Marriott vs. Starwood

Hello, My husband and I are interested in purchasing a Marriott or Starwood resale, but are very new to the game. We just went to the Westin Kierland Villas in Scottsdale where we got the timeshare presentation. We were interested in buying, but knew that there was a resale market and wanted to learn more before making a decision on buying. After reading these forums, I've decided that resale is surely the way to go to save money upfront. A few questions for those who understand this system:

We're deciding between a Marriott and Westin and would like feedback on advanatages/disadvantages to these. I understand that on the resale market the Starwood options cannont be transfered to points and the Marriott cannont be turned into reward points. Neither of these affect us since we have small children and want to use the vacation clubs.

At the timeshare presentation, they told us that the property you buy (this is Westin) doesn't matter because you're basically buying the points and those can be traded for any Starwood Vacation property without a problem. From what I have read, it sounds like the location and time of your timeshare greatly influence how you can trade your timeshare on Interval International. Please share your experiences with this.

We would appreciate any advice on how to maximize our buying resale potential (e.g., time of season to buy, location with best trading potential, Interval International tricks, etc...)

Thank you!

See my response here

Use this link to tell you about Starwood Resale. http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63224

Advantage of Starwood is that they have a home resort time frame 12 to 8 months for the home resort people to book their time. Marriott only has home resort preference for Hawiaan properties.

My sister has a Marriott and hates it. She tried to book 364 days in advance at her home resort and the resort was booked up. If you own 2 Marriotts you can book 14 months in advance and the whole system is open to all Marriott TS people. That is, the people who bought in Florida can book in Newport or any where except Hawaii 365 days in advance with having only a single TS and 14 months in advance if 2 or more TS units.

Starwood has volintary and manditory units. Purchasing a manditory property, resale, give you full access to the Starwood system. There are 5 manditory resorts in their system. Buying resale, volintary gives you access to your resort and Interval International. You can not trade to another Starwood resort except through Interval International and you can not convert to StarPoints.

Check out the above link

bradp50 wrote:

Use this link to tell you about Starwood Resale. http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63224

Advantage of Starwood is that they have a home resort time frame 12 to 8 months for the home resort people to book their time. Marriott only has home resort preference for Hawiaan properties.

My sister has a Marriott and hates it. She tried to book 364 days in advance at her home resort and the resort was booked up. If you own 2 Marriotts you can book 14 months in advance and the whole system is open to all Marriott TS people. That is, the people who bought in Florida can book in Newport or any where except Hawaii 365 days in advance with having only a single TS and 14 months in advance if 2 or more TS units.

Starwood has volintary and manditory units. Purchasing a manditory property, resale, give you full access to the Starwood system. There are 5 manditory resorts in their system. Buying resale, volintary gives you access to your resort and Interval International. You can not trade to another Starwood resort except through Interval International and you can not convert to StarPoints.

Check out the above link

You have given out EXTREMELY INACCURATE information. I own a Marriott at Ko Olina in Hawaii and what you are saying is very very wrong.

Maybe your sister is not having luck, but most people can make reservations 12 months in advance. I have been to Ko Olina in the summer and did not have to even do it a year in advance.

Marriott is a good system. Most Marriott owners love their timeshares because there are several of them in very desirable locations throughout the world and they are usually of a very high quality. Marriott sells their timeshares by weeks and not points. If you hear about points with Marriott they are referring to Marriott rewards points which are received by using credit cards and if you bought your timeshare through the developer you can trade your timeshare and get Marriott rewards points to change into gifts and hotel points for stays in places where there may not be a Marriottt timeshare. I used these points to stay in Paris and Japan's hotels.

To make reservations you can do it online or by telephone. You can make a reservation if you own only one week 12 months in advance of your arrival. If you own multiple weeks you can make a reservation 13 months in advance only if you are making reservations for 2 consecutive weeks or using multiple timeshares concurrently.

If a Marriott owner wants to exchange into a property of another Marriott they do not own, they need to do an exchange through Interval International (II) as Marriott does not have an internal exchange program at this time. The Marriott owner would need to deposit his/her week first into II and then when someone at the resort relinquishes their timeshare Marriott owners have 24 day headstart on other companies like Starwood people who want to exchange into them. Thus, booking in Newport, Hawaii or anyplace else would require this process and not what you stated above.

Please give the original poster the right information.

I own both Marriott and Starwood properties. Marriott Aruba Surf Club and Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas North. I love both and have never had problems exchanging my weeks. The only difference is you have to list your Marriott week with I.I. to exchange even if to another Marriott property. With Starwood, if you want to exchange to another Starwood property, you do not need to list with I.I. -- you use your StarOptions to do so.

Looks like you did not read my response correctly. Basicly I am saying that for one to get into there home resort through Marriott its more difficult than through Starwood. Starwood provides home resortb owners from 12 to 8 months exclusive access where Marriott opens it up to everyong at 12 months out. If that means going through II then its even worse since there are thousands of TS using II. As far as Marriott resorts are, they are First Class. Its only the access I do not like'

If you want good info, write back to me

Saul

I work with both everyday and can tell you that Starwoods customer service is excellent compared to the other..........and they have integrity. If they make an error on your deed, THEY correct it.

Booking with Marriott and availability is very dependent on the resort. We own at Waiohi on Kauai, and you MUST get on board the instant the units become avaialble or you are out of the game. We also own on Frenchman's cove on St. Thomas, and booking is pretty easy there, top weeks fill up, but not in 1-2 hours.

On the owning 2 units, we get 13 month advanced booking, BUT, they must be back to back weeks. NOBODY told us this when we bought the 2nd week, and it makes no sense when you buy at 2 different resorts. This is really just for people who buy multiple weeks at the same resort, and want to go there for 2+ weeks in a row. Otherwise it is worth nothing.

If you plan ahead, and stick with your plan, Marriott is great, get off plan, and it can be a real pain.

I know people who own at Starwood and are very happy with their ownership. I also know people that own with Marriott like myself, and we are equally very happy with our resorts. I don't think you can go wrong buying into either company, as they both have first rate properties. This year, it was challenge for me to book my two Newport Coast Villa's weeks, having missed out on two consecutive weeks. I can book 13 months in advance, where they release half of the inventory, saving the remaining 50% for the single week owners to book 12 months out. I had to call immediately at 6:00 a.m. PST, to reserve my two weeks. On two weeks, I had to wait several minutes in the que before a vacation counselor got on the line. By that time, the inventory for that particular week was gone! That would be my only complaint, being that the weeks in hottest demand can be hard to book. However, I did strike pay dirt last Monday, where I reserved both weeks for August 28, 2010. I immediately exchanged one of the two weeks with a request for Hawaii in 2010, and Interval International gave me a bonus week certificate for the exchange! With the bonus certificate I subsequently requested and was able to book a two bedroom at the Marriott Timber Lodge in Lake Tahoe for next June for only $299 plus tax. Can't even get that price on a rental using Redweek! Interval International has always given me a bonus week certificate for exchanging one of my Marriott weeks.

Go with Marriott.

Which one do you feel you get more options with? I own 2 marriott weeks and we are considering a week with Starwood to get into their system. I own with St. Kitts Marriott and Aruba Surf Club with Marriott and am considering the Westin Princeville, Kuai, HI. Any insight would be appreciated. Craig

We own in the Westin at Princeville. It's a beautiful resort! We have a two-bedroom lock-off that holds 8 very comfortably. It opened in January 2009 so we went for the first time last year. Very private, relaxing, and fabulous. If you want more info let me know.

Cassandra

Hi Cassandra, We are in the midst of deciding whether or not to rescind out contract with Starwood for the Kauai property. I've listened to complains of exisitng Starwood owners via www.tubbs.com on how the better way into the Starwood system is to "qualify" a resale unit by purchasing a lower priced Starwoods property afterwards. Can you comment on this? Thx. P.S. How are the maitenance fees to date?

cassandrah16 wrote:

We own in the Westin at Princeville. It's a beautiful resort! We have a two-bedroom lock-off that holds 8 very comfortably. It opened in January 2009 so we went for the first time last year. Very private, relaxing, and fabulous. If you want more info let me know.

Cassandra

I'd like to know as well. If I purchase a starwood resale, do I get star options and trade with other starwood ts?