New HGVC resort fee as of 1/16 through RCI

[alwysonvac]

Bit more under details on what the fee includes (for GI):
Daily Resort Charge of $35.00 U.S. dollars plus tax, will be added at check in and includes: Internet access; PS3 w/ games & movies; cultural activities; movies at sundown; exercise classes; custom postcard; 2 bottled waters daily; 20% off afternoon sail; 10% off or 1 cat upgrade on 2-day car rental; local/toll-free calls. Charges effective January 17, 2018.

Somewhat odd to me they didn't have different price points based on unit size.

Looks like they just copied hilton.com daily resort fee description. Hilton.com daily resort fee doesn't vary based on unit size.

Here's what it states for Grand Islander at Hilton.com

From http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/ha...n-grand-vacations-HNLDRGV/about/policies.html
CHARGES & FEES
Daily Resort Charge will be added to the room rate and includes: Internet access; PS3 w/ games & movies; cultural activities; movies at sundown; exercise classes; custom postcard; 2 bottled waters daily; 20% off afternoon sail; 10% off or 1 cat upgrade on 2-day car rental; local/toll-free calls.​

 

[K2Quick]

There are plenty of good reasons to let an RCI member expire. But this one is on HGVC, not really on RCI IMO. It's good to know which resorts are changing these added mandatory fees and just avoid exchanging into those RESORTS whose fees are too high for value received, compared with local alternatives.

I get that this is on HGVC, but the occasional HGVC trade is really my only reason for being an RCI member. I initially joined for a shot at DVC, but they stopped depositing 2BR units with RCI not too long after I joined RCI so I have no interest in that. I'll just stick with Interval International from here on out and hope that the major players there don't follow HGVC's lead.

 

[SmithOp]

To the best of my knowledge the resort fees will only apply to reservations made after the 16th of January. Those reservations made prior to the 16th will not be impacted.

I have a reservation coming up, made a year ago. They could say the new fee falls under the statement about charges for some amenities, will just have to see how indignant I have to get if they try to tack it on me.

What You Need to Know
Mandatory Fees/Deposit
Lodging tax is 6.70 to 9.27 U.S. dollars. Mandatory per night. 2016 fee.

Policy/Restriction
• Please check with resort for smoking policy.
• No smoking in units: could result in forfeiture of the unit and/or other penalties.
• Animals are not permitted; could result in forfeiture of the unit and/or other penalties.
General Information
• Fees or deposits are charged for some amenities.
• Hawaii State Transient Accommodation Tax collected upon check in.
• Registered Bay Club guests are currently offered a special $85.00 daily pass or $150.00 3-day pool pass, to use the recreational water facilities at the Hilton Waikoloa Village Hotel next door to the resort.
• If ADA accessible accommodations are required, please contact the resort directly to inquire about the availability of your preferred accommodations. If suitable accommodations are available, the resort can confirm your stay and pre-assign a unit for you. (Please wait at least 2 days after confirming before contacting the resort to allow time for systems to be updated with the reservation details)




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[Panina]

Even with the 1 in 4 it was more economically to use my tpu’s to trade into hgvc orlando then my actual hgvc points.

I have an hgvc week I was thinking of gifting, now will have to evaluate what to do.

 

[klpca]

I have a reservation coming up, made a year ago. They could say the new fee falls under the statement about charges for some amenities, will just have to see how indignant I have to get if they try to tack it on me.

What You Need to Know
Mandatory Fees/Deposit
Lodging tax is 6.70 to 9.27 U.S. dollars. Mandatory per night. 2016 fee.

Policy/Restriction
• Please check with resort for smoking policy.
• No smoking in units: could result in forfeiture of the unit and/or other penalties.
• Animals are not permitted; could result in forfeiture of the unit and/or other penalties.
General Information
• Fees or deposits are charged for some amenities.
• Hawaii State Transient Accommodation Tax collected upon check in.
• Registered Bay Club guests are currently offered a special $85.00 daily pass or $150.00 3-day pool pass, to use the recreational water facilities at the Hilton Waikoloa Village Hotel next door to the resort.
• If ADA accessible accommodations are required, please contact the resort directly to inquire about the availability of your preferred accommodations. If suitable accommodations are available, the resort can confirm your stay and pre-assign a unit for you. (Please wait at least 2 days after confirming before contacting the resort to allow time for systems to be updated with the reservation details)




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Same as mine. There is this paragraph as well:
Additional Resort Fees: Some resorts may impose additional fees and taxes at check-in or check-out, which may include, but are not limited to, mandatory all-inclusive fees, usage fees and housekeeping fees. RCI has no control over these fees and taxes, which are subject to change by the resort without notice. If the resort requires a mandatory all-inclusive fee, then such fee, depending on the resort and season, may cover meals, drinks, tours, transportation, resort activities, resort amenities, services and facilities and is required to be prepaid at or before check-in. If the resort makes available an optional all-inclusive package for an additional fee, then such fee, depending on resort and season, may cover meals, drinks, tours, transportation, resort activities, resort amenities, services and facilities. You may not be able to purchase food or drink at the resort if you choose not to pay the optional fee. Fees, terms and conditions of packages covered by an all-inclusive fee are determined solely by the resort, and are subject to change at any time

Btw, the last time it happened to me it was the Breeze Private Residence Club in Costa Rica. I called to complain and they let me cancel the exchange completely, but others were not allowed to cancel. Ultimately, I seem to remember that the resort never collected the fees, after all. I just wish that RCI would not allow the resorts to make this change retroactively.

 

[jmkhager]

hi tuggers

Turns out that hgvc has instituted a new $25 resort fee Pr day for all inbound RCI trades. The fee is in affect as of 16th of January so all confirmed RCI reservations from this date going forward will need to pay.

Hopefully some or most of the money will go toward the owners mf but my suspicion is that hgvc will keep the money for them self’s and use it as a new cash cow.

With an extra expense of $175 for a week hgvc is now in line with Disney but hgvc does not have the same demand as Disney. Wondering is fewer people will exchange into hgvc? If you don’t read the fine print you won’t notice it.

Hope this was implemented recently. Have an R.C.I. exchange for this summer at Vegas...made the reservation a number of months ago. Our club is placing additional fees but are implying that they are tacked on by additional taxes on occupancy and housekeeping. I agree, it is just continuing to rise with no end in site. Wow, what are we to do!

 

[jmkhager]

It look like the fee may vary based on location. For example the mandatory fee for Hawaii is $35/day and Orlando & Vegas are both $25/day. Was the housekeeping fee always there for RCI Points reservations? There are different housekeeping fees listed for RCI Point reservations for Orlando based on unit size.

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Thank you so much for sharing these reservation sheets. We are set to stay at HGVC Flamingo and now feel a bit better knowing that the fees will not affect us as our reservation was set quite a while ago. Thanks again!!!

 

[jmkhager]

Anyone know if this affects those who had existing confirmed exchanges into one of the HGVC properties? We have an upcoming stay into Kohala Suites later this spring. The fees are showing up on my exchange on the RCI website but were not there when I booked.

I certainly don't like the resort fees but I feel that as long as I have a choice to accept the exchange or decline based upon the resort fees, I am ok. This is the second time that resort fees have been added to an existing RCI exchange. That I am not happy about. It is just wrong.

Gah. I hate RCI.

R.C.I. once was an affordable method to be able to travel to other locations when trading your timeshare week. Apparently, greed and excessive fees have overtaken the original idea of R.C.I. Wyndham has created a product that no longer is reasonable for us to use. I wish it were different but that is just a fact. I know that I will be reconsidering all that I do with timeshares including JUST purchasing what I plan to use without needing an exchange company. I wish I could be more positive but the direction this business is going is just an unfair trek for most people.

 

[DanH]

So if I rent directly from an owner, would my guest have to pay the daily resort fee? Seems like RCI may be cutting their own throats as folks can rent these units via Redweek or some other outlet. I've had good luck renting it to folks through work or my kids school (well, at least before they graduated.) Not saying this is a worthy alternate for most tuggers, though.

 

[Cyberc]

So if I rent directly from an owner, would my guest have to pay the daily resort fee? Seems like RCI may be cutting their own throats as folks can rent these units via Redweek or some other outlet. I've had good luck renting it to folks through work or my kids school (well, at least before they graduated.) Not saying this is a worthy alternate for most tuggers, though.

When you say rent directly from an owner do you mean renting the RCI exchange? If so that’s against the RCI policy and you could loose the reservation if RCI finds out. With that in mind anyone using the RCI exchange would need to pay the resort fee.

If you meant renting from an owner which used his hgvc points in the hgvc system then no there will not be any additional fees.

Some people renting on redweeks are renting out RCI reservations against the rules which poses a risk for both parties.

 

[bogey21]

R.C.I. once was an affordable method to be able to travel to other locations when trading your timeshare week. Apparently, greed and excessive fees have overtaken the original idea of R.C.I.

Oh for the "Good Old Days" before Wyndham bought RCI. It is interesting to see how the greed of corporate entities has slowly destroyed the value of TimeShares...

George

 

[pamearsgb]

hi tuggers

Turns out that hgvc has instituted a new $25 resort fee Pr day for all inbound RCI trades. The fee is in affect as of 16th of January so all confirmed RCI reservations from this date going forward will need to pay.

Hopefully some or most of the money will go toward the owners mf but my suspicion is that hgvc will keep the money for them self’s and use it as a new cash cow.

With an extra expense of $175 for a week hgvc is now in line with Disney but hgvc does not have the same demand as Disney. Wondering is fewer people will exchange into hgvc? If you don’t read the fine print you won’t notice it.

It would seem that if it's not on your original contract it cannot be valid.

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[alwysonvac]

Just noticed...
HGVC Elara in Las Vegas doesn’t have the daily resort charge listed in the RCI directory or at Hilton.com while the other four HGVC Las Vegas resorts do (similar to their hotel websites).

 

[Jan M.]

Do you have your confirmation email? It should list any mandatory fees. Print it out and bring it to check-in. It was under those conditions that you confirmed the exchange. You should not be held liable for newly-instituted fees.

I agree with Lisa. We had an RCI exchange reservation at a Disney resort booked before they raised the fee from $95 to $190. I was told to make sure to have my confirmation letter showing the date and lower fee and that I would only be charged that much.

 

[bizaro86]

Just noticed...
HGVC Elara in Las Vegas doesn’t have the daily resort charge listed in the RCI directory or at Hilton.com while the other four HGVC Las Vegas resorts do (similar to their hotel websites).


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I wonder if their plan is to use this money to pay their licensing fee to Hilton...

 

[Miss Marty]

Hilton Grand Vacations Club At Seaworld (#3517)

SOURCE: RCI

Mandatory Fees:

Daily usage fee is $25.00 U.S. dollars. Cash or Credit is accepted.
Fee plus tax, effective for any new reservations made after January 16, 2018.


Effective January 17, 2018, a mandatory Daily Resort Charge of $25.00 U.S, plus tax. Dollars will be added to the room rate and includes: Guest internet access; domestic long distance calls (30 minutes max per day); DVD NOW w/unlimited movies; 2 complimentary cups of Starbucks Coffee OR two 16 oz. bottles of water per day; 1-800/local calls.

 

[benthayer]

Back in the day, the main selling point of timeshare ownership was a vast selection of timeshares to exchange into, and stable costs which theoretically made a vacation more affordable. That is now all out the window so to speak. With ever escalating maintenance fees, extra assessments, and now added fees, along with RCI constantly raising their fees along with greatly reduced availability the timeshare industry has put itself into a death spiral. Many timeshare companies are in serious financial trouble and not a few have already gone under. It tells you all you want to know about the industry when a person pays $20,000 for a timeshare and can no longer afford the maintenance fees and assessments and the resort does not want it back for free!!!!

 

[tschwa2]

While a $5 a day or a $25 per week resort fee may be irritating especially if other similar available resorts do not have the fee, I sometimes eat the fee if the resort is especially nice. At $25 per day, especially in a place like Orlando where you can find similar accomodations with no fee, HGVC will become a last resort only if nothing remotely comparable is available. Like Diamond resorts that have added this type of fee, HGVC is getting knocked down to the bottom or removed completely from my request list.

 

[JuliGee]

hi tuggers

Turns out that hgvc has instituted a new $25 resort fee Pr day for all inbound RCI trades. The fee is in affect as of 16th of January so all confirmed RCI reservations from this date going forward will need to pay.

Hopefully some or most of the money will go toward the owners mf but my suspicion is that hgvc will keep the money for them self’s and use it as a new cash cow.

With an extra expense of $175 for a week hgvc is now in line with Disney but hgvc does not have the same demand as Disney. Wondering is fewer people will exchange into hgvc? If you don’t read the fine print you won’t notice it.

Sadly, this seems to becoming the new normal!! Its very frustrating, as one of the reasons we purchased our timeshares was to save money over the long term, and when you start adding up all the fees, and now this resort fee, it really makes you question the economics of owning! Its just another wicked way of squeezing money out of customers who in good faith purchased something for family and friends to enjoy, and were blind sighted (or naive) into thinking it would just cost us the purchase price, maintenance fee and a membership plus exchange fee with an exchange company!! . The hotels started this crap, and now its trickled down into the timeshare world!!!!

Juli

 

[Denise L]

This new fee makes me sad. I have two RCI reservations at West 57th booked last year for this year. One in May is for 5 nights, so there should be no fee at all (as of when I booked it). One is for October and less than 4 nights, so I would expect the $85 charge. $90 is not terrible, as long as they don't tack on another $25/day. But I would rather not pay $90 for my May stay.

I would like to see some RCI HGVC NY availability, please. Things seem to have dried up recently.