Which SVO to purchase?

How does one decide on which location to buy from?

I love going to Hawaii, but thought it would be less expensive to buy somewhere else? Are the maintenance fees all different?

I live in CA, so arizona would also be nice.

Does it really matter where I buy since I will have the ability to book at any of the resorts?

Thanks,----------------Christine

PS: I have WM now & we can book easily at any of the resorts, is SVO simuliar?

Dear Christine -

You should definintely do a search of this forum for detailed answers to your questions, howver...

The almost unanimous opinion regarding your question is that you should buy where you would be happy actually visiting 3 out of 4 years. The only guarantee you have is that you can book your own resort at 12 months. Trading into some of the other Starwood choices )at the eight month mark)can be very iffy. In the end, if a trade that you want does not come through, would you still be happy heading off to the location you bought?

Maintenance fees vary by location with Hawaii topping the list. If you check out the classified section here on TUG, each resale ad will list the approximate MF.

You live in CA. Do you want to fly to Hawaii every year? Every other year? How do you feel about Palm Springs or Scottsdale? These are the questions to ask. There is a help section (or advice section) here on TUG that has one entire section about Starwood timeshares. That's the best place to start. It's located at

http://www.tug2.net/advice/Starwood_Vacation_Network.htm

Good luck

Buy a resort that is “SVN mandatory”

As discussed in the article referenced in the link above, I would buy a mandatory resort to be able to trade within the network:
Harborside Resort
Vistana Villages
Westin St. John
Westin Ka'anapali
Westin Kierland Villas

Also from CA, I'd consider either Kierland platinum (2BR L/O plat for 148,100 points) or Vistana Villages (2 BR L/O plat for 95,700 points), http://www.starwoodvo.com/ownership/pdf/Daily_StarOptions_Chart.pdf.

Regards
Grace

I would buy where you can the most staroptions, for the cheapest amount of money-as referenced before this is probably going to be kierland or vistana villages-whether you buy resale or developer these will give you the most for the money. Booking at 8 months at he other resorts works fairly well if you are not dead set on a specific resort at a specific time. If you "have to have Christmas in Vail" or "4th of July" in MAui, then you will wnat to buy at the resort of your preference. I have found relative ease getting where I want in the system at 8 months, but have flexibility and am not married to the school holiday schedule. You an usually pick-up a resale Kierland platinum with 148000 options for around $20k, this might be a good thing to look at-I think developer pricing on this is probably about $34k....this will include incentive hotel points and the ability to turn your week in for hotel points.

Christinern said:

PS: I have WM now & we can book easily at any of the resorts, is SVO simuliar?

Click to expand...

No - Maui, St. John, and Harborside are the most in-demand Starwood Resorts and exchanging into them can be difficulty when the kids are out of school. I imagine that the new Cancun and Princeville Resorts are going to be high demand too. The Colorado Resorts are tough exchanges during ski season, Sheraton Desert Oasis is tough during spring training, etc. Off-season is a little easier.

If you buy with the intention to exchange, be sure you are very familier with the StarOptions (exchange points) chart, because exchanging within the SVN is "points" based and you want to be sure you have enough "points" (StarOptions) for any exchanges you might want to make. StarOptions cannot be rented, or sold, like in some other systems, so you want to be sure you own enough Staroptions for your needs. For instance, there are some Florida weeks that do not have enough StarOptions to exchange into the Westin Maui at all.

You can save several thousand dollars buying resale at a mandatory resort - just be sure you buy where you want to go, and buy a week with enough Staroptions to make exchanges to the more expensive resorts. Don't forget to consider airfare if you are thinking about Hawaii, especially if you have to travel during the popular seasons. Airfare to Maui for this summer is running $700 RT. Holiday weeks are high too.

You might want to decide which resort you are interested in and then do one of the 5 day preview packages to check it out personally. Right now, for example you can visit Maui for about $750 for a 5 night pkg that includes accomodations for a family of up to 4, a $100 hotel GC, and a rental car. They will give you another $100 hotel GC for attending the timeshare presentation. It's a low-cost way to check out a resort before you buy. Any Starwood owner can refer you for the preview Pkg.

I can't find the chart for staroptions--help!!

I keep following the links posted and I get to the webpage that is pretty much an advertising page. Where on that page do I get to the chart??

John

jramat said:

I keep following the links posted and I get to the webpage that is pretty much an advertising page. Where on that page do I get to the chart??

John

Click to expand...

You will have to log in to MYSTARCENTRAL.com. Then click on OUR RESORTS from the top tab. Then you will see the STAROPTIONS links on the right (daily or weekly staroption charts)
GOOD LUCK!

jramat said:

I keep following the links posted and I get to the webpage that is pretty much an advertising page. Where on that page do I get to the chart??

John

Click to expand...

Here are links to the Daily and Weekly Point Charts:

Weekly:
http://members.cox.net/hyatttimeshare/svn_weeklyoptions.pdf
Daily:
http://members.cox.net/hyatttimeshare/svn_dailyoptions.pdf

Christinern said:

How does one decide on which location to buy from?

I love going to Hawaii, but thought it would be less expensive to buy somewhere else? Are the maintenance fees all different?

I live in CA, so arizona would also be nice.

Does it really matter where I buy since I will have the ability to book at any of the resorts?

Thanks,----------------Christine

PS: I have WM now & we can book easily at any of the resorts, is SVO simuliar?

Click to expand...

Christine,

The route we are taking is to purchase a Westin Kierland EOY (which we have now found and purchased) and then to add one of the Hawaii Westins on the opposite year. This way we know we can and will plan to vacation in Hawaii every other year... and at the same time it keeps our maintence fees down by only have 1 EOY week in Hawaii.

Very good idea Mesa Mirage

I would try to buy somewhere thats easy for you to return to and a unit with a minumum of 81000 star options to really be able to use the internal exchange system.

Florida Real Estate Tax

Anyone know what the Florida Real Estate Tax is for a purchase at Vistana Villages?