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Wyndham Vacation Resorts - a new timeshare crown jewel in San Francisco?
Mark Silverman
San Francisco Examiner
June 25,009
Didn’t spend enough time at Wyndham Canterbury at San Francisco Wyndham Vacation Ownership’s new property in San Francisco to give it a full review, but I will share some impressions garnered from the celebrating the culmination of many years of work.
Taking the historic, but rundown, Canterbury Hotel down to the studs, yet retaining the charm and in some cases, pieces from the more than seventy year old property, they’ve added a real jewel to the Union Square neighborhood.
Mostly one-bedroom suites in the main building, with one-two-and-three bedroom presidential suites in the adjacent Whitehall Inn, are beautifully decorated, with a retro feel (wouldn’t know to say that if Mrs. Timeshare Examiner hadn’t accompanied me).
Wyndham, as Franz Hanning, company President, points out is becoming a big player in the Urban timeshare market. They have properties in New Orleans, San Diego, soon-to-open Washington, DC, and more. “Our points based program is perfectly suited to the two and three night stays typical for a city visit”.
In my experience city based timeshare resort offer significantly smaller, hotel-like accommodations, with little in the way of amenities.
I stayed in a standard one-bedroom; small by timeshare standards, but large by urban timeshare norms. And very well decorated. Taste may vary, but the thought put into every item, from furniture to fixtures to decorative vases in each villa is obvious.
The limited kitchen has a mini-fridge, microwave, toaster and coffee maker, no stove in the standard units. The table and chairs are very nice.
The living room has a sleeper sofa opposite the flat screen-anchored entertainment center.
While not sprawling, there is nothing cramped about it.
Likewise the bedroom, comfortable queen bed, another flat screen built into a dresser. They benefit from the smaller footprint of the TV, which allows for a smaller dresser, taking up less floor space.
The bathroom is very well designed. It’s clear they put a great deal of thought into the selection of the fixtures, rather than simple white hospitality fixtures. All the units, even the 1,800 square foot presidential suites, have large walk-in showers with glass tile backsplashes, a theme repeated in the kitchen. From fixtures to soaps and shampoos, it’s clear that WVR is making an effort to create a feel of luxury across their brand.
Kevin Johnson, resort manager, walked me through one of the three-bedroom presidential suites. By contrast, the use of space is almost extravagantly wasteful, which can be a lot of fun when you are vacation. As I looked at the tremendous bedroom with its large private bath Johnson said, “Wait til you see the master bedroom!”
I’m looking forward to seeing the one-and-two bedroom presidential’s, to compare to the one-bedroom I stayed in. All the presidential suites have full kitchens, with stove, oven and full size refrigerators.
A couple of small gripes, one I’d be surprised if anyone but me was bugged by. The kitchen sink has a cool-looking joy stick control. Granted, I’m in the room for only a couple hours (awake), and I’m not the handyman type. But I couldn’t intuitively look at it and figure out where hot and where cold were. A bit more annoying, when you get to what turns out to be the off position, the water trickles to an eventual stop, so you end jiggling the handle back to an on position. Picture a television where you press the off button, but it takes 5 seconds till anything happens.
The other small item I noticed, the carpet is a dark, very attractive pattern. But heaven forbid, something dark, like a cell phone, or remote control ends up on the floor. Can be difficult to find, as it blends in with pattern.
Not so much a gripe but noteworthy, no ice-machines on the floor, especially notable when min-fridge has no ice maker. A call to the front desk, and a full ice bucket is delivered very quickly. My guess, space and perhaps noise considerations had something to do with it.
A few more things I took note of during my whirlwind visit. Almost all of the staff I met are new to WVO, rather than transfers from other locations. That’s partially a company culture decision, Hanning told me he doesn’t like moving people around the country, he’d rather have people living where they want to live.
Many of the staff I met were also new to vacation ownership, though they had hospitality industry roots.
The resort entrance has a very hotel like feel, from the doorman outside, to the well-staffed registration desk, and the concierge desk all in a lobby that looks a comfortable as a well used living room.
A Wyndham trait – local phone calls are free! Which should be the case for owners, but too many programs cling to the ridiculous phone charges. The only way to make long distance calls is with a calling card, or cell phone, of course.
Wi-fi is provided throughout the entire property, at no charge, and there are two computers in the lounge, available for use by any owner.
As in the other San Francisco-based properties, the city itself is considered the primary attraction and amenity, so the resort isn’t loaded with things like pools. It does have a well equipped exercise room, and the lounge has a pool table and foos-ball table. What makes them noteworthy – no charge to play.
The larger units have washer driers inside, the smaller suites have free laundry facilities on the floor. Didn’t ask, but I’m guessing supplies provide by the desk.
In the future, I’ll do a more detailed report and review on the property, including the cost to own, and the points to stay, but if you only get one chance to make a first impression, WVO doesn’t need a second chance.
San Francisco Examiner - Wyndham Vacation Resorts - a new timeshare crown jewel in San Francisco?
Mark Silverman
San Francisco Examiner
June 25,009
Didn’t spend enough time at Wyndham Canterbury at San Francisco Wyndham Vacation Ownership’s new property in San Francisco to give it a full review, but I will share some impressions garnered from the celebrating the culmination of many years of work.
Taking the historic, but rundown, Canterbury Hotel down to the studs, yet retaining the charm and in some cases, pieces from the more than seventy year old property, they’ve added a real jewel to the Union Square neighborhood.
Mostly one-bedroom suites in the main building, with one-two-and-three bedroom presidential suites in the adjacent Whitehall Inn, are beautifully decorated, with a retro feel (wouldn’t know to say that if Mrs. Timeshare Examiner hadn’t accompanied me).
Wyndham, as Franz Hanning, company President, points out is becoming a big player in the Urban timeshare market. They have properties in New Orleans, San Diego, soon-to-open Washington, DC, and more. “Our points based program is perfectly suited to the two and three night stays typical for a city visit”.
In my experience city based timeshare resort offer significantly smaller, hotel-like accommodations, with little in the way of amenities.
I stayed in a standard one-bedroom; small by timeshare standards, but large by urban timeshare norms. And very well decorated. Taste may vary, but the thought put into every item, from furniture to fixtures to decorative vases in each villa is obvious.
The limited kitchen has a mini-fridge, microwave, toaster and coffee maker, no stove in the standard units. The table and chairs are very nice.
The living room has a sleeper sofa opposite the flat screen-anchored entertainment center.
While not sprawling, there is nothing cramped about it.
Likewise the bedroom, comfortable queen bed, another flat screen built into a dresser. They benefit from the smaller footprint of the TV, which allows for a smaller dresser, taking up less floor space.
The bathroom is very well designed. It’s clear they put a great deal of thought into the selection of the fixtures, rather than simple white hospitality fixtures. All the units, even the 1,800 square foot presidential suites, have large walk-in showers with glass tile backsplashes, a theme repeated in the kitchen. From fixtures to soaps and shampoos, it’s clear that WVR is making an effort to create a feel of luxury across their brand.
Kevin Johnson, resort manager, walked me through one of the three-bedroom presidential suites. By contrast, the use of space is almost extravagantly wasteful, which can be a lot of fun when you are vacation. As I looked at the tremendous bedroom with its large private bath Johnson said, “Wait til you see the master bedroom!”
I’m looking forward to seeing the one-and-two bedroom presidential’s, to compare to the one-bedroom I stayed in. All the presidential suites have full kitchens, with stove, oven and full size refrigerators.
A couple of small gripes, one I’d be surprised if anyone but me was bugged by. The kitchen sink has a cool-looking joy stick control. Granted, I’m in the room for only a couple hours (awake), and I’m not the handyman type. But I couldn’t intuitively look at it and figure out where hot and where cold were. A bit more annoying, when you get to what turns out to be the off position, the water trickles to an eventual stop, so you end jiggling the handle back to an on position. Picture a television where you press the off button, but it takes 5 seconds till anything happens.
The other small item I noticed, the carpet is a dark, very attractive pattern. But heaven forbid, something dark, like a cell phone, or remote control ends up on the floor. Can be difficult to find, as it blends in with pattern.
Not so much a gripe but noteworthy, no ice-machines on the floor, especially notable when min-fridge has no ice maker. A call to the front desk, and a full ice bucket is delivered very quickly. My guess, space and perhaps noise considerations had something to do with it.
A few more things I took note of during my whirlwind visit. Almost all of the staff I met are new to WVO, rather than transfers from other locations. That’s partially a company culture decision, Hanning told me he doesn’t like moving people around the country, he’d rather have people living where they want to live.
Many of the staff I met were also new to vacation ownership, though they had hospitality industry roots.
The resort entrance has a very hotel like feel, from the doorman outside, to the well-staffed registration desk, and the concierge desk all in a lobby that looks a comfortable as a well used living room.
A Wyndham trait – local phone calls are free! Which should be the case for owners, but too many programs cling to the ridiculous phone charges. The only way to make long distance calls is with a calling card, or cell phone, of course.
Wi-fi is provided throughout the entire property, at no charge, and there are two computers in the lounge, available for use by any owner.
As in the other San Francisco-based properties, the city itself is considered the primary attraction and amenity, so the resort isn’t loaded with things like pools. It does have a well equipped exercise room, and the lounge has a pool table and foos-ball table. What makes them noteworthy – no charge to play.
The larger units have washer driers inside, the smaller suites have free laundry facilities on the floor. Didn’t ask, but I’m guessing supplies provide by the desk.
In the future, I’ll do a more detailed report and review on the property, including the cost to own, and the points to stay, but if you only get one chance to make a first impression, WVO doesn’t need a second chance.
San Francisco Examiner - Wyndham Vacation Resorts - a new timeshare crown jewel in San Francisco?
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