Ownership Experience: The District

[ernststarhemberg]

Re: OS booking, it’s the only property I’ve tried to stay at that only allows owners to book open season. I presume this is a function of the owners of this property wanting to have a higher assurance of short term booking availability — presumably again due to a lot of the last minute usage this property experiences based on the fickle business/politics of the area. How warm is my assessment of this rule?

By removing OS booking ability from genpop, the owners association is effectively increasing the risk (and reality) of rooms being empty, which spreads the fixed operating cost base across fewer occupied rooms, increasing MFs per unit.

 

[ljmiii]

Re: OS booking, it’s the only property I’ve tried to stay at that only allows owners to book open season. I presume this is a function of the owners of this property wanting to have a higher assurance of short term booking availability — presumably again due to a lot of the last minute usage this property experiences based on the fickle business/politics of the area. How warm is my assessment of this rule?

The bHC NYC properties also restrict OS to owners only**. It's one of many features that highlight the different nature of owning and staying at urban locations - 1 day minimum reservations, a Home Resort Priority window in addition to Home Week, and a bHC reciprocal reservation window with other bHC properties (except for W57 which was first if you don't count HCNY).

In my mind it's part of what makes owning at any of them vastly superior to owning at the later bHCs in other locations. I have no idea why anyone would buy in Vegas or Charleston when any HGVC owner using the cheapest deed has equal access to your home resort. Waikiki is a little different in that the travel distances make Home Week reservations a viable choice for most owners.

** At times of low usage, HGV sometimes allows District and NYC bHC owners to book OS at each other's properties.

 

[ernststarhemberg]

The bHC NYC properties also restrict OS to owners only**. It's one of many features that highlight the different nature of owning and staying at urban locations - 1 day minimum reservations, a Home Resort Priority window in addition to Home Week, and a bHC reciprocal reservation window with other bHC properties (except for W57 which was first if you don't count HCNY).

In my mind it's part of what makes owning at any of them vastly superior to owning at the later bHCs in other locations. I have no idea why anyone would buy in Vegas or Charleston when any HGVC owner using the cheapest deed has equal access to your home resort. Waikiki is a little different in that the travel distances make Home Week reservations a viable choice for most owners.

** At times of low usage, HGV sometimes allows District and NYC bHC owners to book OS at each other's properties.

Agreed. We own at Elara bHC, and from the beginning it seemed very strange that I’d have to compete with everyone else to get a room at my home resort at the nine month booking window if I chose not to book my home week. We started as retail owners at Elara HGV back in the mid-2010s, and traded in for a few upgraded deeds as we used the system more, eventually trading in for Elara bHC deeds while it was still under construction.

At the time, I wasn’t a TUG member (obviously!), and wasn’t aware of the nuances between HGV and bHC. Even before understanding the differences, the club booking window of Elara bHC being the same as Elara HGV always struck as odd — as if they were relying on the higher point cost of the rooms alone to dissuade people from booking them.

The District booking rules make much more sense - owners only for OS, and rooms don’t open to general HGV until 90 days out.

Elara bHC would have been a perfect location to adopt the same rules, because it’s not like there is a shortage of HGV property in Vegas, so prioritizing Elara bHC rooms for Elara bHC owners is a no-brainer. If at any point there is an option to change this rule, I’d be in favor of it. Perhaps once they sell enough units at Elara bHC (I don’t think they’ve sold many) the budget will allow for a booking window change to make stays there more exclusive.

 

[ernststarhemberg]

Case in point, we own a 2BR deed at Elara bHC, and when booking within the nine month window at times convenient for us (not necessarily aligning with holidays), it’s a < 50% chance that a 2BR unit is available. And I know they haven’t sold that many 2BR deeds, so those rooms are occupied by HGV genpop.

It’s important if we want a 2BR, that we book it before the nine month window opens.

 

[ernststarhemberg]

Point of clarification: bHC homeweek booking windows are not fixed, and are seven days within the same season (gold or platinum) up to 12 months out. So there is more flexibility than the fixed weeks offered by HGV deeds, BUT within the nine-month general booking window, it’s still a free-for-all.

So, for example, with my Elara bHC annual Platinum deed, I can book any Fri-Fri platinum week up to 12 months out (unfortunately F1 always occurs on a gold week nestled between two Platinum weeks ).

 

[Eric B]

Looking forward to seeing you there sometime soon!

Our resale week at The District just showed up in our account - 19 days after recording, which isn’t bad. Grabbed a reservation for March 27-29 to see the Cherry Blossom Kite Festival again; it’s set for March 28 with a rain date March 29. It’s one of the things we try to get to every year; usually not too far off from peak bloom. Are you in town for that?

 

[ernststarhemberg]

Our resale week at The District just showed up in our account - 19 days after recording, which isn’t bad. Grabbed a reservation for March 27-29 to see the Cherry Blossom Kite Festival again; it’s set for March 28 with a rain date March 29. It’s one of the things we try to get to every year; usually not too far off from peak bloom. Are you in town for that?

What was the total timeline from submission for ROFR to showing up in your account?

 

[Eric B]

October 6, signed contract to buy using docusign
October 8, estoppel issued
November 7, received tax documents to get notarized for DC government
November 18, returned notarized tax documents (delay due to being out of country)
December 8, deed recorded
December 27, ownership reflected in account
Haven’t been billed for activation yet.

 

[iftravel]

October 6, signed contract to buy using docusign
October 8, estoppel issued
November 7, received tax documents to get notarized for DC government
November 18, returned notarized tax documents (delay due to being out of country)
December 8, deed recorded
December 27, ownership reflected in account
Haven’t been billed for activation yet.

Congrats!

My timeline was similar from begining to end is a bit over 2 months. Activation fee of $715 should follow soon but I haven't been billed for annual club fee so guess it's spared for 2026 (my first use year is 2027)

 

[ernststarhemberg]

We were banking on about one month for ROFR (maybe a little longer since ROFR period includes Christmas and New Years) and another few weeks for the paperwork to go through and points to populate in the account.

 

[Eric B]

We were banking on about one month for ROFR (maybe a little longer since ROFR period includes Christmas and New Years) and another few weeks for the paperwork to go through and points to populate in the account.

In Washington, DC, part of the sale process is for the purchasers to sign and have notarized a form for the property tax roles. That can't be filed electronically and is generally required before the deed can be signed and recorded - they'll reject a deed dated after the form in my understanding of the process. In any case, a good closing company like LT Transfers wouldn't get the deed executed until the form is in hand because it would cause rework if someone decided not to proceed with a purchase and didn't sign the form. It was actually November 6 that the waiver and estoppel were sent but they were dated October 8, so your timeline isn't off. Our closing took a bit longer than expected due to the 11 day delay for us to get the tax for notarized. Bear in mind that the ROFR period is limited to a set number of days whether or not they include Christmas and New Years and they seem to take the 30 days to issue it. Given the additional paperwork in DC, I would expect about a month and a half for the points to populate in your account once you've done the tax form.

 

[ernststarhemberg]

I love that we are nearly in 2026, and so much business still requires paper forms, stamping, and mailing.

Now that we're back to phoning in timeshare reservations, we could resurrect my grandma, and she'd think it was still 1995!

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

October 6, signed contract to buy using docusign
October 8, estoppel issued
November 7, received tax documents to get notarized for DC government
November 18, returned notarized tax documents (delay due to being out of country)
December 8, deed recorded
December 27, ownership reflected in account
Haven’t been billed for activation yet.

Five years ago my District deed went a bit quicker.

December 31 signed offer to buy
January 8, estoppel issued
January 11, returned signed & Notarized Closing Docs
January 19, seller signed Closing Docs
January 26th, deed recorded
either late January or first week of Feb, ownership reflected in account

This was by far the quickest one I bought. They even gave me a $500 rebate after closing for returning the Closing docs within 5 days.

 

[ernststarhemberg]

Impressive!

 

[iftravel]

Five years ago my District deed went a bit quicker.

December 31 signed offer to buy
January 8, estoppel issued
January 11, returned signed & Notarized Closing Docs
January 19, seller signed Closing Docs
January 26th, deed recorded
either late January or first week of Feb, ownership reflected in account

This was by far the quickest one I bought. They even gave me a $500 rebate after closing for returning the Closing docs within 5 days.

If it’s a platinum week it’s a steal!!

(Just don’t want anyone to fall for the rebate without checking what they are getting)

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

If it’s a platinum week it’s a steal!!

(Just don’t want anyone to fall for the rebate without checking what they are getting)

It’s an EOY1BR Platinum that I paid $2500, before the rebate.

 

[mountainboy]

It’s an EOY1BR Platinum that I paid $2500, before the rebate.

I think @Eric B got a steal at $500 for the same...

 

[Eric B]

I think @Eric B got a steal at $500 for the same...

$500 plus ~$1,333 for closing and the activation fee of $715. The $500 was just the cost of the week.

 

[mountainboy]

$500 plus ~$1,333 for closing and the activation fee of $715. The $500 was just the cost of the week.

*All addl are std expenses for any HGVC stateside deed acquisition...

 

[raddoc]

Our resale week at The District just showed up in our account - 19 days after recording, which isn’t bad. Grabbed a reservation for March 27-29 to see the Cherry Blossom Kite Festival again; it’s set for March 28 with a rain date March 29. It’s one of the things we try to get to every year; usually not too far off from peak bloom. Are you in town for that?

Great to hear that it showed up in your account! We're going to be on the west coast while you're in DC. I'll PM you when we're going to DC, probably end of April.

 

[JohnnyO]

Just booked a 2BR LX under the current 55% promotion. Four nights only 3,000 HGVC points. Good deal since we have to be there. First time to stay there. Considering ownership for the lounge and OS benefits but let's see how we like the place. This promo beats the OS rates as well from what I can tell.

 

[Eric B]

Just booked a 2BR LX under the current 55% promotion. Four nights only 3,000 HGVC points. Good deal since we have to be there. First time to stay there. Considering ownership for the lounge and OS benefits but let's see how we like the place. This promo beats the OS rates as well from what I can tell.

Whether it beats the OS rates really depends. The OS value would work out to the equivalent of paying $0.53 per point for the 2 BR including the taxes (~15.95%) for a 4 night stay in gold season Sunday-Thursday under the promo. However, you would need to be an owner there to use it. Outside of the promo, open season values run between the equivalent of $0.10 per point for a 2 BR or 1 BR+ platinum weekend night to the equivalent of $0.23 per point for a gold weekday in a 2 BR or 1 BR standard. We only get the 1 BR when we go there since it's just two of us; open season beats using points for us for the weekends in either season. Using points is better for weekdays as the difference between the OS rates doesn't match the difference between the point costs. The other thing we have to take into account is that we get an allowance of OS credit for our HGV Max tier and the District is about the only place I see winding up using OS, so we could wind up doing that for a weeknight stay now and again to avoid wasting the credit.

We're down there a week from Tuesday - if you're there at the same time I'd be happy to show you the lounge. We like it better than the breakfast and happy hour downstairs, though the omelet bar isn't bad down there - you can always bring it up if that's your preference.

 

[JohnnyO]

Whether it beats the OS rates really depends. The OS value would work out to the equivalent of paying $0.53 per point for the 2 BR including the taxes (~15.95%) for a 4 night stay in gold season Sunday-Thursday under the promo. However, you would need to be an owner there to use it. Outside of the promo, open season values run between the equivalent of $0.10 per point for a 2 BR or 1 BR+ platinum weekend night to the equivalent of $0.23 per point for a gold weekday in a 2 BR or 1 BR standard. We only get the 1 BR when we go there since it's just two of us; open season beats using points for us for the weekends in either season. Using points is better for weekdays as the difference between the OS rates doesn't match the difference between the point costs. The other thing we have to take into account is that we get an allowance of OS credit for our HGV Max tier and the District is about the only place I see winding up using OS, so we could wind up doing that for a weeknight stay now and again to avoid wasting the credit.

We're down there a week from Tuesday - if you're there at the same time I'd be happy to show you the lounge. We like it better than the breakfast and happy hour downstairs, though the omelet bar isn't bad down there - you can always bring it up if that's your preference.

Hey thanks for the feedback. 3,000 HGVC points at .11 mf fee per point is $330 for four nights. $82.5 per night. I think I calculated that correctly.

We’re Legacy EP, so no MAX OS credit, but 30% off, even though we can’t get OS at District. That’s why we are considering picking up a deed.

Not there till end of month non-weekend otherwise would be down to meeting and checking out the lounge. Thanks.

 

[frank808]

Ill be at the district from Feb 15 at 3pm or so till morning of Feb 19 if anyone wants to visit owners lounge or have a meetup.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

 

[cowboyfan]

I've owned my EOY 1BR District for about 5 years and have stayed there 5-6 times, but haven't been there in the past 2 years.

Here are the things I like: 1) Location...agree with everything you posted and have taken the train from BWI to DC's Union Station and then the Metro to Dupont Circle which is about a 10-15 minute walk to the District. The Foggy Bottom Station is about the same distance. 2) The Owners Lounge provides a nice place to relax and have some extra space to eat either breakfast from the Embassy Suites downstairs or take out from restaurants. Surfside is one of my favorites. https://surfsidedc.com/dupont-menu/ There is a Owners reception in the Lounge I think every night. We just used it to have a glass of wine or beer before heading out to dinner....Can't remember what kind of appetizers they served, but some owners attacked it with elbows up. 3) Staff has been pretty engaged and helpful while I have been there. 4) Ownership gets me All Inclusive that waives all reservation fees system wide---that's probably the biggest plus for me

Things I don't like: 1) Parking can get expensive if you drive in, but I used to have family in the area and could park for free there. You can find some cheaper options using a parking app 2) Sometimes the breakfast downstairs can be crazy busy, but I am an early riser so that's not a problem for me. 3) The lights in the bathrooms were tough to figure out/manage...they have a motion sensor and would come on full blast when getting up in the middle of the night...my last stay I got some tape from the check in area and taped a piece of paper over the sensor at night.

I don't regret buying there and the MF's in 2025 were under $.14/point. I think the increase this year was modest. I've seen much worse Silver/Gold deeds in Orlando

I am HGVC Legacy (resale only) and looking to add The District resale deed to my membership. How much is the 2026 Inclusive Club Dues? My Member Dues this year were $230 but do not include unlimited reservations like you have. Thanks in advance.