MVC members are now offered a chance to use a new house sharing facility through Marriott Bonvoy, but how much will this cost timeshare owners?
Vacation rental sites are now extremely popular and provide a great way for people to vacation. Vacation rental platforms such as Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway have millions of listings combined. The industry is said to be worth over $100 billion, and Marriott has been looking to get in on the action for some time.
Marriott first ventured into the home sharing market at the beginning of 2018, when they piloted a scheme based in London and teamed up with Hostmaker, a home rental company. This proved successful and earlier this year the hotel giant launched Homes and Villas by Marriott International.
Marriott has been the first of the Timeshare giants to venture into this market and is now offering timeshare owners access to its entire catalogue of rental homes and villas across Europe and America. Now timeshare owners and MVC members can use their points to book vacations at the homes and villas offered in the new program. Owners and members can convert their SPG and Marriott points to Marriott Bonvoy points.
This all sounds very complicated, when in fact other home sharing network sites are incredibly easy to use. Marriott has tried to simplify things by providing interested members with a step-by-step guide on how to convert your vacation ownership membership into Bonvoy Points. What they have not said is at what cost this will be. There is surely a fee attached with doing this, plus resort or location fees and taxes, it cost end up costing an arm and a leg.
New and exclusive developments, offers and products are sure to attract many new customers seeking a unique holiday experience. However, a word of warning: many of these properties are used to sell the dream and, more often than not, customers are persuaded to purchase Long-Term-Holiday-Products and point based holiday products, which are often non-refundable, non-transferable and with virtually no resale value. In addition to this, you will face mounting maintenance fees, which resorts can increase on an annual basis and this is entirely at their discretion.
People who enter into Timeshare agreements often find it difficult to keep up with the mounting maintenance fees and simply cannot afford it any longer. They may also find that the Timeshare no longer suits their needs and simply want to end the contract. There are too many individuals who are willing to take advantage of Timeshare owners and offer fake products, along with timeshare exit schemes. Before agreeing to any Timeshare termination or exit procedure with an individual or company, seek independent advice and fully research any company you are thinking of working with.
It is also important to remember that purchasing a Timeshare should NEVER be viewed as a financial investment. Timeshare is an investment in lifestyle, in future holidays and family time together. There is almost no resale value to a Timeshare.
The mis-selling of holiday products is, unfortunately, common practice within the holiday industry and these type of crimes often go unreported by the most vulnerable in our society and criminal convictions are few and far between.
If you have purchased a Lifestyle / Concierge Service, a Timeshare or a ‘Holiday Points’ based product from a resort or company and feel unhappy with the service, or feel you have been mis-sold this product, please get in touch with us to discuss how we may be able to help you with a possible Money Back Claim.
