Lagunmar Sales Presentation

[Michele]

We did an 'owner update' during our visit to Lagunamar last week. They gave us 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points and a decent discount for Dolphin Discovery/Garrafon for 4 people. ($87 US each)
Our unit at Lagunamar is a 2 bedroom lockout gold plus season that we bought resale.(We are already 5 star after following advice on this site and didn't need the SO)
They offered to take our Desert Oasis 2 bedroom lockout and give us $14,000 towards upgrading our Lagunamar property to the Aventuras Program for only a balance due of $23,405.They would give us 81,000 SO. Yah, we said no.
The interesting thing was that they explained that right now we are paying MFs per square foot- in the Aventuras program we would be paying MFs per star option. They also said that by June 15th, Vistana would be going by Marriott Vacation Club 'rules' and they won't allow retro of properties anymore, either. They also told us that they are going to combine both timeshare programs but are still working on the details. They also told us that they have 'grandfathered in' the SO no matter what Marriott does.
They also told us that 5 star owners will become Titanium when the change happens.
When we said no, they sent in 'the closer' who offered the Vistana Signature Experience. This was a 5 day and 4 night one bedroom premium vacation at Lagunamar from 1/2-12/15 with limited availability during Christmas, New Year's, MLK, Holy Week & Easter Week, and 4th of July during the next 18 months. This Experience also came with 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, good for 6 years, all for the low, low price of only $1895 for a $99 processing fee and 10 monthly payments of $189.50.
We said no.
So, don't shoot the messenger, just reporting what we were told.
We were surprised that they actually offered us the points and discounts to go to the owner's update since we just did an update at Nanea in March.
We did have a blast at Lagunamar- it's a beautiful property with fantastic views and great weather. We love going in May since the weather is great and the crowds are gone.

 

[jjking42]

how was the seaweed issue? They are having huge problems in Playa, Tulum, and other areas south of the airport.

 

[dioxide45]

The retro offer is really no different than Marriott's program where they offer the ability to enroll a resale week with the purchase of developer points. However, Marriott usually only offers this as a promotion for a few weeks once a year. Even if it were to really go away, I don't think it would have much of a negative impact on many. Vistana will still push hard to have owners trade in their weeks to buy in to the Flex programs. WIthout ROFR at most properties, Vistana needs this really as the best way to reacquire weeks.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

For the explorer package: Almost $2000 for only 4 nights with blackouts. That's $500 a night in a 1 bdrm. Doesn't sound like a good deal to me. Could get an entire week with getaways and ACs for much less during shoulder season without a presentation. Good call to say, "No"

I'd rather sign up for a free credit card to get those 150,000 Bonvoy points too.

 

[Michele]

how was the seaweed issue? They are having huge problems in Playa, Tulum, and other areas south of the airport.

They were great about plowing the seaweed twice a day. Not as bad as a couple of years ago. The issue was red flag warnings most days due to heavy surf. Our snorkel trip was cancelled due to the Port Authority and weather issues. It was sunny, warm and gorgeous- just a little windy but VERY choppy until Thursday May 16. Of course, the day we left it was calm and beautiful.

 

[Michele]

For the explorer package: Almost $2000 for only 4 nights with blackouts. That's $500 a night in a 1 bdrm. Doesn't sound like a good deal to me. Could get an entire week with getaways and ACs for much less during shoulder season without a presentation. Good call to say, "No"

I'd rather sign up for a free credit card to get those 150,000 Bonvoy points too.

Yes- We got the SPG card for 80,000 SPG points less than a year ago and converted them to Marriott points for 240,000...and promptly used them We only spent 28,000 Staroptions for an extra 4 nights for this trip. They offered us a 1 bedroom premium last year with Aventuras for $15000 which is why we bought on the resale market. I LOVE Lagunamar...and my husband loves me-and we travel off season so gold plus for super duper cheap was a great way to go every year.

 

[DannyTS]

how was the seaweed issue? They are having huge problems in Playa, Tulum, and other areas south of the airport.

Generally Cancun does not have a seaweed issue, we have been there 3 times in the last 14 months.

 

[blondietink]

Even though many Vistana resorts don't have ROFR, I don't understand why they don't pick up some of the resorts that are listed for sale in Ebay, etc. for really cheap if they want the inventory to sell to somebody for higher prices.

We love Lagunamar. The only time we have seen a seaweed issue was one year when we went in September/October. but staff did a fine job of cleaning it up daily. Last May during our visit, we met a couple staying in Playa area and they told us the seaweed was 3 feet thick ... so thick they couldn't get to the beach and the resorts there were doing nothing to clean it up.

 

[SeattleJohn2]

Funny about the sales pitch, we were in Los Cabos last month and at the owners update they told us that Marriott was not moving forward with any integration of the Vistana business. They also said that Vistana was close to announcing the development of a Costa Rica property to be sold exclusively through Aventuras. Not that I needed any more evidence, but clearly anything the sales people say cannot be trusted. And definitely +1 for Lagunamar. We bought there and are looking for many more trips there in the future

 

[gritmuncher]

Had a similar sales pitch last week. Also refused all. Am Platinum and they tried real hard getting us to switch to Flex. What got me was how unfriendly the closer became after we rejected his 'deal'. No handshake; he just walked us out.

Seaweed was no problem. Was cleaned up every morning.
Along the resort one could not swim in the sea because of the red flags but between building 1 and the resort next to it they had a yellow flag. Swam there all week and had tons of fun in big waves.
What surprised me was how packed the resort was: 95% capability according to the guy who checked us in! Was really only an issue at the volleyball: had most days 5 teams at 4pm. Time they construct a new volleyball court if the resort stays so popular.