My survey - what to buy or not buy

[Baman12]

Hi all; my wife and I did one of the get a cheap vacation and sit through the timeshare presentation with Hyatt at Wild Oak Ranch recently. We did NOT buy anything because we wanted to review information and they respected that.

after reading a bit on here and elsewhere about them, we are interested as we enjoy traveling regularly (2-3 times per year). Here are my answers to the intro form questions. Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?
— ski destinations (we live in south Texas near SPI so a getaway is to cold weather or amusement park places)
— amusement park/ kid cities like Orlando as we have a three year old and expecting another (due in mid May)

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?
— it depends on what the home resort it is; if it’s a ski spot during peak times, like spring break and Christmas, then yes we would;
— we are a few hours drive from San Antonio; a city we like because of all there is to do so this is another place we’ve talked about visiting a few times per year

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
1) Tahoe during ski season
2) Beaver Creek or Breckinridge
3) Hawaii
4) Orlando
5) San Antonio


4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself?
Soon to be 4-6. Wife and daughter (soon to be two daughters) and my parents

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
—for a couples trip, we can go any time; for family vacation, locked into school schedule

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
- yes; I am very much a planner

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
- yes; assuming it fits school schedule

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
- hotel chain level; we like Hyatt and Marrio


9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
— $20k - $30k


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?
- travel budget per year is probably $5k - $6k

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
- yes; I enjoy planning and making spreadsheets

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; we are looking to hold as we see it as a way to pre-pay for a vacation with larger accommodations than a hotel as we’ll be traveling with two children at a minimum.

 

[Baman12]

I forgot to add that my wife likes to travel to different spots for at least one trip each year; so flexibility in using points or trading weeks is one of our bigger considerations

 

[Sandy VDH]

The three tough to get locations are Ski weeks anywhere, Hawaii and oddly San Antonio.

Don't have experience with Hyatt or Marriott so can't comment. I own Hilton, Wyndham, Holiday Inn and very recently got a small Worldmark (WM).

Ski weeks are going to be the toughest, so getting something with home priority in ski country will likely be required. I don't play in that space, so other who know more about getting ski season weeks can comment.

Hawaii for holidays and Maui are likely going to be the hardest to obtain. The rest of the year is ok to easy in some systems like Hilton. Wyndham has a few in Hawaii, but mainly in Kauai and Kona, with some in Oahu. WM has some in Hawaii as well, but inventory is tigher on these, don't know how far in advance you have to book for these.

San Antonio, in the city only has 1 Hyatt and 2 Wyndhams. If you are ok with the Area and not in the city, then WM with Hunt, Marble Falls, Austin, and New Braunfels might be a another option.

I guess it depends the frequency you wish to ski or Hawaii, per year, every other year etc.

 

[dayooper]

@Baman12 Honestly, if you swing the cash, resale points with MVC would be the way to go. It would have you covered in every place but San Antonio. Resale points are expensive, but could fall into your price range. I'm not a Marriott owner, so I'm not sure how many points you would need or if Lake Tahoe and ski weeks are usually able to be booked. Asking on the MVC forum would help.

HGVC has some of the places you want covered. You could purchase a ski week/ summer platinum week combo at HGVC Valdoro in Breckenridge, but their MF's are a bit higher then other HGVC locations. HGVC has plenty of availability in Orlando and The Big Island of Hawaii. Oahu might be a bit harder, especially for a 2 or 3 bedroom. They don't have any resorts in Lake Tahoe or San Antonio. I own 2 resale weeks with HGVC and really enjoy the properties. HGVC is generally economical to own. My 2 resale weeks cost me just over $2200 combined (MF's + Club Dues). HGVC is a flexible system.

Wyndham has a very wide array of resorts, but their level of accommodations might be a bit low than you like.

Hyatt has everything you need with the exception of Orlando. I don't know the availabilty of the locations you are looking for, but it might work for you.

You also might be interested in ownership in 2 systems that compliment each other. I think that HGVC and Hyatt both are strong in places that the other is not. If I were to buy another system, it would be in Hyatt (I would purchase a Marriott resale deed in Hilton Head to use there first).