Marriott Vacation Club

My family of four recently returned from a five-night stay at a Marriott Vacation Club property in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. While my grandparents are the Marriott Vacation Club owners, due to age and a number of other factors, they no longer feel comfortable traveling. My husband and I are now paying the yearly maintenance fees associated with the account. We are also currently deciding whether to complete a transfer of ownership into our name.

Breaking Down the Points System

While there has been a lot of negative press surrounding timeshares, my personal experience with the Marriott Vacation Club has been nothing but positive. We pay a little less than $1,500 a year in fees, and we have 2,000 points per year. Many owners pay more up front and have more than 2,000 points per year. You always have the option to pay a one-time fee and purchase more for your lifetime.

There are three options when it comes to points: You can use your points that year, bank them for the next year, or borrow against the next year’s allotment of points if you want to splurge. Points do expire after you’ve banked them once, so you have to use them over a two-year span. Luckily, that’s easy to do. Just 2,000 points per year can get you a lot! It all depends on where you are traveling, the time of year, and the type of room you want.

Maximizing Your Points

For example, five nights at Marriott’s Grande Ocean in Hilton Head, during the peak season of summer, can run about $900 per night for a two-bedroom suite. When you break it down cost-wise (taking into account the yearly maintenance fee), using a combination of current-year points and banked points, we were able to get five nights for the price of three. However, if you select a studio or a one-bedroom room, or if you travel during the offseason, or plan your vacation on weekdays, that’s where you can really maximize the savings. This past October, we were able to go to Marriott’s Mountain Valley Lodge at Breckenridge and stay in a massive one-bedroom suite for a mere $56 (75 points) a night. The cost for non-Vacation Club members was $180/night.

Perks of Marriott Vacation Club Resorts

The Marriott Vacation Club resorts have many features that regular hotel rooms do not. They all have kitchens that are fully equipped with everything you need to cook and eat, including dishwashers, toaster ovens, pots and pans, and full knife sets. The rooms are significantly larger than regular hotel rooms. All the resorts have pools. Some come with one or more free rounds of golf (such as the Marriott Manor Club at Ford’s Colony, in Williamsburg, Virginia.) Before COVID, they offered Kids Club options for parents who needed a break, and many of them still have a modified version of this. There are also daily activities for guests, including tennis lessons, movies by the pool, bingo, crafts, and so much more.

There are currently over 70 Marriott Vacation Club resorts, and Marriott is adding more in the next year now that they have completed their acquisition of the Sheraton and Westin Vacation Clubs. A number of their existing resorts are in international destinations, including a recently-added one in Costa Rica that has amazing reviews! Other international destinations include Spain, France, Aruba, Australia, Indonesia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Thailand, and the Virgin Islands.

There are also other options available through the Marriott Vacation Club, including stays at luxury properties, cruises, and experiences. Or, you can trade your vacation club points for Bonvoy points. If you want the most bang for your buck, however, the resorts are where it’s at.

In Conclusion

Of course, the biggest downside of purchasing a vacation club ownership is the initial fee, which can run about $32,000 for 2,000 points a year. However, if your annual fees are continuously 30 to 40% of what you would normally pay for a vacation, and sometimes even less, your timeshare ownership will pay for itself in as little as ten years. In our case, the fee to transfer ownership from my grandparents is only $450, so this is an option we are seriously considering.

There are also questions about how much value you get out of selling your timeshare if you decide you no longer want it. The best advice I’ve seen is that, if you are considering buying this as an investment, don’t. But, if you are buying it for the vacation experience and the chance to visit multiple luxurious properties in great locations, go for it.

Other Marriott Vacation Club Resources:

Buying Marriott Vacation Club (MVC) Timeshare | RedWeek


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