Mariott Vacation Club, Hyatt Vacation Club. When you google this, the Marriott Vacation Club website is promising consumers:

Stay at World-class Resorts in Popular Destinations like Aruba, Costa Rica, and Maui. Choose Exciting Vacations with Over 60 Marriott Vacation Club Resorts in 7 Countries.
Mariott Vacation Club advertising

Sounds exciting, sounds legitimate. Work with two brands you may trust.

European Consumer Claims (ECC) is A European timeshare release and claims specialist. ECC has been dealing with the perception openly promoted to consumers who trust brands such as Marriott and Hyatt. The same misleading concept is true with other major hotel brands.

In a recent article on eTurboNews, a PR representative for the Westin Kaanapali Villas called the eTurboNews newsroom, saying the Westin Kaanapali Villas did not know and has no relations or affiliation with the Westin Kaanapali (Resort).

According to Google Maps, the properties are 1.6 miles away, or a 30-minute walk. The front desk manager confirmed the name is constantly confusing for both properties. Guests are complaining about not being able to use the theme pool of the other Westin property with an almost identical name and the same brand.

It appears for many years, tourists staying in some Marriott, Westin, St. Regis, Ritz Carlton, or even Hyatt resorts, among others, did not stay at hotels directly affiliated with the Marriott or Hyatt brand.

Vacation Club owners (Timeshare) who spend premium rates to own a timeshare in a brand hotel such as Marriott or Hyatt bought a timeshare for high rates in a complex that can claim it is not affiliated with the hotel and the resort brand by the same name.

Timeshare owners are furious at their ‘exclusive’ resorts being made available to non-members on regular bookings sites like Expedia, Airbnb, and Booking.com. Anyone visiting the Marriott website may also find hotel room availability in those exclusive vacation club properties. They earn Bonvoy points and would not know they stay at a property not affiliated with the brand.

A year ago eTurboNews revealed that renting is much cheaper than buying a timeshare.

Owners that paid a high price to own a timeshare in the vacation club could have just booked rooms in the same property without becoming an “owner.”

Marriott’s Ownership of apartments started in 1984.

1984
Marriott Corporation becomes the first hospitality brand to enter the timeshare industry. Marriott Ownership Resorts, Inc. (MORI) is established.

1990
Marriott begins an exchange partnership with Interval International®, allowing owners to exchange their Home Resort ownership for weeks to access other resort destinations.

2004
Marriott Vacation Club International celebrates 20 years in the industry by announcing new resorts and over 250,000 Owners and members.

2010
A new points-based program is introduced, providing Owners and members with unparalleled flexibility in vacation experiences.

2011
Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (MVW) launches as a separate public company under the NYSE: VAC ticker. 2019 MVW acquires ILG, Inc., encompassing more vacation ownership brands and exchange company Interval International.

2021
MVW acquires Welk Hospitality Group, Inc. and celebrates ten years as a publicly listed New York Stock Exchange company.

Today
Marriott Vacations Worldwide encompasses a diverse portfolio of businesses and distinctive brands. Each has its own unique legacy of innovation, integrity, and excellence — but a shared passion unites all for delivering exceptional vacations.

Many Marriott Vacations Worldwide owners joined because of the credibility of the Marriott brands. However, this report clarifies that the names Marriott International and Hyatt are only used as part of licensing agreements.

If these agreements are breached, then “the applicable licensor may be entitled to terminate the license agreement and our rights to use its brands in connection with our businesses. In addition, if any of our properties do not meet applicable brand standards, the applicable licensor can terminate our right to use its trademarks at the subject properties.”

MVW timeshare owners could, in that event (or several other named scenarios), find that their home resorts were no longer associated with these famous brands. They could argue that the credibility of these brand associations justified a good chunk of the price they paid to join.

Many people may not have joined without the strength of the Marriott and Hyatt brands underpinning their memberships.

The Marriott Vacations Worldwide (MVW) annual report for 2022 is lengthy.

Granted, a company with an annual revenue of 4.633 billion dollars, an owner base of 700,000 families, and 120 branded resorts (with a further 3200 affiliate resorts) needs to go into much detail. But at 144 pages long and with much of the content in list form or verbose legalese, it is a challenging message to wade through. It would be easy for the casual reader to miss important details buried in the text volume.

ECC’s experts have drilled down to the following four critical aspects for owners to prioritize and focus on.

MVW paid out a staggering 9 million dollars in compensation in 2022, which may only be the start.

The report notes, “During 2022 and 2021, the litigation charges relate primarily to our business in Europe”.

The report explains, “A series of Spanish court rulings that, since 2015, have voided certain timeshare contracts has increased our exposure to litigation that may materially adversely affect our business and financial condition.

These rulings voided certain timeshare contracts entered into after January 1999 related to certain resorts in Spain if a resort’s timeshare structure did not meet requirements prescribed by Spanish timeshare laws enacted in 1998.”

Marriott appears to acknowledge that they have been issuing illegal membership contracts for many years and are bracing themselves for the potential consequences.

Those consequences could include courts continuing to compensate people with said illegal contracts financially.

The report confirms that the compensation may escalate to such a degree that it could even affect the ability of MVW (as well as other timeshare companies) to conduct business in Spain in the future.

The report acknowledges that: “the increased ability for owners of Spanish timeshares to void their contracts has negatively impacted other developers with resorts in Spain.”

The positive aspect to all this is that MVW, unlike less reputable companies, does appear to be ‘stepping up’ and facing their responsibilities towards clients with illegal contracts. Indeed they have already established the beginnings of a track record in settling outstanding judgments on time.

MVW is an entirely separate company from Marriott, the hotel chain

If these agreements are breached, then “the applicable licensor may be entitled to terminate the license agreement and our rights to use its brands in connection with our businesses.

In addition, if any of our properties do not meet applicable brand standards, the applicable licensor can terminate our right to use its trademarks at the subject properties.”

MVW timeshare owners could, in that event (or several other named scenarios), find that their home resorts were no longer associated with these famous brands.

They could argue that the credibility of these brand associations justified a good chunk of the price they paid to join.

Many people may not have joined at all without the strength of the Marriott and Hyatt brands underpinning their memberships.

The report lists this possibility as a risk to the MVW vacation ownership business.

Our points-based product forms expose us to an increased risk of temporary inventory depletion” which is listed as another potential problem under the ” Risks ” section.

This concern will come as no surprise to points-based timeshare owners, for whom availability is regularly cited as an issue with their product.

The report refers to the fact that MVW relies on third-party providers for accommodation. If they fail to provide this accommodation for any reason, it threatens MVW points system inventory availability.

This can, in turn (the report admits), affect the ability of MVW to operate as a business.

The report mentions that $509 million of its total revenue is generated by renting unsold/unused inventory. This is concerning for two reasons.

Firstly, if people can rent these properties without paying to become members, then what would be the advantage of the expensive commitment of joining MWV?

Secondly, does this suggest that availability can never improve for owners because the unsold portion of the inventory is always reserved for rental?

If so, any owner wanting a particular week designated as a rental would be unable to book it, even if it was not currently reserved by anyone else.

They could only choose from the specific weeks predesignated as available to point owners.

“If this is indeed the case, you could potentially have a situation whereby an owner is told that their preferred week is not available,” confirms Andrew Cooper, CEO of European Consumer Claims (ECC), “and yet they would be able to book it by paying extra via the rental program.”