New WKORV-N Owner

[Ågent99]

Hello,

First time poster and first time TS owner.

I just wanted to post to get the first one out of the way and see how my avatar looks!


It was an interesting path for my families first venture into the world of TS. Our real estate broker first turned us onto a condo-hotel being built in Napa, CA (The Westin Verasa) that I was all for. We even included my parents in on the deal but in the end, it didn't work out for us but that got us into The Westin's database and thus a flyer arrived in the mail for a CHEAP stay at a very nice hotel in Maui. I never dreamed that the required 2 hour spiel would have us leaving with a new 63k loan and 2 weeks at a sweet hotel on Maui for the rest of our lives!! and :whoopie: and and were some of the emotions we went through afterwards.

At the time, we should have rescinded but we are stuck with it now and shall make the best of it. I wish I had found this site BEFOREHAND (bet you never heard new poster say THAT before!) but we'll just suck it up and make the best of the situation. After all, it *IS* on Maui!!

So we got a horrible 12% loan that we shall redo here very soon but did hook up with the SPG AE card that the 10% was put down on. Now we are putting everything in sight on that card. We got the 100k SP (well, not yet) and the option for 80k SP for $1675 (well, not yet) and we ended up with two deeds on two separate weeks: even year and an odd year. I forget why it was done that way (inventory?) but we basically have the 2BD-LO 1 week deal that can be split into 2 weeks of a studio and 1BD.

We later found out some dear friends of ours who just moved back to the US from Amsterdam after a 3 year stint also own 2 weeks at the WKORV-N!! I guess we weren't *THAT* close, eh?! Anyway, it is nice to have someone with a little bit of experience in this to talk with. We do feel much better about the purchase but I have a feeling we could have done better on the price if what I'm reading around here is true. Oh well.

I'm looking forward to learning more and pester y'all with questions!

Cheers!

 

[DavidnRobin]

Welcome - DeniseM (TUG's best Mod) will chime in with same - and direct on what to read.

You will get a lot of info here - read everything you can here. We were lucky and found TUG before the rescind period - but just make the best of it (as it sounds like you are).

I just reserved a weekend at the Westin Napa in mid-Oct for 10K SPs/nite - looking forward to it

 

[DavidnRobin]

Can you share with us the deal at The Westin Verasa?

 

[capjak]

Welcome

Westin/STarwood is a great TS program and WKOR-North I believe is the best TS on Maui.

Enjoy planning vacations for the rest of your life in staying in 5* resorts....

 

[DeniseM]

Welcome to TUG, Agent99!

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger, most of us bought from the developer at least once.

Now just put it behind you and learn how to get the most of your timeshare.

My first advice is to plan your next vacation ASAP and make a reservation at 12 mos. out at 8:59 ET. Especially with a Hawaii reservation, if you snooze, you lose.

For a good into. to how Starwood works, see the Starwood FAQ at the top of the board.

 

[Ågent99]

Thanks for the welcomes...feels just like family in here!

D&R: Are you asking for the details on purchasing at the Westin-Verasa in Napa? That is NOT a TS if I understand TS as you are outright purchasing the entire room with the understanding that you are only allowed to use it, I think, a max of 4 weeks per calendar year. Prices for studios were in the 1/2M up to 3M for the larger 2BD "view" suites. The price was a bit rich for us and the payback didn't seem all that great and so my folks and wife backed out in the end.

I think our first step will be to transform the TS into 80,000 SP as the wife and I are planning a 3-4 week driving extravaganza of New England and Eastern Canada for Vacation '09. We'll have 180,000 SP to use, I believe. I'm not sure I will go for the 80k SP for $1675 deal unless anyone here can provide the math to convince LOML (Love Of My Life) or SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed)--aka my wife--that this makes sense. We still have to fork out 1.8k in MF to get those SP in the first place.

Money, money, money....

Thanks again for the welcomes!

 

[SDKath]

SWMBO! That just became my favorite acronym! :rofl:

Welcome.

Katherine

 

[DeniseM]

I think our first step will be to transform the TS into 80,000 SP as the wife and I are planning a 3-4 week driving extravaganza of New England and Eastern Canada for Vacation '09. We'll have 180,000 SP to use, I believe

Before you do this, be sure you see how far you can get with 180,000 Starpoints. The nicer Starwood hotels are 10K Starpoints per night and up. The Starpoint cost of all Starwood hotels is online at www.spg.com. It would be wise to plan your trip, plug in your hotels, and calculate the Starpoints, before making the irrevocable conversion to SP's.

You will find 2 distinct points of view here about converting one of the more expensive Starwood resorts to Starpoints - I personally think it's a poor value, and would never do it. However, you will find other owners who love it (usually multiple week owners with Starpoints to burn from inexpensive resorts.)

What would I do with 180 SP's? I'd reserve my timeshare for 2 consecutive weeks and then use the 100K Starpoints to buy two FF tix to Hawaii. Different strokes for different folks, but I say if you are going to buy a timeshare...then timeshare!

 

[wannagotoo]

Your avatar is great, I will try to get Brain soon. WKORV-N has been great for us, eventhough there were promises by the salesman that weren't lived up to (hummm, go figure!). And don't feel badly about your purchase. We bought 4 from Starwood then I found TUG.

 

[DeniseM]

I will try to get Brain soon.

Let's see, does that make you the lion, the tin man, or the scarecrow?

 

[wannagotoo]

His avatar is Pinky, as in Pinky and the Brain, the BEST cartoon to ever air. If I had 1/2 a brain I would be able to figure out how to obtain an avatar of Brain. BTW Denise, I really appreciate the information that you share on the board. Thanks!

 

[DeniseM]

His avatar is Pinky, as in Pinky and the Brain, the BEST cartoon to ever air. If I had 1/2 a brain I would be able to figure out how to obtain an avatar of Brain. BTW Denise, I really appreciate the information that you share on the board. Thanks!

I guess the joke's on me! I thought it was a typo!

That's what I get for "trying" to be funny!

For your (and my) information, this is Pinky and the Brain:

 

[SDKath]

You are having waaaay too much fun with those hotlinks Denise.

Katherine

 

[DeniseM]

I taught Kath everything she knows....:hysterical:

 

[Henry M.]

The Starwood forum at www.flyertalk.com has endless discussions about how to value Starpoints. They tend to be worth more overseas. $1,675 is about $0.021/Starpoint. You can get more value than that if you travel a lot (especially overseas) and take advantage of long running SPG offers like 5th night free. It is an OK deal, but not wonderful. Figure out how much the hotels you'd normally go to cost and compare. I find Starpoints useful when traveling to places without timeshares and can generally get much more value out of them than what maintenance fees cost. I usually get a minimum $0.03 - $0.04/Statrpoint and sometimes even up to $0.10. If you manage to snag a suite upgrade it gets even better.

Westin timeshare stays are nicer than hotel stays but if you travel around a lot, access to hotels can be a valuable perk of owning a Starwood resort. I wouldn't buy a timeshare just to get Starpoints, but it does add a lot of flexibility to the program. With the right hotel stays it beats having to find a renter for your unit when you don't want to use it.

 

[LisaRex]

Welcome aboard!! Great to have more owners join us.

As far as SP conversion goes, you'll have to do the math to see if the offer to buy 80k for $1675 is a good deal. If you do convert, I'd strongly advise burning them right away because devaluations can ruin long-term plans.

The best values in SPs are found at the low and mid-level hotels, where you can get 5th night free or book using the often overlooked Cash & Points.

As far as converting your villa to SPs, Maui folks pay some of the highest MFs around, so converting to SPs is rarely a great deal. You paid a premium to own in Hawaii and it doesn't make financial sense to convert. It may make more sense for you to rent out your villa for a few thousand bucks and use that cash to book Starwood hotels. That way you'll earn 5 SPs for every $ spent at Starwood hotels. (3 SPs for each $ spent by being a gold SPG member + 2 SPs for each $ spent if you put it on your Starwood AMEX.)

 

[tomandrobin]

Welcome to the Starwood Forum and to TUG!

You have the right outlook towards your purchase. Its done, now just use it to its maximum potential!

And like you said "Its Maui"!

 

[bizaro86]

I am assuming the 80,000 SPs for 1675 is some sort of explorer package, not converting your TS week to starpoints? If so, I think you should take it, and not convert your week to starpoints.

My reason is simple:

If you convert your week, you're paying ~1800 (PLUS the upfront 60k) for 80,000 starpoints. If you take the explorer package or whatever they're calling it option, you get the same number of starpoints, 80,000, but you pay less money for them, only $1675.

Then, you still have the use of your timeshare week for ~$1800, which you should be able to easily rent for more than that, which offsets some of your costs.

Basically, I don't think it makes sense to convert to starpoints when you can get them for a lower price without giving up the right to use your new unit.

Michael

 

[Ågent99]

Welcome aboard!! Great to have more owners join us.

Thanks...seems like a jovial place.

As far as converting your villa to SPs, Maui folks pay some of the highest MFs around, so converting to SPs is rarely a great deal. You paid a premium to own in Hawaii and it doesn't make financial sense to convert. It may make more sense for you to rent out your villa for a few thousand bucks and use that cash to book Starwood hotels. That way you'll earn 5 SPs for every $ spent at Starwood hotels. (3 SPs for each $ spent by being a gold SPG member + 2 SPs for each $ spent if you put it on your Starwood AMEX.)

Well now there's an interesting thought! I recall reading about the Classified ads on here but I haven't dug into that yet. What is a fair deal to sell my time for?

 

[Ågent99]

I am assuming the 80,000 SPs for 1675 is some sort of explorer package, not converting your TS week to starpoints? If so, I think you should take it, and not convert your week to starpoints.

I don't know what the name of this deal is. I'm assuming it was offered to us since we are new purchasers of a TS. It is a simple 80k SPs for $1675. We get the official offer of this once we hit 45 days after closing so we should be getting the offer soon.

We also have 100k SPs coming to us once we either:
(1) Pay down the loan by 20% or
(2) Pay 6 months on the loan

This will happen very soon since I'm refinancing the loan.

If you convert your week, you're paying ~1800 (PLUS the upfront 60k) for 80,000 starpoints. If you take the explorer package or whatever they're calling it option, you get the same number of starpoints, 80,000, but you pay less money for them, only $1675.

Then, you still have the use of your timeshare week for ~$1800, which you should be able to easily rent for more than that, which offsets some of your costs.

Basically, I don't think it makes sense to convert to starpoints when you can get them for a lower price without giving up the right to use your new unit.

Michael

Excellent analysis. This kind of experienced thought is exactly what I was hoping to find on this chat site. How did we all figure this stuff out 20 years ago???

 

[LisaRex]

Well now there's an interesting thought! I recall reading about the Classified ads on here but I haven't dug into that yet. What is a fair deal to sell my time for?

It depends on the size, the view and the season. If you haven't reserved a summer week for '09 yet, I'd do so immediately to secure the best room in your view. And I'd advertise it to sell.

I'm not sure these boards get much traffic. I'd go with Craig's List or some other means. DavidnRobin put a lot of time into developing a rental guide. I think it's in one of the stickies above.

 

[LisaRex]

I am assuming the 80,000 SPs for 1675 is some sort of explorer package, not converting your TS week to starpoints? If so, I think you should take it, and not convert your week to starpoints.

New owners are given a one-time opportunity to buy 80k SPs for $1675. I considered it but ended up passing because I didn't find it to be an exceptional deal mainly because I don't spend a lot of nights in hotel rooms.

 

[Ågent99]

I should point out we did the IV - Island View for our TS. We didn't feel that view was all that important since we're out on the beach or at the pool most of the time. Who cares about the view from the hotel room! Besides, we didn't want to pay the premium for the view.

 

[DeniseM]

Thanks...seems like a jovial place.



Well now there's an interesting thought! I recall reading about the Classified ads on here but I haven't dug into that yet. What is a fair deal to sell my time for?

Another TS vocab tip - you are asking about renting out your week or renting your unit. If you sell it, you will be transferring ownership to someome else. BTW - you would get about $20K if you sold it.

 

[dss]

Personally, I would take the SPG points, if only for airline miles at this point. 80k SPG points currently equates to 100k Airline miles on most airlines. I was never a fan of mileage valuation or trading SPG to miles but with the dramatic rise in airfare, especially to Hawaii, all of a sudden, it's a pretty good "deal". Most airlines are still charging 35k to Hawaii so that 100k is basically three tickets that are now selling for approx $1k each (give or take a couple of hundred based on timing and location) so you've now turned your $1600 into $3k of airline tickets.

Buyer beware: AA is about to raise their Hawaii tickets to 45k so you would need to redeem soon to get the 35k rate on AA and UAL which basically owns the Bay Area to Hawaii routes does not transfer well with SPG, but the desired result still can be done with some effort.