Timeshares with unusual amenities

[CalGalTraveler]

@Larry M LOL you win the prize for most unique! Who would have thought?

 

[eschjw]

Stayed a week at Oyster Bay on a DAE exchange a couple of years ago and the boats were a great value at a $100 for the week. My grandsons love to fish and they keep asking me if we are ever going back. I posted a review on TUG covering the pluses and some minuses of this resort. There are also some pictures that I uploaded showing our family, the boats and assigned unit.

The Cottages at Coral Reef Shipyard Plantation in Hilton Head provide 2 free bike rentals, 1 hour of tennis and 4 free golf green fees per day for owners or their guests. While I have never been there, a friend of mine rented a week there from my neighbor last year and he really liked it. My friend and neighbor just completed an ownership transfer of this Platinum EOY week earlier this month. They used LT Transfers and it went real smooth.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Harborside at Atlantis, Bahamas (Vistana) offers all guests free wristbands to use the pools and waterslides at Atlantis. These wristbands are not cheap if you purchased them outright.

 

[Bxian]

Charter Club of Marco Island (I own there) has a great selection of recreational equipment that is completely free to use when you stay there, including several Hobie Cat sailboats, kayaks, paddleboards and bikes. In fact, they will even give you a free 1 hour lesson on a Hobie Cat!

Kurt

I used to sail a small boat in Long Island Sound as a teenager, but I am rusty. We own 3 weeks at the Charter Club, and regularly get becalmed out in the Gulf-the recreation staff is always incredibly nice about our rusty skills and ready to lend a hand if we need to brush up. The Charter Club also has a number of hokey traditions that we love: root beer floats twice a week (small fee) , ice cream sundaes (small fee) , the ever-popular free Margaritas on Thursday, a free breakfast on Mondays with giveaways and no sales pressure, free pickleball lessons, free bikes, an HGVC meeting (with no sales pressure) with free coffee/donuts and some good HGVC tips, and an owner's meeting with coffee and donuts. Mizner Place in Fort Lauderdale has a weekly barbecue (try finding a seat, though), and both Mizner Place and Vacation Village at Weston have free water aerobics classes.

 

[TimMikel]

Lake Forest Resort in Eagle River, WI has a number of typical amenities, but probably one of the most unique collection of amenities overall:

Ice skates and ice skating rink (seasonal), snowshoes and cross country skis for owners, a fish cleaning house with fishing equipment lockers, boats and canoes, boat docks, bikes, golf clubs for use at golf course across the road, tennis, pickleball, . . .

 

[twise625]

Lake Forest Resort in Eagle River, WI has a number of typical amenities, but probably one of the most unique collection of amenities overall:

Ice skates and ice skating rink (seasonal), snowshoes and cross country skis for owners, a fish cleaning house with fishing equipment lockers, boats and canoes, boat docks, bikes, golf clubs for use at golf course across the road, tennis, pickleball, . . .

Going on my list! Thanks!

 

[rapmarks]

When I owned at Lakewood Resort in Osage beach, free ten hours a week of boat time for owners or their guests or free dock for the week if you brought your own toys

 

[Synergy]

Thank you so much for this thread! I think I stumbled upon the same post and added Oyster Bay/Pointe to our shortlist. These are great suggestions!!

 

[catvag]

I recently ran across a post in an older thread about Oyster Pointe and Oyster Bay in Sebastian Florida which apparently provides access to a boat for the week for around $100. (Sorry, don't know how to quote yet)

I was immediately intrigued and started planning a trip there. But it also got me wondering what other hidden gems are out there that offer unique or unusual amenities? Tracy

We live in Sebastian and love the features & amenities and people (Pam & Cindy) at Oyster Bay. They are also very good to visiting military members. When we travel (on our 3rd week in HA now) we love when they include the use of barbecue grills (Maui Schooner, Kauai Beach Club, Kona Coast).

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Fiesta Americana Cabo has an urgent care medical facility on site. I presume if you've had one to many margaritas...

 

[Marathoner]

The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird is a part hotel and part timeshare at a ski resort. The timeshare is connected to the hotel and shares the amenities. One feature is the Cliff Spa. To use the hotel as the hotel guest costs $30/day. As the timeshare owner, you get free usage of the spa during your week. I knew about this amenity but never tried it before last year. Last year, I was blown away by how luxurious the spa was. Loved getting the green tea and relaxing in the spa and sauna. Moreover, the yoga classes are included and it was a great way to relax the muscles after a hard day of skiing.

 

[AnnaS]

I recently ran across a post in an older thread about Oyster Pointe and Oyster Bay in Sebastian Florida which apparently provides access to a boat for the week for around $100. (Sorry, don't know how to quote yet)

I was immediately intrigued and started planning a trip there. But it also got me wondering what other hidden gems are out there that offer unique or unusual amenities? Tracy

You had me look this up. Thank you. Looks interesting. Come back and let us know if you stay here.

The others sound great too.

Great thread.

 

[BreakingAway]

You had me look this up. Thank you. Looks interesting. Come back and let us know if you stay here.

The others sound great too.

Great thread.

For those who play tennis, Marriott Monarch at Sea Pines provides an amenity that is very attractive. Monarch provides 2 hours per day of free tennis court time on clay courts at Sea Pines Racquet Club. Normal rates are $35 per hour for reserved courts or $20 per hour walk on between 12pm and 4pm.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Roark in Branson allows exchangers and owners to use a pontoon boat they have on property. You have to reserve a time, I think two hours. We loved it. Hope they still do that. It was a great amenity. We loved staying there, but the units were not as nice as most of the others in Branson.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird is a part hotel and part timeshare at a ski resort. The timeshare is connected to the hotel and shares the amenities. One feature is the Cliff Spa. To use the hotel as the hotel guest costs $30/day. As the timeshare owner, you get free usage of the spa during your week. I knew about this amenity but never tried it before last year. Last year, I was blown away by how luxurious the spa was. Loved getting the green tea and relaxing in the spa and sauna. Moreover, the yoga classes are included and it was a great way to relax the muscles after a hard day of skiing.

That sounds wonderful after a long day of skiing. Is this available to TS exchangers for free? If not do they have another hot tub on premise to use for free?

 

[CalGalTraveler]

[QUOTE="But the absolutely most unique offering I ever saw was a week at Cypress Cove Resort in Kissimmee, FL. I missed it. I scoured DAE regularly for months looking for a repeat and never saw one.
https://www.cypresscoveresort.com/[/QUOTE]

Hmmm...do people attend the owners update presentation in their birthday suit? LoL

 

[Marathoner]

That sounds wonderful after a long day of skiing. Is this available to TS exchangers for free? If not do they have another hot tub on premise to use for free?

Yes, if you exchange into the Cliff Lodge through II or RCI, you get the free access to the spa. There are not many deposits, but you can find one occasionally during the ski season.

The spa is only open to those 16 yr old or older. There is a large hot tub and pool at the spa which is located on the roof.

For families with kids and the hotel guests who don't want to pay the daily spa fee, there are three hot tubs and large pool on the 3rd floor outdoors.

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Thanks @Marathoner. We have a very old OGS so we have been offered Cliff Club several times in January and early Feb but cannot go this year due to other skiing plans. Glad to know there are several hot tubs and the spa option available to exchangers.

This fee spa sounds perfect because it will be less crowded. We stayed at the Hyatt at the base of the canyon this year and there was only one hot tub for the entire hotel and it was too crowded with people parked there for several hours after skiing and little kids jumping in and out. So we never got to use it.

 

[Beachclubmum]

Disney's Boardwalk Villas has an exercise room with a really nice sauna inside it. Hardly anyone uses the exercise equipment and rarely does anyone use the sauna...it's dead enough to be worthy of cypresscoveresort if anyone dares....

 

[rapmarks]

Roark in Branson allows exchangers and owners to use a pontoon boat they have on property. You have to reserve a time, I think two hours. We loved it. Hope they still do that. It was a great amenity. We loved staying there, but the units were not as nice as most of the others in Branson.

I thought that creek had dried up!

 

[qlaval]

The Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino offer a free taxis boats service to a secluded private island where flamingos walks freely.

 

[michigander]

San Francisco Suites on Nob Hill is a unique timeshare, actually self described as a “City Share.” It has only fifteen units stacked on four levels reached by a tiny elevator that itself is a work of Old Master art. On the rooftop is an enclosed gazebo (sometimes it gets windy or foggy up there!) with a table and chairs that overlook the beautiful City by the Bay. Each unit is filled with Edwardian antique furniture (it began as a place for a couple guys who were fanatic collectors of Edwardians to put all their stuff!) and old maps and other Old World wall hangings. A calligrapher hand prints your last name and places it (e.g. “Smith Suite”) in the brass slot by your unit door. There’s an impressive crystal chandelier in each corner unit near the bay window that overlooks the busy intersection below. I awake each morning about 6:15 to the sound of the underground cables outside warming up, and in about ten minutes or so I hear the “Ching-Ching, Ching-Ching” of the cable cars going up and down steep Powell Avenue —pure white noise to me! A copy of the day’s San Francisco Chronicle newspaper is slipped under my door. As one who quit print newspaper subscriptions for digital news many years ago, sitting on the wrap around couch at the bay window with a cup of tea and flipping the pages of the newspaper is wonderfully nostalgic, and a special pure pleasure is reading a full two pages of comic strips again. A maid comes in once a day to do my dishes (the kitchen has no dishwashing machine, but btw, bears a special faucet with on demand hot water for my tea at anytime), and she quickly does other light tidying. As someone who hates time spent in housekeeping, this is pure decadence. She also puts more chocolates (oh no!) in the refrigerator as well as replaces other snacks and drinks I may have consumed. At 4:30 pm each day the “house gentleman” places some nice California wines, cheeses, crackers, and jalepeno jelly—all set in crystal dishes and glasses—in the parlor on the first level and the small circle of guests have a lovely time chatting with each other. They are typically people on very interesting life paths from across the US and Western Europe. Late in the evening a sherry nightcap is available in the other sitting room and the talk is softer. This small but so classy place is not a resort and nobody would EVER approach you about buying anything or going to a “presentation.” There are over a hundred great things to do in San Francisco and also within a hour’s drive there is the other-worldly John Muir Redwood Forest or in the opposite direction the Napa and Sonoma Wine Country, and great beaches are all around, but as person with a hectic, highly demanding job, just spending a day or two of rest being pampered and watching the world below go by from that bay window at the San Francisco Suites is all very, very fine with me.

Thanks so much for this detailed description!

 

[JohnPaul]

The Embarcadero in Newport, OR has a special place for you to cook your freshly caught crab. I believe you can also borrow crab pots to catch your dinner.

 

[dayooper]

The Embarcadero in Newport, OR has a special place for you to cook your freshly caught crab. I believe you can also borrow crab pots to catch your dinner.

This is awesome! I would do that in a heartbeat!

 

[amycurl]

So, the Ren in Aruba was our very first trade anywhere, and I will say, it reinforced the idea that timesharing was for us. Never had we experienced such luxury (at that time) LOL! A private island with hammocks!!

We didn't know it was supposed to be a hard "get."