Best timeshare you ever stayed in?

[gwenco]

Pahio - Shearwater / Kauai

2nd _ Rams Horn Village / Estes Park, CO

3rd - Westin - Scottsdale, AZ.

4th - Fairfield - Nashville

 

[brother coony]

1st : Gurneys in Spa and resort, Montauk, NY

2nd : Manhattan Club Penthouse suites NYC

3rd : Sandals Grande Sport, Ocho Rios Jamaica

All three resort are compleaty diffrent from each other,

Gurneys Sit on one of the best streach of beaches in the north east, and the unit sit righ on it, and great resturants,

Manhattan Club Penthouse suites, there are 24 suites and all have view of some part of Manhattan skyline, at nite its is just great to sit with a drink and gaze at the skyline, and they have two decks, siting out there with a buddy this year, with a drink , made us both think of Danny Crane and Allan Shore,
( sorry wont be doing the married bit at the end, Boston Legal fans will get this)
Sandals Grande Sport Jamaica FOOD is to die for, man its good,the service is fantastic, Did not make my #1 as Jamaica has crime, but the resort is AI and they pamper you,rented acar and tour the Island, no problem but cautious,
I exchange or tour resort and when I fine one me and DF love, we buy

 

[carlrocky]

1st: Four Seasons Aviara. Incredible Luxury, San Diego Area,

2nd The Galleon Resort. Fun Lively Area, Key West, florida

3rd Sands of Kahana just beautiful ! Maui, Hawaii


Costa Linda in Aruba,or the Hyatt Hacienda Del Mar in Puerto Rico could be interchanged with 2nd and 3rd place

 

[dkazanji1]

We love Harborside. Atlantis is incredible fun.

We also love the Westin Lagunamar. Both the resort and our unit were absolutely beautiful.

Donna and George

 

[cancun dish]

best timeshares

We have loved nearly all we have stayed in but, all for different reasons

Casa Maya Cancun Simple clean condo's. Kitchens leave a lot to be desired but, beach is good and location is great

Plantation house at Captiva a rare find but, we were amazed a great resort

Ron Jon first steps in the water with my son

Calini Beach first beach our kids loved

Orange Lake River Island pool is amazing

Las Olas (Cocoa and Satellite) amazing staff, great condos superb location

Massanutten, relaxing, lots of things on site to do for young children

HGVC Flamingo Las Vegas in the middle of everything (although the sofa beds were bad)

My kids expect two bedrooms and refer to them now as hotels. There could be worse things in life!

 

[pjrose]

1. Any of the Cancun Tri-Royals. Lovely setting, great pools, gorgeous ocean, wonderful staff, warm welcoming feel - Lots to do, or just relax. Royal Caribbean is probably our favorite, but I'd happily move in to any of them.

2. Westin Kierland, Scottsdale AZ - the only place we've gone that's even close to the Royals. Furnishings, "heavenly bath", kitchen are better. pools smaller but very nice. Lovely landscaping. Doesn't have the ocean, of course, and doesn't have the warm "family" feeling of the Royals' staff. I'd still go back in a minute.

I have no number 3. The next is maybe the Marriott Fords Colony Williamsburg - maybe. Love the area, and the TS was comfortable, but not even close to the Royals or the Westin Kierland. Not as clean, lacking a nice pool, etc. A great base to do the historical site, but not nearly close enough to call it number 3.

 

[Larry]

Very interesting question but my response all depends on your criteria so here goes;


Best Unit we have ever stayed in;

1) Morrits Grand- Grand Cayman 2BR 1500 square feet with huge oceanfront balcony and fantastic Ocean views.

2) Royal Mayan-Cancun- Although older than Morrits Grand we had spacious 2BR unit with great large balcony and again fantastic view of beach and pool.

Best Resort we have ever stayed in;

1) Mayan Palace Acapulco- Fantastic resort with great pools, ocean views, gorgeous lobby, fantastic service including maid service twice a day. outstanding amenities comparable to any Ritz Carlton we have ever stayed in.

2) Melia Paridissus Punta Cana- Huge resort with great All inclusive program. Great beach, amenities, restaurants, pool area, nightly entertainment. We had a great time here.

Best worldwide location;

1) French Riviera- Drop dead gorgeous from Monaco to Cannes. Every scenic drive was a total WOW!!!! We stayed at a very nice timeshare which was all marble and very comfortable but you don't go to the French Riviera for the unit. It's location, location and the French Riviera is awesome and not to be missed.

2) Rome and all of Italy from what we saw from Naples to Rome, Florence, Tuscany and Venice. Our timeshare was again nice and comfortable at Carpedium Roma Golf resort but it was on the outskirts of Rome and we needed to drive to train station and then it was about a half hour into town But again Italy has to be one of the best countries in Europe to visit with history, museums, lakes, mountains, countryside, and great coastline. We loved the trip and never would have had the experience without the timeshare exchange.

Actually I don't think we have ever had a really bad exchange but they sure got better once we joined TUG. Thanks for all the sightings and reviews that have helped us get all of these great exchanges.

OK just got back from St. Lucia and stayed at Windjammer Landing 2BR 2BTH with private plunge pool.

St. Lucia is the prettiest Caribbean Island we have been to so far. I am adding Windjammer Landing to my list, although not luxurious we had the most fantastic views of the beach and bay from any one of our five decks.

Dinner on the deck at our villa one evening just for the sunset was awesome!!!!

I will write a detailed review when I get a chance this weekend.

 

[london]

Great Trades with RCI

We have made some very trades with RCI, including the following.

Samoset Resort, Rockport Maine (On the water with nice restaurants on site)

Carlsbad Inn, Location is Great, Can walk into quaint little town area)

Marriott Monarch Hilton Head Oceanfront Unit

HGVC Seaworld Trip with our grandchildren

Ridge on Sedona Golf Nice unit, and ideal location for touring area

We also enjoy our home resorts very much. Will be in Cocoa Beach for 6 weeks in Jan/Feb

 

[Sandy VDH]

I had a long list of exchanges to review (I have it all in excel streadsheets, my entire TS exchanging life is recorded).

My top three
Hilton Hawaiian Village - Lagoon Tower, HI, Oceanfront 2 BR
Tradewinds Cruise Club - Grenadines
Hilton Club NYC

Best View
Shearwater, Kauai, HI

Best HOT TUB
Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Village (Large hot tub, Sand Floor and waterfall)

Best Room
Wyndham Bonnet Creek, Orlando, FL 4 BR Presidential (3000 sq ft including large balcony)

Notable Mention
Westin St John (view)
Bay Club of Waikoloa, HI (room size)
Alexandra Resort, Turks & Caicos (view)
HGVC on the Strip - Las Vegas, NV (room and view)
Residence at Crane, Barbadoes (room and view)
Manhattan Club (Location)
San Francisco Suites (Location)
Wyndham La Cascada, San Antonio (location and room)

 

[icydog]

Westin Kierland and the Houses at Summer Bay

You were able to make these kinds of trades with Fairmont Hot
Canada? What are the maintenance fees for your timeshare? I think I will have to add this place to my ts portfolio. Two bdrm Avira, Westin Kannapali, Royal Sands and Desert Springs--Where do I sign up??



My favorites
Sanibel Beach Cottages- I made a swap for my Disney BCV for this place. The layout was fabulous with a wrap around deck that looked over the gulf. The drawback was the bed almost crippled me but again those decks were fabulous.
Disney's Old Key West- OKW will always be our home away from home We have been coming down to Orlando since DVC started and OKW is our favorite place to be when we are on vacation
Domus Romana- Traded within Royal Holiday to get a week in this charming place in the center of Rome. The hotel is actually a converted convent. We had a one bedroom apt and for European standards it was palatial. The floors were marble and the ceilings dated back three centuries. The unit faced a peaceful fountain and courtyard. Breakfast was given daily and the help couldn't have been kinder or more accommodating.
Fairfield Bonnet Creek- stayed here on a rental. The resort is across the street from OKW but the units are way more upscale than anything Disney has. Other resorts are nicer inside the units than Disney but outside with the full use of the Disney Resort area plus the parks, I think Disney a better choice.

Marriotts we have stayed in so far have all been lovely:
Marriott Newport Coast- We had a two bedroom overlooking the pacific. The units were upscale and lovely
Marriott Seaview - We have adopted this resort since it is only 1.5 hours from home. The staff and the pools are to die for.
Marriott Palm Beach Fl- I forget the name. We stayed in a lovely two bedroom overlooking the ocean. We loved the spaciousness of the layout and the staff was phenomenal
Marriott Surf Club in Aruba- Extremely large units overlooking the water and gigangtic pool. Got this two bedroom on an AC from II. This was our least favorite Marriott vacation which makes it still a wonderful place. We had a lot of difficulty with the staff understanding us and found some to be downright rude. On the other hand the resort itself is glorious.

Now here's one nobody would expect
We just came back from the RHC Les Pyramides in Cancun and we loved it. We weren't expecting too much so anything we got was gravy. I think what I liked best was our lovely view from our balcony of the Caribbean Sea and the wonderful Jacuuzi tub right there on the balcony as well. The people who worked there were charming and very nice. I fell in love with them and they never varied. They were always very, very nice. The resort itself was small but extremely clean. There were a lot of rules but for the most part we had a wonderful time there.

I have to add the Houses at Summer Bay. This was probably one of our best timeshares. A free standing home with a swimming pool, three bedrooms and three baths. A full kitchen and dining room with four TVs and a garage. What else could one ask for?

We also loved the Westin Kierland Villas in Scottsdale

 

[Carolinian]

Schloss Grubhof in Austria. No amount of modern bells and whistles could ever equal the ambiance of staying in a real 13th century castle, and it has a great location in the Alps, convenient to Salzburg.

 

[wandering gnome]

Schloss Grubhof in Austria

Carolina, what exchange company did you use to get this exchange?

 

[sailingman22]

Pono Kai. Its like going home and sliding into your favorite slippers.

 

[capjak]

Best overall:

1. Westin KOR-North Maui
2. Harborside Atlantis-Bahamas
2. Disney's Beach Club-Orlando
3. Sheraton Vistana Villages-Orlando
4. HGVC-Seaworld-Orlando
5. Marriott's Grande Vista-Orlando
6. Marriott's Cypress Harbor-Orlando
7. Marriott's Royal Palms-Orlando
8. Sheraton Vistana Resort-Orlando

 

[ada903]

Royal Haciendas!

Royal Haciendas it the best when it comes to the quality of the units!

 

[mav]

I have stayed at so many incredible resorts, fantastically furnished, unbelievable service, and jaw dropping views, in the U.S., U.K., and Caribbean, too many to list. But the ultimate in service and furnishings has to be The Four Season Avaria. We have stayed there twice and enjoyed every second.
The BEST view, the one we dream about, is at a standard resort in Austria, our corner unit overlooking the town, lake and mountains of Zell am See. We hate to even go to the sleep, because the sweeping view over the lake, the beautifully lit up town, and the mountains with the moon and stars beaming down is so heavenly. My D.H. has a hard time from gaping at any time of the day and night. It is a spotless, simply furnished unit with an incredibly kind staff in a standard resort, but a piece of heaven to us.

 

[DebBrown]

The Marriott in Phuket, Thailand. I was never so pampered as I was at this resort. The staff was truly amazing and would do anything to make us comfortable.

Deb

 

[Banjo]

Marriott's Custom House was one of our all time favorites. Beautiful place, historical, and right in the middle of everything you want to see in Boston. A great place.

 

[Carol C]

Ocho Cascadas, Puerto Vallarta. I narrowed it to just once since this topic is re-surfacing. Folks should pick just one, since the OP asked for the "best".

 

[urban5]

Four Seasons Marbella Spain. The most luxurious timeshare I have ever stayed in.

 

[TheDuke]

Best Timeshare we have stayed in

Likely the Sunterra "The Point at Poipu" in Kauai Hawaii. (The management company is now Diamond) It's been a few years ago, but the combination of beautiful location and a really great unit were hard to forget.

The Duke

 

[Guzzidave]

Best Resort Overall: Marriott's Marbella Beach (II exchange)

Best Accommodation: Marriott's Son Antem, Mallorca (II exchange)

Best Views: Loch Rannoch Highland Club, Perthshire, Scotland (I own there)

 

[lynne]

1 - Four Seasons Aviara (SFX Exchange)
2 - Pacific Grove Plaza (owner)
3 - Bay Club Waikoloa (SFX Exchange)

 

[generalras]

Best timeshares ever

My top two favs in order are:

The Residences at Crane in Barbados - Very luxurious and well done with incredible ocean views. It was previously rated as the # 1 timeshare in all of RCI and I can see why. If you cherish privacy, beautiful surroundings and wonderful 2 bedroom villas with ocean views you can't beat this place. If you just want to be close to town then this one is not for you.

Windjammer Landing Villa Beach & Spa in St Lucia - We first stayed here through an exchange with RCI and were very impressed with their spacious ocean view villa and excellent resort. Since RCI had a one in four year rule we loved it enough to buy in here to ensure we can always get a villa here. Don't take less than a 2 bedroom due to variability in the 1 bedrooms. You can't go wrong at this resort. www.windjammer-landing.com

We love Kauai as well but these are my TOP picks. One more thing if you are adventurous try a canal boat in England. It was one of my most relaxing and enjoyable vacations just for the country scenery and slow pace of the boat.

Happy Vacations

 

[BondGuy]

Most relaxing - Sanibel Island Beach Club - they delivered a paper each morning and after reading would walk on the beach forever
(2nd Longboat Bay Club)

Best 'outdoors' - Pacific Shores Nature Resort -the gardens, walks, kayaks, drive to Pacific Rim Nat'l Park
(2nd Whispering Woods II)

Location - Manhattan Club

Best Foreign - Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel

Best tropical - Bay Club - great beach, etc.
(2nd Galleon Resort)

Best 'Resort' - Samoset
(2nd Gurney's)