Buy a Marriott or keep trying our luck?

spookykennedy · Jan 3, 2014

So far we have had very good luck trading for what we want using non-Marriotts including the ocean view 1BR we just had at MOC. Our issue now is that with growing children we are less and less flexible outside of typical school vacation times.

DH and I absolutely ADORED MOC. Way more than we thought! We have stayed the last 4 years at WKORV and loved it there as well but MOC was just special to us.

The question is - if we owned at MOC how hard would it be to book at typical school vacation times (not Christmas) and end of June through end of August? I know multiple week owners have booking priority, etc. so I don't want to pay high maintenance fees in Hawaii and risk never being able to book a week we could actually use. In that case we would just try our luck through II or rent privately for the weeks we need.

I am seeing good prices on eBay for EOY MOC. Would it make more sense to buy a non-Hawaii resort and get the preference in II for exchanging? I have to figure we would have more week choice that way than with our non-Marriott exchangers?

m61376 · Jan 3, 2014

If you foresee yourself going to Maui every other year most of the time, then buying what you want when you want is the best way of assuring success. If you buy an EOY you can buy a view, if that's imp. to you. If you are flexible with dates (meaning that you'd be ok with several summer weeks, not just one or two) and book exactly at the 12 month mark you shouldn't have an issue. The only resort where there are real issues booing summer weeks is NCV, due to an excessively long season and a large demand for those summer weeks. Even though the Plat. season in Hawaii is long, it is really a year 'round destination, and not every owner is clamoring for those summer weeks.

Having Marriott reference in II helps, but keep in mind that when you exchange you don't know the view you'll get (which may or may not be important to you) and trading is always iffy. Also- sounds as if your kid(s) are younger- you might want to think about a 2BR unit. And if you want a 2BR trade in the future, summer weeks are going to be very hard to get without Marriott preference, and iffy even with it.

bastroum · Jan 3, 2014

I always had trouble booking summer weeks at MOC. With that said, I have friends that book their 2 BD unit (and lock it off for 2 weeks) every 4th of July and they never get shut out.

spookykennedy · Jan 3, 2014

Thank you both. I would be ok buying a unit at MOC if it wasn't a problem to get something in summer when we wanted it. I would be very upset if we bought and could only get in during low season however since we haven't had a problem just trading off season. Once the kids are grown (10 more school years) then DH and I can go whenever we want -- that is if we haven't already moved to Maui

dioxide45 · Jan 3, 2014

I would agree that if you want MOC then to buy MOC. While you have been successful with trading in, there are no guarantees. Also, the ocean view you got is really luck of the draw. You could have just as easily pulled a garden or mountain view out of the II hat. So if view is important to you, you want to buy the view you want.

BocaBoy · Jan 4, 2014

spookykennedy said:
Thank you both. I would be ok buying a unit at MOC if it wasn't a problem to get something in summer when we wanted it. I would be very upset if we bought and could only get in during low season however since we haven't had a problem just trading off season. Once the kids are grown (10 more school years) then DH and I can go whenever we want -- that is if we haven't already moved to Maui

You should be able to get what you want if you can book a year in advance. It is not like Hilton Head where there are tremendous seasonal differences. The slowest times for Hawaii are in the autumn up until about a week before Christmas, but even at that time MOC is normally full. There is no really low season. I don't think you said if you were considering the original section or the new towers. Availability in the original section is even easier.

spookykennedy · Apr 23, 2014

Our luck just struck again by some miracle - we got the week we wanted and from the code it is Ocean Front. Wow! Just when I was starting to seriously consider buying a week...but the maintenance fees seem so high.

Ron98GT · Apr 23, 2014

spookykennedy said:
So far we have had very good luck trading for what we want using non-Marriotts including the ocean view 1BR we just had at MOC. Our issue now is that with growing children we are less and less flexible outside of typical school vacation times.

DH and I absolutely ADORED MOC. Way more than we thought! We have stayed the last 4 years at WKORV and loved it there as well but MOC was just special to us.

The question is - if we owned at MOC how hard would it be to book at typical school vacation times (not Christmas) and end of June through end of August? I know multiple week owners have booking priority, etc. so I don't want to pay high maintenance fees in Hawaii and risk never being able to book a week we could actually use. In that case we would just try our luck through II or rent privately for the weeks we need.

I am seeing good prices on eBay for EOY MOC. Would it make more sense to buy a non-Hawaii resort and get the preference in II for exchanging? I have to figure we would have more week choice that way than with our non-Marriott exchangers?

Just curious, what is it about MOC that makes it more desirable, to you, than WKORV?

spookykennedy · Apr 23, 2014

Ron98GT said:
Just curious, what is it about MOC that makes it more desirable, to you, than WKORV?

Having stayed at WKORV 4 times we absolutely loved it. In fact when our match last December came up at MOC we were somewhat disappointed and skeptical to try something new. BUT, the 2 giant balconies, huge rooms, amazing staff, free activities (including leis, snow cones, crafts for my kids, etc), free DVD rentals, proximity to Whaler's Village and generally a better location in our opinions really won us over. My DH basically refuses to stay anywhere else now. My kids (age 8 & 12) preferred the MOC pool plus loved the hammocks. They met lots of other kids and spent time at the activity center which they never did at WKORV.
The only negative of the original buildings to us were:
1. Kitchenette vs. full kitchen but we mostly use the BBQ grills anyhow if we don't eat dinner out
2. Lack of a W/D in unit but in some ways it was more convenient to do all of our loads at once down in the poolside laundry room versus one at at time in those stackable small machines

Don't get me wrong we also love WKORV but there was just this charm and feeling we really, really loved at MOC.

dioxide45 · Apr 23, 2014

spookykennedy said:
Our luck just struck again by some miracle - we got the week we wanted and from the code it is Ocean Front. Wow! Just when I was starting to seriously consider buying a week...but the maintenance fees seem so high.

What did you use to snag the week? Seeing from your list of resorts it looks like you own DVC that trades in RCI,

spookykennedy · Apr 23, 2014

dioxide45 said:
What did you use to snag the week? Seeing from your list of resorts it looks like you own DVC that trades in RCI,

It is a week 27 Fairways of the Mountain. It always trades well I guess because it is near July 4th and sometimes falls on July 4th week.

tschwa2 · Apr 23, 2014

spookykennedy said:
Our luck just struck again by some miracle - we got the week we wanted and from the code it is Ocean Front. Wow! Just when I was starting to seriously consider buying a week...but the maintenance fees seem so high.

Which week in Maui did you get and was it a 1br or 2?

spookykennedy · Apr 23, 2014

tschwa2 said:
Which week in Maui did you get and was it a 1br or 2?

1BR Dec 14-21

tschwa2 · Apr 23, 2014

I think you are going to have to buy there if you want summer weeks depending on the ages of the kids you may want to buy a 2 br. According to the 2014 MF's sticky post a 2 br in 2014 was $1972 and a 1 br was $1792. Buy in cost is going to be quite a bit higher on the 2 br but so far they are keeping their value better.

spookykennedy · Apr 23, 2014

tschwa2 said:
I think you are going to have to buy there if you want summer weeks depending on the ages of the kids you may want to buy a 2 br. According to the 2014 MF's sticky post a 2 br in 2014 was $1972 and a 1 br was $1792. Buy in cost is going to be quite a bit higher on the 2 br but so far they are keeping their value better.

Thank you we were thinking a 2BR also as time goes on. We really love the week before Christmas...so quiet. At the tail end the masses start arriving and that just wouldn't be fun to us. At WKORV the activity person said in summer they have 800+ kids/week on average...we love kids but man that is a LOT! As long as we can we will go the week before Christmas!

dioxide45 · Apr 23, 2014

As long as you are willing to travel in shoulder and off season and I would consider the week before Christmas to be shoulder season. You can continue to do well. I take it you are trading a 2BR for a 1BR? I don't know what your MFs are on the week, but you could possibly buy a 2BR Marriott lock off unit that is not in Hawaii and continue to trade in but with preference. Still not sure if you will get the super prime summer weeks, but you could perhaps continue to get shoulder weeks only in a 2BR. Much better for a family to travel in.

spookykennedy · Apr 23, 2014

dioxide45 said:
As long as you are willing to travel in shoulder and off season and I would consider the week before Christmas to be shoulder season. You can continue to do well. I take it you are trading a 2BR for a 1BR? I don't know what your MFs are on the week, but you could possibly buy a 2BR Marriott lock off unit that is not in Hawaii and continue to trade in but with preference. Still not sure if you will get the super prime summer weeks, but you could perhaps continue to get shoulder weeks only in a 2BR. Much better for a family to travel in.

We actually traded a 1BR for the 1BR MOC. MF under $400. I am going to do more research on a Marriott purchase. Would Shadow Ridge be a good one if it was Platinum?

Ron98GT · Apr 23, 2014

spookykennedy said:
1BR Dec 14-21

We usually go to Hawaii the first two weeks of December, a vary slow period and I get good trades into the Marriott's, which I own, and Westin's. Although, I was was surprised when I got a 2-BDRM Marriott Waiohai the week before Christmas.

MOXJO7282 · Apr 23, 2014

tschwa2 said:
I think you are going to have to buy there if you want summer weeks depending on the ages of the kids you may want to buy a 2 br. According to the 2014 MF's sticky post a 2 br in 2014 was $1972 and a 1 br was $1792. Buy in cost is going to be quite a bit higher on the 2 br but so far they are keeping their value better.

I would definitely suggest the same if you can afford a 2BDRM OV. They just bring so much more value than the 1BDRM units do in the long run. You will pay a $10k premium for a 2BDRM but again value received will be significantly more.

You can rent your OV studio for min $1300 until the kids get bigger and use the 1BDRM side for real value. When the kids get bigger you're be happy to have the 2BDRM

spookykennedy · Apr 24, 2014

MOXJO7282 said:
I would definitely suggest the same if you can afford a 2BDRM OV. They just bring so much more value than the 1BDRM units do in the long run. You will pay a $10k premium for a 2BDRM but again value received will be significantly more.

You can rent your OV studio for min $1300 until the kids get bigger and use the 1BDRM side for real value. When the kids get bigger you're be happy to have the 2BDRM

Thanks I have been watching for a few months and so far have only seen one 2BR/3BA come up for sale with ocean view. Any other good sources to look for reasonable listings?

Ron98GT · Apr 24, 2014

spookykennedy said:
Having stayed at WKORV 4 times we absolutely loved it. In fact when our match last December came up at MOC we were somewhat disappointed and skeptical to try something new. BUT, the 2 giant balconies, huge rooms, amazing staff, free activities (including leis, snow cones, crafts for my kids, etc), free DVD rentals, proximity to Whaler's Village and generally a better location in our opinions really won us over. My DH basically refuses to stay anywhere else now. My kids (age 8 & 12) preferred the MOC pool plus loved the hammocks. They met lots of other kids and spent time at the activity center which they never did at WKORV.
The only negative of the original buildings to us were:
1. Kitchenette vs. full kitchen but we mostly use the BBQ grills anyhow if we don't eat dinner out
2. Lack of a W/D in unit but in some ways it was more convenient to do all of our loads at once down in the poolside laundry room versus one at at time in those stackable small machines

Don't get me wrong we also love WKORV but there was just this charm and feeling we really, really loved at MOC.

If you do decide to purchase, you might want to purchase a newer unit in the Lahaina or Napili Towers. They have a full kitchen and W/D in the unit. If you own a Lahaina/Napali, 2-BDRM, EOY, that's what you'll get every other year when you go. If you lock it off and deposit the units into II, you could wind up in the new or old buildings.

http://www.marriottvacationclub.com/vacation-resorts/marriott-maui-ocean-club/amenities.shtml

We stayed at WKORV last year for the first time in a 2-BDRM Ocean Front unit, which had a Huge balcony, great kitchen and bathrooms, W/D in both units, and that elevator across the hall that took us from our room to our car down below. We were spoiled.

Ron98GT · Apr 24, 2014

spookykennedy said:
Thanks I have been watching for a few months and so far have only seen one 2BR/3BA come up for sale with ocean view. Any other good sources to look for reasonable listings?

I'm not sure where you've been looking. I've purchased a number of TS's off eBay, so that would be a good place to start, at least for checking what units are selling for. You could check out RedWeek, but they tend to be high. There are a lot (35) of MOC's on the TUG Market Place for sale, but you might have to be a member to view those, not sure, but that would be a good place to look and a good excuse to join TUG. There are a couple of real-estate/timeshare agents that TUG members have used, you can also check with them, Seth comes to mind, but the agent units tend to sell for a little more than eBay. I purchased my last HGVC off a Buy-Wish-Ad that I placed in the TUG Market Place last year, which took a while, but I got exactly what I wanted.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting.

MOXJO7282 · Apr 24, 2014

Yes Redweek and TUG would be where I'd start. Politely make a low but not insulting price to every owner and you might get lucky. Low but not insulting to me for a 2BDRM/3BTH OV MOC is $10k. I'd start there and would consider a great deal to be less than $12k and a good deal to be less than $13k. This would be pricing from a good broker or owner not the scum brokers on ebay who list MOC sometimes. Their price might be lower but in the long run you pay more in a number of different ways.

Ron98GT · Apr 24, 2014

MOXJO7282 said:
Yes Redweek and TUG would be where I'd start. Politely make a low but not insulting price to every owner and you might get lucky. Low but not insulting to me for a 2BDRM/3BTH OV MOC is $10k. I'd start there and would consider a great deal to be less than $12k and a good deal to be less than $13k. This would be pricing from a good broker or owner not the scum brokers on ebay who list MOC sometimes. Their price might be lower but in the long run you pay more in a number of different ways.

Doesn't Dioxide maintain a ROFR list of Marriott Properties? That would be useful information for the OP.

spookykennedy · Apr 25, 2014

Thanks everyone. I had seen a few by an eBay reseller and there is now another thread on that problem seller. I will check out a few of the places mentioned if we decide to go that route and appreciate all of the insight.

Buy a Marriott or keep trying our luck?

spookykennedy

m61376

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bastroum

spookykennedy

dioxide45

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BocaBoy

spookykennedy

Ron98GT

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dioxide45

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spookykennedy

tschwa2

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spookykennedy

tschwa2

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spookykennedy

dioxide45

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spookykennedy

Ron98GT

MOXJO7282

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