Marriott Desert Springs NEW per night Parking fee

[michael49]

I don’t think it will apply to any ownership reservations, and that includes exchanges in via II (because those are ownership reservations being used by the exchanger) or Abound. They will only apply to cash or Bonvoy points reservations made via Marriott (hotels), and Encore Package reservations. This is the same as they’ve done at many other resorts.

Ownership stays include parking contractually I think, I don’t believe they can start charging for those.

So I really don’t think it’s a big deal.

Yes, I agree, my post was not meant to be specific to only MVC owners.

 

[michael49]

It probably won't even apply to non-Marriott owners who exchange into the resort.

I agree, my post was too specific.

 

[OutAndAbout]

I got a welcome email from Lakeshore Reserve for our upcoming stay in a few weeks. Right at the top was the following information.

Be Advised:
Starting on Wednesday, January 1st, 2025, parking at Lakeshore Reserve will be available for a daily fee of $25 per vehicle, applicable to rental reservations only, with a maximum of 2 cars.

Marriott Lakeshore Reserve is in the Grande Lakes complex with the Ritz and JW Marriott. For context:

How much is parking at Grande Lakes Orlando?
Daily valet parking and overnight valet parking are $54 plus tax at both hotels. Self-parking is only available at the JW Marriott at a rate of $38 plus tax per day.

 

[martylaz]

The addition of a $25 Guest Parking fee was implemented by the Board without first disclosing the proposal to Owners. In the past, similar proposals increasing costs were first presented to Owners and a vote was held. This is just wrong.

First, the process of not disclosing and holding an Owner vote on this matter is questionable. Second, the $25/night fee seems excessive, regardless whether other resorts are implementing a parking fee. Third, there doesn't seem to be a corresponding reduction in Maintenance fees, as Owners currently pay for the upkeep of parking areas and availability of parking spaces. Fourth, given parking areas are already paid for via Maintenance Fees, this fee seems to be a 100% profit for the Resort.

 

[dioxide45]

The addition of a $25 Guest Parking fee was implemented by the Board without first disclosing the proposal to Owners. In the past, similar proposals increasing costs were first presented to Owners and a vote was held. This is just wrong.

First, the process of not disclosing and holding an Owner vote on this matter is questionable. Second, the $25/night fee seems excessive, regardless whether other resorts are implementing a parking fee. Third, there doesn't seem to be a corresponding reduction in Maintenance fees, as Owners currently pay for the upkeep of parking areas and availability of parking spaces. Fourth, given parking areas are already paid for via Maintenance Fees, this fee seems to be a 100% profit for the Resort.

There is no such thing as proffit for the resort or the HOA. THe HOA is a non-proffit organization of owners. While you don't see a direct decrease in maintenance fees elsewhere, it likely just resulted in less of an overall increase in 2025.

Since it doesn't impact owners using their ownership weeks, I don't see why they would require a vote of the owners to implement this fee. The board is elected by owners to make these decisions for the owners. Very few things come up for an overall vote by the entire ownership. In all the years we've owned multiple timeshare, not a single thing has been voted on by owners other than those required by state law (ie. waving of fully funded reserves in Florida.)

 

[martylaz]

There is no such thing as proffit for the resort or the HOA. THe HOA is a non-proffit organization of owners. While you don't see a direct decrease in maintenance fees elsewhere, it likely just resulted in less of an overall increase in 2025.

Since it doesn't impact owners using their ownership weeks, I don't see why they would require a vote of the owners to implement this fee. The board is elected by owners to make these decisions for the owners. Very few things come up for an overall vote by the entire ownership. In all the years we've owned multiple timeshare, not a single thing has been voted on by owners other than those required by state law (ie. waving of fully funded reserves in Florida.)

The inflow of funds from parking fees should have been included in the Resort 2025 budget, which is used to calculate Owners maintenance fees. I do not recall seeing it in the 2025 Budget. If not included in the Budget, maintenance fees would be overstated, unless there are equal corresponding expenses.

In regards to disclosure of implementation of a parking fee, the number of questions from owners on this thread demonstrates that there was an insufficient explanation of the matter. Furthermore, since the majority of Owners do not read Board Meeting minutes in detail, they are likely not even aware this new fee will be implemented. Given the large dollar amount of the fee, not making Owners aware of the new fee is questionable.

 

[dioxide45]

The inflow of funds from parking fees should have been included in the Resort 2025 budget, which is used to calculate Owners maintenance fees. I do not recall seeing it in the 2025 Budget. If not included in the Budget, maintenance fees would be overstated, unless there are equal corresponding expenses.

In regards to disclosure of implementation of a parking fee, the number of questions from owners on this thread demonstrates that there was an insufficient explanation of the matter. Furthermore, since the majority of Owners do not read Board Meeting minutes in detail, they are likely not even aware this new fee will be implemented. Given the large dollar amount of the fee, not making Owners aware of the new fee is questionable.

But the fee doesn't impact owners unless they book a cash or Bonvoy stay. Then the fee is disclosed to them on Marriott.com. Just like the reimbursements for housekeeping fees, there is no income line item for these sort of things. They just use the revenue to offset the expense line item. An owner can request a copy of audited financial statements for more details.

 

[daviator]

The inflow of funds from parking fees should have been included in the Resort 2025 budget, which is used to calculate Owners maintenance fees. I do not recall seeing it in the 2025 Budget. If not included in the Budget, maintenance fees would be overstated, unless there are equal corresponding expenses.

In regards to disclosure of implementation of a parking fee, the number of questions from owners on this thread demonstrates that there was an insufficient explanation of the matter. Furthermore, since the majority of Owners do not read Board Meeting minutes in detail, they are likely not even aware this new fee will be implemented. Given the large dollar amount of the fee, not making Owners aware of the new fee is questionable.

I second what @dioxide45 said, this has no impact on owners using their ownership. And if you rent a room at “your“ property on the Marriott hotel website, paying with cash or points, that stay has nothing to do with your ownership either, and you have zero right to be part of the decision-making for the policies impacting that stay.

People are blowing this all out of proportion, because it has no impact on owners using their ownerships, except to the small extent it might help reduce future maintenance fee increases (which is a good thing for owners.)

If you are a connoisseur of Encore Packages, then you are probably already paying the parking fee for those stays. That’s the only way in which most owners will ever encounter these fees, and an Encore stay has nothing to do with your ownership and is essentially a cash stay using inventory controlled by the developer.

 

[GetawaysRus]

I've been following this thread and, unless I missed it, I haven't seen an estimate on how much the HOA expects to take in in revenue from parking fees. Surely they must have an approximate idea based on stay patterns over the last 12 months.

Does anyone have any idea?

 

[dioxide45]

I've been following this thread and, unless I missed it, I haven't seen an estimate on how much the HOA expects to take in in revenue from parking fees. Surely they must have an approximate idea based on stay patterns over the last 12 months.

Does anyone have any idea?

That's a good question. Without an income line item in the budget, we (as laymen) have no way of knowing. Perhaps MVC has made some projections for the boards for them to make the necessary decisions to vote on. I suspect they know how many nightly guests are booked on cash, Bonvoy and other similar stays. The main question is, will this punitive fee cause people to change travel patterns and not bring a car next time.

 

[wmgjr]

I've been following this thread and, unless I missed it, I haven't seen an estimate on how much the HOA expects to take in in revenue from parking fees. Surely they must have an approximate idea based on stay patterns over the last 12 months.

Does anyone have any idea?

Is it possible that this actually doesn't benefit the HOA and owners at all? Since it applies to cash and Bonvoy stays wouldn't this just be revenue of the management company unrelated to management of the HOA?

 

[dioxide45]

Is it possible that this actually doesn't benefit the HOA and owners at all? Since it applies to cash and Bonvoy stays wouldn't this just be revenue of the management company unrelated to management of the HOA?

I recall someone who attended the BOD meeting at Grande Vista indicated that it would save each owner week about $35.

 

[daviator]

I recall someone who attended the BOD meeting at Grande Vista indicated that it would save each owner week about $35.

That’s more than I’d have guessed. Bravo to management for finding a way to reduce MFs by $35 without impacting the experience for timeshare guests.

I wouldn’t expect the fee would make too much difference on someone bringing a vehicle or not; rather, I think the fee might encourage some cash renters to spend their money at a different property where parking is free. If all the nearby hotels are charging for parking, then there is no good reason for timeshare properties not to do the same for non-timeshare renters.