Hilton Grand Vacations Club ownership

[Tifababy]

While on vacation in Hawaii my wife and I got suckered into listening to a sales pitch for the vacation club (we just wanted the 30,000 HHonors points). We listened to the speech and it seemed pretty good. We couldn't find any downsides to the program.

Does anyone own at any of the hilton grand vacations clubs? Anyone else listened to the sales pitch and turned them down? If so, why?

The way we see it is that for around $500-$600 in fees and tax (after the initial purchase which isn't exactly cheap), we can get 2 weeks of hotel suites (1-2 bedroom suites with full kitchen, laundry and jacuzzi tub).

 

[Vegitto]

Originally posted by: Tifababy
While on vacation in Hawaii my wife and I got suckered into listening to a sales pitch for the vacation club (we just wanted the 30,000 HHonors points). We listened to the speech and it seemed pretty good. We couldn't find any downsides to the program.

Does anyone own at any of the hilton grand vacations clubs? Anyone else listened to the sales pitch and turned them down? If so, why?

The way we see it is that for around $500-$600 in fees and tax (after the initial purchase which isn't exactly cheap), we can get 2 weeks of hotel suites (1-2 bedroom suites with full kitchen, laundry and jacuzzi tub).

DO NOT SIGN. You'll be hypnotized and you're actually selling your soul to TimeShare Corp. 😛

 

[QED]

One problem is you likely could've bought someone else's timeshare with Hilton for less than half the price of what Hilton charges.

 

[Tifababy]

Originally posted by: MathMan
One problem is you likely could've bought someone else's timeshare with Hilton for less than half the price of what Hilton charges.

We haven't signed yet, we had an easy out because my wife is an auditor and she had to find out if she is allowed to own hilton property since her firm is involved in auditing hilton. We found out today that she is allowed to purchase it, so now we're looking into it more seriously.

 

[OutHouse]

dont do it, its a timeshare now matter how they spin it.

 

[Tifababy]

Originally posted by: Citrix
dont do it, its a timeshare now matter how they spin it.

It is a timeshare, but I'm not locked into a certain week nor am I locked into a certain location. I can buy the cheapest location with the lowest tax (Las Vegas) and for $49 I can change my location and visit Hawaii instead. We can also save up our points for 3 years and take 1 huge vacation.

We would never do a timeshare where you have to stay at the same resort everytime and you get 1 week a year (week 32 for example).

 

[BoomerD]

IF you will use it regularly, and IF the annual maintenance fees aren't too high, and IF you like the Hilton chain enough to justify buying it, then go ahead. YES, you can buy one cheaper on the resale market, but it won't come with many of the perks that you get when buying from Hilton directly. We own a "vacation ownership" thru Starwood, (Maui Westin) and we use it, we convert to Starpoints so we can stay in Starwood hotels when we travel, use them for airline miles, etc. Be aware, that instead of appreciating in value, like they probably told you in the presentation, if you dicide to sell, you'll probably lose 30% of what you paid in the resale market...

 

[Tifababy]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
IF you will use it regularly, and IF the annual maintenance fees aren't too high, and IF you like the Hilton chain enough to justify buying it, then go ahead. YES, you can buy one cheaper on the resale market, but it won't come with many of the perks that you get when buying from Hilton directly. We own a "vacation ownership" thru Starwood, (Maui Westin) and we use it, we convert to Starpoints so we can stay in Starwood hotels when we travel, use them for airline miles, etc. Be aware, that instead of appreciating in value, like they probably told you in the presentation, if you dicide to sell, you'll probably lose 30% of what you paid in the resale market...

They did tell us that the price will go up, and I agree that it will, but obviously you have to sell it below retail otherwise everyone would just buy through Hilton so you have to take 20-30% off the current retail price (which will be higher than what we paid). I know we'd use it because my wife's family goes to Orlando every year we could stay in 1 2-bedroom suite instead of multiple hotel rooms.

I'm just a little apprehensive because the salesmen make it sound so good (that's their job, duh) I just wanted to make sure that we're not missing something.

 

[BoomerD]

They DO make it sound great...and it can be, but it has drawbacks that they either don't mention, OR they hurry up and cover/gloss over in a way that most people miss them.
Do your research on the place you're considering...see how much it is selling for on the resale market. Buying from the presentation, you will get all the perks that the program gives. In our case, it was StarPoints that I can use at ANY Starwood hotel in the world, StarOptions that I can use at any of their vacation villas in the world, Starwood Preferred Guest Gold membership, which always gets us an upgraded room in the hotels, and , of course, membership/program participation in Interval International, one of the timeshare trading companies. If you buy one on the resale market, you ONLY get the choice of staying in the property you bought, or trading it thru I-I (or which ever trading program they're signed with).