Holiday Vacation Condominiums - Timeshare For Sale

The standard resort pitch:

'Holiday Vacation Condominiums is centrally located to all of the Cape's wonderful attractions. The indoor pool provides year-round swimming. During the warmer months, relax by the resort's new outdoor pool. In nearby Hyannis, from July through Labor Day, you can see theater-in-the-round at the Melody Tent or take a harbor tour that offers a view of the Kennedy family's summer home. Whale-watching tours are popular from early April through late October. Shops and restaurants are nearby.'

Now the reality:

To be perfectly honest, we've never stayed at this resort. I purchased this in 1987 and have used it for trading via RCI all these years. (RCI is a timeshare exchange company that lets you do a one-time trade of your unit for another in a different location or time. The RCI membership fee and exchange fees are something you have to purchase separately if you want to exchange it. For more info, see rci.com).

There are places I haven't been able to get trades for since this is a medium season week. However: it seems that popular places that have lots of timeshares are always easy to trade for, and often for a bigger unit at no extra cost. Two of the best places to trade for are the Disney World area and Cancun.

For example:
My mom and I took a trip to Florida one year in November and stayed at Orange Lake in Kissimmee (near Disney World) where we had an enormous 2-bedroom villa with full kitchen including dishwasher, washer, and dryer. The livingroom and both bedrooms had tvs and vcrs, and there was a huge fruit gift basket waiting for us when we arrived. We were in the lap of luxury!

I've been to some great skiing resorts in the Colorado and Canadian Rockies in the middle of prime ski season: usually February. Once a friend and I stayed at a beautiful resort with full fireplace in Breckenridge, another time Banff.

I've stayed in Cancun many times in some nice resorts, and also in St. Maarten.

So, if you're looking for a unit on Cape Cod because you want to go there in April, great.
But the real advantages of this timeshare is that

1. It is inexpensive. I bought it in 1987 before timeshare prices got so outrageous. I'm selling it for a fraction of what I paid. If you're going to trade anyway, why not start with a less expensive unit?


2. Since it is a studio, it has a pretty low maintenance fee compared to some others. The fee has barely gone up since I bought it in 1987.


3. Owners can go and use the facilities for free, so if you go to the Cape, you can have full access to a pool.


4. Owners can stay for weekends at a discounted per-night price.


5. The biggest advantage is that for popular places such as Disney World and the Caribbean, you can always get excellent trades and a bigger unit. If you have kids, this is a great way to go to Disney, Universal, etc. very inexpensively. I've always had a full kitchen on all of my Disney World trades, which means you can go grocery shopping when you get there and then make your meals 'at home.' That's a lot of money you'll save by not eating out. The only things you'll pay for are the resort tickets and a rental car (although a lot of these resorts have free shuttles). After a busy day at the parks, you can go home and relax by the pool before or after dinner. One friend used to go to Disney World early with her husband and son, then go back to the resort during the hottest part of the day to swim and nap, then back to Disney in the evening when the crowds lessened. And after the kids get older and are no longer interested in the Disney magic, use the timeshare to trade for a Caribbean getaway.

• Week of August 2, 2008, Villas at Fortune Place, Kissimmee. 2 bedroom unit including full kitchen, washer/dryer. Sleeps 6.


• Week of July 25, 2008, Wyndham Cypress Palms, Kissimmee. 1 bedroom unit including full kitchen, washer/dryer. Sleeps 4 (pullout sofa in living room)


• Week of July 6, 2008, Silver Lake Resort, Kissimmee (winner of a Gold Crown Resort award). 1 bedroom, full kitchen, some units have washer/dryer, sleeps 4.

• Week of Nov 1, Paradise Island Harbour Resort, Bahamas. Hotel unit.


• Week of Nov 29, New Gran Caribe Real Cancun, Cancun Mexico, 2 bedrooms, sleeps 6.


• Week of Nov 29 or Dec 6, Imperial Fiesta Club, Cancun Mexico, 2 bedrooms, sleeps 6.


• Week of Nov 16 , The Grand Mayan Riveria (Gold Crown resort), Riveria Maya, Mexico. 2 bedrooms, sleeps 8.


• Week of Nov 1, Mayan Palace Riveria (Gold Crown resort), Riveria Maya, Mexico. 2 bedrooms, sleeps 8.