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mayan palace

jbug423

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my wife's aunt and uncle transferred to us their 2 mayan palace timeshares a 1br and studio a couple of years ago. We haven't been there yet and only used it for exchanging. Now we are planning to visit soon and after reading found out that with mp you are not allowed to use any of the higher resorts. Does mp offer a resort upgrade in advance or at check in and at what cost, also would it be beneficial to upgrade my contracts and what would that cost me as well.
 

T-Dot-Traveller

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Hope this helps

Which location do you wish to visit ?
We just stayed at the Mayan Palace -Marina Puerto Vallarta ( approx 300 units - all MP ) A short walk to all the great restaurants in the Marina area and an easy local bus to cento PV ,the Malecon etc
We also stayed at the Sea Garden Neuvo Vallarta ( because MP - Marina was full for our second week ) For us this was also great as it is easy to get to the pool ,ocean and off site restaurants and bus .
The Big Neuvo is 1200 feet down the beach from the NV Sea Garden, and your room number means you can use all the restaurants etc there .
There is one Mayan Palace building in the Nuevo group and it has it's own pool and is closer to the beach than many of the buildings
Some reservations at the MP NV are upgraded to Grand Mayan depending on time of year etc . Sometimes you get upgraded if you agree to go to a sales presentation =$$.

Read your contract and you may find that it " fits " you better than an upgrade .
My Mayan Palace contract has 50 % off golf - and I am pretty sure that Vidanta
would remove that in any " upgrade " we would negotiate .We also have " no go / no pay " and renewal is every 25 years at 5 x MF . Contracts from before 2002 or so renew at 1 x MF - something you may wish to keep by not upgrading . *** {note correction below by rpennissi --I mixed up cost of renewal vs. cost of transferring a contract to a new buyer}

If you choose to upgrade it will cost $ - make sure you know what is in the existing contract(s) and have these confirmed into any new one as an addendum. Booking window ( 6 months ) on your residence week is important if you wish to go in Jan & Feb - as most resorts including Mayan are close to capacity and booked early as possible .
Your Vacation Fare week ( optional use - is generally only bookable 45 days before visits. - so good for April to Dec

give more information on where you want to go
and what is important for you on vacation.

We live in Canada - and Feb vacation in the sunshine with a pool & ocean is all that really matters . The Vidanta - Mayan Palace level offers all of this and includes daily maid service and towel replacement . Good mini kitchen in the one bedroom suites ( seperate bedroom with combo living room / mini kitchen ) Two bedrooms are the same with a second ( lock off ) bedroom .
That is all we need - the sunshine is the same as at the Grand Mayan ,Grand Bliss & Grand Luxxe .

If you think you want more - go to the owner ( sales ) presentation .

Be prepared. and understand that THEIR goal will be to get you to upgrade for more dollars and into a contract that may advantage Vidanta compared to what may be in your existing ownership
You will however get full equity dollars based on the original sale / purchase price that the aunt & uncle paid .

Other Vidanta / Vida / Mayan owners will add to this thread
 
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rpennisi

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I could be wrong, but the 25 year renewal for MP is 5X the MF in those before 2002 contracts. It's the transfer to another that is 1 MP.

To the OP, you can bank your MP week(s) into RCI and then try a trade to a GM, which would give you access to MP and GM pools.

Or, you can bank into RCI and trade into a number of other Mexican resorts that don't restrict your pool usage as Vidanta does. For example, trade into Pueblo Bonito resorts in Mazatlan or Cabo San Lucas which are excellent resorts.

Don't upgrade until you have tried some of the above. It's a whole lot less expensive than upgrading through sales.
 

Passepartout

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Just because there are 'higher tier' rooms & different pools on their property, the ones out have are still very nice. It is VERY expensive to upgrade, and your rooms will not be downgraded. They may tell you that you must upgrade or you'll be in the basement under the kitchen or something, but they are plainly lying.

As stated, if these digs aren't luxurious enough, just exchange them for other fine Mexican TSs.

Jim
 

T-Dot-Traveller

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Ron - think you are right

I could be wrong, but the 25 year renewal for MP is 5X the MF in those before 2002 contracts. It's the transfer to another that is 1 MP.

To the OP, you can bank your MP week(s) into RCI and then try a trade to a GM, which would give you access to MP and GM pools.

Or, you can bank into RCI and trade into a number of other Mexican resorts that don't restrict your pool usage as Vidanta does. For example, trade into Pueblo Bonito resorts in Mazatlan or Cabo San Lucas which are excellent resorts.

Don't upgrade until you have tried some of the above. It's a whole lot less expensive than upgrading through sales.
-------------
I think I did mixed up the 25 year renewal and the transfer price to a new owner
------------
My point to JBug423 was to read your contract carefully as older Vidanta contracts ( may ) have " benefits " available that are not offered now in either new or upgrades
When golf is $ 200 per round the savings of 50% is close to equal to the daily MF of my contract . I doubt that that is continued if I were to upgrade - unless I spent a lot of time negotiating addendums with member services .

By the way member services will email you a PDF of your contract if you contact them
. My contract includes the ability to book next year using this years week(s)

I had thought reservations was just being nice and letting me use up weeks ( and charge my credit card for the use ) but this use is actually in my contract - so our Feb 2016 Sea Garden usage was booked in Dec 2015 (VF week- 45 days out ) based on availability . On Jan 1 the 2015 VF week would have expired but it could be used to Dec31 to book into 2016 . same with my residence week .
I think this is in many Vidanta contracts - as are many other benefits and/ or addendums but if you " upgrade " you probably want to be very carefull to make sure that all are carried over in the new contract .

Mikenk has written in this forum ( many times) how he made sure that in his upgrade to Grand Luxxe from Grand Mayan : " that after the initial 10 years expires that one of his "optional " weeks takes on all the benefits of the original residence week in all the 10 year renewals -

( if my Vidanta terminology is not 100% correct - please forgive )

Jbug423 - these are really nice, well kept resorts - from Sea Garden to Grand Luxxe and I am sure you will enjoy your ownership by using it " on site"

PV Marina - NV - RM - Acapulco - Mazatlan -Puerto Penasco - and Cabo

and even though Cabo is Grand Mayan - Mayan Palace owners were sent a letter in 2007 saying usage of GM Cabo was available to them on an "if availability exists basis" ( ie similar to a VF week / 45 days out or similar ) TUG member PLittle has that information posted in an older thread.

ENJOY THE SUNSHINE
 
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drguy

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When upgrading, it has been our experience that all options remain intact or are improved. Or golf went from $49 to free per round. It does help to ask/negotiate.
 

jbug423

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thanks all sorry for delay response we will give mayan palace a try. We are thinking of Maya Riviera resort to stay. I have to look over the contract for details but as of right now if it can be costly to upgrade we will probally keep it as it is. This timeshare would be a once every other year or three and deposit the others years for travel closer to home as we use our dvc timeshare yearly.
 

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my wife's aunt and uncle transferred to us their 2 mayan palace timeshares a 1br and studio a couple of years ago. We haven't been there yet and only used it for exchanging. Now we are planning to visit soon and after reading found out that with mp you are not allowed to use any of the higher resorts. Does mp offer a resort upgrade in advance or at check in and at what cost, also would it be beneficial to upgrade my contracts and what would that cost me as well.

We have stay a couple times. Just 2 weeks ago we rented 4 extra 2 BR suites in the Grand Mayan. and our own for family We own in the Grand Luxxe. So trading down was easy. If they have availability in the level (Mayan Palace, Grand Mayan, Grand Bliss or the Grand Luxxe) you want, I am sure they would sooner rent it to you for an upgrade fee. It will depend on the time of year and amount of notice.
 

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"What does the upgrade cost" is pretty much a loaded question. Vidanta takes a number out of the air for the upgrade cost. Then they take the original number off the contract (Also a made up price) and subtract that. Then they start offering discounts.

I upgraded a resale contract this way (From Bliss) to GM because we wanted the extra GM pools, the bigger room (Went from a 1BR to a 2BR) and no MF.

I dont rightly know if I would go the route I went again if I had to do it over. While I love the Vidanta properties, I almost think I would have been better off getting a $1.00 TS and trading in every couple of years. We did it this way to ensure we would take vacations and so far its worked great.

As to pre-purchasing, call member services and ask. I would probably consider coming up with a not to exceed number before you call them. And Im pretty sure that if you just go right up to the lobby sharks at check in and tell them you are considering upgrading, they will have no problem finding you a better room.


Noting that, other than a couple trips to the bar at the GM pools in Riviera Maya, we spent all of our time at the regular pool. Its a much more festive atmosphere. We snuck into the Luxxe pool, stayed like 5 min and left.
 

T-Dot-Traveller

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Upgrade or exchange in

Dear huenix (& TUG readers)

since the best value in Vidanta resorts comes from use - how it works out for you or any of us is a little unknown . Say you use 30 weeks before a (major dollar) renewal and paid $ 6000 for your upgrade to GM . Basically you are paying the RCI exchange fee in one lump sum ( to Vidanta not RCI ) and getting a better booking window ( important for Jan - March when it is cold in Penn. ) etc etc.
Plus the $1.00 TS may cost you $2000 to get rid of while the " no go/no pay" - MF on use only Grand Mayan already has your exit strategy.

Vidanta -(if they remain growing and successfull) will always have exchangers - because that is where many of their future sales come from.

That said , I think their prime resorts / prime seasons are not going to get easier to get on exchange and so (if you use regularly) you may be happy you bought .
Only time will tell / for any of us .

PS - I am not asking how much you paid / the $ 6000 was just based on 30 weeks x $ 200 = 6K / about what the cost of exchanging 30 times would be
 
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rpennisi

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But paying the hypothetical $6000 to RCI instead of Vidanta gets you a lot more choices and variety. I love the GM, etc Vidanta resorts and have used them in RM, SJD, NV, and ACA (RM and NV multiple times), but have also loved trading my MP for PB at Sunset Beach and PB at Emerald Bay just to give two trade examples.
 

richontug

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How do you trade your MP units?
 

T-Dot-Traveller

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Trade in ? or do you mean exchange

How do you trade your MP units?

Not sure if you can trade in Mayan

**************
If you are looking to exchange - RCI - SFX
 
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T-Dot-Traveller

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Upgrade / Buy -and then exchange - but it adds $ cost

But paying the hypothetical $6000 to RCI instead of Vidanta gets you a lot more choices and variety. I love the GM, etc Vidanta resorts and have used them in RM, SJD, NV, and ACA (RM and NV multiple times), but have also loved trading my MP for PB at Sunset Beach and PB at Emerald Bay just to give two trade examples.

You can always deposit your Vidanta brand TS and exchange - with an additional cost and get the selection of RCI , SXF etc

I wanted to point out that while many on TUG (rightly or wrongly) say " don't buy in Mexico " you can always exchange in - there is the exchange fee , - and over the years it could cost less to own a resort you regularly go to.

Since huenix bought a resale (Bliss) and then upgraded to GM( Vidanta would give full Bliss equity $ from the first owner) the hypothetical math I listed could ( ? ) make sense over the long run .

<< If we are all still on TUG in 15 - 20 years we can do a survey and find out >>

Or - just enjoy the warm sunshine every year !
 
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rpennisi

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How do you trade your MP units?

I deposit into RCI, and do trades online.
I deposit my 2 bedroom MP as a one bedroom and a studio.
This has gotten me a one bedroom Playa Grande and a two bedroom PB at Sunset Beach, both in Cabo San Lucas for next January...with TP's leftover.
 
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rpennisi

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You can always deposit your Vidanta brand TS and exchange - with an additional cost and get the selection of RCI , SXF etc

I wanted to point out that while many on TUG (rightly or wrongly) say " don't buy in Mexico " you can always exchange in - there is the exchange fee , - and over the years it could cost less to own a resort you regularly go to.

Since huenix bought a resale (Bliss) and then upgraded to GM( Vidanta would give full Bliss equity $ from the first owner) the hypothetical math I listed could ( ? ) make sense over the long run .

<< If we are all still on TUG in 15 - 20 years we can do a survey and find out >>

Or - just enjoy the warm sunshine every year !

I do like the Vidanta brand and the variety of resorts and locations to choose from, but the variety one gets from trading keeps me from getting bored with Vidanta as it appears happens to many owners who then sell for $1, or opt for no go no pay contracts.

Besides being restricted leaving the resort at NV, it really bugs me how bad the Vidanta tv station choices are system wide. I know you are not on vacation to watch tv, but at night watching tv at a Vidanta resort is torturous.

This is not the case with most other Mexican timeshares that I have visited, from the small ones to the large ones. If they can provide a couple of network stations, why can't Vidanta? And please, Fox News, at every Vidanta resort is not giving you the news!
 
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