Need help Worldmark Clear Lake

[suzanne]

Have a week booked at the World Mark Clearlake Resort in Nice, CA for next May. I have a 2 bedroom unit reserved. We have never been to this part of California before. Need help on wineries to visit and good restaurants in the area. We plan to spend the week there sightseeing and then moving down the coast to Monterey to spend a few days there seeing the aquarium and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. We want to do the wine dinner train trip. Has anyone done it that can tell me what to expect?

Looking for any recommendations on things not to miss in the area. Friends traveling with us are searching Interval for a unit in the Carmel/Monterey area but not sure what our chances will be to pull something there. I figure that we will end up in a hotel for 3 or 4 days there.

Suzanne

 

[Rent_Share]

Corrected to reflect OP's Post # 7 Indicating this was an exchange

WM - Marina Dunes Books up 13 months + Out, but a back to back Clear Lake or Windsor/Marina Dunes would have been doable at 13 months. At the cost of an additional housekeeping

Marina Dunes is NEVER DEPOSITED with RCI or II


By booking 1-7 (3 or more is safest) days at one of the other northen California Resorts, you could have booked Marina at the back end of the trip as long as the total days stayed equals 7 or more - That's how you get access to their inventory in excess of 13 months. Put in a waitlist request for MD for the days you want, you can always pay with flex time . . .

You might want to waitlist Windsor, based on your interests, you might be a little too far north - based on the size of Windsor you probably will get the same week without having to adjust your flight plans (you will drive 3 + hours past Windsor to get to Clear Lake


Not applicable to an exchange

 

[DeniseM]

I hate to tell you this, but I don't like this resort - it is located in an an area that I would not consider a vacation destination. It's off the beaten path for sightseeing, and the area surrounding it is economically depressed and looks it.

 

[Rent_Share]

I have heard similar reports, but not having stayed there, but I have stayed at Windsor, so I reccomended switching.

That being said, the only negatives I have heard about Marina Dunes is the room size is smaller than standard Worldmark 2 Bedrooms and some complaints about the restaurant noise from the other property owner there.

That being said Seaside (Marina Dunes) is not Monterey, stayed in an old business 101 motel (Priceline 2 star) in Seaside for one night a couple of years ago . . . . . . .

 

[VacationForever]

Windsor is right in the middle of wine country. Clear Lake is not. Clear Lake itself is very pretty but it stops there... unless you are into bass fishing - it is famous for its bass fishing. The area (houses and restaurants) is very depressing. There is not even a high end restaurant in the Clear Lake area. I strongly suggest that you switch to Windsor based on your objectives.

 

[b2bailey]

We did a weekend at Clear Lake and my recollection was that World Mark Clear Lake is NOT very close to the Wine Country. Just checked on mapquest -- and you would be doing a 3 hour roundtrip to venture into Napa. Not very conducive to wine tasting.

 

[PassionForTravel]

There are wineries probably 6-8 around the lake but not major ones. There are also wineries back on the 101. But neither area includes the scope of wineries as Sonoma county by Windsor.

The worldmark is by far the classiest place around the lake. We were having quite a laugh driving around the lake and all these places kept calling themselves resorts but the sure looked like old motels.

We stayed their for three nights and enjoyed our stay but it's not somewhere I have a great desire to go back to.

Ian

 

[suzanne]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I will follow up with friends meeting us there and see if they want to try to change resorts if we can get something else at this late date. May is their only travel window.

If I take out the RCI Insurance thing for the $49.00 does it let me cancel and get back the week and my exchange fee or just get the week back?

Suzanne

 

[Rent_Share]

My advice was under the assumption you were a Worldmark owner, none of it is applicable to an exchange.

 

[sue1947]

I've stayed at Clear Lake several times and like it, but not for a week. It's a place to relax and enjoy the large, comfortable units with access to the lake; I use it as a place for a little down time on my way to or from other spots. There are quite a few wineries around the lake as many of the fruit orchards switched over to grapes. You can do some wine tasting and there's a casino with some shows in the area but the main area of wine tasting is south. Getting from Clear Lake to Napa is via a very narrow and winding road that takes longer than it looks on the map. Your best bet is to head west to 101 and then south and focus on the wineries in Healdsburg/Windsor area. Personally, I think the Napa valley itself is overhyped and over crowded and Healdsburg is more of what Napa used to be. Clear Lake would be ok for Healdsburg with maybe 1-1.5 hours of driving but if you can switch over to WM Windsor, that is even better. On the other hand, Clear Lake is closer to the Redwoods if that is something you wanted to include. It's a reasonable drive to Armstrong Redwoods State Park and a possible day trip up north to the main area though another long drive. From Clear Lake it's an option, but too far from Windsor.
You will likely pay an additional exchange fee to switch but that might be worth it for convenience depending on what you want to do.

Timeshares in the Monterey area are few and hard to get. WM has Marina Dunes which is in Marina (north of town) and books up early so this isn't a reasonable expectation for an exchange via a WM owner. Hyatt has one at Carmel but that trades through Interval and there are a few other options but not too many units. Put in a request but plan on a motel.

Sue

 

[DeniseM]

There are quite a few wineries around the lake as many of the fruit orchards switched over to grapes.

How do that do that?

 

[sue1947]

How do that do that?

You cut down the pear trees and plant grape vines.

Sue

 

[DeniseM]

You cut down the pear trees and plant grape vines.

Sue

Ahhhh....OK - for some reason I was thinking that you meant they change seasonally....

 

[b2bailey]

You also asked about the Wine Train. Personally I was disappointed to learn that you never leave the train. I thought it was going to stop and let us off to visit wineries. But no, it is just having dinner on the train.

 

[winos2]

World Mark resorts for wine tasting;

I would skip the wine train. We have done wine tasting while at both World Mark"s Windsor and Solvang. Both would work out better than Clear Lake.
Solvang is also close to Santa Barbara and the Regan Library. Enjoy

 

[suzanne]

I went ahead and took the RCI Cancellation Insurance just in case I can get something closer to Napa, Sonoma, San Francisco or Monterey. Friends are also searching with both Interval and RCI. I only have RCI so can't search Interval.

I am confused though. If the Windsor Resort in Sonoma is better than the resort in Clear Lake why is the Clear Lake Resort rated higher on TUG Reviews? Windsor is rated 7.79, Clear Lake 8.27 both are Gold Crown.

I appreciate everyone's help on this. Never having been to this area before I don't want to end up in a dumpy place.

Suzanne

 

[b2bailey]

Suzanne, in regard to your question in #16 -- as they say in real estate -- it is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Clear Lake is a nice resort -- if you just want to hang out and chill.

 

[PassionForTravel]

Adding on to what b2bailey said. Clear Lake is also on a lake, Windsor is not. If you are looking for a place to chill out what could be nicer than sitting next to a lake to do it (okay the ocean is better) but you get the idea. It really depends on what you want to do. With Clearlake you are also closer to Humbolt Redwood State Park (coastal redwoods), which is definitely worth the trip. I would also go out to Mendicino.

With Windsor you are in a more built up area (kind of suburban) with no lake, but it has a lot better access to better wineries.

In an ideal world I would do 3 days at Clearlake and 4 days at Windsor. There's also nothing to stop you doing your week at Clearlake (or leaving a day early) and picking up one night down in Sonoma in a hotel on your way to Monterrey. May is still low season so hotels should be reasonably priced.

Ian

 

[suzanne]

Thanks Ian, that makes sense. Hoping we can get a place for at least one of our two weeks closer to Monterey. If not, then we will get a hotel for 3 or 4 nights in that area.

Suzanne

 

[sue1947]

Adding on to what b2bailey said. Clear Lake is also on a lake, Windsor is not. If you are looking for a place to chill out what could be nicer than sitting next to a lake to do it (okay the ocean is better) but you get the idea. It really depends on what you want to do. With Clearlake you are also closer to Humbolt Redwood State Park (coastal redwoods), which is definitely worth the trip. I would also go out to Mendicino.

With Windsor you are in a more built up area (kind of suburban) with no lake, but it has a lot better access to better wineries.

In an ideal world I would do 3 days at Clearlake and 4 days at Windsor. There's also nothing to stop you doing your week at Clearlake (or leaving a day early) and picking up one night down in Sonoma in a hotel on your way to Monterrey. May is still low season so hotels should be reasonably priced.

Ian

On the ratings: In addition to location, Clear Lake has much larger units. Most of the 2 BR units have the large master suite upstairs and the second BR downstairs adjacent to the second bathroom so it is a good setup for 2 couples. The living room is large as is the deck and there is a space for a large dining table so it's a very comfortable place to spend some time. Windsor was built in 2 phases with the second phase having pretty small units and even the first phase are smaller than Clear lake. The dining table at Windsor is a very small table shoved against the wall essentially in the living room; seating for 4 is a challenge, to say the least. Both have murphy beds in the living room. With Windsor you definitely need to move furniture out of the way while at Clear Lake you can pull the bed down without moving anything. I would definitely choose the units at Clear Lake over Windsor for spending a week with another couple.
On the other hand, if it isn't in the location you want, that doesn't really matter. If you want to be in Napa specifically for most of the week, then go with a resort further south like Windsor or the other Napa resorts. If you aren't tied to Napa, and are ok with driving an hour+ each day to explore the Redwoods, Mendocino along with some wine tasting locally, then Clear lake will be fine and more comfortable. If your main focus is the wine, then Clear Lake's wineries won't suffice; they are too few for a week's stay. So it really boils down to what you want to do and what is available. Clear Lake is the easiest trade of all the resorts in that area.

Sue

Sue

 

[b2bailey]

Another reason NOT to go to Clear Lake...

We have never been to this part of California before.

If a person had never been to Northern California, went to Clear Lake and based any opinion on the region on that small area...you would never understand why real estate prices are sky high in CA.

Not to discourage you, but my family is in Santa Cruz, and just yesterday my daughter asked why we can't find a timeshare in the Bay Area. I do a daily search of RCI and there is the answer.