Traveling now, getting a hotel room reminds me how great it is to have timeshares

[pedro47]

No, what I have done is contact the resort I want to stay at. I ask them if they have non performing inventory that they want to rent at a reduced rate. They either pass me on to another department, call me back or tell me there is nothing available. I would say I’m about 70 percent successful.

A few resorts direct me to their non performing rental website. Some resorts actually have sites like this.


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Thirty years plus in timeshare and today I have learned something for the very first time.
Knowledge is Power...Thanks you Fredflinstone.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

@Fredflintstone Thanks for the tip. I could see how this would be helpful for places when we only need a place to rest our heads and the view is less important and I don't have a family to fly e.g. skiing, Disney, cities. How close to the check-in date do you call? (This is when we can pick the best from all worlds. Timeshare points, cash getaways, and renting.)

 

[Fredflintstone]

@Fredflintstone Thanks for the tip. I could see how this would be helpful for places when we only need a place to rest our heads and the view is less important and I don't have a family to fly e.g. skiing, Disney, cities. How close to the check-in date do you call? (This is when we can pick the best from all worlds. Timeshare points, cash getaways, and renting.)

Varies. Sometimes far in advance (10 months or so in). Most times I buy my flight and then get the place. I find my success on getting a non performing condo is much higher if I call a month or less in advance. Funny, I used to think prime times are always fully booked. What I have learned is they may be fully booked for owners but non performing is not always. I still am unsure why it works that way. Perhaps they separate availability by owner, renter and potential owner?


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[Fredflintstone]

The two main drawbacks to my approach is that I can’t always get the exact place I want and I have to scour sometimes (like redweek, TUG, Airbnb, etc). However, I checked my rental tracking sheet just now and I have had condo accommodations 48 times and had to settle for a hotel room 5 times. Out of 48 successes, I have had prime views or best of house condo locations 29 times. The rest were pool or garden views. Not bad odds.

The advantage to timeshare is you have one member site and an exchange site or 2 which makes booking faster and easier. Plus, you do get more predictable accommodations. Owning does have its advantages too.


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[linsj]

I'm the odd person out in this discussion. Yes, I like staying in timeshares. But hotel rooms don't bother me. In fact, several years ago I went to Maui by myself for 16 nights on points in hotels. I had a partial ocean view at the Grand Wailea (and free breakfast) for a week and a full ocean view at the Sheraton for a week, along with first and last nights at the Courtyard. All the rooms were large with sofas and refrigerators. I ate out for only one meal a day, sometimes none, depending on what I had in the fridge and where I was for the day. The Sheraton room had a microwave, but I hadn't planned for that.

I took a slim, plastic cutting board, sharp knife in a sheath, paper plates and bowls, plastic silverware (I always have a lot of these items in the pantry), some paper towels, and Ziploc bags, napkins, and a few small plastic storage containers I always take to timeshares. (None of these take up much space or weight in luggage, and I can check two bags for free.) With the cutting board and knife I enjoyed fresh pineapples and other fruit from farmers markets.

It was a great trip, and I didn't feel deprived at all. The only downsides were not ordering meals with leftovers that required reheating and having to go to a laundromat each week. Would I do it again? Absolutely--but only by myself.

 

[CO skier]

I love happy owners like you because I own WYND stock. I get capital gains lately and a dividend quarterly that pays most of my rentals and travel costs. I have 2500 shares. As an investor, I like those MFs, fees and locked in contracts. As an investor, I like the idea they have 800 k plus owners who pay the bills and can be tapped for extra costs and up selled for more points through “owner updates”. In my case, I can sell WYND on the market in seconds so it’s liquid. It’s a win on my side too.

I bought all 70,000 WorldMark credits on eBay. WYND and their stockholders did not make a dime off of me.

At a recent owner update, the salesperson shared that I have attended 21 updates just since the sales software was changed about 18 months ago. Imagine how generous WYND and their stockholders have been subsidizing my vacations for the last 11 years at about $100/update. I like collecting dividends off of my timeshare ownership.

Oh, and the $80/night was booked using Bonus Time, as are most of my cash bookings, which accrues to paying WorldMark the Club's bills, not directly to Wyndham.

 

[davidvel]

And just got off the phone to them. They emailed me this


Ocean View Two Room Suite King
Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort and Spa offers spacious and comfortable accommodations with a soothing contemporary theme perfect for memorable vacations.

This King bed guestroom with an additional separate living/dining area offers views of the Ocean from the furnished balcony.

The room features a luxurious Hilton Serenity Bed, with LED lighting for bedside reading, 55” LCD flat panel TV, Cuisinart single-cup coffeemaker, sofa bed, in-room safe, refrigerator and work desk with a digital panel that allows guests to connect and charge several devices at once. The bathroom features a separate granite vanity area, Peter Thomas Roth bath amenities and a bathtub with deluxe showerhead.





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This is not a 2BR as indicated in your prior post. They have a 2BR that is over 1200 sq ft and has separate bedrooms (3 rooms total.) If they advertised on R W as 2BR they did not give you the right unit. Or they may have advertised 2RM, which is what you got, more like a Fairfield Inn or Courtyard "suite", totally different than a 2BR timeshare with a kitchen.

 

[LannyPC]

The last two night I needed to get hotel rooms as we head to our winter timeshares. I have tried in the past staying at low cost hotels but due to the anxiety and discomfort I will not any more.

Last night I was near Savannah Georgia. I ended up at a Hampton Inn for $115 including breakfast for the two of us thru the Hilton site. The price was very good in comparison to others in the area. The first room smelled moldy, the second like vomit, a half hour later the third was fine.

Very few people who have stayed in both TSs and hotels will dispute your point. Lodging in TSs is much more preferable to hotels/motels. The other matter is logistics. For instance, if I understand your post correctly, you were staying at this aforementioned hotel for just one night on your way to your final destination. Under such circumstances, is a TS that much preferable to a hotel/motel? As well, in Savannah, how many TSs are there? What do MFs cost there?

If one were staying a whole week in Savannah (or any other destination) then, yeah, a TS would be much better. But just for one night on your way to your final destination, I personally would not really care whether or not I had a kitchen, bedroom, and/or washer/dryer.

 

[jonmaiman]

Very few people who have stayed in both TSs and hotels will dispute your point. Lodging in TSs is much more preferable to hotels/motels. The other matter is logistics. For instance, if I understand your post correctly, you were staying at this aforementioned hotel for just one night on your way to your final destination. Under such circumstances, is a TS that much preferable to a hotel/motel? As well, in Savannah, how many TSs are there? What do MFs cost there?

If one were staying a whole week in Savannah (or any other destination) then, yeah, a TS would be much better. But just for one night on your way to your final destination, I personally would not really care whether or not I had a kitchen, bedroom, and/or washer/dryer.

Agreed for transit nights (single night stays), a standard hotel room is fine. We try to bring the minimum into the room for the single night stays to make it easier to get back on the road the next morning. The extra facilities of a TS are mainly wasted for a single night. We do like to have a sitting area to watch TV or read after my daughter goes to bed. Many hotel rooms have junior suites that meet that requirement otherwise a TS would still be better.

--Jon

 

[Panina]

Very few people who have stayed in both TSs and hotels will dispute your point. Lodging in TSs is much more preferable to hotels/motels. The other matter is logistics. For instance, if I understand your post correctly, you were staying at this aforementioned hotel for just one night on your way to your final destination. Under such circumstances, is a TS that much preferable to a hotel/motel? As well, in Savannah, how many TSs are there? What do MFs cost there?

If one were staying a whole week in Savannah (or any other destination) then, yeah, a TS would be much better. But just for one night on your way to your final destination, I personally would not really care whether or not I had a kitchen, bedroom, and/or washer/dryer.

Agree a night stay makes no sense in a timeshare but those one or two night hotels stays when I am in transit solidifies to me how great timeshares are.

 

[geist1223]

When Son and DIL lived in SLC we would stop and spend night at WM Reno when traveling from Salem Oregon. When younger we could do this drive in one long day. No longer. We have lots of Points/Credits better than spending cash. We would have Go Bags with change of socks, underwear, and toiletries.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Single night stay if you are in transit is fine. Would not be worth the cost of a timeshare night.

Hotels also tend to have thinner walls than timeshares. One timeshare where we heard neighbors was the Peacock Suites in Anaheim. Not bad but this was a hotel conversion. We were gone at Disney most of the day.

 

[LannyPC]

I'm the odd person out in this discussion. Yes, I like staying in timeshares. But hotel rooms don't bother me....I had...(and free breakfast)...........Would I do it again? Absolutely--but only by myself.

You're not that "odd". There are actually others who prefer hotels/motels because of the free breakfast and daily maid service. It works in your case if you are by yourself as you would not really need the bedroom(s) and other space for privacy. Besides, if you're by yourself in Maui, other than sleeping and bathing, how much time are you going to spend in your room?

In a case like yours, if you pay less for a hotel room than for a TS unit, then yours sounds like a good deal even if you have to go to a laundromat. How much is it really going to cost to do laundry for one person for a week? It's probably a lot less than what you are saving by staying in a hotel compared to a TS.

 

[CPNY]

Just had this convo with co workers. We were in Orlando for a meeting and were in a Hilton hotel. We then extended and stayed at cypress harbor. As we were sitting in the balcony eating french toast I laughed and said, can’t to this in the Hilton lol

 

[Rolltydr]

Besides, if you're by yourself in Maui, other than sleeping and bathing, how much time are you going to spend in your room?

It really doesn’t matter to me how long I will be there. I stayed in a 1 bedroom suite at Wyndham Nashville last year for the 4 days of the SEC tournament. I was by myself and, although I wasn’t in the room very much, it felt like I was crammed in a hotel room. Based on that stay, I will choose the TS every time and I want a 1 bedroom deluxe at a minimum if I have the option.

 

[JohnPaul]

We are on a 2 and 1/2 month trip around the West (left Jan 5). 13 of those 69 days are in hotels (4 in National Parks). I'm pretty good at getting deals and most everywhere has been pretty nice (canyon view with fireplace room here at Grand Canyon) but the eating out kills me.

Our first night in Palm Springs (timeshare) I went to the grocery store and fed 3 of us well for 4 days for what I spent the night before for 2 at a restaurant.

 

[mdurette]

Now this is priceless, just had a visitor on my patio and posed for me too.
View attachment 16425

The picture reminded me of a tour in Hawaii

I spotted some chickens and pointed them to my husband.
The tour guide noticed and explained they were "wild jungle fowl, native to the islands"
Hum.....sorry dude, they are chickens.

Thanks for the memory

 

[mdurette]

Isn't one of the ideas of timeshares having a home away from home? A place with all the creature comforts that you are accustom to? From this thread, you can see that this concept works.

Personally, we only handle hotel rooms well if we are in a location that has us "going" from morning to evening, like Disney. the room is to sleep and shower, that is it.

Cruise staterooms can be rough, thank goodness there is so much to do that we are not in them a lot.

 

[Rolltydr]

Isn't one of the ideas of timeshares having a home away from home? A place with all the creature comforts that you are accustom to? From this thread, you can see that this concept works.

Personally, we only handle hotel rooms well if we are in a location that has us "going" from morning to evening, like Disney. the room is to sleep and shower, that is it.

Cruise staterooms can be rough, thank goodness there is so much to do that we are not in them a lot.

Yes, home away from home, not a room away from home. The older I get, the more I need those creature comforts!

We only stay in hotels if TS isn’t an option or sometimes for convenience of location. For example, we’ve stayed in hotels in Dallas because, as far as I can tell, there aren’t any good timeshares there. We could probably do VRBO or airbnb but we use our Wyndham Rewards points and stay in a Wyndham Suites for free. We’ve also booked a studio in the new Nashville Margaritaville this March because it is a couple of blocks from Bridgestone Arena and we can walk instead of the 20-30 minute drive from Wyndham Nashville, parking at the football stadium, and walking the half mile to the arena. And then doing the reverse trip after the games.

 

[MrockStar]

I like my guaranteed tropical view in the heart of Key West
View attachment 16421View attachment 16422View attachment 16423

Nice, hope you have great weather, almost guaranteed in the keys. Glad your finally able to go on a real vacation. We go to St Pete's beach in Feb.

 

[MrockStar]

Never regretted any of my acquisitions that I have now. I did research and just waited for what I wanted. If my other half didn’t own part of a NJ shore home, I would be able to use all my timeshares. Being he has to pay his part we might as well use the house and reduce our timeshare inventory.

As I am replying to you, it became clear to me I should find new homes for the units I own between July-Oct, that is the time we would use the shore house the most. Now I just have to figure out when all the great parties are in the new community I moved to and my timeshare weeks that fall in those times will be the next ones to go.

Right Panina, we havent had to divest any timeshare weeks just yet with having our lake cottage however we only plan one week in summer at timeshares every other year now.

 

[mav]

I really am an oddball. I love timeshares but I do love hotels too. Have had so may memorable vacations in both! Life has been very good to me.