Why??InnSeason, Hilton, Marriot, Starwood, Wyndham etc..????

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

Why??InnSeason, Hilton, Marriot, Starwood, Wyndham etc..????

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As I continue enjoying the topics about TimeSharing it amazes me still how informed so many of you are. I would imaginie your years of TimeSharing has given you a great deal of insight into the various TS out there.

One thought as I read what is for sale, what is readily out there to be purchased or received free....Many of you prefer Hilton, Marriot, Starwood or Wyndham. I am wondering why. I would imagine it is for the same reason that some prefer to stay in a Hilton Hotel or a Marriot Courtyard etc...

Being new at this I was curious what PERSONAL preference you have and why...

So My question to all of you which do you prefer and why???
Also I would like to know about the smaller companies-InnSeason etc...

[Chap7 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Chap7]

What's a "Tugger"?

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

Personally I like Wyndham for the mini-system opportunities to take less than 7 day vacations and get into tough to exchange resorts with RCI like San Francisco and San Antonio etc. Also like the leverage opportunities with the points deposits.

I like Hilton because in RCI it pulls everything I see on the sightings postings so in case I want to stay in the hoyty toyty places, I can get in with my HGVC points. None of my other weeks resorts do that so if I want to splurge a little then this works for me. I also love the open season opportunities since I travel to Orlando alot and there is always a room at the inn for me even if RCI is sold out or too expensive.

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

Personally, I avoid owning at those chains because I like having homeowners, not the developer, in control of the HOA, and one thing those big corporations have in common in keeping a developer dictatorship in power in the HOA. Give me homeowner democracy any day!

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

Personally, I avoid owning at those chains because I like having homeowners, not the developer, in control of the HOA, and one thing those big corporations have in common in keeping a developer dictatorship in power in the HOA. Give me homeowner democracy any day!

Steve & I agree on little usually but the advantages of an HOA under the control of owners and management independent of developers are at least two we see eye to eye on. Having the developer hang around in management and control roles after 3-5 years is simply asking for trouble. Look for independent resorts with owner controlled boards as your best choice.

But if you know the issues of developer control and still like the resort/system just be ready to be very vigilant. For an individual resort I'd try to pass if there were developer control but at a system level, such as Wyndham, I weigh the pluses of the system features vs the control and live with a less than ideal situation. But even then I push for the owner control of the individual resorts while the overall points system may be in developer hands for day to day operations.

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

Not on your list but...

I own Bluegreen, a points system, and like it very well. I bought to use at Wilderness Club at Big Cedar. The system works perfectly for my needs in that I can book partial weeks, there are no booking or cleaning fees, and the resort is fabulous and within driving distance for me.

After being with the system for a while and liking it, I added more points because I realized I'd like to go to more of the resorts or use some points for exchange, but my original and primary intent is to use the points within the Bluegreen system.

Anita

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

Lots of people seem to use points. I do not own any. At this time I own two TS and I am in the process of owning one more.

I read many posts where people write about these larger operations. So I was curious what opinions are...

[Lisa P Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lisa P]

We love that Wyndham has nice resorts in so many locations where we want to stay. The quality of their newer properties is pretty consistent. They're not always as upscale as some of the highest end brands but they've all been clean and well-maintained, offering the amenities that matter most to us. We may use our points to reserve at any resort in the system without an exchange fee. As long as we've made reservations 8-10 months out, we've succeeded at booking our first choice of resorts and unit sizes. The points system allows for varied lengths of stay and unit sizes with each trip. This combination (quality, preferred locations, easy advance reservations, no exchange fee, flexible points) has worked very well for us.

Reasonable consistency in resort/room quality may be a pretty strong consideration for many who own within a large mini-system. If you generally prefer full weeks for your timeshare vacations, then a week-for-week system may be preferable, if you want exchange priority into other resorts in the system. By owning within a system, it's almost like having mulitple "home resorts" with some kind of owner-advantage for reserving and/or exchanging.

If you think that you'd like to locate a home resort where you'd like to consider it like a second home or a vacation home away from home, and return most years, then I might look for an independently-managed, well-maintained resort where we wanted to stay. If you're not varying your destination every year, why pay the usually-higher maintenance fees of a mini-system? We visit new places regularly, so it's worth it to us, but it may not be, for you. HTH.

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

If you're not varying your destination every year, why pay the usually-higher maintenance fees of a mini-system? We visit new places regularly, so it's worth it to us, but it may not be, for you. HTH.

I think that is the main reason we went with a mini-system (Hilton) for us. We have only owned for about five years now, and we have stayed at so many different places -- all with our one timeshare / points ownership. We love the flexibility of a point-based system, and not locking us into the traditional 7-day vacations. Also, we don't have to plan out 1-2 years in advance. Yes, that does come at a price, but it has been well worth it for us.

Kurt

[glypnirsgirl Member Find all posts View Profile Close glypnirsgirl]

I own several different options: weeks (floating) in a name brand system (Starwood), DVC for points, and Dikhololo and Rayburn Country Club for trading.

And I like them all.

I love the flexibility of DVC. I can go for weekend stays, save points for several units for big family to-dos, vary the unit size, etc. Love it! I never use DVC to trade.

The only purpose the Dikhololo and RCC serve is for the purpose of trading. One is a weeks resort (DIK); one is a points resort (RCC). I am looking at using the weeks for points for deposit for RCI. I love this too. RCI is huge and has many resorts. I am not a timeshare snob and I have used these units for DVC several times (which I never thought that I would - but I used all of my DVC points for a big blow out family vacation). I also used for Woodstone at Massanutten, Gaslamp Suites in San Diego, and two separate last minute vacations in Oregon. So, very flexible.

I also own two floating weeks at Sheraton Broadway Plantation. Those weeks I use for the Starwood preference period for trading into other starwood resorts: Princeville and Ka'anapali. I love the Westin resorts because I love the Heavenly Beds. I bought resale so I got in for a great price. MFs are not too bad considering what I am trading into.

Having said all that, I wish that I owned Worldmark or Bluegreen which I think are the ultimate in great traders, great mini-system and reasonable MFs. If I were to start all over again, I would only buy one of those.

elaine

[vacation_family99 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vacation_family99]

We own with BlueGreen and like the flexibility that the points system brings. It allows us to go to many different resorts without having to wonder if what we want will be deposited for an exchange with RCI. We did not want to be tied to the same resort, same week each year.

We have only looked at one other points system -- DRI -- and its maintenance fees were significantly higher than BlueGreen's.

Amy

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

Marriott and DRI

I love the Marriotts because my wife is a timeshare snob and it saves me from hearing a lot of complaints. She likes the decor and the spaciousness of the accommodations. The grounds are usually well kept and we love Hawaii which is where we own. The maintenance fees are high but since we go there pretty regularly it's worth it. I look forward to using it for many, many years. Marriott has changed this year to a points program. That's fine with me as I will have the option of doing either the points or weeks programs.

I also have DRI which is strictly a points program. While their maintenance fees are also pretty high, I love the flexibility that I have with them. I also love the fact that they have resorts in so many different places. My wife does not always like the resorts that DRI has compared to the Marriotts. She doesn't mind their Hawaii properties in Kauai or Kaanapali in Maui but she prefers Marriotts. DRI allows you to visit their resorts without paying exchange fees and their resorts are all over the world. In addition, instead of potentially losing points that you may not use, you can trade them for air miles, cruises, and other travel related items if you want to do so.

These two offer two different quality levels but have more resorts than many of the other systems.