newbie needs help - Mayan Palace Regency

[Parkplace]

Just want to throw in my reassurance too.

We too bought from the salesman and paid pretty much what you did. (And we anguished about it too)

Yes, in hindsight we could have gotten it a waaaay cheaper had we known about TUG.

But we have been going every year now since 2001 and have enjoyed it very much.

It has made us take vacations that we probably would have just dreamed about. Plus we can will it to our kids and they can take vacations they would probably not have taken. And so on..... and so on......

Good Luck and enjoy!

 

[mempho_to_diego]

Just want to throw in my reassurance too.

We too bought from the salesman and paid pretty much what you did. (And we anguished about it too)

Yes, in hindsight we could have gotten it a waaaay cheaper had we known about TUG.

But we have been going every year now since 2001 and have enjoyed it very much.

It has made us take vacations that we probably would have just dreamed about. Plus we can will it to our kids and they can take vacations they would probably not have taken. And so on..... and so on......

Good Luck and enjoy!

i agree Parkplace ... at first, I anguished about it, especially because of way over-paying, but you live and learn ... i am going to make the most out of the MP (i'll be going to Mexico frequently since my wife is from there), and I will be exchanging it to go to other places as well!

 

[DeniseM]

i'm looking on HTSE and the resorts they have listed ... hmmm, they have a nice selection but not a lot of great reviews on the TUG site ... i was talking to my co-workers this AM and i actually want to go to a place where my wife and I have things to do ... so a commercialized place like Oahu would be great for us ... because we enjoy nightlife, etc ...

any other suggestions and some resorts that are nice in this area?

If you want nightlife, I'd request Maui, Kona (Hawaii) and Honolulu - remember if you are open to a lot of options, you are more likely to get an exchange.

One thing you have to remember is that you do not have a strong trader, so you are not going to be trading into the top resorts like Marriott, Starwood, Hilton, etc. If your expectations are too high, you are going to be disappointed. The mid-level resorts can be very nice, they just don't have all the bells and whistles. In fact, we prefer the mid-level resorts, because we prefer more of a private condo experience, rather than a busy hotel experience, so we rent out our top dog on Maui every year and use our mid-level resorts ourselves.

Here is a list of the TS's on Oahu - http://tug2.com/RnR/ResortsGrid.aspx?ResortArea=3&ResortGroup=21

I heard back from HTSE and MP does not do bulk space banking with them, so you just need to use the procedure I listed above - make a reservation for yourself and then deposit it. The check-in date must be more than 60 days out when you deposit it.

 

[pittle]

also phyllis, why did you say, on saturday, that they are going to be swamped for February 2010? because it's august 1st? so, when it becomes september 1st, everyone that has MP or GM will call the 1-800-away-i-go (or whatever #) for March 2010 - because of what you stated that they only allow up to 6 months out?

Yes that is how it works. You can book any date for the month that starts 6 months out, so on August 1st everyone will be trying to get President's week in February 2010.

I have never deposited a MP week with anyone but RCI & SFX. My guess is that you will need a confirmation number to give the HTSE exchange company and then they would call MP to confirm.

 

[DeniseM]

I have never deposited a MP week with anyone but RCI & SFX. My guess is that you will need a confirmation number to give the HTSE exchange company and then they would call MP to confirm.

Yes - he has to make a regular reservation for himself. Join HTSE and then deposit it using the link on their website.

 

[pittle]

The first timeshare we ever owned was Imperial Hawaii in downtown Honolulu. It is one of the ones that you might be able to get. The units are small and the resort is 25 or so years old. It is not snazzy, but you can't beat the location if you want to be right downtown where all the restaurants and bars are. It is 1 block off of Waikiki Beach about 1-1/2 blocks from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The huge shopping center and International Marketplace is very close by. You can walk a couple of blocks to Fort DeRussy and the Hilton Vacation Village. There are restaurants all around.

We sold because the mf were getting pretty high and we did not plan to go back to Honolulu again for a whole week - a couple of days is OK for us. We went abou 4 times in the 15 years we owned it. We exchanged our weeks the other times. With the price of mf and exchange fees, a week cost as much or more than we could get from a travel agency.

 

[John Cummings]

Generally, when you are depositing with SFX or RCI (and probably HSI), the MP does not allow you to choose the week you want to deposit.

I find it hard to believe that MP does bulk space banking with SFX. That is very much against SFX's method of operations. I know it is standard operating procedure for exchanging with RCI at just about all resorts. I spoke with Mel Grant CEO of SFX about bulk space banking a few years ago and he assured me that would never happen at SFX. He is strongly opposed to anything that limits the freedom of the owner/exchanger which is why SFX has very few restrictions compared to RCI.

I am not saying you are wrong as I don't own a MP property but I find it hard to believe.

 

[mempho_to_diego]

I find it hard to believe that MP does bulk space banking with SFX. That is very much against SFX's method of operations. I know it is standard operating procedure for exchanging with RCI at just about all resorts. I spoke with Mel Grant CEO of SFX about bulk space banking a few years ago and he assured me that would never happen at SFX. He is strongly opposed to anything that limits the freedom of the owner/exchanger which is why SFX has very few restrictions compared to RCI.

I am not saying you are wrong as I don't own a MP property but I find it hard to believe.

now that you called phyllis out (just questioning, not anything bad!!) but can i ask what bulk space banking means?

 

[DeniseM]

now that you called phyllis out (just questioning, not anything bad!!) but can i ask what bulk space banking means?

It means instead of individual owners depositing weeks they reserve themselves, the resort selects weeks they don't think they will need and deposits them directly with the exchange company. Then, an owner contacts the resort and they are assigned one of the pre-deposited weeks.

It will not affect your deposit with HTSE.

You've received a lot of good advice her - I hope you are getting ready to take action?

 

[mempho_to_diego]

Yes - he should be able to get a week before year-end. Many of the "best" weeks will already be taken, but there should be plenty of availabilty because of the no MF due unless you go for all owners this year. Sometimes, you can pick up a January week for the following year, especially since he bought in June.

I just checked the online reservations system and could get a January 29 - February 5 MP week with a 2009 week that I have not paid MF for. I checked Mayan Riviera and Puerto Vallarta.

phyllis, i am taking yours and denise's advice on the hawaii exchange ... so when i get home, i am going to monkey around with the 2009 week that i have ... what does the bold part mean? i think you are implying that since MP waived the MF dues for all contracts for 2009 (which i have in my contract forever), that you can book your 2009 week right now using the MP online reservation system for either a January week in the Maya Riveria or Puerto Vallarta locations, correct? Are these the best resorts in our MP, or is the Nueva Vallarta the best one (because of their water park?)?

So, when I make a reservation online, I will obviously have to pay my MF, correct? After I successfully make the reservation, I should get a confirmation # ...

with that confirmation #, and after i register for HTSE, i can then just follow Denise's directions of filling out their form and added the MP confirmation # for my week and then I can exchange with them ... correct?

 

[mempho_to_diego]

It means instead of individual owners depositing weeks they reserve themselves, the resort selects weeks they don't think they will need and deposits them directly with the exchange company. Then, an owner contacts the resort and they are assigned one of the pre-deposited weeks.

It will not affect your deposit with HTSE.

You've received a lot of good advice her - I hope you are getting ready to take action?

i am definitely starting to get there ... i'm about 95% there!

so, HTSE is my best bet for Hawaiian exchange? do other sites let me look at their inventory? i know platinum interchange does, but how do their hawaii resorts compare to what i am looking for ... and denise, i am definitely looking at the places you mentioned, since they are close to nightlife activities ...

by the way, i can't thank greg, you, phyllis, and john enough for providing great info and knowledge regarding vacation club/timeshare ... thanks mucho!

 

[pittle]

I find it hard to believe that MP does bulk space banking with SFX. That is very much against SFX's method of operations. I know it is standard operating procedure for exchanging with RCI at just about all resorts. I spoke with Mel Grant CEO of SFX about bulk space banking a few years ago and he assured me that would never happen at SFX. He is strongly opposed to anything that limits the freedom of the owner/exchanger which is why SFX has very few restrictions compared to RCI.

I am not saying you are wrong as I don't own a MP property but I find it hard to believe.

John - I do not know exactly how MP deposits with SFX, but I am pretty sure that when I deposited 2 weeks with them, MP just did it for me (back in 2006). When I deposited Imperial Hawaii, I had to fax SFX my confirmation to them and they verified with IH. I did not have to do that with MP - hence my assumption is that it works pretty much like RCI deposits - automatic from MP without the owner doing anything else or choosing the weeks deposited (basically bulk depsosits). It does not make much difference to me as we will probably not make any SFX deposits again.

 

[John Cummings]

now that you called phyllis out (just questioning, not anything bad!!) but can i ask what bulk space banking means?

I am not calling Phyllis out!!! I said that I was not saying she is wrong.

 

[pittle]

when i get home, i am going to monkey around with the 2009 week that i have ... i think you are implying that since MP waived the MF dues for all contracts for 2009 (which i have in my contract forever), that you can book your 2009 week right now using the MP online reservation system for either a January week in the Maya Riveria or Puerto Vallarta locations, correct? Are these the best resorts in our MP, or is the Nueva Vallarta the best one (because of their water park?)?

So, when I make a reservation online, I will obviously have to pay my MF, correct? After I successfully make the reservation, I should get a confirmation # ...

with that confirmation #, and after i register for HTSE, i can then just follow Denise's directions of filling out their form and added the MP confirmation # for my week and then I can exchange with them ... correct?

Yes, you must pay your mf to get a reservation. They will email you a reservation confirmation. Sometimes it comes in the mail too.

All of the MP resorts are really nice and each has something different.
PV - great location near the Marina and on the city bus line.
NV - good location - MP owners do not get to use the waterpark. They are in the process of tearing down 2 of 3 buildings.
ACA - wonderful beach and nice pool - 1-bedroom units are older and they tore down the 2-bedroom buildings and are in process of reconstruction.
MR - newer units, close to Playa del Carmen, great pool.
PP - mostly for Phoenix & So. California folks as you need to drive there.
MAZ - only 30 units. The city is fun, but the resort smaller than all of the others, with a tiny beach.
Cabo - only GM units, but MP can book there since there is no MP in Cabo. Sometimes takes a while to book a MP there.

For an exchange, I would look for PV or MPMR. Those seem to be the most popular.

 

[John Cummings]

John - I do not know exactly how MP deposits with SFX, but I am pretty sure that when I deposited 2 weeks with them, MP just did it for me (back in 2006). When I deposited Imperial Hawaii, I had to fax SFX my confirmation to them and they verified with IH. I did not have to do that with MP - hence my assumption is that it works pretty much like RCI deposits - automatic from MP without the owner doing anything else or choosing the weeks deposited (basically bulk depsosits). It does not make much difference to me as we will probably not make any SFX deposits again.

That is very interesting. In any event it doesn't matter to me either as I have no intention of purchasing a MP property or any t/s in Mexico. In fact I will probably sell the timeshare I own when the economy improves. We are far more interested in non-timeshare vacations now.

 

[mempho_to_diego]

That is very interesting. In any event it doesn't matter to me either as I have no intention of purchasing a MP property or any t/s in Mexico. In fact I will probably sell the timeshare I own when the economy improves. We are far more interested in non-timeshare vacations now.

john, you live in murrietta ... go to the buffalo wild wings there ... my good friend is the owner (actually its two brothers and two wives) that run the joint ... they are all indian, and so am i ... (parents from india, but i was born in the states) ...

 

[pittle]

I am not calling Phyllis out!!! I said that I was not saying she is wrong.

John, I did not think you were "calling me out". Gosh, you have more SFX experience than I do. I was just reporting that the MP deposited my weeks and I did not know which ones they were until I looked on the SFX site.

My MP weeks deposited with SFX were not able to pull what RCI does for me and they will not let me exchange back into a MP if I want to once they cannot find me an exchange. I had to work with Mark quite a bit to get to use my MP weeks in PP during the low usage time rather than to let them expire. Therefore, I do not plan to deposit any more weeks with SFX. I will use RCI because IF I cannot find what I am looking for, I can choose a MP and sometimes a GM. That does give me an opportunity to extend my MP weeks to a future year if needed - even thought I have to pay the exchange fee in addition to the mf.

 

[John Cummings]

Yes, you must pay your mf to get a reservation. They will email you a reservation confirmation. Sometimes it comes in the mail too.

All of the MP resorts are really nice and each has something different.
PV - great location near the Marina and on the city bus line.
NV - good location - MP owners do not get to use the waterpark. They are in the process of tearing down 2 of 3 buildings.
ACA - wonderful beach and nice pool - 1-bedroom units are older and they tore down the 2-bedroom buildings and are in process of reconstruction.
MR - newer units, close to Playa del Carmen, great pool.
PP - mostly for Phoenix & So. California folks as you need to drive there.
MAZ - only 30 units. The city is fun and smaller than all of the others.
Cabo - only GM units, but MP can book there since there is no MP in Cabo. Sometimes takes a while to book a MP there.

For an exchange, I would look for PV or MPMR. Those seem to be the most popular.

I would add that the NV MP/GM has an excellent beach for swimming. I went body surfing almost everday we were there.

I assume you are referring to the size of the resort at Mazatlan as being smaller than the others. The city of Mazatlan is much larger than any of the other cities except for Acapulco. I used to live not far from Mazatlan.

 

[John Cummings]

john, you live in murrietta ... go to the buffalo wild wings there ... my good friend is the owner (actually its two brothers and two wives) that run the joint ... they are all indian, and so am i ... (parents from india, but i was born in the states) ...

Thanks for the suggestion but we don't like buffalo wings.

 

[pittle]

I assume you are referring to the size of the resort at Mazatlan as being smaller than the others. The city of Mazatlan is much larger than any of the other cities except for Acapulco. I used to live not far from Mazatlan.

Yes - the resort is the smallest of the Grupo Mayan resorts.

We do love Mazatlan and have a timeshare there where we spend the month of June. We chose June so that our family could visit when the kids are out of school and have a great beach.

 

[John Cummings]

John, I did not think you were "calling me out". Gosh, you have more SFX experience than I do. I was just reporting that the MP deposited my weeks and I did not know which ones they were until I looked on the SFX site.

My MP weeks deposited with SFX were not able to pull what RCI does for me and they will not let me exchange back into a MP if I want to once they cannot find me an exchange. I had to work with Mark quite a bit to get to use my MP weeks in PP during the low usage time rather than to let them expire. Therefore, I do not plan to deposit any more weeks with SFX. I will use RCI because IF I cannot find what I am looking for, I can choose a MP and sometimes a GM. That does give me an opportunity to extend my MP weeks to a future year if needed - even thought I have to pay the exchange fee in addition to the mf.

That is all very interesting. It seems that you have more restrictions as an owner than I do just by exchanging into the Grand Mayans through SFX for $129 /week. We have had no problem getting 2 consecutive GM weeks at RM and NV every year for the last 5 years during prime times. Normally we get a 1BR unit but they gave us 2BR units twice though we never requested it. We can request them up to 18 months in advance. I suspect that SFX has a lot of developer weeks available to them. My weeks never expire at SFX so I now have several banked use weeks as I used bonus weeks back when they only cost $99.

The important thing is that you are happy with it.

 

[John Cummings]

Yes - the resort is the smallest of the Grupo Mayan resorts.

We do love Mazatlan and have a timeshare there where we spend the month of June. We chose June so that our family could visit when the kids are out of school and have a great beach.

Neither my wife nor I like Mazatlan. We have been there many times and spent a few weeks timesharing there as well. All of our trips there were to see some of my wife's relatives that live there. We also don't care much for Cabo. One of my favorite cities in Mexico is La Paz. Puerto Vallarta has changed a lot in the past 20 years and has lost a lot of the charm. We prefer the Riviera Maya because of the cultural sites in the area.

 

[mempho_to_diego]

guys, i think my two posts (#85 and #86) got lost in the shuffle between all the other posts that followed ... can i get answers to posts #85 and #86 ... muchas gracias!

 

[pittle]

phyllis, i am taking yours and denise's advice on the hawaii exchange ... so when i get home, i am going to monkey around with the 2009 week that i have ... what does the bold part mean? i think you are implying that since MP waived the MF dues for all contracts for 2009 (which i have in my contract forever), that you can book your 2009 week right now using the MP online reservation system for either a January week in the Maya Riveria or Puerto Vallarta locations, correct? Are these the best resorts in our MP, or is the Nueva Vallarta the best one (because of their water park?)?

So, when I make a reservation online, I will obviously have to pay my MF, correct? After I successfully make the reservation, I should get a confirmation # ...

with that confirmation #, and after i register for HTSE, i can then just follow Denise's directions of filling out their form and added the MP confirmation # for my week and then I can exchange with them ... correct?

I thought I answered in post 89. I did not understand what you meant about bold part. Were you asking about the comment I made about being able to book January 29 - February 5 on the reservation site? I just checked the site again and I cannot get anything with my 1-bedroom unit, but I can get several 2 bedroom units.

You can make a reservation online and you must pay the mf at the time of making the reservation. Then you will recieve a confirmation number. It will most likely start with 2009 because you are making the reservation online. It does not make any difference which resort you get. I would choose PV or MPMR as more people like to go to those two.

I listed some positive comments on each of the resorts in the earlier post.

 

[mempho_to_diego]

I thought I answered in post 89. I did not understand what you meant about bold part. Were you asking about the comment I made about being able to book January 29 - February 5 on the reservation site? I just checked the site again and I cannot get anything with my 1-bedroom unit, but I can get several 2 bedroom units.

You can make a reservation online and you must pay the mf at the time of making the reservation. Then you will recieve a confirmation number. It will most likely start with 2009 because you are making the reservation online. It does not make any difference which resort you get. I would choose PV or MPMR as more people like to go to those two.

I listed some positive comments on each of the resorts in the earlier post.

cool ... i saw that ... i will definitely book either Puerto Vallarta or Maya Riveria ...