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

[Ken555]

It would be crystal clear if the words in brackets were removed.

It is open to interpretation as it is currently worded

I agree it can be better defined. But a StarOption reservation is inherently not a home resort reservation. So even with some confusion as to sentence structure, there’s no way this can be interpreted to mean a reservation may be rented using banked SOs or any SOs at all.


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[DavidnRobin]

^^^^ this ^^^^


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[Henry M.]

Rental of units reserved using StarOptions

(other than a vacation period at your Home Resort) is prohibited.

To me this says Rentals using StarOptions are prohibited, except when they are at the home resort (they don’t say anything about the home resort period). They are talking about SO reservations. They are prohibited, except when ...

Home resort is the place where you own. There is also a Home Resort Period, but that is not what they mention in the confirmation.

I interpret the sentence to mean an SO reservation is allowed at the home resort where the SO’s came from. At minimum, this is open to interpretation. I come to a different conclusion than DavidnRobin.

 

[byeloe]

I Agree with emuyshondt

 

[PcflEZFlng]

As do I.

 

[dioxide45]

To me this says Rentals using StarOptions are prohibited, except when they are at the home resort (they don’t say anything about the home resort period). They are talking about SO reservations. They are prohibited, except when ...

Home resort is the place where you own. There is also a Home Resort Period, but that is not what they mention in the confirmation.

I interpret the sentence to mean an SO reservation is allowed at the home resort. At minimum, this is open to interpretation. I come to a different conclusion than DavidnRobin.

It should also be noted, that a "vacation period" doesn't have to be seven nights.

 

[PcflEZFlng]

It should also be noted, that a "vacation period" doesn't have to be seven nights.

Absolutely correct.

 

[DavidnRobin]

To me this says Rentals using StarOptions are prohibited, except when they are at the home resort (they don’t say anything about the home resort period). They are talking about SO reservations. They are prohibited, except when ...

Home resort is the place where you own. There is also a Home Resort Period, but that is not what they mention in the confirmation.

I interpret the sentence to mean an SO reservation is allowed at the home resort where the SO’s came from. At minimum, this is open to interpretation. I come to a different conclusion than DavidnRobin.

It may be a different conclusion, but that does not make it correct.
I agree the wording is poor. However, HR reservations as defined by VSE/VSN are not SO reservations (and visa versus) - they are 2 different types of reservations no matter how it is spun.

Once you make a reservation at <8 months (for typical VSE resorts) - it is no longer a HR reservation. It is a SO reservation even if at same resort.

In my example scenario of converting my WKORV OF studio to a WKORV 1 Bd (that can only be done at the 8 month point) - this is SO Reservation even though it is at my Home Resort.
Therefore, against rules to rent.

The definition of a HR reservation is being confused here - a HR reservation is a made at 8-12 months that reserves your deeded VOI type (View/Unit type) - this is lost at 8 months and becomes a SO Reservation as you lose your HR privilege of reserving your deeded usage (View/Unit type).

Interpret however it meets your bias - but that doesn’t change the fact.
Ask VSE/VSN - and this is what they will tell you.

HR reservations are at 8-12 months out - at 8 months they are SO reservations EVEN IF made at the resort that is owned (thus the loss of HR privilege of location and view).

btw - I have no skin in this game. I use or rent my HR reservations. I merely discussed with SVN about adding text to the reservation confirmations (which they eventually did a couple of years later).

Want clarification? Ask VSN management as I have. I would gladly make a wager on their response.



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[Henry M.]

I'm not disputing what you say. Reservations less than 8 months out are SOs reservations. The text clearly says you can't rent reservations using SO EXCEPT when they are at your home resort. So they are singling out a set of SO reservations that can be rented out. If they meant ALL SO reservations, they wouldn't mention any exceptions. The word EXCEPT modifies the sentence significantly. Home Resort Period reservations are not SO reservations and don't need mentioning.

This doesn't affect me either. I always make my reservations 12 months out.

 

[byeloe]

I'm not disputing what you say. Reservations less than 8 months out are SOs reservations. The text clearly says you can't rent reservations using SO EXCEPT when they are at your home resort. So they are singling out a set of SO reservations that can be rented out. If they meant ALL SO reservations, they wouldn't mention any exceptions. The word EXCEPT modifies the sentence significantly. Home Resort Period reservations are not SO reservations and don't need mentioning.

This doesn't affect me either. I always make my reservations 12 months out.[/QUO

That is exactly how I interpret it as well. If they meant all SO reservations, they would/should just say it.

 

[Ken555]

So... who will be calling to request they fix and/or clarify this questionable sentence?

It doesn’t affect me, either, since I’ve never rented and have zero intention of renting my weeks. But, I have rented from others in the past at other resorts so should an opportunity arise to rent at a VSN property I would want to be assured that the rental was not going to experience issues...


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[DeniseM]

This is how Vistana implements this rule:

1. If you make a Staroption reservation at your home resort, and call to put the reservation in a guest's name. The phone Rep. will review your account and state that it's OK for you to rent the reservation, because it's at your home resort. Or they will say nothing about it at all, because they see that you are an owner at the resort, and they don't even bring it up.

2. If you make a Staroption reservation at a resort that is not your home resort, and call to put the reservation in a guest's name, the phone Rep. will usually review your account, state that you don't own a timeshare at the resort, and read a prepared statement that says it's against the rules to rent a timeshare at a resort that you do not own. Then they will ask you if you still want to proceed with the guest confirmation.

This is easy to verify - try it yourself on your own account. There is no penalty for cancelling a reservation as long as it's more than 61 days out from check-in, and you can even do it online.

 

[Henry M.]

Basically, you can rent what you own, regardless whether the reservation is made 12-8 months out or whether you use StarOptions that you have from that resort. You are not supposed to use SO’s from one property to rent out a unit in a different location.

 

[dioxide45]

This is how Vistana implements this rule:

1. If you make a Staroption reservation at your home resort, and call to put the reservation in a guest's name. The phone Rep. will review your account and state that it's OK for you to rent the reservation, because it's at your home resort. Or they will say nothing about it at all, because they see that you are an owner at the resort, and they don't even bring it up.

2. If you make a Staroption reservation at a resort that is not your home resort, and call to put the reservation in a guest's name, the phone Rep. will usually review your account, state that you don't own a timeshare at the resort, and read a prepared statement that says it's against the rules to rent a timeshare at a resort that you do not own. Then they will ask you if you still want to proceed with the guest confirmation.

This is easy to verify - try it yourself on your own account. There is no penalty for cancelling a reservation as long as it's more than 61 days out from check-in, and you can even do it online.

So this seems to support the "except when" side of the argument made by @emuyshondt .

 

[Ken555]

What’s strange about this interpretation is that since you only own a particular unit in a particular season, why would it be acceptable to rent a unit, even at the same resort, in a different season? You don’t own that time, and it’s a club (ie. StarOption) exchange/reservation. It could just as well be at another resort, and when I read the club rules years ago I had the impression this was made clear. Similarly, banked SOs used for a future year rental are considered a Club reservation in any season, and is specifically not a home resort period reservation by definition, so even that would be questionable (though much more understandable).

This is the fundamental distinction between the two perspectives in this thread, and regardless of what the VSN phone reps say, and what you can get away with, I would have difficulty relying upon this position if I was renting my unit or renting a unit myself, just as I wouldn’t want to rent a unit exchanged via II.

Ultimately, as with many things VSN, there is no clarity.


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[CalGalTraveler]

FWIW HGVC changed their policy to allow owners to reserve "Home Week" reservations up until check-in. There is no priority beyond the 9 month home week preference period, however a policy like this would go a long way to resolve this confusion.

I am not against a legitimate owner using their ownership beyond the home period to book and rent out what they own. If they are late and there is availability that should not be my concern.

My concern is for people who own at a resort and use SO's to rent out MORE than what they own such as using IV ownership to book and rent out OF/OV, or a larger unit, or add SOs from other resorts to book and rent out, or a different season (unless a downgrade).

This is abuse of an honor system and is not fair to other owners because it takes up capacity that should be available to legit owners and SO exchangers in order to run their business. This is akin to chair hogging.

 

[PcflEZFlng]

The discussion of seasons and weeks in general is confusing.

I own two Vistana contracts, and although both are noted to be in a certain 'season', they both come with StarOptions. I don't own any fixed weeks. I MUST use those SOs to book ANY reservation, no matter when or where I book it (12 months out at the home resort, 8 months out, 3 months out), it doesn't matter.

That reservation can be for any time of the year, and for any number of nights, even for the 12-month home resort reservation. The ONLY limiting factor is the number of SOs available for me to use (and, of course, availability). And yes, I can bank those points and reserve for whenever and whatever is available, for any time of the year. Therefore, as a points owner, 'weeks' and 'seasons' mean nothing to me.

I've never rented out any reservation, nor plan to, so I don't have a horse in this race. I'm not taking a position for or against, but based on the way the text is written, and what Denise reported, a points owner can use SOs make a home resort reservation and rent it out, regardless of when it was made, for what time of year it was made, and whether those points were banked, borrowed, or used in the year obtained. Pure and simple.

 

[Ken555]

The discussion of seasons and weeks in general in confusing to me. I own two Vistana contracts, and although both are noted to be in a certain 'season', they both come with StarOptions. I don't own any fixed weeks. I MUST use those SOs to book a reservation, no matter when or where I book it (12 months out at the home resort, 8 months out, 3 months out), it doesn't matter. That reservation can be for ANY time of the year, even for the 12-month home resort reservation. The ONLY limiting factor is And yes, I can bank those points and reserve for whenever and whatever is available.

Actually, that's not the case. Even though your weeks include StarOptions, when you use the week to reserve 12-8 months in advance at your home resort you are not using StarOptions for the reservation. By doing so you also are guaranteed your deeded season and view, if applicable. The reservation process is very similar to a 8-0 months reservation, but not exactly the same.

 

[Ken555]

My concern is for people who own at a resort and use SO's to rent out MORE than what they own such as using IV ownership to book and rent out OF/OV, or a larger unit, or add SOs from other resorts to book and rent out, or a different season (unless a downgrade).

This is abuse of an honor system and is not fair to other owners because it takes up capacity that should be available to legit owners and SO exchangers in order to run their business. This is akin to chair hogging.

Yes, exactly. Based on earlier comments, I would be within my rights to use my WKV SOs to reserve multiple weeks in a lower season and rent them all. I could easily reserve 5 weeks (actually, 5 weeks and 5 days) in a 1-Bed in the summer using my single week ownership (I would never do this, and would not be able to rent it, but still...). That just doesn't make any sense at all.

 

[PcflEZFlng]

Actually, that's not the case. Even though your weeks include StarOptions, when you use the week to reserve 12-8 months in advance at your home resort you are not using StarOptions for the reservation. By doing so you also are guaranteed your deeded season and view, if applicable. The reservation process is very similar to a 8-0 months reservation, but not exactly the same.

No. Perhaps you have a different type of contract. BTW, I was still editing my post when you quoted it (it had accidentally saved while I was in the middle of it). I am absolutely using SOs in the case you described. The explanation is in my fully saved post.

 

[Ken555]

No. Perhaps you have a different type of contract. BTW, I was still editing my post when you quoted it (it had accidentally saved while I was in the middle of it). I am absolutely using SOs in the case you described. The explanation is in my fully saved post.

Do you own a Flex week? That is a good point, and means there is yet another layer to the rental issue for those owners.

ETA: aren’t Flex week options “HomeOptions” and not “StarOptions”? Or, err...what are they called?

 

[PcflEZFlng]

I have 'float' (or 'floating week') contracts, good for any time of the year. Flex seems to be something that Vistana (now Marriott) has recently been trying to get owners to buy. I don't know anything about it (or care) because we stopped going to owner 'updates' a couple of years ago. But I don't have anything other than StarOptions to use. It is THE vehicle for which I can make reservations (except cash or MP of course).

 

[Ken555]

I have 'float' (or 'floating week') contracts, good for any time of the year. Flex seems to be something that Vistana (now Marriott) has recently been trying to get owners to buy. I don't know anything about it (or care) because we stopped going to owner 'updates' a couple of years ago. But I don't have anything other than StarOptions to use. It is THE vehicle for which I can make reservations (except cash or MP of course).

To the best of my knowledge (and I’m not current on this) the only ownership options are:

1. Deeded week, which may or may not include StarOptions.

2. Flex, sold under various names I think (Westin, Sheraton...), and has various resorts as “home” but the ownership is a trust (I believe) that owns multiple weeks at the “home” resorts. This includes Home Options for the home resort period (tho I’m not certain about the name) and StarOptions for other periods.

Are you able to reserve ANY VSN resort from 12-8 months from checkin? Or only certain VSN resorts?

If you don’t have a deed, and you’re sure you don’t have flex, then I’m very curious what you do own. Do you own at a particular resort, or just StarOptions?

Anyone else? Are there other ownership options?


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[PcflEZFlng]

I own a deeded week at a specific resort for each contract (at two separate resorts). For each contract, I can make a res at 12-8 months ONLY for the home resort specified in the contract. To make a res at any other resort, I must wait until the 8-mo window. The 'deeded week' imposes no restriction on the terms of use.

 

[Ken555]

I own a deeded week at a specific resort for each contract (at two separate resorts). For each contract, I can make a res at 12-8 months ONLY for the home resort specified in the contract. To make a res at any other resort, I must wait until the 8-mo window. The 'deeded week' imposes no restriction on the terms of use.

You have a regular week, just like mine. You may think you’re using StarOptions for the 12-8 month reservation, but you’re not.

I’m not quite sure what you mean by the last sentence. Do you not have a season for use?


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