No rooms at WorldMark Indio

[Chaleko]

Why is WorldMark allowed to sell some of their popular inventory to Hotels.com and other hotel rental agents? I don’t as trying to book a room at the Indio WorldMark from April 24-27, which happens to be same weekend as Coachella Festival. No rooms available on website but Hotels.com has WorldMark Indio rooms on those dates and are selling them for more than $1,000 per night.
Is that legal?
Aren’t U.S. owners supposed to have first option on all rooms?
How long has this practice been going on?

 

[whackedspinach]

I think Worldmark also owns credits and therefore can make bookings and rent them out just as any other owner can. Not to mention any special privileges that the developer has written in.

 

[Chaleko]

If Worldmark owns credits, that means it can keep as much inventory as it wants for weekends like the one coming in April when even cheap motels are charging $1,000 and more per night. I would be curious to know how many rooms the Indio WorldMark kept for itself so it could charge $4,000 for a 3-night stay.
Shameful.

 

[CO skier]

I think Worldmark also owns credits and therefore can make bookings and rent them out just as any other owner can.

Not entirely true. Wyndham is limited to a 45-day advance booking reservation for rentals, versus the 13 months for Club members.

"Declarant shall not reserve any occupancy period earlier than 45 days before the first day of that period, and all such reservations must be in accordance with Vacation Credits attributable to Declarant, whether unsold or reacquired by Club or Declarant."

 

[CO skier]

Why is WorldMark allowed to sell some of their popular inventory to Hotels.com and other hotel rental agents?

WorldMark members may rent out their reservations. This is written into the WorldMark Declaration of Vacation Ownership.

There are WorldMark members who make a business of renting WorldMark units. WorldMark members may use Extra Holidays to rent out their reservations.

What evidence do you have that these are Wyndham listings and not other rental businesses?

 

[Chaleko]

Not entirely true. Wyndham is limited to a 45-day advance booking reservation for rentals, versus the 13 months for Club members.

"Declarant shall not reserve any occupancy period earlier than 45 days before the first day of that period, and all such reservations must be in accordance with Vacation Credits attributable to Declarant, whether unsold or reacquired by Club or Declarant."

If Worldmark is limited to 45 days, why are there no rooms available at Worldmark Indio for the weekend from April 24 thru April 27 —more than 100 days from now — while operators like Hotel.com have rooms for that resort on those dates and are offering them for more than $1,000 per night?

 

[CO skier]

If Worldmark is limited to 45 days, why are there no rooms available at Worldmark Indio for the weekend from April 24 thru April 27 —more than 100 days from now — while operators like Hotel.com have rooms for that resort on those dates and are offering them for more than $1,000 per night?

I tried to explain it in post #5.

 

[Chaleko]

WorldMark members may rent out their reservations. This is written into the WorldMark Declaration of Vacation Ownership.

There are WorldMark members who make a business of renting WorldMark units. WorldMark members may use Extra Holidays to rent out their reservations.

What evidence do you have that these are Wyndham listings and not other rental businesses?

Are you saying that Worldmark owners are renting them to Hotels.com who in turn rent them to the public?
They are not Wyndham listings. They are Hotel.can’t m listings and my original question was how Hotel.com was getting the rooms in the first place?

 

[CO skier]

Are you saying that Worldmark owners are renting them to Hotels.com who in turn rent them to the public?
They are not Wyndham listings. They are Hotel.can’t m listings and my original question was how Hotel.com was getting the rooms in the first place?

Use the internet to find out how to list reservations through Hotels.com. Rental sites like Hotels.com are just the middlemen; they provide only a listing service. It is easy to understand how businesses other than Wyndham can list reservations on Hotels.com and other rental sites.

WorldMark members may rent out their reservations (not subject to the 45-days limitation) through Extra Holidays. The Coachella weekend is listed on Extra Holidays. Maybe Wyndham lists these member reservations through other hotel sites, too.

 

[bizaro86]

I mean, they could change the rules for Worldmark that nobody could rent out a unit or ever send a guest, and the developer wasn't allowed to book anything with their credits ever.

Even if they did all that there wouldn't be availability for Coachella at Indio 4 months in advance. If you want a super-peak event booking you need to book the maximum time in advance.

 

[CO skier]

I mean, they could change the rules for Worldmark that nobody could rent out a unit or ever send a guest, and the developer wasn't allowed to book anything with their credits ever.

That would require an affirmative vote of at least 50% of the total voting power in WorldMark the Club. Safe to say that will never happen, since 50% of the voting power never votes in the annual WorldMark election, and it took two tries to barely meet the 25% threshold to restate the bylaws in 2016. The quorum in this year's annual election was less than 18% -- barely able to meet the minimum 15% to conduct business, including the election, at the meeting.

The BOD may set rules for guest usage, and that is what led to the introduction of guest certificates, but that has little effect on high-dollar rentals such as Coachella.

 

[bizaro86]

That would require an affirmative vote of at least 50% of the total voting power in WorldMark the Club. Safe to say that will never happen, since 50% of the voting power never votes in the annual WorldMark election, and it took two tries to barely meet the 25% threshold to restate the bylaws in 2016.

The BOD may set rules for guest usage, and that is what led to the introduction of guest certificates, but that has little effect on high-dollar rentals such as Coachella.

Oh for sure, I'm not saying that's likely at all. Just that no matter what happens you'll never be able to book something with that much demand 4-5 months out.

 

[Chaleko]

Oh for sure, I'm not saying that's likely at all. Just that no matter what happens you'll never be able to book something with that much demand 4-5 months out.

You can book rooms with that much demand now at Hotels.com but you have to pay $1,000 per night. I understand how owners are using their credits to make a profit. All I’m saying is that’s not what timeshares are supposed to be about.
It’s time to get rid of my Worldmark timeshare. I can usually find comparable rates online without paying exorbitant maintenance fees.

 

[Huskerpaul]

It’s time to get rid of my Worldmark timeshare. I can usually find comparable rates online without paying exorbitant maintenance fees.

I'm sure you can find someone to take it off your hands. People still find value in Worldmark, as long as you buy resale . It is a very flexible product, but just like most timeshares, you'll have the most sucess if you plan well in advance.

 

[geist1223]

The resell price for Worldmark Credits/Points is +- 10 cents per Credit/Point.

 

[CO skier]

You can book rooms with that much demand now at Hotels.com but you have to pay $1,000 per night. I understand how owners are using their credits to make a profit. All I’m saying is that’s not what timeshares are supposed to be about.
It’s time to get rid of my Worldmark timeshare. I can usually find comparable rates online without paying exorbitant maintenance fees.

I wholeheartedly agree that a vacation club should put club members first. The 1989 WorldMark Declaration, unfortunately, could not anticipate the low resale prices and multitude of internet rental listing sites in 2024, so it is what it is, and many WorldMark owners use WorldMark as a rental business.

For $3,000 (the price of the 3-night Coachella rental), a WorldMark member can book both entire Coachella weeks plus another full week as a lead-in to the reservation to beat the rush -- and just show up for the weekends, if you want to reserve Coachella accommodations through WorldMark. The only thing is that the 3-week reservation would need to be booked 13 months in advance, not 4 months in advance when it is completely sold out (for the past 9 months).

Those who snooze, lose or pay a lot more; that is not Wyndham's or WorldMark's fault.

There are a multitude of equally desirable, easier to reserve reservations through WorldMark at less than comparable rental rates, if you can redirect to something other than Coachella.

I have gone looking for rentals comparable to my WorldMark reservations costs and have not found anything close -- maybe because they are ski vacations at one of the best powder ski areas in the world. Can you post a few examples for where you will "find comparable rates online without paying exorbitant maintenance fee?"

 

[Chaleko]

I wholeheartedly agree that a vacation club should put club members first. The 1989 WorldMark Declaration, unfortunately, could not anticipate the low resale prices and multitude of internet rental listing sites in 2024, so it is what it is, and many WorldMark owners use WorldMark as a rental business.

For $3,000 (the price of the 3-night Coachella rental), a WorldMark member can book both entire Coachella weeks plus another full week as a lead-in to the reservation to beat the rush -- and just show up for the weekends, if you want to reserve Coachella accommodations through WorldMark. The only thing is that the 3-week reservation would need to be booked 13 months in advance, not 4 months in advance when it is completely sold out (for the past 9 months).

Those who snooze, lose or pay a lot more; that is not Wyndham's or WorldMark's fault.

There are a multitude of equally desirable, easier to reserve reservations through WorldMark at less than comparable rental rates, if you can redirect to something other than Coachella.

I have gone looking for rentals comparable to my WorldMark reservations costs and have not found anything close -- maybe because they are ski vacations at one of the best powder ski areas in the world. Can you post a few examples for where you will "find comparable rates online without paying exorbitant maintenance fee?"

Sure, I can get 6-night stay in May in many of the Las Vegas casino hotels for less than $400

 

[Chaleko]

I can go on Trivago and book 6 nights in May at Palm Springs Worldmark for $94 per night — no maintenance fees.

 

[Chaleko]

If you have 10,000 credits — roughly a week at a Worldmark resort — you are paying around $1,130 per year in maintenance which comes to about $160 per night. I got a lot of use out of but it’s time to let it go.

 

[jp10558]

I can go on Trivago and book 6 nights in May at Palm Springs Worldmark for $94 per night — no maintenance fees.

I don't know Worldmark that well, but is it really 10,000 credits to book a week in a studio? Cause that's what trivago comes up with.

 

[CO skier]

I can go on Trivago and book 6 nights in May at Palm Springs Worldmark for $94 per night — no maintenance fees.

Well, sure ... maybe for off-season reservations. So we went from comparing Coachella reservations to off-season reservations in Palm Springs?

Just be aware that the goofballs at Wyndham are overbooking resorts, and when there is no more "room at the inn" WorldMark owners get priority, and renters get "alternatives." I much prefer to get exactly what I booked at a WorldMark resort as a WorldMark member with priority.

Good luck with your new plan.