I received a reply from the General Manager at Marriott's Harbour Lake; Owner reservations, Interval exchange & MVC point owners will not be charged the parking fee. Rental guest booking through Marriott.com or Online Travel Agents (OTA’s) will be charged for parking. The parking fee is $25 per night. There is no percentage of the parking revenue that will be held back, all revenues will be used to offset owner’s cost.
The free parking is one of the main reasons we stay at MVC properties when in Orlando. Marriott's charging resort fees even on free nights and parking charges keep us away. That was one of the best parts of staying at those resorts with so many similar options in Orlando.
I agree. Are you booking your stays with cash or do you own timeshares? It seems that as long as you are staying on a timeshare based stay, II exchange and getaways or using your ownership in another way, you should still get free parking.
Another excellent video, you've always got your finger on the pulse! Any word on the scenario where a guest is renting a reservation that was booked by the owner? My guess would be that as long as the reservation was booked by the owner using their week or points, the guest would get the same free parking benefit as the owner, but haven't found any solid info on this yet.
Hello Dave. Based on the response from the Harbour Lake general manager the parking fee should not apply to any owner reservation. Even if the owner assigns a guest to that reservation. We won't really know 100% for sure until we start seeing these fees being implemented at the resort level.
We just returned from Palm Desert and stayed at the Westin (Marriott) Desert Willows. There is a parking fee for non-owners currently. We were unsure and asked at the desk at check-in and were told that it was not applied to owners.
Yea, Desert Willow is one resort that has had a parking fee for renters for a while. We've stayed there on StarOption, getaways and II exchange reservations and the fee never applied to us. Thanks for watching!
Hi, thanks for the update! We are staying at the Vistana Villages in March, booked through Marriott app. So it will cost us 7 x the fee. It was a nice perk. Will not be spending much money at the resort now! A few years ago we stayed for a week at Marriott Hollywood Beach where parking was 40.00$ a night. A nice employee at the front desk comped the parking and I made sure to eat a few meals in the hotel restaurant.
Yeah, chances are the fee will apply. That is $175 less than you can spend elsewhere. The resort is still wonderful, I just don't think a parking space is worth that much. Thanks for watching!
This is a dangerous precedent. One does it and then all the others follow. So they will start with only renters. Then they will add it to different groups. It only goes one way folks..... The management company will take that money and will NOT reduce the amount that the timeshare pay for their yearly fees.
I agree. The wording from the Marriott's Mountainside meeting minutes I mentioned actually gives Marriott Vacations a lot of leeway in how they implement the fee. Right now just for rental guests, but down the road? Who knows. Our annual budgets show a pretty small number being allocated to the resorts as revenue from these fees, so at least some amount will be coming back to offset the fees. We just have no idea what percentage this is of the total fees collected.
Yeah, I think they should charge rental guests l, but I don’t think they should charge owners. Most people who own a condo do not pay to park their car. It’s included as part of your property and the maintenance is taken care of through the maintenance fees. But, if you are a renter/not an owner, I think the parking fee is fine.
Were you able to get an answer as to whether an owner renting from another owner would be charged this parking fee? And would it make any difference whether it was a home resort owner renting from another owner at the home resort v at a non home resort?
Hi, question: what does the Hilton blue green merger mean for new buyers to that timeshare? We are at a blue green sales pitch weekend and they said there’s no way to buy into this timeshare from outside now. Only existing owners can buy through the second hand way. Is that true and does that make it worth it to buy - basic package from the company as first timers? We are skeptical but Bluegreen and Hilton seem to be nicer than other timeshares…?
That would be for them selling access to HGV Max. The program that allows Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Hilton Vacation Club and Bluegreen Vacations owners to book at any of the other resorts between the different systems. Resale purchasers don't get access to HGV Max. That said, HGV Max is just an exchange system between the three networks. In my opinion, HGV Max isn't worth the required direct purchase that costs tens of thousands of dollars. You can go out and buy a HGVC deeded week that gives you club access to the other HGVC resorts at nine months out for far cheaper than buying from Hilton. Yes, you lose access to book Bluegreen and Hilton Vacation Club resorts, but you save tens of thousands of dollars and still have great resorts to stay at.
This is not too surprising, but it's still a bummer. We do a mix of hotel and timeshare travel, and hotels have been adding parking fees for a while. Many premium hotels are charging $60 to $85 per night for parking. Hopefully, MVC will keep these fees at the lower end. We do occasionally book MVC units for cash, so i guess this will impact us.
The Parking at Gaylord is $50. At the Marriott village it’s $15 last time I stayed. Probably higher by now. I wonder if Marriott owners staying on an interval international getaway will be charged the fee.
It looks like Marriott Village is now $25/night. Though only valet at Gaylord Palms is $50. Self park is $38. From what I understand, parking fees won't apply to timeshare based stays. So anyone staying on an Interval International exchange or getaway shouldn't have to pay this new fee.
Apparently this is to help reduce our fees. It works out to about thirty bucks in savings on our Grande Vista fees in 2025. Somehow I think Marriott Vacations is coming out further ahead with this change as they will probably retain a big chunk of these fees.
When does it stop. I am staying at Harbor Lake in January. HGVC already charges $25.00 per day at its Charleston location for all guests including HGVC owners. I would think Marriott will be doing the same regardless of ownership at the Charleston location.
I suspect the new Charleston location will have a parking fee for everyone who stays. That just seems to be how they operate their City Collection properties. Thanks for watching!
Timeshares are learning from the airlines....fees are a great source of revenue. I think it will only be a matter of time before the fee applies to exchangers. HVC is charging fees to folks who exchange thru RCI for basic stuff like internet, use of pool etc. These are usually free at most other timeshares. I think unless you are an owner at your home resort or used vacation club points to book your stay, you will soon be paying to park at an MVC property.
It will backfire! New owners come from people who stay their from Bonvoy points and it will reduce occupancy. It will lead to increase maintenance fees indirectly! Dumb!
I did cover toward the end of the video. At least some of the revenue is coming back to the HOAs, so it will keep the maintenance fees down a little. Just not as much as if the HOA could keep all the revenue from the parking fees. Thanks for watching.
I received a reply from the General Manager at Marriott's Harbour Lake;
Owner reservations, Interval exchange & MVC point owners will not be charged the parking fee.
Rental guest booking through Marriott.com or Online Travel Agents (OTA’s) will be charged for parking.
The parking fee is $25 per night.
There is no percentage of the parking revenue that will be held back, all revenues will be used to offset owner’s cost.
The free parking is one of the main reasons we stay at MVC properties when in Orlando. Marriott's charging resort fees even on free nights and parking charges keep us away. That was one of the best parts of staying at those resorts with so many similar options in Orlando.
I agree. Are you booking your stays with cash or do you own timeshares? It seems that as long as you are staying on a timeshare based stay, II exchange and getaways or using your ownership in another way, you should still get free parking.
@DestinationTimeshare usually Hilton points or free night. Not owners
Maybe Bar & Restaurant revenue falls due to parking fees? 💰💰💰💰💰🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹
Probably. People usually have limited budgets so the money has to move from one bucket to another. Thanks for watching!
Another excellent video, you've always got your finger on the pulse! Any word on the scenario where a guest is renting a reservation that was booked by the owner? My guess would be that as long as the reservation was booked by the owner using their week or points, the guest would get the same free parking benefit as the owner, but haven't found any solid info on this yet.
Hello Dave. Based on the response from the Harbour Lake general manager the parking fee should not apply to any owner reservation. Even if the owner assigns a guest to that reservation. We won't really know 100% for sure until we start seeing these fees being implemented at the resort level.
We just returned from Palm Desert and stayed at the Westin (Marriott) Desert Willows. There is a parking fee for non-owners currently. We were unsure and asked at the desk at check-in and were told that it was not applied to owners.
Yea, Desert Willow is one resort that has had a parking fee for renters for a while. We've stayed there on StarOption, getaways and II exchange reservations and the fee never applied to us. Thanks for watching!
Every action has an opposite and equal reaction.
Hi, thanks for the update! We are staying at the Vistana Villages in March, booked through Marriott app. So it will cost us 7 x the fee. It was a nice perk. Will not be spending much money at the resort now! A few years ago we stayed for a week at Marriott Hollywood Beach where parking was 40.00$ a night. A nice employee at the front desk comped the parking and I made sure to eat a few meals in the hotel restaurant.
Yeah, chances are the fee will apply. That is $175 less than you can spend elsewhere. The resort is still wonderful, I just don't think a parking space is worth that much. Thanks for watching!
This is a dangerous precedent. One does it and then all the others follow. So they will start with only renters. Then they will add it to different groups. It only goes one way folks.....
The management company will take that money and will NOT reduce the amount that the timeshare pay for their yearly fees.
I agree. The wording from the Marriott's Mountainside meeting minutes I mentioned actually gives Marriott Vacations a lot of leeway in how they implement the fee. Right now just for rental guests, but down the road? Who knows. Our annual budgets show a pretty small number being allocated to the resorts as revenue from these fees, so at least some amount will be coming back to offset the fees. We just have no idea what percentage this is of the total fees collected.
Yeah, I think they should charge rental guests l, but I don’t think they should charge owners. Most people who own a condo do not pay to park their car. It’s included as part of your property and the maintenance is taken care of through the maintenance fees. But, if you are a renter/not an owner, I think the parking fee is fine.
But if I were to be renting a condo from an owner, I likely still wouldn't pay a parking fee to the HOA of that community.
Were you able to get an answer as to whether an owner renting from another owner would be charged this parking fee?
And would it make any difference whether it was a home resort owner renting from another owner at the home resort v at a non home resort?
I received a reply and just added it as a pinned comment.
Hi, question: what does the Hilton blue green merger mean for new buyers to that timeshare? We are at a blue green sales pitch weekend and they said there’s no way to buy into this timeshare from outside now. Only existing owners can buy through the second hand way. Is that true and does that make it worth it to buy - basic package from the company as first timers? We are skeptical but Bluegreen and Hilton seem to be nicer than other timeshares…?
That would be for them selling access to HGV Max. The program that allows Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Hilton Vacation Club and Bluegreen Vacations owners to book at any of the other resorts between the different systems. Resale purchasers don't get access to HGV Max.
That said, HGV Max is just an exchange system between the three networks. In my opinion, HGV Max isn't worth the required direct purchase that costs tens of thousands of dollars. You can go out and buy a HGVC deeded week that gives you club access to the other HGVC resorts at nine months out for far cheaper than buying from Hilton. Yes, you lose access to book Bluegreen and Hilton Vacation Club resorts, but you save tens of thousands of dollars and still have great resorts to stay at.
This is not too surprising, but it's still a bummer. We do a mix of hotel and timeshare travel, and hotels have been adding parking fees for a while. Many premium hotels are charging $60 to $85 per night for parking. Hopefully, MVC will keep these fees at the lower end. We do occasionally book MVC units for cash, so i guess this will impact us.
Yeah, we'll probably end up paying the fee every now and then with cash stays. Thanks for watching and being a channel member!
The Parking at Gaylord is $50. At the Marriott village it’s $15 last time I stayed. Probably higher by now. I wonder if Marriott owners staying on an interval international getaway will be charged the fee.
It looks like Marriott Village is now $25/night. Though only valet at Gaylord Palms is $50. Self park is $38. From what I understand, parking fees won't apply to timeshare based stays. So anyone staying on an Interval International exchange or getaway shouldn't have to pay this new fee.
Really. More fees? Aren’t maintenance fees enough already?
Apparently this is to help reduce our fees. It works out to about thirty bucks in savings on our Grande Vista fees in 2025. Somehow I think Marriott Vacations is coming out further ahead with this change as they will probably retain a big chunk of these fees.
@ they are business people so I am confident it benefits them more than the owners. It is just an additional annoying charge.
When does it stop. I am staying at Harbor Lake in January. HGVC already charges $25.00 per day at its Charleston location for all guests including HGVC owners. I would think Marriott will be doing the same regardless of ownership at the Charleston location.
I suspect the new Charleston location will have a parking fee for everyone who stays. That just seems to be how they operate their City Collection properties. Thanks for watching!
Timeshares are learning from the airlines....fees are a great source of revenue. I think it will only be a matter of time before the fee applies to exchangers. HVC is charging fees to folks who exchange thru RCI for basic stuff like internet, use of pool etc. These are usually free at most other timeshares. I think unless you are an owner at your home resort or used vacation club points to book your stay, you will soon be paying to park at an MVC property.
I hope that won't be the case, but they slowly drip these new fees in. So I wouldn't be surprised.
Those kinds of decisions are up to the individual resort boards which are elected by owners. It could become a hot button topic for future elections.
It will backfire! New owners come from people who stay their from Bonvoy points and it will reduce occupancy. It will lead to increase maintenance fees indirectly! Dumb!
It's not going to reduce maintenence fees. They are just going to pocket that money.
I did cover toward the end of the video. At least some of the revenue is coming back to the HOAs, so it will keep the maintenance fees down a little. Just not as much as if the HOA could keep all the revenue from the parking fees. Thanks for watching.