Hi,
Am currently staying at the Sheraton in Maui and was invited to attend a Westin Nanea presentation yesterday. The deal they offered was 95700 options (I think this is their flex package?) for $23447, with signing perks of 140k Marriott Bonvoy points, lifetime Bonvoy gold status. Initial deposit was 15% of the total, less $1750 for being a “loyal” Bonvoy member (I’m currently platinum on the hotel side as I travel a lot for work). Maintenance fee was quoted as $990/y.
This brought our all-in annual payments total to about $4500, until we’d paid off financing (which at 12% interest I’d be doing sooner rather than later!). At the time this seemed a little steep to me, so I declined. I did take the explorer/encore package that they offered of $1890 for 5 nights at Nanea in a 1bed because that’s a cheap holiday to Maui, and I can always say no again during the talk
Since I’ll be going back to Maui on that package, and will have to go through the talk again, I wanted to get the thoughts of this group on this and whether you feel I can make this work for my family.
With that in mind, here’s some info:
- We live in the UK so are interested in international travel and not US only
- I liked the idea of flexibility of using these options to mix and match on the hotel side as sometimes that may work out better for us depending where we are going as I can complement existing hotel points
- Flights are generally something we book on miles ~12 months out so we are used to planning trips well
- I understand that buying from the developer is generally cost ineffective and that these options lose a lot of resell value immediately due to the “ball and chain” of ongoing maintenance fees.
So, some specific questions based on this (also have the newcomers answers below):
1. I see from the intro/newcomers thread that Nanea is a voluntary resort and therefore I could not have options here and also exchange for hotel points if I bought as a resale rather than direct - is my understanding correct?
2. Beyond incentives, the limitation I mention in qu 1, and elite status, is there anything else that I’d lose on a purchasing a resale vs buying direct from developer?
3. This options-based approach feels like it could pose a risk for devaluation; do Vistana guarantee in any way that X points will always equate to Y days for a certain sized rent in a certain location?
4. How easy is it to use Interval to exchange options on international properties? I travel a lot so online/email is always going to work better in a high demand ecosystem over making phone calls for me. Would love to hear of the experiences of this group in doing this.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?
Hawaii, Mexico, Caribbean islands, Asia, (in the future Disney as I have a 7mo old child)
2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
Given our UK base, likely would want to visit a home resort in the US ~ 1 in 3 years
3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Hawaii, Mexico, South east Asia (Singapore/Indonesia), Southern Europe, Disney
4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself?
3
5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Any time for the next ~4y. Locked into school holidays after that.
6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
Yes
7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
Yes
8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
4-5
9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
$10-20k
10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
$2-3k
11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
Yes
12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?
Yes
Am currently staying at the Sheraton in Maui and was invited to attend a Westin Nanea presentation yesterday. The deal they offered was 95700 options (I think this is their flex package?) for $23447, with signing perks of 140k Marriott Bonvoy points, lifetime Bonvoy gold status. Initial deposit was 15% of the total, less $1750 for being a “loyal” Bonvoy member (I’m currently platinum on the hotel side as I travel a lot for work). Maintenance fee was quoted as $990/y.
This brought our all-in annual payments total to about $4500, until we’d paid off financing (which at 12% interest I’d be doing sooner rather than later!). At the time this seemed a little steep to me, so I declined. I did take the explorer/encore package that they offered of $1890 for 5 nights at Nanea in a 1bed because that’s a cheap holiday to Maui, and I can always say no again during the talk
Since I’ll be going back to Maui on that package, and will have to go through the talk again, I wanted to get the thoughts of this group on this and whether you feel I can make this work for my family.
With that in mind, here’s some info:
- We live in the UK so are interested in international travel and not US only
- I liked the idea of flexibility of using these options to mix and match on the hotel side as sometimes that may work out better for us depending where we are going as I can complement existing hotel points
- Flights are generally something we book on miles ~12 months out so we are used to planning trips well
- I understand that buying from the developer is generally cost ineffective and that these options lose a lot of resell value immediately due to the “ball and chain” of ongoing maintenance fees.
So, some specific questions based on this (also have the newcomers answers below):
1. I see from the intro/newcomers thread that Nanea is a voluntary resort and therefore I could not have options here and also exchange for hotel points if I bought as a resale rather than direct - is my understanding correct?
2. Beyond incentives, the limitation I mention in qu 1, and elite status, is there anything else that I’d lose on a purchasing a resale vs buying direct from developer?
3. This options-based approach feels like it could pose a risk for devaluation; do Vistana guarantee in any way that X points will always equate to Y days for a certain sized rent in a certain location?
4. How easy is it to use Interval to exchange options on international properties? I travel a lot so online/email is always going to work better in a high demand ecosystem over making phone calls for me. Would love to hear of the experiences of this group in doing this.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?
Hawaii, Mexico, Caribbean islands, Asia, (in the future Disney as I have a 7mo old child)
2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
Given our UK base, likely would want to visit a home resort in the US ~ 1 in 3 years
3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Hawaii, Mexico, South east Asia (Singapore/Indonesia), Southern Europe, Disney
4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself?
3
5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Any time for the next ~4y. Locked into school holidays after that.
6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
Yes
7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
Yes
8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
4-5
9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
$10-20k
10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
$2-3k
11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
Yes
12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?
Yes