Thinking of buying a resale at Vistana Villages in Orlando. It is voluntary - no transfer of SVN benefits. Will I be able to bank a week for use in a future year, or is it "use it or lose it" from year to year?
Also, could someone please direct me to a link that shows the HO association's rules & bylaws?
If you buy at a voluntary Starwood resort or section (but not from Starwood), you have no SVN benefits and you have no StarOptions to use Starwood's system of trading elsewhere. You also have no SVN fee for trading elsewhere. And, you have nothing to bank with Starwood for use later than the end of the use year.
If you buy at a Starwood voluntary resort, you must use your fixed week or you must reserve a week in your season (the home resort use period). Barring those 2 options, at the end of the year, you lose the year's right to use.
However, you can deposit your week into an II account you have or rather easily can set up. If you deposit into II, you can extend the use period because the deposited week can be used in an II trade after the expiration of the use year. II charges for each use and, separately, for the setting up the account.
II deposits are not really banking, but you can end up with very good Starwood to Starwood II trades because Starwood grants a preference period where Starwood owners who have deposited a week in II can see other II Starwood weeks before the rest of the II traders can.
The only link I know of for the HOA rules and regulations (as well as the other governing documents) for Starwood resorts is found on mystarcentral.com. The documents are only available for a resort you already own. For information prior to buying, ask the seller for copies of the documents.
And, read the FAQ links DeniseM posted. GLTY! ... eom
