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We like to have our car with us when we go to timeshares so we drive to the timeshare. We keep a small cooler in the car with water and drinks. We also carry apples and granola bars just in case we cannot find a healthy place to eat or choose to eat at a rest stop in order to save time.
When we get to the timeshare and go out for the day, that same cooler always rides in the car again.
We also like to have soups, crackers, and cereal along with us too. When you go someplace and come back to the condo, sometimes just having soup and going to bed seems better than going out for a meal. First trip to the grocery store is usually for milk, bread and sandwich meat. I also carry instant coffee and creamer and salt in my small case that we take into any motel we stay at on the way.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Very interesting concept, and glad it works for you, and many others!
timeshares are out of my price range, and would greatly reduce my available destinations.
(I travel 60 - 90% of the yr) Hospitality exchange - Wikitravel
I am often very hungry (living like a 'local'), and still greatly enjoy my trips (usually helping others / needy).
I am not suffering!
I am at my High School weight (40+ yrs ago)... but I cannot get back to my High School W-I-D-T-H!!
I am never hungry and weigh about 15 pounds more than my VERY underweight high school weight. I also ahve a lot more muscle mass which probably accounts for 10 of those 15 pounds.
Why someone would put themselves in a position to go hungry when they don't have to is beyond me.
We owned two timeshares in the past. We sold one for more than we paid for it and the other for what we had paid for it. They served a purpose at the point in our lives that we owned them, but no longer do.
I appreciate the information from both posts. I did not realize there were so many travel options.
Our timeshares will be passed on to our children. We have let them use them in the past but we are retired now and plan to indulge ourselves. They are both eagerly awaiting their turns when we get too old to travel. Hope that will be a long time though.
Timeshares can be limited in locations. We have been looking at the Black Hills as a trip destination and the closest place to there I can find on RCI is Lead, SD. It is very difficult to find availability there when it is not snowing. I am so spoiled that to stay in a motel or hotel just cramps my style. Also I feel safe in timeshares. Most people you meet are timeshare owners and their friends.
But a plus to timeshares is that we have visited places we did not know exists. I am amazed at the many little known places across America with rich history stories. Timesharing is a real education.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,751 posts, read 58,102,528 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NCN
I appreciate the information from both posts. I did not realize there were so many travel options.
...
We have been looking at the Black Hills as a trip destination and the closest place to there I can find on RCI is Lead, SD. It is very difficult to find availability there when it is not snowing. I am so spoiled that to stay in a motel or hotel just cramps my style. ....
Lead, SD is a pretty good Black Hills option,
If I don't stay with friends in one of my favorite $10 / night Farm hospitality homes (Spearfish)... I stay here Main Street Manor Hostel, Lead South Dakota
~ $25 / night (off season), I had the whole downstairs to myself including kitchen and LARGE rec room and a few bedrooms. Getting to know the owner is worth the trip. She took a Round-the-world bicycle trip AFTER she retired from some mucky-muck job on Wall Street. or similar. Very interesting.
On snowy days I walk 2 blocks to an EXCELLENT community gym / pool. It was so nice I swam over 200 laps last trip there. (I was the only person using the pool too!)
so many travel options.
Another of my favorite $10 / night hospitality homes is in Custer, SD
Stayed there many times (usually for free),
They have a separate guest home / cabin, as well as RV sites and an apartment in garage, and 3 empty BEAUTIFUL bedrooms in their 'Lodge style home' (built it themselves as I do too). Sometimes there is a herd of guests and we have a blast! (Usually ethnic cooking and venturing together on each others favorite treks + playing music / singing together late into the night.) (I've been doing the Black Hills for 50 yrs, it was on my 2x / week trucking route during 7 yrs of college. ). Also raced at Sturgis in my younger life.
There is SO much to do in SD! and not crowded (off season) and the PERFECT domicile (one overnight stay per lifetime for ZERO state income taxes)
Where did you go? Orlando, FL (3 different resorts), Gatlinburg, TN, Myrtle Beach, SC. Numerous trips through travel program (timeshare resorts as well, except NYC).
Timeshare stayed in? WestGate
On sight activities and off sight activities? Restaurants, bars, pool, billiards, putt putt, paddle boats, arcade, kids activities, bingo, fitness classes, karaoke, wine tastings (TN). Shuttle service on resort and to parks/shopping.
Meals prepared? Anything. Mostly full kitchens, partial if in studio. All utensils, cookware, and appliances. Outside grills available.
Owner or renter or guest of owner? Owner.
Any hints to make the journey easier? Some local places give discounts when you use the room key. Ask information desk about any discount tix to local places. Owners also receive 15% discount for on site purchases.
Timeshare ownership is basically knowing you will stay in a resort and they adhere to a certain quality. You will no longer want to stay at a hotel again. The staff is always visible and wiling to help. Everyone from front desk to groundskeeper are always working. And the resorts all provide security. Most are gated and only let guests in.
Timeshare ownership is basically knowing you will stay in a resort and they adhere to a certain quality. You will no longer want to stay at a hotel again. The staff is always visible and wiling to help. Everyone from front desk to groundskeeper are always working. And the resorts all provide security. Most are gated and only let guests in.
My wife and I stayed in a timeshare property once just last year. From what I could gather, it was a company that built the place, then sold it (or it went bankrupt, not sure) and now Holiday Inn owns and runs the place. This is in Gatlinburg, TN. We wanted a place with a full kitchen for meals, but also something close to town that we could walk to the main drag. Most of the cabins are up in the mountains, so this was one option in town. The place was nice, but nothing great about it. I had to go through a pressured sales to take a tour for money. I just declined and the back and forth lasted maybe a minute. They never tried to get us to go on their sales tour again. The price was great for what we got, and we saved a lot of money eating breakfast and lunch in (or talking our lunch to the park).
I personally would never own a timeshare. Too many contracts are skewed toward the company/development. Maintenance fees that constantly creep upwards, resell values that could plummet at any given time, etc..
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