Pacifica Ixtapa presentation

[T_R_Oglodyte]

So .... went to a presentation today at Pacifica Resort in Ixtapa. I didn't have much interest, but DW wanted to go. Minimal reward - $1000 pesos.

I was pleasantly surprised on a couple of levels. First, the presentation was very low pressure. Having sat through countless presentation, I could easily see where a "timeshare sales professional" would immediately institute major. For me, that was wonderful! Never during the time did I have a sense that I was being "greased".

Second, they had pricing that actually seemed to make some sense. We were discussing two package that actually looked as if could match up with our interests for about $16k and $26k. From our prior experiences in sales presentations with Wyndham and Diamond, similar packages would have been priced at about $60k and $100k. And annual fee comparisons were less than 50% of what we pay for our Diamond ownership, and about 2/3 of what we pay for our Raintree ownership.

I did some investigation on the resale market, and there isn't a lot out there that I could find. Most of what I could find is packages that don't fit our needs well.

I sense that DW has fallen in love with Zihua - it appears to have completely displaced Puerto Vallarta.

***************

So what feedback am I looking for here? I know that if I start digging in I might be able to find a comparable package to what I'm looking at for significantly less than developer pricing. But I consider the DW option and interest. She has sat through enough of these presentations to be somewhat of a vet. And she's more acclimated to the notion that if it fits and the price might work and if it's a place that we want to go to, ... and when she looked at the pricing and what the annual fees were, that seemed very attractive.

So again, what feedback am I looking for? And I guess the response is - what might we have overlooked? We didn't buy, but I have a followup meeting on Wednesday that is probably a Go/No Go decision.

 

[DaveNV]

So .... went to a presentation today at Pacifica Resort in Ixtapa. I didn't have much interest, but DW wanted to go. Minimal reward - $1000 pesos.

I was pleasantly surprised on a couple of levels. First, the presentation was very low pressure. Having sat through countless presentation, I could easily see where a "timeshare sales professional" would immediately institute major. For me, that was wonderful! Never during the time did I have a sense that I was being "greased".

Second, they had pricing that actually seemed to make some sense. We were discussing two package that actually looked as if could match up with our interests for about $16k and $26k. From our prior experiences in sales presentations with Wyndham and Diamond, similar packages would have been priced at about $60k and $100k. And annual fee comparisons were less than 50% of what we pay for our Diamond ownership, and about 2/3 of what we pay for our Raintree ownership.

I did some investigation on the resale market, and there isn't a lot out there that I could find. Most of what I could find is packages that don't fit our needs well.

I sense that DW has fallen in love with Zihua - it appears to have completely displaced Puerto Vallarta.

Interesting, Steve, that it made financial sense to you. I know you to be a smart, rational man who isn't easily taken advantage of. So often Presentations are made to separate the buyer from logical thought. Would you consider purchasing from the Developer there, if no resale options were available? I'm also curious - was anybody else buying?

When you say Zihua, I presume you're talking about Zihuatanejo? I haven't been there nor to Puerto Vallarta. Both are on my list. Would you mind sharing reasons why Zihua is the new favorite place? Were you staying at a super resort? I'd likely be at the WorldMark.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[buzglyd]

I stayed there many years ago. Believe it or not I drove there with my Mexican girlfriend from Mexico City to Acapulco and the through the jungle to Ixtapa. I watched USC beat Northwestern in the Rose Bowl. I loved it there but haven’t been back just because it’s a long flight from California and there are closer destinations that are similar.

There was a gondola that went from the resort to the beach.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Hi Steve.

a) I will assume you & DW are 60- 64-ish/ healthy
b) I will assume the 16 K if spent is the equivalent of trading in your perfectly good car
for the new model . You can afford it so why not .
c) Happy wife / happy life - any feed back I give will assume this as a core premise .


1) the buy in is $ 1000 per year / based on the above . ( smaller package -to age 80)
so more reasonable than a casita you actually own and fewer headaches
so the question is usage - how are they guaranteeing you prime snowbird time and how many weeks can you use it .

2)exit plan - I assume it is a RTU - so there is not much of a problem .
If it is a 25 year RTU will they let you accelerate weeks so that it meets your plans .

3) other timeshares - based on prior posts - your Diamond ownership is used for
family vacations in Hawaii with your adult children . I assume you & your family continue
this until either your children take over the points ownership or it is “ deeded back “ .

Club Regina / Raintree - I believe you did the accelerated Raintree option so your remaining
years are reasonable & the Puerto Vallarta location is well maintained & a good location ,
If you don’t use it - easy to rent remaining use years for MF cost or slightly better .

4) There is likely an option to exchange into the Pacifica property vs. buying in .
I assume that if you buy - it will give you superior access . The additional cost for this access
is amortized under (c) - Happy wife / happy life .

There are many examples of knowledgeable TUG members adding to their ownerships
with developer upgrade purchases Most are with developers they already own .
Since this is a new (to you) developer - do your due diligence on their track record
of resort maintenance & quality levels .

Since Mexico has 5 days to rescind - this gives you 5 days to control the process after saying
yes . Read & reread the contract and if necessary rescind -so that you can negotiate clarification or addendum
( Learned from Mikenk - who owns Vidanta & has done this with their Member Service a number of times)

As always - should you rescind and not re- sign now - a deal will be there next year .

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Thanks for comments. We haven't signed anything yet.

The set up is that for our purchase price we buy a basket of points. We only pay fees when we actually use points. The number of points would give us about 40 trips in what they call a studio, but is actually a one bedroom one bath, sleeps four privately. That's the smallest unit they have. The usage fee for that unit right now is $780. That's about half the fee that Raintree charges for a similar unit in Club Regina.

Since it's a points basket, we can reserve multiple weeks at a time, or multiple units. That's good if family wants to join us at times - or to burn through the points in our lifetime.

Reservations are strictly first-come, first-served. So if you want to stay during high season you have to reserve early. They were clear about that.

T-Dot - good comments and analysis. In general, this would replace our Raintree/Club Regina.

*******

We asked our sales person what his commission was on the sale. He responded "2 percent". I guess that when a developer controls their marketing expenses, they can price things much more attractively.

 

[buzglyd]

I think Alaska has a non stop to Ixtapa out of LAX. You're making me want to go.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I think Alaska has a non stop to Ixtapa out of LAX. You're making me want to go.

Yes - Alaska flies non-stop LAX-ZIH. From Seattle we opted to fly to LAX the night before rather than catch a bleary-eye the same morning. From locations in CA it should be easy to get to ZIH the same day.

Some people we were talking to park a car on the US side at Tijuana airport, then fly direct to ZIH from there.

 

[buzglyd]

Yes - Alaska flies non-stop LAX-ZIH. From Seattle we opted to fly to LAX the night before rather than catch a bleary-eye the same morning. From locations in CA it should be easy to get to ZIH the same day.

Some people we were talking to park a car on the US side at Tijuana airport, then fly direct to ZIH from there.

I would likely do LAX since I’m Alaska Gold. I love closer to TJ though and sometimes the fares are attractive. It’s mostly low cost carriers and by the time you select a few options, the price is almost the same.

The major benefit is you go through customs when you cross the bridge and land already cleared.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I would likely do LAX since I’m Alaska Gold. I love closer to TJ though and sometimes the fares are attractive. It’s mostly low cost carriers and by the time you select a few options, the price is almost the same.

The major benefit is you go through customs when you cross the bridge and land already cleared.

It took us about 15 minutes to get through passport and customs in ZIH. Huge contrast from what we usually experience in Puerto Vallarta.

 

[buzglyd]

It took us about 15 minutes to get through passport and customs in ZIH. Huge contrast from what we usually experience in Puerto Vallarta.

It took me about 2 hours or so one time in Cabo. If I had flown in from TJ I would have come out the other terminal. No wait and no shark room.

 

[Tacoma]

Going to Zihua in March for the first time. Staying at the worldmark resort. It has mainly studios unfortunately. Club intrawest/Embarc also has a resort there with bigger suites. If I love the area that's the way I think I would go. Unfortunately from Calgary there are no direct flights for a fare I can live with so I'm flying through Vancouver.
Joan

 

[easyrider]

I would consider renting at this destination. The public perception is that this area of Mexico is about the same as Acapulco regarding safety so demand is low. You can rent a huge penthouse at this resort for $270 a night. A one bed unit is likely under $150.

Bill

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17046442?guests=1&adults=1

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I would consider renting at this destination. The public perception is that this area of Mexico is about the same as Acapulco regarding safety so demand is low. You can rent a huge penthouse at this resort for $270 a night. A one bed unit is likely under $150.

Bill

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17046442?guests=1&adults=1

At $270/night, that's $1890/wk. That appears to be about $200 more than what it would cost me for that same unit.

 

[easyrider]

At $270/night, that's $1890/wk. That appears to be about $200 more than what it would cost me for that same unit.

Couldn't $200 be considered an easy exit plan ?

Bill

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Couldn't $200 be considered an easy exit plan ?

Bill

There is an exit plan. You only pay when you actually reserve a week. So effectively you can walk away any time.

 

[easyrider]

There is an exit plan. You only pay when you actually reserve a week. So effectively you can walk away any time.

It seems like you are paying for the ability to have yearly points that can be borrowed for accelerated use to make reservations for any unit at this resort with a built in exit plan. Really, when it comes down to it, I think you could likely walk away even without an exit plan in place because this is an international contract.

For $780 you get a studio worth of points. I would estimate the Aqua Penthouse would require at least three times the cost of a studio at $2340 a week / 7 = $334 a day using points. This is just a guess on my part. Another guess is that the buy in adds about the cost of the mf on this rtu. So it could be that the Aqua Penthouse cost is more like $668 using points versus renting the Penthouse at $270 a day.

I might be in the minority on trusting VRBO and ABNB sites over a small Mexican Resort developer using a Mexican contract. With the American rental portals a person does have recourse when things go wrong that include refunds and trip protections that are not offered by the resort.

I have friends but many more acquaintances that wouldn't think twice about buying this deal if they liked it. Often times cost isn't the main consideration. If you do buy this I sincerely hope it is every thing you hope for.

Bill

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

It seems like you are paying for the ability to have yearly points that can be borrowed for accelerated use to make reservations for any unit at this resort with a built in exit plan. .......

If you do buy this I sincerely hope it is every thing you hope for.
Bill

Happy wife / happy life .

AirBNB & VRBO - have less direct input into the above wisdom .

******
Bill - good post

how long have you been married / My adventure started in 1978 .
Took me a while to learn wisdom too .

 

[easyrider]

how long have you been married / My adventure started in 1978 .
Took me a while to learn wisdom too .

We moved in together in 1978. Married in 1980. Next year is the big 40th, woo hoo !

Bill

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

It seems like you are paying for the ability to have yearly points that can be borrowed for accelerated use to make reservations for any unit at this resort with a built in exit plan. Really, when it comes down to it, I think you could likely walk away even without an exit plan in place because this is an international contract.

For $780 you get a studio worth of points. I would estimate the Aqua Penthouse would require at least three times the cost of a studio at $2340 a week / 7 = $334 a day using points. This is just a guess on my part. Another guess is that the buy in adds about the cost of the mf on this rtu. So it could be that the Aqua Penthouse cost is more like $668 using points versus renting the Penthouse at $270 a day.

I might be in the minority on trusting VRBO and ABNB sites over a small Mexican Resort developer using a Mexican contract. With the American rental portals a person does have recourse when things go wrong that include refunds and trip protections that are not offered by the resort.

I have friends but many more acquaintances that wouldn't think twice about buying this deal if they liked it. Often times cost isn't the main consideration. If you do buy this I sincerely hope it is every thing you hope for.

Bill

Although the AirBnB listing describes the Aqua Penthouse as a 3-bedroom, it really isn't. It's actually a 2-bedroom in Pacifica records. The third "bedroom" is actually the living room. Since doors can be closed to make the living room private, the living room can function as a bedroom. The downside is that if someone in the other bedrooms is up earlier in the morning, they can't go to the living room or kitchen without rousting the occupants in the living room.

If you follow that methodology, a Junior Sands unit, shown below and identical to where we stayed, would thus be a 2-bedroom unit. (There's a sliding, lockable door (not shown in the floor plan) where the hallway enters the kitchen, which can completely separate the living room from the bedroom and bathroom area. This unit, BTW, could easily handle a family with two adults and three children, if the parents are willing to have one child in the room with them. The "sofa" in the bedroom is actually the size of a twin bed. The two sofa beds in the living are full size.

The Aqua Units are available in Senior Aqua (1-bdrm), Master Aqua (2-bdrm) and Master Aqua Penthouse (2-bdrm). My usage fee for a Senior Aqua is $1100. I didn't get pricing for the Master Aqua units.

The Junior Sands unit shown above has a usage fee of $780. That's about the same annual fee as Winners Circle fixed week in San Diego, which is a very cost-effective unit (and which I used for the trade). But this unit blows the Winners Circle away for quality and excellence of location.

Among resorts that I'm familiar with, it would be most like an Ocean View Deluxe at Diamond Resorts Kaanapali Beach Club or a Club Suite at Club Regina, except the Pacifica unit is better equipped, located on a vastly superior beach, and at a resort with vastly superior amenities (if resort amenities, such as spas, on-site restaurants, etc., are your thing). My cost for a Club Suite at Club Regina PV is about $1100 per year. And the cost of the 11,500 points to reserve OV Deluxe at KBC would be ~$2000.

I've done some MX resort tours - Raintree, Tesoro (Costa Sur in PV), Mayan/Grupo Vidanta in PV, Pueblo Bonito in CSL, and Club Cascadas CSL. Frankly, after having gotten acquainted with the property and doing the property tour, I was trying to figure out how I was going to extract ourselves from the presentation as graciously as possible. For the first time in a presentation, I was genuinely interested in hearing more.

I can add, it was not all an aggressive sales pitch, and the perks they were offering weren't all that great. They really don't spend a lot on marketing. I think that, at least so far, they've had the wisdom to let the resort sell itself. BTW - I would guess that while we were there, at 75% of sales were being made to Mexican nationals.

 

[Oddfellow]

My wife and I have been going here since our Honeymoon in 1992. My father bought a Week there when it was originally developed in 1985. There was a large earthquake right after Fonatur developed Ixtapa and it kind of "stunted" it from becoming the Cancun of the West Coast which was the original plan. We took over my fathers timeshare in the early 2000's and converted to points at one point. It is a very unique place and if you can find a route there it is worth the trip. You get an all-inclusive (optional) resort on one side of the mountain with a Swiss-made Gondola taking you up and down the hill.The other side of the mountain is Zihuatanejo with tons of restaurants and fishing and several great Playas. There are workers at Pacifica that are like family to us, we seek them out every trip. Innocente and Perfecto are great ambassadors for the resort.
We don't go every year anymore, doesn't matter anymore with the points basket. I did just book us a week there in the end of August this year. We got one of their largest units for points plus a $1470 maintenance fee, with it we get our own private palapa on the beach. All inclusive with "National" drinks included is $45/day. Zihau is a $4 cab ride away, $4.50 if you want AC. You get to book a meal each at their fancy restaurants with the all inclusive including the one over looking Zihuatanejo Bay. It is popular with Mexican Nationals, gringos are definitely less there than elsewhere in Mexico resorts. Just the way I like it!