sdandrea1
While vacationing with the family in Cabo last spring, the timeshare people at the timeshare where we were staying (a friend who I occasionally play golf with has three weeks at Villa del Arco Resort and Spa, oceanfront, we're talking $$$$$ - he sold me one of his weeks he has there for $1000) - the timeshare salespeople were on us like sharks as soon as we checked in. They offered us all kinds of perks and free excursions to attend their 2-hour info session, which would've saved us maybe $400-$500 total for the week. I said thanks but no thanks.
The last time I agreed to go to a timeshare meeting was back in the early 2000's down in Myrtle Beach, and we ended up being bound to a timeshare mortgage for roughly 7 years. We loved the place (and still do, when we actually use it, which is maybe once every couple of years). It's upscale, and the units are very nice, with the pool right outside of the screened in patio on the unit we have. But it's gone through so many owners since then... Holiday Inn Club Vacations now owns it, and I primarily use it one week per year (usually in the winter) to go down to Orlando to play golf at their primary resort (Orange Lake Resort) which is interchangeable and no additional cost.
I fork over $850/yr for maintenance fees, and if I could simply walk away from the deal I would. Since I can't, I try to make sure I (or my siblings, as guests) use it.
But I do regret going to that meeting that day. It was a bad decision.