Urgent: Plantation Beach Club at South Seas - Amenity fee??

[Laurie]

Can anyone tell me for certain whether this $12/day per adult for 7 days is required, even if you don't want to use any of those amenities it covers?

RCI VG who confirmed the unit for me said no - I called the resort and they said yes. Probably the resort tells the truth - but hope someone who has exchanged in recently will report.

I'm on 24-hr grace period - if yes, yikes!! That's a lotta dough - worse than Manhattan Club, for 4 people! No wonder there was an available unit for January...

And if you exchanged in and had to pay that much - and didn't use amenities - was it worth it??

Pre-Charley I loved Sanibel, loved Captiva, loved Ding Darling, love waterview units (which this is) - but gee, maybe I'll have to rethink this.

Edited to add: just got off the phone with a 3rd individual, asst. to interval management, who said it's required only for renters, "no" for exchangers, though they try to push this. So I wonder what will happen at check-in. The RCI language on the confirmation is completely ambiguous.

 

[ocowner]

We were there summer '04, just 2 weeks before the hurricane. At the time I think it was $8/day,and was for exchangers also.

 

[Floridaski]

Is optional

To the best of my knowledge it is still optional for timeshare guests. I was thinking of renting a unit from an owner and he had told me it was an optional program. But, if you want to use their trolley system you will need to pay the fee. I personally would want to use their trolley system, but everyone's needs are different. We have kids, so they are always wanting to run around somewhere. So, it would be worth it to us to pay the fee as it covers our entire family. You only pay for a maximum of 2 adults per room. This is a great trade and this unit would rent for around $250 to $300 per night even in off season. If you are going in the winter - then it is a VERY expensive room and a great trade. I would keep the trade as it is so hard to get a trade into South Seas resorts.

When are you going and what did you use to secure the trade?

 

[Laurie]

I called RCI again and had a second person look at the wording and tell me "optional, only for folks using the amenities" - which we'd pass on at that price. She told me how it would read if it were mandatory (in her opinion, I realize)... I asked whether if I had problems at check-in, I could call RCI and they'd clarify for the desk, she said yes.

Who knows whether this is the absolute truth, but I'll take my chances - since at this point it's 4 saying "optional", 2 saying "mandatory". I can believe that there could be desk folks who might present it as a given, when it's not quite the case - as the assistant interval manager there implied - mbender10, could that be what happened in your case? Would you have declined if you had been told it were optional?

Floridaski, we're going in Jan 2010 if no more hurricanes there between now and then! (I'm almost afraid to say when, for fear of jinxing - last exchange to Sanibel didn't happen after our confirmed resort was wiped out by Charley - I've been waiting for more vegetation to grow back!)

 

[sandcastles]

Laurie, I'm pretty sure the fee would be optional for exchangers just as it is for owners.

PBC is close enough to the tip of the island that we just walk instead of using the trolley. It's possible you may be able to use the trolley without paying the amenities fee. They told us at check in last Nov. that we could just by showing our room key. We never did use it so I'm not sure if this is true. The trolley does go to Andy Rosse Lane in the heart of Captiva which would be very handy as parking is limited. I was afraid to use it, in case they wouldn't let us back on.

Edited to say that is a great trade for January. I see them mainly in Sept. and a few later in the fall but rarely in Jan. Did you go through RCI or II?

 

[jeff-linda]

Jan 09 or Jan 10?

When and in what unit? The amenities fee was optional in 2007. Although the fee includes wifi. Last year we had to pay the $12 per person adult (Kids are no charge) if we wanted wifi. They did not offer wifi only for a reduced fee.

 

[Laurie]

Thank you all for chiming in. I received the confirmation - here's how it reads (you can see why it's somewhat ambiguous - on first read it sounds optional but directs you to call the resort - who initially told me it was mandatory):

PLEASE NOTE: many of the amenities at the resort require US$12 per day per adult (18yo +) to access them. The fee is required for every adult in the unit and must be paid for all 7 nights. Access to these amenities is not available on a daily basis. Please contact the resort directly for specific amenities impacted.

And the Urgent information online reads:
US$12 FEE PER DAY PER ADULT (18YO +) REQUIRED TO ACCESS TROLLY, GOLF COURSE, KIDS CLUB, TENNIS COMPLEX, FITNESS CENTER, EQUIPMENT AT SUNSET BEACH, LAGOON POOLS, WIRELESS INTERNET AND THE POINT RESTAURANT. FEE REQUIRED FOR ALL 7 NITES PER ADULT (NOT DAILY). CALL RESORT FOR MORE DETAILS.

To answer your other questions, we're going in Jan 2010, unit 1052. (jeff-linda, are you there too? Or might this be your unit?) I've seen this resort online for mid-late August a number of times, probably more frequently since Charley - which might be when it lost a notch of RCI rating which is irrelevant to me, or else because folks were jumpy about booking at Charley anniversary dates. This one took an ongoing search in RCI, which was narrow, limited to only 5 resorts where a view unit was likely. I've seen various Sanibel resorts online for Aug thru early December, and Surfrider and Caribe occasionally during summer and Xmas/NY. In fact we stayed at Caribe back in 01/02 and totally loved it - we had a view from our room and balcony, my second priority after location. My cancelled confirmation was Casa Ybel view unit, early Dec. '04.

As long as no hurricane cancellation and no required amenity fee (over $500 for 6 adults!) I'm happy - I hope we can get internet reception using our Verizon card - we'll see about parking and trolley situation, I recall parking was scarce on Captiva. We'll probably drive up to Ding Darling at least half the days... we ended up going almost every day when we stayed at Caribe, it was so different every day. I did consider a summer trip or early fall for Sanibel/Captiva, but then checked bird migration seasons for Ding Darling and winter definitely looks better - according to them, Dec-Mar is birding season, and their programs are only Jan 1- Mar 31.

Now just have to get thru another hurricane season (and a half) - and might need to book flights before the next one's over. I don't know how you all who own or exchange into hurricane areas every year do it ... I've had 3 confirmations cancelled due to hurricanes (PV, Sanibel, NOLA), and really hope I'm not a jinx! Not that I have illusions about my powerfulness ... but I'm thinking about the RCI insurance on this one, which I don't ever do otherwise.

 

[sandcastles]

I dont know if you will have a parking problem on Captiva in January, it is shoulder of the season. If there is a problem you can park at McCarthy's Marina all day for $5.00.

 

[jeff-linda]

Great Trade

Unit 1052 is in Plantation Beach Club III and it is an upper unit. The view from the upper units are fantastic but many steps - Parking for your unit is 1 space under the building. Additional spaces out for additional cars. There are two floors of units, so the upper is actually the 3rd floor. We own 1 unit at PBC but have other HGVC weeks and reserve about 7 weeks a year in Captiva and Marco Island. Jan- Feb 08 we did 4 Hawaiian Islands. We love Captiva and look forward to our next visit. When we were there Nov 07, we were able to opt out for the amenities fee and then if we decided to add it later in the week we could do so. They do charge a fee to change your key card to an Amenities Fee paid key card. I think that they were different colors to indicate that you are entitled to the amenities.
Linda
WIFI was available in the main lobby and across the street from the resort at Starbucks.

 

[Laurie]

Thanks so much Linda - steps aren't a problem and we're happy to climb them for a better view. I'd love to see your pictures, I have emailed you.