Starwood Vacation Ownership

Anyone have a relationship with them? I'm thinking about ownership in there new development in Cancun.

We enjoy our ownership through SPG. We own in Scottsdale and just bought an alternating year in Orlando. However you must buy from the developer to get the perk I consider the best-the SPG points program. Your unit ownership can be used, exchanged for other Starwood properties at no cost, exchanged through an exchange company or converted to SPG points you can use for hotel stays at Sheraton, Westin and "W" Hotels. You can also earn points off your American Express.

We charge everything we possibly can and recently booked 5 nights at the Sheraton NY Times Square for points only (no tax!) for slightly more than our points for our units. The cost would have been about $3600. No cost to us.

So is there a way to buy a resale and qualify for the SPG and trade conversions?

I"m looking to buy in Atlantis - - it is double the price paid for my Marriott Phuket property. Any tips - resale, through the developer, or just rent each year?>?

Hi Leslie,

How many SPG points do you get each year for your Orlando unit?

Thanks Martin

I am also considering buying at Westin.

My biggest choice is between new and resale; voluntary and mandatory.

We plan to use the StarOptions to visit other places.

I can buy a 2 BD L/O EOY with 148,100 StarOptions and 100,000 incentive points plus another 80,000 Explorer points for $24,700 at Westin Lagunamar (Platinum). Plus, there are little perks: Gold Card, no II annual fee, SPG points.

The prices I see for a similar used 2Br unit at Westin Kierland with 148,100 pts. are between $15 -25,000.

I realize a big difference is resale value, but I plan to hold this 7 - 10 years.

I look forward to your opinions

larryb176 wrote:

I am also considering buying at Westin...

We bought resale at the Westin Ka'anapali in Maui in 2004 - a 2BD Lock-Out, Every Other Year unit with 148,100 StarOptions for $18,500.

By buying resale, we saved about 40% off the retail price. The II membership is included with the SVO membership (I believe this is required for owners). We can exchange within SVO (using StarOptions) or within II.

As resale purchasers, we do not get the Gold SPG card and we cannot exchange our unit for SPG points. We don't really care about this, since exchanging for SPG points is rarely a good deal (if ever).

We bought in Maui because it's a premium property that will also be in high demand (for resale, trade or rent).

So far, we're extemely happy. We used our 2006 week in the following way: 1BD in Westin Ka'anapali in 2005 2BD in Sheraton Vistana Villages in 2006 (using SO points)

Haven't decided how we'll spend our 2008 week yet.

alex382 wrote:

larryb176 wrote:

I am also considering buying at Westin...

We bought resale at the Westin Ka'anapali in Maui in 2004 - a 2BD Lock-Out, Every Other Year unit with 148,100 StarOptions for $18,500.

By buying resale, we saved about 40% off the retail price. The II membership is included with the SVO membership (I believe this is required for owners). We can exchange within SVO (using StarOptions) or within II.

As resale purchasers, we do not get the Gold SPG card and we cannot exchange our unit for SPG points. We don't really care about this, since exchanging for SPG points is rarely a good deal (if ever).

We bought in Maui because it's a premium property that will also be in high demand (for resale, trade or rent).

So far, we're extemely happy. We used our 2006 week in the following way: 1BD in Westin Ka'anapali in 2005 2BD in Sheraton Vistana Villages in 2006 (using SO points)

Haven't decided how we'll spend our 2008 week yet.

I'm confused -- you CAN use Starwood Ownership points for trade within the Starwood system if you buy resale? They make it sound like you can't.

alex382 wrote:

larryb176 wrote:

I am also considering buying at Westin...

As resale purchasers, we do not get the Gold SPG card and we cannot exchange our unit for SPG points. We don't really care about this, since exchanging for SPG points is rarely a good deal (if ever).

SPG points can be a great deal. I am a Starwood owner. Last year I exchanged my Star Options for Star Points. I stayed at the Westin Paris for three nights and the Westin Berlin for five nights with my points. I figured if I was a normal paying customer, it would have cost me about $2000. My yearly maintenance fee + $99 exchange fee was much less than this.

As an owner you normally get an upgrade. I was upgraded to a junior suite in Paris (in July!). If you stay four nights, the fifth night is free (no points). Both hotels were in great locations.

We are both SVO and Marriott owners and find that SVO has more advantages than Marriott. We own at Harborside in Atlantis, our week is deeded and guaranteed each year unless we want to exchange it. There are 3 ways to exchange with Starwood, using options for any other Starwood resort, convert to SPG points for hotels or deposit with Interval.

Marriott offer the same home resort/season reservation process, but you have to use II to exchange for any other Marriott property or time frame even at your home resort. SVO allows owners home resort preference time for best reservation requests.

I have looked into additional units through resale and find the prices to be about the same as what we paid for comparable units and seasons. Our first purchase was 2004 so this may change over a 10 year period.

It has taken some travel training but I find that we maximize the system and have traveled 3-4 times a year since we began ownership. The points may not be of direct interest to stay in a hotel but they can be used for other advantages like show tickets, airline tickets and other promotions. The bonus points that we received at closing sent us to Hawaii for 10 nights (FREE) One word of advise...purchase at your preferred resort destination. Good luck

have any of you starwood owners ever had any trouble with getting the booking/exchange you want? that is, if you do not decide to use your home villa for the year, have any of you had trouble exchanging it to other locations or using the points towards booking hotels? my parents have interval and this was a major problem for them....thanks for the feedback!

We are SV owners at Harborside. The only place we have not been able to exchange into so far is St. Johns. Otherwise, we've been very happy with our opportunities. We have a 2 bedroom lock-off, so we can use one side and exchange one side, exchange for starpoints to be used in hotels and a real nice feature is being able to use those points for airlines. Keep in mind with Interval, your exchange value is based on where and when you own.

So how is the best way to find a resale? Through a company or here? I guess I worry that if you buy through the owner you might not understand all the ins and outs of that particular program.. I mean, when we bought our Marriott Maui property everything was explained in great detail and they had a lot of resources for us, which has made trading amazingly easy. Any suggestions or things I really need to know before pursuing resale?

We recently took a vacation and then toured a company's resort that we thought we might be interested in. Turns out, we didn't want the "deal" they were offering, but they did explain all the ins and outs, now if we decide to make a move, I'll feel comfortable purchasing from an owner.

alex382 wrote:

larryb176 wrote:

I am also considering buying at Westin...

We bought resale at the Westin Ka'anapali in Maui in 2004 - a 2BD Lock-Out, Every Other Year unit with 148,100 StarOptions for $18,500.

By buying resale, we saved about 40% off the retail price. The II membership is included with the SVO membership (I believe this is required for owners). We can exchange within SVO (using StarOptions) or within II.

As resale purchasers, we do not get the Gold SPG card and we cannot exchange our unit for SPG points. We don't really care about this, since exchanging for SPG points is rarely a good deal (if ever).

We bought in Maui because it's a premium property that will also be in high demand (for resale, trade or rent).

So far, we're extemely happy. We used our 2006 week in the following way: 1BD in Westin Ka'anapali in 2005 2BD in Sheraton Vistana Villages in 2006 (using SO points)

Haven't decided how we'll spend our 2008 week yet.

Are you usually able to get the weeks you want, or do they book up too fast? I will need to travel during school vacation holiday times and am wondering if this is possible.

deborahg70 wrote:

I"m looking to buy in Atlantis - - it is double the price paid for my Marriott Phuket property. Any tips - resale, through the developer, or just rent each year?>?

im an owner selling an atlantis 2 bedroom lock off week 5 platinum week. the resort sells for 52,000 mine is listed on redweek nearly 20,000 less. is it worth 20,000 to trade huge numbers of points for one or two stays in a starwood hotel? most of these point hotels are now growing in the points required. 25,000 points a night is only a few days instead of two-three weeks with staroptions.

larryb176 wrote:

I am also considering buying at Westin.

My biggest choice is between new and resale; voluntary and mandatory.

We plan to use the StarOptions to visit other places.

I can buy a 2 BD L/O EOY with 148,100 StarOptions and 100,000 incentive points plus another 80,000 Explorer points for $24,700 at Westin Lagunamar (Platinum). Plus, there are little perks: Gold Card, no II annual fee, SPG points.

The prices I see for a similar used 2Br unit at Westin Kierland with 148,100 pts. are between $15 -25,000.

I realize a big difference is resale value, but I plan to hold this 7 - 10 years.

I look forward to your opinions

even holding for 7 years there is no appreciation. buyat resale and when you sell you can get yoour money back. at resort youll get 1/2 back...

I am interested in purchasing in the Starwood Vacation network. Which property has the best price for the highest number of points. I am primarily interested in trading for overseas (especially Africa and Asia) as my daughter is in the froeign service and we will visit there. I also go to the Caribbean every other year when we are not visiting her. Any help is greatly appreciated.

susanr363 wrote:

I am interested in purchasing in the Starwood Vacation network. Which property has the best price for the highest number of points. I am primarily interested in trading for overseas (especially Africa and Asia) as my daughter is in the froeign service and we will visit there. I also go to the Caribbean every other year when we are not visiting her. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I suggest you go to the TUG Forums (www.tugbbs.com/forum). They have separate sections for the various TS resort systems; post your question there.

Hi, We bought an Explorer Package in 2005,from Harborside and stayed at the Harborside Resort at Atlantis. The next year we purchased a 1 bedroom deluxe unit there. They applied the money that we used to purchase the Explorer Package on the balance due. We traded it for Starwood points the next year, and used points for the Sheraton Lucaya in Freeport just this past February. We love Harborside, and plan to use it each year from now on. We own in Silver season, which is my husband's birthday. No timeshare should be thought of as an investment, but we think that we are getting our money's worth from this purchase.