Exhorbitant Maintenance Fees

Just received my maintenance fee for 2012. Almost $2500. Can you say outrageous! I thought the fees would decrease, since Westin won the lawsuit (and received money back) from the state of Maui.

Where is the money that Westin received going? Obviously, not to the owners. You think the owners can bring a class action suit against them for mismanagement. I've already voiced my opinion to them to no avail. Maybe they'll listen to the owners as a whole.

Let's see . . . maintenance fee of $2,500 per week in Paradise or $600 a night x 7 = $4,200 for the same week. hmm . . . . too hard to decide. But wait . . . mismanaged? how so? Rooms filthy? Buildings falling down? No staff? No facilities?

Very disappointed with the high "maintenance" fee(read "profit source for Starwood") which was never brought up when we were in the purchasing process. We're being badly taken advantage of in this situation, and there really isn't much we can do, considering the deep pockets of Starwood and their lawyers, and the diversity of us owners. This is a well planned "rape" of the owners, they know that there's not much we're ever going to do about it, getting the owners together from all over the world to present a united front about this outrageous fee is like herding cats. In other words we just have to pay. It's just bend over and shut up.

maintenance fees are ALWAYS dicussed during the sales process and confirmed during the verification process. A hotel room at that resort is $600 a night, a two bedroom condo around $3,000 a night. So, a week for less than the price of a night??? What the hell are you complaining about? If you want to camp don't buy a membership in luxury resorts!!!

You obviously haven't looked at any of the postings on this site to rent a week at the Westin Kaanapali villas. You can rent a week for about the same amount as the maintenance fees.

Why did I have to pay for my timeshare if a non- timeshare owner can rent the same unit for the price of my maintenance fees?

of course! A member who can't use a week will rent it for just about the maintenance fee so they aren't "out of pocket" for the year. You won't get that sort of deal from a hotel and non-members can only access them "on availability". The system works!!!

luigik are you a starwood employee? the math doesn't work --- $600/night for a hotel room? not really, $3000/night for a 2 bdrm condo? not quite...unless you pay rack rates everywhere you stay.

Just received an email from SVO stating that Maui is again going to tax timeshare owners an additional 7.7%. Just another reason for our maintenance fees to go up again.

Hasn't this happened before? Our fees skyrocket, Starwood files a lawsuit and wins, then our maintenance fees remain at the higher rate. Be prepared to pay an additional 10% in maintenance fees next year!

I don't work for them, own with them or stay in Westins. Check the rack rates, look up internet "deals" for the same accommodation and do the math. For people who like luxury, Westin and Marriott ownership makes more sense than renting a room.

I agree...when we bought, the annual maintennce fee, if it was ever mentioned, was probably glossed over. I was surprised that it was as high as it is, and what do we get for it? I think it's a "profit center" for Starwood, and it makes any possibility of re-selling diffficult. The "buyers" say look at Marriot, their annual maintenance fee is $500.00. Yours is over $2500, so why should we buy yours? We're being ripped off. What can we do?

You certainly didn't hace the same sales agents we had. The maintenance fee was never discussed... if we had read every word of the voluminous sale agreement,I'm sure it's in there, but we weren't ever exactly told the amount. In addition we were'nt ever told that we could only check-in on Friday thru Sunday. I feel we were sold a "bill of goods" and while we enjoy our time in the condo, I still feeel that Westin "over-promised and under-delivered." We are NOT PLEASED with how this is working out.

We are staying at the Starwood Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas North right now. Yes, I agree the maintenance fee is high, at about $2,600 for a two bedroom lockoff. However, the service has been excellent and the resort is maintained very well. If you go to vrbo.com and select Hawaii, then West Maui, then Starwood Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas or Starwood Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas North you will discover the 2 bedroom lockoff costs about $4,000 - $6,000 for either an Island View versus an Ocean Front also the time of year is taken into account. Also remember that Maui County reassessed the value of the resort in the 2010 tax year. The tax was increased from $1.5 million to $6.4 million. That reassessment cost us around $800 more in maintenance fees. They went from $1,800 to $2,600. Now the county wants to raise our tax rate from $15 per thousand of assessed value to $16.15. Right now a Timeshare is taxed by the Maui County Assessor's office at a rate of $15 per thousand of assessed value. This rate is $6 per thousand of assessed value higher than hotels and $8 per thousand of assessed value higher than industry. Talk about being gouged. The county is eating the hand that feeds them.

Marriott in Hawaii for $500 maintenance fee? What is it, an every other year lock-off, versus a 2 B/R ocean front?

So over the past 2 years I've considered selling my Ka'anapali North island view 2br Lockoff guaranteeded for event week 51 (Christmas week). There's a nice Timeshare sales office right there in downtown Lahina (you'll see it when you're walking around the stores). My wife and I walked in, and I sat down and asked flat out "what can I get for my condo?". He said about $22,000. I had him fill out the paperwork. The next day we did our timeshare schpeel with Starwood to get our 5,000 points, and told them that I was selling. I was surprised on what they said there during the schpeel. They said that they have "run out of product" meaning condos, and since they have the "First right of Refusal" on any sale, they told me that they have been buying up their own product on the secondary market, and re-selling them. I asked what my particular event week Island view would sell for, and after punching a few buttons, they said around $50,000. I decided not to sell for the $22,000. I leave it up to all of you to verify if in fact Starwood DOES buy up their own product back in the secondary market. Let me know.

In my recent experience it is better to be a renter than a time share owner but maybe Maui is the exception. I was seriously considering buying a time share in Palm Desert but since I am retired and very flexible i believe it is much better to simply rent. No taxes,no maintainence fees, no worries about assessments.

Because...We pay the same maintenance fee as anyone else for our size unit, but every time we visit The Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas North, we get an OCEANFRONT VIEW that will take your breath away! And there are VERY FEW units in the North that don't have some kind of magnificent few. But,... if you choose to rent a unit, either from the resort and/or another owner, there is (most likely) a beautiful view, but very rarely the one we see EVERY SINGLE TIME! We'll more than willingly pay the maintenance fee!

For whatever it's worth I Just stayed here in a 1 bedroom with ocean view for a week and I paid $1500 buying the week on secondary market. I've done the same thing for other resorts in Hawaii, Marriott etc. and I always find a room between $1250 and $2000 a week around aug/september

Your comments are far out from reality that it's very obvious you're a Starwood employee. Maintenance is ridiculously expensive as it has increased about 33% in about 4-5 years. Given that real estate and the economy have fared worse, owners have legitimate concerns about high maintenance dues!!

I agree, I own 7 weeks and have voiced my displeasure a number of times, to no avail. If you know anyone else who is dissatisfied with these fees let me know!

Maintenance fees are discussed but their subsequent increases are not. I purchase my timeshare when maintenance fees were about $1,800. The following year the fees shot up to about $2,400. That figures to be about a 33% increase, even if I off a little bit on fees, I know it was at least 25%. The way I see it, Starwood wins in the short run, will lose in the long run, some owners will begin to divest some of their interest and prospective buyers will get "wind" of exorbitant maintenance fees and they'll pass on buying.