Suites at Hershey - Offered to me for Free

[stonebroke]

I had a meeting this morning with a business associate. I asked about his timeshares and he said he was getting rid of them. He said he would give them away for free whoever got them would have to pay the transfer costs. The only one I might be interested in is the Suites at Hershey.

It is a mid March EOY (not necessarily my favorite time in PA).

He said the MF were 425 a year so I am guess that is an Every Year cost (but I don't know).

I live near Hershey so it really wouldn't be a destination for me but was wondering how they might trade (I currently trade with RCI).

Any other thoughts as to whether this might or might not be a good deal??? Also how much would the transfer cost?

Thanks!

 

[bogey21]

There are a ton of timeshare weeks you can get for next to nothing. I wouldn't be picking one up with the primary emphasis on trading it. With every trade you will have the annual RCI Membership Fee and the $164 Exchange Fee. I would focus on a Week I would use often. It also should have a reasonably low, $400 or less MF (including taxes). In a deal between friends you should be able to get the transfer work done for less than $200. I'd even check with the resort. I own one who will prepare and record the deed for $100.

George

 

[AwayWeGo]

Hershey Is Just A Hop & Skip & Jump From Lancaster. But March Is Still Chilly.

If you like Hershey PA & if you like the resort & if the timeshare is for a week when you'd want to go there anyway, then it looks like a good deal.

If not, then it might be more practical to look past the el freebo aspects of the offer & focus instead on the everlasting annual fee obligation that comes with timeshare ownership & likewise re-examine the desirability of Hershey PA as a mid-March vacation paradise.

Much as we like vacationing any time in Orlando FL, we recently passed on the chance to snag deeds for 3 outstanding Orlando FL 3BR lock-off timeshare weeks for $1 -- not $1 each, $1 for all 3. That is, 2 were offered el freebo to whoever wanted'm & 1 other was offered for $1 to anybody who'd take it.

On all 3, closing costs & resort transfer fees, etc., were the recipient's responsibility. So taking all 3 would have meant about $1,050 for deed preparation & recording, etc., plus $225 in resort transfer fees, plus about $2,400 in annual fees (at the resort's current budgetary level), plus $1 cash for the 3rd (non-free) timeshare. Not bad for 3 -- three -- high-quality 3BR lock-off timeshares in a desirable Orlando FL location.

The deal killer for us is that all 3 floating timeshare weeks are so-called "Emerald Season" -- i.e., can be reserved for any of the quiet-time, off-season weeks. (By contrast, "Diamond Season" owners get to pick from any week they want, quiet time or prime time mox nix.)

So after mulling it over briefly, we passed.

Looking back from the perspective of about a month, I'm not sure how practical it would have been to go for the 2 free & 1 $1 timeshare weeks even if they had been "Diamond Season." I mean, that's lots of timeshare week maintenance fees to be responsible for paying eternally year after year without let-up. And even though floating "Diamond Season" means the ability to reserve any available week, it's still lots of timeshare weeks to try to rent out with no guarantee of always getting renters every year. I like a nice "surprise" vacation now & then, but owning 3 more "free" Orlando timeshares just might mean going there more often than even I would enjoy.

By me, the bottom line on acquiring a timeshare el freebo boils down to just about the same considerations as buying a timeshare el cheapo. Do I like the location? Is it a nice timeshare where I'd actually like to show up & check in? Are the fees reasonable? Is it either a "floating" week or a desirable fixed week?

As for paying big bux for a timeshare -- any timeshare in any location -- for us that's a complete non-starter.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[lprstn]

You may want to verify when Hershey Park opens up..

If you fall on Spring Break week, and Hershey park is open this is a decent week.

 

[applegirl]

I wouldn't bother with this free week if it were me. Sounds like it might give you more headaches than trades.

 

[wackymother]

I would check with the Bluegreen board people. Hershey is super-desirable during the summer; my impression is that even in the spring there is demand. The Bluegreen owners' forum can tell you if it's worth taking--maybe it can be turned into points, or maybe the week is useful. Would you have day use of the facilities?

 

[stonebroke]

thanks but I think I will pass

My initial reaction was no but thought maybe I was missing something...nothing anyone said convinced me I was wrong.
Yeah to all of you and Thanks for all the Input.