Westin - Maui

[tj84054 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tj84054]

Just got back from Maui, and visited the Westin property. After going through the presentation, my wife and I did purchase an EOY beach front two bedroom for $39,500. And $960 per year for maintenance. Does this seem reasonable???
We have a seven day recind, which we are beginning to think about. Has anyone had positive/negative experiences with Westin Vacation Ownerships??

I have about 5 more days to finalize.....and would love to here back from someone.

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

there is an Every Year (island view) on ebay for a $27,000 Buy It Now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2BR-WESTIN-KAANA...em260038433517

Developers always charge way more than you'd pay on resale, our advice here is always to Rescind.

Westin is too rich for my blood, but its owners seem to be a happy group. Hopefully one of them will jump in soon.

[nell Member Find all posts View Profile Close nell]

We own at WKORV and love it. SVO has a good program. Most people will tell you to rescind and buy resale. You will save a lot of money not buying from the developer but there are other things to consider. Since WKORV and WKORV-N are mandatory properties you would have the option of trading internally within SVO with a resale. This is not the case in all of the SVO resorts. However, you would lose the option of coverting to Starpoints. MOST people feel this doesn't warrant paying the thousands of dollars more from the developer. It depends on how you plan on using the week and whether that's important to you. Resales for WKORV-N are probably few and far between right now. There are people who bought from the developer (knowing the difference in price) because they specifically wanted to go to WKORV-N when it opens. Again, it depends on what you want. There are plenty of resales for WKORV though. You could probably pick up an EY 2BDRM oceanfront at WKORV for about $52-$55 (just to show you the difference in resale price). Hope this helps some!

[j4sharks Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close j4sharks]

Westin Maui

My wife and I just rescinded on our contract with Westin to buy an every year 2BR-Lockoff with ocean view in the new Phase under construction. Price was $57,600, and annual fee is $1650. We are now planning to buy resale and are seeing lots of units (in the existing Phase) between $31-$35K. This seems like a better deal to me. Anyone know if owners in Phase 1 will be allowed to use the pools and facilities at Phase 2 or future Phases?

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

Anyone know if owners in Phase 1 will be allowed to use the pools and facilities at Phase 2 or future Phases?

The current answer is yes, the pool and facilities are for all guest at both resorts. BUT, SVN is known to change their minds.

[j4sharks Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close j4sharks]

Westin Maui

So would I be an idiot to buy the Maui Villa direct from Westin rather than resale market? The only seeming benefit is EOY option to convert my 2BR-Lockoff unit (good for 2 weeks in Maui, if I split it up -- or more weeks at other Starwood resorts) into a mere 80K Starwood points? And that 80K points is fixed, even though the number of Points required to redeem for hotel nights could (and probably will?) increase. So what am I missing? Why would I pay 2x the price???

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

I don't understand why anyone would pay that much money for a TS. From what I've seen, you can rent one of these units for many years and still be way ahead of the game when you consider the huge purchase price and high M&T fees. Even if you paid $2,500 per week in rent, it would take you ages to spend the amount of money that it costs to buy it, and you'd have no commitment. Maybe I'm not seeing something here, but that's my thought on it, so I'd rescind ASAP!

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

I don't understand why anyone would pay that much money for a TS. From what I've seen, you can rent one of these units for many years and still be way ahead of the game when you consider the huge purchase price and high M&T fees. Even if you paid $2,500 per week in rent, it would take you ages to spend the amount of money that it costs to buy it, and you'd have no commitment. Maybe I'm not seeing something here, but that's my thought on it, so I'd rescind ASAP!

I hate to say but I think that RobertD is right! We just returned from Maui and investigated the rental market for staying several months on a row or for a yearly lease. You can rent at nice ocean front units which are not resorts but private condo projects. You still have ocean view for a lot less money. The condos have kitchens and a w/d too so you can cook at home, if you have a family with you and wash your clothes, etc.

However, if you want to spoil yourself and have meals out and have a life of leisure for one or two weeks, buying a timeshare re-sale is better any time than staying in a hotel room with a family but the yearly maintenance fees will come back year after year no matter what.

My conclusion is now never to take a hasty decision and read the forums here and take these resorts up on a cheap timeshare tour package. It gives you an idea what you want to do and if the high expenses of owning a timeshare is justified or not.

One thing is for sure, when you are used to stay in a nice condo, you are no longer going to like staying in one or two cramped hotel rooms with a family of four or more.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Just got back from Maui, and visited the Westin property. After going through the presentation, my wife and I did purchase an EOY beach front two bedroom for $39,500. And $960 per year for maintenance. Does this seem reasonable???
We have a seven day recind, which we are beginning to think about. Has anyone had positive/negative experiences with Westin Vacation Ownerships??

I have about 5 more days to finalize.....and would love to here back from someone.

If you have any doubt, rescind! You can buy that same timeshare again from the developer tomorrow, next week or even next year.

Read these forums! This is my honest opinion and we bought every timeshare from a developer. You know now that there is a re-sale market available so take time and find out what is out there.

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

When I mentioned renting, I was really referring to renting a TS at the Westin (or whatever high end TS you're considering buying) as opposed to an independent condo, but that's not a bad idea either. I just looked on Vacation Timeshare & Rentals website and found tons of rentals available at the Maui Westin, starting at $1,100 per week. Hopefully this link will show them: http://www.vacationtimesharerentals.com/United-States/Timeshares/Hawaii/Lahaina/Westin-Ka'anapali-Ocean-Resort-Villas/index.asp?RentalSort=Price&Sort=ASC#rentals

There's a lot of rentals under $2K per week (and these are asking prices that could probably be lowered). If the maintenance fee is $1K, you're only paying a $1K premium for renting assuming you paid full asking price. It would take you decades to recoup your big purchase price (realistically never would in light of time value of money) if you paid $40K for one of these. Plus over the years, my guess is that M&T will go up faster than rental rates. Plus, you haven't made any committment regarding paying for the TS or paying for the annual M&T.