abhilife2001

Frankly, I am not sure if they even track this closely. For my SO, I usually register with her call name instead of formal name and they have never blinked an eye.
So theoritically, if next time she registers with her formal name, not sure they will track it. I have gone to presentations of the same company 3 times in the past 5 years and they don't seem to know whether we have done it earlier or not.

Schnit

I am guessing that what the people know and what the computer knows is completely different. For example, I have twice tried getting the 500 points for the rep transferring me to HGV, the person on the phone didnt know I was transferred before but when they tried giving me the points the system rejected it as a duplicate. I think you can do the presentation once a year, so 3 times in 5 years seems reasonable

dmac1418

Just returned from 5 days/4 nights at the Grand Wailea in Maui. Our offer was advertised as 4 Nights + 25k Hilton points for $999 + tax at the GW. Valet ($65/day) & Resort fee was not included. When booking our dates we were warned we'd be assigned either the Grand Wailea or Maui Bay Villas, which I voiced concern about. A few weeks later we were confirmed into the GW.

I may end up posting more detailed thoughts in the GW review thread, but the HGV package changes the value proposition IMO. tl;dr: Overall, we're very happy with the value we received on this offer. 4 nights for the price of less than 1 night at the advertised rate for the room we were given. Received HH Gold benefits (namely F&B credit), would return on a similar offer, but the GW is a shell of what I read it once was, and we would never pay cash rates. Now that Maui Bay Villas is open, I would be more concerned about getting booked there rather than the GW.

On the sales presentation, we toured Maui Bay Villas, and were there just before the 2nd building opened on 11/19/22. Still a brand new property, pool is open but no service or restaurant open yet when we were there. It is a phased development - sales rep said it will be under construction for years to come. We had no intention of buying a timeshare and the rep let us leave at the 2 hour mark with only a little bit of pushiness. He kept saying 'Mr. Hilton doesn't care if you buy as long as you stay loyal to Hilton'. 25k points were in my account by the time we left sales center. We were pleasantly surprised, this was our first time doing this kind of deal.

A couple weeks ahead of the trip I emailed the hotel concierge and asked for my Hilton number to be linked with the reservation which they did with no issue. We received the Gold F&B credit every day and HH points for the stay. TBD if the $500+ F&B,valet, and resort fee charge will qualify for Amex's spend $500, get $100 back offer on the Platinum card.

We were put in an 8th floor Napua 2 Queen "Garden View" room which was quite nice (Napua wing is completely renovated at this point AFAIK). The balcony had a good view of the ocean for a garden view. Would have preferred a King room but a large conference was in house most of our trip so we would have lost Napua lounge access. We opted to keep the Napua room for access to the daily free drinks and lite food. In hindsight, a great decision, we moved rooms for an 8pm checkout our last day, while refreshed, the other rooms are not being fully renovated like Napua rooms.

Adammm

Hi, I'm experiencing the same. I booked though phone and found out the reservation showed up in my HH app (you can also link the reservation to Disney app).
I'm not expecting an upgrade for paying so minimum (149USD for 4 nights in Signia). But I have read that someone got breakfast and resort fee free from one of the Orlando resort.
Do you end up going and have anything worth sharing?
I appreciate you help.

alxyng

Ended up with Maui bay. bummer

sinfonia

I'm new to these timeshare presentation packages but purchased one for Avila Beach. When I was ready to book the package, I called to learn our hotel options and was quite surprised to discover that the hotels involved are not at all in Avila Beach. In fact, they are over 10 miles away in San Luis Obispo. I'm wondering if perhaps they used to have a Hilton in Avila and still call it the Avila Beach package? Or have an upcoming hotel in Avila (though I don't see any)? I can't figure out why they would offer a package in honestly such a small, lesser known town as Avila Beach when the hotels are in San Luis Obispo. It was certainly disappointing and feels a little bait-and-switchy.

birdiedouble

I just searched and found this property, which I am guessing is part of the old Diamond Resorts that HGVC bought in 2021. On some packages I have seen they only offer a nearby Hilton hotel, but with many you are staying at the actual resort. I’m not familiar with this property at all, but have seen them do this in Myrtle Beach though the hotels are closer to the actual resort. You might want to either inquire to see if you can pay an up fee to stay at the actual resort or get your $ back.

https://www.hiltongrandvacations.com...n-luis-bay-inn

sinfonia

Thank you so much for this information! I assume (?) this must be the property I am to tour for the stay. I followed your suggestion and asked if I could pay an upcharge to stay at the actual resort, but was refused.

Since I am new to these and not particularly honed in on what is a good deal or not, and considering whether I should just get my money back, I am curious:

Are there better package deals out there than $280 for 3 nights? I thought $280 was good considering we'd be on the coast in Avila, but since the properties are instead in a different town altogether which is inland, I'd be curious to know the going rate for 3 night package which is near but not on the coast.

Thanks!

birdiedouble

I can't help you out with your question as I don't know the area and not well versed on the Diamond programs as I am the HGVC offerings.

As far as what the presentation you signed up for might entail, you might want to do a search on "San Luis Bay Inn" in the link below. Reading the FAQ's on the SLB Inn website, it appears that the resort was managed by Diamond. I also looked on Redweek and there are a couple of listings for this resort in the $1000-2500 range. Any offer at the presentation will likely be much higher than that.

https://tugbbs.com/forums/forums/dia...ation-club.59/

smmrfld

I stay in the SLO area frequently and there are really no outstanding HH hotels in the market. You may want to consider another destination.

sinfonia

Thanks, Birdiedouble and Smmrfld, for the information. Looking at the link, I would like even more, now, to stay at this resort, but Hilton is very emphatic that I can only stay at the Hampton Inn SLO and Wayfarer Inn SLO, which, yeah, is not terribly alluring. We're thinking of looking into other locations as advised. Thanks again.

shootaaa

Took the pre-black friday sale of 3 nights + 100k HH points for 149. The black friday sale was much better but I was not interested in Hawaii or Mexico. Later I received another promo to book before end of March to get additional 20k HH points. I jumped on it immediately since the spring break is perfect for the trip.

When I book this trip to Las Vegas, there is a construction exhibition scheduled for the spring break, so only HGVC and Trump tower were available. I chose the HGVC since I stayed with Trump tower a few years ago and I was not impressed. The phone Rep was extremely helpful, got me confirmed on dates and 120k points bonus, and gave me an upgrade from Studio to Suite. She also double checked with me on the timeshare sales tour to make sure I understand how it works. I was so graeful and asked if I can gie her a good review anywhere she wants, but they dont have it..
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I just finished the stay. The room was spacious and clean but everything is a bit old at Las Vegas HGVC. Not much food option onsite and the convenience store was expensive. But, Sahara and other casinos are nearby and walgreen is around the corner so it is fine.

Both me and my wife were not interested in timeshare, so it was finished after 1.5 hours. The sales rep tried with little pushiness. There was no sales tour but only video presentation to a small group of people. 120k points put in my account after confirming my HH membership number, such a smooth experience and a good deal!
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mloradites

I live in Baltimore and just did the BF $149 in Williamsburg as the drive was worth the 125k. Then because I hadn't booked yet in January they offered me an additional 30K points for booking and going by April. Drove down Friday night, did my presentation Saturday morning, and drove back yesterday evening. So for a maybe $250 total investment with gas and tolls, I'll snag a night in Cabo plus some extra points. The sales rep wasn't pushy at all. He was very pleasant. They definitely leave out a lot of details. I googled some stuff last night just to see how much and was not surprised.

newEUer

Got offered 1k HH points after calling diamond desk to listen to HGV promo, said yes but declined offer and despite the woman saying "she'll put the points through" never did so - clearly payback for not taking the offer.

Anything I can do?

NWplatinum

Did anyone else get this offer? It’s a free three night stay at one of their vacation club destinations. Looks like you have to sit through one of their timeshare things, but other than that looks like a good deal. $149 seems fair to me for 100k points plus a free vacation. You’re obviously responsible for the flight I guess.

Are there any drawbacks to doing this such as hidden fees? Anyone ever do one? What was your experience like?