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Timeshares & Vacation Clubs | Understanding the Differences & Our Personal Experience - YouTube
Channel: Trip Astute
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Hi there, it's Ernest from Trip Astute. In
this video, we're covering a
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controversial subject. We're discussing
the difference between timeshare resorts,
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vacation clubs, and hotels.
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(light chiming music)
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I want to
start out with a personal story. We
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recently took a trip to Mexico after
receiving a free four night stay from a
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family member. It was part of a raffle
prize, and once we redeemed it, we were
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able to choose our location and hotel
from most of the major tourist
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destinations in Mexico. We opted for the
Mayan Palace, just north of Playa del
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Carmen. Given that the stay was
won during a raffle, I was feeling a bit
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cautious about it.
I've been suckered in the past into
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attending timeshare presentations, and
definitely wanted to avoid spending our
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vacation time being pushed to buy a
property or join a vacation club. I
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looked on TripAdvisor
and saw several posts of travelers who
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complained about being bullied into
sales presentations. We decided to lower
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our expectations, especially since it was
a free trip, but we were going to stay
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firm and avoid any sales presentations.
Everything seemed great when we arrived.
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The resort offered transportation from
the airport, and when we got to the
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resort, we noticed that it was one of
many properties owned by a company
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called Vidanta. The service was
impeccable during check-in, but as soon
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as we received our keys, we were
immediately asked to meet with a manager.
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The manager explained the key
attractions and benefits at the resort,
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then asked if he could invite us to a
free breakfast. Red flags and immediately went
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up, and we politely declined over and
over. The manager kept insisting that we
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attend and wanted to show us all the
benefits of becoming a member of a
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luxury vacation club. We still said no.
The manager also asked about booking
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excursions, and when we told him that we
had already booked our own tours online,
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he seemed pretty annoyed. Fast-forward to
the evening and we noticed that the room
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was really noisy. The walls seemed thin,
and we had a
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connecting door that didn't help. We
basically could hear our neighbors'
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conversation and the music that they
were playing on their phone. Since we had
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an early morning tour, we decided to ask
the front desk if we could get a
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different room, preferably one without a
connecting room or at least a connecting
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room that didn't have occupancy. We were
really surprised at what happened next.
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The front desk was unwilling to help us.
We went back and forth with the manager
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for about an hour, and at one point, they
agreed to put us in another room. We were
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asked to pack up our stuff and return to
the front desk, where we stayed there for
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about an hour, and then we were told that
the room was not available and that we
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would have to stick to our original room.
We decided to leave the resort the next
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day and forfeit our free stay. Using my
Chase Ultimate Rewards points, I transferred
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60,000 points to Hyatt and booked a
stay at the Andaz Mayakoba down the road.
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The hotel was incredible and a complete
contrast to our experience at the Mayan
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Palace.
We'll do a separate video on the hotel
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soon. So, with that story in mind, I wanted
to share the difference between a hotel
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versus a timeshare or vacation club for
those of you who don't know the
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difference. Timeshares are agreements
where several joint owners have the
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right to use a property as a vacation
home, usually for a specific period of
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time. The key word here is "owner", as
you're actually purchasing the right to
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the property even if it's only for a
week or two in a year. Timeshare owners
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typically enter a real-estate deed for
specific dates at a specific property.
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It's like owning two weeks of a
furnished condo in Hawaii. You'll have to
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pay some maintenance fees for the
property, but it should be less than
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owning a second home or property. With
timeshares, you can usually participate
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in networks where you can trade stays
with other timeshare owners, allowing you
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to travel to other properties in the
world. From what I hear though, this can
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be a bit tricky, especially around
popular travel times and locations.
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Vacation clubs are slightly different.
It's basically a membership that gives
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you the right to access properties under
an umbrella of resorts. The key term here
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is "right to access." Rather than buying
into a property, you're paying a
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membership fee to use the
resort. You'll get more flexibility on
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the location and time that you want to
use it, but you'll sacrifice the equity
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that you would earn if you purchased a
timeshare. In summary, the pros for
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timeshares are ownership and built
equity, consistency in the timing, and
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also the flexibility to exchange your
timeshare with another owner. The cons
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for timeshares include limited
flexibility on the timing of your
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vacation, the annual maintenance fees, and
also less services than you would find
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with a regular hotel or resort. For
vacation clubs, the pros are more
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diversity of destinations and resort
types. You have a little more flexibility
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with the timing of your vacation, and you
get more hotel and resort services. The
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cons for vacation clubs are they're
typically more expensive than timeshares,
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both upfront and annually. You're also
limited to the availability. It may be
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difficult to book during certain high
peak seasons. You have no equity or
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ownership, and you don't have the ability
to exchange outside of the vacation club
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network. If you do decide to purchase or
join one of these resorts, here are some
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things to consider. Number one: Higher
resort costs and prices.
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My experience at vacation clubs is that
the prices at the resorts are generally
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higher for the value that you receive.
While I expect prices for meals to be
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more expensive at a resort or hotel, I
generally don't mind if I feel like that
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quality is also high. Unfortunately, we
found the prices for meals, drinks, and
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groceries outweigh the quality and
customer service. Since it's sometimes
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difficult to leave the resort too, you can
become quite reliant on what's available
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and being charged. Number two: Prices may
not be competitive. There are a ton of
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stories online of folks who research to
stay at the exact same location and
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timeframe and found it to be the same
cost or cheaper than their timeshare or
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vacation club rate. Also, with services
like Airbnb, you now have more options
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when booking a vacation stay, so keep
that in mind when considering the fees
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associated with a vacation club or
timeshare. Number three:
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Limited flexibility. This primarily
applies to vacation clubs. I found that
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these resorts typically want to control
the customer experience, and when you
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deviate from it, you tend to find
problems or a lack of support. Our story
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from earlier is a perfect example.
Everything seemed great until we
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deviated from the structure. We refused
to attend the sales presentation and
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booked our own independent tours. When we
wanted to leave, we were forced to have
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our luggage transported back to the
resort's main lobby rather just having a
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taxi pick us up and our luggage from the
specific resort. When I spoke to the
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manager, he was unwilling to make an
exception
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even though certain guests were allowed
to have a direct pickup from the resort.
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This added another 45 minutes to our
checkout experience, and we felt
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uncomfortable giving up our luggage
since we already were in conflict with
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the resort. Number four: High-pressure
sales. I can speak from personal
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experience that the sales tactics used
by timeshare networks and vacation clubs
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are extremely aggressive. They usually
try to lure you in with gifts or free
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services like meals, tours, and event
tickets. Then you're stuck in a long
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presentation where the price keeps
dropping and the pressure to sell
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increases. I know it's the nature of the
industry to sell, but I personally can't
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stand spending my vacation time being
pressured and bullied into a deal. Number
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five: Difficulty getting out. One tactic
that's often used by timeshares and
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sometimes by vacation clubs is the idea
that you can commit now, and if you
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change your mind, you can just call and
cancel within a certain period of time.
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These sorts of clauses are called a
"cooling-off period." This is often mixed
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in with justifications like "why not lock
in the price now. There's no penalty if
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you change your mind."
The trick is is that they make it very
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difficult to cancel. You'll often have to
call different offices and send in all
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sorts of official paperwork. Some
vacation clubs don't even allow
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cancellations, so make sure to check the
agreement if you're considering entering
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a deal. Number six: Payment disputes. This
goes for any hotel or resort stay, not
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just vacation clubs and timeshares.
If you encounter a payment dispute with
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the hotel, I would suggest refusing to sign
the credit card receipt or invoice. While
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the hotel and resort can still charge
you the fee,
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you basically forfeit the right to a
dispute by signing the invoice since
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you're agreeing to the charges. We made
this mistake at the Mayan Palace and
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were stuck with four nights of resort
fees when we only stayed there one night.
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They refused to waive the fees and told
us to contact SFX,
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which is a company that booked our stay.
When I called them afterwards, they said
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that we were misled since they don't
deal with or receive any of the resort fees.
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Since I had signed the credit card invoice,
I basically waived my right to a charge
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back. So definitely don't make the same
mistake as us! And those are our tips and
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considerations. I will add a caveat that
this is just my personal opinion. I have
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friends who love their timeshare and
really find value in it. I guess I just
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really value having more flexibility in
my travels. And with points and miles and
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Airbnb, I feel like I'm able to travel
and afford things that would normally be
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out of my reach. One other thing that's
really important to me is customer
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service and intention. I don't expect
things to be perfect, but I expect there
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to be an intention to resolve issues. My
experience at the Mayan Palace versus
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the Andaz Mayakoba was like night and
day.
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While we felt trapped unsupported at the
Mayan Palace, our experience at the Andaz
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made us appreciate the importance of
customer service and our desire to feel
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like valued guests when visiting a hotel.
What are your thoughts on timeshares and
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vacation clubs? Have you had good or bad
experiences with them? If so, please share
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your experience in the comment section
below. If you enjoyed this video or found
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it useful, please hit the "like" button. For
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updates. Until next time, travel safe
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