What should I buy? - Current Happy Hyatt Owner

[travelhacker]

A little bit about me:
My brother in law is a Worldmark owner and uses it almost exclusively to trade in II. He let me peruse II a few years ago and make a few getaway bookings and I stayed in different Hyatt options during the offseason. I absolutely loved them.

I studied the Hyatt system for about a year before purchasing to make sure that it would work well for me. I'm over a year into my ownership (purchased Resale), and absolutely love it. I think there is great value in understanding all of the ins and outs of a system and while I'm not completely there with Hyatt, it has worked out great for me. I have used it for mostly internal exchanges as well as II trades. It also helps that we live in Colorado and we have several GREAT options nearby. I've picked up some great stays last minute.

Here's the reason why I am looking at getting an option in a different system:

We have 3 young children and will be tied to a school schedule for the next 15 years (ACK!). While we have no problem missing a week or maybe two of school, we really have to start buckling down and sticking with the school schedule. I have found that two bedroom exchanges can be difficult given the Marriott preference period (the big 3 Marriott Resorts in Hilton Head, Hawaii Marriott resorts, etc) during High Season.

I also think our family would absolutely love exchanging into 1 Bedroom DVC on a somewhat regular basis (once a year, every other year). I'm completely fine with SSR as they allow 5 in a 1 bedroom and I don't think I'd get any complaints from our kids for another decade at least.

The other thing that I have in mind is that when we go somewhere expensive to get to, I'd like to stay there for two weeks. So for example, we could do a week at the Hyatt Ka'anapali and do a separate week at say the Marriott Ko'olina. I know this would be extraordinarily difficult during Winter Break, but from what I've seen I may be able to get it to work during early summer (we're out before Memorial Day, so we'd go from Memorial day to early June). Another example of this would be to do a week at the theme parks in Orlando and then spending a week in say Hilton Head. We have no problems driving on vacation...or doing a week in Orlando and a week at one of the Marriott's in Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale (however, I do think I could get this exchange with my Hyatt).

I have thought about the following:
1) Picking up a Marriott Trader. I think an EOY 3 Bedroom Grand Chateau could work out great for getting the occasional high season 2 bedroom exchange. I have no issues planning 2 years in advance.

2) Picking up an RCI Points week. This would get my access to DVC and HGVC. In the sightings, I have seen a fair amount of dates that would work for us at SSR and I have also seen dates that would work for us in Hawaii within HGVC. Staying on site at Disney is a whole different experience, and I do like the potential offered by an RCI points week. I also would like access to RCI since I currently only have access to II. Grand desert looks like a good option...especially if I could pick up a 122,000 point week.

3) Picking up HGVC. HGVC has a lot of similarities to the Hyatt system but a much larger footprint. We absolutely LOVE the Big Island, and think it could be complementary to our Hyatt (spend a week in Maui with Hyatt and a week on the BI during early summer) and I think it would be a good fit. However, I think I'd have a hard time convincing the Mrs. to spend the upfront amount to get a lower maintenance fee week. Also the potential of an Apollo buyout has me a little worried. Maintenance Fees have already jumped quite a bit with the Marriott buyout, but it does feel like

4) Sticking with what I have. We've been really happy with what we have and it works well for us. If I wanted two weeks in Hawaii, I could do Hyatt and then a rental.

I'd love to hear any thoughts. Thanks!

 

[SunsetMaven]

Hi! I was browsing for LT Transfers closing costs and saw your post here. Not sure if I could add any value but here goes:

1) I went deep into researching how best to get into DVC (renting points from an owner, renting points from an intermediary like David's Rental, buying an RCI trader, turning our SBP into an RCI Trader or just buying into DVC).
Here's a thread I posted about buying vs renting that I got some great replies on: https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/buying-vs-renting-points-why-do-you-love-dvc.297646/

Here's a thread I posted about whether I should turn on SBP into an RCI trader instead. Again, got great replies and a bit more depth into the RCI system: https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/2bd-lo-sbp-deposit-ii-vs-rci.297599/#post-2356862

In summary, I decided against turning our SBP into an RCI trader because (1) poor value, (2) fluctuating value of resorts within RCI and (3) lack of wide availability @ DVC and lack of resorts (even though you said you're OK with SSR, that may change in 10 years?)

I have instead decided to pursue purchasing a DVC unit. I figured worst case for years we can't use it, we can rent it out via David's and get $13.50/pt back or rent it out directly (TONS of Facebook groups) for $16-18/pt. I am in the process of getting a contract executed for SSR 150 points (but it's so low that I'm 90% sure it'll be ROFR'd). I have also seen bankruptcy auctions for DVC units on eBay. Not sure if they go through ROFR and not sure if title companies will cover that. (There's one active right now for 250 points).

2) Vistana just announced this via a recent newsletter (PM me if you want me to forward you the e-mail):

You’ll continue to enjoy your first priority access to other Westin Vacation Club and Sheraton Vacation Club resorts. And now you can also take advantage of preferred access (over other Interval International members) to available Marriott Vacation Club resorts and properties. Explore New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Bali, Phuket, and many more global destinations.

So that looks to me like Vistana resorts ALSO get Marriott priority within II (can others comment on this?) It's probably too soon to tell what "preferred access" means versus "first priority access" but you could also consider a Vistana? Our SBP (gold week, but within II it's ranked in the top category for trading value according to their resort listing page) that we got for free with free closings costs and 1 year MFs paid (while I used the week) has been a strong trader with Westin/Sheraton preference. And now seemingly with Marriott preference too. Could be worth a thought for you?

Westin Nanea shows up every now and then (usually a bulk deposit - search within Sightings to confirm) and it's a 2 bedroom often. As they sell out, the inventory availability for Nanea might change. But we paired up 5 nights at Hyatt Kaanapali (the timeshare offer I told you about) + a week at Westin Nanea 2 bedroom traded via II with our SBP studio (locked off our 2bdrm to trade for 2 weeks instead).

 

[capjak]

I own several of the hotel chain TSs. Based on you wanting to stay on site DVC every other year, I would purchase points (1/2 of what you would need for an every year stay on site), I would also consider either purchasing an 2 bedroom mandatory Sheraton Vistana Village Key West or Bella sections (81,000 Staroptions every year which you could bank and get a 2 bedroom EOY on Maui at 8 months prior to checkin) and/or a EOY 3 bedroom Marriott Grand Chateau or Grande Vista for trading. The Grande Vista can be part of the Florida Club which gives you access to other Florida resorts direct and allows you to split a 3 bedroom into 1x 1 bedroom plus 2 studios for 3 weeks worth of trades. Just a few thoughts

 

[SteelerGal]

As others suggested, I would look into Marriott as well as Vistana. You can purchase a Vistana trader Vistana mandatory, or go w/ a Marriott. If you want Disney, buy or rent DVC.(We live SoCal so DisneyWorld is of zero interest. Ex Season Pass Holder).

We have young children as well so tied to school schedule and own in the MVC family, a HGVC affiliate(Big Island) and an Independent. Because we are SoCal, I own Marriott Desert to ensure we always can get Spring Break. Purchased a Sheraton, SDO, as a trader. Since Vistana now has preference w/in, was able to pull Christmas in the Desert and Sedona Spring Break. W/ my Westin mandatory, I can prepay to combine points to stay on another Hawaiian Island if that’s what we decide. It’s really personal preference how you build your portfolio. Just do your research and rent before you decide. I have purchased so TS dogs that I am still trying to unload.