some advice for a newbie please :)

[keithinnate]

hi all

i just returned from hilton villamoura , 2nd time we have been & this time we joined the vacation club.

We purchased 7000 points for the 12,800 euros. giving us a week in peak season in a 2 bed apartment. they gave us an additional free week to use this year or next year & 1000 euro credit for the excellent spa.

I fund this excellent site & see a lot of posts saying anyone who buys direct, should rescind and buy resale right away - in most cases. so im now wandering if we should do the same..

HOWEVER we would want to go to only this hotel for the next 3-4 years as we have young children & its only a couple of hours on a plane.. AND we would want to go in peak season late july / early august - which is the busiest time at the hotel due to the portugese holidaying during this period.. so im not sure if we would be able to get the availability during this period , if for instance we purchased points from another resort.

taking into consideration the free week we got thrown in ( we just stayed a week this year & paid 3500 euros for the 2 bed apartment for the week during august ) ... and the 1000 euro spa credit, i was thinking we got a pretty good deal

taking all the above into consideration, would we still be best to consider rescinding ? or would we need the direct deal for the time we need it.. and if so does it sound like a fair to average deal that we got `/

sory for the long post , but want to get advice from you all

thanks
keith

 

[alwysonvac]

See this recent thread - http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103369

Our HGVC Club Member Guide indicates limited availability at the Hilton Vilamoura Vacation Club page. I have no idea what availability looks like at Hilton Vilamoura Vacation Club for late july / early august. Non-owners can only book 9 months in advance so I can only see up until mid May. Starting 9 months prior to your checkout date, all HGVC resort owners have an equal chance at booking at any club affiliated resort (except NYC W57).

 

[Elster]

hi all

i just returned from hilton villamoura , 2nd time we have been & this time we joined the vacation club.

We purchased 7000 points for the 12,800 euros. giving us a week in peak season in a 2 bed apartment. they gave us an additional free week to use this year or next year & 1000 euro credit for the excellent spa.

I fund this excellent site & see a lot of posts saying anyone who buys direct, should rescind and buy resale right away - in most cases. so im now wandering if we should do the same..

HOWEVER we would want to go to only this hotel for the next 3-4 years as we have young children & its only a couple of hours on a plane.. AND we would want to go in peak season late july / early august - which is the busiest time at the hotel due to the portugese holidaying during this period.. so im not sure if we would be able to get the availability during this period , if for instance we purchased points from another resort.

taking into consideration the free week we got thrown in ( we just stayed a week this year & paid 3500 euros for the 2 bed apartment for the week during august ) ... and the 1000 euro spa credit, i was thinking we got a pretty good deal

taking all the above into consideration, would we still be best to consider rescinding ? or would we need the direct deal for the time we need it.. and if so does it sound like a fair to average deal that we got `/

sory for the long post , but want to get advice from you all

thanks
keith

Hi,
I had the same issues when I came back from Villamoura - i decided that for me the 12 months window on availability wasnt needed for the extra 7500UKP I would pay for it over and above the deal I am currently purchasing for the same points value....
that said we dont have children and will never travel to Villamoura in the summer holidays or school hols ....so for me the priorties were different.
I concluded the following

1. if you want to go to villamoura and need the peak time - buy it
2. if you want to use the points as currency and can afford to gamble on availablity - buy elsewhere

I chose 2. as this works for us

your situation is different to mine ...

hope this helps

 

[Bill4728]

Hi,
I had the same issues when I came back from Villamoura - i decided that for me the 12 months window on availability wasnt needed for the extra 7500UKP I would pay for it over and above the deal I am currently purchasing for the same points value....
that said we dont have children and will never travel to Villamoura in the summer holidays or school hols ....so for me the priorties were different.
I concluded the following

1. if you want to go to villamoura and need the peak time - buy it
2. if you want to use the points as currency and can afford to gamble on availablity - buy elsewhere

I chose 2. as this works for us

your situation is different to mine ...

hope this helps

Good advice!

 

[ricoba]

Hi,
I had the same issues when I came back from Villamoura - i decided that for me the 12 months window on availability wasnt needed for the extra 7500UKP I would pay for it over and above the deal I am currently purchasing for the same points value....
that said we dont have children and will never travel to Villamoura in the summer holidays or school hols ....so for me the priorties were different.
I concluded the following

1. if you want to go to villamoura and need the peak time - buy it
2. if you want to use the points as currency and can afford to gamble on availablity - buy elsewhere

I chose 2. as this works for us

your situation is different to mine ...

hope this helps

I agree - Good Advice.

While buying resale is often the best way to get into HGVC with lower costs, there are incidences such as this where buying directly from the developer may suit your needs better.

Good Luck!

 

[sml2181]

I would keep it.

Considering the fact that you plan on going there during summer, I would keep it. I don't think there are resale weeks yet for this property and I don't think the price is that outragious for a platinum week there. I think I have seen Pinecliff resale weeks for about the same - but these may have been 3 bedroom units. (Pinecliffs is the timeshare at the Sheraton Pinecliffs - developer weeks are more expensive and resales there cannot be converted to SPG points)
Availability at Vilamoura has been there during summer, but certainly not a lot. Availability during other school breaks is pretty easy to get (at least for our Dutch school breaks), when you reserve early. Summer is much harder - for now at least, as I was told there were many UK/European owners with smaller children who wanted to stay at the property for at least the next 2-5 years.

 

[alwysonvac]

A TUG review from Oct 2008 indicates that there are only 69 timeshare units (13 one bedroom and 56 two bedroom). You'll definitely want home resort booking advantage due to the limited number of rooms available.

I also look did a google search for resales earlier and found very little. I agree with the others that you should keep what you have since there is very limited resales and limited availability.

Also, since there are very few units available at this location, make sure you reserve your summer week as soon as your booking window opens.

Enjoy your timeshare and Welcome to TUG

 

[keithinnate]

thanks all

cheers for the advice everyone.. i was starting to panic that maybe we had overpayed.. but i think taking into consideration what we need , we do need this direct deal ( as most of you sem to agree )

plus , hopefully, with the freebies we got thrown in.. it is still very good value. we had planned to go back to this hotel for our holiday for the next two years anyway, and at the 3500 a week we paid for our two bed apartment. it should only take a couple of years ( with the freebies deducted ) to recoup our outlay

thanks again everyone

 

[keithinnate]

oh, also...

i notice a few of you have mentioned the sheraton pine cliffs resort & how it compared to the hilton villamoura

just wanted to let you know, we actually stayed at the pine cliffs resort in march this year too. its a nice resort, plenty of green space & has a little 9 hole course on site.. but , having stayed at both during the same year, i didn't think it was as nice as the hilton

its older so a little more worn around the edges
rooms were not as comfy/ new ( although pretty good size )
not as good service to rooms
bars & restaurant weren't as good as hilton ( for instance, the breakfast at hilton was much better )
only two pools & neither heated ( hilton has six , with two heated )
no free shuttle to beach / marina ( at least not when we stayed anyway )
kids club no where near as good , or felt as secure ( again, not when we stayed anyway )

also , the golf course was only 9 holes & they had over booked it every day we were there, so we were alwasy waiting around between holes. The hilton doesn't have its own on site course BUT the pinhal course runs right down the side of it & the clubhouse is right next to the hotel recepion , so its actually just as close as having the on site course & its 18 holes.

having said all that, it was a nice stay we had there.. i just didn't feel it was as good as hilton. And i couldn't believe the price of the units there!

Not sure if im telling you all things you already knew , if so , sorry for the long post... but hope it helps, for any of you considering a rip over to the algarve

keith.

 

[alwysonvac]

One more thing....

Thanks for the resort comparison

A couple of things you need to know about timesharing....

1) Timesharing is not an investment
See these old threads
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37993
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93972
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99527

2) Timeshare trading (aka exchanging) is not like booking a hotel room (exchange companies don't have access to all available rooms)
See these old threads
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=717473&postcount=9
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=496304&postcount=37
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=665775&postcount=17