Family Holiday Options
Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST
Family Holiday Options
Inside the Hilton hotel, Ocean 22: Photo by DUFFY
Vacations offer a perfect time to learn the art of living in the present; to focus on the joy of being together and in the moment. They are the brief shining breaks we spend months anticipating and years reliving. Vacations indulge you in the kind of time you deserve—time away from home, time with your family, time to literally explore new horizons. They rejuvenate your spirit. Vacations allow you to live completely in the moment. Experts and recent studies agree that investing in a vacation means investing in your personal health and overall well-being. We all know how we feel when we cannot take a vacation or it gets interrupted by work, annoyed and upset. There is a way that your can pre-plan for your family vacation, via a vacation ownership.
There are many companies that offer vacation ownership (Hyatt, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Wyndham, Disney, Super 8, Marriott, Philips etc). Hilton Worldwide offers business and leisure travelers the finest in accommodations, service, amenities and value. Since Conrad Hilton bought his first hotel in 1919 in Cisco, Texas, they have expanded geographically, produced original hotel and travel concepts and developed innovative technologies to enhance the guest experience. Today, Hilton Worldwide is recognized as one of the leading global hospitality company, spanning the lodging sector from luxurious full-service hotels and resorts to extended-stay suites and mid-priced hotels.
Why Vacation Ownership? Vacation Ownership means that every year you have an opportunity to leave the stress of everyday life behind, to reconnect with your family, your friends and yourself.If your the type of person who does not want to spend the time hunting down a deal vacation that is amazing, these types of ownerships could be a solution for your family.
Some benefits can include:
- Savings: Vacations for a lifetime at today's price, and without the hassles of second home ownership
- Comfort: Spacious home-like accommodations with full kitchens, extra bedrooms, and plenty of living space
- Amenities: Most destinations include an array of spectacular resort amenities
- Flexibility: Vacation on your schedule, wherever and whenever
- Variety: Exchange opportunities provide access to destinations throughout the world
Let's look at what Hilton Grand Vacations offers.
Hilton Grand Vacations is committed to the idea that life is incomplete without vacations. Their distinctive resort collection features spacious condominium-style accommodations in renowned vacation destinations, spectacular amenities and the quality service that is synonymous with the Hilton name. All of this combines to create unforgettable vacation experiences and the benefits don't stop there:
- Vacation in your favorite spot year after year — Hilton Grand Vacations Club resorts are located in New York City, Orlando, Miami Beach, Carlsbad, CA, Florida Gulf beaches, the Las Vegas Strip and the Hawaiian Islands.
- Explore the world — You'll find Hilton Grand Vacations Club affiliated resorts in Canada, California, Colorado, Mexico, Scotland and beyond. Plus, our partnership with leading exchange companies, such as RCI, provides access to more than 4,000 affiliated resorts in more than 100 countries and territories.
- Get the most from your Points — The Hilton Grand Vacations ClubPoint system is the most flexible around, limited only by your imagination.
- Enjoy HHonors Silver status — Vacation ownership with Hilton provides you with Silver VIP membership in the renowned Hilton HHonors program.
- Stay at more than 4,660 properties in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio — Spanning from luxurious full-service hotels and resorts to extended stay suites and mid-priced hotels, Hilton Worldwide is the leading global hospitality company. Come discover places like Paris, London, Rome, Switzerland, Greece, Monaco and beyond.
- Head out on an adventure — ClubPartner Perks offer amazing vacation options such as cruises, RV and luxury houseboat journeys, yacht charters, airline travel, premium motorcycle excursions, and other first class adventures.
The Hilton name is synonymous with a legendary reputation for attentive guest service and high-quality accommodations. So no matter where you go or what you do as a Member of Hilton Grand Vacations Club, you know you can count on Hilton to keep you safe and comfortable.
Here are some thoughts to ponder on any vacation memberships. We recently had the opportunity to learn more about the Hilton Packages. Here is what we observed.
PROS / You can stay at more than 5,000 resorts.
CONS / Hilton Grand Vacations Club sales may put a lot of pressure on you to buy. The sales person spent over 30 minutes talking about herself vs. educating the client on the packages and what membership meant. She was not respectful of our time. When we asked to see a copy of a contract that a customer would sign and this was only produced when asked 5 times. When we went to review the contract the sales person continued to interrupt the client and said,"We had two lawyers come in and they did not even read the contract, they said that if Hilton wrote the contract than its gotta be better than anything we could ever write." The unprofessional, inappropriate amount of pressure put on the client made them want to just walk out. The sales person refused to explain the costs of the program after two hours with the client. Maybe she did not refuse, maybe she just did not understand it. Her background was that she was a lifeguard on a boat in Hawaii for diving charters. The client was then dragged across the street to another sales center and then told what the costs would be. They have this mysterious calculator on what they feel you have already spent on your holiday vacation room costs. They estimated the clients costs to be out of pocket over the next 20 years $197,000 for hotel rooms. The client responded with, this number is way to high and appears severely inflated. The way they calculated this was to take the total days you will take vacation, the cost you estimate you will spend per night for your room, the number of years you will continue to vacation in your life and place a value to that. This cost does not include flights, meals or other fun you do on your vacation.
There is also a point system they use to develop your level of investment costs. For example if you think you will take 7-14 days of vacation a year you could be put into a 2,400 point option. This option costs, $14,490 today. A 3,400 point option would cost $20,590. However, these are not the only costs. There is an additional $800-$1,000 a year cost in addition for maintenance, insurance, taxes, etc. These costs are based on getting "deeded" in their Myrtle Beach property. They state that you can at any time sell this back to Hilton and you will get 100% of the costs you have invested into the membership. However, this was not clearly stated on the contract they shared with us.
The initial investment cost is not just $14,490 for 2,400 points (which allows you to pick properties kind of like you would on the airlines...use your points to go here or there for free or at a nominal additional cost for the week, several hundred dollars. There is also a HOA cost that is paid annually and runs from $800 to $1,000 for the Myrtle Beach property. Other properties could cost more. So your total investment over 20 years would be more like $14,490 + 20 years x the HOA costs =$14,490+ $16,000( HOA at a cost of $800/year for 20 Years) = $30,490. Clearly not the original $14,490 they claim. The sales person stated that you can finance the package to pay for it. They never shared the rate of the finance package. We are of the attitude, if you cannot pay cash for your vacation then you should wait until you can actually afford to take a vacation.
We also priced 20 years of vacations through three travel sites, including Expedia.com. The costs ranged from $13,860 to $25,060, which is comparable to owning a vacation club share, and your family can potentially own the timeshare for generations.
There are a few caveats to keep in mind when you purchase a vacation club membership. Price is obviously a factor that you need to consider. You must plan your vacations in advance – sometimes as early as a year or two beforehand. If you choose a popular destination during peak season, you must be prepared to use more vacation points. You can expect annual dues or maintenance fees to increase each year. Most vacation clubs offer a rescission period, which gives you at least a couple days, up to two weeks in some cases, to change your mind if buyer's remorse settles in.
Read your contract thoroughly to find out how long your membership lasts, whether you can transfer it to a family member or friend and how much that will cost, and what percentage of an assessment fee you have to pay if major repairs take place. Also, keep in mind that a vacation club can change the point cost of particular days and weeks whenever it wants to, so you may not be able to book certain dates at certain destinations without purchasing more points. Being part of a vacation club should be a fun experience, so be sure you know exactly what you're purchasing by reading what we have to say about the best vacation clubs available.
The property in Myrtle Beach is however quite lovely. It has been built one and a half years ago to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. Having just visited the property after Hurricane Matthew, we can attested there were no issues at the hotel. Many other properties surrounding the hotel were flooded, even on their 11th floors, due to the sealed not holding on the windows. There was a fisherman on the beach that shared that their 11th floor condo had several feet of water in it from the storm. There were also numerous properties that placed the mattresses and furniture on the decks to dry out.
TIP...You can purchase your "deed/membership" from any of the available "deed" properties within Hilton. Always look for the one with the lowest costs. When you become a member no one will ever ask you, "Where are you deeded at within Hilton?". They just ask for your membership number, so why get deeded in NYC or Hawaii where the annual taxes, homeowners, etc will be higher than on Orlando or Myrtle Beach. Orlando we were told has the lowest costs.
VERDICT: Hilton Grand Vacations Club provides a large selection of home resorts from which you can choose in locations that you’ll love, like beach towns or golf hot spots. There are several added fees, though, compared to other vacation clubs. So be careful to read the fine print and do the math. This is really a program that appears best for a family. The costs to take an entire family of 4 or 5 anywhere today is being cost prohibative. This could be an option worth exploring.
The best vacation clubs provide resorts in the destinations you want to visit in all areas of the world, and Hilton Grand Vacations Club does a great job of giving you a variety of locations. The travel club also offers you a membership to RCI, a timeshare exchange group where you can trade your week at your home resort for a week in another participating resort. In order to book at other resorts, though, you pay some steep fees – whether you’re going through the Hilton network or RCI. Hilton Grand Vacations Club uses a point system in conjunction with the week system, so you can either use your points to purchase a unit at a resort during an off-peak season for fewer points or spend more points for a unit during high-peak season. You also have the option of simply trading your week and unit through RCI and booking an equivalent – or even better – unit at another resort in an exotic locale you’ve yet to visit.
Although you won’t be eligible for any discounts as a member of Hilton Grand Vacations Club, you receive silver membership status in Hilton’s HHonors, which means you can earn a different set of points you can use at Hilton hotels and resorts. However, you can ask the concierge during your stay about local discounts, and they may have coupons for restaurants, show tickets or other activities and rentals, but this varies by location.
When you seek information for a vacation club, there’s a good chance you will get an eager salesperson who wants to sell to you immediately. We experienced a lot of pressure to purchase a membership, but even more unprofessional than that, we were subjected to several minutes of negative comments about competing vacation clubs. When we scoured reviews from members of the vacation club, we found hundreds of complaints, but the majority of them had been resolved or at least there was an attempt at resolution by the company.
Hilton has a highly recognizable name in the hotel and resort industry, so you are likely to find a resort in a location in the network that you want to visit. Even if you don’t, you have the option of trading through an exchange group. Although Hilton Grand Vacation Club doesn’t rank as the best timeshare company on our list, it would be an excellent choice if you want to stick to a trusted hotelier as your vacation club.
I highly recommend staying at the Myrtle Beach property, Ocean 22, on your own before it gets completely sold out. It's a lovely property with great views, lovely pool, gym and other amenities. The salesperson told me I had one of the worst rooms in the building. Yet, it was lovely. I never got to see any of other other rooms during the 3 hour hostage presentation but would stay in my room again in a heartbeat.There are many great thing to do nearby besides golf that many can enjoy.
See photo link below from our recent trip to the area: Photos by Tammy Duffy Copyright 2016
https://www.facebook.com/Duffyculturalcourture/photos/?tab=album&album_id=670022319827008
Posted by tammyduffy
at 4:04 PM EDT
Updated: Saturday, 15 October 2016 4:21 PM EDT
