Hilton Grand Vacation Club

Has anyone had experience with Hilton. We had owned hawaii bay club Hilton since 2000, we worry they are going to sell it off. We have exchanged it trough rci several times. What I don't understand is it cost me less points to go to the same hilton resort through rci than if I booked direct through hilton. Also I looked at buying a timeshare resale, but wonder if I should go withh a different brand so I also have II to pick from. What are your thoughts? Jewels

I'm a little jaded, but I own a Marriott unit. I'm new to the whole TS world, but from what I read Marriott is considered the premium within the TS world. Their MF are also higher though. I think you will also find that Marriott has many more resorts the Hilton does.

HI JEWELLS I OWN AT THE NEW RESORT HGVC@WAIKOLOA -- BOUGHT RESALE- TOOK NEARLY 3 MONTHS BUT WELL WORTH IT. ITS GREAT-

HOW MANY POINTS DO YOU OWN AT THE BAY CLUB-- YOU CAN PROBABLY RESERVE A STAY AT VEGAS OR EVEN HGVC WAIKOLA DURING CLUB RES SEASON.

ANYWAY - MARRIOTTS ARE NICE- BUT MY NEXT PURCHASE WILL PROBABLY BE A HYATT IN MY HOME STATE OF CALIFORNIA. i HEAR FROM OTHERS THAT A COMBINATION OF HILTON AND HYATT IS UNBEATABLE- YOU GET THE MOST FLEXIBILITY PLUS MANY SUPER QUALITY RESORTS IN SELECT PLACES HGVC AND HYATT COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER.

julier76 wrote:

Has anyone had experience with Hilton. We had owned hawaii bay club Hilton since 2000, we worry they are going to sell it off. We have exchanged it trough rci several times. What I don't understand is it cost me less points to go to the same hilton resort through rci than if I booked direct through hilton. Also I looked at buying a timeshare resale, but wonder if I should go withh a different brand so I also have II to pick from. What are your thoughts? Jewels

I would buy into Worlkmark. We have loved it and they have 52 resorts so we seldom exchange through the exchange companies. The Hawaii resorts are not as nice and when we go to Hawaii we do exchange. Because of worldmarks rep. and direct relationship with RCI and II we have always gotten great properties.

We own Hawaii resorts with both Hilton and Marriott. While Marriott has more resorts, I have actually found more advantages with Hilton. Examples: There are no fees to change reservations dates at your home resort with Hilton. (Marriott charges a fee). You can exchange within Hilton without having to go through RCI. (With Marriott you have to go through II).

We've been very happy with Hilton.

I am interested in buying a Resale Hilton Resort at the Flamingo in Vegas. Question, it's points, no fixed week, will Hilton honor these points and allow a Hilton membership? Or will they only be good with RCI. We would like to return to the HRVC Flamingo each year but with no fixed week, how would that be done if Hilton doesn't honor the points and makes us go through RCI?

My wife and I bought HGVC. Our home location is Orlando, FL, and we had a great stay there. We recently exchanged with a RCI location in Sedona, AZ...the Sunterra Sedona Summit. We were not disappointed. The accommodations were nice and the locale was beautiful. We are looking forward to our next trip in 2008.

How anyone can extoll the virtues of "owning" one of these TS--with all of the litany of complaints you can read concerning any one Sponsor--is sometimes beyond comprehension. RENT-RENT-RENT... You keep your purchase dollars earing interest for future vacations + the luxury of HAVING NO ANNUAL MAINTENANCE FEES.

Some examples (all direect from owners who are by and large weary of TS):

HVC in Orlando--TUSCANY Village: $75/nightly-2BR Manhattan Club--NYC--$90/nightly for 7 nights! Sedona--Sunterra-- 2BR--$80/nightly.. Many more could be listed...you have unlimited options and the inventory is ENDLESS!

nancym60 wrote:

I am interested in buying a Resale Hilton Resort at the Flamingo in Vegas. Question, it's points, no fixed week, will Hilton honor these points and allow a Hilton membership? Or will they only be good with RCI. We would like to return to the HRVC Flamingo each year but with no fixed week, how would that be done if Hilton doesn't honor the points and makes us go through RCI?

I have owned HGVC for 8 years and am very happy. I purchased a resale unit at Flamingo about 3 years. One of the best things about Hilton is what they sell you, you can sell to someone else, unlike Marriott which takes away the best benefits when you sell. You will have all he benefits when you purchase any HGVC unit. Flamingo has one unique benefit that no other HGVC has. It was the first and does not include the ROFR. This means you can sometimes find a bargain. Anywhere else and Hilton will buy it out from under you if you get a really good deal. I have never had a problem finding a Hilton property available. The inventory is listed on the web site so you can book it yourself. RCI exchanges are difficult at best even though Hilton does the reservation for you. You don't actually have a membership with RCI but you get access without the membership fee. It has been difficult getting exchanges in less desireable areas as Hilton will only look at resorts comparable to them. They say they don't want customers to be disappointed so they won't tell you about lower value exchanges.

has anyone had luck getting a disney property in an off time like september through RCI?

and one other question - (new to this) some of the properties have "event week" usually xmas time - what does that mean as far as reservations or points needed?

We live in Australia and are thinking of buying timeshare with HGVC - Hawaiian Village - it is a resale and appears to be a really good price - just wondering if anyone can answer any of the following questions; a) If we buy it as a resale do we miss any of the privileges other than the Elite club b) We need to be able to book at least 9-12 months in advance - given we are coming a long distance and flights are expensive - are you always assured of a week in your home resort - we are buying platinum c) Has anyone bought resale through SellMyTimeShareNow.com - good experience or bad?? Are they reputable to deal with? c) How easy is it to trade your home week for other HGVC resorts - it all seems to good to be true I want to know any bad stuff - sorry for my naiivity still trying to get my head around this whole Time share concept

Cheers

kellief10 wrote:

We live in Australia and are thinking of buying timeshare with HGVC - Hawaiian Village - it is a resale and appears to be a really good price - just wondering if anyone can answer any of the following questions; a) If we buy it as a resale do we miss any of the privileges other than the Elite club b) We need to be able to book at least 9-12 months in advance - given we are coming a long distance and flights are expensive - are you always assured of a week in your home resort - we are buying platinum c) Has anyone bought resale through SellMyTimeShareNow.com - good experience or bad?? Are they reputable to deal with? c) How easy is it to trade your home week for other HGVC resorts - it all seems to good to be true I want to know any bad stuff - sorry for my naiivity still trying to get my head around this whole Time share concept

Cheers

Your Hilton questions would be better answered at www.tugbbs.com .... they have a Hilton forum.

We just attended a presentation and like what were heard. What is the market value for the points?

lisae139 wrote:

We just attended a presentation and like what were heard. What is the market value for the points?

Just remember, at timeshare presentations, the slick sales people can make investing in a $700 Sony beta player sound like a good deal.

I hope you did not get sucked in by their glitzy presentation and shell out thousands of dollars, right then and there, for something that you probably know little about.

As for "market value for the points", I would suggest looking at similar sales on E-bay in its completed auctions section. That tells you generally what such products are selling (as opposed to just listing) for.

NO WAY! We did not fall for the sales pitch! Thanks for the hint where to look :)

I agree with Ken. Be aware that buying HGVC TS via resale doesn't help you toward Elite. If you don't care, rent as Ken suggests, or buy resale. Recommend you look at Hilton City Club (Hilton Club DC property). Reasonable maintenance fees, 50-1 Hilton Honors exchange, 60 day booking window (rather than 45) in Manhattan. But don't pay full price unless you just have a strong desire to go Elite. Do your homework before making a move.NO NEED TO RUSH.