Planet Hollywood Westgate Towers

[catwgirl]

I'm just curious. When is this place supposed to open?

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

We took a tour of the PH Towers yesterday, and the units are over the top with automatic roll down tv projection screens in each room, auto door sensor for the master bedroom, leather sofas, high end cabinetry, etc. With all the amenities of this resort, including the daily room cleaning service, the salesman told us the mf for a 2br plat ey will be under $1,000 annually. When we expressed our surprise, the salesman said that the mf will always be low because the PH casino will fund most of the maintenance fees! Sure...we fully believed that.

The first tour we ever did was at the Mariott Kauai Beach Club, which is on a large and quite expansively landscaped grounds. This was in 1999 and the annual fee for a one-bedroom unit was ~$600.

I thought to mysefl that there wasn't anyway the fee could be thoat low with the amount of landscaping present. So i looked closely at the financial statement the salesman had provided, and sure enough there was a line item for "developer subsidy) that amounted to several hundred dollars per unit.

Once the resort sold out the subsidy stopped and owners annual fees the next year jumped about $400/unit for a one-bedroom.

 

[Rez]

I'm just curious. When is this place supposed to open?

The Towers (Phase 1) are meant to open in September of this year in what has been described as a "star studded bash'.

When phase 2 has been completed there will be a total of 2850 units!
That makes 148,200 weeks that will be for sale (2850*52)....presumably almost 150,000 customers. If they sell out completely then that makes for about 3 billion dollars of direct sales (based on an average price of a week being 25k) and almost 100 million dollars a year in MF's!..not a bad business model!

 

[Robert D]

If they sell out completely then that makes for about 3 billion dollars of direct sales (based on an average price of a week being 25k) and almost 100 million dollars a year in MF's!..not a bad business model!

If they sell out, big IF in this economy in Vegas.

 

[timeos2]

Tower of Terror redux

When phase 2 has been completed there will be a total of 2850 units!
That makes 148,200 weeks that will be for sale (2850*52)....presumably almost 150,000 customers. If they sell out completely then that makes for about 3 billion dollars of direct sales (based on an average price of a week being 25k) and almost 100 million dollars a year in MF's!..not a bad business model!

With the Las Vegas market already flooded with excess inventory of all types - and prices in a free fall of unprecedented nature - adding one of the largest timeshare properties to have to sell is occurring at the absolutely worst time. Add in the terrible history of the whole Planet Hollywood brand (bankruptcy, poor management, failed ventures) and the miserable reputation of Westgate and the perfect storm seems to be forming.

In any case how tough will it be to get a trade when there are potentially 2800+ units sitting there to be taken? (Hint - when was the last time you had a tough time getting a trade to any resort that has 1000+ units except for maybe one or two specific weeks of a year?) How many suckers are going to be willing in this economy and with the unbelievable amount of resale timeshares going for pennies on the dollar to plop down $25,000+ for this pending nightmare? On the strip? Give me a break. If that's the case so is the Marriott as they are directly across from each other (although PHTT does have an indoor route through the PH Hotel, Mall, Casino that Marriott lacks. Still doesn't make the Tower of Terror's location "on the strip").

This whole project smacks of a colossal failure in waiting and it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch than the Wastegate thugs. Best advice to anyone considering it - stay away from all Westgates for any type of ownership.

 

[tombo]

Times02, there is a Westgate job listing on the florida forum. This thread is one that could change your life.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Might Take Some Subterfuge Just To Get Inside.

Times02, there is a Westgate job listing on the florida forum. This thread is one that could change your life.

I'm pretty sure timeos2 would have to go in disguise just to get past the receptionist.

-- hotlinked --​

Can't be too careful.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[dougp26364]

I have my doubts that it will get past tower 1. Even Marriott and Hilton have either slowed or haulted construction. I believe the new Wyndham resort has been put on indefinate hold as well. Vegas just ain't the hot market it was 5 years ago.

 

[bigtrees]

I just did the timeshare presentation in late October and the price for the 4 bedroom was $60,000 rather than the $109,000 that the original poster said it was selling for back in April!

The salesguy said that prices always go up, never down, but $109,000 to $60,000 sounds like a decrease to me!

 

[Larry]

I just did the timeshare presentation in late October and the price for the 4 bedroom was $60,000 rather than the $109,000 that the original poster said it was selling for back in April!

The salesguy said that prices always go up, never down, but $109,000 to $60,000 sounds like a decrease to me!

Thanks but did you find out what the new opening date will be?

 

[bigtrees]

Thanks but did you find out what the new opening date will be?

Hmmm, that piece of information was left out of the timeshare presentation! Amazing!

They will be moving into the towers in 2 weeks. They indicated that was when the pre-sale of the timeshares would be done and they would be in the active selling phase.

Does that mean people will be staying there in 2 weeks? I have no idea.....

 

[l2trade]

I called yesterday. I was told the towers are complete, but won't open until next year. No date. No ability to book a reservation yet.

I really love the location. Pictures and descriptions sound nice. Tug postings convince me never to buy Westgate. I've been eager to see it for exchange.

What is with all the 'Tower of Terror' references? I understand the terror of purchasing here, but what about just trading into and staying?

Tower of Terror reminds me not just of the Disney ride. It evokes memories of that terrible 1980 MGM Grand tragedy. I remember watching that on TV. I alway skip the MGM for that reason (that and the lion's mouth they finally demolished). Now the image of those closed PH monster rolling doors seem creepy and foreboding to me. Will it be safe? Or, is there stuff I do not know? I'm not normally that superstitious, but Vegas has a strange way of bringing out that side in me. I once stayed up all night to avoid my high floor Luxor pyramid room. Thankfully, the Luxor moved me out to the building next door the following day. Front desk was really cool about it. Happens all the time. Luxor also has plexiglass installed in the floors above the check-in desk to deter the risk of falling bodies. Talk about great management foresight. But, I digress... I think I will wait to let others visit and report back first.

 

[Transit]

What is with all the 'Tower of Terror' references? I understand the terror of purchasing here, but what about just trading into and staying?

.

I've stayed at a few of the Westgate properties in Orlando and had no complaints.The actual properties are very nice with plenty of amenities.It's the Developer/owner relationship that people are sour on............Sound familiar?

 

[l2trade]

Thanks Transit,

I really wish it weren't so, but yes, that sounds familiar. We were in Vegas recently. We followed our show and dinner coupons. That brought us parking at PH almost every night. So, it seems like a great location for the next time we visit. I will wait and see what others say first, if and when they open.

 

[Rez]

I think that they are waiting for the hype surrounding City Center to die down before they open. They want/need as much of the spotlight as possible. However with so many new rooms becoming available with City Center, PH Westgate Towers and other places are going to have to reduce prices to stay afloat.

 

[Jollyhols]

rather belated response

Westgate is virtually going BROKE


A rather belated response to the above quote from an earlier post - is this just relating to the cost of building at Las Vegas and the units not selling, or is there something else I don't know about?

 

[timeos2]

Never deal with Westgate sales or you will lose

Westgate is virtually going BROKE


A rather belated response to the above quote from an earlier post - is this just relating to the cost of building at Las Vegas and the units not selling, or is there something else I don't know about?

Wastegate management (The King David) has stated that the credit markets have dried up and they have had to retrench simply to survive. They also tried to get bailout money and loans from Florida and other sources. Like most every other timeshare developer this economy has hit them very hard but they appear to be more leveraged and credit dependent than most. So besides cutting back on sales personnel when they desperately need to move this extremely expensive inventory at what has turned out to be the absolute worst time they haven't been successful at refinancing what is most likely a crushing debt load.

With a little luck for the owners this will force them to their knees and bring in some responsible management. One can hope! Buying from them anytime is a bad move but a retail purchase now would be crazy. Even the Tower of Terror can be had on resale and, so far as we know, it isn't even open yet! This thing has been a nightmare from the day it was announced and isn't getting any better. Avoid Wastegate and be much happier with your timeshare experience.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

But don't we have it on solid authority that those lucky few who were able to buy the penthouse four-bedroom unit fixed New Years week for several hundred thousand dollars are going to make out just fine? IIRC - wasn't that an almost assured 20% return on capital available even if you just split the unit in two and rented it every year??

 

[spatenfloot]

Well, so far all of the grand openings they've announced have passed by without anyone staying there yet.

 

[tombo]

But don't we have it on solid authority that those lucky few who were able to buy the penthouse four-bedroom unit fixed New Years week for several hundred thousand dollars are going to make out just fine? IIRC - wasn't that an almost assured 20% return on capital available even if you just split the unit in two and rented it every year??

That solid authority is the same expert who proudly proclaimed that the ROFR exercised by Marriott would make sure that the e-bay buying bottom feeders would never be laying next to him at the Marriott pools. He said the weeks might sell cheap on e-bay, but he was very happy to know that the cheap bottom feeding buyers would never actually own thanks to Marriott ROFR'ing all bargain basement sales. Well today's reality is that Marriott never ROFR's anymore and for as cheap as $1 you can buy AND OWN Marriott weeks. Our former expert (who doesn't bother to post here anymore) might very well have bottom feeders sunning on both sides of him at the pool when he visits his Marriott resorts.

His prognostication of 20% return on capital at Planet hollywood is so wrong that not only won't he profit 20% on that PH purchase, he won't be able to sell for 20% of what he paid for the weeks. PH was not a good purchase, and as with all timeshares bought from developers, they should NEVER be considered an investment to make a profit on.


I believe he might need to invest in a new crystal ball since so many of his previous predictions have turned out to be incorrect.

 

[AwayWeGo]

You Are Correct, Sir.

Well today's reality is that Marriott never ROFR's anymore and for as cheap as $1 you can buy AND OWN Marriott weeks. Our former expert (who doesn't bother to post here anymore) might very well have bottom feeders on both sides of him in lounge chairs at the pool when he visits his Marriott resorts.

Despite the fuzzy images viewed through that fogged up crystal ball, the once & future expert you referred to did manage to hit 1 nail smack on the head, to wit:

ROFR, when actually exercised by a timeshare company (as in never these days), does provide full-freight owners the dubious satisfaction of knowing they aren't rubbing shoulders in the clubhouse with bottom-feeding bargain hunters, but instead only hobnobbing with others like themselves who also paid inflated bux to buy from the timeshare company.

Other than generating that questionable advantage, ROFR is not good for anything -- no propping up values, no making sure resale prices (to sellers) are kept from going "too low," nothing.

Zip. Zilch. Zorch. Zero. Nil. Null. Nada. Nothing.

I've typed it before & I'll type it again -- ROFR = ROFL.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[PerryM]

Planet Hollywood Towers opens 12/18/09

Just called Planet Hollywood Towers and they open tomorrow, 12/18/09!

We will be in Vegas, across the street, at the Marriott Grande Chateau 1/2/10 - 1/9/10 on an II exchange.

Will be in Park City 12/26/09 - 1/1/10 snowboarding.

Will be reserving our New Year's week tomorrow, for next year.

Arranged for a tour of our unit while there - will take pictures and post them.

All the best to you guys - have a great holiday season and prosperous 2010.

 

[Rez]

There's more details here:



http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/dec/17/planet-hollywood-tower-condos-will-open-owners-fri/

 

[timeos2]

So the management isn't some big name afterall

There's more details here:



http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/dec/17/planet-hollywood-tower-condos-will-open-owners-fri/

Well there's a surprise in that story. The management is Westgate! Seems we were told differently back when they were a "hot deal" and the best timeshare ever. And it was verified by those ever so truthful sales folk. Oh well, they only got it 90% wrong. Not bad for Wastegate.

 

[tombo]

There's more details here:



http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/dec/17/planet-hollywood-tower-condos-will-open-owners-fri/

This quote from the comments below the article sums up the sad situation:

"Congratulations PH condo owners. You get to check into your $500,000 tiny shoebox condos which will hardly ever rent out to anyone as hotel rooms. Oh by the way you could stay next door at the Planet Hollywood hotel for $35 per night any night except New Year's eve. Good investment in the condo!!!"

They have sold very few of these timeshares yet they are already popping up resale for dirt cheap prices on e-bay and some other sites. This project will end up in bankruptcy IMO and I wonder who will end up owning Planet Hollywood, a reorganized Westgate, or another player to be named in the future?

P.S. Welcome back Perry. I thought you were gone but I guess you were checking in on us here on TUG all along.
I sincerely hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year at PH.