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Question from Prospective HRC Purchaser

Sapper

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Really? It is challenging (outside the era of COVID) to rent a diamond BH week for enough to pay MFs? Based on what I have seen in most listings, I did not expect breaking even to be much of a challenge ... factoring in that prices in ads is not always the price at which transactions happen.

Having been researching this for a while now, I continue to also consider buying something else nice in II and trading into Key West every once in a while. Maybe I should just rent based on this post. Does this reflect everyone’s collective experience?

I think it depends on the week. 4th of July, Lobster Mini, Spring Brake, week 52, the boat show week, etc... you will get more in rent than you paid in maintenance fees. Some off week when nothing is happening, or like a week 36 when kids are back in school, it’s still hot and hurricanes are still happening... I have seen some rents that would be close to brake even (if not less) with maintenance fees.
 
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bdh

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Really? It is challenging (outside the era of COVID) to rent a diamond BH week for enough to pay MFs? Based on what I have seen in most listings, I did not expect breaking even to be much of a challenge ... factoring in that prices in ads is not always the price at which transactions happen.

Having been researching this for a while now, I continue to also consider buying something else nice in II and trading into Key West every once in a while. Maybe I should just rent based on this post. Does this reflect everyone’s collective experience?

Due to SH's Old Town location, the majority of people prefer SH over BH or WP. BH and WP are newer/sexier properties than SH, but they're out in New Town - with the vast majority of things (restaurants, bars, shops, activities, etc) located in Old Town, you need to drive, cab, scooter or bike from BH and WP to Old Town. I've never heard anyone buy SH and say they hope to trade into BH or WP - however there are lots of people that buy BH and WP and want to trade into SH. If you what to stay at SH during the prime winter months of Jan thru April, your best bet is to buy SH.

Its easy to do an internal Hyatt trade into BH and WP as there's pretty much always availability. An external II trade into BH and WP will happen before a trade into SH.
 

escanoe

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I was asking about diamond weeks. I did not think week 36 was a diamond week. Are there diamond weeks that you can routinely rent for less than maintenance fees? I was under the impression diamond weeks are something like week 51 through 16. Thanks for everyone’s help.

I have decided I would rather own BH than SH. Especially when factoring in MFs and having kids.

I think it depends on the week. 4th of July, Lobster Mini, Spring Brake, week 52, the boat show week, etc... you will get more in rent than you paid in maintenance fees. Some off week when nothing is happening, or like a week 36 when kids are back in school, it’s still hot and hurricanes are still happening... I have seen some rents that would be close to brake even (if not less) with maintenance fees.
 

Sapper

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Due to SH's Old Town location, the majority of people prefer SH over BH or WP. BH and WP are newer/sexier properties than SH, but they're out in New Town - with the vast majority of things (restaurants, bars, shops, activities, etc) located in Old Town, you need to drive, cab, scooter or bike from BH and WP to Old Town. I've never heard anyone buy SH and say they hope to trade into BH or WP - however there are lots of people that buy BH and WP and want to trade into SH. If you what to stay at SH during the prime winter months of Jan thru April, your best bet is to buy SH.

Its easy to do an internal Hyatt trade into BH and WP as there's pretty much always availability. An external II trade into BH and WP will happen before a trade into SH.

Folks with families and or traveling with younger kids tend to prefer Beach House specifically because it’s not in party central (SH), it has easy parking, the pool is not deep and has that sloped entry, there is a huge sand area, a small beach area, and a dock. If you are going to Key West to party minus the kids, SH is the place. If you have kids and want a fun location, BH is fantastic. I cannot speak to WP as I have only driven past it on the way to/from the airport.
 

Sapper

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I was asking about diamond weeks. I did not think week 36 was a diamond week. Are there diamond weeks that you can routinely rent for less than maintenance fees? I was under the impression diamond weeks are something like week 51 through 16. Thanks for everyone’s help.

I have decided I would rather own BH than SH. Especially when factoring in MFs and having kids.

I missed the “diamond weeks” part. Week 36 is not a diamond week. Diamonds are weeks 51-17. You may possibly get one for rent at near the maintenance fee cost as long as they are not event weeks. You will probably have to negotiate and may not find a week that works for you.

My best suggestion is to buy at the property you see your family using, buy the week that will work for your family, and because this is Hyatt, you can buy the specific unit you want (assuming you can find it). At some properties the specific unit matters (Highlands Inn), at some it does not (Wild Oak). At Beach House there is one elevator (and to be honest, I have never seen it), otherwise it’s stairs. If you have someone that has trouble with stairs, getting a third floor unit at the far end away from the elevator might not be a great thing. If you really want the best water view, there are only three units that face the water, all the others face the pool area. There are a lot of palm trees on the property, the third floor looks over the palm trees where the first two don’t (though it’s not a big deal as the view of the pool is still ok). I hope this helps.
 

bdh

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Folks with families and or traveling with younger kids tend to prefer Beach House specifically because it’s not in party central (SH), it has easy parking, the pool is not deep and has that sloped entry, there is a huge sand area, a small beach area, and a dock. If you are going to Key West to party minus the kids, SH is the place. If you have kids and want a fun location, BH is fantastic. I cannot speak to WP as I have only driven past it on the way to/from the airport.

Agreed that the shallow pool, kids/family and small beach area work better for some. However in 18 year as a HRC owner, I've never heard anyone buy SH and say they hope to trade into BH or WP. But lots of people buy BH and WP with the intent to trade into SH. Have heard various BH and WP owners say that they've never stayed at their home property and always trade into SH - however times have changed in the past 2 years and is getting really difficult to trade into SH in desirable weeks. Thinking the difficulty is due to recent SH resale buyers wanting to use what they bought and HPP buyers getting reservations. The attraction of SH is that due to it's location, its 2 blocks from the active end of Duval yet its a quiet/relaxing property looking out over the harbor at the KW sunsets. With SH being the first Hyatt TS, the owners at SH are aging into their "golden years" - so if there are kids at SH, they're typically with Grandma/Grandpa. However as the original SH owners sell, there are some younger (40 to 50 year olds) new owners. Like BH, WP has nice units and large balconies - however with WP being a larger area property than SH and BH, that tends to separate/isolate people. Separation/isolation is good for CV-19 scenario, but not so good for talking with/meeting people.

My best suggestion is to buy at the property you see your family using, buy the week that will work for your family, and because this is Hyatt, you can buy the specific unit you want (assuming you can find it). At some properties the specific unit matters (Highlands Inn), at some it does not (Wild Oak). At Beach House there is one elevator (and to be honest, I have never seen it), otherwise it’s stairs. If you have someone that has trouble with stairs, getting a third floor unit at the far end away from the elevator might not be a great thing. If you really want the best water view, there are only three units that face the water, all the others face the pool area. There are a lot of palm trees on the property, the third floor looks over the palm trees where the first two don’t (though it’s not a big deal as the view of the pool is still ok). I hope this helps.

Absolutely agree that the best advice for anyone looking to buy is to "buy at the property you would use the most frequently"! The 3 BH units that face the water are F14, F24 and F34 - F24 and F34 have wonderful water views! I think there's two elevators there at BH - one for buildings A, B & C and one for buildings D, E & F.
 

escanoe

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Or you could decide you are 96% happy with BH and 98% happy with SH. You are happy enough with BH, you don’t think the extra MFs and purchase price for SH are worth it. If there is availability to book SH with CUP points, that’s a small bonus and if you can’t you’re happy with the decision you made. That is kind of where I am as a perspective purchaser or think it is where I will eventually be. I probably have a slight preference for BH until my kids are older.

Absolutely agree that the best advice for anyone looking to buy is to "buy at the property you would use the most frequently"! The 3 BH units that face the water are F14, F24 and F34 - F24 and F34 have wonderful water views! I think there's two elevators there at BH - one for buildings A, B & C and one for buildings D, E & F.
 

AJCts411

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We ended up canceling our owned weeks at SH this year...61 days out...ordinarily we rent the studio and two bedroom, this pays for all maintenance fees plus about one of two return flights. Makes this a really affordable KW vacation. But this year we deposited the weeks due to covid. Just for kicks, right after the cancellations I check for a reservation. Gone. noting available but for week 39 studios. Point is even in silver season (39) and gold (40) there are plenty of takers for SH. I notice a mix of adult aged, but not very many young ones, but I think this is because this is Key West and many parents do not think it's a good place for the young ones given all of the adult activities on Duval. Now this "perception" might be very different over in New Town, BH/WP, but we haven't stayed over there yet.
 

Kal

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It is also noteworthy that Sunset Harbor has a small footprint. The ownership is largely mature adults. Taken together it's a difficult setting for small children where members generally have a relatively short tolerance for screaming, splashing in the pool and running around the property. The Beach House and Windward Pointe present a much more favorable environment.
 

liongate88

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Hi, planning in purchasing HRC. What would be the most difficult resort to trade internally in Hyatt (historically) aside from Hyatt Kaanapali? Thanks
 

travelhacker

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Hi, planning in purchasing HRC. What would be the most difficult resort to trade internally in Hyatt (historically) aside from Hyatt Kaanapali? Thanks
Hyatt Siesta Key is a tough trade. Using the waitlist can help you out -- but you need to make sure you have enough points as there seems to be a priority to full weeks when HRC fulfills waitlist requests. The ski resorts during peak season can be a little tricky (the really high end ones often have very little chance since owners are either using or renting their weeks).
 

liongate88

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Hyatt Siesta Key is a tough trade. Using the waitlist can help you out -- but you need to make sure you have enough points as there seems to be a priority to full weeks when HRC fulfills waitlist requests. The ski resorts during peak season can be a little tricky (the really high end ones often have very little chance since owners are either using or renting their weeks).
Thanks!
 

Tucsonadventurer

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Hi, planning in purchasing HRC. What would be the most difficult resort to trade internally in Hyatt (historically) aside from Hyatt Kaanapali? Thanks
Northstar ,Siesta Key and Park Hyatt, Avon as there are limited units owned by Hyatt in each of those resorts,
 
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