ackerdl
TUG Member
Everyone:
A few days ago many of you gave me some great advice before by tour here at Vistana Villages. I thought I would return the favor and summarize what I learned on the tour on Valentine's Day 2/14/07, including where the pricing currently stands for what I was looking at.
Sales Pressure: None --- absolutely none. Awesome salesperson who made it clear from the beginning that there would be no pressure, no haggling. He kept his promises. Extremely knowledgeable, listened well and tried to craft the best package that we would be interested in. His name is Mark Henes and I proudly pass his name along in the hope that he can help someone here (hopefully his supervisor is looking here, too). I have his contact information for anyone who would like it. He represented his company very well and was interested in developing us as "long term clients" of their company. He's one of their Senior representatives -- has worked for Starwood for 7 years and is an owner himself. Very knowledgeable and helpful. Interestingly enough, he shared that he is compensated not on sales volume but on owner satisfaction --- refreshing! I'm not sure if this is true or not for the other sales reps who sell to the "first time" lookers (not those on second looks such as ourselves).
Mandatory vs. Voluntary: Our salesperson confirmed that the Amelia phase is Voluntary (vs. Mandatory). I'd be interested in the opinions on this board as to why this decision was made by Starwood as well as thoughts on whether this raises or lowers the value of the purchase. If I understand it correctly, people could not buy an Amelia resale and use it anywhere but here in the Starwood system with Staroptions. Of course, they could deposit and trade it thru Interval. He did not confirm or deny that Starwood was getting away from doing Mandatories.
Progress and features: First, they are well in progress on the construction of the Amelia Phase (their new phase after Key West). 3 buildings are up, and a lot of ground is broken for several more (failed to ask how many total will be built). We toured a 2BR Lockoff. Very nice, very plush! The Amelia phase appears very similar to the quality and the design of the Key West phase with some noted upgrades. The televisions in the Amelia phase are all flat screen. Also, I noticed that the second bathtub is also a whirlpool tub. (This is not the case in the 2BR Keys units we are staying in -- not sure about 2BR Lockoff Keys units). They also did a few things with arches and curves on the walls that are very nice. Furniture and color are also similar with a few cosmetic upgrades on the furniture. Same great looking granite countertops. Curtains seem to be a bit higher quality (or maybe we just liked them better). Color scheme is generally yellow (walls) tan / brown (furniture and carpets) and burgundy (accents) vs. a little more green on the accents and carpets in Key West. The Key West buildings are cosmetically different on the outside (more white / cream colored with metal roofs) vs. the new Amelia phase, which appears more cosmetically similar on the outside to the bulk of the older phases of the Vistana Villages. We perceived high quality throughout the new units.
The tale of the tape: 2BR Amelia Lockoff measures at a whopping 1,588 square feet (1,004 + 584) vs the plain 2BR non-lockoff (1,102). For comparison, the Key Wests are: 2BR lockoff 1,486 (945 + 541), 2BR 1,126. The Bellas are: 2BR Lockoff 1400 (900 + 500), 2BR 1,080. The comment was made by the sales person that the pool / water features in Amelia will be superior to the others on-site and will include a waterpark (not sure what that means --- maybe water slides(s)?).
The pricing and my best deal: Current 2BR Lockoff pricing for the High Season (not Platinum) is $24,900 for 81,000 Staroptions and 33,000 Starpoints annually. $1,126 annual maintenance fee + taxes (maintenance fee alone is $950.75). Because we are on an Explorer package (we toured the Vistana Villages about 16 months ago) we were entitled to the old pricing at that time: $20,900. In addition, we received a $1,495 discount for the price we paid for our Explorer package (which included 7 nights at Vistana Villages + a rent-a-car). With those credits + a $545 debit for closing costs, our bottom line came out to $19,950. The Starpoints "gift" available was 120,000 Starpoints + 12,000 Starpoints for both my wife and for me for opening up a Starwood Amex card. We signed the contract, knowing that we can rescind it in 10 days. The discount and the Starpoints gift was interesting enough to consider. I also wanted to get hold of all of the Starwood literature and "legalese" in the case that I buy resale (which is most likely).
Feedback needed: As I am looking at this, the Starpoints gift used wisely equals approximately 2 nice 1-week European vacation stays at some category 4 or 5 hotels that would normally be cost-prohibitive due to the currency exchange rates ($300 - $600 per night). Although tempting, I'm not sure that the $9,950 difference vs. my original target price for a Vistana Villages mandatory resale of 81,000 Staroptions is worth it. Would we really pay our own $ to stay in Europe for 2 weeks at $300 - $600 per night ..... ?
Any further advice?
Requalification: Oh, he did confirm after checking that a voluntary resale could be qualified with a developer week. He was not able to put this in writing at the time (partially our fault for being in a hurry), and I let him know that this would be a contingency on us not rescinding the deal (he is working on the language now). Interestingly enough, he thought that it could go the other way --- that if I bought this week that I could also qualify a voluntary resale week in the near future. I expressed my surprise and also asked him to get that in writing. If this pans out, I will surely share with the board.
Where my mind is now: Rescind and start looking for an 81,000 point+ mandatory resale week, unless he comes thru with any surprises that allow for this purchase + the qualification of a voluntary resale in the near future.
Thoughts?
Dave
A few days ago many of you gave me some great advice before by tour here at Vistana Villages. I thought I would return the favor and summarize what I learned on the tour on Valentine's Day 2/14/07, including where the pricing currently stands for what I was looking at.
Sales Pressure: None --- absolutely none. Awesome salesperson who made it clear from the beginning that there would be no pressure, no haggling. He kept his promises. Extremely knowledgeable, listened well and tried to craft the best package that we would be interested in. His name is Mark Henes and I proudly pass his name along in the hope that he can help someone here (hopefully his supervisor is looking here, too). I have his contact information for anyone who would like it. He represented his company very well and was interested in developing us as "long term clients" of their company. He's one of their Senior representatives -- has worked for Starwood for 7 years and is an owner himself. Very knowledgeable and helpful. Interestingly enough, he shared that he is compensated not on sales volume but on owner satisfaction --- refreshing! I'm not sure if this is true or not for the other sales reps who sell to the "first time" lookers (not those on second looks such as ourselves).
Mandatory vs. Voluntary: Our salesperson confirmed that the Amelia phase is Voluntary (vs. Mandatory). I'd be interested in the opinions on this board as to why this decision was made by Starwood as well as thoughts on whether this raises or lowers the value of the purchase. If I understand it correctly, people could not buy an Amelia resale and use it anywhere but here in the Starwood system with Staroptions. Of course, they could deposit and trade it thru Interval. He did not confirm or deny that Starwood was getting away from doing Mandatories.
Progress and features: First, they are well in progress on the construction of the Amelia Phase (their new phase after Key West). 3 buildings are up, and a lot of ground is broken for several more (failed to ask how many total will be built). We toured a 2BR Lockoff. Very nice, very plush! The Amelia phase appears very similar to the quality and the design of the Key West phase with some noted upgrades. The televisions in the Amelia phase are all flat screen. Also, I noticed that the second bathtub is also a whirlpool tub. (This is not the case in the 2BR Keys units we are staying in -- not sure about 2BR Lockoff Keys units). They also did a few things with arches and curves on the walls that are very nice. Furniture and color are also similar with a few cosmetic upgrades on the furniture. Same great looking granite countertops. Curtains seem to be a bit higher quality (or maybe we just liked them better). Color scheme is generally yellow (walls) tan / brown (furniture and carpets) and burgundy (accents) vs. a little more green on the accents and carpets in Key West. The Key West buildings are cosmetically different on the outside (more white / cream colored with metal roofs) vs. the new Amelia phase, which appears more cosmetically similar on the outside to the bulk of the older phases of the Vistana Villages. We perceived high quality throughout the new units.
The tale of the tape: 2BR Amelia Lockoff measures at a whopping 1,588 square feet (1,004 + 584) vs the plain 2BR non-lockoff (1,102). For comparison, the Key Wests are: 2BR lockoff 1,486 (945 + 541), 2BR 1,126. The Bellas are: 2BR Lockoff 1400 (900 + 500), 2BR 1,080. The comment was made by the sales person that the pool / water features in Amelia will be superior to the others on-site and will include a waterpark (not sure what that means --- maybe water slides(s)?).
The pricing and my best deal: Current 2BR Lockoff pricing for the High Season (not Platinum) is $24,900 for 81,000 Staroptions and 33,000 Starpoints annually. $1,126 annual maintenance fee + taxes (maintenance fee alone is $950.75). Because we are on an Explorer package (we toured the Vistana Villages about 16 months ago) we were entitled to the old pricing at that time: $20,900. In addition, we received a $1,495 discount for the price we paid for our Explorer package (which included 7 nights at Vistana Villages + a rent-a-car). With those credits + a $545 debit for closing costs, our bottom line came out to $19,950. The Starpoints "gift" available was 120,000 Starpoints + 12,000 Starpoints for both my wife and for me for opening up a Starwood Amex card. We signed the contract, knowing that we can rescind it in 10 days. The discount and the Starpoints gift was interesting enough to consider. I also wanted to get hold of all of the Starwood literature and "legalese" in the case that I buy resale (which is most likely).
Feedback needed: As I am looking at this, the Starpoints gift used wisely equals approximately 2 nice 1-week European vacation stays at some category 4 or 5 hotels that would normally be cost-prohibitive due to the currency exchange rates ($300 - $600 per night). Although tempting, I'm not sure that the $9,950 difference vs. my original target price for a Vistana Villages mandatory resale of 81,000 Staroptions is worth it. Would we really pay our own $ to stay in Europe for 2 weeks at $300 - $600 per night ..... ?
Any further advice?
Requalification: Oh, he did confirm after checking that a voluntary resale could be qualified with a developer week. He was not able to put this in writing at the time (partially our fault for being in a hurry), and I let him know that this would be a contingency on us not rescinding the deal (he is working on the language now). Interestingly enough, he thought that it could go the other way --- that if I bought this week that I could also qualify a voluntary resale week in the near future. I expressed my surprise and also asked him to get that in writing. If this pans out, I will surely share with the board.
Where my mind is now: Rescind and start looking for an 81,000 point+ mandatory resale week, unless he comes thru with any surprises that allow for this purchase + the qualification of a voluntary resale in the near future.
Thoughts?
Dave