HGVC vs Hotel Stays

I am having a hard time understanding the value of a TS - maybe I am reading this wrong, or looking at properties with high M/Fs.

As an example, I looked at this TS resell from ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-000-HGVC-...10858975690?pt=Timeshares&hash=item19cfb5b9ca

M/F is $1480/year

Because I stay weekend nights almost always and peak almost always, I am looking at 440pts a night for a studio.

7000 pts / 440 = ~ 16 nights a year. Perfect!

If I look at the oppertunity cost on $2000 @ 8% that is $160 + the $1480 a year I am at $1640 divided by the 16 nights is $102.5 per night.

Now on top of that $102.50 per night, I believe there are other fees (club membership, house cleaning, booking) is that correct?

I really want to see how timeshares save money year over year but I am having a hard time

Thank you in advance!

In a lot of cases in this economy, buying TS is not the best choice. For many people, renting is better. Buying is really for those who want guaranteed first choice. If you are only looking at TSing as a means for saving money, buying a TS is not for you.

If someday in the distant future things change, you can always buy then. Don't buy now if you are trying to save money on vacations.

Timesharing is not like a hotel stay. It is a different experience if you stay in a 1 bdr or larger. If you just need a place to rest your head at night then keep using hotels. My family enjoys sharing meals, having space for relaxing, playing games and entertaining with friends in addition to having a nice place to rest our heads at night. This would cost a lot more then $200 a night for the style room/resort my family enjoys.

Searching for a timeshare that fits your needs and vacation style takes research and planning.

Ok - So that makes sense, time shares are cheaper for larger units but for studios it just doesn't work.

Not always true. I booked the Hilton Club NYC, via RCI. Cost 2400 HGVC points plus the exchange fee.

Hilton.com has the same unit for $439 per night PLUS taxes, week would be $3,550 for the week.

I have less than $600 into the week in MF and exchange fees. Now would I have booked a $400 a night room when there are cheaper in NYC. But still I got a week for only 2400 HGVC points.

Because of the point structure of F S S nights being double the points, thus a weekend will be 60% of a weeks usage of points, sometime it might be cheaper to book a week using RCI than then only using a weekend, than book just the weekend with HGVC.

It depends on your usage, does it only have to be a weekend only usage?

Jordanj said:

Ok - So that makes sense, time shares are cheaper for larger units but for studios it just doesn't work.

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Sandy gave you a good example for a NYC comparison, but here is another one.

Your link was to Waikoloa property. So to get as close to an apples-to-apples comparison, I just did a check on Hilton's web site for a hotel room at the Waikoloa hotel for a week in June.

The best available rate for a basic room w/ a garden view was $229/night.

If I look at the oppertunity cost on $2000 @ 8% that is $160 + the $1480 a year I am at $1640 divided by the 16 nights is $102.5 per night.
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I really want to see how timeshares save money year over year but I am having a hard time

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I don't know about you, but in my world that is a whole lot of savings...

Kurt

Jordanj said:

Ok - So that makes sense, time shares are cheaper for larger units but for studios it just doesn't work.

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Not necessarily. I think you just picked a bad example. Bay Club is unique in the Hilton system for having extremely high maintenance fees. For that reason, resales there usually go for next to nothing. You'll note that nobody has bitten on that $2K price tag, and I'd be surprised if anybody does. You can get Bay Club for a song. Most other properties in the Hilton system have MF's more in the range of $900/year or so.

Ok, that makes sense - let me ask this - what other fees are there to take into consideration - what is the club fees and what does it cost to book the room for 2-3 days?

Jordanj said:

Ok, that makes sense - let me ask this - what other fees are there to take into consideration - what is the club fees and what does it cost to book the room for 2-3 days?

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Club fees Annually $119 (domestic), changable exchange transformation fee $49 (online). No housekeeping. Guest Fees $39.

Exhange fee and guest fee are waived if you book your Home resort full 7 day in same size unit that you own. Anything else and you pay the above fee.

Since you said you wanted weekends, Home season will likely not work for you.

Jordanj said:

Ok - So that makes sense, time shares are cheaper for larger units but for studios it just doesn't work.

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For my family timeshares work much better than a hotel or a studio, but for some that fit well into a studio then picking the right timeshare works for smaller units.

If all we ever did was stay in a studio unit, we'd have never purchased timehare.

I've never been able to work the numbers so that timeshare is less expensive than renting a hotel room. But there's the rub. We don't rent hotel rooms or stay in studio timeshare units. We prefer the space and luxury of a full one or two bedroom unit.

For us it's not about cost savings. It's about vacation preference or style.

Blues said:

Not necessarily. I think you just picked a bad example. Bay Club is unique in the Hilton system for having extremely high maintenance fees. For that reason, resales there usually go for next to nothing. You'll note that nobody has bitten on that $2K price tag, and I'd be surprised if anybody does. You can get Bay Club for a song. Most other properties in the Hilton system have MF's more in the range of $900/year or so.

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I don't agree Bay Club mfs are in line with all the Hawaii properties, I pay $1035 for a 1br unit, no other fees because I didn't convert it into HGVC.

Prices have gone up since bottoming out in 09 when I snagged the 1 br for $299 on eBay. It was the remodel assessment that caused long term owners to dump them IMO.

We stayed at some very nice Holiday inn Expresses this summer in between timeshare stays. And we got some excellent deals on rates. At one point my husband said "why do stay at timeshares?". I said, "would you want to stay here for a week!". We both just started laughing.

In the hotel our kids played on the floor in that little tiny space between the 2 queen beds and the narrow strip between the bed and the tv. Every time we moved we had to step between them and the suitcases. Plus they got up early and wanted to watch tv and of course we preferred to sleep. When they wanted breakfast we all had to get up. In a timeshare they can watch tv in their room or the living room and there's always something to eat in the fridge. Even in smaller timeshares there's plenty of room to spread out so we're not all tripping over one another.

It was an awesome road trip and our various 1-night stays at hotels were a blast but Lord help us if we ever have to spend a week in one. Once you timeshare there's just no going back.

I did a quick check at what a non-owner would pay by renting a studio. Parc soleil weekend non-holiday during platinum season is $133.88 a night. However, the AAA discount gets a non-owner down to $113.63 a night. My calculations of your scenario puts you as an owner costing $125 for a platinum weekend studio night. Different resorts will often have different rental prices despite having the same point values. I think that just staying during platinum season on weekend nights is the worst scenario. Timeshares work out much better if you try to avoid higher priced weekend nights and higher priced seasons.

If this is the only way you will use the timeshare, I recommend you do not get it. Also, when staying a full week, you get 1 midweek housekeeping service free.

I've stayed in several studio rooms in HGVC and they are largely like a hotel room save a few locations that have more of a kitchen. The real value is in buying a 7,000 point two bedroom, but using the points to create two to three weeks of stays in studio units. $900 or so in dues and MF getting an owner three weeks in a studio can start to make timesharing look like a heck of a deal.

don't forget hotel tax and meals

when calculating the comparison, don't forget hotel rates don't include hotel taxes, which can be another 20% depending on where you're staying. on a $229/night room that can be an extra $46/night.

Also, when you stay in a hotel you're buying every single meal, whereas in a T/S even if you just do breakfast in the unit you're saving at least $40/day for a family of four, plus you might find it more relaxing to have an omelette on the balcony while you get ready for a day versus getting up and out early to go to a restaurant (or not).

NJ_30s_couple said:

Also, when you stay in a hotel you're buying every single meal...

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Agree. Even with "just" a family of 4, the room to spread out AND having decent kitchen facilities was a huge consideration for us. We have family members with various food allergies, and eating out is not only expensive but problematic. The rack rate on suites with kitchens at most better hotel chains is not cheap, but with a TS system like HGVC, the cost for the kind of accommodations we prefer is substantially reduced -- even getting units at the open season rate is a relative bargain. I suppose we could have gone the rental route, but at least with a system like HGVC you have an idea of what you're getting, and you have more flexibility in that you can book as few as 3 nights (2 nights for open season) instead of a whole week.

I think the OP is looking at things right, including both the MFs and the opportunity cost of the upfront costs. There may be other costs that need to be included as well, but figuring it all up and breaking it down to a nightly cost is a good way to look at things.

It's also a great point that hotels vs. timeshares is apples vs. oranges. There are a lot of similarities, but there are some HUGE differences.

First, with timeshares, you have a significant ongoing commitment and somewhat of an upfront investment.

Second, it's a considerably different stay. There are negatives, like no daily housekeeping (which you quickly grow to not miss) but there are some huge positives (far more room, the ability to cook, etc.)

Third, timeshares take more advance planning and has less flexibility for changes in plans.

Fourth, hotels are available almost anywhere but timeshares are generally not available in non-tourist metropolitan areas. The few that are in big cities generally require special priority, major advance planning, etc. in order to book.

We exchanged into Walt Disney World's Bay Lake Tower for 7 nights this coming summer. Assuming your maintenance fee example, which is hundreds more than we actually pay, plus the exchange fee for RCI I come up with $214/nt for our stay in a 1 bedroom unit. Comparable stays in standard rooms for the 3 hotels in our same area (around the lagoon that in front of the Magic Kingdom - The Contemporary, The Grand Floridian and The Polynesian) average $500/nt. So we get a larger unit for less than half the price plus we still have points left over if we decide to take more vacations. To me it looks like TS beats hotels by a wide margin.

Of course we could stay in a less desirable location without a lot of inconvenience for about $40/nt but we are paying for the three L's and the atmosphere. So you could always find a better deal than Timeshare if price is your only concern but, as previous posters have noted, you generally are in a prime area. To us it was a no-brainer.

We bought just 3400 points because we can travel off season and would pretty much only want a 1 bedroom for a week. This won't take the place of weekend hotels or shorter stays. That's why I only bought enough points for 1 week. We usually go to Vegas for a week every year and got tired of trying to find someone to rent from.

Can't beat having a condo right on the strip in Vegas.
enjoy,
Duane