Despite all the annoyances, I *love* timesharing

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

An average person coming here (or OT, or the Wyndham yahoo group, or...) would conclude that all of us might wish we'd never heard of timeshare. The rip-off artists in any developer's sales office, exchange companies renting weeks, erosion of benefits, and increasing fees, etc. etc. etc.

I'm presently sitting in Wyndham Smoky Mountains, in a very nice 2BR unit. The kids are in their room, asleep, while we hang out in the living room. We've had several meals in our well-stocked kitchen. The beach towels and swim suits from the afternoon's visit to Dollywood's water park are now dry thanks to the in-unit dryer, and I'm about to enjoy a beverage out on the balcony which has a bit of a view.

I hear people vacation in hotel rooms---whole families in a little room with a single bathroom, a single sink, and two beds! I don't know why they do it, or how, but they do it. To me, that's simply not a vacation. This is a vacation, and I wouldn't give it up.

[Joe L Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe L]

I totally agree.

There is nothing like bringing freinds and family to their first timeshare experience. They expect a hotel experience then see the timeshare. The look in their eyes is priceless when they see the living room, kitchen and bedrooms.

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

I agree!!! We took my husband's mom and dad two weeks ago. It was their first timeshare experience and they also loved it!

It was so enjoyable for me. I could get up and have my breakfast without waking the kids. I could watch what I wanted on TV and the kids could watch their shows!

Wonderful life!

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

I confirm your/the first time at a TS feeling. I recently..., actually this past year, visited a timeshare for the first time with my business partner while away on business. I was so impressed that I just closed my first TS and am awaiting my second to close shortly.

I am very much looking forward to taking my family and then my parents away to see their faces and watch them enjoy the benefits of a TS.

Cheers too many years of great vacations in our timeshares!

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Add me to the I could NEVER do hotel rooms again count. A studio if not in a major metro area is considered a hardship. I like my little pleasantries that a timeshare provides that a hotel room cannot.

I'll roll out one of my favorite old stories now.

DS, who is coming 15yo soon, went down with me to visit a very dear friend of mine in Florida quite a few years ago. We were flying into MCO and I thought it would be pretty damn heartless to take an 8 year old boy to Orlando and not do "A park. Any park". So I pricelined and got a very nice hotel for ~ $40/night for 2 nights so we could go to Universal before our visit a couple hours north.

The first words out of his mouth were "Where is the rest of the place?" and "Where's the kitchen?"

The child had no recollection of a time before timeshare.

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

I'm feeling pretty lucky that we don't have horror stories to tell. We managed to avoid ever buying from any developer.

We bought our first timeshares from Herb at TimeShareSpecials (may he rest in peace). He threw in two banked GC weeks, so in our first two years, we booked 6 vacations and by our math, had more than made up for money spent. We had a couple more years of gravy before Black Sunday and the rise of the Rand against the $.

We got out of SA, and into CMV UDIs and RCI Points. We've had several more years of great trips, and now that RCI has diminished the value of the UDIs somewhat, we're adding Bluegreen Club to our list.

Our timing hasn't always been perfect. We were a couple of years late on both the SA and UDI bandwagons, but they've worked well for us. We've never had a bad trip; the worst I can say is that one of the resorts we stayed in in Hawaii a couple of years ago was run-of-the-mill...but when you're sitting on the beach in Lahaina, how bad can that be?

I have no regrets about timesharing, and in addition to the use we've gotten for ourselves, I've made trips available to family members, friends, and my Ph.D. students. A fresh graduate just got back from a trip to Isla Margarita...she's Venezuelan, and she got to bring her mother, father, and siblings to the resort with her for the week. At this moment, a dear friend is off in Ocean City with his family, and his mother and father. His parents are in from England, and his father is slipping into dementia, so this may be the last time the kids see their grandfather and he recognizes them.

Timesharing rocks.

sc
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[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Lawren, you made me laugh. A few years back we stayed at the Sheraton in MB. It's a nice place but certainly not a ts. Kelli wanted to know why we were staying in a dump.

My brother met me in Las Vegas and I was staying at the Hilton Flamingo on the strip ( the big pink building) He walked in and the first words out of his mouth , were Wow, nice digs!!

Sometimes I think about selling out but I like having all the space. shaggy

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

Count me in as one that no longer wants to stay in a motel or hotel. Although sometimes it can not be avoided. When we do stay in a motel or hotel I do apprecate my TS even more. I may be the strange one but I love 1 bedroom loft units. I will actually book one over a 2 bed unit.

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

When I am staying in one place for a week, nothing beats a timeshare. I was in Kiev for work a couple of weeks ago, and even though my employer put me up for six nights in probably the best 5* hotel in town, one of my thoughts after a couple of days, was ''this is so inferior to a timeshare''.

Now, if I am sighting over a larger area, I have changed my view. I no longer like to use a timeshare as a base for that unless it is a rather limited area. The time to and from points of interest and the cost of gas are considerations, and in traveling point to point, with a different hotel each night, isn't quite so bad. I did the timeshare-as-a-base thing in my early sightseeing in Europe, but not anymore. Now I look for somewhere I want to stay for a whole week, without going too far afield, when I do timesharing.

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

HA! Mary Quin, who is now 5, walked in to our "first night in Orlando" room at the Hyatt airport and said, "Mommy, where are we going to eat?"

Some kids play "house"...she plays "condo"! It's hysterical.

Add me to the I could NEVER do hotel rooms again count. A studio if not in a major metro area is considered a hardship. I like my little pleasantries that a timeshare provides that a hotel room cannot.

I'll roll out one of my favorite old stories now.

DS, who is coming 15yo soon, went down with me to visit a very dear friend of mine in Florida quite a few years ago. We were flying into MCO and I thought it would be pretty damn heartless to take an 8 year old boy to Orlando and not do "A park. Any park". So I pricelined and got a very nice hotel for ~ $40/night for 2 nights so we could go to Universal before our visit a couple hours north.

The first words out of his mouth were "Where is the rest of the place?" and "Where's the kitchen?"

The child had no recollection of a time before timeshare.

[Anne1125 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Anne1125]

I couldn't say it better myself. I feel very spoiled and love it!

Anne

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Love it.. My kids are so spoiled! They expect to stay in a villa no matter where we go... Last time we were in a hotel- the baby kept opening all the doors trying to find the other rooms! Too funny!

My parents are another fantastic example.. When I first got into this business about ten years ago- my parents used to introduce me as the son "involved in real estate" and would hardly ever speak the word "timeshare".

Then, we took them on vacation with us... Suddenly- the word timeshare started popping up in their conversations, and now they hit me up for rentals at least every few months.. Just recently- they went to Tybee Island and I couldn't find a Tybrisa owner for a rental. I asked them about a motel on the island- and after a few minutes of silence on the other end, they asked me for the number of a local realtor..

Turns out they rented a little beach house for the week and paid a pretty penny!

Timeshares truly do provide incredible vacation opportunities.

[PHILL12 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PHILL12]

Most of the unhappy owners are the ones that probably bought from a developer at high prices. Now during hard times they make payments plus maintenence fee payments and just want out.


We owned in PV,Mexico years ago (LOS TULES) and only sold it because we hated trying to work decent trades with RCI. We bought in Lake Tahoe where we went for many years staying in Harrah's few days at a time. We finally went up and bought at the Ridge Tahoe and loved it and had many good exchanges.

After about five years we sold and left timesharing and had good times in many top hotels. Wife missed her kitchens and after ten years we ran back and bought again at the Ridge Tahoe and have not regretted it once.

Like I have said many times buy where you want to stay every year and exchange is just another option and these are the owners that like timeshares!



PHIL

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

We have been timesharing for 20+ years and have had many great timeshare vacations. However in the last few years,since I retired, we far prefer to take non-timeshare trips. Unless the timeshare is a full blown luxury resort like the Grand Mayans, with all of the amenities then we would much rather stay in a luxury hotel/resort. We want the niceties like room service, full concierge service, etc. We never cook when we vacation so we don't need a kitchen though a small refrigerator is nice. We usually stay in a suite at the hotels which is plenty of room for the 2 of us. Many hotels today have suite hotels with units as large as any timeshare but far more amenities. Hilton's Homewood Suites are pretty good. We also want the flexibility that hotels offer both for scheduling and location. Often we will decide to take a trip on the spur of the moment.

Timesharing was great for us for a few years when we would take my mom, kids or meet with other relatives. Now our kids have their own families and schedules so timeshare vacations with them are not feasible though we do a lot of things together. We don't like to travel with anybody other than our kids as we like the freedom of doing what we want, when we want.

There are timeshares like the Grand Mayans, Royals, etc. that do offer the luxury resort experience and we have visited them many times. However, many timeshares are nothing more than condos which don't appeal to us anymore.

One other big factor is the comfort of the beds. That has become a very competitive item for the hotels, not just the quality of the mattress but also the sheets and pillows. Some hotels let you select the type of pillows you want. We have never found a timeshare that offer that same comfort.

We sold one of our timeshares and now just keep one which we will probably sell in the near future. We have many use weeks banked at SFX which we will give to our kids if it meets their schedules.

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

My husband is an early riser, I am not. The TS is perfect for us, in that he can have coffee and watch the news and not disturb me in any way.

Our granddaughters (Marley 5 & Madison 9) have been "raised" on TS's. We usually take 2 trips a year with the kids and grandkids. Last year, we were in our TS, and a friend was staying at the Disney Polynesian. We went over to their room to meet for dinner. My M&M's took one look around and whispered to me " Gramma, they aren't as lucky as we are."

The M&M's aunt and uncle took them away for a weekend. When they got home and called me, they said they had fun, but "with attitude" told me they had to stay in a hotel!

Last month we were in a 4 bedroom and the girls were thrilled not only to have their own room, but an extra room for their dolls! The place was very large, and I went looking for them for dinner. Where were these girls with all of the space... playing in the closet of their dolls room!

So, yes, for many reasons we do enjoy our TS and consider ourselves lucky to vacation the way we do!