Maintenance fees question from a newbie...

All,

I've been doing my homework on timeshares and I'm looking to buy a resale at Sheraton Vistana Resort as it is a Mandatory resort so I would get the Staroptions and can trade within their network, which is all I want for now. In trying to get the best deal I see that for same location and size of a timeshare there are quite a bit of differences in Maintenance fees. I would like to understand why that may be the case as I'd like ot buy one wiht lowest fees, but am cautious I may be missing something. Thanks in advance !

If you will access www.tugbbs.com they have an entire forum related to Starwood. I'm sure your question can be answered there.

Thanks, Jay Jay ! I made a typo above... I'm looking at Vistana Villages as it is a mandatory resort, I know Vistana Resort is not.

edb180 wrote:

Thanks, Jay Jay ! I made a typo above... I'm looking at Vistana Villages as it is a mandatory resort, I know Vistana Resort is not.

I'm curious about the reason for wanting a resort which has a mandatory all inclusive fee. (I assume that is what you meant by "mandatory"). Unless you drink a lot and it includes lots of entertainment such as golf, shows, etc. it seems hard to get your money's worth. Optional All inclusive might be OK in some circumstances, but being able to do some of your own cooking, if only breakfast, can save a bundle and allow you the choice of 'trying various area restaurants. The cost of paying an individual all inclusive fee could easily dwarf the maintenance fees! MD

adahiscout wrote:

I'm curious about the reason for wanting a resort which has a mandatory all inclusive fee. (I assume that is what you meant by "mandatory"). Unless you drink a lot and it includes lots of entertainment such as golf, shows, etc. it seems hard to get your money's worth. Optional All inclusive might be OK in some circumstances, but being able to do some of your own cooking, if only breakfast, can save a bundle and allow you the choice of 'trying various area restaurants. The cost of paying an individual all inclusive fee could easily dwarf the maintenance fees! MD

I don't know in what context she was using the word mandatory, but I don't know of any resorts in the Orlando area that are mandatory charging all inclusive fees for eating and drinking. The only ones I know of are in Mexico and perhaps the Caribbean.

Maybe she'll come back and explain what she meant by 'mandatory'.

What I meant by Mandatory was a type of Starwood or SVN membeship that resort offers. As I understand when you buy a resale at a Mandatory resort that means they will transfer the Starwood membership to a new owner and you can trade for other villas in their program. The other type of Starwood resorts that are not mandatory do NOT transfer that membership so when you buy a resale you can only stay there or deal wiht Interval or RCI, which I prefer not to if I can stay within the Starwood (Sheraton, Westin, etc...) resorts. I'm new to this, but from reading up on this topic that is what I understand, please correct me if I'm off... Thanks !

edb180 wrote:

What I meant by Mandatory was a type of Starwood or SVN membeship that resort offers. As I understand when you buy a resale at a Mandatory resort that means they will transfer the Starwood membership to a new owner and you can trade for other villas in their program. The other type of Starwood resorts that are not mandatory do NOT transfer that membership so when you buy a resale you can only stay there or deal wiht Interval or RCI, which I prefer not to if I can stay within the Starwood (Sheraton, Westin, etc...) resorts. I'm new to this, but from reading up on this topic that is what I understand, please correct me if I'm off... Thanks !

As previously mentioned, you can get far more replies to your Starwood questions at www.tugbbs.com as they have a Starwood forum.

edb180 wrote:

What I meant by Mandatory was a type of Starwood or SVN membeship that resort offers. As I understand when you buy a resale at a Mandatory resort that means they will transfer the Starwood membership to a new owner and you can trade for other villas in their program. The other type of Starwood resorts that are not mandatory do NOT transfer that membership so when you buy a resale you can only stay there or deal wiht Interval or RCI, which I prefer not to if I can stay within the Starwood (Sheraton, Westin, etc...) resorts. I'm new to this, but from reading up on this topic that is what I understand, please correct me if I'm off... Thanks !