Escapes Resorts Is Now Under New Management By Festiva

I am in the process of closing on my Escapes! to HSV timeshare. I was soooo shocked when the closing company told me this resort was now owned by Festiva. I told them they were mistaken. Boy, was I surprised when I went to the Escapes website and saw it's true.

Was anyone notified of this? Because I sure as heck wasn't. This has come as a COMPLETE shock to me.

my sympathies. Hate Festiva.

I too dislike Festiva. They took over one of my resorts several years ago, but I like the resort so much I kept my FIXED weeks there anyway. Before Festiva we could call the resort and swap our fixed weeks internally, buy and sell weks using a bulletin board, and get other perks that Festiva cut out. I refused to convert to Festiva points. Since my weeks are fixed I am guaranteed my room and week, so I miss the perks but still get what I purchased each year.

I own 2 Escapes resorts (Escapes Tropical Breeze Panama City beach and Escapes to Orange Beach). I am hoping that they are not going to be part of Festiva resorts. My Tropical Breeze is a fixed week so they can't hurt me there, but the Escapes to Orange Beach is floating and if it gets mixed in with Festiva's exchange program I might be in trouble. So sad to hear Festiva got control of Escapes.

Received a letter today from Festiva informing us of the new ownership. Has anyone else received it?

bigeyes1 said:

Received a letter today from Festiva informing us of the new ownership. Has anyone else received it?

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Not yet but I was in Orange Beach and they confirmed that Festiva is now our mgt group. The Escapes to Panama City is now Holiday Inn. I am hoping this is not bad news reagarding my Orange Beach week (my favorite resort I own), but since it is Festiva I am expecting the worst. Increased MF's and assesments follow them whenever they take over a new resort. I think they recoup some of teir purchase price with raised fees and assesments. The good news is that they upgrade and maintain the units very well. Of course they do it with our money.

tombo said:

Not yet but I was in Orange Beach and they confirmed that Festiva is now our mgt group. The Escapes to Panama City is now Holiday Inn. I am hoping this is not bad news reagarding my Orange Beach week (my favorite resort I own), but since it is Festiva I am expecting the worst. Increased MF's and assesments follow them whenever they take over a new resort. I think they recoup some of teir purchase price with raised fees and assesments. The good news is that they upgrade and maintain the units very well. Of course they do it with our money.

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They shouldn't ask for anymore special assessments since we just recently paid for that. I guess it's a good thing I just sold our Escapes to HSV week. I don't have to mess with Festiva.

letter

I just got the letter yesterday..uuuuhhhhh!

bigeyes1 said:

They shouldn't ask for anymore special assessments since we just recently paid for that. I guess it's a good thing I just sold our Escapes to HSV week. I don't have to mess with Festiva.

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What outlet did you use to sell it? My dad owns Hot Springs Village and I may try to get him to dump his if he can.

bigeyes1 said:

I am in the process of closing on my Escapes! to HSV timeshare. I was soooo shocked when the closing company told me this resort was now owned by Festiva. I told them they were mistaken. Boy, was I surprised when I went to the Escapes website and saw it's true.

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Is that good or bad for people wanting to exchange into them?

Beefnot said:

What outlet did you use to sell it? My dad owns Hot Springs Village and I may try to get him to dump his if he can.

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I sold my Escapes HSV on eBay for $1.25. I'm okay with that because I wanted to get rid of it.

npey said:

Is that good or bad for people wanting to exchange into them?

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I've heard bad stories about Festiva. I have never personally dealt with them so hopefully, someone who has, can comment.

Instead of a ownership transfer fee of $50, not it's $225

In the process of selling and just found this out today. Ugh!

npey said:

Is that good or bad for people wanting to exchange into them?

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Festiva has a great track record of maintaining and upgrading their resorts. As an exchanger I can see no reason to avoid Festiva. I have stayed in (and own) newly acquired Festiva resorts that were much nicer after they took over than they were before Festiva arrived.

As an owner I can't show the same love. They have upgraded a resort where I own several weeks to almost Marriott quality. The bad news is they increased MF's and did a 3 year assessment to upgrade. Also they came in and took over the club house turning it into a Festiva sales center saying they owned it as part of their purchase. The HOA sued to get rights for the club house returned to the owners and won (or settled). Then Festiva voted some of their employees to the HOA using votes from unsold weeks and reposessed weeks.

As far as their sales staff, they are as rude and agressive as any anywhere. I have never been to a presentation but they will bug you to come even after numerous no's. In fact one time one knocked on my door to "invite" me after I had unplugged the phone in the room to not be bothered. They said we have tried to reach you repeatedly and I said I am on vacation and don't want to be bothered with phone calls or sales presentations. They still tried and I said not interested and please don't bother me again as I shut the door.

I would never consider owning Festiva points, but my Festiva weeks (until they acquired Escapes) were all fixed weeks, so I still owned what I had before they came. Also I have really like the upgraded units even though I didn't like paying the assessments. Would I be happy if Festiva was gone and someone else came in. Probably (there might be worse out there lol). However I don't dislike them enought to get rid of my weeks.....well not yet.

Thanks! Can't wait to explore that area (Panhandle & Orange Beach).

bigeyes1 said:

I sold my Escapes HSV on eBay for $1.25. I'm okay with that because I wanted to get rid of it.

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I don't remember the exact numbers because it was a long time ago but.....

I toured Escapes HSV and they wanted something like $10,000 for a Week. I then went to a local RE Agent and bought a furnished condo about a half mile away for something like $26,500; used and rented it out profitably for about 3 years; and then sold it for almost $35,000. A lot of my rentals were to Cooper who would rent it for 3 days at a time to house Sales Prospects for Escapes!! Sometimes you just get lucky!!

George

See my post about Festiva meetings

If you now own a deeded timeshare unit that you plan to use for trading with RCI and II, you are in for a surprise. See my post about meeting with a Festiva rep. They want thousands from you.

bigeyes1 said:

I am in the process of closing on my Escapes! to HSV timeshare. I was soooo shocked when the closing company told me this resort was now owned by Festiva. I told them they were mistaken. Boy, was I surprised when I went to the Escapes website and saw it's true.

Was anyone notified of this? Because I sure as heck wasn't. This has come as a COMPLETE shock to me.

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NPKW said:

If you now own a deeded timeshare unit that you plan to use for trading with RCI and II, you are in for a surprise. See my post about meeting with a Festiva rep. They want thousands from you.

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The Festiva rep lied to you. I haved deeded weeks I owned before Festiva took over that I still own after Festiva took over. NOTHING has changed with RCI exchanges except I think I get a few more TPU's when I deposit my weeks. Don't EVER let the Festiva rep scare you into getting Festiva points!

Check date of RCI last guaranteed affiliation

tombo said:

The Festiva rep lied to you. I haved deeded weeks I owned before Festiva took over that I still own after Festiva took over. NOTHING has changed with RCI exchanges except I think I get a few more TPU's when I deposit my weeks. Don't EVER let the Festiva rep scare you into getting Festiva points!

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Check the last date through which they (Festiva) guarantee RCI affiliation with your resort. :annoyed: It should be found in the agreement contract they made with your Board of Directors. It may be 2015.

I am not at all happy. Festiva have made no attempt to contact me and they will not respond to e-mails. I live in Australia so find telephoning difficult with time differences.
I think I may sell!

Festiva

They took over one of my resorts as well. We went last week. THE PLACE WAS EMPTY!!! But BEFORE we went I decided to call them! (we were going on another vacation once before and didn't have reservations...........long story) Any way I called to make sure we had reservations, as we didn't get ANYTHING in the mail. Or even email. They told me I had to register at their new site!! WHAT are they kidding?? Anyway, I did. But I still had to ask them to send me confirmation through email that we really did have a reservation........ cause I didn't want to drive 11 hours :zzz: and have no place to sleep . We got the reservation confirmation within minutes...sure don't like the way they are handling things...They have not notified any of the owners any of the changes...we also found out check in is at a whole different address..my suggestion to ANYONE if they took over your resort CALL THEM to check everything out BEFORE you head out the door...good luck..trying to get give away mine now..used to be my favorite place to go

Trish, question re: closing Los Lagos sale please

I sold my Escapes HSV on eBay for $1.25. I'm okay with that because I wanted to get rid of it.

We have floating red wk at Escapes! stonebridge in Branson. I am worried about special assessments (already had one for $700) and escalating annual maintenance fees. Dont want to burden our kids with this, and I am almost ready to get rid of it after 14 years. Once you got a buyer, who did you use to prepare closing documents? May I ask about how much it cost?

Thanks, Nancy B.

naburleson said:

I sold my Escapes HSV on eBay for $1.25. I'm okay with that because I wanted to get rid of it.

We have floating red wk at Escapes! stonebridge in Branson. I am worried about special assessments (already had one for $700) and escalating annual maintenance fees. Dont want to burden our kids with this, and I am almost ready to get rid of it after 14 years. Once you got a buyer, who did you use to prepare closing documents? May I ask about how much it cost?

Thanks, Nancy B.

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Hi Nancy,

I used Legal Timeshare Transfers for closing. They charge $95 for closing, plus postage and recording fees. The process went very smoothly. Here is their link:

http://www.lttransfers.com/

I've owned a floating red week at HSV for ten years. I was told today by member services that Escapes! no longer exists and when/if I transfer deed the new owner will receive fixed week only and not be able to do internal exchange to Escapes! resorts... So, as new owner, you better check whether you have a fixed of floating week.

bigeyes1 said:

Hi Nancy,

I used Legal Timeshare Transfers for closing. They charge $95 for closing, plus postage and recording fees. The process went very smoothly. Here is their link:

http://www.lttransfers.com/

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We second using them. We did our transfer through them also...quick and efficient...

I too own a couple of weeks at HSV now managed by Festiva. Although the turnover/startup from Escapes! to Festiva was poorly communicated, it has gotten much better. Check their new website www.festiva.travel for good info. Festiva has also given Escapes owners free membership to their basic RTX travel and exchange service which is a big plus for extra vacations, last minute deals, etc. Although I was first concerned about change over, I am now optimistic everything will be OK with Festiva.

Festiva

baybee210 said:

I too own a couple of weeks at HSV now managed by Festiva. Although the turnover/startup from Escapes! to Festiva was poorly communicated, it has gotten much better. Check their new website www.festiva.travel for good info. Festiva has also given Escapes owners free membership to their basic RTX travel and exchange service which is a big plus for extra vacations, last minute deals, etc. Although I was first concerned about change over, I am now optimistic everything will be OK with Festiva.

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I continue to be pleasantly surprised with my relationship with Festiva. My 2014 MF for HSV did not go up and I recently reserved a prime summer week via RTX as extra vacation in Cocoa Beach for less than owner MF. Very happy with that.