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[Q=robert934] My wife and I originally bought into the Mayan Palace system back in 1998, with a Sea Garden 2 BR/Mayan Palace 1 BR. We upgraded several times since then, each time bargaining with the salespeople and selling back extra weeks that we would not need, so that now we own 2 weeks at the Grand Bliss after a total investment over the years of about $60,000; we also were able to negotiate a deal in which we are NOT required to pay a maintenance fee every year, if we choose not to use a vacation week. Because we kept upgrading every 3 to 4 years, we never had to pay for the extra fifth year maintenance fee they impose for "room remodeling", and this fee is waived for Grand Bliss members. Upgrading further into The Grand Luxxe offered us unlimited golf and other perks, but as we don't golf, we felt it unnecessary to upgrade further, though the trading/renting power would improve. We used our Grand Bliss membership in Nuevo Vallarta for the first time earlier this month; you get all the features of the Grand Mayan with a nicer, albeit much smaller, building, though somewhat further removed from the beach (the Grand Bliss pool is still under construction). Grand Bliss members can also reserve weeks at the Grand Mayan for the latter's lower maintenance fee. We always attend at least one timeshare sales presentation (yes, those "90 minutes" always extend past 3 hours) and get great freebies -- the 10% discount is the least of them. We negotiated for $200 US cash plus another 1300 Mexican pesos (total value US $300), and then found out that other timeshare sales organizations can pay up to $400 in cash if you don't take any tours or shows or other discounts/freebies. So these presentations are worth your time, especially if you keep saying NO to purchasing.[/Q] I would never go to a timeshare presentation for the gifts or the money received. My vacation time is too important to me to spend 3 hours listening to a salesperson trying to convince me to buy a timeshare or an upgrade .... it's wasted precious time.