Westin Desert Willow, platinum plus Odd week, not in the "network" and want to know about depositing to II

[rickandcindy23]

On 1/25 I paid $99 membership fee to get two weeks added to my II account, a Westin Desert Willow odd years week, and a Sheraton Broadway Plantation we just bought. I wait until I have at least two weeks to add and pay to extend a year. Our membership is now to 2033, by the way.

Bottomline, only the SBP was added, the WDW was not added. I called II first, and I was told the addition of the WDW was denied by Vistana. I called Vistana's number for Sheraton and was told that because I am not in the network, she could not help me or do anything for me. You just own deeded weeks, and I cannot call II to add anything to your account. If you were in the "network" I could help you. I told her we do own two weeks "in the network," and she said, "doesn't matter what you own in the network, this week is not in the network and I cannot do anything with it."

This is the account we have that is just for weeks deeded to the two of us. This II account has several SBP, 3 SDO, and all of our Marriott weeks. I stopped adding the kids' names to deeds about ten years ago. I decided they don't need to inherit all of this XXXX (expletive) from us after we are gone. I finally started using my brain.

I called II again today to add that 3rd SDO week just transferred to us from a TUGger, plus I added the WDW odd years week again, paid a year of platinum membership.

My question for WDW owners is do I deposit my ODD year week as generic week, or do I deposit specific reservations? The Vistana person wouldn't answer that question, and the II person said all of Westin/ Sheraton is deposited as generic deposits, no specific reservations are accepted. Is that true?

If the WDW gets deposited as two deposits, each side of the lockoff, am I going to have to pay a fee for "locking" them off? That seems to be a new thing with the Marriott takeover.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I also want to add that Marriott never treats me as a second-class citizen as a resale owner of deeded weeks.

 

[tschwa2]

No fee for locking off and all non fixed weeks with vistana is a generic deposit. If you own more than one, like sbp, you can't tell on the ii side which is which so it is easier to designate for deposit through the vistana website.

 

[SteelerGal]

I’m in the same Twilight Zone. I have several SDO and needed to bank a the larger room. 6wks later, no one knows what happened to my unit. I’ve been told, you don’t have an II account. I do and it’s listed in Vistana. Vistana denied because you don’t have an availability. Nope, I actually had several weeks at that point. And this is only w/ Vistana. I added our newly acquired Marriott w/out any issues.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

On 1/25 I paid $99 membership fee to get two weeks added to my II account, a Westin Desert Willow odd years week, and a Sheraton Broadway Plantation we just bought. I wait until I have at least two weeks to add and pay to extend a year. Our membership is now to 2033, by the way.

Bottomline, only the SBP was added, the WDW was not added. I called II first, and I was told the addition of the WDW was denied by Vistana. I called Vistana's number for Sheraton and was told that because I am not in the network, she could not help me or do anything for me. You just own deeded weeks, and I cannot call II to add anything to your account. If you were in the "network" I could help you. I told her we do own two weeks "in the network," and she said, "doesn't matter what you own in the network, this week is not in the network and I cannot do anything with it."

This is the account we have that is just for weeks deeded to the two of us. This II account has several SBP, 3 SDO, and all of our Marriott weeks. I stopped adding the kids' names to deeds about ten years ago. I decided they don't need to inherit all of this XXXX (expletive) from us after we are gone. I finally started using my brain.

I called II again today to add that 3rd SDO week just transferred to us from a TUGger, plus I added the WDW odd years week again, paid a year of platinum membership.

My question for WDW owners is do I deposit my ODD year week as generic week, or do I deposit specific reservations? The Vistana person wouldn't answer that question, and the II person said all of Westin/ Sheraton is deposited as generic deposits, no specific reservations are accepted. Is that true?

If the WDW gets deposited as two deposits, each side of the lockoff, am I going to have to pay a fee for "locking" them off? That seems to be a new thing with the Marriott takeover.

Cindy, did you ever sort this out?

I don't understand the requirements to be "in the network". Is that something that you can only achieve by buying from the developer?

I've contemplated buying a deeded West Desert Willow unit because it splits into two 1-BR units that would be nice to stay in as well as being good trader. But if I cannot deposit it into ii, that would be a significant restriction.

 

[dioxide45]

Cindy, did you ever sort this out?

I don't understand the requirements to be "in the network". Is that something that you can only achieve by buying from the developer?

I've contemplated buying a deeded West Desert Willow unit because it splits into two 1-BR units that would be nice to stay in as well as being good trader. But if I cannot deposit it into ii, that would be a significant restriction.

I think the requirement to be in network was to have Vistana help with getting the unit added to the account. The week should be able to be added to the account, I wonder though if the rep tried to add it to the right account because Cindy also owns mandatory resales. If the rep tried to add it to the mandatory resale account, it would be denied.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Cindy, did you ever sort this out?

I don't understand the requirements to be "in the network". Is that something that you can only achieve by buying from the developer?

I've contemplated buying a deeded West Desert Willow unit because it splits into two 1-BR units that would be nice to stay in as well as being good trader. But if I cannot deposit it into ii, that would be a significant restriction.

Yes, the Westin Desert Willow is in my account, and I did lock it off for two deposits and have both sides of the lockoff in my II account. It took several calls to II and Vistana to get it added, but finally they did add it. I do not like phone calls. It's annoying.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Yes, the Westin Desert Willow is in my account, and I did lock it off for two deposits and have both sides of the lockoff in my II account. It took several calls to II and Vistana to get it added, but finally they did add it. I do not like phone calls. It's annoying.

Thanks for the update.

Is the process of making the home resort reservation just the same as a Marriott - - that is, if you have one unit you can reserve 12 months in advance and if you have 2 or more units you reserve at 13 months? Plus can you lock off yourself on-line or do you need to do it via a rep on the phone?

 

[jabberwocky]

Thanks for the update.

Is the process of making the home resort reservation just the same as a Marriott - - that is, if you have one unit you can reserve 12 months in advance and if you have 2 or more units you reserve at 13 months? Plus can you lock off yourself on-line or do you need to do it via a rep on the phone?

You can only book 12 months out regardless of how many units you own. Lock-offs can be booked online or via rep.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

You can only book 12 months out regardless of how many units you own. Lock-offs can be booked online or via rep.

Thanks.

If a person owns two units and splits them, can you book four sequential (back-to-back) units at that time?

 

[dioxide45]

Thanks.

If a person owns two units and splits them, can you book four sequential (back-to-back) units at that time?

Not with Vistana. Each week is booked independently. So if booking consecutive weeks, you have to reserve the first week then go back a week later and book the second week. it doesn't work like Marriott.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Not with Vistana. Each week is booked independently. So if booking consecutive weeks, you have to reserve the first week then go back a week later and book the second week. it doesn't work like Marriott.

Thanks. That is helpful to know.

Thanks for the info.

I guess the Vistana policy (for Westin Desert Willow) has some benefits for a person with one or two units - - they have the same chance of getting their reservation as the person with a dozen units. But the downside is that it is if you are a "snowbird" looking to book a month or two of back-to-back units it could be more of a challenge. I was toying with the idea of stringing together a month or two of reservations. It could still be done, but it might be a bit "iffy" to get them to line up perfectly.

Right now we're at Marriott Desert Springs (Palm Desert) and I had requested any building from R to Y because they face the south. When we checked in on Monday (perhaps an "off" day with lower inventory) we couldn't get a south facing unit. All of those units were filled and the front desk person said that many of the south facing units were filled with multi-week snowbird owners.

If (for Westen Desert Willow) a person does a split of the lock-off, can they at least book the two "halves" sequentially at the same time (as back-to-back units)?

 

[jabberwocky]

If you are looking at stringing together a series it should not be a problem - you just can’t do it in a single call and would do it week-by-week.

WDW is one of those resorts where there seems to be a lot of inventory. I routinely see weeks there at the 8 month mark available to book with SO, and this has included weeks 51-52, so I imagine that if you have a home resort reservation (assuming no SO on resale) you could put together a series if booking 12 months out.

The thing I would be most concerned about would be having to move from the large side to the small side if I only had one 2BR lockoff.

 

[byeloe]

If (for Westen Desert Willow) a person does a split of the lock-off, can they at least book the two "halves" sequentially at the same time (as back-to-back units)?

No, you could only book one side at exactly 12 months and then the other side 1 week later

 

[grgs]

I guess the Vistana policy (for Westin Desert Willow) has some benefits for a person with one or two units - - they have the same chance of getting their reservation as the person with a dozen units. But the downside is that it is if you are a "snowbird" looking to book a month or two of back-to-back units it could be more of a challenge. I was toying with the idea of stringing together a month or two of reservations. It could still be done, but it might be a bit "iffy" to get them to line up perfectly.

This one thing I always liked with Vistana--all owners are on equal footing when it comes to making a reservation. A one week owner has as much of a shot as a multi-week owner.

 

[jabberwocky]

This one thing I always liked with Vistana--all owners are on equal footing when it comes to making a reservation. A one week owner has as much of a shot as a multi-week owner.

That’s a good point. It also means that the situation that has occurred with the OP at Desert Springs (snowbirds with 3-4 months) are on the same footing as those with one or two weeks.

 

[rcv82]

The exception to the one week at a time is if you own Flex, which a lot of WDW inventory is in. You can book up to a 14 night stay 12 months out. Of course, it would all have to be in the same room.


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