Vidanta Timeshare upgrade

[puzx18]

Hello,
We are new to timeshares and we just got a one bedroom with Mayan Palace through Vidanta. So far, we have enjoyed the service and we are thinking about upgrading to the suite or even perhaps the Grand Mayan, since we have 2 kiddos and one bedroom for all 4 will start to feel crowded. Any ideas of process or cost to upgrade to the suite and or Grand Mayan? Is it a crazy amount like the initial investment to become an owner? any experiences with that?
Much appreciated

 

[Pathways]

Hello,
We are new to timeshares and we just got a one bedroom with Mayan Palace through Vidanta. So far, we have enjoyed the service and we are thinking about upgrading to the suite or even perhaps the Grand Mayan, since we have 2 kiddos and one bedroom for all 4 will start to feel crowded. Any ideas of process or cost to upgrade to the suite and or Grand Mayan? Is it a crazy amount like the initial investment to become an owner? any experiences with that?
Much appreciated

Mayan Palace is usually found on Redweek.com from $1.00 -$2k. Grand Mayan (Nuevo Vallarta) about the same. (one available now for $1 ).There are four other GM listings for a lot more - doubt they will get any bites. I purchased two (GM 2bed) within the last three years, Less than $2k for each. (Transfer/Closing is extra)

Transfer/closing for those should be around $2500

 

[gdstuart]

A warning for those of you interested in these resorts...

We stayed at the Mayan Palace resort about fifteen years ago and it was an absolute delight. Great food and drinks, BIG campus so you have to time the shuttles or enjoy walking (we do), great variety of pools, one with a sand beach built right in (perfect for toddlers). I just was looking on II last night because we have a couple bonus certificates to burn, and I saw MASSIVE availability here. 2BR units nearly every week in September, October, November...but that's often a bad sign, and when I dug deeper I confirmed that fear.

Some time ago these Vidanta resorts jumped on the Resort Fee bandwagon in a big way. When you book a week, and advance through the screens on II, you will have to be attentive to the (VERY) small print in the conditions. That 2BR unit, had I accepted the exchange, would have cost me $329 for the redemption fee, which I expected, but also $700 for the week in resort fees. Another dagger to the heart of the timeshare racket! Ask your sales rep to add these fees into his/her presentation and see how it wrecks the already-bogus economics.

Yes, I would get a free airport transfer, and in Cancun that's really valuable (but not $700 valuable). All the other stuff they throw in is inconsequential and used to cost $0 "back in the day" when this place was a beautiful option AND a good value when you could score a week. Pandemic or no pandemic, these Palace resorts, and their related Bliss resorts also (700-850 a week for the 2BR units), will welcome you with one outstretched hand while shamelessly picking your pocket with the other.

Geoff

 

[tschwa2]

A warning for those of you interested in these resorts...

We stayed at the Mayan Palace resort about fifteen years ago and it was an absolute delight. Great food and drinks, BIG campus so you have to time the shuttles or enjoy walking (we do), great variety of pools, one with a sand beach built right in (perfect for toddlers). I just was looking on II last night because we have a couple bonus certificates to burn, and I saw MASSIVE availability here. 2BR units nearly every week in September, October, November...but that's often a bad sign, and when I dug deeper I confirmed that fear.

Some time ago these Vidanta resorts jumped on the Resort Fee bandwagon in a big way. When you book a week, and advance through the screens on II, you will have to be attentive to the (VERY) small print in the conditions. That 2BR unit, had I accepted the exchange, would have cost me $329 for the redemption fee, which I expected, but also $700 for the week in resort fees. Another dagger to the heart of the timeshare racket! Ask your sales rep to add these fees into his/her presentation and see how it wrecks the already-bogus economics.

Yes, I would get a free airport transfer, and in Cancun that's really valuable (but not $700 valuable). All the other stuff they throw in is inconsequential and used to cost $0 "back in the day" when this place was a beautiful option AND a good value when you could score a week. Pandemic or no pandemic, these Palace resorts, and their related Bliss resorts also (700-850 a week for the 2BR units), will welcome you with one outstretched hand while shamelessly picking your pocket with the other.

Geoff

You don't need to post that on every topic about Vidanta. The week they became active someone posted about it. Everytime there is a change in fees someone notices within 2-3 days and updates these boards. Most here are quite aware of the fees and if someone seems like they might not be then it will get mentioned. Most of the thousands of units deposited by Vidanta are developer owned not owner deposits. No one already paid the MF"s on those units. Vidanta would like to get a warm body in so they can sell something to, but have decided they don't want to give it away. They don't get any of the $329 Interval cert fee or exchange fee. So while they call it a resort fee it is just the portion of the rental fee that is going to Vidanta and if you are willing to go to a sales presentation they will often credit 1/4-1/2 of that back to you. So you need to decide if $1029 rental fee (or whatever is specifically happens to be for that size and location) is worth it or not. If it isn't, then you probably weren't likely to buy any type of membership from Vidanta anyway so they weren't going to give you a subsidised vacation.

The small print thing is just the way RCI and II lists fees regardless of whether it is a $25 fee or a $700 weekly fee. It isn't Vidanta trying to hide those fees.

 

[Eric B]

To further clarify the situation, the resort fees discussed by @gdstuart are only on exchanges, not ownership, which is what @puzx18 was asking about. When using your own ownership with Vidanta there are no additional resort fees (other than the governmental taxes, which are minor). The usage fee for a week there is higher, of course. As noted by @tschwa2, there are a lot of posts about exchanging into Vidanta in the Mexican timesharing forum; anyone interested in that should read through what's been discussed in that forum.

Hello,
We are new to timeshares and we just got a one bedroom with Mayan Palace through Vidanta. So far, we have enjoyed the service and we are thinking about upgrading to the suite or even perhaps the Grand Mayan, since we have 2 kiddos and one bedroom for all 4 will start to feel crowded. Any ideas of process or cost to upgrade to the suite and or Grand Mayan? Is it a crazy amount like the initial investment to become an owner? any experiences with that?
Much appreciated

To address your question, going through Vidanta for an upgrade would involve attending a sales presentation the next time you're down there. You could get a higher tier contract resale as mentioned by @Pathways. Other places to look include Aimfair.com, which is more focused on the Grand Luxxe level and up. There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach; if you're happy at the Mayan Palace or Grand Mayan level, keep your eyes out for an older contract on the resale market (~2002 vintage or so). They show up occasionally and have lower MFs due to the limitation on increases built into the contracts. If you choose to buy from Vidanta, they will try to sell you higher end contracts and might balk at the MP or GM level, but they are pushing for cash right now and making some good deals. In my experience, you are best off going to sales early in the week you're there, then contacting Member Services in order to rescind/renegotiate the contract. You will get a lot better deal and additional perks that way.

Feel free to reach out to me or any of the other Vidanta owners that are active on TUG (@T-Dot-Traveller, @pittle and a few others you can see in the Mexican forum) with any questions or to ask for helpful hints.