What to buy? Sanibel

[gcrowe21]

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?

Sanibel Island - at least every other year. We would never be upset about having to spend a week in Sanibel, but want to explore other areas as well.

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?

At least half the time

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

Besides Sanibel - Southern California, Southwest (Arizona, Utah), Orlando - Disney/Universal, Europe and Hawaii

4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself?

5

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?

Locked into school schedule for next 4 or 5 years

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?

Yes

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?

Yes

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?

Probably 4

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?

About $7,500

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?

$1,500

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?

Yes

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?

Yes

Thanks for any help/advice given.

 

[gcrowe21]

I have a specific question about Shell Island which is not managed by HGVC. I read on a thread elsewhere that when a unit there is sold there that it is no longer a HGVC unit. How do I know if a resale unit is an HGVC unit? Also, if I purchase a unit that is not HGVC can I get it back into HGVC. As you can tell, I want to be apart of HGVC.

 

[travelhacker]

I'll add one more question:

Where do you live? Or more specifically, what areas do you like to visit that are in driving range?

I end up spending more on airfare and rental car a lot of times than accommodations (although Southwest points have helped tremendously).

For me personally, that plays a much larger factor in what I chose to buy than anything else. We live in Colorado. I chose Hyatt because there are 4 different resorts in Colorado that I can exchange into. With traffic to get to the mountains and the convenience of staying in ski in / ski out units, I've absolutely loved it.

I have looked at getting an HGVC week as well. The general rule with HGVC is to get a platinum week. I don't think you'd be able to get a platinum week for $7500 at a Sanibel resort. When do you want to stay in Sanibel? I know staying in Spring Break is infinitely harder to get than Summer.

Many HGVC resorts in southwest Florida (Sanibel and Marco Island) are dual affiliated with II. With my Hyatt, I was able to get a 4th of July week at Charter Club on Marco Island confirmed just 8 hours after putting in the request (I think this was unusual, but I think it is definitely possible to trade into Sanibel / Marco if you have a good trade.

Given the answers to your other questions, I think getting a Marriott trader could also be a good fit.

The only one that may be hard to work is Sanibel, but I think it would work out in the summer, and almost certainly during a fall break week.

I’m biased to Hyatt. However, the resort footprint is small. It helps that it is an excellent trader within Interval. They haven’t been exercising RoFR for the past several months so there have been some incredible deals (the thought is that could change once MVCfigures out what it wants to do with Hyatt Residence Club)

 

[travelhacker]

I have a specific question about Shell Island which is not managed by HGVC. I read on a thread elsewhere that when a unit there is sold there that it is no longer a HGVC unit. How do I know if a resale unit is an HGVC unit? Also, if I purchase a unit that is not HGVC can I get it back into HGVC. As you can tell, I want to be apart of HGVC.

If you buy it resale there is no way to enroll it in HGVC. If you really like Shell Island Beach Club and can get a good price for it, you could always use the unit when you would like and try for exchanges in II or RCI.

 

[gcrowe21]

Thanks for the input. We live in Illinois. We’re looking for summer in Sanibel because of school/athletics schedules. We were looking at Shell Island because of the lower O&M fees. I’ll check out Marriott and Hyatt.

 

[5finny]

I own at Shell Island
I do not belong to HGVC but seem to recall that joining was an option
I would suggest you call the resort and ask
The sales department at the resort is usually not the cheapest place to go but probably has the most accurate info
Sanibel units are not the easiest to find (summer better than winter) so you may wind up there anyway
Good Luck