The very first timeshare exchange company, Resort Condominiums International, was created in 1974 and is the predecessor to Wyndham. Interval International was created two years later as an upscale competitor to RCI.
It too became a part of the corporate predecessor to Cendant Corporation which became Wyndham. Because of anti-trust issues Interval was sold to a group that included Carlson, Hyatt Vacation Ownership, and Marriott Ownership Resorts. In 2002 it was then sold to Barry Diller’s USA Interactive, this was just after they purchased Expedia and just before they bought Tripadvsior. IAC spun off the business as Interval Leisure Group in 2008.
The hotel chains no longer had ownership of the timeshare business, but licensed their brands and their properties participated.
Shortly before Starwood announced a deal to be acquired by Marriott it agreed to spin off its timeshare business into a separate company, Vistana, which it sold to Interactive Leisure Group or ILG. ILG now holds the vacation ownership businesses of Hyatt, Sheraton and Westin.
West St. John, credit: Vistana
I’ve been told that one of the major hurdles to completing a single loyalty program for Marriott and Starwood, after doing a deal with both Amex and Chase on the credit card side, was contracts with Marriott Vacation Club International.
Marriott Vacations is now buying Interactive Leisure Group for $4.7 billion. So an affiliate of Marriott will wind up owning the Starwood timeshare business Marriott itself was believed not to want two and a half years ago as well as Hyatt’s timeshare business.
Marriott Vacation Club was spun off from Marriott International in November 2011 and is a separate publicly traded company. The deal doubles the size of MVCI’s revenue and grows its property reach by two-thirds. The deal is being done at a 13% premium over Friday’s closing prices.
Good riddance
What does this mean for my favorite Hyatt Residence Clubs?
This whole thing has a potentially significant impact for a lot of timeshare owners. A lot of Starwood/Vistana owners have contracts that grant them the ability to convert their weeks into SPG points as well as automatic SPG Gold status. I’ve read the new program’s Gold loses a lot of the perks that were part of SPG Gold, especially breakfast.
Of course, my hunch is that a majority of timeshare owners are either unaware of these benefits or weren’t big users. I’m not affected because, although I own two Vistana weeks, I bought them in the resale market and these benefits don’t apply to transfers made outside of Vistana. I did, however, pay 99¢ for one and $9 for the other, so I’m not unhappy. 😉
SPG Gold never got breakfast as written benefit. Marriott Golds, on the other hand, got breakfast and lounge access as part of the program benefit. Now, all Golds will be converted to Platinum to preserve their breakfast benefit in the new program starting August 1st. After the end Feb 2019, you will have to requalify for this benefit as a low-tier Platinum.
I just bought a timeshare in Port Arthur for $45,000 for the 4th week in November. Will this affect my value?
johnny… if you just paid $45,000 for a timeshare, I have a bridge in Manhattan you might also be interested in.
I periodically get offers from Hyatt’s timeshare program for 5 nights at HR Maui for $600 and stuff like that. Will Marriott’s acquisition mean those will go away?
ILG = Interval Leisure Group
@johnny, this transaction should not impact the value of your Port Arthur timeshare. It was worth $13 when you purchased it and will still be around $13 in value after the merger.
There are some Starwood (Westin and Sheraton) Timeshares that allow you to convert your ownership week each year into about 100,000 SPG points = 300,000 Marriott Points for about a $1,500 per year annual maintenance fee. These Points have become more valuable now that they will be harder to earn via credit cards.
So I own a Hyatt Hacienda Del Mar in P.R., will I be able to get a decent exchange now into a Marriot or do Marriott owners get priority and visa versa?
I serve as POA for my best friend who currently owns a Westin Time Share. She and her husband bought it a number of years ago, but since then he died and she’s had two strokes. She’s unable to use the time share. Will Marriott buy-back her Westin time share? Is there someone at Marriott I should contact about this?
when will the hyatt properties be available for me to reserve with my mvc points the one I am looking at is coconut grove resort and spa in bonita springs