Vidanta resorts - does it have a bulletin board/blog for owners?

[seema]

I am wondering about that question.

Some of my questions re: Vidanta resorts get very few answers.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

I have not found anything that has as much Vidanta activity as the TUG Mexican forum .


Because Vidanta sells so many different brands and then individual contracts within a brand it may be that
your questions only apply to a subset of a subset of owners .

My Mayan Palace contract ( 2006 ) only has a Registered week and a Vacation fare week (optional use )

Vida dollars , Vida SFX weeks privilege weeks etc are more recent additions .

 

[MuranoJo]

There are a few Yahoo owner groups (for various levels--search in Groups) I believe. And they have a Facebook page.

 

[Johnsp]

I am wondering about that question.

Some of my questions re: Vidanta resorts get very few answers.

If your questions revolve around Vidanta's Grand Luxxe product line, go to www.aimfair.com. The owners of the website are Grand Luxxe owners who operate the website for the benefit of other Grand Luxxe and Vidanta owners. There is a lot of great information there.

 

[pittle]

The Yahoo Group has not been very active for a while. https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Mayan_Palace_Owners/info You have to join the group. It used to be my go-to place for Mayan World information.

Aimfair does have good information, but tends to be more Grand Luxxe related, but does keep information about Mayan Palace, Grand Mayan, & Grand Bliss updated too. People post great pictures and provide information from their visits to the properties. It costs $60 per year for full access to the information.

Sometimes the best way is to take note of owners who post here on TUG and send them Personal Messages with your questions. Many of us share general information in threads but may be able to answer specific questions one on one. All contracts are different, that it is sometimes hard to answer specifics, but the basics are the same. It is the amenities/benefits that are different for newer contracts.

 

[seema]

The questions I have largely unanswered include those related to specifics of:

a) exchanges using TRC vs SFX vvs II
b) vida lifestyles program
c) vida ambassador program

These questions are not specific to my GL unit per se; but any Vidanta unit.
When I have posted specific questions on these benefits, I have gotten very few answers - for any Vidanta owner (GL or otherwise). I am wondering how often these benefits are utilized - the first 2 benefits require annual fees; but (except for II membership) are free for the first years after purchase of the unit (I purchased the unit in Nov 2015).

For example, there is my question on the trading power of my unit within II - no answers yet within 12 hours of posting (http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/vidanta-gl-loft-nv-exchange-within-ii.254232/).

So I might go to the GL Aimfair group, if I can get more replies than I have been getting on this forum?

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Vida lifestyle & Ambassador are only 2-3 years old - so those who bought prior may not have any information

You may have more success on exchange comparisons . RRC , SFX an II
since most GL owners likely have - (access to all 3 of) - them and some may use .

 

[pittle]

We have not deposited any of our Grand Luxxe units because the MF are so high and then you add an exchange fee on to it, you would need to be able to get at least 2 weeks in a SUPER resort. The Grand Luxxe is just primo and I would be very disappointed if we did not get something as nice in another location.

We do not buy to exchange any more. We have exchanged into many nice places using our Mayan Palace units from 1999 - 2012, but started focusing on owning where we want to go and just go there. We did not renew the Registry Collection. Some folks loved that, but we do not cruise and prefer to go to Mexico, so we just go to our resorts. I do use II extra vacations quite a bit. We use SFX with our PBEB week and have gotten some nice exchanges.

We were not interested in the Vida Lifestyles or the Ambassador programs. If our friends want to go to one of the resorts, we are willing to rent them one of our weeks for the cost of MF, but will not encourage them to take the tour and buy so that we get free MF for one of our weeks.

 

[MuranoJo]

Seema, I'm also afraid I haven't been able to help you as I haven't used any of the 3 areas of interest you posted. I have a simple MP unit, but it is a 'special' week, so if I don't use it, I can easily rent it for significantly more than my m/f. I don't think I've deposited to RCI for years. You may want to try Aimfair as others have suggested--it may be worth the fee to join (kinda steep IMO, since obviously it's owners sharing with other owners).

 

[mikenk]

The questions I have largely unanswered include those related to specifics of:

a) exchanges using TRC vs SFX vvs II
b) vida lifestyles program
c) vida ambassador program

I have not used any of the above but will give my opinion as I have dug into each a bit.

a) I have never exchanged and never will as there is no way to receive equal value - particularly with my golf privileges. I am with SFX as a couple of my addenda are to use two weeks weeks each within Vidanta or outside without exchanging. I haven't used but will; I have found many nice locations to go without exchanging. I will keep SFX.

b) I was given the lifestyles program as an add on last year when I made some adjustments on my contract. I was called later by some sales person outside Vidanta to sell me some upgraded membership. I then got on to play around on prices - never saw anything I couldn't do better on my own, so declined; I have never used it as I see no value for me. IMO, never use that as an incentive to buy.

c) I was given the Ambassador coupons and have given a couple to folks. It seems like a reasonable program for Vidanta to use owners as a way to get new people in. People that use the certificates don't have to attend the sales presentation; that is between them and the resort folks. There is nothing to keep me from giving them a heads-up as to what to expect but will never presume to tell them what to do. So, the bottom line for me it is a win-win-win for all: Vidanta gets new people in the door; people will get a great vacation; and I get a little in return. However, I see no incentive at all for people to pay anything to get this program. I assume that owners could proactively give these away to get the kick-backs on their MF; I have no clue as to whether that would work but have no problem with the ethics of doing so.

JMHO, Mike

 

[MFive]

I used to check AimFair and the yahoo group. We 'own' @ NV GB and haven't been there for a few years.

 

[dioxide45]

I don't think you see a lot of discussion on TUG between owners is trhat there aren't many owners here. Many Tuggers simply exchange in or use getaways to go to the Vidanta resorts. So not as much actual owner experience here as you may find in other places.

 

[Paul E Morgan]

I am wondering about that question.

Some of my questions re: Vidanta resorts get very few answers.

 

[Paul E Morgan]

There are 3 applicable webpages: Vidanta Resorts; The Vida Lifestyle, and Vida Vacations. None of the 3 have a blog for members. If Vidanta were to create a blog, I wonder if they would remove negative postings. I am sure most of the comments would pertain to high-pressure sales.

 

[MuranoJo]

Check the Yahoo Groups...you'll find at least a Mayan Palace group there, and I'm sure there's at least another group for some of the higher-end levels.

Adding a PS--didn't realize this was an older thread when I responded. As others have said, Aimfair, the MP Yahoo group or just posting here may be your best options for now.

 

[Hankmoon]

If your questions revolve around Vidanta's Grand Luxxe product line, go to www.aimfair.com. The owners of the website are Grand Luxxe owners who operate the website for the benefit of other Grand Luxxe and Vidanta owners. There is a lot of great information there.

There is a lot of information on Airfare. However, it is not an active forum and the folks there rarely respond to questions. TUG is much more active.

 

[pianoetudes]

Vida lifestyle (VL) is a Vidanta-affiliated travel agent. Most TS companies have travel agent, i.e. Wyndham has their own.

Depending on the contract, Vidanta may deposit a number of "resort certificates" into your VL account. You find this under "Your Account" on VL web site. The web site has inventories of international resorts where you can use the resort certificates. Some resorts cost nothing to book 1-week stay with resort certificates. Some have fees, $300 - $700. The last time I visited the web site, they did not have a lot of inventory. If they do, they are gone quickly. I saw some nice hotels in Miami and Washington DC area with $300 fees. RCI has better resort inventories.

VL also has cruise program. The web site is not user-friendly. To get deals, you need to visit the web site often. The recent deal I got is a 7-day Caribbean cruise in April 2018 from Tampa, ocean view unit, Royal Caribbean, just $350/person, with a combination of travel certificates.

I suggest call Vida lifestyle if you want to learn more about their programs.