posted 03-28-2005 15:36            

I am thinking about dipping my toe into the Marriott waters, but when I read the Marriott boards it seems there is quite a bit of upset amongst owners owning floating weeks who have real trouble getting into their home resorts. And am I reading correctly that to exchange, there is no SVN equivalent, but rather all exchanges in the Marriott program are managed by II?

I feel like I have a handle on the Starwood stuff, but I'm struggling to piece together a picture of how Marriott works in comparison.

Any comments, observations or links I should check-out would be very welcome.

Thanks

posted 03-28-2005 17:06            

quote:

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Originally posted by sfbenning:
Are there any Starwood owners out there that also own Marriott who would care to comment on the advantages and disadvantages of owning Starwood vs Marriott timeshares?

).]

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I own both Marriott and Starwood. The big difference in the two properties, I own, is that the Starwood property is a fixed week and the Marriott is a floating week. My personal preference is a fixed week ownership because I don't like competing with other owners for the week I want at my own resort. Perhaps someone else can comment on their experience using a Starwood floating week property.

You are right regarding the internal trade difference. Marriott has no special system which allows members within Marriott to trade for Marriott Resorts. All Marriott trades are done through II. As a Marriott member II gives you some sort of priority during a limited time period, but the trade is handled by II not Marriott. Starwood does have an internal trading method based on Starwood Options assigned to each unit within their system.

My experience with Marriott has been that they nickle and dime their members to death. Such as charge to lock-off your unit, require you to trade through II for other Marriott properties thus causing you to pay trading fees. I have experienced charges for beach papalas and charges for extra towels.

I have also found Marriott Upper Management to be more distant and harder to contact if their is an issue which needs to be addressed. Correspondence with Marriott has been unanswered Starwood on the other hand has been very approachable and responsive to issues.

Another difference between the two systems is the use of points for hotel rooms. Starwood has a true no black-out rule for room reservations. If their is an available room to rent at a Starwood Resort they must make it available for use with Starpoints. Marriott has a new "anytime", reservation rule which is not the same thing. The "anytime", does allow you access to a room using Marriott points if it is available, but it will cost you 50% additional points.

posted 03-28-2005 18:23               

Marriott's reservation policy allows owners to make reservations at their home resort 12 months prior to travel. However, owners of two weeks can begin making reservations 13 months before travel begins as long as the reservations are concurrent or consecutive.

The 13-month clause has caused much consternation among some Marriott owners. They cite the 13-month clause as being the main reason why it is virtually impossible to get reservations at their home resort during peak travel periods.

Search the Marriott thread for "13-month reservations" and you'll get a better understanding about this issue.

Take Care,

posted 03-29-2005 07:55            

I'm sure many have the theory it is easy to book at my resorts because they aren't sold out yet. Which might be correct but then, I would still have problems calling in at year window because the lines would be busy. I've never had that problem. I've always gotten through on the 1st try. Maybe it is luck.

We bought Westin because we didn't like the layout of the Marriott Maui t/s. I've only made one reservation in Westin. In response with the above poster about Westin's upper management, I had trouble getting my points for the purchase of my unit. I did it through telesales in Florida. Westin was not very responsive in trying to get my points for me. I even had to post on this board to find the right person to contact. Then, I even had to prove to this person how many points we were entitled to. I felt Westin did not keep good records as far as what was promised to the buyer. I liked how Marriott wrote the incentive points into the contract so there was no question. Westin still hasn't billed me for my maintenance fees for 2005.

It will be interesting to see how difficult it will be to book this summer at Westin Kanapali. The resort should be close to sold out. I really like the diversity of Marriott's locations.

GL... As the above poster I'm sure all timeshares have their pros and cons. Personally, I like the floating weeks. I would not want to be locked into the same vacation week year after year. I remember being young and trying to call in for concert tickets. I believe, you call into Marriott call center the same way. So, for some this might not be worth the price to make this kind of effort just to reserve a week.

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posted 03-29-2005 10:34               

If you own Marriott, as soon as you deposit your week (up to 12 months in advance for floating weeks), you can use it to request an II exchange to another Marriott resort at any future time. Since Marriott deposits are held about 3 weeks for other Marriott owners, this means that if you have an on-going request, it will be filled (assuming suitable trading power) whenever a week is deposited. That could be up to a year before the check-in date.

In both systems, your ability to trade to another resort in the family is dependent on the owners at that resort not using their home resort. The relative usefulness of the different trading mechanisms and timetables depends on your needs.

At present, and all things are subject to change, Marriott has significantly more resorts in more different locations than does Starwood.

One other difference, if you simply plan to deposit and exchange your week. If one is part of SVN, you are assigned a bulk space banked week for your deposit. With Marriott, you can reserve the week of your choice and then deposit it. This means that with Marriott may be able to reserve and deposit a prime week.

Art

posted 03-29-2005 12:12               

I had the same problem with points. I was offered 65,000 points by telephone from the sales people on-site at Kierland. I was led to believe it was a special favor. Telesales took all of 5 minutes to up the offer to 125,000. When the contract came, it specified 40,000 points, but there was a cover letter confirming that the total would be 125,000 (plus a few other items I wanted in the contract).

The first 65,000 posted rather quickly, but to a new SPG account that they set up because someone did not read the contract. That took a day to correct. They acknowledged that they owed me another 60,000 and said it would be deposited piecemeal. I was made to feel like the salesman had broken the rules but that they would cover it. Within two months there were two 30,000 deposits to my account. It was bizarre behavior and I think it is one of the main reasons they closed the office. I'm glad I got this handled before they closed.

posted 03-29-2005 17:26            

quote:

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Originally posted by stevens397:
ciscogizmo-
The first 65,000 posted rather quickly, but to a new SPG account that they set up because someone did not read the contract. That took a day to correct. They acknowledged that they owed me another 60,000 and said it would be deposited piecemeal. I was made to feel like the salesman had broken the rules but that they would cover it. Within two months there were two 30,000 deposits to my account. It was bizarre behavior and I think it is one of the main reasons they closed the office. I'm glad I got this handled before they closed.

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You know we were told the same song and dance about when the points would be deposited. However, the telesales department closed during the middle of processing my incentitive points. So, it took me about 2 months to finally get someone to deposit the correct amounts into my account. I never got anything on a cover letter like you did. All I had were e-mails.

Sorry about your Marriott. I think, some trade better than others.

Tina

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You can see my timeshare photos here: