westgate resale benefits for booking week

[jackiepurdy]

I am gettin 2 different answers, can anyone confirm if you can book say 11 months in advance on a floating westgate vacation villas or town center resale. We have one we want to take over however I have read you can only book up to 60 days in advance, which wouldn't work for us to be able to book flights.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

I am gettin 2 different answers, can anyone confirm if you can book say 11 months in advance on a floating westgate resale. We have one we want to take over however I have read you can only book up to 60 days in advance, which wouldn't work for us to be able to book flights.

Strongly advise against Westgate. Lots of other better systems out there that are better for resale owners that are also basically free. Once you take on a Westgate you will find it very difficult to exit.

 

[callwill]

Strongly advise against Westgate. Lots of other better systems out there that are better for resale owners that are also basically free. Once you take on a Westgate you will find it very difficult to exit.

There is a reason they are called wastegate.

 

[Passepartout]

I am gettin 2 different answers, can anyone confirm if you can book say 11 months in advance on a floating westgate resale. We have one we want to take over however I have read you can only book up to 60 days in advance, which wouldn't work for us to be able to book flights.

Our understanding is that they strip virtually all perks from resale contracts. what you heard about the 60 days booking before move-in- and that's at your home resort. Other internal exchanges must go through II, and at higher cost. Also all exchange fees are nearly double those of developer-sold contracts.

In short: STAY AWAY FROM WASTEGATE!

 

[GTLINZ]

Run , Forest, Run !

 

[dioxide45]

I've reviewed the Westgate owner guide and the only restrictions I have been able to find related to resale are where it comes to fees. The fees are punitive. If you want to book another Westgate resort other than the one you own, the fee is $700 vs. $169 for someone who purchased direct. That doesn't mean there isn't a 60 restriction, but I have found no direct mention of it. Here is a link to another thread from someone who owned resale and was looking to upgrade to direct. You may want to ask in this thread as it is someone with real first hand experience other than guesses from non owners who have no direct experience with the product, resale or direct.

First Post! Westgate "Upgrade" From Resale

Hi all, first post here and want to get thoughts on this move: Initial resale purchase: - 2019 Florida Westgate Vacation Villas Resort (II Premier) - 10,000 usd - 1 week july lockout bi-yearly - 10 person villa - 1400 usd maintenance bi-yearly Upgrade purchase - 2024 Tennesse Westgate Smoky...

tugbbs.com

That said, I do tend to agree with others. There are better systems out there with better resorts in many of the same destinations that you will find a Westgate timeshare. Look at one of those instead and you don't have to deal with the unknown of buying something you can never get rid of.

I have also found Westage Facebook groups to be just about useless. I tried to join one and my approval is still pending weeks later. The other I did join (it was public) requires new comments to be approved. They haven't approved anything new since February 29th. There used to be a very large group (>10K members) but I can't find it now. Not sure if something happened to it as the administrator was MIA for over a year and no new posts were being approved. I noticed at one time it became active again but now it seems to be gone.

 

[bnoble]

I am gettin 2 different answers

I think you are getting two different answers because there are at least some resorts/weeks/etc. which do have such a restriction, but if I recall the past discussions here, not all of them do. However, the phone representatives/booking system seem to attempt to enforce this restriction much more broadly than they should, and getting them to do the right thing is difficult if not impossible.

So, there may not be a 60-day restriction on the week you are thinking about taking over. But, there's a good chance Westgate will treat it as if there is, and it will be a royal PITA to get them to fix it. Worse, you may have to do that every year. This is mostly because Westgate is actively antagonistic to resale owners.

I'd avoid this at all costs. There are many many other free or nearly free (for resale) systems which treat resale owners with much less disdain. The only possible reason I'd consider this is if (a) the current owners purchased it directly from Westgate, and (b) this was considered a direct-family transfer and you'd be treated as if you were a direct owner as well.

Even then, I'd probably look elsewhere. There are too many other options out there to risk it.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Westgate is the lowest of the low, in my opinion. I avoid even exchanging into those resorts because I find the unit quality unimpressive. The newer resorts are maintained, then they sell out and stop maintaining the older ones. Westgate Villages is a perfect example.

What is your reason for wanting Westgate? A specific location? An impressive timeshare presentation?

 

[grupp]

Which resort are you looking at taking over the week at? I own at Westgate Park City and it depends on the deed as to whether the 60 day limit is imposed but I can't comment on other resorts. There is nothing in their Owners Guide that addresses this directly. My understanding for Park City is anything sold by Westgate after 2009 is going have wording on the deed that will have the 60 restriction placed on it if it resold. I have not seen the wording on a deed, so don't really no what it says.

I researched the history of my week and it was orginally sold by them in 2004 and the deed does not contain any restrictions. However, they have placed the 60 day restriction on my online account. I had to fight with them a few years ago and finally had someone from Owners Services add a note to account that allows me to make my resevervation at 11 months but I have to call in every year vs making it online. Kind of a hassle, but have have a ski week that I bought for $1 (was just there last week) and love the resort itself. Well worth the hour every year I have to spend getting to someone to make my reservation for me. If the 60 day restriction was applied I would never be able to reserve a week within the ski season.

From what I have been told by the Customer Service reps at Westgage, they have no idea on why some have restrictions when the look at an account. They just see it is there and can not override it themselves. When I first purchsed at Park City they actually had their own Customer Service number but that has been gone for quite a while now.

The deed restriction were applicable is very unfortunate for the owners as it destroys the resale value of the week the instance they buy from Westgate. Westgate sells the ski weeks for a high price (not sure of thier current pricing) and with the 60 restriction applied if the they resell it later it is worth $0 the moment it is transfered to the owner.

 

[swditz]

As said previously if the deed is older and has no restrictions you can book at 11 months and only at certain resorts. Rule of thumb though is a resale will be limited to 60 days out.
I own Westgate and really like there resorts but would never recommend resale!

 

[dioxide45]

I just looked up a deed for Westgate Lakes to find an example. I don't see anything specific on the deed itself, but the deeds do reference the underlying resort CC&R documents. Looking at this one for Westgate Lakes it looks like it is effective November 7, 2008 and the restriction there is 30 days, not 60. Ouch! a truly POS company.

 

[swditz]

Westgate is the lowest of the low, in my opinion. I avoid even exchanging into those resorts because I find the unit quality unimpressive. The newer resorts are maintained, then they sell out and stop maintaining the older ones. Westgate Villages is a perfect example.

What is your reason for wanting Westgate? A specific location? An impressive timeshare presentation?

I can't agree about maintenance. There are no units at the villages that havn't been fully renovated in the past two years. Stayed there last month.
My home resort is the palace and has been completely done over twice since owning there..
Lots of legit negatives about westgate. I've never found conditions to be one of them.
I would believe exchangers may not get the newer units before owners but all do get updated regularly.

 

[dioxide45]

I can't agree about maintenance. There are no units at the villages that havn't been fully renovated in the past two years. Stayed there last month.
My home resort is the palace and has been completely done over twice since owning there..
Lots of legit negatives about westgate. I've never found conditions to be one of them.
I would believe exchangers may not get the newer units before owners but all do get updated regularly.

What is the villages? Do you mean Westgate Vacation Villas?

 

[swditz]

What is the villages? Do you mean Westgate Vacation Villas?

Yes. I believe that is where rickandcindy was referring to.

 

[dioxide45]

Yes. I believe that is where rickandcindy was referring to.

Then glad to hear about the updated villas. We booked a getaway there through II and was kind of worried. Had us wishing we had booked Town Center instead. Can you speak to Town Center. I know they share the same grounds and amenities, but how are the rooms at Town Center?

 

[swditz]

Then glad to hear about the updated villas. We booked a getaway there through II and was kind of worried. Had us wishing we had booked Town Center instead. Can you speak to Town Center. I know they share the same grounds and amenities, but how are the rooms at Town Center?

I haven't been in the town center. It is more like a large apartment building. I would assume the rooms to be similar to the villas in decor. I prefer the villas as they are in smaller buildings. We request the bottom floor( they are 2 stories ) so no stairs to climb with groceries etc.if you can request a unit near the town center. That puts you closer to the water park gym etc.it is a very large complex. Not sure the pecking order for II. hopefully you get a good location.

 

[GTLINZ]

Westgate is the lowest of the low, in my opinion. I avoid even exchanging into those resorts because I find the unit quality unimpressive. The newer resorts are maintained, then they sell out and stop maintaining the older ones. Westgate Villages is a perfect example.

To add to this, Westgate resorts routinely show up during peak and nonpeak times as cheap Interval getaways. After reading numerous other posts about Westgate over the years, i would believe where there is smoke there is fire.

 

[gravityrules]

I just looked up a deed for Westgate Lakes to find an example. I don't see anything specific on the deed itself, but the deeds do reference the underlying resort CC&R documents. Looking at this one for Westgate Lakes it looks like it is effective November 7, 2008 and the restriction there is 30 days, not 60. Ouch! a truly POS company.

View attachment 90317

It seems Westgate has a particular disdain for the resale customer, i.e. they really don't want these customers or else think Westgate should be the only 'customer' for resales. You could also say that a company that intentionally destroys the resale of its product doesn't think much of their retail customer either.

 

[J.Ramaj]

I can't speak about Orlando Westgate but Westgate Flamingo Bay in Vegas does not have the 60 day booking restriction. I purchased the resale deed before researching Westgate on here, by the time I did the rescind period had long passed. I was worried but I finally got the information today which allowed me to get into my account online. I was able to book a reservation in November with no problem or fees. Now the rep did put her foot in her mouth when I was trying to get the information to login. She told me I would have a bonus week starting in August, then when she looked further into my account she said that doesn't apply to resale. Her tone definitely changed when she saw I was resale lol. But overall they were nice.

Restrictions I do see are these:

1. On the Westgate portal it says I am not eligible to deposit/exchange my week with Interval International. The only options I have are to deposit my week with Westgate which will get them to hold it for up to 2 years or deposit it with a different exchange system. I'm assuming RCI but it says I have to call to "verify my information is up to date" to get that process started

2. The outrageous fees are true. I have a floating week in Vegas. My plan was to split it between a 4 day and 3 day stay. I was able to book the 4 day stay with no extra fees but when I booked the 3 day stay the STARTING price was $700....this was the housekeeping fee for split weeks. The good thing is that there are no fees for canceling and/or modifying reservations on floating weeks as long as they are done more than 60 days ahead of your stay. I changed my 4 day stay to a 5 day stay. I would rather stay an extra day and forfeit 2 days instead of paying $700 for 3 days which is the rate of $233 a night in addition to the MFs. For the nightly rate of $233 plus MFs I would rather forfeit the 2 days and just pay for a REALLY nice hotel if I need to go back to Vegas. Otherwise for $700 housekeeping better be in my room at least twice a day and should be delivering food or something too lol.

3. The outrageous fees continue with stays at your non home resort. When I was checking dates at another resort it said the fees were STARTING at $600. I believe the dates determine the rates but I'm not 100% sure as every date I checked including holidays like 4th of July were the same $600. Once again I would rather just outright pay for a hotel rather than pay $600 on top of my MFs for the "privilege" of staying at another Westgate property

4. I did have a message saying room types would be restricted because I was a resale owner when I was playing around in the portal. I'm not sure what that means as I stuck with my deeded room type and when I checked the drop down options 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom could both be selected.

5. You get the very basic "benefits" as a Loyalty member. The levels are Member, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Elite. Of course Silver and up are only available for developer purchases and it's based on the dollar amount. As a "Member" I get up to 10% off nightly rates, free WiFi, 50% off resort fees and Fitness center access lol. But when I compared the rates going through the portal compared to just going to the resort's website the rates were the same lol.

6. The partner discounts with the Westgate Loyalty program are decent. For example when I priced movie tickets they were $5 cheaper, shows in Vegas had varying small discounts from $10 off to 30% off. Every little bit helps and partner deals are better overall than the Westgate "deals" on their nightly stays

7. I can book my 2025 time as well, up to 11 months in advance. Of course there was a charge to do that but luckily it was only the 2025 MFs which seems to align with the general practice of having to pay MFs before booking stays for the following year. There were no crazy "non-developer" fees tacked on to the MFs luckily. I also played around with the room types and realized that they are actually greyed out. So I understand the room types unavailable message. As a resale owner you do not have the option of upgrading your room. So if you have a 1 bedroom deed you will be in a 1 bedroom. Developer customers have to pay a fee to upgrade but at least they have the option. I guess there must've been a glitch earlier when I could select different room types.

8. You probably won't have access to the bonus week that Westgate offers. You won't know until you have been an owner for 6 months as that's when you become eligible normally which is why the rep initially told me I would get my bonus week in August. I'll report back but I doubt it's coming since I'm resale. She corrected herself as well but fingers crossed. Maybe Westgate will go ahead and give it to me lol.

Overall as others have said I would stay away from Westgate because of the restrictions. Also is there anyway to have the owner get on a conference call with Westgate and let you listen in? I would have the current owner ask about resale restrictions on his particular deed to see if you will be limited to booking 60 days out. Likewise even if there aren't restrictions with booking I would stay away unless you plan on strictly using the time at your home resort. Trying to exchange within Westgate is cost prohibitive and you probably won't have access to exchange with Interval. I initially wanted in to Westgate because of the good experiences I had staying at their properties in Orlando, and their rooms were always really nice. Luckily for me my Vegas deed isn't bad as long as I'm actually using the home resort time which is what I plan on doing since I love traveling to Vegas every year. But had I known about the restrictions before I purchased the resale deed I would have looked the other way lol. That was my fault for not researching on TUG first but I didn't even know about TUG and didn't know Timehares could be resold until after I attended a presentation at the Grandview and looked for it on ebay just to see if I could become an owner for cheaper. So I just wanted to go into detail as I could never find a straight answer either on if the 60 day booking restrictions was for all deeds or just certain ones. Definitely seems to be for certain deeds but the fees definitely apply to all resale deeds. The only discrepancy I've seen are the rebooking fees, in the Owners guide it says $200 for resale float week owners but I was able to cancel and rebook my time for free and I changed the dates just to verify and was still charged nothing. Also I can't confirm the guest certificate fees. The only way for me to test that was to fully book the reservation and select "guest" then they would allow me to enter the information after the reservation was confirmed, since I'm the one going I didn't want to do that but during normal booking it didn't add any fees so it may be free.

 

[TravelJoy]

As has already been mentioned simply stay away, unless you have specific deeded weeks and not floating, even then just stay away. I was considering Wastegate once upon a time and read through a good bit of the fine print as well to figure out they truly despise resale purchases and go out of their way to ensure they are relieved of benefits.

 

[dioxide45]

1. On the Westgate portal it says I am not eligible to deposit/exchange my week with Interval International. The only options I have are to deposit my week with Westgate which will get them to hold it for up to 2 years or deposit it with a different exchange system. I'm assuming RCI but it says I have to call to "verify my information is up to date" to get that process started

I wonder if you can call II and setup your own II account? If you are still following this, can you confirm if you can possibly setup your own II account and handle deposits on your own vs through Westgate?

5. You get the very basic "benefits" as a Loyalty member. The levels are Member, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Elite. Of course Silver and up are only available for developer purchases and it's based on the dollar amount. As a "Member" I get up to 10% off nightly rates, free WiFi, 50% off resort fees and Fitness center access lol. But when I compared the rates going through the portal compared to just going to the resort's website the rates were the same lol.

Even non owners can become members of WOW loyalty and have the Member level. This provides the same discounts and 25% discount at the waterparks. I am curious if as a resale owner you get complementary access to the waterpark.