Okay, so we all know that not all timeshares are created equal. But isn’t it reasonable to expect that when you trade into a timeshare, it should be nicer than a hotel , fairly clean and comfortable? Especially if it’s a Gold or Silver Crown?
Not necessarily.
Most of us who have timeshared for any length of time have experienced at least one place that we don’t ever want to go back to. One place that, even if someone paid us, we would not return to. For us, that place is the Storyville Hotel (it’s really a timeshare, despite the name) in New Orleans. At the time, 2 weeks before Katrina hit, this timeshare was rated Gold Crown by RCI.
Before we book a timeshare that we’ve never been to, we always, always, ALWAYS check the reviews on TUG. Except that time we didn’t. I can’t remember if there were no reviews, or if we just neglected to check, but we reassured ourselves that this WAS a Gold Crown Resort, so how bad could it be?
Pretty bad.
To begin with, the building was on the edge of a questionable neighborhood, so no walking out there at night. The French Quarter was a 10-minute walk, so we always made sure we were back before dark, or had to take the car (parking was horrendous wherever we went) or a cab.
But that wasn’t so bad compared to the place itself. The once-beautiful gardens were overgrown. The unit was large, with a decent-sized living room, small kitchen and one bedroom. All of the living room carpeting was wrinkled and stained. There were mouse droppings in the pots and pans. One day, a very large cockroach-looking thing greeted us when we returned. The bathroom fixtures were very old, with splatterings of something all over the wall. Sitting down in the stained tub was kind of scary, so I didn’t.
The owner, or person in charge, sat us all down the first evening and told us all about things that we could do in New Orleans. This was nice, although it did go on for about 2 hours or so. There are only 5 or 6 units, so we’re not talking a lot of people. The owner lives in one of the units, and he gave us his cell phone number in case we had any questions or problems. A few days later, we called him about a minor issue, and he acted somewhat put upon that we would bother him. We never saw him again, after the first evening.
This place is still listed as a timeshare in the RCI Resort Directory, although when I browsed the internet, it actually seems to be more of a rental place. Some of the reviews were even okay. Apparently the place was sold, or is under new management as of 2008-2009. Other reviews indicated that it hadn’t changed that much since our 2005 experience.
Our main goal here is not to “badmouth” any resort, but to stress the importance of reading RCI and TUG reviews before you book—and even then, you may have a bad experience. Obviously, what’s important to one person may not be important to another in your timeshare travel. Someone might get really upset over small televisions, while we could care less. Likewise, we prefer quiet accommodations while someone else may like the party atmosphere. The important thing is to gather as much info as you can before you commit.
Our other goal is to see if anyone else has a “timeshare horror story.” –that way we can alert others. Let us know your vote for worst timeshare and why!
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Several years ago we went to The Villas of Hickory Hiss, Gautier, MS. We arrived late in the evening and our keys were in a box outside the check-in. There idea of a ground floor unit was the kitchen, living room and a shower on the first floor and then 16 steps up to the bedroom. The unit was not very clean and the kitchen was not very well stocked. The frying pan was so bad that we went to Wal Mart or somewhere and bought one. There were French doors to the patio from the dining area and we had to prop a chair against them to secure the place at all. We stayed for the whole reservatin only because we were going to Destin from there. We never did get to talk to anyone from the staff. When we left we just dropped the keys off in the office. We will never return there.
Jim Alexander