Wyndham is closing a handful of legacy resorts - dedicated chart/tracker located in the first post for this unfolding set of events

[HitchHiker71]

You know, all this talk about HOA votes and September, and I still haven't gotten anything from Fairfield Glade.

This is the same with most of the impacted resorts. Very few of the impacted resorts have sent out any notifications as yet - the only resort I'm aware of where any HOA notifications were provided and votes have been held is OI to date - mostly due to the bankruptcy proposal that required an early vote to determine the initial path forward.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

But maybe since Bonnet Creek can't be booked, an owner looking to go to Orlando in 2026 can just book at Star Island or OIRC instead because they're wide open, apparently.

This isn't even a hypothetical issue, this is probably happening right now.

 

[jp10558]

Because there are legal requirements surrounding real estate ownership and how the trusts are structured according to the governing documents, however, as you and IIRC @bnoble have repeatedly pointed out, there is really very little preventing Wyndham from choosing to remove any resort from Club Wyndham, as is also covered via the governing documents. My point is, that the removal of the resort from Club Wyndham, and the re-assignment and/or transfer of deeds between trusts, if needed at all, aren't tied together legally.

I agree. I meant the reason there are separate trusts or entities etc aren't an IT reason, it's something legal that I don't understand, nor do I think it that relevant.

So Wyndham can choose to remove these resorts from Club Wyndham essentially at their discretion, and then determine how the disposition of the resort itself, and the underlying deeds involved, will transpire, as separate transactions.

My overall point was, people are getting overly focused on the legalese and the deeds, when it's very easy to effectively remove the inventory tied to these resorts from Club Wyndham, and from CWA, without any difficulty, by simply flipping a bit in the database.

Yes, if their databases are well designed and their tools that use and manage the database don't make any stupid assumptions.

It's the same concept as when inventory is blocked out for maintenance for example, we often see blocked out inventory for months at a time in the reservation system, why does everyone think come 12/31/2025 it's not going to be that easy?

It should be that easy, I just don't see a lot of people with faith in Wyndham IT. That's all. I can easily imagine this being something "different" from "temporary block" or "block this building for maintenance", not because of any underlying computer or IT issue but management design goals and instructions. Of course, because no one knows out here how separate the various databases are for tracking deeds and points etc - like maybe the points are linked to a deed and for stupid design reasons you have to delete the deed entry for the existing system to remove the points generated by it say, but in this case they need to keep the deed entries till the legal processes play out. I'm not saying Wyndham won't do something IT wise, but there could be a lot of stupid bits and bobs they're trying to work around so they can make the existing system do something it hadn't done before vs manually running SQL commands. I could also see this supported by the various outages - various test runs didn't do what they expected. Heck, maybe the Bonnet Creek block is some crazy test case for all I know.

But there's some reason they haven't already blocked things off, either legal or operational or both.

 

[Twenty20]

You know, all this talk about HOA votes and September, and I still haven't gotten anything from Fairfield Glade.

Me either. There hasn't even been an official announcement from Wyndham on any of this.

Heck you can still book a reservation there for 2026.

 

[comicbookman]

You know, all this talk about HOA votes and September, and I still haven't gotten anything from Fairfield Glade.

Me either

 

[HitchHiker71]

I agree. I meant the reason there are separate trusts or entities etc aren't an IT reason, it's something legal that I don't understand, nor do I think it that relevant.

Agreed.

Yes, if their databases are well designed and their tools that use and manage the database don't make any stupid assumptions.

It should be that easy, I just don't see a lot of people with faith in Wyndham IT. That's all. I can easily imagine this being something "different" from "temporary block" or "block this building for maintenance", not because of any underlying computer or IT issue but management design goals and instructions. Of course, because no one knows out here how separate the various databases are for tracking deeds and points etc - like maybe the points are linked to a deed and for stupid design reasons you have to delete the deed entry for the existing system to remove the points generated by it say, but in this case they need to keep the deed entries till the legal processes play out. I'm not saying Wyndham won't do something IT wise, but there could be a lot of stupid bits and bobs they're trying to work around so they can make the existing system do something it hadn't done before vs manually running SQL commands. I could also see this supported by the various outages - various test runs didn't do what they expected. Heck, maybe the Bonnet Creek block is some crazy test case for all I know.

They already have a process they use literally almost every day to do this - for ongoing maintenance and renovations - that they can use - that's my point. It doesn't matter why they use this process - it can likely be used for any reason - the system doesn't care about the why - just tell the system what inventory to block out - whether an explicit list or everything from a particular resort - with a start date and no end date - just like what we're seeing with BC right now - zero inventory available on or after 12/1/2025 all the way out to 13 months. Easy peasy.

But there's some reason they haven't already blocked things off, either legal or operational or both.

They have not yet done so because they cannot do so until there's a real reason to do so as per the governing documents - Wyndham cannot unilaterally block all available inventory until the HOA basically votes and agrees that the resort inventory and resort operations will cease effective 1/1/2026 in essence. We therefore likely won't see these resorts blocked out in the online reservation system until those HOA votes transpire, best guess.

 

[aams]

Bonnet creek is available december and even Feb 2026

Agreed.

They already have a process they use literally almost every day to do this - for ongoing maintenance and renovations - that they can use - that's my point. It doesn't matter why they use this process - it can likely be used for any reason - the system doesn't care about the why - just tell the system what inventory to block out - whether an explicit list or everything from a particular resort - with a start date and no end date - just like what we're seeing with BC right now - zero inventory available on or after 12/1/2025 all the way out to 13 months. Easy peasy.

They have not yet done so because they cannot do so until there's a real reason to do so as per the governing documents - Wyndham cannot unilaterally block all available inventory until the HOA basically votes and agrees that the resort inventory and resort operations will cease effective 1/1/2026 in essence. We therefore likely won't see these resorts blocked out in the online reservation system until those HOA votes transpire, best guess.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Bonnet creek is available december and even Feb 2026

inventory is back today, but it was gone yesterday.

 

[hjsweet2002]

I have not received any info from Bentley Brook or Fairfield Glade. So much for great communication

 

[jp10558]

So what are we betting for timeframe to let people know with bookings into January being cancelled? Think they'll get a month's notice at this point? What's happened in the past - does anyone know? Usually in other similar situations if there wasn't like a natural disaster a company winding stuff down (but themselves not going out of business) usually stops taking renewals or bookings and then waits for all the already booked ones to be filled to close out.

Let's think of people who have points from IDK Smoky Mountains like I do - and have for whatever reason booked in January at Bentley Brook. Will they get the points refunded to them then when it's cancelled? If they're staying open till the 31st, and that's a partial week, do they refund the difference? I bet a lot of ski people will be kinda mad when they lose their trip this year.

 

[rapmarks]

I have not received any info from Bentley Brook or Fairfield Glade. So much for great communication

Can you imagine the shock to an owner who isn’t on Tug, or Facebook

 

[Floridaman76]

Let's think of people who have points from IDK Smoky Mountains like I do - and have for whatever reason booked in January at Bentley Brook. Will they get the points refunded to them then when it's cancelled? If they're staying open till the 31st, and that's a partial week, do they refund the difference? I bet a lot of ski people will be kinda mad when they lose their trip this year.

I have to imagine that if people who have bookings that begin at the end of December but go into January they will either refund your points for 12/31 to whenever your booking ends or just refund your whole booking.

The smart customer service thing to do would be to do a refund IN EXCESS of the actual points required for the stay. But considering how this has been handled so far, that's probably expecting too much.

Also remember, the last bookable / usable night for these resorts is 12/30, NOT 12/31. Everyone will have to vacate on 12/31, the resorts will close by midnight on 12/31, so if you have 12/31 booked, that's not going to be usable in all likelihood.

 

[Arimaas]

Can you imagine the shock to an owner who isn’t on Tug, or Facebook

You mean the vast majority?

 

[Jan M.]

Can you imagine the shock to an owner who isn’t on Tug, or Facebook

You mean the vast majority?

Reading the posts in the various FB groups and talking to people at the resorts over the years has really opened my eyes to how many owners aren't knowlegeable about what they own, how to use the website, places/resorts they could be going to, etc. As a side note, I'm really happy to see TUG being mentioned a lot more often in the FB groups as a more accurate and actually helpful source of information. If someone had access to a list of owners info, info that all too often gets sold to timeshare scammers and other sales, it would be wonderful to use that list to provide every owner with information on how to find TUG and the FB group too.

The following two quotes are from comments in a post I saw yesterday on the Facebook Wyndham owners helping owners page. These two individuals found and joined the FB group in August and October 2024. Better late than never.

"Around 15 years ago we purchased an every other year contract with a deed at a specific property. It is paid off, but life happened and we did not use our points for the last ~10 years. We are using it for the first time this week..."

"We didn’t use ours for years, but my grown daughter helps me plan vacations and use my points."

For me this is a "What! I can't even!" thing. Lol

 

[Twenty20]

I have to imagine that if people who have bookings that begin at the end of December but go into January they will either refund your points for 12/31 to whenever your booking ends or just refund your whole booking.

The smart customer service thing to do would be to do a refund IN EXCESS of the actual points required for the stay. But considering how this has been handled so far, that's probably expecting too much.

Also remember, the last bookable / usable night for these resorts is 12/30, NOT 12/31. Everyone will have to vacate on 12/31, the resorts will close by midnight on 12/31, so if you have 12/31 booked, that's not going to be usable in all likelihood.

Maybe the prudent thing to do then would not allow bookings, as normal, for 2026? But instead the website is operating like none of this is even occurring. That's wild to me. No reputable hospitality company would be doing this.

People could be planning trips for Jan, buying plane tickets etc....

 

[Twenty20]

I'm tempted to go ahead and book a 2026 reservation using '26 points from FF Glade. Fully expecting it to be cancelled, but who knows with how screwed up this is, maybe they'll give me the reservation for points I never end up paying for

I can even still deposit them into RCI at this point and book there, too.

 

[jp10558]

Reading the posts in the various FB groups and talking to people at the resorts over the years has really opened my eyes to how many owners aren't knowlegeable about what they own, how to use the website, places/resorts they could be going to, etc. As a side note, I'm really happy to see TUG being mentioned a lot more often in the FB groups as a more accurate and actually helpful source of information. If someone had access to a list of owners info, info that all too often gets sold to timeshare scammers and other sales, it would be wonderful to use that list to provide every owner with information on how to find TUG and the FB group too.

The following two quotes are from comments in a post I saw yesterday on the Facebook Wyndham owners helping owners page. These two individuals found and joined the FB group in August and October 2024. Better late than never.

"Around 15 years ago we purchased an every other year contract with a deed at a specific property. It is paid off, but life happened and we did not use our points for the last ~10 years. We are using it for the first time this week..."

"We didn’t use ours for years, but my grown daughter helps me plan vacations and use my points."

For me this is a "What! I can't even!" thing. Lol

I'm not on Facebook so IDK about this, but I can say one of my co-workers, who had a Hawaii TS was telling me they never used it. Well I didn't think about it much till a few years ago they told me [they got scammed but don't know it yet by an exit company]. I don't know when or if they'll figure it out. Anyway, the one thing that amazed me was apparently one thing the exit company said they had to do to "get out" was buy an RCI membership. I.e. they had 0 idea about any exchange company. So... potentially a major reason they never got any value was somehow missing the existence of exchanges. For decades. Even more sadly, they never wanted to hear any actual info about TS so...

What's even stranger to me is how this person ended up with a TS at all, because I've been present for them agonizing for a couple years for each new car purchase where they're searching online, checking incentives, whatever. I think at least twice I've said, "look - you've been thinking about this for like 2 years - either your purchase makes sense or not, but there's nothing new I'm going to be able to tell you at this point and can we please talk about something else?" Then again, it's not like he often bought or wanted to buy what I would think were the right vehicles for his needs so . . .

 

[jp10558]

I'm tempted to go ahead and book a 2026 reservation using '26 points from FF Glade. Fully expecting it to be cancelled, but who knows with how screwed up this is, maybe they'll give me the reservation for points I never end up paying for

I can even still deposit them into RCI at this point and book there, too.

Oh goodness, well I imagine RCI deposits can work out because Wyndham owns RCI too so can claw those back I guess. Anywhere else unwinding this would be such a mess. I hadn't even thought of future exchange deposits.

 

[Double U]

Maybe they blocked Bonnet Creek to work on holding dates for reservations already made at affected resorts. They could tell affected reservations due to unforseen circumstances, we are relocating you to another local property. Just speculating

 

[HitchHiker71]

I have to imagine that if people who have bookings that begin at the end of December but go into January they will either refund your points for 12/31 to whenever your booking ends or just refund your whole booking.

My general understanding is that this will at least in part be up to the resort in scope as to how they will handle reservations that span into 2026. There won't be a single blanket answer in other words, since the resort HOA(s) is/are responsible for funding ongoing resort operations heading into 2026, not Wyndham corporate. Once an announcement goes out in September timeframe, check with the resort if you have a reservation that spans into 2026 if the missives addressed by Wyndham corporate and/or the resort itself don't provide direct guidance on this specific topic.

The smart customer service thing to do would be to do a refund IN EXCESS of the actual points required for the stay. But considering how this has been handled so far, that's probably expecting too much.

We suggested to Wyndham corporate during our meetings that they consider utilizing goodwill points along this line when we spoke to Wyndham corporate about this matter, especially given folks have likely already booked associated travel itineraries such as plane tickets, car rentals, etc., to help compensate for the added inconveniences involved. It remains to be seen if Wyndham takes our advice on this topic.

 

[bnoble]

Wyndham cannot unilaterally block all available inventory until the HOA basically votes and agrees that the resort inventory and resort operations will cease effective 1/1/2026 in essence.

I keep saying this, but I don't think people understand it.

Yes, they can. They can unilaterally remove entire resorts from the "Wyndham points system"---at least, they can for CWS resorts. And, if they do, converted weeks revert to unconverted weeks in the underlying timeshare regieme, fixed or floating. I'm moderately confident that none of these resorts were sold UDI. It is possible (and I think likely) that a similar mechanism exists for UDI resorts, but I don't own at one so can't say.

 

[jp10558]

I keep saying this, but I don't think people understand it.

Yes, they can. They can unilaterally remove entire resorts from the "Wyndham points system"---at least, they can for CWS resorts. And, if they do, converted weeks revert to unconverted weeks in the underlying timeshare regieme, fixed or floating. I'm moderately confident that none of these resorts were sold UDI. It is possible (and I think likely) that a similar mechanism exists for UDI resorts, but I don't own at one so can't say.

I have CWS (at least as far as I can tell) at Wyndham Smoky Mountains, and that was sold UDI. I actually thought most CWS was UDI in the past, but I guess it's a mix.

 

[Floridaman76]

My general understanding is that this will at least in part be up to the resort in scope as to how they will handle reservations that span into 2026. There won't be a single blanket answer in other words, since the resort HOA(s) is/are responsible for funding ongoing resort operations heading into 2026, not Wyndham corporate. Once an announcement goes out in September timeframe, check with the resort if you have a reservation that spans into 2026 if the missives addressed by Wyndham corporate and/or the resort itself don't provide direct guidance on this specific topic.

We suggested to Wyndham corporate during our meetings that they consider utilizing goodwill points along this line when we spoke to Wyndham corporate about this matter, especially given folks have likely already booked associated travel itineraries such as plane tickets, car rentals, etc., to help compensate for the added inconveniences involved. It remains to be seen if Wyndham takes our advice on this topic.

There's no way to please everyone, and like many have said, for some people this is a blessing in disguise that they get to exit completely without hassle potentially. But I think Wyndham would really be dropping the ball if they don't make some sort of gesture to affected travelers who are potentially going to have a financial impact if they have to rebook airfare and possibly due to the late date, may not be able to find alternate accommodations,.

Every day closer we get to this date, it gets harder to "fix" for people.

This is an opportunity for them to try to "make lemonade", and hopefully they don't just shove the lemon down your throat.

 

[Floridaman76]

I keep saying this, but I don't think people understand it.

Yes, they can. They can unilaterally remove entire resorts from the "Wyndham points system"---at least, they can for CWS resorts. And, if they do, converted weeks revert to unconverted weeks in the underlying timeshare regieme, fixed or floating. I'm moderately confident that none of these resorts were sold UDI. It is possible (and I think likely) that a similar mechanism exists for UDI resorts, but I don't own at one so can't say.

You and I both know they can, but are choosing not to.

Hitchhiker71 explains that they can't (legally) until they get some confirmation from the HOA's that they actually vote to exit officially. And I suppose that's legally true.

But between us, I think a good amount of headache for everyone would be saved if some of their well known "phantom unavailability" website issues "just happened" to occur at these affected resorts, starting 12/31.

** hint hint **

 

[bnoble]

Hitchhiker71 explains that they can't (legally) until they get some confirmation from the HOA's that they actually vote to exit officially. And I suppose that's legally true.

This is wrong. The conversion contract I have for all of my converted week resorts say very clearly that Wyndham, in its sole discretion, is allowed to withdraw a resort from the points system if the resort is "deemed unsuitable."

They absolutely can do it, and they do not need a vote of the HOA to do so.