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[ 2010 ] What does Starwood do with week 53?

DeniseM

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A thread on the exchange forum brought this to mind. In 2011 there will be a week 53 - who gets the usage of those weeks? :shrug:
 
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Westin5Star

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All of the 5* Elite Owners get to use these weeks. Starwood has reversed its trend and is now adding benefits for owners :rofl:
 

jarta

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DeniseM, ... "In 2011 there will be a week 53 - who gets the usage of those weeks?"

The answer is: it depends. lol!

Seriously, the natural priority for determining what happens is this:

1. If the deed provides for week 53 use by a week 52 owner or week 1 owner, the deed would control.

2. If the deed is silent, any relevant State statutory provision would control.

3. In the absence of a provision in the deed or the controlling statutes, the recorded condo (or shared use) declaration would control.

4. In the absence of a provision in the deed, the statutes or the declaration, the resort's rules or by-laws would control.

To the extent that a statute or the declaration allows the HOA board to amend the rules or bylaws as it sees fit, the board, consistent with its fiduciary obligation of Sound Business Judgment, could provide for the rules or bylaws to allow it to rent week 53 use or to contract to let Starwood or anyone else with sufficient marketing resources find a renter.

As I said, it depends. However, I am sure each resort's HOA has an existing policy that governs.

In most instances, I would assume that 3 or 4 would be the norm. State statutes generally are not designed to hamstring any resort's HOA board by making the decision for it and I would be surprised to see many week 53 provisions in week 52 or week 1 deeds. ... eom
 
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sml2181

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At Mountain Vista and Riverfront, one cannot reserve week 53 - Starwood keeps them. At least that's what I was told. No waitlist, just not possible.
 

jarta

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sml2181, ... "Starwood keeps them."

Starwood cannot keep what it does not own. Unless there are deeds to Starwood for week 53 units (highly unlikely), the HOA controls what is done with week 53 units.

I think what you mean is that the HOA board allows Starwood to rent out the week 53 units. Whether that permission to rent out week 53 units is made part of the resort management contract and whether any of the rent collected on week 53 units comes back to the HOA are unanswered, open questions.

You said that owners at the resort cannot reserve these weeks (I assume by using Staroptions). You did not say whether owners of other ski weeks at these resorts can rent the week 53 units using money for the same price as anyone else. Do you know if they can (or can't)? Or, how Starwood markets the week 53 units? Or, where the money from rentals of week 53 units ends up? ... eom
 

LisaRex

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It says in the WKORV OA that Starwood (the developer) gets the rights to week 53 weeks when they exist.
 

jerseygirl

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I think it says the same thing in the two WSJ CCRs, but they're on a different computer so I can't verify just yet.
 

DeniseM

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Week 53 is very desirable in most locations - that's a lot of $$$ for Starwood. I wonder if the rules are different at the resorts that were previously owned by other companies.
 
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DanCali

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I am not a Marriott fan lately but just for comparison - Marriott also gets the rights to these weeks but they allow owners from all resorts to buy usage rights for around the cost of MFs. An owner using this option can use the week, rent it out, or deposit in II. I used this option myself for an extra II exchange back to my home resort in the summer, and I can now rent out my own reservation hopefully for a decent profit.

Here is a link to the 2010 Marriott thread.
 

Fredm

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I am not a Marriott fan lately but just for comparison - Marriott also gets the rights to these weeks but they allow owners from all resorts to buy usage rights for around the cost of MFs. An owner using this option can use the week, rent it out, or deposit in II. I used this option myself for an extra II exchange back to my home resort in the summer, and I can now rent out my own reservation hopefully for a decent profit.

Here is a link to the 2010 Marriott thread.

Right.
IIRC, the only thing that cannot be done is lock out the unit.
 

mariawolf

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I called because my week 52 at Harborside is a Sunday arrival 12/25 not my first choice. When I called I was told that if it is the same arrival day that I can book my regular week and then call back to book the week 53. Of course I have this feeling if I call back and ask again to a different person at the call center that I will get a different answer. At that time I also asked about any summer availability at HRA and was told none.
 

DanCali

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Right.
IIRC, the only thing that cannot be done is lock out the unit.

Right - no lockout for the Marriott Gift of Time.

It also wasn't clear to me if one could buy for usage and then do a "request first" separately with II as a supplemental deposit for a resort you don't own. Buying on the website to exchange does a "deposit first," but trading power is quite high for most resorts that it's probably not an issue..
 

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Dan, ... Do all the Marriott owners get access to purchase the week 53 usage at the same time?

I thought that Marriott opened up the buying to multiple week owners first - with the multiple, multiple week owners getting the very first chance to buy. Is that still correct?

And, how do the new Marriott DC (points only) owners fit into the week 53 mix?

Don't you think Starwood would be criticized here if it gave week 53 perks to Elites (Starwood's multiple owners) first?

And, how is it a "Gift of Time" if you have to pay for it? Finally, what does Marriott do with the "gifts" bestowed on it by the people who rent week 53 usage? Does any of the "gift" go to the resort or does it go into Marriott's pocket?

Full disclosure: Since I own 7 Starwood weeks, I'd benefit from that type of perk. ;) ... eom
 
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sml2181

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I'll see if I can find some answers later this week.

There seems to be no way for owners to get it using Staroptions. Owners would have to go through SPG.com to get these weeks for cash, just like anyone else. There isn't something like Marriott's Gift of Time.

My floating ski weeks can't get any event weeks. (But, at Riverfront, there are only 2 event weeks: 51 and 52.)
My event weeks can float during the season, but I can't reserve other event weeks (week 51 can't reserve week 52).

Of course Jarta is right - Starwood can't keep what it doesn't own.
I THINK I was told that half of the money collected from rentals would go to the HOA, but I am not sure. I do not know what the language in the contracts says.
 

Fredm

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Denise, per the Governing Documents:

"Fifty Third Use Week. The Developer expressly reserves the right and exclusive easement to reserve and then use the Vacation Units for one Use Week in each Use Year that contains a 53rd Use Week....."

It goes on to say that the developer must promptly reimburse the Association for housekeeping and administrative expense associated with the use.

It is worth observing that the statement does not limit Starwood to using week 53. They could if they wanted to, but it could be any week in a Use Year that contains a 53rd use week. At least that is how I read it.
 
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DanCali

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Dan, ... Do all the Marriott owners get access to purchase the week 53 usage at the same time?

I thought that Marriott opened up the buying to multiple week owners first - with the multiple, multiple week owners getting the very first chance to buy. Is that still correct?

And, how do the new Marriott DC (points only) owners fit into the week 53 mix?

Don't you think Starwood would be criticized here if it gave week 53 perks to Elites (Starwood's multiple owners) first?

And, how is it a "Gift of Time" if you have to pay for it? Finally, what does Marriott do with the "gifts" bestowed on it by the people who rent week 53 usage? Does any of the "gift" go to the resort or does it go into Marriott's pocket?

Full disclosure: Since I own 7 Starwood weeks, I'd benefit from that type of perk. ;) ... eom

I don't have answer to many of your questions so I will give you my best guess...

I suspect that with Marriott getting the rights to all those weeks they also have to pay MFs for week 53. Whether or not you view selling the rights to those weks to owners for approximately the cost of MFs as a "gift" is a subjective thing, but a 2BR ski week for or Hawaii week for around the cost of MFs is something many would take in a heartbeat, especially if it is at resorts that they don't own and are hard to exchange to in that season. If Marriott rents out those weeks themselves, I suspect they keep the profit over MFs.

The notification process did seem disorganized and I am not sure what the logic was. Some resale owners found out ahead of retail owners, some multiple week owners never found out at all etc... I don't know if there was an order of precedence...I only found out about it from TUG... :)

The points program was launched in 2010 so points owners did not get a chance to participate in this. Not sure what will happen next time it is offered.

As to whether Starwood would have been criticized here if they offered this same deal to Elites before everyone else... probably by some, but less than if they keep all the weeks to rent out for a profit :)
 

Fredm

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It says in the WKORV OA that Starwood (the developer) gets the rights to week 53 weeks when they exist.

Starwood gets the rights to a (any) week in those years that have 53 weeks.

See my post #15 above.
 
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klatkiew

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Was told today that at WSJ developer owns all week 53 and that owners who own week 52 and week 1 get 1st dibs - then anyone can request week 53.
 

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53 weeks in 2016

Hi, resurrecting this old thread cuz I just noticed next year has 53 weeks. Has anything changed since 2011?
 

DeniseM

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Hi, resurrecting this old thread cuz I just noticed next year has 53 weeks. Has anything changed since 2011?

This is in the original governing Docs, so I don't think it's something that will change.
 

kcgriffin

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I own a 2BR 3BA week 52 at STJ in the hillside villas I have the option to take my week 52 (Christmas) or week 53 next year.
 

DeniseM

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In 2016, there is a problem with the way that Christmas and New Year's weeks fall on the timeshare calendar, so if you own 51 or 52 you need to to take a close look at the dates and your reservation.
 

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Denise,

Which of the week's do you think will be most popular, 51, 52 or 53? And which day to check in?
 

DeniseM

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Denise,

Which of the week's do you think will be most popular, 51, 52 or 53? And which day to check in?

The week between Christmas and New Years is by far the most popular, because the kids are out of school.

Saturday is always the most popular check-in day.
 

Markus

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Denise, so that would mean Dec 24 to 31. It looks odd, Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve.

Mark
 
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