New policy - confirming Guest Reservations [MORE CHANGES]

[DavidnRobin]

Wyndham allows real-time guest certificates. So when you have a confirmation, you just add the guest yourself, and that generates an email confirmation. So much easier and better for everyone.

This does not address the issue of some people renting out SOs (as discussed).
As I wrote a while ago - we met a couple at WKORV who owns a dozen or so SVV - and bragged how they reserved WKORV/N and rented for nice profit... great... but against CCRs.

When I rented our WKV weeks - Owner Services did ask if this was a HomeResort name transferred.
I know VSN is aware - I spoke to SC's (SVO VP at the time) people a few years ago about this directly (to clarify position on this) and they are aware.

 

[ValleyGirl]

Wow!
I can't wait till Vistana upgrades their IT staff and phone answering by switching to India.
I just love those phone calls

 

[tschwa2]

As I stated before, I didn't like the online option to add guest info before (2-3 day lag time to modify reservation) and have always had the guest confirm with the resort so the policy change doesn't really affect me.

Today I called to add guest. Hold time at 3:13 PM eastern after getting through the automated phone menu was about 4 minutes which seemed slightly longer than in the past. The agent verified my info and asked which reservation. All my reservations are home resort reservations. The agent never asked if I was renting just wanted to know if I was adding the name in addition to my own or removing my name and just putting the reservation in the guest name. I asked if they need the guest address and phone and was told they no longer need this and they will email the reservation to me to forward to my guest. I also went online and requested a reservation sent to me to compare time. They both came at the same time which was about 10 minutes after the request. The phone call including the hold an automated menu time took about 12 minutes.

One thing that I find somewhat odd and annoying about the premium 1 br units are that the stated maximum is 4 although the policy is that if a roll out is available (and paid for at check in) then 5 is allowed. The agent re-iterated this policy when I said that there would be 2 adults and 3 children. They only confirm availability for the cot at check in, what would happen if you have 5 and arrive in the Bahamas or Hawaii and the roll out is not available? I always put in the request when confirming the unit 12 months in advance and have never not had it available but what would happen if none were available. Since it is obviously not a fire code restriction, the stated and written policy should be that 5 are allowed although bedding is only guaranteed for 4 and the 5th bed/cot is not guaranteed. Obviously this would also apply to 9 staying in a 2 br lockout as well.

 

[DeniseM]

Although reservations often is confused about this - at the Maui resorts, the roll-away is free, and at Harborside it is $5 per night.

You can find the written policy (but not the price) by clicking on the "Special Conditions" link on your confirmation.

MAUI: Rollaway beds are limited to one per villa and are not available in the studio premium villa due to space limitations.

HARBORSIDE: Charges may apply. Rollaway beds are limited to one per villa and are available only in the One-Bedroom Premium and Two-Bedroom Lockoff villas. Rollaways may not be requested for the One-Bedroom, Two-Bedroom or Three-Bedroom Lockoff villas.

have always had the guest confirm with the resort so the policy change doesn't really affect me.

Just to clarify - guests can no longer confirm with the front desk nor with Owner Services, unless you do a conference call with them. I tested this at both HRA and Maui, and they connected me with Owner Services, who said no.​

 

[DavidnRobin]

Thanks @tschwa2 for the update.

The upside (for me) is that I am no longer required to supply complete Renter info (name, address, email, phone) - more than just the Renter's name with Owner Services, and no longer need to require this info from the Renter and this reduces this requirement in my rental agreement. Also, (and DeniseM may be happy...) Owner services will no longer potentially send confusing emails to the Renter as it will now be up to Owner to forward relevant emails (which I do anyway).

IMO - The cot/occupancy should be a Resort issue, and not under purview of Owner Services. I have seen text about this potential no-cot caveat in their documentation - true for Hotels as well. However, this is likely a CYA by VSE/VSN and not an issue that actually arises (based on never hearing about it happening on TUG or FlyerTalk). It is the Resort that assigns villas based on reservations as it is similar to a constructing a jigsaw puzzle that changes up until the check-in day.
Also, I do not expect some min-pay OS dweeb to know the occupancy nuances of all VSE resort and villa types (other than what is stated in their documentation) - especially when it comes to # villa cots available and space (and fire codes, etc) as they would not know this info for individual resorts - this would be @DeniseM level knowledge...
IMO, but I respect the views of others although I may disagree...

 

[DeniseM]

this would be @DeniseM level

I'm going to take this as a compliment!

 

[DavidnRobin]

I'm going to take this as a compliment!

Totally is... and I got to try out the new @TugUserName feature.

 

[grgs]

Today I called to add guest. Hold time at 3:13 PM eastern after getting through the automated phone menu was about 4 minutes which seemed slightly longer than in the past. The agent verified my info and asked which reservation. All my reservations are home resort reservations. The agent never asked if I was renting just wanted to know if I was adding the name in addition to my own or removing my name and just putting the reservation in the guest name. I asked if they need the guest address and phone and was told they no longer need this and they will email the reservation to me to forward to my guest.

I also just changed the name on a home resort reservation yesterday, and this is pretty much how it worked for me.

Not having to give address/email info does shorten the time up. I'd still rather do this online, but I can live with this.

Glorian

P.S. Just for David, I added an avatar (from Lagunamar).

 

[DavidnRobin]

I also just changed the name on a home resort reservation yesterday, and this is pretty much how it worked for me.

Not having to give address/email info does shorten the time up. I'd still rather do this online, but I can live with this.

Glorian

Hi Glorian - Happy Holidays!
From what I read - this may go back onto on-line system. It would be nice if it were real time (and prevent SO rentals - which they may be working on...) - other than emailing and waiting 2 days. Otherwise, I will just call.

 

[47vampire]

Update: There is a new message on the dashboard today stating that you cannot request Guest Confirmations online any more - you must call. So much for cost cutting and saving owner's money!

Can you imagine how much busier the phone lines will be - where is the "cost savings" now?

They also will no longer email confirmations to your guest.

Still think they aren't trying to suppress rentals?

The more difficult they make it to rent, the more timeshares will get deposited in II (they own II - remember) and the more timeshares they can Hoover up and rent themselves.

We are seeing the beginning of the erosion of owner's rights with Vistana.

Are you really OK with that?

If not, you should go to the dashboard and make a complaint ASAP.

You can also email Suzanne Clark, VP of Owner Services, at (I believe) - suzanne.clark@vistana.com

I have read several pages of this thread and a couple of items jump out at me. I don't know too many people who make money renting their timeshares. I own 3 weeks(Vistana) and have limited success at renting thru TUG. I charge what my fees are just to cover my expenses. I try to use what I own and have been in the process of deeding back/giving back several other timeshares since the death of some of the family members who were also users. TUG has been a great source of info in this effort and especially Denise. I just own too much to use or to try to rent. On everything Vistana I read it clearly says it is illegal to rent my units and if caught, I can loose use. So it seems there is this place that they know people rent and doing so against policy but don't spend time trying to stop it as long as your renter doesn't cause a problem at the resort. I see both sides of less services and protect owner info. I hope that the levels we have had as Sheraton owners will be maintained moving forward. I haven't always had that experience with other companies as my other units were bought and sold.

 

[DeniseM]

On everything Vistana I read it clearly says it is illegal to rent my units and if caught, I can loose use.

Just to clarify:

-It is absolutely not illegal to rent your timeshares, nor is it against Vistana policy.

-You cannot lose them - Vistana does not have the legal authority to take your deeded timeshare from you.

-You may be mixing up Vistana rules with Interval International rules.

 

[okwiater]

-It is absolutely not illegal to rent your timeshares, nor is it against Vistana policy.

It is, however, against Vistana policy to rent a StarOptions reservation. That warning appears in various places, and could be confusing to an owner.

 

[bobpark56]

It is, however, against Vistana policy to rent a StarOptions reservation. That warning appears in various places, and could be confusing to an owner.

Hmmmm...I have a home options Thanksgiving week reservation at WSJ. Is it against Starwood policy for me to rent this unit out?

 

[tschwa2]

Home options are a trust of weeks of which you own a benificial interest. Using home options is the same as using your deeded week. If you go outside of the home options into SO's and book something you would not be intitled to with your home options, you are using a club exchange which is against the rules to rent.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Hmmmm...I have a home options Thanksgiving week reservation at WSJ. Is it against Starwood policy for me to rent this unit out?

Again... it is okay to rent your Home Resort. It is not okay to rent SO exchanges. For example: Reserving WKORV/N using SOs from another resort - and then renting that WKORV/N reservation IS NOT ALLOWED.

Will VSE take away your VOI? No
Can the Renters of a non-HomeResort SO rental be denied their reservation? Yes
Is VSE/VSN trying to (finally) enforce the CCR rules concerning the rental of non-HomeResort SOs? Apparently

 

[Helios]

How will they address the rental of home resort units in your deeded season that were made within 8 months from arrival? I think these resies should be marked as Home Resort reservations but they are marked as Networks reservations even if the SOs come from from a home week.

 

[dioxide45]

Hmmmm...I have a home options Thanksgiving week reservation at WSJ. Is it against Starwood policy for me to rent this unit out?

Are your HomeOptions from WSJ Sunset Bay phase or is it from the Sheraton Flex or Nanea products? If your reservation is at WSJ in the Sunset Bay phase, then you can rent the reservation. If it is any other phase at WSJ or the HomeOptions are from either of the two latter products, you can't rent the reservation per the rules

 

[bizaro86]

Really? So there are no rentable-within-the-rules reservations at Nanea?

 

[dioxide45]

Really? So there are no rentable-within-the-rules reservations at Nanea?

Yes, if you make a reservation at Nanea using Nanea HomeOptions, you can rent that unit. The person I was responding to had a WSJ reservation, so if they happened to own Nanea HomeOptions, it would be unrentable.

 

[DavidnRobin]

How will they address the rental of home resort units in your deeded season that were made within 8 months from arrival? I think these resies should be marked as Home Resort reservations but they are marked as Networks reservations even if the SOs come from from a home week.

This is a grey area - by strict VSE/VSN CCRs - any reservation made as a VSN reservation (<8 month mark) with StarOption (when HOs convert to SOs and can be used throughout VSN) can no longer be rented as a HomeResort reservation as it has gone to VSN SO pool. This would apply to the standard VOIs (week intervals) - not sure how Flex systems works and if they have different HomeResort periods. I would imagine for Nanea - you cannot use RV points at <8 months to reserve OF and then rent it out.

And before getting bashed... this is according to the CCRs as it is no longer a HomeResort reservation even if you use SOs to reserve at your Home resort at <8 months as it is now within VSN period and part of SO pool. This is also true for maintaining view level, etc...

Now... whether they would enforce (or could) is another question. Only they can answer this - good luck getting a reliable response.

 

[bizaro86]

@dioxide45 ok thanks. I was just confused, as a WSJ reservation made with Nanea options is a star option reservation, not a home option reservation.

I had always assumed they would need to leave renting your home resort time an option for sales purposes.

 

[bobpark56]

Are your HomeOptions from WSJ Sunset Bay phase or is it from the Sheraton Flex or Nanea products? If your reservation is at WSJ in the Sunset Bay phase, then you can rent the reservation. If it is any other phase at WSJ or the HomeOptions are from either of the two latter products, you can't rent the reservation per the rules

My home options are for Coral Vista. Do the rules here differ from those at Sunset Bay?

 

[dioxide45]

My home options are for Coral Vista. Do the rules here differ from those at Sunset Bay?

I don't really know how Vistana setup WSJ. I think they sell HomeOptions for the Summer Bay and Coral Vista phases? If so, if you own HOs from one of the phases, can you reserve the other phase >8 months out?

In the end, the best way to determine if you can rent a HO reservation, or any reservation for that matter is if you can reserve the week you have >8 months out, you should be able to rent it. If you have to wait till 8 months to reserve what you have, then no, it can't be rented.

 

[okwiater]

It's really not that complicated. You are only permitted to rent a unit reserved >8 months prior to arrival, OR a unit you could have reserved >8 months prior to arrival.

The intent is that you are entitled to use or rent your deeded/owned property, but you are NOT entitled to use the Vistana Signature Network exchange program to rent weeks you don't own.

As such, if you own HomeOptions for WSJ Coral Vista in Resort season, then you can reserve and rent any unit in Coral Vista during Resort season. You can't reserve Coral Vista during Diamond season (using StarOptions) to rent it. Nor can you reserve Sunset Bay (using StarOptions) to rent it.

 

[Helios]

This is a grey area - by strict VSE/VSN CCRs - any reservation made as a VSN reservation (<8 month mark) with StarOption (when HOs convert to SOs and can be used throughout VSN) can no longer be rented as a HomeResort reservation as it has gone to VSN SO pool. This would apply to the standard VOIs (week intervals) - not sure how Flex systems works and if they have different HomeResort periods. I would imagine for Nanea - you cannot use RV points at <8 months to reserve OF and then rent it out.

And before getting bashed... this is according to the CCRs as it is no longer a HomeResort reservation even if you use SOs to reserve at your Home resort at <8 months as it is now within VSN period and part of SO pool. This is also true for maintaining view level, etc...

Now... whether they would enforce (or could) is another question. Only they can answer this - good luck getting a reliable response.

I hear you and won't start the bashing. I agree on the strict interpretation of CCRs, how about okwiater point above? I like it because he says you can rent something you could have reserved before 8 months from arrival.