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Owner @ Vistana Villages

u101440

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I everyone, this is my first time posting here and I'm hoping to get as much info as I can on SVV before we arrive in December.

We purchased a Platinum Annual Float 1 bed premium villa (1 week) last year when we vacationed in Orlando (needless to say the accomodation at SVV was far superior to our nasty hotel on i-drive).

So at the turn off the year (2008) we decided to use our week over the christmas period. So we booked from 19 December to 26 December 2008 and this we managed to do without too many hassles (the Starwood UK number hasn't been working for a long time and as such I needed to call the US but no biggy).

Since we're coming from the UK we don't really want to stay for only a week but we're going to stay for 3 this time around. So we asked about booking additional nights and at the time of booking the vacation week we were told we couldn't do this but to check back in about May 2008 to see if they were avaialble.

Sure enough May comes around and we've been able to book the additional nights but we obviously couldn't use our Staroptions for 2009 as we couldn't 'borrow' from 2009 just yet. However, I was informed by the person at MyStarCentral that if I booked the room now then I would be able to convert this at the appropriate time.

So since about September/October 2008 I've been trying to get this sorted but there are no rooms available at SVV for the period 26 December to 30 December 2008 (the other dates - 31 December to 8 January 2009 are available no problem). MyStarCentral keep telling me that no rooms are available and as such cannot do anything about converting my room from $ cost to Staroptions.

I don't understand this part. I've asked to 'borrow' points form 2009 to use for one of the other 2 weeks I'll be there. I know I need to pay for the maintenance fees in advance in order to do this. I just cannot understand how they cannot alter my existing booking from a $ sale (as it is at the moment) to a Staroptins sale (once I've paid for the fees).

I was actually looking to leave this until I arrived on-site and explain how I'd prefer to pay for this vacation but notice recently that you can only use Staroptions about 90 days in advance and since I'll be on-site in about half that time I think my options are slim to none on this.

Any advice is appreciated on what others think I can do.

Oh and one other thing. My additional time there is only in a one bed standard (1 bed prem are not advertised - to my knowledge - for renting on SPg.com, etc). Can anyone advise if I can request to stay in the same villa throughout my stay and if I need to request a specific area of the resort? My ownership is at the Amelia phase but wasn't sure if this is where they'd put me or if I'd need to request anything specific.

Thanx for reading over this...sorry it's sooooo long but hopefully others can help me out.
 

DeniseM

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Welcome to TUG! :hi:

In a nutshell - whoever told you that you could convert a rental week to a timeshare week was misinformed. Those are two different pools of weeks, and they are not interchangable.

Most likely, there are no Staroptions exchange weeks left at this late date, and that's why you can't make a Staroption exchange now.

Holiday weeks are very popular and very high in demand, so there may not have been any left even at 8 mos. out. Remember that owners can reserve their home resort at 12 mos. out and holiday weeks always go fast.

You can request to stay in the same unit for you whole stay, but if it's not the same size unit, it's very unlikely, especially during a busy season.

For lots of info. about how Starwood works, see the FAQ at the top of the page.
 
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u101440

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Thanx for this. Yes we did try about 8 months before (we called in May 2008) but we were informed that we couldn't 'borrow' anything from 2009 so we'd need to pay for this and then when we could borrow they'd transfer it. Seeing as it was our first time staying we pretty much believed what we were being told. Not to worry as we're looking forward to vacation and won't let this bother me too much.

Thanx for the pointers as well.
 

u101440

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Thanx once again or all the pointers given to me (some good reading there). Can I ask if I need to contact MyStarCentral or SVV direct to request a specific par of the resort or as an owner in the Amelia phase do you automatically get paced into your 'home' phase?
 

DeniseM

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Thanx for this. Yes we did try about 8 months before (we called in May 2008) but we were informed that we couldn't 'borrow' anything from 2009 so we'd need to pay for this and then when we could borrow they'd transfer it. Seeing as it was our first time staying we pretty much believed what we were being told. Not to worry as we're looking forward to vacation and won't let this bother me too much.

Thanx for the pointers as well.

That's correct, you can't borrow Staroptions until 3 mos. out. What I meant to say is that even if you could have borrowed at 8 mos. out, it's possible there was nothing available, because it's Christmas week and owners can reserve at 12 mos. out.
 
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