Wyndham/Worldmark

[samserena]

Does anyone know much about the Wyndham/Worldmark timeshare system?

Thanks,
Sam

 

[Spacepest]

We have been owners for 10 years, and to be honest, are thinking about getting rid of it. (For a time line, we were Worldmark owners before it merged with Windham, and timeshare credits were much less expensive back then).

It has nothing to do with the resorts themselves, their locations, or yearly member maintainence fees. The resorts are nice and we like them. There are two locations near Disneyland (one within walking distance), however, we've only managed to stay at one of them (because they are always booked up). The staff and maintainence at the various timeshare units are a mixed bag.

The problem is that for us, everything we want is constantly booked up, except for really remote locations in off season (and alot of these remote locations the local attractions shut down completely during their off season). The first couple years of our timeshare ownership this was not true, and I simply attribute this to the fact that Worldmark has gotten more popular and added more members. So you have to book everything a year in advance and hope you get what you want, which can be a problem with our work schedules. I've yet to actually use the "bonus time" the members can access because none of the locations I want have extra rooms to offer.

Half of our vacations we plan we end up having to pay out of pocket for rooms somewhere else because our timeshare has nothing available. So much for having "vacations paid in advance"!

Also, every location has timeshare sales people hanging around, and many of them are really aggressive which I don't like. Alot of the locations have a "parking fee" which they charge current owners during their stays and will offer to waive if you attend a time share presentation which they say will only last 45 minutes. I've attended two and at the one hour mark have walked out on both and now I just pay whatever stupid parking fee they charge rather than waste anymore vacation time. Some of the more unscrupulous salespeople hang out in the timeshare lobbies 24/7...I've been accosted by them returning to my room really late at 3a.m. My husband and I now make it a game on our stays to find alternate routes through the building to avoid them.

If you buy into them just be aware what you are getting into.

 

[samserena]

We're trying their Discovery product - it's basically a trial. From the research I've done it seems like it is just to lure you in because it gives you more credits for less than you'd be spending. So 20000 credits to use in two years which could give you like 4 weeks accommodation depending on where and when. I doubt we'll continue on to the proper product. Just doesn't seem as flexible as they try and make it seem.

thank you for your response

 

[bwvBound]

We've owned Worldmark for 14 years and have enjoyed ~120 stays, not including RCI/II exchanges. We have 3-8 reservations on the books at any given time and make great use of our credits, Inventory Specials, Monday Madness, Holiday Madness, Bonus Time and other reservation techniques. We've stayed at 40+ Worldmark resort properties using a variety of unit sizes from Studio through 4BR Presidential.

We are 100% delighted and satisfied with our Worldmark membership.

Edited to add: Are you sampling the US-based club or the South Pacific-based club? There are some restrictions on use between the two. We did enjoy the WM at Port Stephens (Nelson's Bay) a few years back!

 

[samserena]

We've owned Worldmark for 14 years and have enjoyed ~120 stays, not including RCI/II exchanges. We have 3-8 reservations on the books at any given time and make great use of our credits, Inventory Specials, Monday Madness, Holiday Madness, Bonus Time and other reservation techniques. We've stayed at 40+ Worldmark resort properties using a variety of unit sizes from Studio through 4BR Presidential.

We are 100% delighted and satisfied with our Worldmark membership.

Edited to add: Are you sampling the US-based club or the South Pacific-based club? There are some restrictions on use between the two. We did enjoy the WM at Port Stephens (Nelson's Bay) a few years back!

We are sampling the South Pacific based club, we havent travelled the south pacific much (apart from within Aus) so we arent sure how much that aspect of it will interest us. but we are thinking of giving Fiji ago next year sometime. They havent given us much info on how it translate with the US aspect of the club - and the exchanges we could do.

 

[bwvBound]

I have very little experience with the SP Club. If it helps any, here are some of our favorite "highlights" of the US Club:

• The notion of "drive to" destinations. Most of our WM stays are w/in a day's drive from home making travel plans easy. Sometimes we string multiple destinations together for a road trip up and down the coast or across several states.
• Generous cancellation policy.
• Ability to book full week or short stays. Most of our stays are 2-3 nights.
• Bonus Time, Inventory Specials, and other 'Cash' reservation tools. We use our credits for the difficult reservations (holidays) and cash for the others.
• Lots of locations, lots of variety: mountains, beaches, lakes, touristy towns, deserts, etc.
• The Waitlist. If we can't get a reservation on our first try -- we use the waitlist. We've had great success with this strategy for many reservations including Solvang, CA, for this past weekend.
• BBQs. Most the US properties offer a gas BBQ on each unit's balcony/patio. We do lots of grilling, even if mostly veggie. Similarly we enjoy the full kitchens and other unit amenities.
• Online reservation system. Sometimes we "luck" into a great reservation because we were combing through inventory just for fun.
• Trading through RCI and II.

Enjoy your Discovery package. Wishing you the best in your travels and decision process.