I am curious to see if couples are thinking about this option for their honeymoon getaway. I have found a website specifically for renting timeshare weeks anywhere in the world (redweek.com) and I noticed that they are relatively inexpensive compared to booking a week-long stay in a regular hotel. What's your take on this? Thanks!
Hi:
I rent time shares I own at the beautiful Marriott Aruba Surf Club. These beautiful, 1500 sf deluxe villas have a master suite with Jacuzzi for 2, king bed, satelite TV, granite kitchen, living room, dining room, washer dryer and many many more amenities. This resort is 5 Star and one of the best in the Carribbean and is part of the Marriott Renaisance Hotel and Casino complex. Marriott rents these accomodations for over $800 per day but owners like me can rent them for half that price depending on season (winter or summer). Aruba is less than 4 hours from New York City by JetBlue and is out of the hurricane zone. It has constant temperature all year round and is a paradise.
The benefit to renting a time share apartment rather than a hotel room is SPACE and PRIVACY. These deluxe Villas are larger than most 2 bedroom apartments in New York City and come fully equipped. You can stay in your bathing suit all day, each breakfast and lunch on your terrace and with the money you save, go whole hog on diner at night.
Since there is no maid service, there are no concerns about "afternoon delight" at any time of the day. Anyone interested should contact me, ArubaRick@gmail.com for more information.
Most of brides are using honeymoon registry - so the expense of a really nice honeymoon is no longer an issue. Not to mention the majority of women I speak to don't want to be anywhere near a kitchen!
Whatever makes you happy is what you should do, don't worry about what others are doing
You need to do what makes you comfortable. I'm a wedding planner who can also books honeymoons for my clients. I generally recommend somewhere where they can be pampered and treated like royalty. It's tough planning a wedding while trying to balance everything else in their lives. If they are beach people I will often recommend any of the Sandals owned brands like Sandals, Beaches, or Royal Plantation. They have suites where the guests are assigned their own personal butler. They really go out of their way to make destination wedding or honeymoon couples feel well cared for; especially when a wedding planner who is Sandals certified drops the resort a note ahead of time to tell them the couple was booked by that planner. They have sales on all the time so it's not always as expensive as people think.
With a time-share you won't get that personal attention; plus there could be extra fee's not mentioned in the base rate. I have a friend who rents out her time-share and the rate quoted by the rental agency doesn't cover her maintenance fee's so that also has to end up in the contract. I've never rented a time-share so I don't know how other rental agencies work.
It all depends on what you want for your honeymoon. At a time share you will be servicing yourselves, ie cooking/going out for dinner, cleaning, etc. If it is vs. a hotel which isnt all inclusive I would choose a time share. Time shares are almost like your own condo! But if you want to be taken care of go for an all inclusive resort package. It may be more expensive but everything is included. Remember you are paying for the time share/resort plus the cost of food and activities.
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