Newbie with Atlantis Harborside Bahamas timeshare

Hey everybody,

I have been looking through the threads of this website for a long time now. I am thrilled to be on here and have the oppurtunity to talk to you all. I have recently purchased a timeshare to the Atlantis Harborside Resort in the Bahamas. I love it there and I visit yearly to the Atlantis. I really wanted a timeshare here, and even though I know very little about them, I was very excited to hear what they had to say. It seems pretty straight forward. I have the GOLD season with a one bedroom (44,000 points). They also gave me the gold card with it plus 50,000 free points to use wherever, whenever, plus 4 free nights stay at the Harborside at any time I choose.

Now, my only concern is that, what they told me is what I will get. For example, the month of July is listed as part of my time I could choose. I can begin booking in January 1st 2012. Can I just simply call and reserve? That is all I really care about. I know resale could have been a better option, but I had enough to put down and my payments are affordable to me. I do not feel as if I put myself in a bad situation, would you say so? You all would know best. I can easily afford the payments monthly and the annual fee because of my downpayment, but I know the sales guy didnt tell me all of the ins and outs.

Does anybody have this timeshare as well? How do you like it? I would imagine if you can afford it, you would absolutely love it, being that it is Atlantis. What important steps should I take to ensure that I can simply get my reservation? I do not really understand the timeshare jargon (I will very soon and of course remain on this website to help others in need), but can someone really put it in to nice easy words for me? I have all of the contracts here with me, and I can look up anything if someone needs me to for more information.

Also, I do not need a SPECIFIC week when I reserve, but I would really like it to be within the month that I choose, which is July, and the Gold season has dates that are in that category.

I just want to pay my dues and be able to take a vacation at Atlantis each year, hassle free. Any advice (that I would be able to understand) would go such a long way for me. I am looking forward in being a part of this site and once I get on my way with this thing, I will learn even more and help others.

Lastly, I feel I made a good decision for my future. I love the bahamas. I go there yearly. I can afford the monthly payments. I know people have problems with timeshares...so the big question: Did I make a wise decision? I am 27 years old, I do not have a mortgage yet, my car is almost paid off, and I do not have a lot of debt, and I have a very decent job that pays well enough to be able to afford the timeshare at this present moment, and in the future when a mortgage arrives. I also have two parents who told me that they would be glad to take over the payments and use it, god-forbid I were to loose my job, which my job is pretty stable.

I am sure you heard this all before, so thank you, thank you, thank you for your time. You all are great and I look forward in reading your responses. :rofl:

I know resale could have been a better option, but I had enough to put down and my payments are affordable to me. I do not feel as if I put myself in a bad situation, would you say so? You all would know best. I can easily afford the payments monthly and the annual fee because of my downpayment, but I know the sales guy didnt tell me all of the ins and outs.

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Hi and welcome to TUG!- If you are still within the rescission period, you should absolutely rescind. There are no advantages to buying this property from the developer, and it cost you thousands more than buying resale.

Please read this article about rescinding a Starwood timeshare.

*This is a Starwood timeshare, so I moved your post to the Starwood forum.

thank you for responding so quickly. I am a little nervous now... I can absolutely afford it, and it is not a lot of money, surprisingly. I felt comfortable with my purchase. I guess I just do not see how I could have gone wrong? Besides the money, where else would lie a problem? Again, thanks for the response, I was not exepcting one until morning. What a great website with great people.

You can buy the same gold floating annual week for a fraction of the price you paid, on the resale market.

1. You spent thousands more than you needed to. Why pay more for no reason? If you are looking at 2 identical cars and one is $5,000 and one is $20,000, why would you pay $20,000???

I have the GOLD season with a one bedroom...
Now, my only concern is that, what they told me is what I will get. For example, the month of July is listed as part of my time I could choose. I can begin booking in January 1st 2012. Can I just simply call and reserve? That is all I really care about.

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2. They didn't tell you the truth when they told you that it would be easy to reserve a week in a different season than the one you own. The truth is that it will be very difficult to reserve a week in July - Gold Plus Season does NOT include July.

These are the season at Harborside Resort Atlantis:

Platinum Plus - weeks 1-17 (67,100 Staroptions)
Platinum - weeks 18-34 (44,000 Staroptions)
Gold Plus - weeks 35-46 (37,000 Staroptions)

July includes weeks 26-30 - but if you own a gold plus week, you don't own during that season - you own during weeks 35-46, which means that you have to TRADE into July, and you are in competition with every other owner in all of the Starwood resorts who wants to trade in.

The other issue is that you don't own enough Staroptions. For instance, a 1 bdm. during Gold Plus Season is worth 37,000 Staroptions, but to trade into a 1 bdm. in July - Platinum Season, you must have 44,000 Staroptions.

Please rescind!

Rescind

Please do yourself a favor and rescind immediately! Most of us here on TUG have made the mistake of buying from the developer and regret it. In your case, I completely understand your dilemma! Harborside is a great resort with the promise of great vacations for many years to come, however, for the amount of money you spent buying from the developer directly you could likely buy a significantly better timeshare at HRA - two or three bedrooms instead of one. Or, you can buy the same timeshare for pennies on the dollar. There is currently one selling on ebay that will sell for NOTHING!!! If you don't feel comfortable buying from ebay (many of us don't have the experience or knowledge to trust such a purchase), you could contact a reputable salesperson (several post here on TUG) who could help you with your purchase. But right now you should consider rescinding and spend the next few months researching so you can learn more about Harborside, the Starwood Network, and the resale market.

how much less? I spent $14,000 for mine, and I bought it in the Atlantis. It says on my contract Gold Season, Week 18 F, F meaning floating, which I only have a very vague understanding of that term. It still feels like a good deal. I am just not familiarized with the booking process and how to "work" the timeshare to book a trip. I am still within the 7 days, but I would hate to loose something that I really want. If it truly is a situation that I put myself in, I will get out of it, but I just dont see it yet. Thanks for all of the responses, I will keep checking and reading.

sorry for that last post, I did not see all of the responses above it. I will read them now.

Never Never Never finance a timeshare purchase. Furthermore, rescind and buy the same or better on the resale market for a fraction of the cost. I am no expert on Starwood, but I know enough to listen to Denise! She knows the system.

Welcome to TUG. I hope you got here in time and we can save you a few thou$and$!

Jim Ricks

DeniseM said:

1. You spent thousands more than you needed to. Why pay more for no reason? If you are looking at 2 identical cars and one is $5,000 and one is $20,000, why would you pay $20,000???



2. They didn't tell you the truth when they told you that it would be easy to reserve a week in a different season than the one you own. The truth is that it will be very difficult to reserve a week in July - Gold Plus Season does NOT include July.

These are the season at Harborside Resort Atlantis:

Platinum Plus - weeks 1-17 (67,100 Staroptions)
Platinum - weeks 18-34 (44,000 Staroptions)
Gold Plus - weeks 35-46 (37,000 Staroptions)

July includes weeks 26-30 - but if you own a gold plus week, you don't own during that season - you own during weeks 35-46, which means that you have to TRADE into July, and you are in competition with every other owner in all of the Starwood resorts who wants to trade in.

The other issue is that you don't own enough Staroptions. For instance, a 1 bdm. during Gold Plus Season is worth 37,000 Staroptions, but to trade into a 1 bdm. in July - Platinum Season, you must have 44,000 Staroptions.

Please rescind!

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As far as trading into Harborside in July, I have tried for months at a time calling at 6am (my California time - 9am EST) every day for weeks, months even, and have never been able to get Harborside in July. If you don't own a Plat Week at Harborside (as Denise mentioned), and they told you that you would easily be able to get into that resort in July (using staroptions), they lied to you. It is a very difficult resort to get into for July, especially if you are looking for something bigger than a studio or one bedroom.

Brett these are questions you should ask once you've successfully rescinded. If you then decide to purchase from the developer, they will be more than happy to get you back into that "deal"

Please read the article that I posted above about rescinding.

If you rescind - you will not lose anything - it will allow you to do your research, take your time, and buy exactly what you want FOR FAR LESS with no pressure.

Some of the info. you have posted is confusing, because week 18 is PLATINUM season - not Gold Plus Season.

If you owned Platinum season, you could make a reservation 12 mos. out from check-in - you would not have to wait until January. Since they told you that you couldn't make a reservation until January, that tells me that you do not own Platinum season - which includes July.

You can save 50-75% by buying resale.

Please read the article I posted for you in post #2.

brettco84 said:

how much less? I spent $14,000 for mine, and I bought it in the Atlantis. It says on my contract Gold Season, Week 18 F, F meaning floating, which I only have a very vague understanding of that term. It still feels like a good deal. I am just not familiarized with the booking process and how to "work" the timeshare to book a trip. I am still within the 7 days, but I would hate to loose something that I really want. If it truly is a situation that I put myself in, I will get out of it, but I just dont see it yet. Thanks for all of the responses, I will keep checking and reading.

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A Harborside timeshare auction just closed on Ebay (you need to understand that EBay timeshare auctions can't be fully trusted and are the "floor" from which to gauge the real value of a timeshare), but basically it was a one bedroom for 44,000 staroptions (very small amount of staroptions within the Starwood system) floating weeks 35-46 and only had two bids with the high bid at $102.50.

There is so much to learn and you need time to research before you make your decision. There are many folks here on TUG who know infinitely more than I do about timesharing and the Starwood system, listen to what they are saying, take your time and research. Then you can make an educated decision. For less than (or perhaps MUCH LESS than) $14,000 I am CONFIDENT that you can buy a two- or three-bedroom that guarantees you the ability to travel to Harborside in JULY that is worth significantly more than 37,000 staroptions. Within 2 minutes I found several for sale by reputable agents that:
1. Guarantee you the ability to travel in July when you want to travel;
2. Significantly more than the 37,000 staroptions that you purchased; and
3. Significantly less than the $ you spent.

Check Redweek.com and myresortnetwork.com, not to mention right here on TUG.

I seriously LOVE you all. I am practically in tears over here. My girlfriend and I were so excited, and we still will be...once I rescind. Here is what my final paper in my contract says...
My contract says "Interval 18, an annual Interval in the Gold Season". I was told that the interval # is just to use for contract purposes. I just looked further in to my contract and it says Home Resort Season: GOLD, 1 Bedroom Deluxe, Ownership Type: Annual Fixed Week/Float Villa, STARWOOD VACATION NETWORK STAROPTIONS: 44,000 STARWOOD PREFERRED GUEST PROGRAM STARPOINTS 31,000.

please, if you can lead me to a good, reputable sale for a timeshare for the Atlantis, I will be glad to give my business to them. I also want you all to know that my parents purchased one for 20,000 dollars, and she paid it all up front. You are now helping two people out, so god bless you all.

Brett - Get the rescission done and behind you, and then come back and talk timeshare with us. We'd love to help you.

See the article I posted in post #2 for more info. on how to rescind.

Please let us know how it goes.

I just looked at myresortnetwork and I found a bunch of sales, but I just dont know which one is a really good one. I would have about 5,000 dollars cash to give for one. Would this put me where I need to be? If I need to get a bank involved for a small loan, I will do that too. The more points the better. I am so fortunate to have decided to join this website. I wont ever forget this. If someone see's one I should get, I will get it immediately. I really want it. I just want to rip up this contract and go back there and ask why he lied to me. Its just not fair. Thank you all for doing such a good deed.

Okay, I will do that tomorrow first thing when I wake up.

closing of a resale harborside timeshare will cost about $2000 as it requires the service of a bahamas lawyer. You may need to factor in the closing cost to the purchase price.

Brett - I highly recommend that you buy a timeshare that you can afford to pay cash for - $5,000 should be plenty.

We have people who come to TUG everyday and they are crushed because they've had a financial down-turn and they can't make their timeshare payments. Then they find out that they can't sell it for enough to pay off what they owe, and they are double crushed.

Remember, that you will have a large maintenance fee that comes due every year right after Christmas, AND goes up every year - you don't want to add monthly payments on top of that!

I bought my gold season (floating summer season on phase II) for $395 on ebay which is an annual use and I can secure 4th of July week each year.
I just purchased a platinum season, every even years for under $1,000. and seller paid a maintenance fee for this year - which saves me $700.
Also, seller offered me a free week on Atlantis!
Does it make you feel better for rescinding?

brettco84, ... Once you rescind and look to rebuy at Harborside, look for a small 1-br unit in Phase II that floats within the gold (summer) season. Float gives you the choice of any week in the gold season.

Once you buy and get title, all you need to do is call at 12 months before arrival and you should be able to find what you are looking for. The sooner the better during the morning of exactly 12 months before arrival for a primo week like the 4th of July. Do not wait until within 8 months from arrival for summer weeks. Most of the smaller 1-br units will be gone by then because all SVN members can (and do) bid starting for Harborside weeks at the morning 8 month from arrival. Use your ownship right to reserve early at Harborside.

Also, Harborside has very high MF. If you buy there, there is no real economic advantage to trading (internal SVN or external II) for something in the Starwood system with lower MF. Buy Harborside because you will be going there in gold season almost every year.

Good luck rescinding. Follow the posts on TUG about Harborside before buying resale. You will learn the fine tricks about usage throughout the SVO timeshare system. Then decide if buying at Harborside is the right thing to do. But, remember: high annual assessments! ... eom

I am all set to cancel my original. I followed exactly as it says on the contract. For the post above: Isn't Gold season weeks 35-46? July would not be part of this. Seems like I would need a Platinum Season? Also, right now I have an Annual Fixed Week/Float Villa, STARWOOD VACATION NETWORK STAROPTIONS: 44,000. It also says STARWOOD PREFERRED GUEST PROGRAM STARPOINTS 31,000. So do I have 44,000 or 31,000? Just out of curiousity. Im trying to see if he lied to me. He also told me Gold Season was good, and it included a lot of the summer. I guess he lied to us. I am ready to cancel and have it all written up as stated in my contract. If anyone see's an appropriate timeshare for me to purchase for Harborside that would suite my needs, I will buy that specific one (I really have no idea how to buy through resale and know for sure if it were legit). I know that the one bedroom or one bedroom premium is good for me to keep the annual fee lower. Thanks everybody.

brettco84, ... "... It seems pretty straight forward. I have the GOLD season with a one bedroom (44,000 points). ...

Now, my only concern is that, what they told me is what I will get. For example, the month of July is listed as part of my time I could choose."

The usage dates of what I referred to as the summer season are weeks 18-34 and 47-49. The StarOptions chart posted on the Starwood web site (mystarcentral.com) says that a small Deluxe 1-br with those weeks as the home season gets 44,000 StarOptions (not points). The season is called Platinum. It is the "middle" value season.

The lower value season is called Gold Plus. The weeks are 35-46. Week 35 starts around the end of August. We call the Gold Plus season Hurricane season. The large Premium 1-br gets 44,000 StarOptions in Gold Plus season. The smaller Deluxe 1-br gets only 37,000 StarOptions in the Gold Plus (Hurricane) season. Starpoints are what you get when you convert your StarOptions to the Starwood hotel program, SPG. Points are hotel "money" to spend; options are "timeshare" money to spend.

If you own a large 1-br in Hurricane season, it may be that you were told you could trade internally into the smaller 1-br in the summer at 8 months out for 44,000 StarOptions. True, but very difficult because there is generally little availability at 8 months for the best summer weeks.

When you buy from Starwood you get a large package of documents. I suggest it doesn't matter since you are rescinding your contract. However, only you can read what it says on your documents and determine what you (almost) bought. ... eom

brettco84 said:

I am all set to cancel my original. I followed exactly as it says on the contract. For the post above: Isn't Gold season weeks 35-46? July would not be part of this. Seems like I would need a Platinum Season? Also, right now I have an Annual Fixed Week/Float Villa, STARWOOD VACATION NETWORK STAROPTIONS: 44,000. It also says STARWOOD PREFERRED GUEST PROGRAM STARPOINTS 31,000. So do I have 44,000 or 31,000? Just out of curiousity. Im trying to see if he lied to me. He also told me Gold Season was good, and it included a lot of the summer. I guess he lied to us.

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I agree with the advice you have been given already. However, based on what you stated above, and in a prior post, I believe you did buy the summer season which would include the July dates you want. So, I do not think the sales person lied about this. The confusion comes because Starwood relabeled the seasons at Harborside on the Staroptions chart (SO) to Platinum Plus, Platinum, and Gold Plus. However, it seems that the sales dept. at Harborside may still be using the original season names of Platinum, Gold, and Silver. Since you said your deeded week is 18, then you would fall in the summer season.

The 31,000 number above refers to the Starpoints you could get for the unit which are hotel points that can be used in the Starwood system. The 44,000 are SOs which can be used to trade into other Starwood timeshares.

Best wishes!

You're smart to follow the advice here to rescind and buy a resale! We bought (resale) two fixed early July weeks - 2BR lockouts - in Phase I at prices W-A-Y lower than what you paid for yours. One was under $4,000 including all closing costs.

If you're set on Harborside, check eBay or post a Want Ad for a unit that fits your needs. The high MF's are making a lot of people think twice about keeping their units.