Potentially signing MVC WKOR

[Travelgrasshopper]

Hello!

I want to have your opinions on if this is a good deal. I just learned about this wonderful site last night and was up reading as much as I could. I have been traveling the last three years via the MVC promotions. We did our presentation yesterday, my husband is nearly sold on it as our put down is $119 (due to paying 1795 for this trip that goes into the down payment). The deal that they are offering is ~17k for EOY of a one bedroom in the Westin Kaanapali Ocean resort. We do like this resort and we have come twice. They said they locked our deal from last year.

However I’m concerned as I have read on booking chaos and the tier status and just want to make sure if we sign today that it works for us.

We are interested in Marriot as I am pretty loyal to it. I worked there as a teen, became a Marriot rewards member, I have the AMEX Bonvoy card.

My husband and I are in our mid 30s, we have a 3YO child. We are looking at getting a timeshare for enjoyment/making memories/time for one another. Before we always thought timeshare was a waste of money but with the options available now it seems worthy of a commitment.

We are flexible on travel dates as of now, I’m worried how booking will be when child goes to school. We prefer the WKCO- south as it’s a little larger than north.

These are the answers from the sales rep today as I texted her my questions:


1) confirming that we are getting a 7 nights Options here in Maui, is the hybrid where we can convert that as the 2812 points available to use to go to other locations if desired.
Answer: yes!!!!
2) if this is our property home, are we buying a certain building, room type, or slotted week/ time frame out of the year?
A: all 3 maui properties plus 5 more of our TOP Westin properties you have the priority to.
Westin Kaanapali Ocean Villas
Westin Kaanapali villas north
Nanea ocean Villas
Westin princeville Kauai
Westin Kierland AZ
Westin palm spring Ca
Westin desert willow CA
Westin Beaver Creek CO
You are not buying a specific building you just have the right to get into these top Westin properties before anyone else possibility to go to destination club points. It’s not a specific building or view as an owner you can request what building you’d like to be in, hi floor or low floor You have the 1st priority!
3. is there a tier status or priority status regarding booking dates/ room type/ location
A: For Westin there is not status tier for booking windows and same for Marriott.
You do need to be executive to book ritz Carlton in advance but you pretty much need to be up at executive to have enough points to book those properties anyway
4. what is the cancellation policy for after booking. Would we get our options/ week back or is it converted to points, etc.
A: You can cancel your reservation 60 days prior to arrival and the points go right back into account. If you cancel before the 60 days can you still get your points back they just charge you I think around $60.

Do you think this is a good deal? We talked with a random (sweet couple) that were MVC members who bought in 2000 on their experience with MVC, they don’t use the II but said they love it and have no regrets, they bought south garden view and have to request or change points to get OV but it seems like the sale rep says this isn’t an issue for us which I’m unsure of believing. I would hate to get a unit facing the road.


Thank you for reading this far. I’m trying to throw everything out here before my baby wakes up.

 

[Travelgrasshopper]

* 2 YO child

 

[Travelgrasshopper]

Hello!

I want to have your opinions on if this is a good deal. I just learned about this wonderful site last night and was up reading as much as I could. I have been traveling the last three years via the MVC promotions. We did our presentation yesterday, my husband is nearly sold on it as our put down is $119 (due to paying 1795 for this trip that goes into the down payment). The deal that they are offering is ~17k for EOY of a one bedroom in the Westin Kaanapali Ocean resort. We do like this resort and we have come twice. They said they locked our deal from last year.

However I’m concerned as I have read on booking chaos and the tier status and just want to make sure if we sign today that it works for us.

We are interested in Marriot as I am pretty loyal to it. I worked there as a teen, became a Marriot rewards member, I have the AMEX Bonvoy card.

My husband and I are in our mid 30s, we have a 3YO child. We are looking at getting a timeshare for enjoyment/making memories/time for one another. Before we always thought timeshare was a waste of money but with the options available now it seems worthy of a commitment.

We are flexible on travel dates as of now, I’m worried how booking will be when child goes to school. We prefer the WKCO- south as it’s a little larger than north.

These are the answers from the sales rep today as I texted her my questions:


1) confirming that we are getting a 7 nights Options here in Maui, is the hybrid where we can convert that as the 2812 points available to use to go to other locations if desired.
Answer: yes!!!!
2) if this is our property home, are we buying a certain building, room type, or slotted week/ time frame out of the year?
A: all 3 maui properties plus 5 more of our TOP Westin properties you have the priority to.
Westin Kaanapali Ocean Villas
Westin Kaanapali villas north
Nanea ocean Villas
Westin princeville Kauai
Westin Kierland AZ
Westin palm spring Ca
Westin desert willow CA
Westin Beaver Creek CO
You are not buying a specific building you just have the right to get into these top Westin properties before anyone else possibility to go to destination club points. It’s not a specific building or view as an owner you can request what building you’d like to be in, hi floor or low floor You have the 1st priority!
3. is there a tier status or priority status regarding booking dates/ room type/ location
A: For Westin there is not status tier for booking windows and same for Marriott.
You do need to be executive to book ritz Carlton in advance but you pretty much need to be up at executive to have enough points to book those properties anyway
4. what is the cancellation policy for after booking. Would we get our options/ week back or is it converted to points, etc.
A: You can cancel your reservation 60 days prior to arrival and the points go right back into account. If you cancel before the 60 days can you still get your points back they just charge you I think around $60.

Do you think this is a good deal? We talked with a random (sweet couple) that were MVC members who bought in 2000 on their experience with MVC, they don’t use the II but said they love it and have no regrets, they bought south garden view and have to request or change points to get OV but it seems like the sale rep says this isn’t an issue for us which I’m unsure of believing. I would hate to get a unit facing the road.


Thank you for reading this far. I’m trying to throw everything out here before my baby wakes up.

Also it is a deeded week in Maui

 

[echino]

It's NOT a deeded week in Maui!

Not a good deal.

First thing, you are not buying a week at the Westin Kaanapali. Sounds like they are selling you Westin Flex, which is a totally different "points" product. It may be difficult to book a week at the Westin Kaanapali using Westin Flex points.

You purchase will depreciate a lot on resale. If you want to sell in the future, you will get a lot less for it.

In your situation, it is best to buy a resale week at the Westin Kaanapali. It will hold it's value, so you will be able to resell for nearly the same price you pay for it. Current approximate resale prices for WKORV:

1br ocean view EOY: $5k - $6k
2br ocean view EOY: $7k - $9k
2br oceanfront EY: $30k - $40k

1br is not a very efficient purchase because 1br maintenance fees are almost the same as 2br, so better buy a 2br.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I would rescind and buy resale mandatory options. Never is it a good deal to buy direct. advantagevacation.com is on the island at the Cannery Mall by Safeway. Call and make an appointment. We bought two oceanfront 2 beds at Westin south from Syed Sarmad at Advantage last year and are so pleased.

 

[Travelgrasshopper]

It's NOT a deeded week in Maui!

Not a good deal.

First thing, you are not buying a week at the Westin Kaanapali. Sounds like they are selling you Westin Flex, which is a totally different "points" product. It may be difficult to book a week at the Westin Kaanapali using Westin Flex points.

You purchase will depreciate a lot on resale. If you want to sell in the future, you will get a lot less for it.

In your situation, it is best to buy a resale week at the Westin Kaanapali. It will hold it's value, so you will be able to resell for nearly the same price you pay for it. Current approximate resale prices for WKORV:

1br ocean view EOY: $5k - $6k
2br ocean view EOY: $7k - $9k
2br oceanfront EY: $30k - $40k

1br is not a very efficient purchase because 1br maintenance fees are almost the same as 2br, so better buy a 2br.

Thank you so much for answering. At no point in the presentation they mentioned Flex… I’m glad I texted her these questions, I’m assuming the answer regarding all the properties is what Flex is about.

 

[echino]

They tell you it's deeded, and it's true. But it's not a deeded week in Maui. The deed is for a points trust in Florida.

 

[rickandcindy23]

They tell you it's deeded, and it's true. But it's not a deeded week in Maui. The deed is for a points trust in Florida.

Convenient to leave out that little factoid.

To the OP, did they tell you when you can book? A lot of competition at 8 months.

Mandatory SO's can book their home resort and view right at 12 months.

 

[echino]

Westin Flex can theoretically book the Hawaii resorts at 12 months, but only trust inventory, which is limited, especially for high demand weeks. You need to own a deeded week to reliably book at 12 months during high demand times.

 

[Travelgrasshopper]

Convenient to leave out that little factoid.

To the OP, did they tell you when you can book? A lot of competition at 8 months.

Mandatory SO's can book their home resort and view right at 12 months.

No she did not mention any of this…. It was a lot of quick talking and that they saved us a steal of a deal before the merger as we are getting this for 17k and not 32k and that it is amazing that all we need to put down is $119, that annual maintenance was 1114.00 and monthly was 286. It sounds super affordable… until you get all the details. We are suppose to go meet with her in a few hours to sign the contract. We’ve decided to not sign, yesterday she ran a loan form and then their system froze. I am eager to learn more about TS and am highly interested in re-sells.

Thank you for your time!

 

[Travelgrasshopper]

Westin Flex can theoretically book the Hawaii resorts at 12 months, but only trust inventory, which is limited, especially for high demand weeks. You need to own a deeded week to reliably book at 12 months during high demand times.

Thankful for your input

 

[rickandcindy23]

I have very little understanding of Flex, as you can tell. But I am really loving our deeded weeks we bought from Syed.

 

[Travelgrasshopper]

I have very little understanding of Flex, as you can tell. But I am really loving our deeded weeks we bought from Syed.

I am definitely going to Syed when we get the chance.

I am really interest now in learning of re-sell and its value.

 

[DRH90277]

Yielding to the pressures of the sales force has cost many of us lots of money. The sales personnel know of your vulnerabilities, play to them, and will overwhelm you.

The only defenses you have are knowledge of the property/system and the ability to slow this down. Any deal offered today will be there for weeks if not months.

You are being given good advice here. You mentioned a desire for recurring visits to the same property - this is why resales are for you.

 

[celica7101]

You may get more traction also on the Westin / Vistana forum.

 

[jabberwocky]

You’ve been given good advice here. I would not proceed with this deal. If you want an EOY Maui OF at the North phase you can get it cheaper on the resale market.

As has been mentioned, they are selling you Westin Flex (the resort priority and conversion to Abound points are the giveaways). You can find out more about Flex here:

Flex FAQ

It’s a great system and wonderful resorts, but you’ll want to do your homework before you purchase.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Did you say how many Flex options you would get?

 

[jabberwocky]

Did you say how many Flex options you would get?

My guess is in the 81k-85k range based on price and Abound conversion. If we use a 30X multiplier on 2800 you would get 84,000 Flex Options EOY.

 

[Likes to Travel]

We bought 2 MOC Oceanfronts 2 bedroom from Syed and I have nothing but good things to say about him. The other option not mentioned (unless it was) is that if you buy through Syed you are not limited to Westin but could buy the Marriott Brand (Marriott Ocean Club) resale as well as he can get you what ever brand you want.

 

[Travelgrasshopper]

Convenient to leave out that little factoid.

To the OP, did they tell you when you can book? A lot of competition at 8 months.

Mandatory SO's can book their home resort and view right at 12 months.

Hello! They said at 12 months with priority for this Westin

 

[CalGalTraveler]

They tell you it's deeded, and it's true. But it's not a deeded week in Maui. The deed is for a points trust in Florida.

LOL...as the saying goes about buying swampland in Florida..

 

[celica7101]

Hello! They said at 12 months with priority for this Westin

If the salesperson was pitching you Westin Flex then that is technically correct. However there are two things that everyone on this thread is trying to point out:

1) If you want to be able to go to Westin properties, you can buy a resale week instead (at Kaanapali south or north), for a much lower price.
2) If you did take the Westin Flex, you are still able to book Kaanapali south or north at 12 months out, but you are not able to book the entire pool of eligible units. You can only book against the weeks that have already been deposited into the trust.

Buried in the disclosure paperwork that they would provide to you if you took the deal is that as of 12/2022, the Westin Flex Trust owns 1168 weeks at South, and 1306 weeks in North.

So while you do indeed have "12 months at priority" you are bidding amongst a much smaller pool of total units. Note that while the owners of the Kaanapali South property directly cannot book against these units in the trust pool, there are a much larger pool of weeks OUTSIDE the pool than in it.

 

[capjak]

I think there are a couple things to think about.

For Maui, I would buy WKORV North Oceanview ($10,000) or Oceanfront ($14,000 EOY) due to cost and ability to have a balcony on the studio side of the unit (you can split the unit into a 1 bedroom and studio to spend 2 weeks on maui). Perhaps an every other year unit.

Next in regards to going to other Marriotts, I would probably purchase resale a minimum number of Abound Points to get me to the places I want to go most often. for example 2,500 annual points (cost will be around $15,000), you can bank and borrow which gives you access to 7,500 points every 3 years or 5,000 every 2 years or 2,500 every year, you can also rent points if you fall short one year.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We bought 2 MOC Oceanfronts 2 bedroom from Syed and I have nothing but good things to say about him. The other option not mentioned (unless it was) is that if you buy through Syed you are not limited to Westin but could buy the Marriott Brand (Marriott Ocean Club) resale as well as he can get you what ever brand you want.

I really prefer Westin but considered Marriott for a minute or two. The studio side at Marriott is not as good as the Westin.

We may buy Marriott in the future, but did you buy Lahaina and Napili, or did you buy MOC with limited kitchens? IF you bought the limited kitchens in Moloka, Lanai towers, is there a SA to make those kitchens more functional. I heard they are adding better kitchens and re-wiring to add washer/dryers.

 

[Dean]

To pile on, cancel and investigate. You could always buy this later if it was your choice though you'll learn there are MUCH better choices for you once you investigate.