Offer Guidance on Potential Timeshare Purchase

[HudsonT]

Hello Everyone,

Please excuse my ignorance concerning anything I say here, I’m very new to all of this and trying my best to understand it all.

My wife and I are currently in Cancún at the Westin Lagunamar for our second visit. We first came here back at the end of 2022 when I had gotten a post pandemic offer from Mariott to come to the property for 4 nights 5 days at a total price of $299 with the stipulation that we would attend the 90-min timeshare presentation for their Westin Vacation Club. After we said no, they made another offer for us to come back at a discounted rate and they said they would keep our timeshare offer.

We just existed the meeting, saying no again, but the presenter offered to honor the deal if we changed our mind during the rest of our stay here. I wanted to get people’s opinion on this because my wife and I have never purchased a timeshare before, but we both somewhat link the sound of it. I just want to make sure we are getting something worth the money. Any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.


This is what they offered:

1st offer:
-37,000 options at $15,522 with $915 closing costs
-HOA fee at 984 (I think) yearly
-An additional 74,000 options only for the first year redeemable over the next two years
-Infinite getaways through Interval International.
-Some other small bonuses like additional MB points etc.

2nd offer:
-37,000 options every other year at $9,558 with $915 closing costs
-HOA fee at $680 (I think) every year
-An additional 37,000 options only for the first year.
-Infinite getaways through Interval International.
-Some other small bonuses like additional MB points etc.

I don’t like the price for either because I don’t feel like the value is really there. Sure you get access to the Mariott Vacation Club timeshare locations, but that initial cost doesn’t sound with it to me. Everyone’s thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[vacationtime1]

An easy "no".

It is unclear exactly what it is that you want (a studio every year or alternate years during low season at Lagunamar?), but it can be obtained for a small fraction of those prices on the resale market.

 

[HudsonT]

An easy "no".

It is unclear exactly what it is that you want (a studio every year or alternate years during low season at Lagunamar?), but it can be obtained for a small fraction of those prices on the resale market.

Thank you for the thought, I appreciate the insight. What we want is the option to travel to different locations and have access to nice hotels when we do. While we like the Westin Lagunamar, we would also like the option to visit other locations around the world without having to break the bank every time.

 

[Ski-Dad]

Hard no on what you have been offered. Good job saying "no".

Timeshares may, or may not, be right for you. Read the following linked thread. If you think you might still be interested, then start a thread by answering all the questions in the link, and you will get good advice from the very knowledgeable community that hangs out here.

"What to Buy" Questions for New Timeshare Owners

 

[vacationtime1]

Thank you for the thought, I appreciate the insight. What we want is the option to travel to different locations and have access to nice hotels when we do. While we like the Westin Lagunamar, we would also like the option to visit other locations around the world without having to break the bank every time.

The first thing to do is to not buy anything right now. Read a bunch of threads here on TUG (Intro stuff; threads about any system you are considering, etc.)

Rent a couple of times at different places in different systems. See what you like (i.e. what you are willing to pay for) and what you can live without.

Take your time; resale prices are not going up.

Once you have your thoughts organized, you can get feedback here by doing the "What to Buy" Questions for New Timeshare Owners suggested by @Ski-Dad above.

 

[dioxide45]

I asked a similar question way back in 2013. Some things have changed since then but I wouldn't change what I bought to make it happen. What we didn't do was buy from Vistana. We went with non of the original options I was asking about and bought a mandatory resale week at Sheraton Vistana Villages.

It's also interesting to read that old first post. None of what we thought we would do have we really done. We don't go to Lagunamar every year.

I think it still makes sense to buy a mandatory resale week. You can buy a Westin Kierland Platinum Plus resale week that comes with 148,100 StarOptions for the same prices you were quoted above. Way more points though. The annual fees are higher too, but you get WAY more points.

With the introduction of Abound, you can't use those StarOptions to book into Marriott Vacation Club resorts, but you can still use them at 8 months from checkin to book at any of the Vistana (Sheraton & Westin Vacation Club) properties.

 

[LeslieDet]

Thank you for the thought, I appreciate the insight. What we want is the option to travel to different locations and have access to nice hotels when we do. While we like the Westin Lagunamar, we would also like the option to visit other locations around the world without having to break the bank every time.

Do not buy a timeshare with the goal of having "access to nice hotels" when you travel. Yes, there are many nice hotels out there, but your timeshare won't get them for you. Timeshares are for folks who can plan a year in advance and have a general idea of where they want to go and what they want to do. If you own in the "Marriott VC/Westin VC/Sheraton VC" system, yes, you can go to different locations; however 37k in Adventura options are not going to go very far in the overall system. I enjoy my timeshares, and I own enough to travel around 10 weeks a year. I've bought directly from the developer and I've bought resale. I do not exchange my timeshare usage to stay in a hotel; rather, I stay in hotels using my BonVoy points or by simply paying cash. The maintenance fees on the timeshares are something you need to pay attention to also.

And, BTW - those "infinite getaways on Interval" -- yes, there are deals you can get fairly last minute on II. Describing it as "infinite" is somewhat of a misnomer. There are quite a lot of timeshares out in the world, many are simply mediocre. You need to pay attention to the brand. Getaways are discounted trips. That is all. If you have a lot of flexibility, and want to spend time searching for the best deals on II, then you may find some really great opportunities. But they are not going to be peak season at high demand locations.

 

[HudsonT]

Hard no on what you have been offered. Good job saying "no".

Timeshares may, or may not, be right for you. Read the following linked thread. If you think you might still be interested, then start a thread by answering all the questions in the link, and you will get good advice from the very knowledgeable community that hangs out here.

"What to Buy" Questions for New Timeshare Owners

Thank you, I appreciate the help!

 

[HudsonT]

Do not buy a timeshare with the goal of having "access to nice hotels" when you travel. Yes, there are many nice hotels out there, but your timeshare won't get them for you. Timeshares are for folks who can plan a year in advance and have a general idea of where they want to go and what they want to do. If you own in the "Marriott VC/Westin VC/Sheraton VC" system, yes, you can go to different locations; however 37k in Adventura options are not going to go very far in the overall system. I enjoy my timeshares, and I own enough to travel around 10 weeks a year. I've bought directly from the developer and I've bought resale. I do not exchange my timeshare usage to stay in a hotel; rather, I stay in hotels using my BonVoy points or by simply paying cash. The maintenance fees on the timeshares are something you need to pay attention to also.

And, BTW - those "infinite getaways on Interval" -- yes, there are deals you can get fairly last minute on II. Describing it as "infinite" is somewhat of a misnomer. There are quite a lot of timeshares out in the world, many are simply mediocre. You need to pay attention to the brand. Getaways are discounted trips. That is all. If you have a lot of flexibility, and want to spend time searching for the best deals on II, then you may find some really great opportunities. But they are not going to be peak season at high demand locations.

Thank you for your thoughts, I appreciate it.

 

[byeloe]

Thank you for your thoughts, I appreciate it.

We are also at Lagunamar right now.
If you want to talk about everything timeshare pop over to the quiet side smaller pool. We are camped out under an umbrella next to the pool

 

[jp10558]

The main thing I've learned is don't buy retail. It's basically never worth it. The second big thing I've learned is you need to throw away branding and look at what resorts or at least what locations you want to go to. MVC isn't the only timeshare system, and IMO can be a quite expensive one.

 

[byeloe]

Hello Everyone,

Please excuse my ignorance concerning anything I say here, I’m very new to all of this and trying my best to understand it all.

My wife and I are currently in Cancún at the Westin Lagunamar for our second visit. We first came here back at the end of 2022 when I had gotten a post pandemic offer from Mariott to come to the property for 4 nights 5 days at a total price of $299 with the stipulation that we would attend the 90-min timeshare presentation for their Westin Vacation Club. After we said no, they made another offer for us to come back at a discounted rate and they said they would keep our timeshare offer.

We just existed the meeting, saying no again, but the presenter offered to honor the deal if we changed our mind during the rest of our stay here. I wanted to get people’s opinion on this because my wife and I have never purchased a timeshare before, but we both somewhat link the sound of it. I just want to make sure we are getting something worth the money. Any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.


This is what they offered:

1st offer:
-37,000 options at $15,522 with $915 closing costs
-HOA fee at 984 (I think) yearly
-An additional 74,000 options only for the first year redeemable over the next two years
-Infinite getaways through Interval International.
-Some other small bonuses like additional MB points etc.

2nd offer:
-37,000 options every other year at $9,558 with $915 closing costs
-HOA fee at $680 (I think) every year
-An additional 37,000 options only for the first year.
-Infinite getaways through Interval International.
-Some other small bonuses like additional MB points etc.

I don’t like the price for either because I don’t feel like the value is really there. Sure you get access to the Mariott Vacation Club timeshare locations, but that initial cost doesn’t sound with it to me. Everyone’s thoughts would be appreciated.

Just a little more info.

If you had access to Interval getaways then you could get 1 week in a studio every year (at Lagunamar during this time of year)for the next 30ish years for the $15000 that they want you to spend.

Buy the cheapest II affiliated resort with the lowest MF, if you want access to the "infinite getaways"

There are some great getaway deals but they definitely oversold that benefit to you

 

[jp10558]

Just a little more info.

If you had access to Interval getaways then you could get 1 week in a studio every year (at Lagunamar during this time of year)for the next 30ish years for the $15000 that they want you to spend.

Buy the cheapest II affiliated resort with the lowest MF, if you want access to the "infinite getaways"

There are some great getaway deals but they definitely oversold that benefit to you

Hell, don't even "buy" - there's regular free giveaways here on TUG (or close to free at say $150 closing fees) for resorts in II. If you're not even worried about trading power, find one of these with "low enough" MFs (I know there's plenty sub $1200, and that's on the higher side, I have seen a lot at $960 or so for 2BR, and you can obviously go smaller and possibly get $600 or so MFs) and just buy the getaways.

I've picked up 2 this way and have already bought a getaway for testing.

 

[gpj555]

Do not ever by from Resort or Timeshare company. Educated yourself here. If you are a Veteran Join Armed Forces Vacation Club. Enjoy your Vacation!