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Renting a "Home Resort" and impact of combining/banking SO from multiple mandatory resorts

skibummer

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So I own two weeks of a Plat+ 2 bdr lock-off at Westin Kierland Villas (mandatory) and 1 week of Plat+ in Westin Lagunamar (voluntary). I am closing on two Vistana Villages-Bella (mandatory) section 2 bdr (non lock-off) Platinum weeks-all resales, thanks TUG :). I have rented my home resort weeks (WKV and WLR) and understand how that process works. I understand how voluntary bookings work (1 wk blocks, same room type and same season only). I understand that you are NOT allowed to rent weeks you don't own but book with SO. For example, if I were to use my WKV SO to book a week at WKORV (I don't own there at all) and then rent out WKORV-this is not allowed. What is the interpretation of "home resort" since I own weeks at WKV and WLR and now are adding weeks from SVV-Bella? Anything booked 8 months out uses SO even at home resorts (excluding voluntary resorts) so how does Vistana keep track of where the SO come from? In other words, may I book a 7 month reservation using SVV-Bella SO for WKV or WLR and rent those since I own at all 3 resorts? How about if I combine and/or bank points from WKV and SVV? How well does Vistana track and allocate the points and monitor rentals. I'm not sure how to define "home resort" and the impact of renting given my above circumstances, especially if I start combining SO from multiple mandatory resorts and/or banking points from multiple mandatory resorts to use in later years. Thanks in advance for all the wise TUG input.
 
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DeniseM

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All Staroption reservations list the Staroptions used on the confirmation, and all home resort reservations have the words Home Resort Reservation on the confirmation, so they have no problem differentiating between them.

With Vistana, it's a don't ask - don't tell situation.
 

skibummer

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All Staroption reservations list the Staroptions used on the confirmation, and all home resort reservations have the words Home Resort Reservation on the confirmation, so they have no problem differentiating between them.

With Vistana, it's a don't ask - don't tell situation.
Denise, So if I book a 7 month reservation for WKV using my SO from WKV it will show a "Staroptions reservation rather than a "Home Resort" reservation? Likewise, following your response, a 7 month reservation for WKV using SVV points will show the same? So all the Staroptions are pooled together from all my mandatory resorts? It sounds like as long as I am renting using SO bookings only at resorts that I am an owner I should be ok? It just became confusing to me when I start to combine SO across multiple mandatory resorts and potentially bank points into subsequent years. Thanks
 

DeniseM

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ALL reservations made within 8 mos. of check-in are Staroption reservations - even at your home resort.

Staroptions are not pooled, unless they are banked. When you make a Staroption reservation, you can choose which resort to use the Staroptions from, or choose to use banked Staroptions (if you have any banked.)

When you make a Home Resort Reservation, you reserve the week you own - it's not a Staroption transaction.
 
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aus

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Great topic and info from DeniseM.

Is there a difference in renting a Mandatory vs. a Voluntary resort if you own it?
 

DeniseM

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No - home resort reservations say "Home Resort" whether it's voluntary or mandatory.

Here are 2 screen shots of my SDO home resort reservation - voluntary, and my WKORV reservation - mandatory:

Screen Shot 2017-08-30 at 8.46.58 PM.png


Screen Shot 2017-08-30 at 8.48.54 PM.png
 

Henry M.

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The confirmation for reservations you make says:

Rental of units reserved using StarOptions® (other than a vacation period at your Home Resort) is prohibited. Violation may result in the suspension of an Owner’s right to reserve within the Vistana Signature Network™ until compliant.

It seems pretty clear to me that you can only rent units at your home resort (even if made less than 8 months out). Mixing in Staroptions from other resorts is not allowed. Whether Vistana would know or enforce the requirement is a different question.

Some might try to justify renting units at different resorts than their home resort reserved with banked options, but that clearly goes against the intent of the rules. You should only rent units reserved with Staroptions from the resort you own.
 

Markus

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Denise, So if I book a 7 month reservation for WKV using my SO from WKV it will show a "Staroptions reservation rather than a "Home Resort" reservation? Likewise, following your response, a 7 month reservation for WKV using SVV points will show the same? So all the Staroptions are pooled together from all my mandatory resorts? It sounds like as long as I am renting using SO bookings only at resorts that I am an owner I should be ok? It just became confusing to me when I start to combine SO across multiple mandatory resorts and potentially bank points into subsequent years. Thanks
You can only rent out a reservation made at your home resort with staroptions from the deed from which the staroptions originate from. Anything else is prohibited. To date, this has not been enforced to my knowledge. However this could be enforced at any time. You would not want to see this enforced when your renter is checking in and access to the property is denied, and your usage in SVN is denied until you become compliant. Not worth the risk.
This rule is there to protect home resort owners at resorts with higher maintenance fees from being undercut, by the process you are contemplating above.
Markus
 

JohnPaul

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I have star options at Sheraton Mountain Vista in Avon. If I buy more at a mandatory resort, can I pull star options from either/both when I want to make a reservation somewhere. Specifically, if I want to book winter at Avon and don't have enough Avon star options can I supplement with star options from the other mandatory resort I would own?

Many thanks!
 

VacationForever

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I have star options at Sheraton Mountain Vista in Avon. If I buy more at a mandatory resort, can I pull star options from either/both when I want to make a reservation somewhere. Specifically, if I want to book winter at Avon and don't have enough Avon star options can I supplement with star options from the other mandatory resort I would own?

Many thanks!
Yes, Star Options can be pooled. But you can only book at 8 months since you do not own the winter season, as you indicated you do not have enough star options at SMV.
 

skibummer

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The confirmation for reservations you make says:

Rental of units reserved using StarOptions® (other than a vacation period at your Home Resort) is prohibited. Violation may result in the suspension of an Owner’s right to reserve within the Vistana Signature Network™ until compliant.

It seems pretty clear to me that you can only rent units at your home resort (even if made less than 8 months out). Mixing in Staroptions from other resorts is not allowed. Whether Vistana would know or enforce the requirement is a different question.

Some might try to justify renting units at different resorts than their home resort reserved with banked options, but that clearly goes against the intent of the rules. You should only rent units reserved with Staroptions from the resort you own.

So I am not trying to be obtuse, but my original statement is I am a new owner at all 3 resorts (WKV, WLR, and SVV) so are they are all considered my "home resorts"? I am NOT looking to rent a resort week that I am not an owner (such as WKORV) with SO from WKV or SVV-Bella (I get that and I don't need that statement clarified). Someone in this thread above previously made the statement " You should only rent units reserved with StarOptions from the resort you own." I own at all 3 so that is what I am trying to determine from my original post. I am a new owner of these units within the past year and don't understand all the nuances of the Vistana program. I bought all my units resale and am not sure what is the definition of "home resort". I just need clarification to know what I can and cannot do given multiple ownerships of mandatory resorts.
 
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VacationForever

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You are allowed to rent a Home Resort booking, with the words Home Resort marked on the reservation. Anything else you are going against the rules.
 

skibummer

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You are allowed to rent a Home Resort booking, with the words Home Resort marked on the reservation. Anything else you are going against the rules.
DeniseM (the moderator) stated that ALL reservations less than 8 months out will show as Star Options reservation, even if I only owned a single week at WKV and I rented what I owned booked less than 8 months out at my home resort. Those reservations are allowed to be rented as well and it is not against the rules-It is my Home Resort. Your statement means only a home resort reservation made 8-12 months out can be rented and all home resort reservations made less than 8 months out can't be rented because they will be titled as a Star Options reservation rather than a Home Resort reservation. See below from her post #4

"ALL reservations made within 8 mos. of check-in are Staroption reservations - even at your home resort. (post #4)
 
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DeniseM

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There has been an ongoing debate on TUG about whether a Staroption reservation, made by an owner at their home resort, is valid for rental or not, because the verbiage is not completely clear:

Rental of units reserved using StarOptions® (other than a vacation period at your Home Resort) is prohibited.

At this point in time, Vistana does have published limitations on renting Staroption reservations, but they do not seem to be interested in enforcing it. Owners say that sometimes when you call to get a guest confirmation they will quote the rule to you, but they don't actually ask if you are renting your reservation.

In fact, there has been some speculation that Vistana may be distancing themselves from rentals/renters so they don't have to deal with it, because they no longer record guest's contact info, and they will no longer communicate directly with guests, so they have no way of knowing if you are renting your timeshare or not - unless you tell them.

In other words - they now have plausible deniability, because they have changed their procedures so they have no direct contact with guests.

So at this time, it is a don't ask - don't tell situation.
 

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I agree that Vistana isn't enforcing things, but the rule is pretty clear. You have to use Staroptions from your home resort or your home resort period if you want to rent out the reservation. Even if you have co-mingled all your banked Staroptions, you should know how many you have from the resort you want to rent out. If you don't have enough from that particular resort, then you shouldn't rent out the reservation. Sure you can drive above the speed limit, and as long as you don't get caught or the cops don't check, you'll get away with it. However, you are still doing something illegal though no one is looking.

The whole intent of the program is that you should only rent what you own. If you already went to WLR this year and you haven't been banking WLR Staroptions, then you shouldn't make a WLR reservation to rent it out. Now if you want to go there yourself, the you can use any Staroptions you have from any of your properties to stay there.

You can twist things many ways to try to justify renting reservations you make, but keep the intent of the program in mind when you consider what is right or what is wrong. Don't ask, don't tell doesn't really make it right. It is up to your conscience to do the right thing, though.
 

okwiater

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I agree that Vistana isn't enforcing things, but the rule is pretty clear. You have to use Staroptions from your home resort or your home resort period if you want to rent out the reservation.

emuyshondt is correct. You should only rent a reservation that is backed by deeded usage (or HomeOptions) that you own. Just because someone owns, for example, a single contract at WKORV doesn't mean they can then use a bucketful of WKV deeds to reserve and rent a dozen more WKORV weeks. Every time you reserve something that you don't own, it reduces the inventory available to owners. Which is fine if the reservation is for your own use, but not if you intend to rent it for a profit.
 

dioxide45

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Keep in mind that any SO reservation is also going to have a $59 guest certificate fee. So if there is a fee, then technically one would not be renting their home resort reservation.
 

skibummer

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Ok so if I understand some of the responses correctly, even though I own at both resorts you can't use one for the other. It's not enough to be an owner at both, I can only use from the same resort for rentals (WKV for WKV and SVV for SVV, but not WKV for SVV), even if I own at both resorts, right? I was thinking if I owned at both they would both be considered "home resorts". I'm new to the ownership and want to maximize my purchases and usage while staying within the boundaries of the rules. It gets a bit confusing for us new owners. Thanks for the clarification. I have had more than one broker list one of the benefits of buying "Vistana property x" as renting it out in Hawaii. You would think they would know what is allowed as this becomes confusing to hear this as a new buyer.
 
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dioxide45

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Ok so if I understand some of the responses correctly, even though I own at both resorts you can't use one for the other. It's not enough to be an owner at both, I can only use from the same resort for rentals (WKV for WKV and SVV for SVV, but not WKV for SVV), even if I own at both resorts, right? I was thinking if I owned at both they would both be considered "home resorts". I'm new to the ownership and want to maximize my purchases and usage while staying within the boundaries of the rules. It gets a bit confusing for us new owners. Thanks for the clarification. I have had more than one broker who handled my transactions list one of the benefits of buying SVV as renting it out in Hawaii. You would think they would know what is allowed as this becomes confusing to hear this as a new buyer.
It only matters if you want to rent the week you reserve out to someone else. If you don't plan to do that, the source of the SOs don't matter. The rule though is, if you have to wait until 8 months out to reserve it, it is an SO reservation, regardless of where the SOs came from.
 

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Just consider how it would be fair for an owner of Hawaii for an owner of SVV to take a week that the Hawaii owner wants to use only to rent it out for huge profit. As an owner, you can use any Staroptions you have to go anywhere. However, renting out for a profit is a different matter.

The issue is Vistana has not really enforced the rules, so people do get away with buying cheap Staroptions to take away weeks from those that have paid much more. You can skirt the rules and do things you're not supposed to. Some feel they are very smart by doing so.
 

dioxide45

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The issue is Vistana has not really enforced the rules, so people do get away with buying cheap Staroptions to take away weeks from those that have paid much more. You can skirt the rules and do things you're not supposed to. Some feel they are very smart by doing so.
They aren't really taking the weeks away from the owners though, since the owner had a four month head start to book the week. I would think that most real great rentalable prime reservations are probably long gone before the SO window ever opens.
 

Henry M.

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Owners should always have first dibs at their home resort. Other exchangers are welcome to come in for their own use, but not to rent out more expensive resorts than they own, for a profit.
 

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Does Vistana get to grab everything at 60 days out and rent for cash/points (profits) like some of the other resort systems?

In that case, would it be more palatable for the enterprising multi resort multi week owner to make a profit rather than Vistana? So enterprising owner should just grab the units when they can, staroptions, deeds or not. Or does Vistana profits filter back to all owners, in that Vistana won't raise management fees, etc.
 

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Yes - Vistana can confiscate any unreserved inventory at 60 days out, rent it, and put the money in their pocket. The owners of the weeks have already paid the maintenance fees, so Vistana doesn't have to pay anything for them.
 

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Is it just me or posters are still not saying the same thing? In reading this, it seems the debeate continues...

The question of can you rent a reservation made at your home resort for the unit type you own in the Season you own if it is made past the 8 mark has not been agreed on by all. Some posters say yes some say no...:doh:

I think you can. Even if it is made after the 8 months mark.
 
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