Worst timeshare resort you've stayed in?

[silentg]

Guidelines for Timeshares?

Hi Folks, I have been reading these post on Worst timeshare resorts and have to wonder, what the guidelines are for these resorts? If they are in RCI or II they have certain guidelines that should be followed. One of my resorts, was kicked out of II and picked up by RCI, only to be kicked out of RCI (or should I say suspended for not being up to standard). This was very disturbing to me, since at the time, I only owned a timeshare at that resort. Since being suspended, the resort improved and was able to be re-instated and has obtained a "Resort of Merit" label or something like that. I check the RCI reviews but find the TUG reviews and comments more informative and unbiased. Since joining TUG, I have purchased 2 additional time-share weeks at other resorts. I enjoy trying new resort exchanges and have been pleased overall with the places I have stayed. Is kind of wierd to list my own resort as the worst timeshare, but at one time, they won the award hands down. From my list you can see it is "Seasons at Sugarbush" But now it is one of the nicer places to stay.
TerryC

 

[michaelsmalley]

Post Reviews !!!!!

I've been reading these posts with great interest because frankly, the TUG reviews section doesn't help that much. We are fairly new to TSing and must depend on reviews as to where to go. TUG reviews are helpful but many are 2 years old or older.

It would be a big help to us newbies if you old pro's would make postings about your trips. From reading the posts on the BBS there are a lot of TUG travelers but not many reviewers.

PLEASE POST REVIEWS WHEN YOU GET HOME.

Thanks

Mike S.

 

[johncoskey]

Worst Resort-Grand Seas Daytona

By far my worst exchange experience was last fall at the Grand Seas Resort in Daytona Beach. Interval rated it a 5 star which is a joke, it's a 3 star at best. The locals call it the "Grand Sleaze". It's very worn, small quarters and worst of all, our ground floor suite was broken into and we were robbed of $700 of personal items. I'll give the resort owners credit though, they did re-imburse me and Interval put another week in my account.

John Coskey

 

[IAMTHEWALRUS]

Wow! I had no idea this thread still existed. I've been away from the board for several months. And now I see that it's stuck to the top. I'm honored!

 

[jkweber]

Hands down, the Sheraton Buganvillas in Puerto Viarta. The shower leaked all over the floor, the burners on the stove didn't work very well, there was no couch, just a concrete slap with a old tired cushion on it, and the bedspread cover was so nasty looking I didn't want to touch it. The first room we checked into was even worse than what I've described...we complained and were moved to this room. The pool however was just glorious, the best pool in any timeshare we have ever been at. So, we hung out at the pool a lot.

 

[babu]

grand seas resort in daytona beach,fl.

NOT 5 star............NOT! it was wonderful tobe at the beach and right on it.

lamps didn't match.....missing a lamp in the bedroom. only one side of the bed had a nightstand. no light worked in the dining area

kitchen has cabinets with paint coming off....old stove....

anyway, they ranked it 5 star under construction but i thought it was under construction with a 5 star rating already.
not what it was going to look like after construction.

if anyone books there, make sure the construction is completed.

 

[Segiah]

Orange tree in Scotsdale AZ. The bedroom had no wall, just a sliding curtain. The sink in the micro kitchen was too small to put a plate in it and there was no dishwasher. Cube refrigerator was on the floor so we had to get on knees to access it.The so called eating table had only one chair.

However it had one of the nicest bathrooms. Huge walk in shower, jacuzzi tub and a color TV.

Will never go there again even though it had a nice golf course.

P E H

 

[bogey21]

I also second Chateau La Grand in Biloxi. This was even pre-hurricane..

Hopfully the massive post hurricane repairs will rectify the situation.

GEORGE

 

[Judy]

Bonaparte's Quarters New Orleans

I nominate Bonaparte's Quarters for the best location, worst timeshare award. It's on Ursuline Street between Bourbon Street and Royal

But, it was an attic unit reached by two flights of narrow stairs totaling 29. It had four dormer windows and much of the unit was quite dark. One of the bedrooms had no window at all. One of the twin beds had only a bottom sheet. There were no sheets for the sofa. We were short by several pillow cases. The office is only open several days a week and never at night. The light in the hallway didn't work. The track lighting in our unit didn't work. There were no living room chairs. The oven was dirty. The frig leaked water all over our food and the floor.
I don't think the poor maintenance and housekeeping was a result of hurricane Katrina, just years of neglect.

A new manager had just started and did everything she could to correct the problems in the short time we were there. I hope that she'll make impovements before the next time we stay there.

Yes, we'll stay there again. The location is Outstanding.

 

[Kona Lovers]

I'd have to say the worst was in Palm Springs at a Marriott. We had 5 in the party and they only gave us a studio lockout. They were very rude and we left early. Fortunately it was their dime, a freebie due to a lengthy stay we had earlier that year at a Marriott hotel in the Nashville area.

 

[emmaddy]

Worst timeshare experience

We just had it at the Grande Seas in Daytona Beach. This is billed as a 5 star which has been recently renovated.(so it now looks like a 60's resort instead of 50's). We changed units and still were there only 90 minutes, the time it took to rebook earlier flights and get the heck out of there. It was musty, dirty, LOUD, tacky, moldy, and had the odor of pot smoke emanating from the beach bar. UGH. Live and learn!

 

[emmaddy]

Worst timeshare experience

We just had it at the Grande Seas in Daytona Beach. This is billed as a 5 star which has been recently renovated.(so it now looks like a 60's resort instead of 50's). We changed units and still were there only 90 minutes, the time it took to rebook earlier flights and get the heck out of there. It was musty, dirty, LOUD, tacky, moldy, and had the odor of pot smoke emanating from the beach bar. UGH. Live and learn! We were just there Sat. Aug 12,06.

 

[davhu1]

Divi Southwind update

We were forced to spend a night and a day here when Divi Southwinds overbooked and had no unit left for us. It was like we stepped back in time, the furnishings were very 50's. The smells from the resort next door were awful.

Welcome to DIVI which I refer to as Dumps In Various Islands. You must have noticed that Heritage was not much worse than Southwinds. Got to the Divi Owners board and see complaints about other Divi properties. They only fix up a place where they are trying to sell something.

We stayed at Divi Southwind in 8/06 (1st floor). Our units was refurbished with new kitchen and bathroom. The furnishing was either new or repainted.

Looked like they were working their way up.. The units on the 5th were being refurbished at the time.

 

[ZCar]

martygeorge79,
Quote:
"I'd have to say the worst was in Palm Springs at a Marriott. We had 5 in the party and they only gave us a studio lockout. They were very rude and we left early. Fortunately it was their dime, a freebie due to a lengthy stay we had earlier that year at a Marriott hotel in the Nashville area".

Was this Desert Springs I or Desesrt Springs II in Palm Desert?
What did your reservation say? Probably a Guest Suite or Studio.
By both Marriott's & Interval's standards, those are suitable for 2 only.
You had 5. Even a one bedroom is for 4.
Too bad you were expecting more and had a bad experience. It's a great resort.

 

[travelplanner70]

Cathedral Ledge Condominium in NH. Run down, moldy, all the Febreeze in the world did not help this place. Appliances broken. Just terrible.

 

[Kona Lovers]

ZCar:
I don't recall which of the resorts it was, but when they called us, we told them there were going to be 5, and we even had to pay a fee for the extra 3, but we did as it was to be a Christmas time vacation. We were entirely new to this and didn't know about the room sizes there. The resorts were quite nice, and it would have been enjoyable with adequate accomodations. You live and learn....

 

[susieq]

Cathedral Ledge Condominium in NH. Run down, moldy, all the Febreeze in the world did not help this place. Appliances broken. Just terrible.

Was hoping maybe this place might've changed over the past few years, (check out reply #38), ~~ apparently is has ~~ for the worse!! Didn't think it was possible! :ignore:

Sue

 

[sage]

Riviera Shores Resort at Capistrano Beach

This is alo part of Monarch grand Vacations at Riveria Shores.
We stayed there nearly 3 years ago. It was off season - late Jan- and the resort was nearly empty.
We booked a 2BR and on our II certificate it stated the some rooms did not have a view.
We found out later that all 2 BR's looked onto a huge retaining wall whilst the !BR's all had beach views.
The unit was pitch black during the day and, even with all the lights on you would have a lot of trouble reading a book!
We were told a coffee shop was walking distance down the road - about 3-5 kilometres. Extremely unimpressed!

 

[dchilds]

Worst Timeshare

This one is easy. Tortolla - Prospect Reef Resort. We had a week get-a-way and ended staying one night. It was dirty, the bed felt like a cardboard box, there was no beach. It has since been closed by the government for failure to pay taxes or similar.

 

[silentg]

I sure hope they have improved since 2002. I am going there next month. Did you post a review of Hollywood Beach Towers?

 

[Ray]

Titusville timeshare

Hey Copper Penny 22 . . .
Following my retirement, we stayed in Titusville a few times and never found it to be as you have described it. Indeed, we lived in timeshares FULL TIME for two years, mostly in Florida units. Your experiences may be more limited than ours.
We no longer travel in Florida timeshares as our advanced ages have slowed us down. We wish you many happy timeshare exchange weeks; we certainly enjoyed ours.
Ray

 

[copperpenny22]

Hey Ray:

We stayed at Vacation Villas in Titusville in the early 90's--probably '93 or '94. Trust me, this timeshare was as I described at that time. Shortly after that time, RCI dropped them from their directory for not staying within RCI standards. Several years later, Vacation Villas reappeared in the RCI directory. They have no category recognition, making them the lowest on RCI's totem pole.

We vowed at that time, not to ever exchange into a timeshare that did not have a rating. Well, this past summer we broke that vow and arranged for an exchange at Orofino at Straight River in Dillon, CO. Again, we were disappointed. Orofino was not quite as bad as Vacation Villas, but it was pretty close. Apparently Orofino was an apartment complex that was converted into timeshares--AKA Vacation Villas; it was in bad need of refurbishing throughout the unit; not located in the best part of town; dingy-looking exterior, with absolutely no landscaping. It reminded me of a sleezy motel.

Needless to say, we have renewed our vow not to ever exchange into a non-rated timeshare.

On the brightside, also this past summer we stayed at four other timeshares, which were just great!

copperpenny22

 

[Laurie]

Needless to say, we have renewed our vow not to ever exchange into a non-rated timeshare.

copperpenny,
To each their own of course, but some of my best exchanges have been into unrated resorts. (2 examples: this past summer into an unrated resort in Venice... a few years ago into the Perigord/Dordogne region of France.)

I find TUG reviews (not rankings) much more helpful than RCI ratings. Sometimes there is no TUG review, so I've learned to try to do my research as carefully as possible and make sure the exact location is to my liking, in case the resort itself is a disappointment.

No rating doen't necessarily mean sub-standard, and many of them don't need refurbishment and are in great locations. Also note that unit size and quality isn't part of RCI's formula, so a 2000-square-foot condo with a spectacular ocean view and average furniture would get an average (no) rating.

I'm only pointing this out because you might miss out on some great exchanges. But if luxury accommodations is paramount to you, you're right to stick with rated resorts.

 

[Cathyb]

Boca Bm - your comments?

 

[Janie]

I'd take this thread with a grain of salt...

I own a week at a resort on this list. Several months ago, I received an inquiry from one of the people who identified my resort as "the worst" requesting to buy my week. My resort may not be luxurious, but it meets my basic needs, trades extremely well for higher-rated places, and makes me a rental profit every year. Hmmmmm.......