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[2018] Marriott's Florida Club

Jbalisteri

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Can someone explain what Marriott's Florida club is and why I have to or should join it?
 

tschwa2

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It's not something you can elect to join. Some Grande Vista deeds are part of the Florida Club and some are not. There is an extra fee involved but net I don't think it is more than $5-10 per year. If your Grand Vista Deed is part of the Florida club you have to pay it even if you never use the feature. Many don't. It allows you at 6 months prior to check in to reserve through Marriott from any available inventory that matches what you own- same size and season in any of the Florida Club properties. If you reserve your unit at your home resort prior to 6 month before check in then nothing is different from a non Florida Club deed at Grande Vista or any other club.
 

Jbalisteri

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Saintsfanfl

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It cost exactly $4.00 per year and never goes up. Even Marriott thinks it costs more but they are confused. I recently had the billing department tell me that nobody employed there knew that the owner services fee and the International fee was rolled into the Florida Club Fee line item on the invoices. I was being charged the International Fee on a unit I purchased resale. It took me quite a while to get them to stop talking and have them look at the detailed budget inserts which very clearly show how these fees are being displayed. All other non-Florida club properties have these fees included in the Maintenance Fee line item.

So basically this is a heads up if you purchase a resale unit from an International Owner. The billing department says I would have been charged the International Fee every year if I had not gotten it corrected.
 

Jbalisteri

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It cost exactly $4.00 per year and never goes up. Even Marriott thinks it costs more but they are confused. I recently had the billing department tell me that nobody employed there knew that the owner services fee and the International fee was rolled into the Florida Club Fee line item on the invoices. I was being charged the International Fee on a unit I purchased resale. It took me quite a while to get them to stop talking and have them look at the detailed budget inserts which very clearly show how these fees are being displayed. All other non-Florida club properties have these fees included in the Maintenance Fee line item.

So basically this is a heads up if you purchase a resale unit from an International Owner. The billing department says I would have been charged the International Fee every year if I had not gotten it corrected.
Very interesting. Where do I look to see if I'm being charged the international fee?
 

Saintsfanfl

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Very interesting. Where do I look to see if I'm being charged the international fee?

You have to look at the amount you are being charged for the line item "2018 Florida Club Fee". It is $4.00 for the real Florida Club Fee but then $43.58 is added in for the owner services fee. Every Marriott owner pays this fee so it isn't extra but it is erroneously removed from the maintenance fee and added to the Club Fee for FC owners. If your amount is $47.58 and you are in the US then you are being charged correctly. The International Owners Surcharge is $34.50. If your total Club Fee is $78.08 like mine was then you are being charged the International Fee.
 

TheTimeTraveler

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I believe all the units in Grande Vista that use the code MGR automatically belong to the "Florida Club".

I believe all the units in Grande Vista that use the code MGV do NOT belong to the "Florida Club".

Dioxide45, can you please confirm?




.
 

dioxide45

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I believe all the units in Grande Vista that use the code MGR automatically belong to the "Florida Club".

I believe all the units in Grande Vista that use the code MGV do NOT belong to the "Florida Club".

Dioxide45, can you please confirm?




.
@Fasttr post answered the question. As for the resort codes, I think you are right; however, when the week is in your II account you see the resort code as MOI. The actual code may be important when you sign up for II. When we signed up, our II account didn't show the week as being in the Florida Club, it took many phone calls to get it fixed. I think I signed up using MGV. I suspect when you sign up for II, you actually want to use the MOI or MGR resort code.
 

Beachspace

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Can someone explain what Marriott's Florida club is and why I have to or should join it?
It allows you a free exchange (nothing to do with Interval, you just log in to your marriott owners account) to a few resorts in Florida (Beachclub, Panama City, Ocean Pointe). So I was able to swap my 3BR grand vista for a 3BR Ocean Pointe at no charge. I was then able to rent out my ocean pointe June rental for more $ than I would have gotten if I rented out Grand Vista (usually). when I purchased Grand Vista, I specifically was targeting FL Club units only as we travel to Ocean Pointe/Beachplace frequently and planned to visit Panama City once or twice in the future.
 

hangloose

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It allows you a free exchange (nothing to do with Interval, you just log in to your marriott owners account) to a few resorts in Florida (Beachclub, Panama City, Ocean Pointe). So I was able to swap my 3BR grand vista for a 3BR Ocean Pointe at no charge. I was then able to rent out my ocean pointe June rental for more $ than I would have gotten if I rented out Grand Vista (usually). when I purchased Grand Vista, I specifically was targeting FL Club units only as we travel to Ocean Pointe/Beachplace frequently and planned to visit Panama City once or twice in the future.

Smart use of FC! Well done Beachspace!
 

KarenP

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I bought Grande Vista Florida Club because I wanted to be able to go to Ocean Pointe but pay less in maintenance fees. I figured Grande Vista was one of the largest Marriotts so if anything happened, the per unit cost would be less.
 

NboroGirl

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That's a good idea, unless you hope to go in February, March, or April. Since you can only book other Florida Club resorts 6 months out it's hard to find an available week. We tried this year because we wanted to go anytime within those months, which means we had to wait until August, September and October before we could try booking a week at Ocean Point. We couldn't get anything and we ended up going to our home resort (Grande Vista). I may try again next year but I don't have a lot of hope. I would like to try visiting that resort sometime. Maybe I should try exchanging.
 

Beachspace

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Smart use of FC! Well done Beachspace!

Actually it was you guys here (especially DEAN) that helped me make this happen ( I have a pretty long thread a few months ago about how to best use my 3BR Gold Grandvista).

Its Why I love this site!
 

hangloose

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That's a good idea, unless you hope to go in February, March, or April. Since you can only book other Florida Club resorts 6 months out it's hard to find an available week. We tried this year because we wanted to go anytime within those months, which means we had to wait until August, September and October before we could try booking a week at Ocean Point. We couldn't get anything and we ended up going to our home resort (Grande Vista). I may try again next year but I don't have a lot of hope. I would like to try visiting that resort sometime. Maybe I should try exchanging.

Agree with this also. One of the downsides to Florida Club. is that you have to wait 6 months out (or 7 with multiple weeks I believe). During peak periods, especially at OceanPointe ....it will be very hard to find Florida Club availability then. It may happen, if you check often enough, but nowhere near a guarantee.
 

Beachspace

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Actually it was you guys here (especially DEAN) that helped me make this happen ( I have a pretty long thread a few months ago about how to best use my 3BR Gold Grandvista).

Its Why I love this site!
Update - I used my Florida Club option to swap for a 3Bedroom in June at Ocean Point in both 2019 and 2020 and received over $2,000 in income for the week. If you deduct the red Week fee, I still came out a few hundred ahead each week. I only paid $2500 for the week so a few more years and it'll be free lol
 

alexadeparis

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Ok first time using Florida club and I am confused, I own Legends Edge, which are dedicated 2 bedroom. I was able to book Grande Vista 2 bedroom, but I could not figure out how to lock it off into a studio and 1 bedroom. Even though I had chosen Grande Vista as the resort for the reservation it did not give me any choice but “full villa” in the reservation script. Do I need to call Marriott on the phone in the morning to lock this off? Confused. My ultimate goal is to obtain 2 reservations for deposit into II. I feel like I am missing a crucial step here.
 

dioxide45

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Ok first time using Florida club and I am confused, I own Legends Edge, which are dedicated 2 bedroom. I was able to book Grande Vista 2 bedroom, but I could not figure out how to lock it off into a studio and 1 bedroom. Even though I had chosen Grande Vista as the resort for the reservation it did not give me any choice but “full villa” in the reservation script. Do I need to call Marriott on the phone in the morning to lock this off? Confused. My ultimate goal is to obtain 2 reservations for deposit into II. I feel like I am missing a crucial step here.
I would suggest calling. Not sure if this is possible online. You should be able to do what you are wanting to do.
 

alexadeparis

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I would suggest calling. Not sure if this is possible online. You should be able to do what you are wanting to do.
Thanks for the quick reply. Is there a fee if you call vs booking online? In some systems there are.
 

dioxide45

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Thanks for the quick reply. Is there a fee if you call vs booking online? In some systems there are.
Just the lock off fee. No fee for online vs phone customer service.
 

alexadeparis

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ok, so I called them today. I had to cancel what I did online which was book a 2 bed MGV. They have to do it over the phone if you are going to lock off. Lesson learned. Disappointing that they have shitty IT that can't handle something like this online.
 

dioxide45

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ok, so I called them today. I had to cancel what I did online which was book a 2 bed MGV. They have to do it over the phone if you are going to lock off. Lesson learned. Disappointing that they have shitty IT that can't handle something like this online.
Well, the Florida Club impacts a pretty small number of owners overall. I beleive if you own a lock off you can book a lock off at another property online. Just owning a dedicated 2BR and trying to lock off seems to be an issue. I can understand why they wouldn't invest any more time or money into technology to support this.
 
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