Best timeshare on the Beach

[Kevandra]

Hello,

I was wondering if you might provide your thoughts on the best timeshare (or more importantly, the resorts to avoid) on the beach.

We love the island so much that we are considering a timeshare for the first time. We viewed a suite at the Marriot a couple of weeks ago - it was quite nice but a little costly. We would like to be on the beach and don't require the cheapest or lowest budget accomodations. I realize the costs can be quite different depending on the week and season.

I just find the whole timeshare sales experience like purchasing a used car. I am very skeptical of the information provided. I'm not convinced it is the cheapest way to go - after all, we can watch for package sales and travel to resorts on our on terms. I can't figure out if it is better or more flexible to go with a points purchase type arrangement or a typical "here is your unit during week #xx" for the rest of your life.

There are three of us, if that matters.
Many thanks,
Kevin

[Andrea J.]

what worked for us by owning fixed weeks, eventually worked against us.
we converted our fixed to the Bluegreen Point system and found that is better suited to our needs. when our son was younger, the fixed weeks worked for us. now that he is an adult and we are retired, we need the flexibility.

many folks will tell you the resort where they own is the best.
many folks will not comment on the worst, or what they call the worst because degrading another person's timeshare can be taken as insulting.

i own at lacabana and we like the place.
it is clean, many amenities and recently renovated.
it certainly is not the fanciest nor sits directly on the beach, but it is very nice.
some will criticize it because it does not sit on the beach.
the best timeshare on island.......is the one that suits your needs.

some timeshares on island are not deeded perpetuity.
those non deeded are "right to use" for X amount of years.


i

Originally Posted by Kevandra

Hello,

I was wondering if you might provide your thoughts on the best timeshare (or more importantly, the resorts to avoid) on the beach.

We love the island so much that we are considering a timeshare for the first time. We viewed a suite at the Marriot a couple of weeks ago - it was quite nice but a little costly. We would like to be on the beach and don't require the cheapest or lowest budget accomodations. I realize the costs can be quite different depending on the week and season.

I just find the whole timeshare sales experience like purchasing a used car. I am very skeptical of the information provided. I'm not convinced it is the cheapest way to go - after all, we can watch for package sales and travel to resorts on our on terms. I can't figure out if it is better or more flexible to go with a points purchase type arrangement or a typical "here is your unit during week #xx" for the rest of your life.

There are three of us, if that matters.
Many thanks,
Kevin

[corona]

Purely based on aesthetics, as my h and I are not timeshare owners, I fell in love with the Playa Linda. We stayed at the Hyatt in Feb, next door to the PL, and we thought the building and grounds were beautiful, and we loved the location. I know nothing about the ins and outs of timeshare ownership, but if I were interested, I would look there.

We have friends who own several weeks at the Marriott Surf Club. They absolutely love it.

Andrea's advice is top notch. "The best timeshare on island.......is the one that suits your needs."

[jdoll]

We like the Marriott Ocean Club experience while working (flexible seasons rather than set weeks) but if we were to buy another week I won't be buying it from Marriott directly. You can find weeks to buy at 1/2 of what Marriott charges. They only right you lose not buying from them is the right to trade for Marriott Rewards points. You can still trade thru Interval if needed, but we never trade Aruba anyway so putting more money in Marriotts pocket is senseless. Example, last fall our Marriott Rep told us 2-bdrms were selling for $27,900; redweek.com has them for sale starting @ $12,000. ***

For me, I wouldn't recommend the Marriott Surf Club for it's lack of beach, which is important to us.

*** Why would someone sell thru redweek for so much less? Marriott resells units in the order you tell them you what to sell. Hence, if 40 people are ahead of you you have to wait for the 41st buyer.

Second, Marriott charges a 40% commission, so a $16,740 selling price outside the Marriott program nets the seller the same money. And they don't have to wait for the 41st buyer.

If you are going to use the unit in the season you are buying, skip Marriott and buy directly from a owner/seller.

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by Andrea J.

many folks will tell you the resort where they own is the best.
many folks will not comment on the worst, or what they call the worst because degrading another person's timeshare can be taken as insulting.

Understandably because it is an investment , timeshare owners have a vested interest in the advice they give.

We do not own a timeshare but have stayed at a few. Playa Linda IS a beautiful resort, but it is very difficult most times of the year to obtain a palapa. So if you need shade and you do not wake up at 5 am each day on vacation it is a consideration.

We did not care for the Divi Phoenix.

Divi phoenix
www.aruba.com/forum/f9/divi-phoenix-50591/

Originally Posted by sherryf

kath, the water is shallow for a great distance, rarely has any waves and is either smooth bottomed or in areas covered in sea grass. the jetty areas are great for snorkeling. you can shallow snorkel and see many fish which surprised the heck out of me. just put on a mask and snorkel, lean forward in the chest high water and peer into some beautiful sea life.

Originally Posted by Arubalisa

We're "beach people", when we stayed at the Phoenix years ago, this was the biggest turn off for us. It was difficult trying to find a place to cool off in the ocean that was deep enough. Add on to that avoiding the sea grass... .

We also "attempted" to stay at a timeshare in the low rise area, admittedly many years ago so I will not mention it by name, but we never even unpacked and switched resorts. The room though cleaned by housekeeping for our check-in, was filthy. The cooking area was dark with no lighting, our patio was roped off due to construction which we were not told about, there was hair from multiple body parts all over the bathroom and the swimming pool was a cloudy mess.

My best advice would be to stay at the resort first for a week, before you make your purchase to make sure that you even like the place. Also consider whether or not you wish to be in the high rise area of Palm beach or the low rise area.

Also consider the age of the resort and the last renovation. Once you purchase, how long before you will receive an additional assessment beyond your annual maintenance fee, for capital and room improvements at the resort?

http://www.aruba.com/forum/f9/rent-own-timeshare-43510/

Need More T/S Experts

In Aruba, Timeshare Salesmen----

Timeshare SPECIALS?

Buying Timeshare privately

Best Time Share?????

Timeshare auctions on EBAY

How are Timeshare Sales executed ?

New timeshare owner- getting more confused by the minute

[sunworshipperII]

Great advice lisa....

[ricky59]

the occidental, great room's, all room's have ocean view, with terraces, best stretch of sand on palm beach. nice pool, close to everything. you can buy on resale all inclusive optional cotract's.
owners that purchsed from 01 - 03 pretty much have the optional. lower mait fees than many other resort's. you also have floating week's, example 2-17, 18-50 etc.
all 8 week's of my contract's are optional all inclusive.
for optional all inclusive owner's they do offer a package for breakfast, lunch, and drink's, cost 55.00, only palm beach hotel with the bar on the beach!!! with newly renovated casino.
we love this resort and staff.......

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by sunworshipperII

Great advice lisa....

Thanks. I have been giving this some additional thought. Not knowing your age or circumstances, I know in our position right now with a dd who is 15 yo and a dh who is a school teacher, at this time we have some restrictions as to time of year we can travel which brings questions.

Do you have to travel at the same time of the year?
Will those dates change in the future?
As Andrea said, once you have school age children, that counts out a lot of weeks.
If you do not have children there are a lot of timeshare bargains out there in the fall for the weeks after Labor Day. Just yesterday I saw a studio at La Cabana on eBay for week 39 that had sold at auction for $128.51. Add in the additional fees and a total price of $677.51 for a timeshare is a real bargain.

How large or small of a unit do you need?
A family depending upon its size would ideally want a unit with "x" number of bedrooms.
Will those needs for say a 2 or 3 bedroom timeshare change to a studio or one bedroom timeshare unit in later years once the children are out of the nest?

[Kevandra]

Hello folks.

Thanks for all of the great advice. My wife and I have a four year old daughter. Over the years, we travelled to a number of different places in the Caribbean and South America but we always missed Aruba when were away. It does worry me that the time slot we choose may not be convenient when our daughter is full time school, university, etc. The points program may offer us more flexibility.

Andrea, perhaps my question was a little strong, I certainly didn't expect to turn the post into a mud-slinging exercise. I was thinking more around the quality/honesty/flexibility of the sales experience than finding the "worst" place on the island. My apologies. I doubt you can go really wrong anywhere along the highrise hotel strip. This was the second serious look at timeshares for my wife and I (a flexible points based program here in Canada and at the Marriott). On both occasions I felt like I was getting hustled.

Thanks for the information and food for thought about resales. We did get the impression that the Marriott "controlled" the resales through some sort of "First Rights" condition.

I like Occidental Hotel - I stayed there about five years ago. The all inclusive option appeals to me. I will do some investigation.

Thanks for all of the helpful links, this information will provide me with lots of weekend reading. We returned from Aruba on Sunday, our tans are fading and we are already daydreaming about our next trip...

Cheers.
Kevin

[kent]

I will put my 2 cents in. We own at the Marriott Surf Club and love it there. You will hear from people who have never stayed there before to avoid this place. We have traveled all over the world and the nicest rooms and the nicest resort is the Marriott Surf Club for us. Everyone is different. They are expensive but maybe you can just rent one from someone instead of buying. If you have any questions, please e-mail me direct. kentgerber@adamswells.com