Introduction: We're Looking for Timeshare to buy

[kiele Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kiele]

Hello,
It was recommended to me by someone on this site to introduce myself and state what I am looking for in a timeshare. In that way perhaps people would recommend to me their thougths on what to purchase.

So, I am married with a 12 year old son. My husband and I love to travel. Sometimes we travel alone without my son, sometimes the three of us, and sometimes we travel with extendend family. We usually take an extended family trip every other summer. So far, Europe has been our trend.

We have never owned a timeshare, but did go to the Tahiti Village sales pitch in Las Vegas (where we bought but are rescinding). Here is what was most attractive to us about buying there:

1. 5 star resort with all red weeks so we were told there was a strong trade value. In fact, he even used the word "guarantee" saying that if we booked at least 30 days out at ANY II resort, we would be guaranteed a room. I asked to see that in writing, and it wasn't there, and what he said was that 97% get booked where they want. Anyway, it seems that Las Vegas is a good place to buy for trade value, and we like the resort. However, some have said there are great places right on the strip. I'd like to know more about that.

2. We liked the two bedroom lockout because we think we will mostly travel in one bedrooms, so then we get two weeks per year.

3. We liked the perks that were described, such as getting golf discounts, and 12 weeks of discounted vacation time per year in addition to our 2 weeks. I think this might be an II thing, and not a Tahiti Village thing, but I'm not sure.

4. We like the idea of having a kitchen, and many places to choose from for travel. We would probably use locations in Europe, Thailand, Oahu, and some in the continental US. Probably other places as well, but those are the most current on my list.

We are self employed so can travel whenever we want, but we like to stay in nice places, without paying a fortune.

Anyway, that's what we are looking for. We still think that Tahiti Village sounds attractive, but are open to hearing other ideas. Thanks for your time in helping a newcomer!

katie

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Where do you live? You may want to buy at a resort or resort group that is within driving distance to your home. Then, you can take advantage of a lot of side benefits of timesharing.

[kiele Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kiele]

California

We live in California, in Mill Valley, near San francisco.

[Bill4728 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Bill4728]

Katie,

I'd suggest you look at some of the point based TS in your general area. Worldmark-Trendwest, Hilton Grand Vacations, Shell vacations, and Monarch Grand Vacations. None of these companies should be bought from the developer that any cost!! They all can be purchase at sometimes huge discounts from the many web based TS resellers.

These companies all have multiple locations, several within driving distance from the bay area. They all let you reserve whatever room size you need, so when it just the 2 of you, a studio or a 1 bd, and when you all come, you can get a 1 bd or a 2bd unit. They also let you travel for less than a week so you can do long weekends or mid week only.

Do some homework here on Timeshare forums and on TUG

Welcome to timesharing.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

We own a week that is managed by Consolidated, the same company as Tahiti Village

We are not impressed with their sales tactics. Many of their older resorts are looking well......old, they do not maintain the units. Sands of Kahana is close to being sold out. Good thing for Consolidated because that resort's model unit is looking pretty out of date to me. Not impressive.

When you said you wanted to go to Oahu, I instantly thought that HGVC points would be great for you. Their resort in Vegas is one of the best.

Hilton Grand Vacation Club is a great system and their resort on Oahu sounds really nice and is more of a luxury resort. You can buy in Orlando or Vegas and trade your points for the resort on Oahu.

I saw a fantastic Bluegreen points package on one of the resale sites. I would buy that one in a heartbeat, if I could talk hubby into it. It is a 42,000 point package and will get the buyer several weeks of vacation a year at great resorts. If you were going to buy Tahiti Village, you were prepared to pay a lot for one week. Consider investing that same amount of money in something that will provide much more vacation:

http://www.vacationtimesharerentals.com/listings/15112/

Bluegreen is a great system. We have two resident experts on Bluegreen here on this forum. Unfortunately, I am not one of them, thanks to Rick who will not let me buy this one.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Bill made some great recommendations. Of those, my personal favorite is WorldMark. Lots of resorts in the west within driving distance of where you live and it trades with every exchange company with great trading power.

You may also want to consider buying a resort in the Grand Pacific Resort Group. See Calidave for details. They have internal trade preferences that are great. Plus, I believe they have a really good bonus time program as well.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

You might also consider Vacation Internationale. Buy resale, of course.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

In response to your specific points:

"1. 5 star resort with all red weeks so we were told there was a strong trade value. In fact, he even used the word "guarantee" saying that if we booked at least 30 days out at ANY II resort, we would be guaranteed a room. I asked to see that in writing, and it wasn't there, and what he said was that 97% get booked where they want. Anyway, it seems that Las Vegas is a good place to buy for trade value, and we like the resort. However, some have said there are great places right on the strip. I'd like to know more about that."

YIKES. First of all, I do own a Las Vegas t/s, but you want to look at supply/demand, buy where demand is high and supply is low. There is getting to be plenty of t/s in Las Vegas, with a couple more MegaResorts, including Marriott, new on the market. And I bet that places right on the strip have higher demand than those within driving distance.

Second, the bit about "guaranteed" trades through II is just garbage. LIES LIES LIES. Salespeople (unscrupulous ones) may promise that, but will NEVER put it in writing because they can't. They have NO control over II. Or over what members deposit into II, or over what trade value II assigns your deposited week. And not all "red" weeks trade equally. I am currently having trouble getting a trade I want with a week that I'm almost certain has higher trading power in II than an off-the-strip Vegas resort.

If you like the resort, great. If you would want to stay there more often than trade it, then buy a unit there. Resale. If you think you'll trade more, then you need to do a lot more research. There are some good suggestions in this thread already


"2. We liked the two bedroom lockout because we think we will mostly travel in one bedrooms, so then we get two weeks per year."

A lot of members here like the lockout feature. It can give you more trade value for your maintenance buck (depending on the maintenance fees for the 2 bedroom vs the fees of individual units). There are plenty of resorts that have this feature. Otoh, points systems allow you to book what you need, points are adjusted accordingly (more points for a larger units, fewer for smaller).

"3. We liked the perks that were described, such as getting golf discounts, and 12 weeks of discounted vacation time per year in addition to our 2 weeks. I think this might be an II thing, and not a Tahiti Village thing, but I'm not sure."

I'm not sure what these discounted trips are, but once you get familiar with this site and the various exchange companies, you will see LOTS of great discount opportunities, especially in "non-peak" times. I recently booked an Extra Vacation for a friend through RCI, they are spending this week in a 2 bedroom villa, beachfront on Paradise Island, for $435 FOR THE WEEK.

SFX, an independent exchange company, offers its "sell-off" list to members with great discounts on trips within 60 days (sometimes less, sometimes more). And II offers its Getaways (not always as well priced as SFX or RCI last minute weeks) to all members, with some as far as a year out.

"4. We like the idea of having a kitchen, and many places to choose from for travel. We would probably use locations in Europe, Thailand, Oahu, and some in the continental US. Probably other places as well, but those are the most current on my list."

You may find that different exchange companies are more likely to match you with certain areas. But the best way to enjoy timeshare trading is to be open to ideas you hadn't considered, and to be flexible with dates. I like just looking around to see what's available (if you make 15 posts here you will access to the Exchange Opportunities boards where we post availabilities that we find online).

Good luck in your quest, I'm glad you found TS4Ms in time to rescind!

[Janie Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Janie]

Europe is a different matter altogether....

I get the impression from your introductory post that Europe is your primary destination? If so, you will need to be aware of a couple of things:

Most timeshare resorts in Europe are not 5* or Gold Crown. If you buy a resort in that category in hopes of having good trade options in Europe, you may end up shooting yourself in the foot. The two major exchange companies have a "like for like" policy that would prevent you from trading a highly rated resort into a lower rated one.

Where in Europe do you want to travel? The major cities are very hard to trade into. France and Italy are likewise difficult. Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria are easier.

My family travels primarily to Europe, and we've learned how to use the system to get what we want when we want it. But in some ways, it turns conventional timeshareing on its head. The recommendations you're getting for the US may not help you trade into Europe.

[kiele Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kiele]

points

Can you tell me more about points? How does one get them, what do they cost, where are they good? The timeshare presentation we went to at Tahiti Village didnt use points so I dont' yet know how they work.
thanks!

[Janie Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Janie]

There are many different Points systems. Some of the popular ones are RCI Points (valid using the RCI exchange company only); Worldmark (which can trade through Worldmark, RCI, or II); Bluegreen, Sunterra, etc.

The benefits of Points is that in some systems you can use them for shorter stays that one week. There are often last-minute booking provisions where you can get last-minute accommodations for reduced Points values. RCI Points allows you to use your Points for car rentals, airplane tickets, hotel stays, etc.

Points are very, very complicated, because each system has their own rules, costs, advantages, and disadvantages. Again, I would go back to your initial post where you indicated that you like to travel to Europe. RCI Points and Sunterra are the only Points systems that I'm aware of that have many European resorts as options. You could use Worldmark or Bluegreen to trade into European resorts, but you would do it by reserving a full week within their system, then depositing that week into RCI or II and trading for Europe that way.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

I second the posts about the lies. My suggestion would be to strongly consider Coastal California resorts. Las Vegas is fast becoming overbuilt if it is not already. What you might buy there today will trade OK but in the future might not as more and more timeshare resorts are being built in Las Vegas. I have exchanged into the HGVC/Flamingo in Las Vegas many times with no problems at all times of the year.

Coastal California is a high demand low supply area and will stay that way because of the high cost of building on the coast plus the coastal restrictions. I own at San Luis Bay Inn at Avila Beach and Gaslamp Plaza Suites in downtown San Diego. Both are top traders, especially San Luis Bay Inn, if you reserve a summer week which we always have. We have owned at San Luis Bay Inn since it first opened some 18 or 19 years ago and it has retained its value and in fact is now higher demand. It is a GC/5*. I am not suggesting you buy at SLB, though it wouldn't be a bad idea, but am simply using it as an example. because of your location you could also use it for bonus time etc.

Most Coastal California resorts are rated 'red' all year long. However there are many shades of red. In reality the summer weeks are the hot traders, no pun intended.

I also suggest that you try using San Francisco Exchange 'SFX' instead of RCI or II. I have used SFX exclusively for 9+ years. Prior to that I used both RCI and II with mediocre results. SFX only accepts weeks from good resorts in high demand-low supply areas during prime time.

Off subject but our daughter lived in Mill Bay-Tiburon. Our permanent home is in Southern California but we spend a lot of time in the SF Bay area where we are at this time. We have been here for 4 months so far this year. We did live here permanently and temporarily several times.