How would you rank the California Coastal Resorts II

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

How do the WorldMark California Coastal resorts rate?

I am thinking about Marina Dunes, Pismo Beach and Oceanside Harbor.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

I love Laguna Beach...it is so close that is the first place we go locally.

Emmy, don't get me wrong ......I love Laguna Beach .

I have probably over 300 scuba dives off the coast there......I just am not interested in vacationing there as it is too close to me....my wife objects everytime I mention staying at a timeshare in Laguna....she is ok with Oceanside and further south. If it was an easier summer trade and I could get oceanfront then I would reserve it in about two seconds. But it is not an easy trade for summer. And I could not justify paying the resale prices they are asking for Laguna Surf.

Laguna Surf does seem real nice and if you are out of the area, a great beach town. I have tried unsucessfully to internal trade there via RCIM as they only let you look 10 months out and there has been nothing for summer. And I have not seen in in RCI at all either, even with strong traders.

I prefer the Grand Pacific Resorts and now own 3 of them. They have nice resorts and a good network although they have recently instituted that new 1 in 4 rule for all their resorts....glad I bought in to get around it.

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

Yeah I understand.. its the same reason I won't vacation at the ever popular Inn at Silver Lakes

Do you live out here-Dave? They almost give that place away on Ebay.

[xzhan02 Member Find all posts View Profile Close xzhan02]

Pacific Grove Plaza near Monterey

No one mentioned Pacific Grove Plaza near Monterey. I will stay there as a rental next Month. It's a Gold Crown, walk to beach, surrounded by restaurants etc. It's small and few owner deposit so as one review said "it's the best kept secret". I sure hope so.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

We have been wanting to check out that place too....we love the area. Let us know.

No one mentioned Pacific Grove Plaza near Monterey. I will stay there as a rental next Month. It's a Gold Crown, walk to beach, surrounded by restaurants etc. It's small and few owner deposit so as one review said "it's the best kept secret". I sure hope so.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

It is pretty funny......that place was sold by the Infamous Glenn Ivy group who could sell sand to the arabs and ice to the eskimos. Some poor people actually end up at that place thinking they are in Southern California and can do the coast and Disneyland etc.

If anyone paid a penny for it they got ripped off.....I see people regularly giving their timeshares away at that place just to get out from under the maintenance fees....I wonder how it trades.

It is an RCI PSE resort and can be used to trade into other PSE resorts which is about the only attractive thing about the place.

Dave lives next door to the place and does tours if you are ever in the area.

Do you live out here-Dave? They almost give that place away on Ebay.

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

Dave lives next door to the place and does tours if you are ever in the area.[/QUOTE]

I live in the area too-

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

I can tell you stories about Glen Ivy that you will not believe!

I don't know if Silver Lakes was one of Glen Ivy's resorts but we found out that this company was selling more deeds than that there were weeks available at several resorts they took over! A friend of ours bought at Pono Kai and it took years to get the mess straightened out but he finally was satisfied with the results.

Laguna Surf is also an RCI PSE resort and we remember well that the owner of the company took it over from the developer and started selling from here which drove us all crazy because every week-end we had all these people walking by. I wonder if he sold all his resorts from here because it was very busy.

We were told that he was put in jail when it finally came to light that he had defrauded so many buyers. This was one of the reasons when deeded timeshares got cleaned up in CA and you had to physically inspect the unit before you could buy it plus every deed had to be accounted for. I am talking now of 1983 and a few years after that when Glen Ivy was selling here.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

I went to a Glenn Ivy presentation at Laguna Surf and another one at their office building somewhere in OC. That was long ago and they pitched some serious heat......we learned early and often to just keep saying NO.

I don't know if Silver Lakes was one of Glen Ivy's resorts but we found out that this company was selling more deeds than that there were weeks available at several resorts they took over! A friend of ours bought at Pono Kai and it took years to get the mess straightened out but he finally was satisfied with the results.

Laguna Surf is also an RCI PSE resort and we remember well that the owner of the company took it over from the developer and started selling from here which drove us all crazy because every week-end we had all these people walking by. I wonder if he sold all his resorts from here because it was very busy.

We were told that he was put in jail when it finally came to light that he had defrauded so many buyers. This was one of the reasons when deeded timeshares got cleaned up in CA and you had to physically inspect the unit before you could buy it plus every deed had to be accounted for. I am talking now of 1983 and a few years after that when Glen Ivy was selling here.

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

Do you live out here-Dave? They almost give that place away on Ebay.

Unfortunately I live about 20 miles from there.. but thats why I can afford to vacation.. I don't have a $6K per month house payment.

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

Unfortunately I live about 20 miles from there.. but thats why I can afford to vacation.. I don't have a $6K per month house payment.

Hee Hee-that's the best part. I know a lot of people who wouldn't set foot here-but I have a nice new house and I get to travel too. We have actually lived here about 19 years. Started a building a house right before the "boom" and it took forever so when we went to sell the old one-it looked as if we timed it perfectly and it was actually dumb luck on our part. Of course we were here when George AFB closed too and our home was devalued. Stay put long enough and things work out.

Hey, keeping on topic, since I am new to timesharing. How hard is it to trade in to a California Coastal during summer-which for us would be June/July-I own a fixed week in Maui at Maui Lea (June 11-18) I joined SFX-I am using our week this year-but I will probably trade it next year. Right now, all I really want out of timesharing is Hawaii & California-Bass Lake even. I often think I should have bought Worldmark-but Maui Lea came up on Ebay and well, good price and I own it. I am tied to a school calendar for now-I can see the possibilities for later.

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

I went to a Glenn Ivy presentation at Laguna Surf and another one at their office building somewhere in OC. That was long ago and they pitched some serious heat......we learned early and often to just keep saying NO.

I had a friend that worked for them back in the time Emmy speaks of. She was young but had enough integrity to quit after the things she witnessed and was told to do. She worked in the document processing side. Scary stuff.

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

Pacific Grove Plaza near Monterey

We have been wanting to check out that place too....we love the area. Let us know.

John, we stayed at this place many years ago. I don't remember if it was a timeshare then but it was a very nice and roomy condo with a fireplace in the living room and in the bathroom too with a Jacuzzi. It was wonderful. We had a tiny view on the ocean from the balcony but it is a few blocks away so do not get it if you want ocean view.

There is so much to see and do there that we were never in the condo once during the day. We also spent a beautiful day in San Francisco which wasn't next door and we parked our car in a garage so could walk and take the cable car to everywhere. The seventeen mile drive is a must do too and we even visited Pebble Beach. You will like it.

I also remember that this building with shops too is located in a street where all buildings were restored and parking was inside and very safe. I only hope it is still the same but it sounds like it and the write-up I just read looks very promising too.

http://www.8664myvacation.com/resort...ort%20Features

PS. Here is the write-up too I just read:

http://www.myresortnetwork.com/resor...ove/California

We may have rented there instead of exchanging. It is a long time ago but still in our memory.

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

Pacific Grove = gorgeous. I haven't stayed at Pacific Grove Plaza but at Pine Acres Lodge. Both timeshares are a short walk to the beach. The beach on the Monterey peninsula is very rocky and the water is very cold, so it's not a swimming opportunity unless you're really brave. However, it's fabulous for walking and beachcombing--there are lot of interesting life in the tidal pools. And the sunsets are fantastic.

[xzhan02 Member Find all posts View Profile Close xzhan02]

Pacific Grove Plaza

Just stayed at Pacific Grove Plaza, and loved it. It's in a great location and one of the most spacious I've stayed (~1500 sqft for our 2 br, 2 1/2 bath ocean view unit). It's older apartment style, but exceptionally clean and functional. No pool or other activity, but you don't need any as the whole area has way too many things to enjoy. By the end of the visit, I was sad to see their sign next to the elevator: Welcome Home !