Video San Francisco Pulse

[dougp26364]

I’ve posted a new video of the SF pulse for anyone interested

 

[DRH90277]

I’ve posted a new video of the SF pulse for anyone interested

Thank you for providing this.

Did you really mean the rooms have two "double" beds? The video suggests this is designed for "couple of day" stays similar to a nice hotel property. In fact, viewing this makes me think this is less resort and is more of a nice smaller hotel.

We are in our 70's and would only visit this resort if we could get to the property safely and be safe on the streets outside of the property. A couple of simple questions, could we walk safely and unthreatened to the wharf and surrounding areas? Would there be enjoyable walks considering the drugs, homelessness, and deviance the city has allowed? Is the area safe?

 

[gln60]

I will pass on this MVC Pulse.

 

[DRH90277]

I called the property - Sounds like rooms have 2 "queen sized" beds. I looked at points reservation availability online and reservations are wide open clear through September. I also inquired about occupancy and was told the property fills up quickly and is filled mostly for conventions - not club point users. Hotel use may be the best use if Abound point users are passing on the property. Sounds like a pretty good deal for MVC and Marriott, not so sure about the benefit to point owners.

 

[dougp26364]

Thank you for providing this.

Did you really mean the rooms have two "double" beds? The video suggests this is designed for "couple of day" stays similar to a nice hotel property. In fact, viewing this makes me think this is less resort and is more of a nice smaller hotel.

We are in our 70's and would only visit this resort if we could get to the property safely and be safe on the streets outside of the property. A couple of simple questions, could we walk safely and unthreatened to the wharf and surrounding areas? Would there be enjoyable walks considering the drugs, homelessness, and deviance the city has allowed? Is the area safe?

They are listed as two queen beds. I believe I was thinking it was a double room and just said double beds.

The homeless situation is a real problem in SF, but that can be said of nearly every major city and several smaller sixty these days, especially whenever you’re in the downtown area. However, for the most part they keep to themselves.

As to feeling safe I’ve only felt unsafe one day, and that was an early (7:00 AM) morning walk on Sunday to get bagels. I mentioned to the desk that it wasn’t just the homeless out but the crazy homeless that was out that morning. Apparently Sunday’s are good for that sort of thing.

We did not actually stay at the Pulse but are staying at the Ritz Carlton Club and Residences this trip. I had a studio unit I had extended and it was getting close to its expiration. I wanted to see what the Pulse properties looked like and it was a very easy last minute exchange through II.

The property location is great. I’ve walked to/from it three times over the weekend. The first time was on Friday to check in around 6 PM. The next time was Saturday when we did our owners presentation. The last time was yesterday late afternoon/early evening because I wanted to pick up some laundry detergent (we try to in,y pack carry on bags and do laundry daily or every other day). I’ve encounter very few homeless in this hotel/tourist corridor. The majority of homeless I’ve encountered have been near the Ritz in the financial district and around Union Square.

The walk from the Fisherman’s Warf area is a relatively flat 2 block walk. It’s probably around a half mile walk to pier 39 where the majority of the touristy things about the ward reside. The end of the line for the F line trolley cars and is 2 blocks, and that will take you to the Ferry building, Union Square area and all the way north to Castro St (heart of the LGBT community) if you want to travel that far. The #1 stop of the Big Bus tours is a little over 2 blocks away as well. The Big Bus will take you all the way out to the Golden Gate Bridge, Haight/Ashbury, China Town! Lombard Street, The Painted Ladies, Mrs Doubtfire home et.

The location is fantastic but, you’re correct that this is really a set up for a few nights and not a week. The Pulse locations are far enough always from us that the expense of getting to them negates our desire for that type of vacation. If I wanted to only stay in hotel rooms I’d never have purchased timeshare in the first place. If we lived nearer any of these hotel style Vacation Club properties, they might be more attractive to us.

 

[dougp26364]

I called the property - Sounds like rooms have 2 "queen sized" beds. I looked at points reservation availability online and reservations are wide open clear through September. I also inquired about occupancy and was told the property fills up quickly and is filled mostly for conventions - not club point users. Hotel use may be the best use if Abound point users are passing on the property. Sounds like a pretty good deal for MVC and Marriott, not so sure about the benefit to point owners.

IMHO you are exactly correct. It cheaply inflates the number of points MVC can sell but waters down the product. I’ve noticed the last few years it’s become more difficult to book some of the resort we are accustomed to seeing easily. I’m not sure if it’s pandemic related. We had a LOT of points to burn this year and carried forward to next. It could also be related to the merging of systems with Vistana/Westin owners exploring new locations. However, each time Marriott announces another one of these hotel style “resorts” I cringe. It’s just not a product that interests us. If not for the ability to sell generic points instead of deeded locations, I think this project would flop as hard, if not harder, than the failed Horizons family priced project from years ago.

 

[RJW]

I’ve posted a new video of the SF pulse for anyone interested

This is one MVC property that I would never stay at. Sterile, depressing decor. You were correct in describing the room like a jail cell.

 

[dougp26364]

I will pass on this MVC Pulse.

For traditional Marriott deeded week timeshare owners the Pulse product is equivalent to buying a First Class airline ticket and then being given a Basic Economy seat.

If all I wanted was a hotel room I’d have never purchased timeshare in the first place. Why pay Maserati prices but drive an old Chevy Chevette?

 

[dougp26364]

This is one MVC property that I would never stay at. Sterile, depressing decor. You were correct in describing the room like a jail cell.

Other than the great location I find little that really attracts me to this property. If they were going for dark and repressive rooms they hit the nail on the head.

 

[DRH90277]

This sounds like MVC is using the points system to acquire (fund) properties that can easily be booked as hotels for conventions, etc. Points owners fund the property, pay the maintenance fees, take the risk, and excess rooms become hotel rooms at a nominal cost to MVC. MVC profits all along the way and points owners sustain the risk.

Is this what we thought we were buying? My complaint is these actions divert funds away from the "family oriented" resort properties we thought we were buying for our vacations.

This makes our recent resale purchases of 6 Ocean Watch villas look really good. What if I had spent that same money on those darned points and ended up owning hotel rooms in a blighted city like San Francisco.

 

[dougp26364]

This sounds like MVC is using the points system to acquire (fund) properties that can easily be booked as hotels for conventions, etc. Points owners fund the property, pay the maintenance fees, take the risk, and excess rooms become hotel rooms at a nominal cost to MVC. MVC profits all along the way and points owners sustain the risk.

Is this what we thought we were buying? My complaint is these actions divert funds away from the "family oriented" resort properties we thought we were buying for our vacations.

This makes our recent resale purchases of 6 Ocean Watch villas look really good. What if I had spent that same money on those darned points and ended up owning hotel rooms in a blighted city like San Francisco.

While this certainly is not what we bought into, I wonder if this is the future of timeshare? Our owners update only lasted 45 minutes, in part because they were in a hurry to get us out of there. The manager took us as a presentation because the other sales staff were busy closing on the presentations that were booked early that morning. My assumption is these were likely first time buyers and they are were excited about having a “fixed” cost for a hotel room with a great location in SF. Both appeared to be younger couples, from what I could see, and this property makes a great base for a weekend party trip to the Bay Area. But, this is just an assumption on my part.

On the surface this appears to me as an inexpensive way for Marriott to pad their points inventory while using hotel bookings to offset the occupancy at Pulse locations. This may simply be my dim view of an industry that has a very low opinion by the average consumer.

One thing the manager pointed out was the eventual inclusion of booking hotel rooms directly using Abound points. My comment was it would have to make financial sense to use Abound points vs cash to book a hotel room, so MVC point to hotel room rate would need to be spot on with a cash booking. Judging by the look on his face when I said this I’m not hopeful it will be any better deal than booking a cruise or using points to pay for a car rental certificate. The only good use for us would be booking a single night at an airport hotel when we have an early morning flight and having points to burn because we’d booked all lessor expensive resorts that year. Otherwise I’m just paying cash, using the free night certificate from the BonVoy AE card or using BonVoy points for the hotel side of travel. IOW, booking hotel nights using timeshare points doesn’t excite me as an option for our Abound points.

 

[zentraveler]

Other than the great location I find little that really attracts me to this property. If they were going for dark and repressive rooms they hit the nail on the head.

In addition to the bathroom having no storage it doesn't look like the room has any either; unless I missed them I didn't see any drawers or shelves that would preclude living out of a suitcase.

 

[Fasttr]

Reminds me of the Marriott Aloft brand....very minimalistic room furnishings.

 

[GetawaysRus]

Thanks for posting the video. That property is definitely off my list. It's not tempting at all. If I had traded one of my Desert Villas 2 weeks or a Grand Chateau week for that, I would have felt very shortchanged.

I'd consider that room comparable to a Holiday Inn Express, but only much darker inside. Aren't most Residence Inn rooms larger than that?

 

[dougp26364]

Reminds me of the Marriott Aloft brand....very minimalistic room furnishings.

Funny you mention Aloft. We just spent 4 nights at an Aloft in Leawood KS. I actually feel the Aloft room was smaller but nicer. The hotel amenities were at least as nice if not nicer. The only advantage this particular Pulse has is a better fitness center.
For comparison, here’s a link to our Aloft stay.

 

[gln60]

We stayed at the San Diego Pulse 6 years ago using Abound Points and really enjoyed the great location,weather and the surrounding area...we felt very safe walking around the area at that time..we may visit Palm Desert someday..possibly return to NCV..and possibly visit Lake Tahoe for the first time…we will never return to San Francisco.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I think the rooms have designed to look like an Urban Loft concept, with the concrete feature wall, metal cabinet etc.

I don't mind the Pulse concept, I there are many people, especially younger couples interested in urban destinations. I don't think it would make sense to buy into MVC just to stay at hotel like properties, but having options is nice.

 

[DRH90277]

Boston Custom House - We love this property and have for years. Try this one. This property should not be included in the Pulse grouping. It's just better than those.

We have stayed the New York and Washington, D.C. pulse properties but didn't find much memorable about the properties and could have done as well at local hotels. I was quite unhappy with the hype for the Mayfair in Washington, D.C. It was just an old hotel in need of some serious renovation.

 

[ljmiii]

...there are many people, especially younger couples interested in urban destinations...

I love the thought of our being considered a "younger couple" as we are very much interested in urban destinations.

And I have been entertained by the two most active threads over the past couple of days - this one bemoaning the spread of Pulse MVC locations and the other full of folk salivating over the prospect of a new one in Charleston.

Would I stay at the SF Pulse...probably not as we much prefer staying on Market St. than in Fisherman's Wharf. And (knock on wood), since we plan our vacations far in advance we've been able to secure reservations at the RCC so it hasn't been an issue.

If I could wave a magic wand and secure a dozen new MVC locations, at least 10 would be in cities - mainly in Europe and Asia. Particularly London where the price of a 1BR or 2BR suite has become truly mind-boggling.

 

[sponger76]

If I could wave a magic wand and secure a dozen new MVC locations, at least 10 would be in cities - mainly in Europe and Asia. Particularly London where the price of a 1BR or 2BR suite has become truly mind-boggling.

For London, I just wish they would add the Grand Residence by Marriott to MVC.

 

[Dean]

For London, I just wish they would add the Grand Residence by Marriott to MVC.

Historically this property was listed with II as a limited availability resort. Later it was not listed in the directory but was still one you could request an exchange to if you knew the code. I'm not sure when they removed it completely but it was a few years ago. I think we'd all love the option and the owners there might as well but I don't see it happening as a direct option or an II option.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

We stayed there last year for a night or two (cannot remember) using expiring Bonvoy Certs. @dougp26364 has presented an accurate description. IMHO...I know they were trying to be edgy and industrial like a wharf but the room felt dark and depressing. It is basically a hotel conversion and has no views. I would not use Abound points for this. (We opted this year to use our free IHG credit card cert at the Intercontinental in Soma because it is a nicer hotel and offered a view of the Bay Bridge.)

re: safety, we walked to Fisherman's wharf and Pier 39 several times from Pulse during the day. Also took a cable car and walked down to Market no problem. This is a cleaner part of the city than Soma/Mission. But like any American city you need to be aware.

 

[Steve A]

We stayed in the Aloft in Greenville SC. Very nice. Allowed dogs. We had free breakfasts. Fantastic location, downtown on a pedestrian mall. The Aloft in Birmingham AL was also quite nice. Walkable to restaurants and shops. As the video noted, basic hotels.

We’re not talking a JW or a high end Westin, but quite acceptable. Btw, the Boston Custom House, a Pulse, is fantastic although it does not have much of a kitchen, but the location and the rooms are great.

 

[Bodie]

I will pass on this MVC Pulse.

The NYC Pulse is great. Rooftop bar, view of Empire State Building, walking distance to Broadway, etc. Agree, the SF Pulse looks dreary.

 

[dougp26364]

We stayed in the Aloft in Greenville SC. Very nice. Allowed dogs. We had free breakfasts. Fantastic location, downtown on a pedestrian mall. The Aloft in Birmingham AL was also quite nice. Walkable to restaurants and shops. As the video noted, basic hotels.

We’re not talking a JW or a high end Westin, but quite acceptable. Btw, the Boston Custom House, a Pulse, is fantastic although it does not have much of a kitchen, but the location and the rooms are great.

I believe Grand Chateau in Las Vegas is considered a pulse property. like Custom House, it was labeled Pulse after they had been established as a more traditional style timeshare.

I understand trying to offer something in urban settings. I just believe owners would be better served if they allowed direct booking of hotels and they weren’t diluting the points pool with these hotel style “resorts”.