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what's in a name

lorenmd

lorenmd

TUG Member
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seattle
i am at WKV and when talking to our concierge she said they are not going to be using vistana experience on anything except legal documents. they are calling themselves westin and sheraton villas collection or westin villas club or sheraton villas club. they have actually been told not to use the vistana name and they will not be using the ILG name. tomorrow is the new day and we are going to our owner's update in the morning I'll let you know what they call it.
 
That makes sense - but kind of amusing that the employees don't like the name either.
 
The brands that they sell are Westin and Sheraton, so that does make sense. Vistana doesn't really have any name recognition outside of the few resorts that still carry that in their resort name. I do think they need a better brand name for the overall club. They may have a hard time figuring that out with Marriott buying the hotel brands and they can't use Marriott in the new brand.
 
Starwood knew what it was doing when it changed the name. They knew they were looking to sell and specifically did not want to sell the Starwood name (or Westin or Sheraton) along with the Vacation club. I am almost surprised they didn't try to officially rename the existing resorts removing the W or S designation.

I dislike the new name as well.
 
But really this is just the parent company name. Just like yum brands.
 
tschwa2 said:
Starwood knew what it was doing when it changed the name. They knew they were looking to sell and specifically did not want to sell the Starwood name (or Westin or Sheraton) along with the Vacation club. I am almost surprised they didn't try to officially rename the existing resorts removing the W or S designation.

I dislike the new name as well.
Click to expand...

I think though that they understood without the Sheraton and Westin names on the resort, the value of the timeshare business would have been severely diminished. Those brands were worth a lot of money and the amount of the agreement to be able to continue to carry those brands, while high, is worth a lot. They needed to keep those brands even if they went with a lousy company name.
 
Does this mean we can change our forum name back?

or perhaps Starwood (VSE)? or another suggestion?

very annoying to see the forum name change - especially before May 1....

who's with me?
 
May 1 is tomorrow - we aren't going to change it back for one day.

Our goal is clarity - newbies will not know what "VSE" is.

We also listed Sheraton and Westin in the forum title :

Vistana Signature Experiences (formerly Starwood)
Discussions about the Westin / Sheraton branded Timeshare network
Click to expand...
 
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can we vote? or is this an oligarchy?
as it seems that at the consumer level - name is not changing - so... VSE may be confusing.
IMO
 
David - I don't like the new name at all, and I am going to refer to it as "VSE" when I post.

But it is the new name, and the new forum title is accurate, even if it isn't appealing.

Continuing to call it "Starwood," is simply not true.

At the consumer level it will be Westin/Sheraton/Vistana/Harborside/LakesideTerrace, etc. - too many names for a forum title.

It is a benevolent dictatorship... :rofl:
 
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BTW - Before you go all jarta on me - I do not have the ability to change forum names, but I did suggest the name to TUG owner, Brian Rogers, and he changed it a few days early.

Brian is a busy man, and it didn't seem worth bothering him to ask him to change it back, and then change it again on May 1.
 
DeniseM said:
BTW - Before you go all jarta on me - I do not have the ability to change forum names, but I did suggest the name to TUG owner, Brian Rogers, and he changed it a few days early.

Brian is a busy man, and it didn't seem worth bothering him to ask him to change it back, and then change it again on May 1.
Click to expand...

jarta?

Is that another Malaprop?
 
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What is interesting is that Starwood renamed the company then another company bought it. Who's to say ILG really wants to use the new name? It has no brand recognition, it's not as if they have to keep it. Should be interesting to see what happens under ILG.
 
DeniseM said:
David - I don't like the new name at all, and I am going to refer to it as "VSE" when I post.

But it is the new name, and the new forum title is accurate, even if it isn't appealing.

Continuing to call it "Starwood," is simply not true.

At the consumer level it will be Westin/Sheraton/Vistana/Harborside/LakesideTerrace, etc. - too many names for a forum title.

It is a benevolent dictatorship... :rofl:
Click to expand...

As in other post.

TUG jumped the gun here IMO

Call Center still using Starwood
On-Line using Starwood
Sales is using Starwood

yet - TUG uses VSE

makes total sense... :confused:
 
Dave - you lost me - what would hanging on to the "Starwood" name for a few more days accomplish?

Please be aware that the name change also involved changes in other areas of TUG, and programming changes - not just the forum name.

It's not logical to change it back for a few days, and then change it again, when the roll-over goes through.
 
DavidnRobin said:
As in other post.

TUG jumped the gun here IMO

Call Center still using Starwood
On-Line using Starwood
Sales is using Starwood

yet - TUG uses VSE

makes total sense... :confused:
Click to expand...
Exactly. Starwood Vacation Ownership and the associated use of the westin and Sheraton brands on Timeshares is owned by vse.

Just like yum brands owns pizza hut and taco bell.

A fast food forum would not call it a yum forum but taco bell or pizza hut.

Referring to legal ownership structures not common nomenclature makes no sense. Heck, should I Alphabet that for you or do you still Google it or set your nest by alphabet thermostat?
 
Sorry Denise, I have to agree. Should be renamed (e.g., Westin, Sheraton, and affiliated resorts).. Like someone said, Vistana is a holding company and has no meaning to most.


SMHarman said:
Exactly. Starwood Vacation Ownership and the associated use of the westin and Sheraton brands on Timeshares is owned by vse.

Just like yum brands owns pizza hut and taco bell.

A fast food forum would not call it a yum forum but taco bell or pizza hut.

Referring to legal ownership structures not common nomenclature makes no sense. Heck, should I Alphabet that for you or do you still Google it or set your nest by alphabet thermostat?
Click to expand...
 
I agree - that's why this is at the top of the forum:

Vistana Signature Experiences (formerly Starwood)
Discussions about the Westin / Sheraton branded Timeshare network
Click to expand...

Folks - I understand that you don't like the name, but not including VSE in the title, because you don't like it, doesn't make things any clearer.

Suggestion: Why don't we revisit this in 6 mos. or a year. Right now, no one has any idea what ILG is going to do with branding - they may change it to something else, or common usage may be something else.
 
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I'll bet that as soon as all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed there'll be directives from ILG to all VSE representatives that it's time to incorporate the new name into all literature and the reps' lexicons, if for no other reason than the Starwood hotel company deliberately separated itself in name from the timeshares in anticipation of being sold. Both suitors for HOT had contingencies in their offers that the timeshares have to be completely spun off in advance of closing. It's apparent that HOT doesn't want the timeshares to be acting as if nothing's changed.

As much as it's difficult to adjust to those changes, what good reason is there for TUG to not roll with them? SVO owners already know where to find their forum but this way, prospective VSE owners will be able to search for and easily find it. I agree with Denise that it'd be foolish to go back now when you consider that the name change stays regardless of what happens with the ILG takeover, and I think the way she proposed it (keeping the Starwood, Westin and Sheraton names front and center) works for all concerned.
 
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Sue, I bet if VSE is to be found anywhere, it will be in very small print. They want to keep the Westin and Sheraton names front and center. That's what II has done with Hyatt TSs - I don't see why this will be different. I think a more appropriate title might be: VSE (Westin, Sheraton, and affiliated resorts) or Westin, Sheraton, and affiliated resorts (VSE).


SueDonJ said:
I'll bet that as soon as all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed there'll be directives from ILG to all VSE representatives that it's time to incorporate the new name into all literature and the reps' lexicons, if for no other reason than the Starwood hotel company deliberately separated itself in name from the timeshares in anticipation of being sold. Both suitors for HOT had contingencies in their offers that the timeshares have to be completely spun off in advance of closing. It's apparent that HOT doesn't want the timeshares to be acting as if nothing's changed.

As much as it's difficult to adjust to those changes, what good reason is there for TUG to not roll with them? SVN owners already know where to find their forum but this way, prospective VSE owners will be able to search for and easily find it. I agree with Denise that it'd be foolish to go back now when you consider that the name change stays regardless of what happens with the ILG takeover, and I think the way she proposed it (keeping the Starwood, Westin and Sheraton names front and center) works for all concerned.
Click to expand...
 
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lizap said:
Sue, I bet if VSE is to be found anywhere, it will be in very small print. They want to keep the Westin and Sheraton names front and center. That's what II has done with Hyatt TSs - I don't see why this will be different. I think a more appropriate title might be: VSE (Westin, Sheraton, and affiliated resorts) or Westin, Sheraton, and affiliated resorts (VSE).
Click to expand...

But that is a different situation, because the Hyatt resorts kept the Hyatt name.

VSE is not keeping the Starwood name.
 
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