So my wife booked ourselves to go here for Father's day weekend. I'm a PLAT and it looks like I can expect no room upgrade and a cold breakfast buffet daily, is that about right? Is there anything I should know in advance, especially since I'm PLAT that I may want to inquire about so I don't miss out. We've stayed at the other Westin in Cancun about 10 times but this one looks nicer. The Westin spa at least had evening hors dourves and drinks as well.

You won't be showered with lots of extras here as a PLAT, but IMHO, that's actually okay. This property is exceptional in every way. It's impeccably maintained, the location is simply perfect and the guest rooms are fantastic! I find the Plat breakfast (cold buffet) to be wonderful (but, I'm not an eggs and bacon kinda guy) -- there are plenty of fresh fruits, fresh squeezed juices, pastries baked on premise, etc.

You'll have a great time here.

Thanks, I'm looking forward to it!

As Plats, we enjoyed the cold breakfast (plenty of fruits and pastries). They also did give us a late checkout (1pm) though we did have to wait til 4PM to check in. You should also now that you can check in at the "southern" building concierge because there was a long wait at the main building check in (no one staffed at the SPG Gold/Plat desk).

Exchange currency, bike rental, excursion
 

Hello,

I'm headed to the property this week and am looking for some information. Does the hotel rent bikes or is there a rental facility nearby? Is it safe to ride? Are there any "have to do" excursions? I'm interested in taking a ferry to Isla Mujeres and snorkeling with the whale sharks. Any recommended vendors? Do you know how long of a boat ride it is to get to where they are (worried about seasickness)? I assume the best exchange rate is the ATM at the hotel but am wondering if anyone has specific advise. I'm platinum but not expecting an upgrade b/c I think capacity is high--but would love one if possible--any thoughts on that--additional points, cash, etc? (I got spoiled by staying at Beaver Creek in Avon and Desert Oasis in Scottsdale. Love the kitchen facilities.) Any other information you want to share is great. We'll be there about a week. Thanks!

The concierge will help you with anything you need. Lagunamar has a fantastic concierge desk. We are owners there and if possible ask for Claudia who is our regular concierge. She would be available to call if you wish prior to arrival. PM me if you want her email. We take the city bus to the ferry for Mujeres. The boat ride is short and I expect it is unlikely you will get sea sick. Must excursion IMHO is the Mayan ruins: Chichen Itza. All rooms have kitchen facilities with level depending on what size room you request. Details at starwoodvacationnetwork.com.

call me crazy but I just made a points reservation for this property for Dec 2016. I was surprised to find cash and points for NYE. Did a 5 night reservation. It's not a five star property but the reviews are pretty positive. We might do a stay at the fairmont or hyatt playa del carmen before this..

Spent the day here after attending the presentation for timeshare ownership. I'm hoping to find some info on the same in this thread, just saw your post first and wanted to say that the property is very impressive. 2 huge infinity pools and the softest white sand. Very clean hotel with excellent service.

Wow, thank you for this. Went to a presentation at this property today. Offering 148,100 StarOptions for $45,900 plus $695 processing fee, lifetime Gold SPG status (which I almost have anyway), and a special-just-for-me 100,000 SPG StarPoints, and a $1,550 annual maintenance fee. It's for a 2 BR "Platinum" villa.

I said no but paid the $2,700 (incl. $200 processing fee) for the 7 day/6 night trip back here within 2 years plus 70,000 StarPoints. I figured it's good deal because I frequent several properties that will easy cost $2,500 for 5 days that I can cover with 64,000 points. Plus I got 6,500 points for the presentation and I'll get another 6,500 for the presentation I have to attend when I return.

I'm strongly considering applying the $2,500 to a down payment for the "every other year" plan for a 2 BR for $29,900 and then I can lock in the annual plan for $45,900 for a year and just pay the $16,000 difference, extending the payments as long as possible.

I have 290,000 points in the bank right now and have not paid for vacation nights for 3 years since I started traveling so much for work. But I think the 148,100 points cover a lot of options if I wanted to "externally exchange" and stretch the points to 2-3 weeks of vacation at some nice global properties.

Thoughts? Still need to read the remaining 6 pages of this thread...not a fan of the secondary market purchase even though I've seen gold 2 BR on that above site for just $6,000! I like the flexibility to use the points at other SVN locations since they're growing the network.

Definitely buy resale. You'll save tens of thousands of dollars.

But buy resale only at one of Starwood's "mandatory" properties (where SVN exchange rights transfer with the deed). Those properties include Westin Kierland, some phases as Sheraton Vistana Villlages, Westin St John, Westin Kaanapali. It does not include Lagunamar (which is deemed as a "voluntary", not "mandatory" property). If you buy resale at Lagunamar, you can't exchange for other Starwood properties. But if you buy resale at one of the mandatory properties, you can use your StarOptions to stay at Lagunamar.

Buy resale, get the exact number of StarOption points that you want, and you can trade into any Starwood vacation property. (Those "StarOptions" are the Starwood timeshare exchange points, not SPG points)

The only thing you don't get if you buy resale at one of their "mandatory" properties is the SPG points and SPG lifetime status offers -- the salespeople always dangle a lot of SPG carrots to entice people to buy! But with resale you'll own the exact same product and have tens of thousands of dollars more in your bank account!

Don't just look at the "upfront price". Focus on the $1,550 maintenance costs every year (considering you'll own it for the rest of your life and then some) and see if that still makes sense.

For me, (a) I couldn't find any places (hotels) I'd actually want to stay at in their Exchange and (b) of the SPG properties, I'd only want the Lagunamar and Beaver Creek, but not every year for the rest of my life.

Another way to look at it was "would I pay this much for SPG points?" Because you can convert your StarOptions to SPG points. I came away knowing I can MS my SPG points at my option at a cheaper rate than the $1550/yr maintenance fee.

FlyerJ, thanks for the advice...I see the point in buying resale for a mandatory property...your logic is totally sound. Now I'm questioning whether I should stick with my $2,700 purchase for 6 nights + 70,000 points! I can still cancel in the next 3 days...
Hi there, thanks so much for opening my mind to the possibility of MS to earn the points...would you care to share (feel free to PM) your approach to an effortless way to get the 72,000 points for less than an hr of my time per month? I figure the $1,550 is about $129 per month which is worth the peace of mind to me (translated as "lazy" option, lol) to get that number of points, which I use often for family travel, not to mention topping up Avios points for J class upgrades (that 20% bonus is pretty sweet).

The biggest hurdle to me is swallowing that $45,900 purchase price. I figure I pay about $200 max for a nice room (always get complimentary upgrades or use the Suite Night Awards for guaranteed suites), so at $1,400 per week, I'd break even in 33 years, lol! But in that sense, I guess I should think about the lifetime benefit to kids, if they can swallow the maintenance fee.

I don't know about effortless, but I have influence over a small business that racks up a lot of expenses that can be funded with my personal SPG Amex. I get reimbursed. I suppose one could argue that's not really MS, but so be it.

Also, between my wife and I, we can rotate SPG Business Amex sign ups and get 25k-30k each year. Either way, we're generating enough SPG points to meet our goals and then some, so the incremental point isn't worth chasing after, but that's us.

But I'm not against you buying into this, just wanted to share my personal experience when I was going through the analysis. I'm sure it's a great deal for people who get value out of timeshares.

Definitely do the package! You're essentially getting a vacation at market prices at a nice resort ... but they've committed to give you 70,000 SPG points just for listening to the timeshare pitch again. You don't have to buy to get the points ... just listen!

I got 6,500 points just for listening this last time around, and I'll get another 6,500 when I go again for the paid trip.

The 70,000 is linked to the paid $2,700 for a 6-night stay. If I already have the 80,000 points for a 6-night stay (I saw some availability for 16,000 points per night, 5 paid nights and 1 night free), then the stay is FREE, lol. I don't think I'd even pay $200 per night with all the points I have, so I'm leaning on cancelling this purchase for now...if I have zero SPG points, that's another story, I'd be more inclined to pay and go then.