For some reason I have a feeling that Vidanta has thoroughly evaluated their decision to change the resort fee structure and this won't be their downfall. They seem to have made a lot of changes over the years and still seem to be thriving.
With regards to the changes in fees, I'll probably get a lot of grief for stating my opinion but here it goes.
I too, like others, am not overjoyed by the increase in the fees but have to step back and look realistically what I am getting. I've read here where folks were upset when the resort fee went from $75/week for some trades to the $11/pp/day. This applied to my II trade June. (Attending the presentation it reverted to $75/week plus the other discounts offered). Wow! Even without the presentation it still would have worked out to be whole $154/week plus home resort maintenance fees. I was able to use certificates so no maintenance fees were added. For 2 people in GB or GL one bedroom I didn't think that was too bad.
My upcoming February trade through II shows fees of $30/pp or for 2 it comes out to $420/week. From what I've read here new fees are now going up to $630/week for a 1br. My thinking is, for what I am getting, it is still worth it. The quality of the resort, the service and the overall ambiance of the resort for what turns out to be $90/night in fees. If I included an annual home resort maintenance fee of maybe $600 for the trade, it still works out to $1230/week or $175/night for a one bedroom GL. What would a luxury 1br resort hotel cost?
I randomly looked online at the Holiday Inn in Cancun and for a February week next year one could get a HOTEL room for $1,431 per week. Would it compare? Not in my book.
I guess I can understand that some people get upset when they purchased a timeshare resort for $1.00 on Ebay (as I have several) and pay a low maintenance fee of perhaps $600/week and expect to get a luxury resort for what was $675/week. We all played the system. For me though, for what I am getting even with the increases the cost IMHO is worth the expense. If it wasn't, or beyond my budget, I could stick with my home resorts, which by no means are comparable, or without complaints search for another place for my vacation. I choose to pay the fees and enjoy.
It would, IMO, be more palatable, if they also didn't restrict access (seems to be RM location only--for now).
Scenario 1 (2BR GL)
So my *current* cost if I exchanged via SFX (this is my MF for my Hilton I deposit, plus the booking fee/guest cert, SFX exchange fee and $300 GL uplift and "free" 2 BR upgrade) is:
$1047.
Tack on the $75 SFX fee = $1,122.00
Still not bad, but then I have no ability to use GL pool (which is the nicest benefit), beach club, or other things Vidanta restricts (again, RM location only). That's a no-go for me.
Scenario 2 (2BR GL):
Let's pretend SFX doesn't have the $75 fee and it's the same RCI/II fee of $1,050.
Ouch, then we're talking $2,100 or thereabouts, again, without "full" access. At that point, IMO, I'm better off renting from an owner. Or staying elsewhere. The resort is nice, but not perfect (no hot water in building #1 in 3 rooms during the week we stayed and someone else had the same issue a year later). Definitely a no go. More money than option #1 obviously by a huge chunk. Way more than what I consider the resort to be worth especially when access is restricted.
Scenario 3 (2BR GL):
If I book via RCI, then my cost is quite a bit higher (and I can't get into GL at RM via RCI), but let's pretend I could.
$1,240 for the RCI fee and my MF/HGVC points.
And then tack on the $1,050 in fee-fees.
Now we're at $2,300 almost. (and no access to most GL things - RM only).
Definitely better to rent from an owner.
The only difference, for me, for NV is that Vidanta doesn't (as yet) restrict access if you're exchanging.
Personally when we go in January, I find NV water temps/water clarity to not be very good (vs. the RM). The resort was very poorly run when I last went (lots of issues, they just didn't seem very organized, etc.) Especially when compared to RM (we're spoiled, what can we say). Not to mention for me, on the Northeast, the plane tickets are almost 2x more expensive to get to PVR vs. CUN.
At $2500 for a week, even for a 2 BR, that's too rich for my blood. I can get 2 vacations (almost) for that, so we're frugal/cheap. haha.
Now, if that was including AI fees, then it'd be a diff. story.
Although many valid points are brought up (maybe getting rid of the 1-in-whatever rules is increasing occupancy?), maybe the folks that bought into GL were complaining that it was cheaper to exchange (again, valid). Although there's a few times it's cheaper for me to exchange back into Hilton vs. booking directly (although now RCI is charging some fees for HGVC trades, but I don't recall if an owner gets zinged those fees), so it's not unusual for exchanges to be cheaper, IMO.
I think NV will probably be the next location that they restrict access as the new park will probably increase occupancy.
All conjecture of course.
It'll be interesting to see if they back off on the fees, or restrictions. I'm betting they won't for at least another year or two.
We'll have to re-visit this in say, 2019 and see what's happened.
On the plus side, there's a few choices for non-AI in the various areas that are pretty decent. We don't go every year anymore to Vidanta (For example, I'd rather stay elsewhere in Cabo than the Grand Mayan).
Or maybe I'll punish myself with another MSC cruise (haha).
