Starwood Resale vs Buy From Developer

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

Talking about Starwood.....I am trying to understand the pros and cons of buying a resale unit. Obvious pro is the tremendous discount on the price. What do I NOT get for buying resale? What I want to be able to do is:
- use the unit if I want
- deposit the unit with Starwood and go to another Starwood resort
- deposit with RCI or II and get a great resort reservation

I think I understand that if I buy resale, I cannot deposit for points with Starwood and then redeem those points for stays at Starwood hotels (Sheraton, W, etc.).

Other help information???

Thanks,
Craig

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

What I want to be able to do is:
1- use the unit if I want
2- deposit the unit with Starwood and go to another Starwood resort
3- deposit with RCI or II and get a great resort reservation

I wish Starwood was that simple, IT ISN'T.

First, there at 2 kinds of starwood resales Mandatory resort and Voluntary resorts.

The 5-6 mandatory resorts, when purchased resale, are still a part of the starwood network and using the "star options" can do internal trading to all the other starwood resorts. So with mandatory resorts you can do all three things you want The only thing that you don't get with resales at mandatory resort is the hotel points.

Resales at voluntary resorts, you don't get the starwood network at all. You can do only two things you want: use your unit at your resort or trade with an exchange company.

Most people believe that the mandatory resorts are much more valuable than the voluntary resorts and therefore are priced alot more even on resale.

To get a better idea of Starwood, you should read the starwood advice article on TUG link here

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

If one of your desires is to trade within the Starwood system (to resorts in the SVN),you want to buy at a Mandatory resort on the resale market. Trading through II or RCI w/ a voluntary resort deposit is probably less successful in getting back into another Starwood resort and you have to pay fees. The are no fee to use staroptions within the SVN internal network.


Here is a list of the Mandatory vs. Voluntary Resorts that Bill mentions above:


Resorts that are “SVN mandatory”
SVN membership mandatory for both new and resale buyers:

Harborside Resort
Vistana Villages (Bella and Key West Phase only, not Amelia)
Westin St. John
Westin Ka'anapali
Westin Kierland Villas





Resorts that are “SVN non-mandatory”
SVN membership voluntary for developer buyers; not available to resale buyers


Vistana Resort
Broadway Plantation
Desert Oasis
Lakeside Terrace
PGA Vacation Resort
Mountain Vista
Westin Mission Hills
Westin Cancun
Westin Princeville

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

If I understand the Tug2 article correctly, a person buying from a 3rd party cannot use StarOptions at all because their unit is not given a StarOption value at all. In other words, not only can you not convert to StarPoints and book a hotel room, but you also cannot take advantage of other StarOption advantages, such as splitting a lockout in order to get 2 weeks (e.g. one week using only a studio and the other week using 1 bdrm).

In my opinion, this is a huge disadvantage for both the buyer and the seller who wants to avoid both the marketing pitch and the markup that one gets buying directly from the developer.

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

If you buy a voluntary resort resale, you can't use starPoints or starOptions. If you buy a mandatory resort, you DO have the use of StarOptions which are good for internal exchanges at other starwood resorts.

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

If you own a lockoff, even resale non mandatory, you can split the lockoff for your own use cant you? Cant you still exchange the 2 parts individually on II?Thanks for the help.

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

If you own a lockoff, even resale non mandatory, you can split the lockoff for your own use cant you? Cant you still exchange the 2 parts individually on II?Thanks for the help.

Yes, you can.....