What was your absolute best and worst trades?

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

What was your absolute best trade.
Ya know that trophy trade that you'll talk about til the end of your days.

And what is your absolute worst trade?
The one that was awful value for your dollar and you'd never ever do it again.


I don't have an absolute best trophy trade yet, still working on it.

But my worst trade so far was to Alpine Bay in Alabama.
Why there is a timeshare there I am still not sure.
It was a last minute exchange and we were trying to go somewhere to leaf peep.
This was all that was available.
The resort had an overgrown golf course and no lighting at all.
We arrived at night around 10pm and it was pitch black.
No instructions for check in but luckily a security guard found us.
We made the best of it but why I took the advice of an RCI guide I'll never know.

So what about you?

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

I think my worst timeshare was the Villas at Tree Tops in PA. Unit was in terrible shape. Resort itself was nice, but I'd probably never return there. Not sure if it was a trade or something I picked up on some auction site.

Our favorite, so it must be our best trade, is The Houses at Summer Bay. Have been able to trade there twice in 2007 and 2012.

Nancy

[catwgirl Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close catwgirl]

This is a tough one.

My "worst" trade as far as the timeshare unit was Silverwoods at Treasure Lake in PA. Loved the area, but the unit was tired, very very tired. My best trade?? So many good ones, none I wouldn't return to. I would even return to Silverwoods!

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

So Pennsylvania TS's need some sprucing up?
I've only been to Hershey and that was pretty nice but wanted to see the Poconos.
I guess I'll have to do some homework before booking.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

The Royals, prior to buying there was probably the best trade and the worst was Village of Loon Mountain Lodges. And yes, the Poconos are as a general rule a bit tired. We stayed at Shawnee hilltop or something like that and had a few problems, but it was a lot better than that Loon trainwreck. I still remember the owner I talked to (at Loon) who said it was a lot better than it used to be (was I glad we didn't go a couple of years earlier).

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

My worst trade was a recent stay at Condorama Int'l At Mont Ste. Anne in Beaupre ....I couldn't find much info on the units, and wanted to visit the area, so I figured I'd give it a try. After staying at the Marriott (hotel) in Old Montreal for 5 days, we headed to Mt Ste. Anne for a weak. Well, we checked out after 2 days. The timeshare was about 30 minutes from Quebec City, so we did get to spend two days enjoying the city. Not much else to see in the area, and the units were less than desirable......No AC, the kitchen needed updating, badly, 3 of the 4 bedrooms were basement like. We just really didn't care for the place, and couldn't even deal with it for a few nights, never mind a week.

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

My favorite exchange is actually between 2 resorts and I can't honestly say which of the 2 was my favorite. One of them was in 1994 into Seehotel Alpenrose in Hohenschwangau, Bavaria. Sadly that resort went belly up a few years later. The other was into Ferienclub Eichenhof in Zell am See Austria around 2003 or 2004. We actually ended up buying resale in there about 2 years later after exchanging in the next year. My husband and I LOVED that place, and sadly IT went belly up about 3 years ago. We were heartbroken. Neither was a 5***** place but for us they were heaven! And we have stayed in numerous Marriotts, Hiltons, Disneys timeshares, Four Seasons Aviara and Troon, etc, etc, and etc. , but for us our favs were Alpehrose and Eichenhof. We still go every summer to both places and now stay in hotels. Cafe Muller in Hohenschwangau, and the Grand Hotel in Zell am See. At Cafe Muller I am addressed by the staff as Maria, and greeted by the staff with hugs and kisses on arrival . They always have my unit reserved for me and tell me it always will be! We call those places our paradise on earth. I guess when one door closes another really does open.
As for the worst it was Shwanee Ridgetop. The unit was literally overrun with roaches

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Note to self - avoid the Poconos at ALL COSTs and ALL times - I hope Wacky doesn't see this.

My worst exchange (RCI) was into the Connemara Country Cottages in Ireland...see my review at the bottom of this link from 2007
http://reviews.rci.com/0453/0385/reviews.htm

Dirty bathroom and kitchen, stained toilet, bathtub and sink, cracked and worn and broken linoleum, fuel line broken so no heat and only one of the two electric heaters worked. Checked in at 3 pm, by 4 we had driven back to the village and found the one place with a computer - got on II and was able to book a 3BR unit for that day check-in at Old Killarney Village. Went back to the 'cottage' where all 5 of us slept in our clothes and were in the car and on the road by 8am. Sorry to have missed touring the area but had a great time in Killarney after a week in Dublin.

Best exchange??? One day Angela noticed a 'glitch' in II that all the quality filters where off - I booked Four Seasons Aviara with a Bluebeards BeachClub studio - quite a score!

I have visited many places - I stayed in a very 'basic' unit at Oak N Spruce that I wouldn't want to stay in again - but I returned to the same resort (luckily better room) because I really enjoyed the Berkshires. Enjoyed several visits to SoCal - at the Four Seasons and Carlsbad Inn - and I much preferred the location of CI.

It is really hard to figure out what my "best" one is - but the bad ones are certainly memorable!

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Our best was the Houses at Summer Bay. We loved having our own heated pool by the lake.

Our worst was really dreadful. We exchanged into a timeshare 11 hrs drive from home called Cedar Lake Country Resort and I was bitten all over by bed bugs. I woke up in the middle of the first night all itchy with bites all over.

It was over Christmas break, and we were away with friends. The management suggested I had been bitten by sand flies when we first called them.

After going back to bed, I was bitten some more and we caught one to show them the engorged bug. I also had an allergic reaction to the bites so ended up with bigger lumps all over.

We ended up checking out after one night and driving the 11 hrs, arriving home late at night. Worst ever holiday and will never go back. Our friends who stayed on in their unit said that after we left, the management sprayed the unit. Hopeless management. They said they couldn't change our unit because they were full but they were totally unapologetic.

After arriving home and seeing a doctor, the allergic reaction was so bad that the doctor drew circles around the lumps to check how fast and big they were growing. I had bite scars all over my body over a year later.

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

Note to self - avoid the Poconos at ALL COSTs and ALL times - I hope Wacky doesn't see this.

I saw it! I'm outraged!

Just kidding. No one knows better than me how saggy and baggy resorts in the Poconos can be. But I still love going there.

Best exchange ever was for Sloane Gardens in London through SFX. I used to work for a British company, so I know how magnificent those apartments are! I didn't love the constant on-site "surveillance," but the location and the units themselves were out of this world.

Worst...hmmm. Oh, I'm afraid I know. The Presidential Resort in Spotsylvania, Virginia. Adorable log cabins directly on a lake, little porch to look out over the water, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful views...but the bed was so bad that I really did a number on my back, and it squeaked like mad, and the construction of the little house was so poor that you could hear every conversation of everyone in the house as if they were in the room with you. Also the kitchen was like a teeny little corner of the living room. Ironically, my youngest daughter loved the place a lot because the lake has a whole bunch of tame ducks that will come right up to your cabin for bread in the morning and the afternoon. She still talks about it. I would go back, but my DH says no way....

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

Best exchange - Sloane Gardens in London, through SFX.

Worst exchange - a resort whose name I no longer remember through RCI in Guadeloupe, 80% of which was in ruins from a hurricane several years before, and the unit quality in the unit I had was the worst I have seen in the Caribbean, or indeed in any timeshare anywhere.

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

The absolute best was a last minute exchange to the Galleon in Key West. I loved everything about it. The room was gorgeous, on the top floor, beautiful view, lots of things to do. I'd go back in a heartbeat. The worst exchange was the The Adventure Inn at Hilton Head. The room was terrible but everything else was wonderful. If this is the worst I have nothing to complain about. Shaggy

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

Our worst trade was at Vacation Internationale at Sea Mountain resort on the Big Island. While the resort was pretty good and the rooms were open air, very comfortable, if older style. The real issue is that the resort is VERY remote, eight or nine miles from the nearest very small towns with little to offer in the way of restaurants. There is a mostly run down golf course that didn't appear to be open for business and limited grocery shopping in the not so nearby towns. The Black Sand beach and turtles are spectacular as is the volcano and South Point. Nice place if you want to get away from it all, just take food with you. The best was the Point at Poipu which, for us, is not a trade since it is a Diamond property. Spectacular sunrises and sunsets, fabulous ocean view and well maintained resort. The nearby Hyatt Regency has outstanding restaurants, and Roy's is to die for.
Tom

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

Best trade: Villa L'auberge a couple times.

Worst trade: Haven't had one, yet!

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

Like Nancy and Sydney, my very favourite trade would be The Houses of Summer Bay. I love those houses with their own private pools!

The two resorts that i was very disappointed in would have to be Celebrity Resort in Reno and Silverwoods at Treasure Lake (same as Catwgirl). The Reno one was a very poorly renovated hotel room. The management rented out units to just anyone. We had the dubious pleasure of sharing the same floor with a bunch of drunken, foul-mouthed kids in their early twenties.

Treasure Lake was tired, run-down and the grounds were just plain ugly. There was not much to do or see in the area.

Dori