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Considering a Ko Olina purchase (need help!)

brianfox

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I'm a newbie that's learned a fair amount in the past week. My wife and I just got back from Ko Olina and their sales pitch, and I've just discovered how inflated the Marriott prices are from resales.

My wife would buy a unit immediately just because she loved the property. I'm a little more reserved, because I am wondering if Ko Olina would be buying way more trading power than we need.

Here is a realistic picture of our travel plans over the next 7 years (IF we owned the timeshare):

2008: Hawaii (1 week)
2009: WDW/Harborside Atlantis (1 week at each, WDW being a DVC property)
2010: Hawaii (1 week)
2011: Paris (2 weeks)
2012: Hawaii (1 week)
2013: Tokyo (1 week)
2014: WDW/Harborside Atlantis (1 week at each, WDW being a DVC property)
etc.

Aside from those destinations, there's always Vegas since we live in California, but we rarely stay a week, and I think it's a huge waste to trade a timeshare week for Vegas when room deals abound. If it were a bonus week from II, maybe we'd go.

If we DIDN'T buy the timeshare, the next 7 years would probably be a few days in Vegas here and there.

My wife is a teacher, so the weeks we'd want would be mid to late March for 1 week trips and anywhere from mid-June to Late August for 2 week trips.

Listening to our Marriott sales rep, it seemed as if we could actually make the WDW/Atlantis thing happen by trading the 1 Bedroom for Atlantis and the Lockoff for WDW. He made it sound as if we'd end up with 1 Bedrooms at each (possibly 2 bedrooms at each). Is this doable? Would it take luck? Should the guy be forced to take a drug test?
{EDIT: After reading how nearly impossible it is to trade into Harborside, I'm leaning toward "drug-test"}

Based on our realistic travel destinations, is Ko Olina way more trading power than we'd need? Could we realisticaly trade for a different Hawaiin island some years?

I don't see us going to any of the other high power locations. And I certainly am not interested in owning a DVC, which I couldn't pass on to my kids in 30 years. We're not at the mental level of buying a location purely for trading value, never expecting to actually stay there....

On a slightly different tangent, how does Ko Olina (the "crown jewel" of Marriott) compare to DVC's "crown jewel" in terms of trading power? Can Ko Olina owners trade for DVC as easy as DVC can trade for Ko Olina?
 
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laxmom

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Drug Test. Atlantis is one of the most difficult trades - not impossible but difficult. I am able to pull Disney with my Marriott's but not in the timeframe you are talking about. As far as Disney goes, they are a right to use thru 2050 or somewhere abouts. (After that, I don't know what happens. If Disney continues with timeshare do you have to purchase again? ) At least that is what we told when we toured. We ended up Marriott because it is deeded for life.

Definately go resale. The majority of tuggers will tell you to buy something that you can go to if your trades don't go thru. IE - Newport Coast or Palm Desert if you are in California. The maintenance fees are really high for Hawaii as opposed to stateside. We have traded into Ko Olina and are heading to Kauai and Aruba but were flexible with our dates. Both with our Grande Vista unit.

Do a search on this subject. This is something that has been talked about at length. Good luck with your decision.
 

littlestar

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If you want to go to Ko Olina every other year, why not buy an EOY (every other year) week. I don't think being able to consistently trade into Atlantis or DVC during school vacations is feasible. Much less trying to line up back to back weeks of each of those. You'd have better luck renting those from owners. DVC corporately deposits with II (the individual owner does not) and it's usually low season times - think September and January, and mostly studios or 1 bedrooms.

To me, a Marriott Ko Olina week would out trade DVC any day of the week. I think DVC is just an average trade power. I would never buy either to use as a trader - the dues are too high and with DVC, I can't pick the week to deposit anyway. Starwood also picks what weeks to deposit with II (and they might even use a different resort from what I've heard). I don't think too many Atlantis weeks ever make it into II - unless it's hurricane season. ;)

I may sell most of our DVC points in the future and buy another Marriott (EOY platinum week).
 
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m61376

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If I lived in California despite the high Hawaii MF's I would buy in Ko'Olina in a heartbeat. It is a gorgeous property and I love Oahu.

As for trading- the only one with possibly better trading power would be Maui. Reserve a prime week at Ko'Olina for the years you want to trade and you should have a good chance of getting an exchange you want. If you read through the posts people have posted about trading into DVC even over summer months, even with lesser traders. Harborside is a tough trade but, again, if you request far enough in advance and can be flexible with the dates (I know you said summer, but there are many weeks in the summer) you should have luck and, worst case scenario, you can always go to Ko'Olina if you do a request first (don't give up your unit until you get an acceptable trade). As for other Hawaiin islands- I know my friends exchanged a March ski week for Maui and got their trade within a few months- 2 BR for 2 BR (and getting 2 BR's is the hardest).

Since you would have a prime property to offer another option might be to do a direct exchange with someone who owns at Harborside and might want a prime Hawaiin property.

As for Paris and Tokyo- I know there is a timeshare outside of Paris by the Disney property. I don't know about non-Marriott properties in Paris and Tokyo to tell you what is available; you can check the European board here and see what trades in II (Marriotts trade in II) to see what your options might be.

Sounds to me like buying a timeshare would be a nice motivation for you to plan vacations. I know that's a timeshare salesperson's line, but I do think it has some merit. We fell in love with timesharing this past summer when visiting Ko'Olina, after winning a week at an auction at my daughter's school fundraiser. I wanted to buy there, but realistically would only go once every several years because of the 12 hour flight. We usually travel with 3 generations and having a 2 BR villa and a kitchen was a big convenience. In the back of my mind I also considered that if I bought, I knew we would use it and it would make me plan something rather than being more lacksadaisical as we had the last few years. Once you own you don't balance whether or not you should spend the money- you plan and go. From what you said about your vacationing it seems to me that might be the same for you.

Keep in mind that if you trade your 1 BR you will get an AC which can be used for another week at low cost. They have limited trade value but if you can plan on short notice (within 59 days) you can get some great trades even over the summer. They are generally 199 for a studio, 249 for a 1 BR and 299 for a 2 BR, although there has been a little variation.

Good luck- and think of all the money you'll be saving by buying resale.
 

JimC

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DVC is a deeded right to use that can be left to heirs. The original properties (OKW, VB, HH, BWV, VWL and BCV) all have 1/31/2042 terminations. SSR has 1/31/2054 and the newest AKV has 1/31/2057. It appears that all future resorts will be fifty year deeds so that terminations will be staggered. As the program membership grows trading in should become easier. However as a DVC owner I do not believe trading out is a good use of points. That is why we also own Marriott for non-Disney vacations.
 

gmarine

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The problem with what you want do to is that trading into the resorts your looking for is difficult any time of year, but made much more difficult if you are limited to when school is out.

K'olina will trade great but it still may not get you where you want to go at the times you want to go.
 

mjkaplan

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As my wife is a teacher, I can relate to what you need. The only thing I can offer is my personal (and limited) experience. We own a silver (summer) week at Marriott Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert and traded the 2 bedroom unit for a 1 bedroom unit at Marriott Kauai Beach Club for the last week of August this summer. For as little as we spent on Shadow Ridge (6K) we are quite happy with the result of going to Kauai this summer. Good luck and stick with the resale market.

Mike
your neighbor in Chatsworth
 

JimC

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...I wanted to buy there, but realistically would only go once every several years because of the 12 hour flight. ....

That is why we bought Aruba when we lived in PA. The flights to Hawaii are just too long for a week's holiday from the northeast.
 

Stefa

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Harborside is a tough trade but, again, if you request far enough in advance and can be flexible with the dates (I know you said summer, but there are many weeks in the summer) you should have luck

No necessarily. Starwood exchanges don't work the same as Marriott exchanges. First, Starwood has an internal exchange system so that other Starwood owners get a chance to exchange with any Starwood resort within eight months of the desired check in date. Needless to say, the highest demand weeks get grabbed pretty fast. If an owner does decide to deposite with II, Starwood picks the week and they do not have to give you a week at your home resort. Unlike with Marriott, there is no incentive for an owner to book a prime week with the intention of depositing wiht II.

Ko Olina is a beautiful resort, but they are planning 750 units and I'm not sure it will be that great of a trader (for the money) once the resort is built out.
 

m61376

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I'm aware of the Starwood deposits that you mentioned but have noticed several anecdotal reports of people trading into Harborside even over the summer; I don't have first hand knowledge though.

Ko'Olina will be a big resort when fully built out, but I think there will be a high demand regardless, for a few reasons. First of all, look at how Waikiki is inundated with hotels, etc.. The area around Ko'Olina is being developed a bit to make things more convenient and given the inherent beauty of the area it is likely to be a very high demand resort. The other thing which I personally think will ensure its high demand is that, unlike US and even Caribbean destinations, Ko'Olina really attracts vacationers from both sides of the ocean. It is a huge Asian destination and thus, despite being larger, I think it will retain its fabulous trade value.

Say what you want about Marriott, they're not srupid. They've done their homework here. They have a stronghold in the area and are developing it to their advantage. I would be shocked if the demand doesn't meet the supply.
 

MikeM132

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I own Maui and Ko'Olina EOY. Bought from Marriott (don't ask). Here is my take on your situation:
1. Ko'Olina is great, but probably not the "crown jewel" of Marriott. Actually, Maui is in higher demand.
2. Don't, repeat DON'T buy in Hawaii with the intention of frequent trading. The maintenance fees are WAY too high to trade. You'll be paying 1400.00 for a Hawaii week and probably trading into some place with an 8 or 9 hundred dollar fee. Hawaii trades well, but it should at a 5 or 6 hundred dollar premium.
3. Don't buy Ko'Olina with the intention of trading because it will be in active sales for at least several (maybe many) more years. Marriott will keep inventory, offer rentals, specials, etc.. This should make it accessable to nearly anybody.
4. You are looking for prime weeks anywhere. Spring break and summer are peak times nearly all over. FOr this reason, you might be better off buying where you want to go instead of trying to trade in.
5. If you are looking for long-term trading power, you are looking in the right area. Hawaii should be great forever. Beach front is great and should stay great. Everything else is a crapshoot.
6. I think since you plan frequent trips to Hawaii you are on the right track of looking to buy something there. Have you checked out Maui or Kaui? Did you like Ko'Olina because of some sales presentation on a promo visit?
7. You are really smart (way smarter than me) to be asking for opinions here rather than signing up on the spot (again, don't ask). We loved Oahu. Way more than we thought. I would gladly go there every year. I could care less about an 11 hour plane ride from PA. I like flying (and I sit in coach!). I just don't see trips to Hi all that often for us, so I got EOY. I also bought the "worst" view they had to save money. On Maui, I got a 1br garden (I think) view for somewhere between 10K and 11K. This is in the older part of the resort that used to be a hotel. I will miss the washing machine most of all, but as for view, I am not planning on admiring Maui from the living room couch. It would be great to be able to leave the sliding door open all night and get the breeze and ocean sounds (we got to do that last time on Oahu), but for 30,000 price difference, I'll go down to the laundry and leave the door closed at night so I don't hear the garbage trucks.
8. unless you REALLY want to get into trading your weeks in for points (you are NUTS to do this in Hawaii...cost per point is WAY too high), buy resale.
9. please consider the source on all of the above...I bought from Marriott 3 times.
10. If I didn't own a timeshare, I would not have taken any good vacations in the past few years. I wasted a lot of money buying from Marriott. Overall, however, I am really glad I own timeshares and Marriott in particular. They are always really nice and in great locations. Timeshares force you to go someplace every year. That has been a big change for me, and a really positive one.
 
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