Timeshare Accommodation Tax - Sheraton Kauai

[travelhacker]

We stayed at the Sheraton Kauai and had a great time. We stayed in a dedicated 2 bedroom unit.

I noticed on checkout that the TAT tax was $42.82 for 2024 and $44.95 for 2025. This was a bit surprising to me since I paid $26.10 per night at the Marriott Waiohai. My understanding of the TAT tax is that it's 7% of maintenance fees. At $44.95 x 7 that's $314.65 per week. The 7% would seem to line up with the Waiohai tax that I paid that would put the maintenance fees at around $2610 for 2024 (which I think is what it is).

Am I to assume that the maintenance fees are $4495 per week in a two bedroom at the Sheraton Kauai?

I know that there aren't any deeded weeks and that it's considered part of the "Sheraton Flex" inventory (has it actually been deeded to the Sheraton Flex program)?

Perhaps because I was staying over week 52 that it was higher and they used a different valuation to calculate the tax?

It wouldn't keep me from staying there again as we absolutely loved it. The room was a little tight but there were a lot of things that we liked abut the resort over Waiohai.

I was just curious since the tax was so much higher than Waiohai.

 

[dioxide45]

I think TSO (timeshare occupancy tax) is a little more complicated than a straight 7% of the fees. It is actually based on (perhaps) 13.5% of 50% of the fees. 7% gets you close, but not exact. Was the tax amount different for different nights? Fri, Sat, Thu, Sun vs. Mon through Thu?

 

[travelhacker]

I think TSO (timeshare occupancy tax) is a little more complicated than a straight 7% of the fees. It is actually based on (perhaps) 13.5% of 50% of the fees. 7% gets you close, but not exact. Was the tax amount different for different nights? Fri, Sat, Thu, Sun vs. Mon through Thu?

No the amount was the same depending on the day of the week. The 2024 amount was lower than the 2025 amount (I assume since maintenance fees were higher).

For the 2024 nights I paid $42.82 per night and $44.95 per night in 2025.

 

[jabberwocky]

A 2BR would be 148,100 Flex HomeOptions for the week which is less than $3k in MF. The trouble with using Flex is that combines all of the MF across the system.

It seems high to be over $4k given where the Westin Maui resorts and Princeville are. You’d think the Sheraton would be a bit cheaper.

 

[echino]

Even though weeks may not have been sold to the public at this resort, the trust still owns underlying weeks with their maintenance fees. The tax is 13.25% of the half of maintenance fees, making it $4,749 for 2025.

 

[travelhacker]

Even though weeks may not have been sold to the public at this resort, the trust still owns underlying weeks with their maintenance fees. The tax is 13.25% of the half of maintenance fees, making it $4,749 for 2025.

$4,749 in maintenance fees for a week seems absolutely wild.

I don't know what the Sheraton Flex program would have to gain by overinflating the maintenance fees so much, but something doesn't add up to me. I wouldn't be shocked at $3000 or $3500, but that would make it the most expensive 2 bedroom week in the MVW umbrella (including the Hyatt Ka'anaapali), and it really isn't close.

 

[echino]

I don't know what the Sheraton Flex program would have to gain by overinflating the maintenance fees so much

Management fee.

 

[dioxide45]

Perhaps the county is forcing them to use a taxation rate that is closer to what the taxes would be if it were a hotel room? I don't think the property is broken up into 52 unit weeks like a traditional timeshare.

 

[daviator]

Perhaps the county is forcing them to use a taxation rate that is closer to what the taxes would be if it were a hotel room? I don't think the property is broken up into 52 unit weeks like a traditional timeshare.

Is the property even legally mapped as a timeshare, or is it just a hotel that’s been reurposed as a timeshare?

If they didn’t remap the property and record it as a timeshare, with individual deeded weeks, then it’s a little unclear to me how they’d classify it for property tax purposes and how they’d compute the TAT. They might indeed be charging hotel taxes since legally that’s what the property might still be.

 

[travelhacker]

Is the property even legally mapped as a timeshare, or is it just a hotel that’s been reurposed as a timeshare?

if they didn’t remap the property and record it as a timeshare, with individual deeded weeks, then it’s a little unclear to me how they’d classify it for property tax purposes and how they’d compute the TAT. They might indeed be charging hotel taxes since legally that’s what the property might still be.

I suspect this may be the case.

 

[vacationtime1]

$4,749 in maintenance fees for a week seems absolutely wild.

I don't know what the Sheraton Flex program would have to gain by overinflating the maintenance fees so much, but something doesn't add up to me. I wouldn't be shocked at $3000 or $3500, but that would make it the most expensive 2 bedroom week in the MVW umbrella (including the Hyatt Ka'anaapali), and it really isn't close.

MF's for a two bedroom are >$4000 at Hyatt Ka'anapali and about $4700 for a "deluxe" unit at WKORV. Of course, those units are substantially larger than the two bedroom units at Sheraton Kauai, are directly on the beach, and have water views.

But what really concerns me is that the MF's on developments owned by the Westin Flex Trust appear to be totally opaque. Has anyone even seen published financials for this property?

 

[dioxide45]

Here is one of the conveyances of inventory at Sheraton Kauai to Sheraton Flex. It looks like they are conveying an entire unit at a time, but still in 1/52nd intervals. So perhaps it has been setup under a timeshare scheme.

 

[daviator]

Here is one of the conveyances of inventory at Sheraton Kauai to Sheraton Flex. It looks like they are conveying an entire unit at a time, but still in 1/52nd intervals. So perhaps it has been setup under a timeshare scheme.

Nice find. Yes, it looks to me like the property HAS been mapped as fractional (timeshare) units and they are being conveyed to the trust that way.

But because – correct me if I’m wrong – there are no direct owners of deeded weeks at that property other than the developer and the Flex trust (and possibly the Abound trust), there is zero transparency into the financials at the property, what the maintenance fees are or how they are allocated. That information need only be disseminated to the weeks owners, all of which are entities controlled by MVW. This, I presume, is what MVW hopes is the future of timeshares… one in which they control everything, and the so-called “owners” have no transparency, input, or control of the properties or their financials.

 

[dioxide45]

It is possible the timeshare HOA is paying significant costs assoicated with the hotel since they have shared access? Who knows.

I did notice something else interesting. Vistana is still conveying Vistana Beach Club weeks to Sheraton Flex but they've stopped conveying other resorts as we have seen those going to the Abound trust.

 

[sponger76]

I did notice something else interesting. Vistana is still conveying Vistana Beach Club weeks to Sheraton Flex but they've stopped conveying other resorts as we have seen those going to the Abound trust.

That is interesting. Is there any legal issue that preludes that specific property from being part of the Abound trust?

 

[dioxide45]

That is interesting. Is there any legal issue that preludes that specific property from being part of the Abound trust?

I don't think there is a legal issue, perhaps just a brand issue since Vistana Beach Club doesn't carry a Marriott, Westin or Sheraton brand.

 

[dioxide45]

I learned that the TSO for our upcoming studio at Sheraton Kauai is $20.57 per night.

 

[Ken555]

I learned that the TSO for our upcoming studio at Sheraton Kauai is $20.57 per night.

If you have the opportunity, inquire re the tax on the larger units, as well. And, be sure to confirm the tax as listed on your folio.

 

[daviator]

I don't think there is a legal issue, perhaps just a brand issue since Vistana Beach Club doesn't carry a Marriott, Westin or Sheraton brand.

I have never stayed at Vistana Beach Club. I always wondered why it was not a Sheraton, and assumed it was because it did not meet the brand standards (which, for Sheraton, are pretty low...) Is that the reason? It always seemed odd to me that it was (almost) the only unbranded property in the Vistana portfolio (the other one being Harborside, which is more complicated I think.)

 

[dioxide45]

I have never stayed at Vistana Beach Club. I always wondered why it was not a Sheraton, and assumed it was because it did not meet the brand standards (which, for Sheraton, are pretty low...) Is that the reason? It always seemed odd to me that it was (almost) the only unbranded property in the Vistana portfolio (the other one being Harborside, which is more complicated I think.)

I'm not really sure of the reason either. I don't know what kind of changes the property would have to make in order to fulfill any such Sheraton brand standards. The rooms seems fine. Perhaps there is an issue with accessibility given there is no ADA route to the beach. Other than that, I can't think of any reason why it couldn't be a Sheraton.

 

[daviator]

I'm not really sure of the reason either. I don't know what kind of changes the property would have to make in order to fulfill any such Sheraton brand standards. The rooms seems fine. Perhaps there is an issue with accessibility given there is no ADA route to the beach. Other than that, I can't think of any reason why it couldn't be a Sheraton.

There may also be some complicated reason related to the property's history, I think there are still a few original owners floating around out there who own weeks from pre-Starwood. But I'm not sure how that would prevent a rebranding. But there's gotta be a reason.

I don't know what the Sheraton brand standards are, but there are lots of dodgy Sheratons in the U.S. so they can't be too high (ironically, most Sheratons outside the U.S. are quite nice.) Does VBC have elevators? Maybe that's a requirement.

 

[dioxide45]

There may also be some complicated reason related to the property's history, I think there are still a few original owners floating around out there who own weeks from pre-Starwood. But I'm not sure how that would prevent a rebranding. But there's gotta be a reason.

I don't know what the Sheraton brand standards are, but there are lots of dodgy Sheratons in the U.S. so they can't be too high (ironically, most Sheratons outside the U.S. are quite nice.) Does VBC have elevators? Maybe that's a requirement.

Yes, there are elevators. I would think that Sheraton Vistana Resort is in a similar situation as Vistana Beach Club as they both predate Starwood.

 

[daviator]

Yes, there are elevators. I would think that Sheraton Vistana Resort is in a similar situation as Vistana Beach Club as they both predate Starwood.

Hmm. My last guess (and it’s just a guess) is that there is a cost, some kind of franchise fee, associated with using the Sheraton brand, and that sometime in the early history of the property after Starwood acquired it, owners voted against the branding because they didn’t want to pay the fee. I’m kind of skeptical of this since, at that time, SVO was wholly-owned by Starwood Hotels, who owned the Sheraton brand, and could have slapped it on the property without a cost if they’d chosen to. So I’m going to say this is probably not the reason.

Really, that same logic wipes out the “brand standards” theory, because at the beginning of SVO, Starwood could have slapped the Sheraton name on the property if they’d wanted to, they owned the brand and the standards and could have waived any discrepancy.

There are a lot of Sheratons in that area, perhaps it came down to not diluting the brand too much and angering franchised Sheraton hotel owners nearby. I’m grasping at straws, I have no real idea what the reason is. It’s just always seemed odd.

 

[dioxide45]

Interestingly, you can reserve the property on Marriott.com and even get Bonvoy points and elite night credits for a stay. We stayed on an RCI booking and even got ENCs. This is in contrast to Harborside where you don't get any of that.

 

[daviator]

Interestingly, you can reserve the property on Marriott.com and even get Bonvoy points and elite night credits for a stay. We stayed on an RCI booking and even got ENCs. This is in contrast to Harborside where you don't get any of that.

Interesting. I just looked it up on Marriott site. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a completely unbranded property there before, but that’s what VBC is, no brand at all.