We are trying to budget for our long-term vacation needs. With 2 young children 4/8 - and living in Virginia - MVC looks like a good option.
Does anyone have a good estimate of what to expect in today's dollars - buying resale and MFs? Would $250 - $350 per night be a reasonable estimate for a 2br? We may rent it out occasionally but don't want MVC ownership to become a side business. Thanks!
Marriott: We own Every-Year 2BR Lock-Off Units at Marriott Ko'Olina + Marriott Shadow Ridge + DCP-Points.
Vistana: We also own multiple 2BR Lock-Off Units at Westin Lagunamar [EOY] + Westin Kierland [Every-Year] + Aventuras-Points.
We find doing the following is the best way to lower our Cost/Night.
- Lock-Off 2BR into Studio + 1BR
- Deposit 2-Weeks [Studio + 1BR] with Interval
- Exchange into 2BR-Units with Interval by paying a Size-Upgrade + E-Plus-Fee
Have done this for 12+ years and have always had success exchanging into 2BR/3BR/4BR units via Interval.
Following is a snippet from my XLS that I use to track costs. It is accurate down to the last cent. Includes the following:
- Maintenance-Fees
- Club-Dues [Marriott/VIstana]
- Lock-Off Fees [Zero]
- Interval Membership-Fees [Marriott/Vistana: Zero]
- Interval Platinum-Fees [Marriott: 50%-Off]
- Exchange-Fees [Marriott: M-M-Zero]
- Size-Upgrade Fees
- E-Plus [Marriott: Zero]
Notes
- 7-Nights: Internal-Exchanges within MVCI Ko'Olina [$363/Night] is much more expensive than Shadow-Ridge [$237/Night] as Hawaii-MF are higher.
- 14-Nights: Exchanging Marriott-Units [MKO: $197/Night] [MRD: $134/Night] via Interval is good value [Lower Cost/Night] after including all Interval-Fees
- 2 x Weeks For 1
- No Exchange Fees: M-M
- Unlimited Changes: M-M [No need for E-Plus]
- Size-Upgrade-Fees: $177 [$59 x 3] [Studio -> 2BR + 1BR -> 2BR]
- Vistana-Units have much lower MF but exchanging via Interval is expensive due to higher Interval-fees.
- DCP-Points have a higher Per-Night cost.
- The above does not include amortizing upfront purchase cost.
Summary: We exchange all of our weeks [Marriott + Vistana] via Interval which averages ~$165/Night in a 2BR/3BR-Unit [Mostly Marriott/Westin/Hyatt].
Some locations we have visited include Maui, Kauai, Oahu, St. Thomas, St. John, St. Kitts, Aruba, Nassau, Cayman, Puerto Rico, Orlando, Vegas, Tahoe, Avon, Vail, Aspen, Colorado-Springs, Palm-Springs, Miami, Key-West, Canada [Whistler, Radium, Fairmont, Banff] Paris, Malaga, Bangkok, Phuket, Brisbane, Mexico [Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa].