Suggestions for Good Marriott Trader

[NiteMaire]

After buying "powerful weeks" and getting only a few successful trades, I wound up selling them and taking the advice of the sages at TUG: PURCHASE AT WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY. I wish I had originally done that.

It depends. I currently own 3 weeks (6 if you include LO). I've always traded my timeshares (purchased 1st one in 2003) and have been extremely happy. Purchased each with intent to trade (although I will both trade and use MGC).



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[amy241]

That's exactly why I decided to buy MKO ocean view. Yes, it is expensive, yes HOA is high. But at least I know they won't put me in 2nd floor facing dumpster anymore. I probably can save few hundred bucks if I still do Interval trade, but I'm just don't want to deal with the hassle. My work is stressing me out enough, now with owning MKO, I can reserve 12-13 months ahead after I buy another trader week.

My strategy is to use studio to trade for 2nd week and ask them not to move us from the owner 1st week. Again, we only need 1 bedroom and I don't like to take away 2-3 bedroom if 1 bed is available.

We are in the same position -- we really need only 1 bedroom -- so it would be nice to use the studio for a second week. Is that always an option or only if Marriott has lock off privileges available?

 

[amy241]

Amy, if we were to do it all over again, we would buy an every other year ocean view MKO as well, and an annual DSV1. We end up trading one of the DSV1 for Marriott Reward Points for most years because we have too many timeshare weeks. We have contacted the Marriott resales on our intention to sell 1 week through them. We do return to Marriott Desert Springs and either Westin Mission Hills or Westin Desert Willow every year for several weeks for golf during the cold season. We also unloaded several Vistana weeks, also due to owning too many. We love our Worldmark for West Coast summer getaway. We also added cruising to our travel and we cruise every year, and there is only so much time that we want to be away from our pets.

We do a lot of cruising too since we are in FL. With several cats at home, I hear you about not being able to be away from pets for a long time. I have DSV1 on the radar too as a possibility. You must really like the area if you return for golf yearly.

 

[VacationForever]

We do a lot of cruising too since we are in FL. With several cats at home, I hear you about not being able to be away from pets for a long time. I have DSV1 on the radar too as a possibility. You must really like the area if you return for golf yearly.

Yes, we have cats too and our cat sitter comes everyday but it is not the same. They need our company and we worry about them when we are away.

We do like the Palm Desert area but it is also far for you. I do think you may want to look for a strong trader closer to you or possibly an every other year ocean view MKO. I envy those who live in Florida. The cruise prices drop alot after final payment - to sell the last cabins and we would be in cruise heaven if we live in Florida. But then there are the cats... cannot bear to leave them alone too often.

 

[frank808]

Yes, we have cats too and our cat sitter comes everyday but it is not the same. They need our company and we worry about them when we are away.

We do like the Palm Desert area but it is also far for you. I do think you may want to look for a strong trader closer to you or possibly an every other year ocean view MKO. I envy those who live in Florida. The cruise prices drop alot after final payment - to sell the last cabins and we would be in cruise heaven if we live in Florida. But then there are the cats... cannot bear to leave them alone too often.

We would love to be local floridians. We have to fly from hawaii tonget our cruises fix. But that also means we won't be able to stay at mko as much. Such hard first world choices

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[VacationForever]

We would love to be local floridians. We have to fly from hawaii tonget our cruises fix. But that also means we won't be able to stay at mko as much. Such hard first world choices

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First world problems.

 

[Dean]

Boy, reading that OP bought back a lot of memories when I was digging into TUG to learn as much as I could.
That was about 9 years ago.

After buying "powerful weeks" and getting only a few successful trades, I wound up selling them and taking the advice of the sages at TUG: PURCHASE AT WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY. I wish I had originally done that.

Hence my view there are resorts/seasons to own and those to trade with relatively little crossover. If one can do sufficient volume, owning both together is often best, esp if the traders also facilitate securing the reservation of the weeks one only uses.

Ideally, if I bought where I wanted to stay, I would buy Marriott Ko Olina. But I have read posts in other threads that have suggested Hawaii does not make sense as a trader because the MFs are typically much higher than other locations along with a higher purchase price. I read one post that quipped it would be like trading a Mercedes for a Chevy. While we would use it from time to time, I'm not certain it would be yearly since we live on the east coast. (I wonder how many east coast TUGGERS own Hawaii in this forum? Always interesting to see where everyone is located and the the resorts they own.) So I would likely be trading it and I'm not sure this is the best plan. But if I could buy where I wanted to stay, it would be MKO. I'm trying to rationalize this as a purchase but I'm not convinced it's a good move. It makes me wish I lived on the west coast.

HI and Aruba are tough because of the air and fees. If I were going to one or the other EOY or more, I'd own there to use as in this discussion but I'd still likely trade in at least part of the time, esp if I also had a Marriott trading unit. In part it depends on how flexible one is as to resort, location, week and lead time.

 

[brianfox]

Five Marriott HI weeks here ($10K per year in MF!!)... We know full well that just about any trade we did would be losing money, unless maybe we could trade into Disney, Harborside, or St. John.

However, we also know we can rent these weeks for $12K-$15K very easily. So we would no doubt rent elsewhere rather than exchange if we wanted to skip Hawaii.
We are also under no illusion that this is a guaranteed money-maker; special assessment, hurricane, tsunami, or a crazy guy in North Korea could wreak havoc...

 

[LynnaeK]

Has anyone recently purchased a Grand Chateau 3 bedroom? If so, what was the price and where did you find the listing? Thanks!

 

[Hankmoon]

In 2015, I decided to add a trader to my portfolio. After soliciting opinions, I decided on an EOY 2 Br at the Grand Chateau (all weeks are platinum). It is just a trader because I have been to far to many conferences in Vegas over the years. I purchased the Grand Chateau for a few reasons
1 - Marriott was not (and maybe still not) exercising Right of First Refusal so I picked up an inexpensive unit on Ebay. (1800 with closing costs included)
2 - MF's are not that bad.. 600 EOY
3 - I got good feedback that it traded well
4 - If it didn't work out, minimal investment

In year 1 of my ownership, I deposited it into II as a 1 BR and Studio. The 1 br I traded for a 2 bedroom at the Aruba Surf. I leave in a few weeks. The studio, I have seen Studios and 1 BR in just about all Marriott that have them. If I could have travelled within 60 days, I could have gotten HHI, St Kitts and St Thomas (all August).
I have a sense that the Chateau will be a good trader but I can't prove it yet. If I was to do this again, I would have gotten an EOY 3 BR. I still may.

I have two summer HHI timeshares that I normally use or rent but the few times I traded (over my 25 year ownership of one of them), it trades very well. I would not purchase HHI as a trader because they do not lock-off and you can pick up good traders for less money.

I am a newbie. What does it mean when you say Marriott is not exercising Right of First Refusal? Does this mean they are allowing resales? Is this good or bad?

 

[brianfox]

I am a newbie. What does it mean when you say Marriott is not exercising Right of First Refusal? Does this mean they are allowing resales? Is this good or bad?

Go HERE

 

[NiteMaire]

Has anyone recently purchased a Grand Chateau 3 bedroom? If so, what was the price and where did you find the listing? Thanks!

I purchased one in July of last year. 3BR EOYE, $2500, www.redweek.com

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[ChazMan]

Hello all, I own a Marriott Grande Vista 3BR Gold and am looking to pick up another 3BR Gold/Platinum from RedWeek. Are ALL 3BR at the MGV lock-off units? If not, how can I tell if the listings on RedWeek are for lock-off units or not? We purchased 15+ years ago and I don't recall the specifics regarding lock-off features on the 2BR or 3BR units. Also, based on feedback from this amazing board, now considering 2BR at Willow Ridge - again, are all 2BR lock-offs or do I need to be careful about what I buy for purpose of lock-off? TIA!

 

[1st Class]

Hello all, I own a Marriott Grande Vista 3BR Gold and am looking to pick up another 3BR Gold/Platinum from RedWeek. Are ALL 3BR at the MGV lock-off units? If not, how can I tell if the listings on RedWeek are for lock-off units or not? We purchased 15+ years ago and I don't recall the specifics regarding lock-off features on the 2BR or 3BR units. Also, based on feedback from this amazing board, now considering 2BR at Willow Ridge - again, are all 2BR lock-offs or do I need to be careful about what I buy for purpose of lock-off? TIA!

All floating weeks are lock-off capable, but at resorts that offer dedicated units, locking off is first come, first served.

 

[hangloose]

At Grande Vista, all deeded 2BR weeks can be reserved with or without a lock-off I believe. As such, what shows on the actual deed I think is a moot point. I think all 3BR may be lock-offs, as I don't think their is a dedicated single entry 3BR (not positive though).

The only thing to think about for Grande Vista resale weeks is whether the week you are purchasing has access to the Florida Club. Some do, some don't. This option is based on the deeded week. This may also be unimportant, if you never plan to use the MVC Florida Club option.

 

[SueDonJ]

Hello all, I own a Marriott Grande Vista 3BR Gold and am looking to pick up another 3BR Gold/Platinum from RedWeek. Are ALL 3BR at the MGV lock-off units? If not, how can I tell if the listings on RedWeek are for lock-off units or not? We purchased 15+ years ago and I don't recall the specifics regarding lock-off features on the 2BR or 3BR units. Also, based on feedback from this amazing board, now considering 2BR at Willow Ridge - again, are all 2BR lock-offs or do I need to be careful about what I buy for purpose of lock-off? TIA!

At both Grande Vista and Willow Ridge there are a mix of dedicated and lock-off units but it doesn't matter for purposes of buying resales because all Weeks owners have the option of booking either, subject to availability at the time of request and on a first-come-first-served basis. If you know as soon as the Reservation Window opens for a desired stay which type of unit you want, request it then. If you don't know, or want to change a previous request, contact Owner Services as far in advance of check-in as possible.

Some re-sellers put a premium on the price of their Weeks by advertising the incorrect notion that unless the deed contains the number of a unit that's lock-off capable, the buyer won't be able to reserve lock-off components. The reality is that the unit number in a deed only serves to confirm the unit size and view type (if there are variances at the resort) - buyers of floating Weeks don't purchase guarantees of either being placed in that specific unit or of being assigned to a lock-off unit for every stay. Whether it's worth arguing with re-sellers over these realities is debatable, but I'd probably not deal with a buyer who's put a premium on lock-off capability.

 

[Fasttr]

.....but I'd probably not deal with a [seller] who's put a premium on lock-off capability.

Unless of course, you buy the discounted non-lock-off unit from such a seller at a great price because they under value it.

 

[ChazMan]

At both Grande Vista and Willow Ridge there are a mix of dedicated and lock-off units but it doesn't matter for purposes of buying resales because all Weeks owners have the option of booking either, subject to availability at the time of request and on a first-come-first-served basis. If you know as soon as the Reservation Window opens for a desired stay which type of unit you want, request it then. If you don't know, or want to change a previous request, contact Owner Services as far in advance of check-in as possible.

Some re-sellers put a premium on the price of their Weeks by advertising the incorrect notion that unless the deed contains the number of a unit that's lock-off capable, the buyer won't be able to reserve lock-off components. The reality is that the unit number in a deed only serves to confirm the unit size and view type (if there are variances at the resort) - buyers of floating Weeks don't purchase guarantees of either being placed in that specific unit or of being assigned to a lock-off unit for every stay. Whether it's worth arguing with re-sellers over these realities is debatable, but I'd probably not deal with a buyer who's put a premium on lock-off capability.

Thank you so much for the awesome information! You'd think I'd know all of this by now - but surprisingly I've never used my entire 3BR at once - I've always locked-off and got 2 weeks for 1, so to speak. I just learned, through this wonderful board, that I can actually do a 3-1 split with my MGV 3BR, utlizing MFC. After 15 years - still better late than never. Thank you again.

 

[kds4]

Can anyone tell me which Marriott resorts are amongst the strongest trading properties in the Marriott Vacation Club? We were initially considering another HGVC property but the destinations are more limited compared to Marriott locations. We live on the east coast and I feel that Marriott has more destinations that are easily reached by us including the Caribbean. Adding a Marriott property will offer up locations that can't be reached by HGVC.

I know Marriott trades in II and has the advance preference for trading with other Marriotts there. Can anyone tell me which Marriotts seem to have the best or strongest trade potential (assume a 2 bedroom platinum trade). While it does not have to be within driving distance for us, we would like to visit the home resort from time to time.

Thank you!

From a straight cost (purchase/MFs) versus benefit (locking-off/trading power) perspective, I would say among East Coast MVCI properties that 3BR Platinum Marriott Grande Vista units are among the strongest traders (in my experience).

 

[taterhed]

And, don't let them fool you; there are good weeks available at the 6 month point for FC. It's always a crap shoot of course, but I booked a spring break studio at 6 months at Beachplace towers (I think it was). Great deposit or use or rental.

 

[ChazMan]

Hi all, doing my DD on purchasing a trader unit at one of the Marriott Florida Club locations when I came across a statement noting that Florida Club option does not automatically transfer upon resale. When I bought my MGV unit, directly from Marriott, the MFC option was included with my unit. Is there any way I can tell if a resale unit does or doesn't include MFC (or do none of them include it?) or is it possible to enroll in MFC after purchasing a resale unit, without restriction? Or would Marriott not allow MFC enrollment due to it being purchased resale? Thanks for the help!

 

[GM600]

Hi all, doing my DD on purchasing a trader unit at one of the Marriott Florida Club locations when I came across a statement noting that Florida Club option does not automatically transfer upon resale. When I bought my MGV unit, directly from Marriott, the MFC option was included with my unit. Is there any way I can tell if a resale unit does or doesn't include MFC (or do none of them include it?) or is it possible to enroll in MFC after purchasing a resale unit, without restriction? Or would Marriott not allow MFC enrollment due to it being purchased resale? Thanks for the help!

The Florida Club transfers with the unit. See Dioxide's info on the Florida Club here

 

[ChazMan]

The Florida Club transfers with the unit. See Dioxide's info on the Florida Club here

Thank you - that is terrific info. Any recommendations as to how best to verify if the resale week has the Florida Club 'attached', other than simply asking the current owner? I'm not sure how one can determine if the resale unit is an ineligible Bldg and Villa #, as described in Dioxide's document.

 

[GM600]

Thank you - that is terrific info. Any recommendations as to how best to verify if the resale week has the Florida Club 'attached', other than simply asking the current owner? I'm not sure how one can determine if the resale unit is an ineligible Bldg and Villa #, as described in Dioxide's document.

Most listings will have the unit number posted. I'm in the process of buying a 3 BR platinum at Grande Vista. Just make sure that it's one of the conditions in the sales contract that the unit is part of the Florida Club. You should see that verification on the estoppel from Marriott. If it ends up not being in the FC then you could always cancel the deal. Also the MF will be slightly higher for the unit then one that is not in the FC, since there's an extra fee ($25-$30 I think) for the FC.

 

[ChazMan]

Most listings will have the unit number posted. I'm in the process of buying a 3 BR platinum at Grande Vista. Just make sure that it's one of the conditions in the sales contract that the unit is part of the Florida Club. You should see that verification on the estoppel from Marriott. If it ends up not being in the FC then you could always cancel the deal. Also the MF will be slightly higher for the unit then one that is not in the FC, since there's an extra fee ($25-$30 I think) for the FC.

Thank you! Best of luck on the 3BR Platinum purchase!