sale, Points

tug2.com

Thanks for the info!

 

[echino]

North Lake Tahoe - during which season do you want to visit regularly? You can buy a fixed week that you will use as a Home Resort most of the time, at Hyatt High Sierra Lodge. But only if it's week 7 or 51 or 52, then you will have 2200 points, which is enough to book Hyatt Maui 2br. If it's summer season, then it's 2000 points, not quite enough for a week in a 2br in Maui.

If Hawaii is your primary destination rather than Lake Tahoe, then buy a Hawaii timeshare - there is a large choice of upscale timeshares in Hawaii - HGVC, Marriott, Vistana, and also Hyatt Maui. They all have advantages and disadvantages. If you want Waikiki relatively inexpensively, but upscale, buy HGVC Hawaiian Village Lagoon Tower week.

 

[tomvc]

If you want to go to Waikiki most of the time, Hilton Grand Vacation Club (sometimes referred to as HGVC legacy), not to be confused with the acquisitions renamed Hilton Vacation Club for Diamond and Bluegreen. Marriott Vacation Club has a Waikiki location, but location is inferior.

If you are going to Northstar for ski season, Hyatt Vacaction Club, Platinum Collection (formerly Welk) is very nice, but points have become very pricey. Northstar Lodge also has some unit owned by Hyatt Residence Club, but I read it is difficult to book.

I live in the Bay Area with same schedule limitations so feel free to private message me for good, better, best.

 

[mikaela7073]

North Lake Tahoe - during which season do you want to visit regularly? You can buy a fixed week that you will use as a Home Resort most of the time, at Hyatt High Sierra Lodge. But only if it's week 7 or 51 or 52, then you will have 2200 points, which is enough to book Hyatt Maui 2br. If it's summer season, then it's 2000 points, not quite enough for a week in a 2br in Maui.

If Hawaii is your primary destination rather than Lake Tahoe, then buy a Hawaii timeshare - there is a large choice of upscale timeshares in Hawaii - HGVC, Marriott, Vistana, and also Hyatt Maui. They all have advantages and disadvantages. If you want Waikiki relatively inexpensively, but upscale, buy HGVC Hawaiian Village Lagoon Tower week.

For Tahoe we like going in both the winter & summer. Ideally, when the wife & I retire the kid will be in college or maybe even already graduated, so we could spend a week in the winter and a week in the summer.

We also usually go to Waikiki at least once a year in the summer. Although once we're retired we can go any time.

 

[mikaela7073]

If you want to go to Waikiki most of the time, Hilton Grand Vacation Club (sometimes referred to as HGVC legacy), not to be confused with the acquisitions renamed Hilton Vacation Club for Diamond and Bluegreen. Marriott Vacation Club has a Waikiki location, but location is inferior.

If you are going to Northstar for ski season, Hyatt Vacaction Club, Platinum Collection (formerly Welk) is very nice, but points have become very pricey. Northstar Lodge also has some unit owned by Hyatt Residence Club, but I read it is difficult to book.

I live in the Bay Area with same schedule limitations so feel free to private message me for good, better, best.

We've thought about staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, but just haven't been able to make it work yet. We were going to stay at the Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk this spring break, but they're doing construction on the property right now. Since a new neighborhood is being built right behind our back yard we cancelled the Wyndham reservation since we're trying to get away from the constant contruction noise.

How is Northstar? When we were in Tahoe last month someone told us that Northstart has a bit of an upper class, snobby atmosphere. I know I put we prefer 4-5 star resorts, but we don't want snobby people. 3 stars would be just fine as long as it's not a dump. Seems like there's a fine line there.

 

[jp10558]

We've thought about staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, but just haven't been able to make it work yet. We were going to stay at the Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk this spring break, but they're doing construction on the property right now. Since a new neighborhood is being built right behind our back yard we cancelled the Wyndham reservation since we're trying to get away from the constant contruction noise.

How is Northstar? When we were in Tahoe last month someone told us that Northstart has a bit of an upper class, snobby atmosphere. I know I put we prefer 4-5 star resorts, but we don't want snobby people. 3 stars would be just fine as long as it's not a dump. Seems like there's a fine line there.

3 star wouldn't be a dump I don't think. Maybe if someone claimed 2 star. The stars can be pretty misleading - maybe consider joining TUG2 ($15 for a year) and check the actual resort reviews - read the text reviews. For free you can check tripadvisor etc... Again read the text as the number values can be all over the map.

 

[Shiba]

Mikaela,

I’d go to Wyndham Waikiki Beachwalk the construction is on the pool. We were there in April and no one worked on that pool the whole week we were there. That message for repair has been there a long time and there is no definite timeline for the pool to be finished.

The rooms have been updated and look quite nice. It’s a great place to stay in Waikiki for people who want to explore the island. We are gone most days. Its not a resort type location where you’re there for the amenities. Great location for proximity to restaurants and Waikiki beach.

 

[mikaela7073]

Mikaela,

I’d go to Wyndham Waikiki Beachwalk the construction is on the pool. We were there in April and no one worked on that pool the whole week we were there. That message for repair has been there a long time and there is no definite timeline for the pool to be finished.

The rooms have been updated and look quite nice. It’s a great place to stay in Waikiki for people who want to explore the island. We are gone most days. Its not a resort type location where you’re there for the amenities. Great location for proximity to restaurants and Waikiki beach.

Thanks for the info. We've already booked a condo for our spring break trip. Last year we stayed at the Waikiki Beach Tower and they were also remodeling their pool and it was constant noise all day long. We have that 6 days a week at home so we don't want to take a chance on hearing it during vacation. Waikiki Beach Walk does sound like the kind of place we'd like. We'll plan to stay there next year so we can give it a test run.

 

[mikaela7073]

Thanks again everyone for all the great info. We ended up staying around the corner from the Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk so we walked around a little to check it out. @Shiba, you're right where it's not a place where you go for amenities, because it doesn't look like they have many.

I've been doing more research and looking into the resales on the TUG marketplace. And it looks like the Hilton Hawaiian Village is much more expensive in terms of maintenance fees. For example, one ad I saw for 40K Hilton points has a maintenance fee of about $7,800 per year. Which looking at VRBO that would only save us $3K-6K a year as opposed to if we just rented from VRBO. Where as from Wyndham we could get 967K points with maintenance fees of about $5,700. From my research is seems both packages would get us about 3 weeks a year in a 2BR during Platinum season. I realize Hilton Hawaiian Village is a much nicer property, but those maintenance fees seem crazy. Would it make sense to get the Wyndham points and then try to transfer them to RCI every year to then turn around and book Hilton Hawaiian village? Would that be too much trouble and/or am I missing something else here? I'll link the two ads I'm talking about below.

Hilton Grand Vacations Club Hokulani Waikiki Timeshare For Sale By Owner

Hilton Grand Vacations Club Hokulani Waikiki Timeshare Discount Resales & Rentals By Owner in Honolulu, HI User rating 8.50 with 9 reviews

tug2.com

Club Wyndham Points Timeshare For Sale By Owner

Club Wyndham Points Timeshare Discount Resales & Rentals By Owner in, User rating with 0 reviews

tug2.com

 

[Shiba]

Glad you enjoyed your time in Waikiki. How was that pool construction going on at the Waikiki Beachwalk?

Keep in mind HGVC charges lots of fees when using RCI : it’s $40/ night resort fees, $69/ night self parking and about $42 +/ night for tax on the unit. It adds up quickly.

 

[mikaela7073]

We didn't look at the pool too closely, but it looked closed off.

Thanks for the info on RCI. I've been wondering how that worked. The parking fee seems similar to other places. Waikiki Beachwalk is a little cheaper and it's valet parking only.