Resort fees for exchanging?!

tschwa2 said:

Did you own Marriott when you went? I did but now I don't. I think they are supposed to charge non Marriott timeshare owners (and in fact the note on the II exchange confirmation indicates they will) but it seems like they don't always enforce that.

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They don't charge owners or exchangers, only the ones that rent from them directly.

Exchange Fees

We are in Vacation Village At Parkway with an exchange. At checkin there was a $25.00 fee (as usual). They also charged an additional $100.00 fee which I am checking on but nobody seems to knows why but they won't remove it. Then there are the upgrades for various stuff, internet fees, upgraded internet fees, charges for activities which other places don't charge, etc. Also, it looks like they no longer have room service once a week. Now they just set a bag with TP, PT, Tissues and towels in front of your door. Not sure we will be back and we have been going there for 5 years or so, total - 14 weeks, to visit with our friends from Canada who are owners. Maybe we will look into another place next year.

We also spent a month in Hawaii a couple months ago. 4 rentals, 4 islands. Some charged and some didn't. Would love to see a standard fee listed when we go somewhere.

post low rating score

Any resort charging exchangers more than owners should be given a very low rating. Otherwise, HOA have no incentive to protect exchangers as they will get their deposit points and others who don't notice the fees will take the weeks due to high ratings.

I also will not exchange to all the Mexican inclusive resorts. Packages on the market would be a better deal.

camserv said:

We are in Vacation Village At Parkway with an exchange. At checkin there was a $25.00 fee (as usual). They also charged an additional $100.00 fee which I am checking on but nobody seems to knows why but they won't remove it. Then there are the upgrades for various stuff, internet fees, upgraded internet fees, charges for activities which other places don't charge, etc. Also, it looks like they no longer have room service once a week. Now they just set a bag with TP, PT, Tissues and towels in front of your door. Not sure we will be back and we have been going there for 5 years or so, total - 14 weeks, to visit with our friends from Canada who are owners. Maybe we will look into another place next year.

We also spent a month in Hawaii a couple months ago. 4 rentals, 4 islands. Some charged and some didn't. Would love to see a standard fee listed when we go somewhere.

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When we were at VV@P last spring they put a $100 hold on our credit card for damages. We couldn't see it on our (on-line) statement & it was never "charged" to our account.

The fall before that I got 3 2Bedrm units (RCI Extra's) all in my name & they wanted to charge $100 for each unit to my credit card. Again it never appeared on our account nor were we charged anything.

~Diane

That's a great idea Moonstone...That is exactly what exchangers should do.

On principle and as a general rule I am against charging mandatory "resort fee's". However it seems there are more and more resorts and/or resort systems that have these fee's. They use them as both a way to reduce MF's for their owners and as an incentive to become owners at that resort or within that system (I'm thinking of DRI in particular).

We've been timeshare owners since 1998. Others on TUG have owned much longer than us. As it is we've seen a lot of changes over the years and, as a result, our usage has changed. Resort fee's have been one of those changes. I try to avoid them when I can. Timeshare is expensive enough without the additional fee's.

tc said:

Has anyone noticed the tendency of some resorts to charge resort fees if you exchange into them. This seems to go against the spirit of timeshare exchanging. Am I wrong to feel this way?

For example exchanger's resort fees :
Los Abrigados (Sedona,AZ) $15/ day, $17 with tax!
Channel Islands Shores(Oxnard,CA) $13/day.
Polo Towers (Las Vegas,NV) $20+tax=$22.40/day!

:annoyed:

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My home resort charges a daily usage fee to a non-owner exchanger. I believe that this is wrong. I cannot think of any reason why an exchanger would incur any additional cost to stay at my home resort. Although more and more prevalent, this is unconscionable. To me, an exchange is an exchange. I'm not sure what can be done if most T/S owners stay at their home resort and actually benefit from this.

stonebroke said:

I don't want my resort charging exchange guests extra fees and I don't like to go to a resort that charges me extra fees. If the resort is doing it to keep the MF down for owners that is even more egregious. RCI should enforce that an exchange is exchange without any extra fees (but they don't). One thing I do is if they charge an extra fee I refuse to rate the resort as high as might and I write the reason in...maybe if every exchanger would do the same... the resort might lose a notch or two in its precious Goldor Silver Crown or Hospitality Rating and or lose some exhange trading power and the HOA might wake up and make it fair for all and treat their "GUESTS" as they do their owners.

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I know that my home resort strives to get a good review from an exchanger. From now on, I will give a negative review to any resort that charges this extra fee. I hope others also agree with you.

Sugarcubesea said:

I was going to exchange into KBC until I saw I was going to have to pay $25 per day...

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I have been trying to plan a vacation at Williamsburg and notice that according to RCI reviews, several of the resorts charge a daily fee. For this reason, we more than likely will not exchange into that resort. If enough exchangers boycott those resorts or give bad reviews, just maybe this will slow the trend of these add ons.

qwerty said:

I have been trying to plan a vacation at Williamsburg and notice that according to RCI reviews, several of the resorts charge a daily fee. For this reason, we more than likely will not exchange into that resort. If enough exchangers boycott those resorts or give bad reviews, just maybe this will slow the trend of these add ons.

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How will they know that possible exchangers are bypassing them if they charge extra fees unless they have vacancies? Depending on how much the fees are, and how badly I want to go to the location, I usually just shrug, mutter under my breath, and pay it.

I choose to simply not look at resorts with what I consider to be onerous AI fees. Do they care? I doubt it.

With courtesy to Charlie Brown. It's like wetting your pants in a dark suit. Gives you a warm feeling, but nobody notices.

Jim

qwerty said:

I have been trying to plan a vacation at Williamsburg and notice that according to RCI reviews, several of the resorts charge a daily fee. For this reason, we more than likely will not exchange into that resort. If enough exchangers boycott those resorts or give bad reviews, just maybe this will slow the trend of these add ons.

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I don't see how boycotting a resort would have an impact on them. For RCI to have the inventory the maintenance fee had to be paid. If the unit stays vacant why would the resort care. There would be no additional wear and tear on the unit and no housekeeping cost but fees have been collected.

Giving bad RCI reviews may have some impact but again, will they care?

tschwa2 said:

Most big name TS;s in Hawaii charge for parking if you don't own in that system. The parking fee I believe was in the neighborhood of $20 a day. So if you will have a car then it really isn't that much more then exchanging for a Marriott or Westin. If you don't have a car then it makes a big difference.

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Where does this clearly factually wrong statement come from? Marriott does not and has never charged resort fees or parking fees to non-owner exchangers in Hawaii. They also don't charge these to exchangers at non-Hawaiian resorts that do not charge owners, with the exception of BeachPlace Towers.

Kozman said:

I don't see how boycotting a resort would have an impact on them. For RCI to have the inventory the maintenance fee had to be paid. If the unit stays vacant why would the resort care. There would be no additional wear and tear on the unit and no housekeeping cost but fees have been collected.

Giving bad RCI reviews may have some impact but again, will they care?

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Definitively it will have impact if we all boycott these resorts. Probably not in the short term. But in the long run, market will correct itself. These resorts will be getting less and less trade power, because no one would want to trade to these resorts. Owners will not be happy because of the low exchange power in return. Based on demand and supply, resorts will be enforced to adopt market price by not charging these fees.

So, I would believe by boycotting these resorts and give negative feedback will work.

Sugarcubesea said:

I was going to exchange into KBC until I saw I was going to have to pay $25 per day...

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The confirmations have this boilerplate language in them but it is NOT the policy. Never has been. You would not have been charged. Only ones charged for parking are renters from Marriott and users of MR points.

pchung6 said:

Last night, I almost traded into Ka'anapali Beach Club until I saw there is $25 daily resort fee + tax will apply. I believe Ka'anapali Beach Club is DRI? I would not even consider any of the resorts charging additional fee.

My question is how can exchange companies like II or RCI to allow this to happen? It is just losing the purpose of timeshare since we all pay MF to our home resorts.

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You are right only if you pay equal or more in MF.

How much you pay in MF for the unit you deposit to get KBC ?

KBC MF (1 bdrm) for week owner is between 1400 and 1500 USD
KBC MF (1 bdrm) for point owner is between 1100 and 2400 USD depending of the view and the number of point own.

KBC MF (2 bdrm) for week owner is between 2000 and 2100 USD
KBC MF (2 bdrm) for point owner is between 2700 and 3100 USD depending of the number of point own.

If you have deposited a crappy studio at 300 USD to get KBC, you can't complain about fees.

A bad review based solely on a resort fee isn't a good idea IMHO. A review should be based on the merits of the resort. I have no issues with a complaint in a review about an extra fee but, to make a review negative on only one aspect?

Resorts aren't going to care about no one exchanging in unless it affects their sales or MF collections. Boycotting them would probably have little impact. I'm not boycotting them so to speak but, I'm also looking for other options to resorts that charge resort fee's. So in that aspect I guess you could say I boycott resorts that charge resort fee's if/when there's any other acceptable options.

I just completed an exchange for Wyndham Pagosa in June. I noticed that point’s members get an additional charge for anything less than 7 days stay. I am not a points member and don’t want to be so I guess this doesn’t affect me. I can understand charging additional fees if a resort has to do extra prep work for multiple move-in’s in the same week but I pay maintenance fees at my home resort and don’t expect to have to pay additional fees for an exchange resort.

BocaBoy said:

Where does this clearly factually wrong statement come from? Marriott does not and has never charged resort fees or parking fees to non-owner exchangers in Hawaii. They also don't charge these to exchangers at non-Hawaiian resorts that do not charge owners, with the exception of BeachPlace Towers.

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My info came from what you call the boiler plate info about parking on the II exchange certificate. When I called Marriott I was told that it didn't apply to M vacation club owners. As a starwood owner and a marriott owner at the time of exchanges I have not been charged for parking. So never having exchanged into either as a non owner in the system, I have no personal experience with parking charges.

In Defense of Resort Fees

tc said:

Has anyone noticed the tendency of some resorts to charge resort fees if you exchange into them. This seems to go against the spirit of timeshare exchanging. Am I wrong to feel this way?

For example exchanger's resort fees :
Los Abrigados (Sedona,AZ) $15/ day, $17 with tax!
Channel Islands Shores(Oxnard,CA) $13/day.
Polo Towers (Las Vegas,NV) $20+tax=$22.40/day!
:annoyed:

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A legacy Non-Profit Timeshare organization derives its income primarily from Owner Dues and unit Rental. Specifically, Tahoe Beach and Ski Resort competes in the hospitality business against “for profit” timeshare resorts that derive income from unit sales, and Casino hotels that derive income from gambling. If the dues are too high, the owners no longer derive value from ownership. If the rental rates are too high, the rental income disappears. If the resort is not competitive in the value proposition, nobody rents, nobody exchanges in, and the owners exchange out to other resorts.

Three years ago Tahoe Beach and Ski was rated number 34 out of 70 resorts in South Lake Tahoe by TripAdvisor reviews. The resort spent very little on activities in order to keep dues low and in return the owners complained of an inferior resort experience. Against this backdrop the Board of Directors made a number of changes. The resort entered into a management partnership with Grand Pacific Resorts Management because of their reputation for operations excellence and management of extensive activities programs. The Board decided to initiate a resort fee to balance some of the costs of increased activities which include free food, drink, and live performances during the guest’s stay. There is very tight tracking of activities costs and expenses and the goal is a 20% recovery of activities cost from resort fees. Resort fees are not collected from owners whether staying on their use week or any other stay such as exchange, bonus time, or rent. Guests of owners also do not pay the resort fees. Direct TUG exchangers, technically guests of owners, do not pay the resort fee.

The combination of an improved resort experience, exceptional staff and much improved activities schedule have Tahoe Beach and Ski resort rated number 4 of 70 resorts in South Lake Tahoe up from 34 and number 8 out of 129 resorts when including all of Lake Tahoe.

RCI reviews as well are much better since the resort instituted a resort fee. RCI guests used to rate the resort very low on activities. Now, the RCI guests rate the overall resort experience very high, and RCI raised the point value for our owners exchanging out. The Resort Fee does not target exchangers. It targets non owners which include renters. It should be noted that the exchange companies have the bad habit of renting exchanged units for half the price of what owners pay in dues. When an RCI guest checks in at our resort, the resort has no idea if the guest exchanged a week at Manhattan Club or rented an RCI week for $249. RCI rents out their inventory to RCI members as well as Non-RCI members.

There is a fine balance that has to be struck between owner dues, service level, rental rates and additional sources of income within the geographic market in which a resort operates; Finding that balance is the job of the Board of Directors in cooperation with management. While resort fees can be abusive, arbitrary, incomprehensible, and discriminatory, when imposed correctly, the fees can improve the resort experience, and deliver a product that brings back guests year after year, and allow non-profit legacy timeshare resorts to compete with other for-profit resorts deriving their income from unrelated activities.

Thanks,
Treasurer, Tahoe Beach and Ski Resort

youppi said:

You are right only if you pay equal or more in MF.

How much you pay in MF for the unit you deposit to get KBC ?

KBC MF (1 bdrm) for week owner is between 1400 and 1500 USD
KBC MF (1 bdrm) for point owner is between 1100 and 2400 USD depending of the view and the number of point own.

KBC MF (2 bdrm) for week owner is between 2000 and 2100 USD
KBC MF (2 bdrm) for point owner is between 2700 and 3100 USD depending of the number of point own.

If you have deposited a crappy studio at 300 USD to get KBC, you can't complain about fees.

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Totally agree your points. We should be blessed to get any Hawaii unit, but not other resorts like DRI Orlando or Las Vegas.

Just shocked DRI charges such high MF. I'm looking for a week of Marriott MKO OV, and I think the MF is less than $2000 for 2 br. It makes me to think Marriott is at a such bargain.

DRI can do whatever they want. And I'm fine to stay with Marriott or Starwood.

I booked a getaway to Polo Towers for my parents. After looking at the fact sheet on the resort website I came across this:

Polo Towers Suites offers a daily towel exchange and a mid week clean is provided for guests staying five or more nights. The fitness center is complimentary for all guests. We currently have ice machines on the 18th floor in tower one and floors 2, 5, 8, 11, 15 and 21 in tower three.

When Checking In: - Hotel Guests and Exchange Reservation: A photo identification, credit card for $100 security deposit and a daily $20.00 plus tax resort fee will be required.....

- Owner Weeks and Member Points Booking: Photo identification and a form of payment will need to be provided at check-in. Resort fees* will be waived when staying on your owner week or member point reservations.
A resort fee of $20.00 plus tax per night will be added to the reservation if the owner or member of THE Club® is checking in on a rental reservation.


I called both II and the resort for clarification. Both stated they don't see anything in their systems regarding my parents being charged.

youppi said:

If you have deposited a crappy studio at 300 USD to get KBC, you can't complain about fees.

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Disagree. If my crappy deposit pulls your whoopdedoo deposit, why punish me? Your argument is with the exchange company if you don't want my studio to pull your resort. And then you can turn the argument onto yourself and ask why you would deposit what you think is a great resort that a crappy studio can pull.

geekette said:

Disagree. If my crappy deposit pulls your whoopdedoo deposit, why punish me? Your argument is with the exchange company if you don't want my studio to pull your resort. And then you can turn the argument onto yourself and ask why you would deposit what you think is a great resort that a crappy studio can pull.

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I think the key point is that DRI deposit does not get much trade value and even a crappy studio can pull. Owners are not happy about the high MF and the low return they get. So resorts decide to charge resort fee to these "$300 studio" exchanges because they paid too low or they shouldn't be there.

The problem has to go back to DRI why they made their resorts less attractive that a crappy studio can pull. Instead they blame it to exchangers because they paid too low, so they have to pay DRI now.

non-owners

What do non-owners pay at TBSC?

pchung6 said:

I think the key point is that DRI deposit does not get much trade value and even a crappy studio can pull. Owners are not happy about the high MF and the low return they get. So resorts decide to charge resort fee to these "$300 studio" exchanges because they paid too low or they shouldn't be there.

The problem has to go back to DRI why they made their resorts less attractive that a crappy studio can pull. Instead they blame it to exchangers because they paid too low, so they have to pay DRI now.

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So is it safe to say that the fees charged to exchangers at DRI resorts are not going to help reduce the MF budget for owners since owners are already paying a very high MF to begin with?