Starwood Vacation Club

We're not members of Starwood but Interval International and while there are monthly maintenance fees - ours are around $25 a month. We wouldn't give it up. We did our honeymoon essentially for free - booked our week at our resort in St. Maarten and flew on my hubby's frequent flier miles. There are nominal room charges on some tropical islands and there are change fees for using a different resort and upgrading to a larger condo. We have use every other year and you can bank weeks so you can use 2 of them in one year etc. We've stayed in Breckenridge, CO with my parents; St. Maarten twice; and Orlando once. The only time we had to pay extra was Breckenridge because we upgraded to a 2 bedroom condo from a studio. This year we're sending my brother & his new wife to St. Maarten for their honeymoon instead of using it for ourselves. We've gotten our use out of it and we'll continue to do so. If you think you won't use it according to their terms, then don't buy into it.

financially, these are never good plans. put your money into savings for future vacations. once your in, its hard to get out!

Sorry, I have to disagree with the other replies. We have a timeshare through Westgate and LOVE it!! We have gotten to take some awesome vacations that we wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise. We are a member of Interval International and can trade our timeshare to stay at other resorts. We stayed at a Starwood resort in Maui a few months ago and it was so beautiful, the staff was great, one of our best experiences with a resort. And since we had a timeshare exchange, we only paid $150 for the week for a resort that would have been over $1000 per night for the 2 bedroom suite we had.

I would recommend to first make sure you can afford this luxury. If you can, then look for a deal. We bought ours at a TN resort that was being built so it was pretty cheap. We paid it off quickly to avoid a high interest rate. The maintenance fees at ours are also a lot lower than I have seen from other places (only $700 every 2 years).

Just like buying a house, make sure this is what you want to do, you can afford it, and shop around for a good deal. Good luck!

These deals sound great, but every financial adviser will tell you to steer clear. I would start by researching what the BBB (Better Business Bureau) has to say about them. How many complaints do they have? Just Google Starwood Vacation Club and read all the blogs and information you can find on it. My bet is you will be smarter to save your money. Good luck!

I agree!!! Use the money you would spend on the club and put it into savings and save for your vacations. Once you are in,it is not what they promise. There seems to always be some catch or hidden fee. it is very difficult to get out... and if you can, you will definitely lose money!

My husband and I are owners we purchased ours in Hawaii- I have not tried to use my "home" one yet but the last 2 yrs I have tried to book the one in the Bahamas and Virgin Islands and I am always told they are booked- The yearly maintenance fees are more than we remember being told and if you decided to convert your week into points its 100.00 charge. My husband and I are at the point where we might try to sell. If you are going to use your 'home' resort a lot then it may be a good deal. Feel free to contact me w/any questions- ____@____.com