So I hope this gets stickied as it it darn near all the information there is on Welk Resorts.
Desrciption from the Welk website:
"Whether you prefer relaxing with a glass of wine on your villa’s private patio or a round of afternoon golf, Welk Resorts offers something for every kind of traveler. Between world-class amenities and top-notch service, our team fine-tunes the vacation details to help you create unforgettable family memories. Pack your swimsuit and hit the beach in Cabo or bring your snowshoes along to trek through Tahoe. The Welk Experience awaits. "
Weeks or Points: Welk is almost entirely a points based system. They stopped selling set weeks nearly 10 years ago and have been buying set weeks from owners to convert them to points.
All Welk ownes have a 15 month full week booking window and a 9 month short stay/split week booking window. As tiered benefits go up, so does the booking window but less than 10% of owners are at a tiered level which starts at 420k points. San Diego and Branson two bedroom units are 240k points/week for a two bedroom and Breckenridge (newest resort) is 630k during prime season. Units range from studio to five bedroom in size. (five bedroom is Northstar only). As of 2020 maintenance fees on 240k annual points is $1500. Only Tahoe and Breckenridge have noteworthy seasons.
Number of Resorts: Welk has its name on 7 resorts in 7 locations and has just purchased an 8th. San Diego, Palm Springs CA, Lake Tahoe (North), Cabo San Lucas, Branson MO, Breckenridge CO, and Santa Fe (new acquisition of El Corazon de Santa Fe). Welk technically has two resorts in One Village Place on Lake Tahoe: One Village Place and Northstar Lodge. The main resort in San Diego has three sections: Lawrence Welk Resort Villas (original resort with only 2 bedroom units), Villas on the Greens with studio to 2 bedroom lockoff units and Mountain Villas which has studio to 3 bedroom units.
All Welk resort units contain at least a limited kitchen with apartment size fridge, two burner cooktop, dishwasher, and microwave as well as a private balcony/patio. 1BR units and bigger all have a full kitchen and average over 750sqft. All Branson and Cabo units face the same direction so there is no concern of owning a certain view. No Welk unit balcony faces only a parking lot.
Affiliated Resorts: Welk has 15 affiliated resorts that can be traded into for no fee. Affiliated resorts include: Arroyo Roble Resort in Sedona, The Cliffs at Princeville on Kuaai, Disney's Boardwalk Villas, Disney Saratoga Springs, Disney Aulani, Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond Oregon, Falcon Point in Avon CO, Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara in San Diego, Four Seasons Residence Club Troon North in Scottsdale, Pono Kai Resort on Kapa'a, Poste Montane Lodge in Beaver Creek, Red Wolf Lodge Lakeside at Lake Tahoe, Red Wolf Lodge at Squaw Valley, Stoneridge Resort in Blanchard Idaho, and Villas of Cave Creek near Phoenix. Ski area resorts have point variances per season but the rest do not. Disney, and hawaii resorts have no off season, nor do the Southwest region resorts.
Home resort: There truly is no home resort with Welk. You just buy points with a deeded interest. So if you buy 240k annual points in Branson, you can book at any Welk resort without limitation except what your points can get. As the resorts get newer, the points to book increase. 120k will get a large one bedroom in Branson, San Diego, and Palm Springs, but will only get you a studio in Cabo or Tahoe and only a studio in off-season in Breckenridge.
Exchange: Welk is dual affiliated with RCI and II but all owners, including resale owners get a Platinum RCI membership included in their maintenance/vacation ownership fees. Welk owners have to pay for II membership themselves but can still trade with II. Welk resorts trades better than almost any resort, evidenced by their priority access to Disney which all Welk Owners receive. (I've personally seen numerous two bedroom units at SSR and OKW, as well as units at Boulder Ridge and Animal Kingdom on RCI). When exchanging with RCI or II, owners receive a "bonus week" for exchanging. An accommodation certificate with II and a bonus week with RCI that has to be called in to claim/check availability of.
Price: Retail points start at $13k for 90K EEY points. 240k annual points go for around $50k. Resale Welk goes for around a penny a point plus transaction fees around $300.
Retail vs Resale: The only perk that retail owners have over resale owners is being able to book directly into the associated Disney resorts plus some very minor tiered benefits that start at 420k points. Benefits include discounts on golf, 18 month extended booking window vs 15 month which expands by one month per higher level, up to 35% points discount for bookings made inside 60 days, extended split week reservations by a month per level. There are 5 priority/tiered levels starting at 420k.
Tiered Ownership: Again, less than 10% of owners are at tier 5 and above. Tier 5 is 420K annual points, tier 4 is 720k annual points, tier 3 is 1,020,000 annual points, tier 4 is 1.5M annual points and tier 5 is 2M annual points.
Points accrual/rollover: This is Welk's biggest downfall. If you want to rollover/accrue points from one year (use year) to the next, those points have a limited booking window of 60 days unless you are a tiered owner. So DO NOT BUY WELK EEY RESALE BECAUSE IT SUCKS!!!
Extra costs: There are next to no extra costs with Welk aside from your MF/VOA. There are no parking fees, no short stay fees, not transfer fees to affiliated resorts, no housekeeping fees, no limit to how many times you can stay in a year except what your points allow. There is a $50 fee for a guest certificate if you let a friend stay under your name. Welk also has a rental program with a 75% success rate that will historically covers MF/VOA fees and then some.
Social Media: There is a "Welk Platinum Owners Group" Facebook page for any owners reading this who would like to share thoughts etc. If your'e not an owner, don't ask to join as I'm a moderator and there are screening questions. If you want to know more, just message me on here or find me on Facebook.
Links: The link below for tiered benefits is from the system that Welk stopped using in 2018. But the benefits are the same per level until you get to tier 1 at 2M points. Those benefits I don't know and definitely aren't worth it.
