Save your money and use it to go where you want, when you want.
Timeshares are a liability, not an investment, and you'll take a huge beating if you want to get out of it, typically because if you want out, it's not a good deal, which means nobody else will like the deal either.
Remember how hard the timeshare salesperson worked you over to get you to sign? Think you could lower yourself to that level of deception and pressure when you want to get rid of yours?
Every time a hurricane wipes your timeshare off the face of the earth, you're on the hook for rebuilding. When insurance goes up, so do your fees. If they discover toxic mold, you're on the hook for that too.
Also, because the maintenance fees are forever, the only way to make them stop is sell, die or declare bankruptcy.
Owning property is great. Owning property that someone else manages, in areas that are frequently hot, damp and hit by hurrcaines is not. If you want a vacation, stay at a resort. If it blows away during the next storm, you can send them a condolence card, but nobody is going to send you a multi-thousand dollar bill for your share of the rebuilding effort.
Terry
Trisha:
BrianV, we went to Branson, Mo, this summer and almost got a Marriott timeshare. Maintenance at $500-$600 per year and one week in a three-bed, two-bath suite for about $17,000. My take is that if we could afford that, we should already be on the plane to Coco View in Roatan. If we couldn't afford the trip, we shouldn't buy the timeshare.
Marriott has hotels in Aruba and St. Thomas and agreements with several other Caribbean resorts. Has anyone had experience with that?