Can someone explain the reasons to buy a timeshare versus renting for a week. What I'm hearing, when your buy you have about $10,000 invested, then you have a maintenence fee of about $500 each year and then at the end of your week you have to pay hotel taxes and misc. So what is the advantage?

Sue,
Hugh at Arubahouse.com has some excellent analysis on the benefits of timeshare ownership.

Actually, you don't have to pay the hotel taxes that you do when you rent, you pay $7/day instead of 18%. You can join a trade co like Interval International and trade for weeks most anyplace. You can rent out your week to someone else (tax free).

Well, first there are no hotel taxes and "misc" at the end of the week. As far as your question goes, a timeshare is an investment. In Aruba, it's a very good one as it is a very sought out area. You can, in turn, rent out your timeshare and make far more money in a couple years than what you actually paid. I guess it's similar to renting a house versus buying.

Everybody has their reasons why it is or is not advantageous for them to buy rather than rent. I can only tell you ours. We wanted a place to spend some winter weeks, after having been to many islands we chose Aruba.
Once that decision was made we decided which weeks we always wanted to go, which resort we wanted to make our home during those weeks, what size unit we needed and what location within the resort did we prefer (you buy specific units, no surprises). Next decisions we made were that we wanted a member owned resort where the members vote for a board to run the resort for us (not corporation owned like Marriott or Divi), we wanted "fixed" weeks (same weeks every year)and we wanted deeded units (ours till we sell or die and then pass on to our kids) not a fixed number of years after which you no longer own it. Airfare isn't bad for us because we use ff miles for at least one, usually two tickets. Yes there are yearly maintenance fees, these are what keep the resort in good shape, money well spent. As for the hotel taxes and energy surcharges, everybody pays those whether you stay in a hotel, rent a time-share or own the time-share. Can't remember how those charges work at a hotel, whether you pay at the end of your stay or if they are added in to your air/hotel package or what, but one way or another you pay them.

While I can't speak for all timeshares, I own two weeks with the Marriott Ocean Club and Surf Club. While the upfront investment is substancial, and the maintanence fees are a pain (and continually go up), owning does a few things.

1) Depending on how you structure it, you could get a tax break using it as a rental property.
2) It forces you to go on vacation
3) There are no hotel taxes at the end of your stay
4) For me, to stay at the comparable Marriott Aruba Hotel, its roughly $350/night x 7 nights = $2450 x 18% tax = 2891 at a minimum. The weekly timeshare maintanence fee is about $800. That's a savings of about $2000 each year.

The disadvantage is your upfront and yearly fees.

Hope this helps.
Steve

From what I've read (I do not own) some people like the feel of having a 'home'..some place where they know they will always have a place to stay and are familar with staff/surroundings. And, some also have made friends with the people who go the same weeks they do so kinda like a bit of 'family' feel.

Timeshare ensures you have a week every year. With a timeshare you do not pay an taxes except for a small 48 charge. If you pay for your timeshare now all you have is the maint fee every year. WHere can you get a hotel room for a week in Aruba for 500.

Hi Sue,
It is six of one and half a dozen of another
timeshare is only good if you vacation every year.
Lets say you vacation in Aruba for 10 years at lets say $4,000 per year at the end of 10 years you paid $40,000 for vacations and you have nothing to show for it.
Now on the other hand lets say you bought a timeshare for around $ 20,000 and your mainntance is around $550 per year, you do pay a small fee of around $9 per day Aruba tax. But after you used it for 10 years, you still have after paying $20,000 + $5500 maint + $500 tax your still ahead $14,000 and you still own the unit to sell(at a loss) or rent or let your kids use it to play in, you should be retired by now.

Also, timeshare resorts usually are condos with kitchens rather than just rooms. Also, most have separate bedrooms so you have more floor space and privacy.