smuggs rental

[rachel]

if we rent a private condo at smugglers' notch, what additional fees will we have to pay?? going in january 2007. Are all amenities available to us? I have the understanding that if you book throught smuggs everything is included and if you exchange throught rci there is a one time fee to participate in all activities...too late for us to exchange so we are thinking about renting timeshare. It is already quite expensive to rent there. Want to know what other fees we may be looking at.



rachel

[3kids4me]

Rachel,
I e-mailed you but checked the website afterwards. The winter rentals there include absolutely everything including lift tickets. Check out the website for details: www.smuggs.com and click on winter.

Exchanging into January can be done two years in advance..I have seen availability for it before, but I do know that owners see stuff on line first, so I don't know if they all get taken before they go to the general pool. If you're set on going this January, check my e-mail for details on discounts.

Sharon

[rachel]

Sharon,

thanks for the info...i sent you an email...hope i didn't word the thread incorrectly. We may rent from an individual, not smuggs, (they are extremely expensive). If we were to rent from individual, what fees would be extra?


rachel

[headoflife]

Not to hijack this thread, but what is the fee for exchangers? Does it include all activities, including camp?

[rachel]

head of life,

It will depend on if you are going summer or winter....fees are different. ive been speaking with sharon (3kids4me) she has helped with my questions tremendously. smuggs seems a little confusing to me, i guess what you get depends on if you are an owner, exchanger, or private renter.

rachel

[susgar]

I went there last year on an exchange through rci. We were charged a fee of $250:00 to be able to use the pools and amenities. I paid the fee, because I did not want my family to miss out on anything. What a ripp off!!! I have read that this year the fee is more. I feel we were given the oldest and most rundown of the units and also had to pay this outragious fee. I will never do this again. I hope you are treated better as a renter.

[3kids4me]

Susgar,

I remember that the last time you mentioned this I had a few questions but you never responded.

The thread was here:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18740

and I'll just copy and paste my questions from there (this is just the part of my post where I addressed you originally) as I'm still curious:

Susgar--Curious...you said you exchanged in last August...which is a very difficult month in which to get an exchange. Which August week was it and what did you use to get the exchange? In which unit did you stay? I can't figure out which building would have older units and also an exercise room. There are still some old buildings there and the units are not as nice, but those used to mostly be rental units.... I haven't heard of anyone being charged to use the exercise room in their building, since your door key works in the exercise room door. I'd love to know which building this was so I can call owner services and talk to them about it. I like to know who is being charged for what at the resort!

I would still really appreciate knowing where you stayed, and especially how you got an exchange in August! I know owners that can't even get back in during that month!

Sharon

[susgar]

Hi Sharon,
We traded into Smuggs using a week at Vacation Village in the Berkshires. We had an ongoing search for seven months prior. We checked into the resort on Aug.13, for seven nights. The building we were in was close to the village, I "think" it was called the Maples, but I can't be sure. We had a two bedroom, one bathroom unit. The bathroom was so small you could hardly turnaround in it. The unit was old and really didn't appear that clean. My sons refused to sleep in the second bedroom for that reason, and chose to sleep on the fold out couch. The second day we were there the tv broke and they replaced it with a small old tv. I was totally disappointed with the unit, the washer and dryer were in the basement and didn't work properly, even our neighbor who was an owner was comlaining to us.
The exercise room was in a much newer part of the resort. To get there we had to drive. Upon exiting the resort we took a left, went up a hill and turned left into this part of the resort. This area had a building that you needed to access with your room key. This place was quite nice. The exercise room was small, for instance there was only one treadmill, which I had to wait in line to use each time, but luckily there wasn't many people using the room. The building also had a room with two pool tables which my sons loved. There was only a very small fee charged to use the exercise room, which in my opinion is ok, because it keeps other people who really aren't interested out. The pooltables of course were extra, but that is the same at other resorts.
I was really bothered by the $250.00 resort fee we were charged in order to use the pools. Last year was the first year they implemented this fee, and I totally feel it was such a ripoff. The pools which they term as "water parks" were by no means any nicer than the ones at the Vistana or Orange Lake, and these other resorts don't charge a fee. I feel as a guest I should be able to use the amenities, my home resort doesn't charge other exchangers.
I have to say, I had heard positive things about this resort, which is why I had an ongoing search trying to get an exchange. But, we were very disappointed. Had we been put in a newer unit, perhaps our experience would have been better. By the way, we were never contacted to take a tour, I guess they knew better.LOL I hope this is helpful. I hope you have a better experience than we did. Obviously, there are many people who do. Sue

[3kids4me]

Thanks for the clarification Sue. I know that those Maples units are very small; in fact...don't they only have bunk beds in the second bedroom? Also, I didn't realize they had no washer and dryer in them.

I understand now about the fitness center. Some buildings have their own small gym, but the new North Hill complex has a big fitness center and I guess they are letting people use that now for a fee. (If you have a unit there, it's free.)

I'm not happy that Smuggs is charging that $250 fee for exchangers, especially since you still have to pay for the camps on top of that.

It is amazing, though, to get an exchange there in August, and only seven months in advance! Sorry you didn't have a better stay. Did you kids use the camps and did you go to the activities? That's the best part of the place I think. Fortunately, when you do exchange, you get the unit that RCI indicates, so you have a chance to decide to take the exchange based on what unit you are assigned.

Sharon