More points or sell to buy Marriott Vacation club?

[ccigliano]

I own Marriott (Aruba Ocean Club 2BR OceanFront), DVC (Wilderness Lodge Villas 400 Pts) and Hawaii (Hanalei Bay Resort 2BR OceanFront). I would sell my Marriott before I sold my DVC and here's why. Disney is very flexible as I am not locked in to a 7 night stay and can bank and borrow points and stay for extended periods of time or in large accommodations or just go down for a long weekend. What I would recommend is selling SSR to buy another DVC. I originally purchased a resale from the timeshare store at OKW and when the WLV opened I had to stay there from that point on. So I sold OKW and purchased WLV (another resale from the Timeshare store) and have been ecstatic ever since. Purchase a resale from wherever you like the theming the best. Take another trip down and check them all out. In addition, I have tried to trade my two bedroom Aruba Marriott for a 2 bedroom Marriott on any island in Hawaii with no luck. I would rather rent my DVC points to pay for accommodations if I had to. I have been able to trade the Hawaii timeshare for Hawaii just going to show that trading power is definitely something you need to consider if you do end up selling to buy the Marriott. Don't expect to trade the Marriott Grande Vista (Orlando) for anything in Hawaii. You can rent a 2 BR there almost any week of the year for $700 with II. Just my 2¢ and good luck with our decision.

 

[Dean]

I am not a Marriott owner....

I was coming on here to post about my experience this weekend at Marriott's Harbour Club at Hilton Head..... Let's put it this way, this place has me very glad I passed on Marriott when I toured several years ago. Hopefully this is NOT characteristic of the majority of their products, but as I plan to point out in my letter to Marriott, this is not exactly selling the product. LOL!

For those of you that complain about Disney check in.... you should have seen this front desk. They HONESTLY did not have a clue which units were due for check out, much less where to put NEW guests....I was amazed!!! It's hard to describe the scene and I am not sure how I plan to explain it to Marriott.

The "concerige" was checking me in. This woman is CLUELESS!!!! My room was not ready (no real suprise at 1 PM) so I asked for my parking pass so I could park for the beach. Her response, just use your $5 "day pass" (which you have to buy to get to the resort to check in) I KNOW that Sea Pines won't let those passes park at their beach club. When I pointed this out to the "concerige" she said "Are you sure?" (They finally gave me someone else's parking pass, not sure what that guest gets to use) I asked about bike rentals "I think we are out" Anyplace close to rent " I don't know" (How about NEXT DOOR???) LOL

I had to wait on the room to be "inspected" before I could have it at 4. I think the inspection is just to make sure the villa still exists. The inspection apparently does not look for cleaning or mechanical issues.......(The trash and linen from the last guest have been outside my villa door for two days!!!) The bathrooms here are kind of gross and the overall place needs some major rehab work. (None of my DVC rooms have ever looked this sad or dated)

Marriott does not point out to you that this "resort" has NO front desk staff after 5 pm. (Check in is at 4. If you miss that hour you get to drive across the resort to another Marriott where I guess they can check you in???)

I took the Marriott tour once and have always considered it a good product, this "resort" has certainly raised some concerns for me.....

Carol, Marriott's are more variable than DVC at this time. Harbor Club is certainly one of the oldest and is a very small resort as you know. I would not consider is the worst resort but it certainly in the bottom quarter. I've always preached to this board that Disney Vacation Club members investigate any resorts any resorts they're looking to trade to and this simply emphasizes that point.

 

[CarolA]

Carol, Marriott's are more variable than DVC at this time. Harbor Club is certainly one of the oldest and is a very small resort as you know. I would not consider is the worst resort but it certainly in the bottom quarter. I've always preached to this board that Disney Vacation Club members investigate any resorts any resorts they're looking to trade to and this simply emphasizes that point.

Dean,
I am here as a cash guest.....I am in Hilton Head for a conference. (That's another story, cash guests get daily housekeeping.... Guess what didn't happen today in this villa?? Of course since it was after five when I got back there is no one to complain too... )

The location is great. I love being able to walk to Harbour Town. However, as I will be telling Marriott while this may not be the new Surf Watch, it does give a potential customer a reason to think "Is this what they are going to do to me in a few years if I buy there?" (It certainly has made me think that and would make me think long and hard about recomending Marriott as I have in the past)

Since I have "status" with Marriott I expect that I will be happy with the final resolution of this stay, but IMHO that shouldn't be necessary. I should have been happy from the start. (Which would mean that the front desk staff will need SERIOUS training on room assignment and guest relations. It is NOT reaassuring to arrive and have the staff discuss IF they have rooms and WHERE they are. They actually were calling each other on the radio to decide if they had "booked" room X and put a guest in it??? Apparently entering this data into their computer is done "periodically" since "not everyone knows how to use it" )

 

[Mtnman44]

I think you could get about 4 platinum weeks for that!

The draw to Marriott is that they offer a bunch of locations -- but they are no less expensive (red week is $27k ish)