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No Marriott's trade with RCI - and most Starwood/Westins do not either.Originally posted by kfelmer View Post
There are a few older resorts in Marriott (Sabal Palms, maybe Desert Springs I?) that are dual affiliated with both companies and the same with Starwood (Sheraton Desert Oasis, Broadway Plantations, Vistana in Orlando) but the majority of owners deposit their Marriott's with II. There is a 24 day Mar to Mar preference that means only other Marriott weeks can exchange into those weeks - so if u r with II and have a resort with a high quality rating, you could get a Marriott. Starwood weeks have a 3 day Starwood Preference so there is a better chance of getting one of those if you put in an ongoing search.
Westin St John will not happen unless u r a Starwood owner who is very smart
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kfelmer,
Welcome to TS4M's
I'm not familiar with Bluegreen points, so I can't really comment on what they can get you. Hopefully, a Bluegreen member will chime in, and give you their experience.
Where, and when were you thinking of visiting? If you give us an idea of what you had in mind, we can give you a better response on your possibilities of getting an exchange.
Angela
If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
BTW, I'm still keeping track of how many times you annoy me.
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To trade into Marriott and Westin, it's possible with Bluegreen points, but not for all resorts. That is because both Marriott and Westin have a priority period for certain inventory where only Marriott and Westin owners have access to those weeks.
That said, there are plenty of Marriott and Starwood (Westin and Sheraton) resorts that do come available for non-Marriott and SVO owners. For instance, Florida is very easy to get. Hawaii isn't usually easy to get. That's why I bought a cheap Marriott trader and I will be adding a cheap SVO trader when I get around to it.Comment
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I have yet to have difficulty exchanging into most Marriott resorts and have exchanged successfully into Westin's Kierland Village in Scottsdale (last week of January) using a non-branded timeshare (Suite's at Polo Towers).
Except for the most popular weeks, I'm not sold on Marriott's 24 day priority for other Marriott owners as being an obstacle to trade into Marriott. In Marriott's week for week exchange system, many owners will attempt to book the most popular weeks at their resorts only to deposit them for exchange, banking on a higher exchange power. You'll see a good number of non-Marriott owners at Marriott resorts during those very popular holiday weeks and it's frustrating to both owners of those resorts and other Marriott owners.
We own DRI points and I can find several very good weeks using those points. Of course, the most popular weeks will have a line of people waiting on them to be deposited and that is where the Marriott priority does come into play.
I'll qualify everything I've said by telling you that we generally avoid booking holiday weeks or the most popular times since we don't want to have to deal with the crowds. The exception would be NASCAR race week in Las Vegas, which generally falls around my wife's birthday. It's probably the only high demand week we book and we own in Vegas. On the other hand, I can say that I have seen weeks for exchange for that particular week looking with non-Marriott units.
I suspect if I were to look for popular ski weeks, holiday weeks or NYE weeks in certain locations, I'd have a tougher time, if not impossible, looking for Marriott resort weeks with non-Marriott units. But since that's not the case with us I have no problem seeing/getting the Marriott or Westin weeks I want. In fact, I have a November exchange that should be (based on the unit configuration) an Ocean Front unit at Marriott's Ocean Pointe that was booked using a non-Marriott unit. Of course, November is a pretty easy month to book this resort. I'd be hard pressed to get that same unit, or any unit, if I were looking for the month of Feb. or early March.Our timeshare and other photo's at http://dougp26364.smugmug.com/Comment
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I was specifically looking at Westin's KA'ANAPALI MAUI or something in Mexico. For Mariott, specifically KAUI BEACH CLUB OR WAIOHAI. We would most likely travel in Feb or March. I like the quality of Westin or Mariott but don't want to pay the maintenance fees. Also, any thoughts on Raintree's Club Regency Resorts in Mesico? I do have a studio unit at Cancun Omni that I own that trades with II, but don't know how good a studio will trade. I appreciate your comments and ideas.Comment
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Then you'll have difficulty getting either of these with Bluegreen points or anything outside of either system. You'll need the owners priorty to exchange in and, even then, it can be a tough exchange. You may have better luck with RCI exchanging into one of the HGVC resorts in Hawaii.Originally posted by kfelmer
Part of the reason we pay the higher MF's with Marriott is Marriott generally maintains their resorts to a higher standard. To many developers and resorts are great out of the gate but, after 10 years of usage begin to show a lot of wear and tear. Marriott goes through a 10 year refurbishment cycle to keep their resorts looking fresh and new. Marriott HOA/BOD's that don't agree to this risk losing the Marriott name.
If you want to exchange into the resorts you've mentioned, it would be best for you to own either a strong exchanger within that system or actually own that particular resort.
There is one potential wild card and that is how airfare will affect owners at these resorts. In the next few years, more owners of Hawaiian resorts could be deposting weeks that they wouldn't have deposited otherwise if not for the cost of airfare getting to high. Still, it's speculative at best to bank on this causing more units to be deposited for exchange in the future and not something I'd count on.Our timeshare and other photo's at http://dougp26364.smugmug.com/Comment
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Thanks, I take it you own Mariott? Are they hard to get a good price on resale? I have seen a couple on EBay, but were for off-season. Do they have right of refusal on pricing on all resales?Comment
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Some of the older Marriott's do not have ROFR but, I'm uncertain as to which ones they might be. Cost depends on the resort. I've seen more posts about buying into Manor Club at reasonable costs and having very good trade power. The two Horizon's resorts, one in Branson and one in Orlando, also seem to be reasonably priced and have good trade power. Whether or not these will get you into Hawaii I can not say.Originally posted by kfelmer View Post
Marriott resales should be though of in thousands of dollars rather than hundreds of dollars. I don't believe I've ever seen a Marriott week go for discount bargain basement pricing like other resorts I've seen on E-bay. Marriott weeks do seem to hold their value better than most.
There are others on this forum more well versed in Marriott resales than I and on which resorts will give you the exchange power you're looking for. For us, we've purchased at resorts we intended to stay at and, for the most part have used those resorts for personal usage. Our units are lock-off units and we have always locked off the units, deposited the smaller portion and used it for exchange. I have done quite well with the studio lock-off at Ocean Pointe but, I've never searched for Marriott Hawaii properties with that deposit. I have only owned at Grand Chateau for a couple of years and don't have a great deal of exchange experience to tell how well that unit is going to exchange within the Marriott system. So far I've only traded back into Grand Chateau and into Barony Beach Club for early May. Neither were, IMO, that difficult of an exchange.
Presently I have the studio lock out portion of Ocean Pointe to search with. I'm looking at Marriott's Breckenridge resort for July of next year if I can snag a 1 bedroom unit or Branson if a 2 bedroom unit in a resort I'm interested in comes up online. I can already see 2 bedroom units available at Palace View but, we stayed there last November and were not impressed. It's early in the game for July of next year so I'll just keep looking until I find what seems like a better than average exchange.Our timeshare and other photo's at http://dougp26364.smugmug.com/Comment
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Is your Ocean Point in Palm Beach? Is that a popular trade for summer, or is it more popular in winter and spring? I see there is currently a lock-out unit there for sale on EBay for a decent price. I would most likely use it to try and trade into Hawaii, Mexico or Aruba and not stay in Florida.Comment
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Here is a link to a database kept by one of our members...Originally posted by kfelmer View Post
ROFR
lOOKS AS IF pLATINUM oCEAN pOINTE - oops! go for around 20-21K.
If u r looking for a farly inexpensive ownership, look at a Starwood resale - they can be had for $500-2500 depending on property.
I own Marriott, Starwood, Wyndham and other stuff......Comment
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kfelmer:
I'm not dougp26364, but you are right Ocean Pointe is in West Palm. The resort is on the south end of singer island. Ocean Pointe being a Florida resort has platinum(high) season in weeks 1-17 and 51-52. I've stayed there once( in March using the Florida club) a couple of years ago and it's a very nice resort.
I don't know for sure, but I'm almost certain that Marriott does have ROFR at this resort but with the current economic situation I have no idea when or whether they would invoke it. I suspect the odds get much higher for platinum season weeks as opposed to a bronze week.Comment
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Ocean Pointe does have ROFR. Summer weeks are gold season. How well they exchange I can not say nor would I venture to assume that they'll pull high demand Hawaiian weeks. Platinum season at Ocean Pointe is a very high demand season and, if you can reserve a week in Feb. or March my feeling is you would have a decent shot at Hawaii.
There is a rub to my thinking. Marriott is currently building Oceana Palms, a new resort 1 mile north of Ocean Pointe. More inventory means less compitition for exchange for exchange power could take a hit in another 4 or 5 years. Then again, it could remain a high enough owner occupancy the units don't get deposited for exchange and it's trade value will remain pretty high.
Ocean Pointe's season are basically:
Silver Season: May, Sept, Oct, Nov, and the first two weeks of Dec.
Gold Season: June, July and August
Platinum Season: The last two weeks of December, Jan, Feb, March and April
All season at Ocean Pointe are considered red time but some weeks are redder than others.
Of note: Oceana Palms does NOT have a Silver Season. It will only have Gold and Platinum Seasons. To me this is an indicator the Marriott misjudged the value of the weeks at Ocean Pointe or, they wanted to extend the higher seasons so they could charge more. Either reason seems plausable to me.Our timeshare and other photo's at http://dougp26364.smugmug.com/Comment
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PatOriginally posted by GrayFal
As both a Marriott and Starwood owner, do you see much of a difference in trading each unit in II as far as what you see and can exchange for ????
How do annual maint fees compare??? If Starwoods are $3000 less
for resale but $600 more each for maint fee, it seems that a more expensive Marriott might be better in the long run.....
Any other pros/cons to owning either not already discussed???
Thanks,
PaulComment
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