Just took a Marriott tour

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

This was my first Marriott tour. I wanted to learn more about Marriott. After a few questions and the fact that she asked if I owned. You could tell the 90 min presentation was about to end which is not what I wanted. I wanted to learn more about there system but it seemed that I already knew enough. There was one thing that had me which is there Florida club, For just under $10K you can go internally to 5 of the Marriott beach resorts in Florida. This I thought was not bad. The tour ended in under an hour. I did see others that were still there being grilled that were there before me.

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

She asked if you owned anywhere and you told her you did and that was the end of the presentation?

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

She asked if you owned anywhere and you told her you did and that was the end of the presentation?

Marriott, for the most part, is as low key as it gets. I have found that once they hear I own places that were purchased resale, they know it's not worth it.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

She asked if you owned anywhere and you told her you did and that was the end of the presentation?

Prety much she also asked what was the most I ever paid. I felt bad at this point and then gave her my Ts4m's card. She still spent time with me even knowing there was no way to sell me but I could tell she wanted the session to end right there. I think she went to her supervisor to see what needed to be done and the continued the tour.

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

When we were at the Marriott Fairway in November, they must have asked us to take a tour about 20 times. They offered us $100 in Marriott money or 10,000 Marriott points.

I overheard the presentation they were doing with another couple and wow, they are slick. The husband in the couple had been in a huge car accident and had been in the hospital for three months, and the salesman goes, "Oh, a terrible accident like that, it really makes you realize you've got to enjoy life NOW!"

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

Marriott's so called Florida Club

Frank,

The "Florida Club" isn't all that exciting. We own at Ocean Pointe which is part of the "Florida Club." All it really amounts to is another way to tack on $30 to your MF's for very little benefit. There are enough restrictions on FC to make it not a very worthwhile add on to use. I only know of one or two people who have ever used it successfully.

For starters internal exchange fee's are only $89 with Marriott. The FC tacks on another $30 to your MF's. You'd have to use the FC every three years just to break even. Otherwise you're spending more money that if you'd just done a traditional exchange.

Furthermore I believe you limited in the lead time you can request an FC reservation. If memory serves me correctly you can't request an FC exchange until 6 months before your arrival date.

I don't recall but you may also be restricted to the season you own in at your home resort. If you're making a standard exchange through I.I. you can trade up (or down) in season subject to availablity.

The main killer is the mandatory $30/year. We've owned an Ocean Pointe Silver seaon week since 2001 and have never used the FC. That means we've spent an additional $180 in FC fee's (essentially mandatory exchange fee's) and have never traveled within the FC. As long as we own, we're stuck with that mandatory $30/year exchange fee whether we ever use it or not. For the majority of owners it would be cheaper and easier to just pay the $89 exhange fee when you want to go to another resort.

I'm sure there are a few people who buy at one resort and manage to us the FC to exchange into one of the other FC resorts every year. That's pretty much what you'd have to do to make good use of it. If that's the case why not just buy something resale that's cheaper than Marriott but is a very good exchanger? You'd have a better shot getting into one of the more heavily demanded seasons by making your request at least a year out rather than hoping to get your week internally at the 6 month mark.

Don't get me wrong, I think Marriott has excellent quality resorts in great locations. Our Marriott units would likely be the last to go if we ever had to get rid of any of our timeshare weeks. It's just that the FC isn't anything more than mandatory extortion IMO.

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

That's great info Doug. It's always good to have a first hand account. Sales people always make it sound better than it actually is.

[billymach4 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close billymach4]

You should have taken a picture!

Frank,

I would have loved to see her face when you gave her your card.

[dioxide45 Member Find all posts View Profile Close dioxide45]

Frank,

The "Florida Club" isn't all that exciting. We own at Ocean Pointe which is part of the "Florida Club." All it really amounts to is another way to tack on $30 to your MF's for very little benefit. There are enough restrictions on FC to make it not a very worthwhile add on to use. I only know of one or two people who have ever used it successfully.

The $30 fee is in substitution of Marriotts regular $25 fee they charge to all owners for the services provided by Owner Services. So technically each year you are only paying an extra $5 to be in the Florida Club.

For starters internal exchange fee's are only $89 with Marriott. The FC tacks on another $30 to your MF's. You'd have to use the FC every three years just to break even. Otherwise you're spending more money that if you'd just done a traditional exchange.

Furthermore I believe you limited in the lead time you can request an FC reservation. If memory serves me correctly you can't request an FC exchange until 6 months before your arrival date.

This is correct, you can only request 6 months out from your reservation date.

I don't recall but you may also be restricted to the season you own in at your home resort. If you're making a standard exchange through I.I. you can trade up (or down) in season subject to availablity.

This is true. Though as long as the dates you want are available at 6 months out, you can get the reservation, through II nothing is guaranteed.

The main killer is the mandatory $30/year. We've owned an Ocean Pointe Silver seaon week since 2001 and have never used the FC. That means we've spent an additional $180 in FC fee's (essentially mandatory exchange fee's) and have never traveled within the FC. As long as we own, we're stuck with that mandatory $30/year exchange fee whether we ever use it or not. For the majority of owners it would be cheaper and easier to just pay the $89 exhange fee when you want to go to another resort.

From reading my first response, you have actually only paid an extra $30 since your ownership began. Still $30 you for services you didn't use, but not bad for the extra flexibility it could afford you in the future.

I'm sure there are a few people who buy at one resort and manage to us the FC to exchange into one of the other FC resorts every year. That's pretty much what you'd have to do to make good use of it. If that's the case why not just buy something resale that's cheaper than Marriott but is a very good exchanger? You'd have a better shot getting into one of the more heavily demanded seasons by making your request at least a year out rather than hoping to get your week internally at the 6 month mark.

Don't get me wrong, I think Marriott has excellent quality resorts in great locations. Our Marriott units would likely be the last to go if we ever had to get rid of any of our timeshare weeks. It's just that the FC isn't anything more than mandatory extortion IMO.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I'm not certain where you're getting hit with that $25 member service fee but I do not find it associated with our Grand Chateau week. The Florida Club fee is in addition to all other normal Marriott fee's from what I can see and not substituted for any other fee.

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

Frank,
I am not sure what season they were pushing for 10K...Platinum weeks at Grande Vista are 25K for a 2BR thru Marriott.....the trick is to buy a resale Plat week in one of those 5 resorts that includes the Florida Club.

I successfully use the FL Club every year - I am able to reserve March weeks (1BR and studio - have never tried for a 2BR) at BeachPlace and January weeks at Ocean Point. You have to reserve in your season or a 'lesser season' 6 months before check-in.

There is a TUGger who owns a silver Legends End 2BR non-lock-off who reserves at Ocean Point in the silver season, locks-off so gets a studio and a 1BR and then gets an accomodation cert from II for depositing the 1BR - so 3 weeks of use for 1 week of ownership.

For some people, the Florida Club works .....

[dioxide45 Member Find all posts View Profile Close dioxide45]

I'm not certain where you're getting hit with that $25 member service fee but I do not find it associated with our Grand Chateau week. The Florida Club fee is in addition to all other normal Marriott fee's from what I can see and not substituted for any other fee.

From looking at my MGV resort financial statement that I received with my MF bill, there is a line that indicates a Reservation System Fee-Non Club Owner of $26. This is charged to all Marriott owners through their MFs. There is another line on my bill that indicates Florida Club Fee of $30. The total MF for my unit type on the statement is $795.19. My total bill is 825.19. Those that are non club owners would have a total bill of 821.19. So the difference is actually only $4.

For resorts not in the Florida club, take a look at the financial statement, there is likley a fee on there for $26 for Reservation system fee. This may or may not be broken out on the financial statment as it is for MGV.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Frank,

I would have loved to see her face when you gave her your card.

Oh that was interesting, She got up showed her supervisor, she was trying to get out of the tour but they must have told her to finish the tour..

Doug great info in your posts here.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

From looking at my MGV resort financial statement that I received with my MF bill, there is a line that indicates a Reservation System Fee-Non Club Owner of $26. This is charged to all Marriott owners through their MFs. There is another line on my bill that indicates Florida Club Fee of $30. The total MF for my unit type on the statement is $795.19. My total bill is 825.19. Those that are non club owners would have a total bill of 821.19. So the difference is actually only $4.

For resorts not in the Florida club, take a look at the financial statement, there is likley a fee on there for $26 for Reservation system fee. This may or may not be broken out on the financial statment as it is for MGV.

I'm in FL right now so it will have to wait until I get home to look at the difference in MF statements from our Grand Chateau week and our Ocean Pointe week. If there is only a differnce of $4 I'll feel better about the Florida Club, even though I never intend or plan on using it. We enjoy our week and the location of Ocean Pointe just to much to give it up.

Unfortunately, I took the bait and have agreed to attend a presentation this week for the new Ocean Palms. I'd love to own another week but, I really don't need it, really shouldn't spend my money on another week and Lord knows I really don't need another Marriott MF but........I really do enjoy my early winter/late fall vacations here. Especially since we were in the middle of a cold snap complete with freezing sleet when we left. The weather acually caused our first flight to be cancelled and two delays on the routed flights before arriving in West Palm Beach around 11:00 PM.

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

Just took a Marriott tour


RE: This was my first Marriott tour. I wanted to learn more about Marriott

Which Marriott did your tour and what was the sales presentation area like.
Did you at least get to see a model unit or just a photo of one on the wall.

Did Marriott allow you to take the Timeshare Presentation
by yourself without having your spouse - wife attend too.
What did you get for the shorter version of the t/s tour ?

Where are the new Marriott Ocean Palms units being built ?