Today’s Confusing HRC and Welk Announcement [merged]

[Danette]

Hello all! I am a "Welker" as you say and was looking forward to the expansion of options for both groups in this merger. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be the case yet and I hope it does not take years to get figured out (a futile hope, to be sure). Being rebranded as Hyatt Vacation Club does nothing for me personally, but others have mentioned things that benefit them, so that is good. I'm not interested in exchanging points into the World of Hyatt to get to Hyatt hotels, not because I don't like them but I'm Platinum in Marriott International so they are my go-to. I have enough Welk points that I do not pay for the Experiences Collection already.

A note about the Santa Fe property - it is part of the Experiences Collection and I have not been able to get into it at all. The last couple of times I have called to find out about availability I was told that Welk has not yet been given any inventory by El Corazon de Santa Fe for this year. It was expected in February and still nothing to date. This is the only property I have tried to access through the Experiences Collection.

The letter sent to Welk owners is a bit different than that of the OP. I will put into a separate post if anyone is interested

 

[Danette]

From Hyatt Vacation Club 4/1/22 (please forgive the formatting, the email contained graphics that did not want to copy/paste):

Welcome to Hyatt Vacation Club

With this launch, you’ll be able to enjoy expanded vacation opportunities in addition to the Platinum Program you already know and love. I truly believe that a good vacation is exactly the therapy humans need to live and thrive in our modern world. Hyatt Vacation Club will champion and celebrate the power of vacations, especially for our Owners who’ve made the bold commitment to take vacations for the rest of their lives – today is one milestone in a long future together as Vacation Champions.

Stephanie Butera Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Vacation Travel Center, formerly known as Experiences by Welk, will now be available to all Owners at no additional cost. Seize your vacation and enhance your getaways with discounts on experiences, rental cars, cruises, and more.

Remember, Platinum Owners enjoy Interval Gold® membership through our trusted exchange partner Interval International®. With Interval Gold, you can enjoy priority access and a reduced exchange fee when traveling to Hyatt Residence Club resorts.

While we retire the Welk Resorts brand, we are excited to announce that Welk Resorts San Diego will be renamed “The Welk” to pay homage to the legacy of the Welk family and the spirit of family-friendly, upscale accommodations around which this resort and the brand were built.

 

[ScoopKona]

A note about the Santa Fe property - it is part of the Experiences Collection and I have not been able to get into it at all. The last couple of times I have called to find out about availability I was told that Welk has not yet been given any inventory by El Corazon de Santa Fe for this year. It was expected in February and still nothing to date. This is the only property I have tried to access through the Experiences Collection.

Thanks for the info about Santa Fe. I have a feeling there are a great many of us who would like that to be our first internal exchange with the new system.

 

[Mongoose]

A note about the Santa Fe property - it is part of the Experiences Collection and I have not been able to get into it at all. The last couple of times I have called to find out about availability I was told that Welk has not yet been given any inventory by El Corazon de Santa Fe for this year. It was expected in February and still nothing to date. This is the only property I have tried to access through the Experiences Collection.

I've wondered what is happening with the Experiences Collection. I always liked how Welk added that portfolio. A nice add in if you can get the rooms.

 

[Kal]

With all the happy talk from Hyatt, I don't understand why they didn't lay out a spread featuring the 8 Welk resorts? This would have been a perfect opportunity to identify the resorts and provide a link with location, features and images. As of now, there's nothing to entice HRC members to take a look and get their interests engaged. It's as if these are second cousins or Uncle Ernie's collection in the attic.

 

[RunCat]

Bingo!

Hyatt should say "welcome aboard" to Welk owners and start assigning point values. . . .

Even the Branson owners . . . .

As I tried to describe earlier, these descriptions do not accurately illustrate the Welk Program. 1) There are no Branson owners. All "weeks" in Branson are owned via Platinum Priority points. This is also true for Northstar, Cabo, Breckenridge, and Mountain Villas. 2) Due to the nature of the points program, every unit was assigned a points value which determined the total inventory that could be sold. Since Welk ownership is strictly points, it would not be possible to change the value internally. Albeit, an overlay point value for an internal Hyatt exchange would be possible. But I suspect that was the motivation for using II.

 

[RunCat]

I've wondered what is happening with the Experiences Collection. I always liked how Welk added that portfolio. A nice add in if you can get the rooms.

My understanding is that the Experience Collection was part of the Welk Trust and thus remain part of the program. And I can still currently book them from within the Welk reservation system.

 

[ScoopKona]

As I tried to describe earlier, these descriptions do not accurately illustrate the Welk Program. 1) There are no Branson owners. All "weeks" in Branson are owned via Platinum Priority points. This is also true for Northstar, Cabo, Breckenridge, and Mountain Villas. 2) Due to the nature of the points program, every unit was assigned a points value which determined the total inventory that could be sold. Since Welk ownership is strictly points, it would not be possible to change the value internally. Albeit, an overlay point value for an internal Hyatt exchange would be possible. But I suspect that was the motivation for using II.

I'm suggesting wholesale change -- every week at every unit at Welk is assigned a Hyatt point value and name. Every Welk owner is assigned a Hyatt point value based on whatever it is they own.

If, as I suspect, there are more Welk points distributed among the owners than there are total points backed up by units, that would be bad for owners. But not impossible. Let's say Welk sold 120% points to owners -- much like how airlines overbook. Owners would get 80% what they should in Hyatt points until such time that the system is in balance -- ROFRs, quitclaims, repossession, etc.

I use Hyatt's internal exchange site. And I use Interval all the time. (I'm Mr. "Buy Hyatt to trade in Interval.")

But I'll be the first to admit Hyatt's internal exchange system is much, much, much better than Interval's. What I like about Interval is that I can leverage my single week for a full month of travel. This isn't hypothetical. I do this most years.

Even if the average "one-week worth of points" Welk owner ends up at Bronze once the merger is complete, that's still 1300 Hyatt points and potentially three weeks per year. (Again, this is where I started my Hyatt journey. 1300 points goes far -- far enough, at least.)

If I were a Welk owner, and offered the choice of keeping what I have and only trading in Welk; or getting an equivalent number of Hyatt points to jump ship, I'd sign that paper in a heartbeat.

 

[alameda94501]

I'm suggesting wholesale change -- every week at every unit at Welk is assigned a Hyatt point value and name. Every Welk owner is assigned a Hyatt point value based on whatever it is they own.

If, as I suspect, there are more Welk points distributed among the owners than there are total points backed up by units, that would be bad for owners. But not impossible. Let's say Welk sold 120% points to owners -- much like how airlines overbook. Owners would get 80% what they should in Hyatt points until such time that the system is in balance -- ROFRs, quitclaims, repossession, etc.

I use Hyatt's internal exchange site. And I use Interval all the time. (I'm Mr. "Buy Hyatt to trade in Interval.")

But I'll be the first to admit Hyatt's internal exchange system is much, much, much better than Interval's. What I like about Interval is that I can leverage my single week for a full month of travel. This isn't hypothetical. I do this most years.

Even if the average "one-week worth of points" Welk owner ends up at Bronze once the merger is complete, that's still 1300 Hyatt points and potentially three weeks per year. (Again, this is where I started my Hyatt journey. 1300 points goes far -- far enough, at least.)

If I were a Welk owner, and offered the choice of keeping what I have and only trading in Welk; or getting an equivalent number of Hyatt points to jump ship, I'd sign that paper in a heartbeat.

Yes, I think Interval is challenging for our family to use. Partially it's because we're impulsive travelers with school schedules (not good for timeshares, I know, but it's worked great for six years with HRC) but partly its because bookings are done by the weeks rather than days (except for ShortStay but that hasn't seemed intuitive to use).

In today's web-based world, I don't think it would be a stretch for HRC and HVC to work together for a more proprietary "internal external exchange" instead of Interval, that at 2mo (LCUP time) releases weeks into a new portal that we can both use to reserve/exchange. As they figure out point values through this they can start walking it backwards from 2mo to 4mo. We'd still have the 6mo-4mo for our respective clubs to use, and then from 4mo-0mo "we're all Hyatt".

 

[ScoopKona]

because bookings are done by the weeks rather than days

[snip]

As they figure out point values through this they can start walking it backwards from 2mo to 4mo. We'd still have the 6mo-4mo for our respective clubs to use, and then from 4mo-0mo "we're all Hyatt".

The Hyatt internal exchange basically fixes the weeks/days thing. It isn't perfect. But it's loads better than Interval. This is usually what we do with errant points which are about to head to LCUP. I'd rather grab a couple weekdays in a studio in Sedona than see them go to LCUP.

I doubt Hyatt is going to do what I want. But I'd like to start Welk owners with as close to parity as possible. That way we're all trading each other's properties. That's good for everyone. It doubles everyone's ski and Hawaii opportunities. Same with Sedona. It gives owners in the US west considerably more drive-to options -- in both systems.

It's not all roses, though -- It will put more pressure on Key West. But the Keys are an area in decline. (It kills me to type that, Key West is my home town.)

 

[MP_Michael]

I agree. I don’t think it changes anything for Hyatt owners other than providing a discounted exchange fee to trade via II into Welk resorts. I also think it is a first step, so they are least providing some forward movement. It wouldn’t surprise me if within a couple years they provide Welk owners with “HRC point equivalents“ and incorporate “enrolled” Welk units into the HRC points exchange system. Time will tell. In the meantime, we will just keep using our Hyatt ownership the way we have been.

Best regards.

Mike

I agree as well. Unfortunately, as regular participants in the 'Updates' (a.k.a. sales pitches....) at our Hyatt properties we've had our expectations raised with respect to integration and seamless access to the Welk properties. We should have learned since we went through the same drill when Marriot bought HRC. In the meantime, we went through our first attempt to book a Welk (or I should say, Hyatt Vacation Club.... that's not too confusing....) week today and discovered it's difficult to locate the properties on the Interval site (they contain neither the Welk or Hyatt name), the 'reduced fee' is about $50, and the preferred access to HRC members is something you just have to trust them on. It doesn't change anything for us as HRC owners, although I do hope it's just an initial step in a process that'll give us better integration in the future.

 

[RunCat]

I'm suggesting wholesale change -- every week at every unit at Welk is assigned a Hyatt point value and name. Every Welk owner is assigned a Hyatt point value based on whatever it is they own.

If, as I suspect, there are more Welk points distributed among the owners than there are total points backed up by units, that would be bad for owners.

Interesting idea. Albeit, not legally possible to oversell due to CA real estate/timeshare rules. Every point is backed by real estate. This is not a RTU system but proportional ownership in a real estate trust. Thus within the HRCPP the point value (proportionality) cannot be changed. However I could see a conversion factor going from Welk to HRC; which might work.

 

[alexinorlando]

I agree as well. Unfortunately, as regular participants in the 'Updates' (a.k.a. sales pitches....) at our Hyatt properties we've had our expectations raised with respect to integration and seamless access to the Welk properties. We should have learned since we went through the same drill when Marriot bought HRC. In the meantime, we went through our first attempt to book a Welk (or I should say, Hyatt Vacation Club.... that's not too confusing....) week today and discovered it's difficult to locate the properties on the Interval site (they contain neither the Welk or Hyatt name), the 'reduced fee' is about $50, and the preferred access to HRC members is something you just have to trust them on. It doesn't change anything for us as HRC owners, although I do hope it's just an initial step in a process that'll give us better integration in the future.

Exchange fee reduced by $50? Or just $50 total for the exchange?

 

[Mongoose]

I agree as well. Unfortunately, as regular participants in the 'Updates' (a.k.a. sales pitches....) at our Hyatt properties we've had our expectations raised with respect to integration and seamless access to the Welk properties. We should have learned since we went through the same drill when Marriot bought HRC. In the meantime, we went through our first attempt to book a Welk (or I should say, Hyatt Vacation Club.... that's not too confusing....) week today and discovered it's difficult to locate the properties on the Interval site (they contain neither the Welk or Hyatt name), the 'reduced fee' is about $50, and the preferred access to HRC members is something you just have to trust them on. It doesn't change anything for us as HRC owners, although I do hope it's just an initial step in a process that'll give us better integration in the future.

You have to use advanced search in the resort directory, pull up the resort by their name and the click exchange. I’m not sure why you can’t search from the main page.

 

[Kal]

If you try to book one of the "Welk points resorts" within 60 days, do any of those properties show up?

 

[RunCat]

If you try to book one of the "Welk points resorts" within 60 days, do any of those properties show up?

FWIW, I searched using my Vistana ownership and found Escondido (San Diego) resorts available in late summer/fall (Aug+). Looked for Breckenridge and Northstar and found nothing.

 

[RunCat]

Could the lack of inventory have to do with the Welk transition from RCI -> Interval on Jan 1?

 

[ScoopKona]

Could the lack of inventory have to do with the Welk transition from RCI -> Interval on Jan 1?

I don't think so. I search for Interval properties often -- and I always "search entire map." Finding anything by Hyatt on II is a rare event. I'll click on Key West, even though I have no interest in visiting. Just because I'm curious.

 

[MP_Michael]

Exchange fee reduced by $50? Or just $50 total for the exchange?

Went from $219 to $164, so reduce by $55.

 

[jshriber]

It is so interesting to me that Marriott is not rebranding Welk in Interval International under the Hyatt Brand. I own three fixed Welk weeks in the Villas. I received a proxy vote for a name change which did not include Hyatt but rather naming the property to the generic name The Resort Villas... No boost from brand equity here!!! I am thinking that Marriott wants the Welk properties to play both in the Hyatt and Marriott DC program with this move. They do not want to use the Hyatt name which probably introduces a lot of complications. By not branding it either Marriott or Hyatt they can have it play in both systems? Maybe the fixed weeks owners are going to Marriott DC and points to Hyatt or they are positioning both types of owners to be able to go in both directions? It is too bad that the property is being given such a non descriptive name...

 

[Kal]

It is my understanding that both Welk points and weeks properties will be booked thru Interval. That approach avoids two big issues for yatt management: 1) forcing Welk owners to pay the huge Portfolio ransom ($13K) to have full access to that program; and 2) assigning a HRC equivalent point value to each Welk week. However, it would appear that HRC exchangers have access to the Welk points properties. If not, what kind of barriers must be in place to limit early access to the Welk points resorts?

Also, in my view the Welk points resorts appear to be of considerable quality better than the majority of the weeks resorts. As an example in the greater San Diego area, La Jolla seems more interesting than Escondido.

 

[RunCat]

It is my understanding that both Welk points and weeks properties will be booked thru Interval. That approach avoids two big issues for yatt management: 1) forcing Welk owners to pay the huge Portfolio ransom ($13K) to have full access to that program; and 2) assigning a HRC equivalent point value to each Welk week. However, it would appear that HRC exchangers have access to the Welk points properties. If not, what kind of barriers must be in place to limit early access to the Welk points resorts?

Also, in my view the Welk points resorts appear to be of considerable quality better than the majority of the weeks resorts. As an example in the greater San Diego area, La Jolla seems more interesting than Escondido.

To elucidate on your 2nd Comment: Only two developments were available as "weeks" resorts: Welk Villas in Escondido and Palm Desert. These were originally sold as fixed weeks. Villas on the Greens (Escondido) was sold as a float week with some divisibility. (lock off & partial week). All of the other resorts are only accessible via platinum points including Mountain Villas (Escondido). And the points resorts are of much better quality. However the Villas and VOG in Escondido are getting updates.

re: Access, All points owners can make reservations 15 mos prior to check-in. So, I'm not sure if barriers need to be put in place. Also, Welk had a lot of unsold inventory that could perhaps merge with the HPP program to create something new. I believe April 1 was just a first step in the merger activity.

 

[Kal]

To elucidate on your 2nd Comment: Only two developments were available as "weeks" resorts: Welk Villas in Escondido and Palm Desert. These were originally sold as fixed weeks. Villas on the Greens (Escondido) was sold as a float week with some divisibility. (lock off & partial week). All of the other resorts are only accessible via platinum points including Mountain Villas (Escondido). And the points resorts are of much better quality. However the Villas and VOG in Escondido are getting updates.

re: Access, All points owners can make reservations 15 mos prior to check-in. So, I'm not sure if barriers need to be put in place. Also, Welk had a lot of unsold inventory that could perhaps merge with the HPP program to create something new. I believe April 1 was just a first step in the merger activity.

My assumption is the Welk points properties are not in Portfolio but rather Interval. The Welk points owners would not have benefit of any Portfolio provisions unless they paid the outrageous entry fee. They appear to be only accessible thru Interval, which opens the door to the whole world? Now if all those points resorts are contained in their own stand alone system (which they very likely are) then a "secret handshake" would allow entry by Portfolio people until 6 months prior, then HRC would have access. But what about all the other Interval shoppers?? When will all these rules be published?

Hyatt's approach is to create a bunch of boxes and hope everybody plays nice together. Then they hope Welkers will focus on the shiny object called "World of Magic Stuff".

 

[Ty1on]

Interesting idea. Albeit, not legally possible to oversell due to CA real estate/timeshare rules. Every point is backed by real estate. This is not a RTU system but proportional ownership in a real estate trust. Thus within the HRCPP the point value (proportionality) cannot be changed. However I could see a conversion factor going from Welk to HRC; which might work.

Club members have a contractual right to club assets (the pool of intervals within the club). Hyatt can offer its owners access to Welk intervals Hyatt OWNS, or to intervals that owners have granted use of to Hyatt (via internal exchange, delinquency agreements, etc), but for Hyatt to open Welk Club-owned intervals for the use of Hyatt members would be an egregious breach of contract. Note that changing the name of the club doesn't alter the contractual obligation to its members. Every system that swallows up a club has to engineer any interclub transactions so that the club it acquired remains intact.

 

[lindapproulx]

I just called Hyatt Vacation Club to book part of my home week. I'm a long time owner and was excited to hear about the Welk opportunity. We can book these weeks through the Vacation Club desk. For example, I could book a one bedroom at Villas on the Green in Escondido for 870 Interval Points. The bad news is that although they say that there are 8 resorts, there are only 5 locations. Three of the resorts are in Escondido, and the others are in Cathedral City, Truckee, Branson, Cabo, and Breckenridge. Sorry fellow Hyatt Owners, but Santa Fe is not one of the resorts available to us as part of this so called merger. Based solely on location, we have a few new choices - Escondido, Cathedral City, Cabo San Lucas and Branson. Maybe our Welk owners can tell us about the differences between the 3 Escondido properties.