Sheraton Desert Oasis

[silkey21]

Hi everyone I just joing this website, I just bought a sheraton desert oasis gold (I confirmed with Sheraton ) eoy does anyone know how much it is worth ? Also can I request a week and then deposit the requested week at Interval ?

 

[pointsjunkie]

hi, am there right now. do you own a 2 br l/o or which 1 br that will matter. if you bought resale you do not get staroptions, you can go to the resort for the size you own or put it in II, through starwood.

 

[barndweller]

Welcome to TUG, Silkey. Your SDO will trade fairly well at II depending on the reserved week. If you bought resale you can book a week and deposit it for trade at II with no interference from Sheraton but if it's a developer purchase they will deposit for you and they choose the week. The lock-offs enable you to get 2 deposits for the price of one that trade pretty much equally. You will get the Sheraton preference for other Sheraton managed resorts. II never gives bonus weeks (ACs) for deposits, however.

 

[silkey21]

how much should have I paid ? 2 bedroom lockout gold EOY
Also what is the best week for gold to deposit with II
thanks for your help.

 

[Ann-Marie]

For comparison, I bought an EOY Gold, 2BR L/O at SDO, resale about 4 years ago for $3,500. I think they are also RCI affiliated, however we use ours EOY, even years. Will be going in April.

 

[DavidnRobin]

how much should have I paid ? 2 bedroom lockout gold EOY

I have no idea - I do not own there, but...

I am not sure if you are going to get a direct/complete answer to this - too many variables to consider. You could look at the eBay sales sticky (above) to get an idea of what some of the completed auctions were. And perhaps other SDO Owners could give you an idea based on their own experience.

You can also look at completed sales in the last 30 days on eBay (if any).

If your deal is done, then it would not be worth fretting over. If you are in the process (or thinking) of buying, then it may be best to ask if the price you paid is in-line with expectations. With TSs - there is often no exact price. Some people are not inclined to state prices they paid for a variety of reasons.

If it was WKV, WSJ, WKORV - I would be happy to help - as I watch these. I do not watch SDO.

 

[barndweller]

I agree with the previous poster, no sense in fretting about what you have paid. You are better off spending your time & energy researching here and at the other forums to learn how to make your purchase work best for your vacation wishes.

For reference, I paid about the same as Ann Marie around the same time buying on E-Bay. Previously, we have traded our EOY as 2 seperate 1-bedroom units using II and the independents for exchanges that we felt were great values for the initial cost of our resale purchase. For us the benefit of a developer purchase was not important. We have split & booked our unit for consecutive weeks next March and plan to use one side ourselves and exchange the other side, probably using TPI or SFX for an exchange to Hawaii in 2010. Or we may just go to Scottsdale for 2 weeks and skip the trading and rising airfare and exchange fees all together!

So far, I am very pleased with SDI, whether trading it or enjoying a vacation there. Have fun exploring your options!

 

[silkey21]

I apreciate everyone's help. Next question if I want to deposit the weeks can I request the week I want with Sheraton and then deposit that week. Thanks again.

 

[barndweller]

If you purchased a resale, yes. That is exactly what I have done. You call the owner services, book a week, receive a confirmation number (or 2 if you have split your unit) and then you can deposit with any exchange company you wish. Be sure to check out the info on the independents before you deposit with II. Where you deposit really depends on where you want to exchange into. At SFX you could even get bonus weeks for a qualifying deposit, at II you won't.

 

[SDKath]

With the seasonal SDO (the newer one sold by Starwood after 2000), the owner is at the mercy of Starwood in the week deposited. Reserving a good week first and then asking to have it deposited is a good way to try to get a good week. But Starwood theoretically doesn't have to do this for you. They can deposit any week from just about any resort instead.

If you don't own this unit, I would by the way stay away from it. The older SDO (which floats 1-52) is a much better one to own for trading as you can actually pick whatever you want deposited into II! IT trades very well.

Katherine

 

[barndweller]

Katherine
Is that what the "gold" designation means? Mine is a 1-52 so I wasn't sure what the reference to gold was about. When I've deposited, I've always gotten the week I reserved including Easter week once.

 

[SDKath]

I am not entirely sure but I believe it's platinum, gold and silver in the newer classification of SDO and 1-52 in the older units. If you have 1-52, it's great to use for trading as you get the week you are deeded (or usually that which you reserve).

That said, the old 1-52s were given the option to enter into SVN, but not every owner took advantage of this. They get the "gold" Staroptions (2BR LO is 81,000SOs) even if it's deeded into a platinum week. Confusing enough??

Katherine

 

[GrayFal]

With the seasonal SDO (the newer one sold by Starwood after 2000), the owner is at the mercy of Starwood in the week deposited. Reserving a good week first and then asking to have it deposited is a good way to try to get a good week. But Starwood theoretically doesn't have to do this for you. They can deposit any week from just about any resort instead.

If you don't own this unit, I would by the way stay away from it. The older SDO (which floats 1-52) is a much better one to own for trading as you can actually pick whatever you want deposited into II! IT trades very well.

Katherine

K, even if you own the 'newer' SDO with the various seasons - as a non SVN resale owner - you should be able to reserve and deposit what you reserve.

It is only SVN members that give up their 'right' in the SVN contract to pick their own week to deposit in II. Others on this board have reported this as well.

So if OP is truely a Gold Season owner (unlike Barndweller who can float 1-52) then they can reserve only in their Gold Season (not Platinum or Silver time) and deposit that week in II/SFX/DAE ....

edited to say OOPS! - is this a mandatory resort????? If so, ignore what I said!

 

[DeniseM]

Nope - SDO is not mandatory.

 

[grgs]

edited to say OOPS! - is this a mandatory resort????? If so, ignore what I said!

No, SDO is not mandatory.

Glorian

 

[GrayFal]

No, SDO is not mandatory.

Glorian

Nope - SDO is not mandatory.

So then I believe what I said was true - it is the SVN contract that takes away your right to deposit a week of your choice (into II only - u can still deposit with the independents) and gives Starwood control of your deposits (resort and week) with II.

 

[SDKath]

LOL. So we can complicate it even more. So what you are saying is that even if you buy a Vol resort directly from Starwood, you don't have to be in SVN and therefore can deposit the week you reserve or are deeded??

So I can theoretically not ever registed my WMH in SVN and then can get Starwood to deposit my deeded week? That would be a small miracle. I think I will have to try it when my deed closes and see what happens.

Katherine

 

[GrayFal]

LOL. So we can complicate it even more. So what you are saying is that even if you buy a Vol resort directly from Starwood, you don't have to be in SVN and therefore can deposit the week you reserve or are deeded??

So I can theoretically not ever registed my WMH in SVN and then can get Starwood to deposit my deeded week? That would be a small miracle. I think I will have to try it when my deed closes and see what happens.

Katherine

Nope! - actually, I guess you COULD refuse to pay the SVN fee - but I just don't see that happening... I am not a lawyer or play one on TV

Isn't WMH voluntary?
And didn't you buy resale? not from Starwood?

If you buy a voluntary resort FROM Starwood - you WOULD be a member of SVN because by buying from Starwood - you are a staroptions/SVN member.
You only get screwed when u go to sell and u realize the Staroptions do not get sold with the ownership and your ownership is worth 10% of what u paid

Starwood is the management company for your resort, whether u are a member of the Network or not - so in terms of registering????? I am not getting that..... it just 'is'

 

[SDKath]

OK but if I buy on resale (WMH let's say), then I can't even enter into the SVN program, right (since it's V)? So since I bought WMH resale, I can take control of the week deposited???

Same with the SDO from the OP. If they bought it resale, they can't be in SVN program either (since is Vol too) and theoretically they can have control of the week deposited too.

Kat

 

[GrayFal]

OK but if I buy on resale (WMH let's say), then I can't even enter into the SVN program, right (since it's V)? So since I bought WMH resale, I can take control of the week deposited???

Same with the SDO from the OP. If they bought it resale, they can't be in SVN program either (since is Vol too) and theoretically they can have control of the week deposited too.

Kat

No, REALLY

Yes, since you do not have the SVN contract - it is just a 'regular week' for you and OP and Barndweller.

 

[SDKath]

OK, so if you want the absolutely best trader for cheap, buy WMH. It never gets deposited into II by SVN so the demand is great for it during the Spring.

Got it. Heck, I don't ever want to retro any of my units now. Why would I want SVN to deposit my WMH or SDO as an mud season ski week or off season Orlando??

Kath

 

[barndweller]

So, Silkey, if we have not completely confused you here's the bottom line. Your resale, non-developer purchase at SDO is not part of the Sheraton Vacation Network. You must call owner services and reserve a week (or split your unit and reserve 2 weeks) and get a confirmation number for each reservation. You can then deposit your reserved time with any exchange company to trade for something else. Using your confirmation number you will have the ability to search online at II without depositing and see what your unit will trade for. You must have an individual account at II to do this. You can also put in a request without actually depositing your unit but you must request a trade for dates prior to your reserved week and pay the exchange fee up front. If a trade doesn't come through you can then use your reservation and a refund is issued by II. The advantage of depositing first is that you have 2 full years after your reserved date to find an exchange. Your SDO will have the advantage of seeing other Sheraton/Westin units available for 3 days before they can be seen by non-owners.

 

[RLG]

... buy WMH. It never gets deposited into II by SVN so the demand is great for it during the Spring.

Somebody certainly deposits a lot of WMH at II. Right now there's availability for virtually every week. It's so good it actually make me wonder if there's something wrong with the place.

 

[barndweller]

There's nothing wrong with WMH! What is wrong is that all those dates are off season & extremely hot there. That's what SVN has deposited from all their members requesting deposits from more desirable times & places. An excellent example of what we were saying.

Just because a resort is voluntary doesn't mean SVN doesn't control some of the inventory there.

 

[silkey21]

I would like to thank everyone for the response.

Could I call Sheraton and reserve the week and then at a later time tell them
to deposit with II. I have another timeshare with II and I do not need to deposit the timeshare I can first see what is available.