Moon Palace / Palace Resorts

[Mr317]

Hi Tugbbs'ers!

I wanted to quickly introduce myself. I've mostly just lurked on the forums, but I'm also an owner with Palace Resorts and would be happy to answer any questions anyone may have about the resorts or how the program works.

I worked at RCI for nearly 6 years, so I have a very good understanding of the timeshare industry!

Happy travels everyone!

 

[icydog]

I have a question and forgive me if it sounds stupid. My friend owns a studio at one of the Moon Palace Resorts in MX. I don't know which one. Is Moon Palace connected with Hard Rock hotels now? She got some mail from MP and it was concerning the Hard Rock Hotels in MX. Will the ability to trade into the Hard Rock hotels, if it even exists, allow her a to use the Orlando Hard Rock Hotel?

 

[tiel]

I have a question and forgive me if it sounds stupid. My friend owns a studio at one of the Moon Palace Resorts in MX. I don't know which one. Is Moon Palace connected with Hard Rock hotels now? She got some mail from MP and it was concerning the Hard Rock Hotels in MX. Will the ability to trade into the Hard Rock hotels, if it even exists, allow her a to use the Orlando Hard Rock Hotel?

To the best of my knowledge, she can access the Mexican and Dominican Republic Hard Rock Hotels via her Palace Resorts ownership, but no Hard Rocks anywhere in the US. The reason for that is, Palace Resorts was split up several years by the family owning it. Half of the existing resorts retained the Palace affiliation, while the others went with Hard Rock. Hard Rock owners do not have access to Palace properties through their ownership though.

 

[Mr317]

I have a question and forgive me if it sounds stupid. My friend owns a studio at one of the Moon Palace Resorts in MX. I don't know which one. Is Moon Palace connected with Hard Rock hotels now? She got some mail from MP and it was concerning the Hard Rock Hotels in MX. Will the ability to trade into the Hard Rock hotels, if it even exists, allow her a to use the Orlando Hard Rock Hotel?

Hello, sorry for my late reply! If your friend has an older Palace membership (called "Palace Premier") then she can still use her weeks internally at any Hard Rock property that's listed in her contract. After the Palace and Hard Rock split, the new Palace memberships were called "Elite", and those have no access to Hard Rock Properties.

As for using an exchange company, Palace has moved from RCI to II.. The process is a bit involved, but here's how exchanging a week with them works:

1st you need a membership in interval international (II). It's $89 for 1 year.

2nd call Palace reservations, pay the processing fee of US$443 then after 5 days they give you a booking number and deposit your booking to II.

3rd you call II, give the booking number , pay the II exchange fee of US$199 per week and request your vacation. Warning that many people complain they can't get what they want from II.

So US$733 in fees.

I hope this info is useful!

 

[icydog]

To the best of my knowledge, she can access the Mexican and Dominican Republic Hard Rock Hotels via her Palace Resorts ownership, but no Hard Rocks anywhere in the US. The reason for that is, Palace Resorts was split up several years by the family owning it. Half of the existing resorts retained the Palace affiliation, while the others went with Hard Rock. Hard Rock owners do not have access to Palace properties through their ownership though.

I’m still confused. Is Hard Rock a timeshare developer? Can she just call and get into one of the Hard Rock Resorts which I assume are the Hard Rock side of the equation. How can I find out where they are?

Hello, sorry for my late reply! If your friend has an older Palace membership (called "Palace Premier") then she can still use her weeks internally at any Hard Rock property that's listed in her contract. After the Palace and Hard Rock split, the new Palace memberships were called "Elite", and those have no access to Hard Rock Properties.

As for using an exchange company, Palace has moved from RCI to II.. The process is a bit involved, but here's how exchanging a week with them works:

1st you need a membership in interval international (II). It's $89 for 1 year.

2nd call Palace reservations, pay the processing fee of US$443 then after 5 days they give you a booking number and deposit your booking to II.

3rd you call II, give the booking number , pay the II exchange fee of US$199 per week and request your vacation. Warning that many people complain they can't get what they want from II.

So US$733 in fees.

I hope this info is useful!

Your reply, and the other quoted reply, have been very helpful to me. I didn’t know that Palace Resorts traded in II. I didn’t know any Hard Rock locations were listed in her contract. Her contract is at least 20 years old. She never uses it and she never pays MFs. So she never cared... until she received this promotion from the Hard Rock Hotels.
If she could get a decent trade, say to a Marriott, then this may be the way to go.



Edited to add that her contract is for a studio type of room so that’ll probably affect her trading ability to a one or two bedroom Marriott

 

[tiel]

I guess I misspoke. I should have said membership instead of ownership. But if her contract is about 20years old, in all probability she will have access to some Hard Rock properties, as they were once Palace Resorts properties. These HR hotels are located in Nuevo Vallarta, Cancun, Riviera Maya, and the Dominican Republic (which she may NOT have access to). In her contract, they would have been identified as Palace Resorts hotels. To make a reservation, she can call the Palace reservation number listed in her contract.

As Mr317 implied, the trading power for a Palace Resorts week in II is probably not very high, and I’m not sure she would get a Marriott, at least in prime season, and I’m guessing getting a 1 or 2 bedroom unit would be unusual. We have never attempted to trade a Palace week in II (or previously in RCI), so I have no experience to offer here. But, if the fees aren’t considered to be too high, I guess she could try going for a trade, especially if she can be very flxible with her dates.