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When should I book?

Unless things change this year, LT and SMV have large bulk banks of ski weeks. I bet there are some weeks 47-50 sitting in II right now at both of those resorts.

Now if you want the Westin Riverfront or Steamboat Springs SO's are the way to go, as I've yet to see even one mud week in II from either of those resorts.

It's not hard to find ski weeks up to mid-December available typically, though I wouldn't exactly call those prime time. I've traded several times into Grand Timber Lodge in December, and we've usually had a good time though it's a bit iffy regarding snow conditions.
 
Thanks for the info!
But it gets me thinking.. I am totally new to TS so I might be missing something. If so, please help me out.
I get 162.000 SO per year. That is enough for 1week at Westin in high season (cost is 148.000) for a 2-bedroom lockoff. I mean, I go to their website to book "normally" and the price for the same week is like 2100usd for a room with 2-3 beds and all. My MF is approx 2200usd per year. And then plus that I bought it for a lot of money. Is it really worth it or what am I missing? :)
Thanks for helping a lost Swede!!

Are you sure you were comparing the the same rooms? The time share is a two bedroom lock-off, meaning the smaller studio side is like a hotel room and the larger side is like a suite. I can rent a hotel room with two beds, but it is not nearly as nice as having a two bedroom timeshare for added comfort and privacy!

Some Starwood destinations and times of the year are a better value than others though as people have said before. I kept a running total of the effective cost of our timeshare purchase for a while, but I stopped. Some vacations were better "values" than others. When we traded into Atlantis, the two bedroom lock-off we exchanged into would have cost $16,000 for the time we were there if we had reserved the rooms from the Starwood website. Some years the amount we pay in MF fees are probably close to what we would have paid had we just rented the room. I stopped keeping track because a large part of my enjoyment of having the timeshare is knowing that we will take a vacation each year, and knowing we will stay in large enough accommodations that my family can spread out and we can often invite others to go with us.
 
It's not hard to find ski weeks up to mid-December available typically, though I wouldn't exactly call those prime time. I've traded several times into Grand Timber Lodge in December, and we've usually had a good time though it's a bit iffy regarding snow conditions.

That was my point early midDecember is kind of iffy., but they are listed as Platinum weeks if the OP was looking to go the SO route instead of II which might be a better value.
 
In my limited experience trying to exchange (in SVN and II) into one of the ski resorts, it's crucial to find out when the ski lifts run. It doesn't matter if it's still snowing buckets. If the lifts aren't running, I guarantee you that it's not going to be great skiing. :D
 
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