Welk?

[JeroMan]

What does everyone think of owning this ts? Was looking at 240k annual points with 1400/yr maintenance fees.

 

[Passepartout]

There are TUGgers who extol the virtues of Welk. I am not that jazzed on it, though they are great resorts. As long as it's a resale and works with your travel/vacation plans, why not?

Jim

 

[mjm1]

What does everyone think of owning this ts? Was looking at 240k annual points with 1400/yr maintenance fees.

We are former owners of Welk. We started by buying (resale) one of the fixed week fixed unit 2BR units in the original Escondido property. Then we converted to the Platinum Points Program and had 300,000 points.

The properties in their system are nice other than the Palm Springs Resort, which are converted 1BR apartments. However, over time we found the locations to not be ideal for us. We finally sold our ownership back to them, when that possible to do, and upgraded to systems that fit our needs better.

One thing to keep in mind if you buy resale is to make sure you buy enough points to fit your needs. If you find in the future that you need more points you can buy more, but it will be a second contract. That means that your maintenance fees will be higher than if you had bought the total amount of points at the same time. That’s because they charge a base fee plus an amount based on the amount of points, which means you would be paying the higher base fee twice instead of once. Hopefully that makes sense. Also, you can’t combine your two points accounts to make one reservation. You have to use them separately.

If you decide to buy, resale is definitely the best approach. I believe the only benefits you lose out on with Welk are discounts if you rent additional nights and status with8n the system. However, if you are just starting out I recommend that you research the various systems in order to make the best decision for your vacation needs. TUG is a great resource for research.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[Shankilicious]

We are former owners of Welk. We started by buying (resale) one of the fixed week fixed unit 2BR units in the original Escondido property. Then we converted to the Platinum Points Program and had 300,000 points.

The properties in their system are nice other than the Palm Springs Resort, which are converted 1BR apartments. However, over time we found the locations to not be ideal for us. We finally sold our ownership back to them, when that possible to do, and upgraded to systems that fit our needs better.

One thing to keep in mind if you buy resale is to make sure you buy enough points to fit your needs. If you find in the future that you need more points you can buy more, but it will be a second contract. That means that your maintenance fees will be higher than if you had bought the total amount of points at the same time. That’s because they charge a base fee plus an amount based on the amount of points, which means you would be paying the higher base fee twice instead of once. Hopefully that makes sense. Also, you can’t combine your two points accounts to make one reservation. You have to use them separately.

If you decide to buy, resale is definitely the best approach. I believe the only benefits you lose out on with Welk are discounts if you rent additional nights and status with8n the system. However, if you are just starting out I recommend that you research the various systems in order to make the best decision for your vacation needs. TUG is a great resource for research.

Best regards.

Mike

All very solid advice. I am one of those people, (if not the exact one @Passepartout had in mind ) who LOVE Welk. The resorts are top notch, although Palm Springs is older it is now getting renovated, and the company is growing in multiple ways. Breckenridge is opening in November and Hawaii has broken ground but there may be issues with moving forward there. However the Collections (affiliated properties) have resorts in Hawaii and Welk is adding to the Collection every year.
All that being said, Welk is a smaller system and I don't count being dual affiliated with II or RCI as any kind of guarantee on getting an amazing property the time of year you want it, so unless you want to stay/live primarily in California, or live in the Midwest where nothing is close and love Branson, I recommend looking at a larger system like Worldmark.

 

[Passepartout]

All very solid advice. I am one of those people, (if not the exact one @Passepartout had in mind ) who LOVE Welk. The resorts are top notch, although Palm Springs is older it is now getting renovated, and the company is growing in multiple ways. Breckenridge is opening in November and Hawaii has broken ground but there may be issues with moving forward there. However the Collections (affiliated properties) have resorts in Hawaii and Welk is adding to the Collection every year.

Uh-oh. Busted.

 

[Guitarmom]

I'm another poster who loves Welk. And I think that the advice given here is spot on: Do the Welk locations fit your vacation needs? Is one week in a small one bedroom (i.e. 120,000 points) adequate?

Welk is a good trader in RCI, but that shouldn't be your main reason for buying Welk. There are other options with lower MFs.