not worth it in my opinion, as much as we would love to have the perk...i would not want to sit separately in a secluded area around sexy pool (that is my reason of not buying in...jk), in all seriousness if you have enough money to waste and no kids that you would rather put the money in their college fund then I would say go for it, its worth it...we do not see us going to any other resort although a lot of our relatives have started questioning us why Cancun why not somewhere else, we just tell them we love the beaches and the sun there :huh: (i know they think its bs. or we are crazy and stupid for going to same place again and again but what they do not know is that it is different every time)
Ditto. April is our 5th trip in three years, and it's getting harder to explain why we're going back to the same place over and over! We rave about the resort to anyone who will listen, but I still can't bring myself to tell family/colleagues the name of the resort. Temptation...they'll rightfully get the wrong idea! Hell, first time I saw the name I felt the same way. Sounds like a strip club.
Resort might be better offering upgrades that can be added to existing reservations purchased on arrival to avoid this perceived timeshare experience. When I arrive the last thing I want to be trifled with is a presentation. Sounds like work... when we are just starting our vacation.
We purchased in 2012. I have been keeping track of what price we book at as members vs what I can find as the lowest price out there on the major travel sites. After this year's trip, 3rd trip as members, we have made back 46% of our initial investment and will have 153 more nights to use. We enjoy the perks, the yacht and the no hassle in booking. We do exercise our Referrals which is huge in recouping the initial savings. It all boils down to, it works, but you have to make it work for you. We don't have any regrets in our purchase.
I bought a small package (Bronze) equivalent to 1 week per year. This trip coming up 10 days the best price I could find were the following: Alpharooms(usually the best price) - 1679.72 pounds or $2,527.92us Direct with Resort - $2,643.22us Premier - $1400us This was around the price discrepancy the last trip as well (but only a 7 day trip). We average about $100us a night less than other booking options. I am not searching for deals (I am sure I could get a better price if I spent the time researching), I book when I can get away from work and I am pretty much guaranteed a good room + the perks. It will take a few years going to make up the initial investment/expense. We can further reduce the expense buy sending/taking Referrals. If we pushed the Referrals to people more and if a few bought we could theoretically recoup all the costs. (But I had no expectation of this when I bought) The sales are a bit shady, our package was about 2k cheaper for the same package as another person I spoke with who bought the same time(withing 3 days). And I am sure some people did a bit better than us.
Most folks who travel a lot know that the sooner you can book (within reason), the better the price. I booked through AR in Oct for April @ $157 per night. That same date as of today is $273 per night. I learned my lesson several years ago about waiting until the last minute. Nowdays, "last minute" seem to be anything closer than 90 days. We are fortunate to have jobs that we can plan far enough out, that online booking is the cheapest route.
"I made some friends on vacation there, and we had so much fun, we try to get together every year. I can't imagine going on vacation without them now" Believable, and has an element of truth to it. "I have a secret Mexican lover who's in a drug cartel. he's married and can only see me once a year when he's at the anual drug Cartel conference in Cancun" which tells them it's really none of their business and they are welcome to hear your sarcastic reasons all day if they wish. Just a few thoughts
