I agree - the resorts are virtually identical, so the 3 biggies for me are:
1) Do you want to be ON the beach? (Yes!)
2) Do you like Maui or Kauai better? (Kauai!)
3) Do you like the weather in Princeville? (No!)
Also, I have to consider the voluntary/mandatory thing. The WKORV has lost 33% of it's original value and it's mandatory. I predict that Princeville will go down to 50%. So if you buy either place - buy
RESALE!
Well... since we are listing our opinions.
1) Do you want to be ON the beach? In Maui - definitely. In Kauai - not as important.
2) Do you like Maui or Kauai better? I like both - but for different reasons
3) Do you like the weather in Princeville? Yes - in the summer. Yes, for Maui all year round.
We paid ~$25K for our EOY WPORV - do you really think it will drop to $12.5K (50%)? I am betting that it won't.
I will not attempt to predict what will happen with the value of WPORV. In buying WPORV (EOY) from SVO (we bought our 1st 3 SVO VOIs resale) - I did assume up to a $10K loss, but (for us) $5K of this potential loss is offset by the 225K SPs we got, getting to 3* Elite (via requal) by folding our WKORV OF unit into the SVO system.
While there is a claim that Elite status may not matter ('first come - first served') - unit location (highest floor) is important to us for our WKORV OF unit, and when push comes to shove - Elite members may end up getting a higher floor. (beside - SVO/SVN could always change their policy about this in favor of Elites) This, and being able to use the Elite phone line - is worth the other $5K to us. At least that is how we justified it.
Besides - it looks like we got in under the wire with requal an EY with an EOY, getting EOY for 50% of EY as non-SVO owners, getting our EOY usage to be odd (first use in 2009 when we do have the vacation time and the resort will be fully built), and using the ExpPkg on the same day, etc.
WPORV SVO prices are now creeping up (especially with WKORV-N selling out). I also believe WPORV will be a unique SVO - and that it being a V resort may not matter. Unless there is a drastic change in Kauai's growth policies - there will be only 179 units. It's association with the St. Regis Hotel (which has beautiful beachfront - perhaps the nicest in Kauai) is also a benefit - eventhough WPORV owners are paying for this.
I know many people (including us) who think northern Kauai is a very special place on earth (much like STJ in that manner). Will it buck the trend of the other V resorts - only time will tell... In the meantime - before we get to use WPORV - WKORV-WKV-WSJ-WKORV-WKV-WSJ - then WPORV...