Marriott Vacation Club "Destinations" - What I Like and What I've Done

Why wouldn't you exchange with Interval for your two weeks in Orlando. We have chosen to stay at Cypress Harbour and we are in our late 50's. We love the area... you don't have to have kids to go to Cypress Harbour. We go to Tampa easily or visit friends in nearby towns, and can head to Daytona or Cape Kennedy for a day. But, seriously, my husband and I own 4 MVCI properties (Aruba, Vegas, and two in Myrtle Beach silver and bronze ... did you hear that ...bronze) and we usually use Aruba and the silver week in Myrtle Beach, but the other two we generally trade off with Interval. We get fabulous weeks with that little bronze week! It's amazing! 2BR units (two different stays) in Sedona, 2BR unit in Dominican Republic, 2BR unit in Palm Beach in December.

Don't think your only option is to trade them into Destination Points. You can if you want to, of course, but you just might do better trading week for week through Interval. We would only get 575 DP's for that bronze week, but do just fine getting MVCI properties or 5-star properties through Interval.

Good luck! Happy travels!

We have been MVCI owners since 1998 and have enjoyed every vacation since. We first bought a week in Marbella and since then have purchased 2 weeks in Playa Andalusa, Harbor Lake and recently Legends Edge. Whilst staying at Grand Chateau we bought into the points system and were upgraded to gold members. We are currently staying at Timber Lodge after a week at Grand Chateau. We are big reward points collectors so much so that we usually have enough for Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic when we visit USA, usually every 2 years. We are gradually working our way around the States and have used Grand Vista, Cypress Harbor, Desert Ridge, Palm Desert, Newport Coast and Ford Colony. Between exchanges we usually use points or travel package 5 or 7 night Marriott hotel stays and have used Ridgecrest this vac and will move on to Sebastopol this friday. If anyone has suggestions of great Vacation Clubs that we have not yet visited we would add them to our 2014 plans. This October we are goint to home base in Playa with the kids for a week.

Suggestions of our favorite Marriott Timeshare Resorts are Hilton Head Island- Grand Ocean Aruba Ocean Club or Surf Club (if you have kids) Both are amazing resorts - perfect "10" Aruba has the nicest/genuine people of any island we have ever been to.

I have not finally signed up for the "Destinations Program". I own one resort which I love to got to every year. I have other timeshares which I can trade into my Marriott resort, so staying half a week longer would be nice. I don't understand a comment that Marriott is selling it's Destinations program? If you sign up, but want to cancel later, how do you do it? If I don't use, the $165 a year would be a waste. I was told it will never go up, but everything else goes up. I would appreciate any advice.

We understand that the new Destinations program is mostly for owners with multiple weeks. We own one week in Palm Springs, but have traded to our favorite Waiohai in Kauai for 6 years now. To continue to go to Kauai in the new program, it would have cost us an additional $20,000+ for enough points so obviously we didn't go that route. Yes, concerned as Marriott has said our ability to trade like this won't last with the new program, but so far so good. Have also been to Aruba, but as we live on west coast, Hawaii is our preference. Love reading about the places you all recommend as we have lots of reward points to use up. Have considered purchasing another Marriott week here on RedWeek. Has anyone done this and does Marriott accept the change in ownership OK? Debby

Debbie, I suggest you go read the info on the Redweek blog that is named "Ripoff-Marriott Vacation Club Destinations" before you buy. It has lots of info on the program.

For Napa, California, enjoy the wineries. That area is compose of 3 valleys, Napa, Sonoma and the Mendocino coast. The Anderson Valley is there too. Its fun to travel around. There is also a Wine train that is great fun although a bit expensive. In the summer, the traffic in the Napa area can be exasperating. Great restaurants in that area too. Be careful driving after the wine tasting. Have a great time. By the way in San Francisco, don't miss the tour to Alcatraz.

Better check with Marriott before buying. I heard you are limited to that particular property and you cannot get points. It would trade through Interval International (II), if you are a member with them but not through their Marriott desk.

Purchase of Marriott Vacation Weeks in the aftermarket:

We purchased two Platinum weeks at Newport Coast Villas last year for under $8,000 each knowing that we "could not" trade for Rewards pts and/or for Dest pts. We also retained our old pre-Destinations Interval membership to enable trades of these units thru Interval. We hold regular family reunions at Newport Coast Villas so the absence of the point options doesn't matter. These weeks can be used, rented out, traded thru Interval, used in conjunction with other weeks purchased thru Marriott, etc. and they were purchased at bargain prices.

We own 5 weeks at Newport Coast (2 purchased privately), 1 Custom House in Boston, and 1 Grand Chateau in Las Vegas. We chose to enroll the 5 eligible weeks in Destinations and feel this program adds worthwhile options to our vacation program.

In summary, I would not hesitate to buy good weeks in the aftermarket as there are some super deals out there. My suggestion is that you buy high quality tradeable weeks or weeks at locations you will use.

Dennis

PS - I appreciate the useful suggestions I've read from others on this forum.

We've owned a week at Kauai Beach Club, EOY, since the late 90's. We purchased it on the secondary market. Since this is the destination we love to visit, it hasn't been a problem for us. True, we can't trade it for Rewards Points, but we don't want to trade it anyway. And Destination Points were not a good option for us because we couldn't get equal value at the time of year we like to go.

plz think long & hard about buying resale dest club pts! they DO NOT WORK the way they would if bought from the developer! if you read the fine print about when and what you are allowed to reserve you will at least understand the limitations. do your research! also, plz go on a sales presentaion with a seasoned sales executive (senior or higher) or ask to speak to a manager @ a sales gallery to have someone explain "breakage" to you so you can understand once & for all why in most cases it isn't in your best interest to elect club pts & then use club pts to reserve a week during your season @ your home resort (just as it wouldn't have ever made sense to use Interval and deposit your week and attempt to exchange back into what you just exchanged out of...) by the way ~ by my calculations, a gold timberlodge 2bdrm earns 2500 club pts but during almost all of the weeks in your season it seems to only take 2275 club pts to reserve 7 nts. (but using 225 pts per nt midweek, you could go for 2 different 5nt stays ~ maybe 1 in the spring & 1 in the fall ~ & still have pts left over...) it would probably also help to have someone qualified explain the split from Marriott International to you... it's the 2nd most exciting thing that has happened to the vacation club (introduction of the destinations club being the 1st!) good luck to you!

We're Marriott owners too (right now staying in Maui at the Marriott Ocean Beach Club - fantastic place...we own here and at Lake Tahoe Timbercove too), but we live in Sonoma Co. just over the hill from Napa Co. We're in the heart of California's winecountry, Santa Rosa is largest city in county about 50 miles north of Golden Gate Bridge. The suggestion you received to drive to Monterey is good but it takes about 3 to 4 hours one way to get there, San Simeno would be 6+ hours one way. California is a very large place and the distances shown on a map look close but are usually far away. San Francisco has a wonderful variety of things to do, I suggest you go to the Museum of Natural History, the De Young Museum, Golden Gate Bridge, take a tour to Alcatraz, eat in some wonderful restaurants there, take a ferry from San Francisco to Sausalito or Larkspur, great theatre but you'll need tickets in advance, etc. Take a drive through Napa Co to St. Helena, Calistoga then through the Alexander Valley into Sonoma Co. We have a beautiful coast line on the Pacific, drive thru Guerneville, to Jenner, make a left and drive down the coast to Bodega Bay then into Marin Co. to Tomales, then inland to Petaluma - a most beautiful drive. The redwood trees can be seen in Guerneville in Armstrong Grove or down in Marin Muir Woods. We have travelled all over the world yet every time we fly into the Bay Area we say how lucky we are to live in such a diverse/beautiful country. Hope that you have a wonderful time when you come here. OH, if you like wine you couldn't come to a better place than Napa/Sonoma Counties. Great traveling!

Dennis, I was surprised to realize that the Marriott desk at II will not do some things for owners that another non-Marriott desk at II will do. So you essentially have two II memberships--one paid via your Destination Club dues and one paid directly to II. And the second II membership enables you to trade your privately bought aftermarket weeks, which you couldn't otherwise do?

Since our two legacy weeks were bought from Marriott and we want to trade one of our weeks each year for a week through II, there is no advantage to us to keep an additional II membership, is there? Are we getting the best trading help we can get by just calling the Marriott desk at II?

Thanks to all for the suggestions on Napa and the area--I've taken notes! :-) Elise

Elise, I did retain the old Interval membership (it was paid thru 2020, really inexpensive). So, yes, I do have two Interval memberships, the old one and a new one associated with Destinations (Dest).

Our Interval needs are a bit different because we own two Marriott weeks acquired privately which are registered under the old Interval account in addition to our other weeks and Dest pts. I still use the Marriott Interval desk for both accounts but just identify the account I'm using. The Marriott personnel are always very helpful regardless of the account used.

Elise, you probably only need one Interval account.

Dennis

Do you own with Marriott? I think you are mistaken.

jeanl102 wrote:

Do you own with Marriott? I think you are mistaken.

I do own with Marriott (weeks and Dest pts). Please advise specifics of where you think I am mistaken as I do not wish to misinform.

I have 5 weeks of Marriott time shares and an off brand time share in Lake Tahoe. Marriott said they will no list the off brand one. I need to have my own II account, which I now do. It is relatively inexpensive but I would rather have had all my inventory in one account..

Kevin--

I have a question for you. Considering the purchases you have made at the resorts in Spain, I'm assuming that live outside the US. How have your exchanges worked in the recent past as the European and Asian properties are not currently included as part of the Destinations Program? At present, if we as members of the Destinations Program in the US want to go to any of these properties, we have to go through Internal International for an exchange. What would you have to do if you wanted to go to the Properties in either Asia or France (I understand that you can simply just return to your properties in Spain)? It sounds to me like you did join the Destinations Program so I'm just wondering if you have access to ALL of the Marriott Properties while we who joined in the US still have limited access? No fault of yours, of course! I'm just trying to find out if there is, in fact, a difference.

And to answer your question, I would also recommend some of the properties in Orlando--especially if you have children or grandchildren. Disneyworld and Universal aren't just enjoyable for children! It has also been our experience that you can't simply go wrong with Marriott! We have been to both Marbella and Majorca. And if you haven't been to Majorca as yet--don't miss it! It is so beautiful there and the people are really wonderful.

Thanks for any information you can offer!

Kathy

How did you like Ford's colony? Some years ago we stayed at the Williamsburg Londe on the property and loved it. It was great to walk out of your hotel and be right in the middle of everthing. I wasn't sure staying off site would be as satisfying.

dennish144 wrote:

jeanl102 wrote:

Do you own with Marriott? I think you are mistaken.

I do own with Marriott (weeks and Dest pts). Please advise specifics of where you think I am mistaken as I do not wish to misinform.