Cheap vacation at Westin Kaanapali Hawaii. Is it worth it (timeshare presentation).

CarreraS2 · 05-17-2005, 11:59 AM

I must be on some "Suckers" mailing list, because I get these all the time.

This one seems pretty decent though - 6 days/5 nights at the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas on Maui, for $650. Plus you get a $100 voucher to spend in the restaurants/shops and a $185 Enterprise rental car voucher.

Doesn't include airfare, but seems like a good deal.

This is run by a company called Starwood, which seems legitimate.

Of course, the catch is you have to attend a 90 minute timeshare presentation.

Is it worth it? Anyone ever been to this one in particular?

My wife and I have done a couple of these timeshare presentations in Mexico, and we'd avoid those like the plague. They are very high pressure, and although I'm normally polite, they inevitably end up in a confrontation. Which I don't really mind - they ain't getting a penny from me no matter what so it's just a stupid game - but my wife doesn't like being forced to witness!

The ones in Mexico come close to holding you hostage. Being battle tested through those, I'm thinking the Westin in Hawaii will be a walk in the park.

Any experiences? Any funny timeshare presentation stories?

BlueSkyJaunte · 05-17-2005, 12:50 PM

When we were in Hawaii on our honeymoon we were constantly harrassed as we walked around. People wanting to give us free parasailing, etc., for listening to a 90-minute spiel.

I've never attended one and I never will. 90 minutes of my vacation is worth 100x what I earn in 90 minutes on the job.

john walker's workshop · 05-17-2005, 01:01 PM

once you bite, you're automatically on lots of other mailing lists. (sucker).

Jared at Pelican Parts · 05-17-2005, 01:04 PM

I've stayed there... nice hotel

RickM · RickM's Garage

My wife and I got sucked in while in St. Martine.

We get to the presentation at about 9am. Many tables with other timeshare prospects all around. The table next to us had 4 majorly hungover guys who wanted that free boat ride to St. Barts as well. Their 1 hour hour session lasted 45 minutes. Because I was with my wife our session lasted 3 hours. They're your best friend in the beginning and curse you when you leave...lol. Never, ever again.

Jims5543 · 05-17-2005, 01:40 PM

I own a Starwood property in Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas. I love it. I actually traded it this year (1st time in 4 years) for a trip to Palm Springs.

Starwood is a legitimate company I have a Starwood Amex card that gets me points to trade for Hotel Stays, plane tickets, rent a cars etc.. I use the AMEX for all my business expenses and build a LOT of points up. I have taken free vacations many times with this point system. We take the kids to Disney a lot (Season tickets) and stay at the Dolphin/Swan for free every time.

If your not interested in a time share go and make sure you have a good story worked out, pending bankrupcy etc.. Do the tour and say no.

Its 3 hours of a week that is heavily discounted.

I paid 27K for 2 units in Atlantis and have been offered close to 40K to sell them 4 years later. I plan on keeping them and passing them on to my boys.

Jims5543 · 05-17-2005, 01:50 PM

A funny story.

Ron Jons decided to do the Timeshare thing in Orlando. I happen to have done business (legitimate) with Ron Demina and figured if he was involved it would be a nice property.

The property was awesome. I was new to the timeshare thing. We did the tour for some free theme park tickets and hotel stay. When it came down to the final word on a purchase I was unsure. We were in the market but not sure about the property. They offered a week for purchase to be used within a year for $1200. This was resonalble because it was a 2 bedroom/bath unit sleeps 8 comfortably.

We had a hell of time obtaining reservations for the unit 8 months later. It took my wife 7 seperate phone calls that resulted in 5-10 transfers with hang ups and no one knowing what they were doing. After getting the reservation it was lost then we were told that week was no longer available. It was a nightmare getting reservations.

We were obligated to do another tour when we finally got our week. We took my Bro and sis-in-law with their kids and had a ball.

When it got down to talking turkey again we explained our nightmare getting a week. A manager was brought in to hear our story. They politely asked for names of people that we delt with. My wife had written them down. They were embarressed and understood why we would not buy.

6 Months later we purchased in Atlantis and it has been night and day compared to Club Interval timeshare properties. Avaiod Interval International they are bad news. The Starwood network treats you like you command respect. The reservation process takes all of about 5 minutes.

stevepaa · 05-17-2005, 02:24 PM

If you can use a trip to Hawaii, take it. My wife and I do this infrequently for escapes. We are up front with the sales person and just say we are looking but will not buy. My brother in law has five timeshares, and uses them, but I could never affford that.

Venetian · 05-17-2005, 03:16 PM

This is brand new class "A" resort. Starwoods seems to be very legitimate giving you access to all Westin, Sheraton, St Regis hotels around the world.

cmccuist · 05-17-2005, 03:40 PM

My buddy used to go to these time share events. He would work out the numbers and then present them (loudly) when asked.

For instance, if they were selling time-share condos for $20,000 a share for two weeks, that works out to 26 X $20k or $520,000.

He would point out that the condos are selling for around $300,000 and would ask why are you selling $300,000 condos for $520,000?

They would leave him alone after that.

stevepaa · 05-17-2005, 04:02 PM

Ah, the St. Regis is NY is nice. How did you get on this mailing list?

fintstone · fintstone's Garage

I did the same trip with the same company to Maui. The trip was great...they were very concerned about their reputation and surveyed us at the end to ensure we were not bothered or "hard selled" during the vacation. At the end, we had to sit for a sales pitch. It was not super hard sell, but were pretty intense for about an hour. We did not buy...they were really not in our budget...the savings were well worth the hour of annoyance though.

RickM · RickM's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by cmccuist

For instance, if they were selling time-share condos for $20,000 a share for two weeks, that works out to 26 X $20k or $520,000.

He would point out that the condos are selling for around $300,000 and would ask why are you selling $300,000 condos for $520,000?

They would leave him alone after that.

If they were smart they'd add the mortgage interest to the $300k and show the $520 to be an qual or better deal.

makaio · 05-18-2005, 03:04 PM

By the time you purchase the airfaire, you'd be able to stay at the Marriot for similar coin, and not have to listen to the dam sales pitch.

cantdrv55 · 05-19-2005, 01:02 PM

Still seems like a good deal to me though. You could stay at the Marriott but I'm sure the Westin is a much nicer place. I stay in Marriott Hotels when I'm on a business trip (every week) so I dang sure won't stay in one when I'm on vacation.

SoCal911SC, are you in the market for a timeshare or just looking for vacation deals? I went to timeshare presentation in SF and bought into it. A week later I found a reseller who gave me almost a 75% discount for the same property so I took advantage of the 2 wk return policy and saved a ton.