Points and high demand weeks

[pfrass]

Hello to all. Since I am not familiar with Starwood too much, I was hoping to get some education here. I read through the stickies above and they were a great start-- thanks for your efforts there.

I am still having some difficulty envisioning how one gets a high-demand week (Harborside, St. John, etc.), with limited inventory. For instance, if one owned in Harborside, this would be worth a certain amount of Staroptions. When a St. John week becomes available, how is it determined who gets it? Does the person with two or three Disney weeks get the same shot at it as the 3-bedroom Harborside, assuming the option value is equivalent, or is there some hidden hierarchy, like II has?

Thanks again!

 

[LisaRex]

Hello to all. Since I am not familiar with Starwood too much, I was hoping to get some education here. I read through the stickies above and they were a great start-- thanks for your efforts there.

I am still having some difficulty envisioning how one gets a high-demand week (Harborside, St. John, etc.), with limited inventory. For instance, if one owned in Harborside, this would be worth a certain amount of Staroptions. When a St. John week becomes available, how is it determined who gets it? Does the person with two or three Disney weeks get the same shot at it as the 3-bedroom Harborside, assuming the option value is equivalent, or is there some hidden hierarchy, like II has?

Thanks again!

Starwood has an internal trading system called SVN (Starwood Vacation Network). Anyone who has a membership in SVN (which is anyone who bought a Starwood unit from the developer plus anyone who bought resale at a mandatory resort) has the option of depositing their week in the SVN and trading for another Starwood resort. Owners use their StarOptions as currency to trade into/out of studios to 3 bdrm villas.

Keep in mind that at some locations, high demand weeks may never be deposited into SVN at all. These weeks cost a small fortune and most owners use their week or, for many reasons, might put their villa up for rent vs. depositing them into either SVN or II.

But if an owner does deposit a week into SVN then all other SVO owners get the same shot at that property. How do they snag it? By calling at exactly 12 months out and asking. Repeat each week. No priority is given to other owners at the same resort, or owners who own multiple weeks. So it's largely a crap shoot.

If an owner wants to bypass SVN altogether, they can deposit their unit into II. However Starwood controls what unit is deposited to a large degree. While you'll undoubtedly see some units deposited into II, I doubt you'll ever see a high demand week deposited.

 

[nell]

The only thing I would add is that 4* & 5* elites can waitlist for a resort without giving up their reservation at their home resort. I would think reservations would come off the waitlist before being available to others. So there is somewhat of a hierarchy but everyone else would have the same access to reservations.

 

[calgarygary]

Starwood has an internal trading system called SVN (Starwood Vacation Network). Anyone who has a membership in SVN (which is anyone who bought a Starwood unit from the developer plus anyone who bought resale at a mandatory resort) has the option of depositing their week in the SVN and trading for another Starwood resort. Owners use their StarOptions as currency to trade into/out of studios to 3 bdrm villas.

Keep in mind that at some locations, high demand weeks may never be deposited into SVN at all. These weeks cost a small fortune and most owners use their week or, for many reasons, might put their villa up for rent vs. depositing them into either SVN or II.

But if an owner does deposit a week into SVN then all other SVO owners get the same shot at that property. How do they snag it? By calling at exactly 12 months out and asking. Repeat each week. No priority is given to other owners at the same resort, or owners who own multiple weeks. So it's largely a crap shoot.

If an owner wants to bypass SVN altogether, they can deposit their unit into II. However Starwood controls what unit is deposited to a large degree. While you'll undoubtedly see some units deposited into II, I doubt you'll ever see a high demand week deposited.

Just want to correct the posted info. It is not 12 months out, unless you are booking your home resort in your home season. When booking another resort, or your home resort in a different season, it is 8 months out.

 

[DeniseM]

Welcome to TUG - there are a lot of resources posted at the top of the page that will help you. Especially the Starwood FAQ and the advice article.

Westin St. John is considered the most difficult exchange in the Starwood System, and Harborside is second. Exchanging for St. John through II is possible, but not likely. Westin St. John rents for big bucks so most owners use it themselves, rent it, or deposit it with the Starwood Exchange System.