Westin St John Studio Availability at 8 months

Nick66 · May 22, 2015

I have been watching studios at WSJ for the last couple months and trying to book a SO reservation there since the beginning of may (Check-in January) What I keep finding is that there will be availability up to 8 months plus 2 days, but then availability disappears the day before the reservation window opens up. :wall:

What I am wondering is if it is even possible to book a SO reservation in a Studio at WSJ during week 1-18? Are there a lot of studios there or not?

okwiater · May 22, 2015

Nick66 said:
I have been watching studios at WSJ for the last couple months and trying to book a SO reservation there since the beginning of may (Check-in January) What I keep finding is that there will be availability up to 8 months plus 2 days, but then availability disappears the day before the reservation window opens up. What I am wondering is if it is even possible to book a SO reservation in a Studio at WSJ during week 1-18? Are there a lot of studios there or not?

It is possible, but keep in mind the only studios are in Virgin Grand and Coral Vista. Virgin Grand was sold as fixed weeks with a high percentage of people using their deeded weeks, and has far fewer exchanges out than other resorts with floating ownership.

So, when you see availability for a studio, there simply aren't that many of them there. It's likely that people with more SOs than you are booking a few extra days and swallowing up the availability (e.g. a 9-night stay allows you to book a particular week 2 days earlier than a 7-night stay).

YYJMSP · May 22, 2015

Not sure about studios specifically, but I found that making a SO's booking at exactly 8mos out was pretty hard to do -- it took me more than a week of trying (at exactly midnight EST at 8mos out, adjust that to your time zone!) to finally snag something.

What's happening is that someone is beating you to the booking -- when I was searching, I would usually see 2 or 3 units available, and they'd all be gone within the first minute of availability.

DeniseM · May 22, 2015

Nick66 said:
I have been watching studios at WSJ for the last couple months and trying to book a SO reservation there since the beginning of may (Check-in January) What I keep finding is that there will be availability up to 8 months plus 2 days, but then availability disappears the day before the reservation window opens up. What I am wondering is if it is even possible to book a SO reservation in a Studio at WSJ during week 1-18? Are there a lot of studios there or not?

Clarification: Do you know that you can reserve ONLINE, the night before the phone lines open at 12 midnight, Eastern?

Nick66 · May 22, 2015

DeniseM said:
Clarification: Do you know that you can reserve ONLINE, the night before the phone lines open at 12 midnight, Eastern?

Yes, which would be 10PM my time. I was seeing studios available for Jan 23, 24, and 25 checkin, so tonight at 10 I was going to try book the 23rd checkin. These were all available 2 days ago, and when I checked this morning they were all gone. Next availability in a studio isn't until Feb 9, 2016.

The same thing happened with availability for Jan 18, 19 and 20th. They all disappeared on May 17th.

These would all have to be booked by people who own there since they have disappeared before any SO reservations can be made correct?

I could book a 2 bedroom as there is availability with in 8 months, but a 2 bedroom is a little excessive for 2 people!

DeniseM · May 22, 2015

Here's a thought: What if Starwood is pulling out inventory at the very end of the home resort reservation period for their usage. They could have their system programmed to do this:

-weeks deposited in II by owners
-weeks converted to Staroptions by owners
-weeks converted to Starpoints by owners

This is inventory that belongs to Starwood. So they could be letting owners make home resort reservations right up until the 8 m. Staroption window opens, and then pulling out the inventory that belongs to Starwood.

okwiater · May 22, 2015

Or as I said before, people could be booking longer reservations to get a jump on SVN availability. Remember, you can book 8 months and 2 weeks in advance if you're making a 21-day reservation.

DeniseM · May 22, 2015

okwiater said:
Or as I said before, people could be booking longer reservations to get a jump on SVN availability. Remember, you can book 8 months and 2 weeks in advance if you're making a 21-day reservation.

Yes - but you wouldn't do that 1-2 days before the 8 mo. mark - you'd do it a week or 2 weeks before the 8 mo. mark.

SMHarman · May 22, 2015

I said much the same a year ago.

I'm sure you can find the thread with the right search.

okwiater · May 22, 2015

DeniseM said:
Yes - but you wouldn't do that 1-2 days before the 8 mo. mark - you'd do it a week or 2 weeks before the 8 mo. mark.

Not true. I regularly prepend a few days to my desired week in order to ensure I get the dates I want.

mcernik · May 26, 2015

Yeah i tried booking St John for this past February, but everyday was gone a day or two before the 8 month window opened up. Ended up just going to Westin Lagunamar lol.

DavidnRobin · May 26, 2015

St John...
.............

SMHarman · May 26, 2015

mcernik said:
Yeah i tried booking St Johns for this past February, but everyday was gone a day or two before the 8 month window opened up. Ended up just going to Westin Lagunamar lol.

Snap. Did the same here.

DavidnRobin said:
St John...
.............

Yep

LisaRex · May 26, 2015

I was hoping that availability at WSJ would open up with the new building. It's really the only reason I'm hanging onto my little SVV unit.

So how would you compare WLR to WKV? I have leftover SOs that I must use this year and was thinking about a girls' trip to Cancun.

canesfan · May 26, 2015

I'd highly recommend a girl's trip to Cancun. I did one this past February. I was pleasantly surprised. We had owned there for years but never visited. It's a nice resort plus the mall across the street has dining options.

SMHarman · May 26, 2015

LisaRex said:
I was hoping that availability at WSJ would open up with the new building. It's really the only reason I'm hanging onto my little SVV unit.

So how would you compare WLR to WKV? I have leftover SOs that I must use this year and was thinking about a girls' trip to Cancun.

Flying from where.
CUN is a great organized airport.
Hotel transfer is easy, or rent a car. Parking is free.
WLR is nice and the mall opposite and stores and restaurants nearby are great.

A good spot for a girl's trip though if you want nightclubs you will be heading to a different hotel. Though the fire pit and cocktails looked nice.

Pina Coladas are made properly there now.

Carolyn · May 27, 2015

I was able to snag a WSJ 10/24 studio at exactly midnight with Star Options. Of course that is low season.

LisaRex · May 27, 2015

SMHarman said:
Flying from where.

We've scattered around, so Cincinnati, Connecticut (LGA, I guess), Dayton and San Francisco.

SMHarman · May 27, 2015

LisaRex said:
We've scattered around, so Cincinnati, Connecticut (LGA, I guess), Dayton and San Francisco.

Cancun also works well for that as it is kinda in the middle.

Westin St John Studio Availability at 8 months

Nick66

okwiater

YYJMSP

DeniseM

Nick66

DeniseM

okwiater

DeniseM

SMHarman

Attachments

okwiater

mcernik

DavidnRobin

SMHarman

LisaRex

TUG Review Crew

canesfan

SMHarman

Carolyn

LisaRex

TUG Review Crew

SMHarman