Las Vegas or Palm Desert??

Hi Everyone:

I am considering purchasing a timeshare in California as I live in Northern CA and would like to be able to drive or fly cheap to my timeshare location. I would really like a biennial timeshare to keep maintenance costs low. I found a Gold season Marriott Palm Desert Villas II every year use for $3500, however, the fees with taxes amount to about $1000 every year. I also found a Las Vegas (close enough to California) timeshare at Villas at Polo Towers odd year usage for $1195; the fees are about $400 a year; both timeshares are two bedroom lockoffs. Please give me some advice as to which timeshare would be a better choice as far as trading, ect... I'm not sure if I should give up a Marriott for the Villas even though the fees and usage of the Villas are what I am looking for. Looking forward to your feedback.

IMHO, your first thought should be to buy a TS where you would like to vacation every year (or every other year), then buy at a high demand resort during a high demand season. If you are always willing to travel in the off-season, then buying off-season would be OK, but you may not get the exchanges you want. Las Vegas is oversaturated with TS and off season in Palm Desert is plentiful as well, so trade value is lower. If you haven't already done so, post your question on the TUG Forum (tugbbs.com). You'll get more reponses.