Despite all the annoyances, I *love* timesharing

bnoble · #1 (**permalink**) 06-23-2009, 09:53 PM

An average person coming here (or OT, or the Wyndham yahoo group, or...) would conclude that all of us might wish we'd never heard of timeshare. The rip-off artists in any developer's sales office, exchange companies renting weeks, erosion of benefits, and increasing fees, etc. etc. etc.

I'm presently sitting in Wyndham Smoky Mountains, in a very nice 2BR unit. The kids are in their room, asleep, while we hang out in the living room. We've had several meals in our well-stocked kitchen. The beach towels and swim suits from the afternoon's visit to Dollywood's water park are now dry thanks to the in-unit dryer, and I'm about to enjoy a beverage out on the balcony which has a bit of a view.

I hear people vacation in hotel rooms---whole families in a little room with a single bathroom, a single sink, and two beds! I don't know why they do it, or how, but they do it. To me, that's simply not a vacation. This is a vacation, and I wouldn't give it up.

Joe L · #2 (**permalink**) 06-23-2009, 10:09 PM

I totally agree.

There is nothing like bringing freinds and family to their first timeshare experience. They expect a hotel experience then see the timeshare. The look in their eyes is priceless when they see the living room, kitchen and bedrooms.

vacation_family99 · #3 (**permalink**) 06-23-2009, 10:26 PM

I agree!!! We took my husband's mom and dad two weeks ago. It was their first timeshare experience and they also loved it!

It was so enjoyable for me. I could get up and have my breakfast without waking the kids. I could watch what I wanted on TV and the kids could watch their shows!

Wonderful life!

wayzer · #4 (**permalink**) 06-23-2009, 10:35 PM

I confirm your/the first time at a TS feeling. I recently..., actually this past year, visited a timeshare for the first time with my business partner while away on business. I was so impressed that I just closed my first TS and am awaiting my second to close shortly.

I am very much looking forward to taking my family and then my parents away to see their faces and watch them enjoy the benefits of a TS.

Cheers too many years of great vacations in our timeshares!

lawren2 · #5 (**permalink**) 06-23-2009, 10:43 PM

Add me to the I could NEVER do hotel rooms again count. A studio if not in a major metro area is considered a hardship. I like my little pleasantries that a timeshare provides that a hotel room cannot.

I'll roll out one of my favorite old stories now.

DS, who is coming 15yo soon, went down with me to visit a very dear friend of mine in Florida quite a few years ago. We were flying into MCO and I thought it would be pretty damn heartless to take an 8 year old boy to Orlando and not do "A park. Any park". So I pricelined and got a very nice hotel for ~ $40/night for 2 nights so we could go to Universal before our visit a couple hours north.

The first words out of his mouth were "Where is the rest of the place?" and "Where's the kitchen?"

The child had no recollection of a time before timeshare.

SteveChapin · #6 (**permalink**) 06-24-2009, 12:58 AM

I'm feeling pretty lucky that we don't have horror stories to tell. We managed to avoid ever buying from any developer.

We bought our first timeshares from Herb at TimeShareSpecials (may he rest in peace). He threw in two banked GC weeks, so in our first two years, we booked 6 vacations and by our math, had more than made up for money spent. We had a couple more years of gravy before Black Sunday and the rise of the Rand against the $.

We got out of SA, and into CMV UDIs and RCI Points. We've had several more years of great trips, and now that RCI has diminished the value of the UDIs somewhat, we're adding Bluegreen Club to our list.

Our timing hasn't always been perfect. We were a couple of years late on both the SA and UDI bandwagons, but they've worked well for us. We've never had a bad trip; the worst I can say is that one of the resorts we stayed in in Hawaii a couple of years ago was run-of-the-mill...but when you're sitting on the beach in Lahaina, how bad can that be?

I have no regrets about timesharing, and in addition to the use we've gotten for ourselves, I've made trips available to family members, friends, and my Ph.D. students. A fresh graduate just got back from a trip to Isla Margarita...she's Venezuelan, and she got to bring her mother, father, and siblings to the resort with her for the week. At this moment, a dear friend is off in Ocean City with his family, and his mother and father. His parents are in from England, and his father is slipping into dementia, so this may be the last time the kids see their grandfather and he recognizes them.

Timesharing rocks.

sc
--

shaggy · #7 (**permalink**) 06-24-2009, 01:02 AM

Lawren, you made me laugh. A few years back we stayed at the Sheraton in MB. It's a nice place but certainly not a ts. Kelli wanted to know why we were staying in a dump.

My brother met me in Las Vegas and I was staying at the Hilton Flamingo on the strip ( the big pink building) He walked in and the first words out of his mouth , were Wow, nice digs!!

Sometimes I think about selling out but I like having all the space. shaggy

btcctomtb · #8 (**permalink**) 06-24-2009, 01:45 AM

Count me in as one that no longer wants to stay in a motel or hotel. Although sometimes it can not be avoided. When we do stay in a motel or hotel I do apprecate my TS even more. I may be the strange one but I love 1 bedroom loft units. I will actually book one over a 2 bed unit.

Carolinian · #9 (**permalink**) 06-24-2009, 02:34 AM

When I am staying in one place for a week, nothing beats a timeshare. I was in Kiev for work a couple of weeks ago, and even though my employer put me up for six nights in probably the best 5* hotel in town, one of my thoughts after a couple of days, was ''this is so inferior to a timeshare''.

Now, if I am sighting over a larger area, I have changed my view. I no longer like to use a timeshare as a base for that unless it is a rather limited area. The time to and from points of interest and the cost of gas are considerations, and in traveling point to point, with a different hotel each night, isn't quite so bad. I did the timeshare-as-a-base thing in my early sightseeing in Europe, but not anymore. Now I look for somewhere I want to stay for a whole week, without going too far afield, when I do timesharing.

Holly · #10 (**permalink**) 06-24-2009, 04:30 AM

HA! Mary Quin, who is now 5, walked in to our "first night in Orlando" room at the Hyatt airport and said, "Mommy, where are we going to eat?"

Some kids play "house"...she plays "condo"! It's hysterical.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawren2

Add me to the I could NEVER do hotel rooms again count. A studio if not in a major metro area is considered a hardship. I like my little pleasantries that a timeshare provides that a hotel room cannot.

I'll roll out one of my favorite old stories now.

DS, who is coming 15yo soon, went down with me to visit a very dear friend of mine in Florida quite a few years ago. We were flying into MCO and I thought it would be pretty damn heartless to take an 8 year old boy to Orlando and not do "A park. Any park". So I pricelined and got a very nice hotel for ~ $40/night for 2 nights so we could go to Universal before our visit a couple hours north.

The first words out of his mouth were "Where is the rest of the place?" and "Where's the kitchen?"

The child had no recollection of a time before timeshare.