orangeblood82

Hi all-new to Flyer Talk
I wanted to know if anyone is involved with timeshares through marriott and would recommend them?
Also, what is the best way to go about getting an invitation for a "free" timeshare presentation at one of the resorts? I'm a platinum member of MR and was researching some of the properties and it had a link to "find out more information about ownership opportunities". WOuld this be my best bet or is there another course of action to get some "free stuff" before i possibly make a purchase?

Thanks and glad to have found this place!

aaupgrade

I am not involved with Marriott time shares. Also, I would not recommend them. I have visited them, and done the math and for me (I am single) it just doesn't add up.

To find people who would be involved with them and recommend them I suggest you check out one of the Marriott centric forums at the Time Share Users Group forums.

TrojanHorse

I use them to get free things with no intention of buying them, as long as they offer I'll sit thru their crap... but the math makes these a horrendous deal for me

mkahanek

I own a week at Ko Olina in Oahu and have been satisfied. I bought because marriott sent me an invite for 5 nights at ko olina with a rental car for two for $699.00. No special request. Was just a gold at the time and silver for 2 years before that. not sure why I was chosen for the preview pack.

dioxide45

If you are interested in Marriott Timeshares, definitely visit TUG as one person suggested. Also go to a presentation, take the incentive points. Usually if you are visiting a hotel that has a timeshare in active sales nearby there will be a placard in the hotel room advertising the oportunity to go to a presentation and receive the incentive points. DON'T buy while at the presentation, do you homework afterwards and then buy resale for a fraction of the Marriott price.

frisbeeace

It has worked great for me and I've travelled all over the world thanks to my timeshares.

You will find this recent thread interesting to learn more about the system
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=704220

frisbeeace

If you buy resale you lose the trade-for-points option and the purchase incentive points. You'll have to worry every year to exchange, rent or occupy. Bad deal to me.

Michigan Czar

I am a Marriott owner and they offer to guests a discounted rate for a packaged stay with rental car to tour a property. If you are interested in this PM me and I will be happy to refer you.

pinniped

I don't know what others have gotten, but these days I don't see too many completely FREE marketing packages. I see the Hawaii $599-699 deal often, and I see a variety of $99-199 weekends at nice-looking props in the continental U.S.

I personally enjoy MVCI's, although actually buying a timeshare doesn't make financial sense for me. So the marketing promos sometimes make sense to me - I do the math and determine what I'm getting "paid" for 90 minutes of my time. Sometimes I see good enough regular promotional rates (no preview required) at the MVCI's and simply book that way. One catch is that I always want at least a 2-bedroom villa for my stay, so some marketing promos don't work for me because the upcharge is too high.

If you're actually interested in buying timeshares, others have correctly pointed out that TUG is the place for you. The sweet spot for them is if you are really stone-cold sure you are going to return to the same place year after year at the same time and not reliant on playing the swap game. If your intent is frequent swapping, you're probably better off working with a financial advisor to set aside the equivalent amount of money into a fund that you pull from over the course of the years for vacations.

Marriott's timeshare brand is reputable and of high-quality - at least IMHO. If you're in the sweet spot for timeshares, I'd certainly consider both them an Hilton. I'm personally less sold on Starwood's timeshares, but I concede I'm no expert: I've stayed at one in Orlando that Starwood fans might say is a poor representation of the overall brand. I've stayed in a bunch of MVCI's and HGVC's and rarely have any problems with them.

orangeblood82

Thanks to all that replied
Yeah i'm not sure how seriously I am in actually buying one at this point. I've actually stayed at the brand new starwood one in orlando (also a starwood platinum). it was extremely nice and there was a lot of upside with up front points and the trading program but then i got to thinking-why are there always so many timeshares for sale all the time and how often will i come back to orlando until i have kids of my own?
To be honest I'm more or less trying to find out the best way to get invited to a marriott timeshare presentation to score a cheap vacation. If the deal, once there, is too good to pass up as far as buying, then so be it-but that's not my intent up front. I'm all about the points and the cheap stays!

pinniped

Perhaps there are always a lot for sale in Orlando because people buy them and then realize they don't want to go to Orlando all that often. I've always thought that was odd - so much tourism in the single part of Florida the farthest from the beach in a city that frankly doesn't have a huge amount of culture by U.S. big-city standards.

I'm not a diehard amusement park fan - like 'em okay but not enough to plan vacations around them. I realize that's sort of a mecca for amusement parks, but perhaps people realize after 4-5 years of the same vacation that they're better off selling their timeshares. Perhaps it's really 2-3 years of amusement parks, 2-3 years of trying to play the swap game, and then list the thing for sale and take a loss just to get their vacation freedom back.

No idea if other locations have as many for sale as Orlando...just seems like those Timeshare Resale places are everywhere down there.

jerseyfinn

Try the direct link to MVCI and peruse the various resorts out there. Then contact MVCI to see if they will arrange a presentation. The sort of presentation offer varies resort by resort. Occassionally this requires an owner referal.

We're very satisfied owners of Marriott TS in Florida and Spain and find the product well suited to those inclined to destination travel on a regular basis. Alternatively, one can book into MVCI properties directly from Marriott.com ( but on a space availible basis only ).

Finding a presentation offer is a good idea for getting a discounted resort stay. You can build it into a mini-holiday while learning about the entire TS concept. They do limit how often one can do a presentation visit, so plan carefully and enjoy yourself.

Barry

hhoope01

It must not be too restrictive as I've probably done about 5 or 6 of them over the last 7 or 8 years. (Though I don't think I have ever tried to get a package where I had already purchased one in the past.)

Jim C

We own several and have been quite pleased with the consistent product and service quality. Go to the Marriott forum on TUG to learn more.

Buying resale is generally a better proposition.

PDX Duck

If you wish to stay at Marriott timeshares, but don't want to pay the full price, you may consider buying at another timeshare and exchanging.

We have stayed at the Marriott Ko'Olina (Oahu), paying cash, and the Marriott's Timber Lodge (Lake Tahoe), on a timeshare exchange. Both were excellent. We own a non-Marriott timeshare in Oregon that we exchange through Interval International. The cost of the timeshare (resale) was much cheaper than buying at one of the Marriott's, but you do not have as much flexibility, based on demand for the location. For example, while we can exchange into any of the Orlando Marriott properties year-round, the Hawaii properties are next to impossible for us to exchange into (I have only seen last-minute availability, two or three weeks in advance of a given date and even this is rare.) Lake Tahoe is more of a mixed bag, with exchange availability for the fall and spring, but not much summer or winter ski season.

I am sure if our timeshare was a Four Seasons Aviara (San Diego), our exchange availabilities would be much greater, as Interval International matches exchanges based on demand for the unit exchanged. I am not complaining, as the price we paid was fair and the annual maintenance fees are reasonable compared to what we would pay for a Marriott timeshare.

If you are interested in finding out more, I would agree with the recommendation to visit the Timeshare User's Group website, as they have lots of good information: sort of like Flyertalk, except they are obsessed with timeshares rather than frequent flyer miles.