A Time share allows you shared ownership of a chosen property or properties for a specified period of time.
In India, there are two major players Club Mahindra (CM) and Sterling Resorts (SR). There are quite a few other players.
Here are some facts that you I have understood during 3 years of Time Share ownership
Room types :
Studio / Compact :This room may be around 350 sq.ft. It usually does have a separate cooking, dining, living and sleeping area. But it will be all in one room with no privacy. Typically has a partial kitchen. Can accommodate 2 adults + 2 kids or 3 adults
1 Bedroom / Regular apartment:This type may be around 600 sq.ft. All of Studio with the privilege of a separate bedroom with privacy for 2 persons. Can totally accommodate 4 adultsand usually comes with at least a partial kitchen
2 Bedroom / Twin apartment :All of 1 bedroom + an additional bedroom. Totally can accommodate 6 adults with privacy for 2 couples.
Seasons :
The 52 weeks in a year are divided into three seasons or color groups.
Red (52 weeks):Few weeks in the peak season are classified as Red. This would normally be the prime tourist season.
White (35 to 40 weeks):This would have the maximum amount of weeks and would be the mid tourist season, classified as White. (for Goa it would be June to November and March to April).
Blue (<25 weeks):A few months when visitors are usually low are classified as Blue. This is the lean tourist season or the off season. (for Goa it would be the monsoons, i.e. June thru August).
CM has a Purple season which entitles a member to choose from any of the 52 weeks. It is above Red (49 weeks in CM) and costs even higher.
Typically the Red season time share holder can use any of the lower seasons also and either get additional nights or bigger rooms. But the lower season time share holders may not usually be allowed to use the resort in the higher seasons.
Upfront Payment :
The whole essence of time share begins with paying money upfront and booking yourself a property for X number of years. The price to be paid would depend on the resort you choose, the type of room you want and the season you would prefer.
Needless to say, Red season 2BR apartment would be the costliest and the Blue season Studio would be the lowest price option.
Annual Fee or Daily Maintenance charges :
This is an important financial aspect, which is generally not so well explained by the sales personnel of each time share and not well understood by potential buyers.
In addition to the upfront payment you would have to either pay a daily maintenance charge of 350 Rs per night (or higher), for every night you stay or an annual fee of 6000 Rs (or higher) every year depending on your time share provider.
It is also important to note that this fee would logically increase as years pass by and that would be the mode the time share providers would use to keep themselves at bay.
RCI ?
Both CM and SR allow you access to a network called as RCI (Resorts condominium International). RCI does not own any resort, but various resorts get affiliated to their network. This is a huge network of resorts world wide. (Something similar to VISA credit cards, but provided by ICICI bank – you see the link ?). CM gives you a free RCI membership for first three years. Subsequently, it costs ~2000 Rs / year for RCI membership.
Use of RCI ?
In simple terms, you will have to deposit your week in the Indian Time share with RCI and exchange it for a week in any resort that is affiliated to RCI world wide.
There are two catches.
You will have to pay an exchange fee each time you exchange your week(this is in addition to the annual fee). Exchange fee for a resort in India would be around 3000 to 5000 Rs for a Studio apartment(again depending on season). Outside India exchange fee varies between countries and could be anywhere higher than 7500 Rs / week
You will have to pay daily maintenance chargedepending on the individual resort. Remember that outside India, this would be in USD. (CM actually reimburses what is paid by the member as daily maintenance charge to RCI as they charge an annual fee irrespective of usage)
My thoughts ?
We take a short break every few months...
We found that we are spending a fair amount of money on hotels. We first came across Time share information from Highland Holidays (run by Bajaj). As a trial offer we purchased 3 days each year for 7 years at a price of 8000 Rs.
We then came across details about Club Mahindra; we took a White studio. We were unsure whether our decision was correct, until we stayed at one of their properties. Once we did that, we had no doubt. We had developed so much confidence that we ended upgrading ourselves to Red season. We totally paid around 1.5 lakh rupees in 24 installments for our Red Studio. This was back in 2003. Now the same package costs between 2.6 to 2.9 lakhs.
Please bargain hard with the sales personnel. You can certainly get discounts on their published rates; can also get freebies like additional nights, preferential interest rates for installments, free flight and food coupons etc.
Pros :
• If you go for CM or SR, their resort location, maintenance, food and service are truly good. Do think twice and get first hand information for other time shares.
• Resorts of CM and SR are self-contained. You and especially your kids will enjoy the stay and various indoor and outdoor activities.
• The best part about time share is having the choice to cook your own food or go out to eat. Typically we mix match cooking, eating at the resort and eating outside. My wife especially likes the part in which I cook something for her (even if it means making Maggie – which is all I know)
Cons :
• Money - Of course, what else can it be? Upfront payment would be easily around 1 lakh or more. In addition, Daily or Annual Maintenance charges are also to be paid.
Final Question - is it worth the price?
See if this math helps….
Published price for a studio apartment in the Red season in Club Mahindra is around 2.9 lakhs. This would make you eligible for 1 week at almost anytime of the year for 25 years.
This effectively works out to an upfront payment of 1600 Rs / night.
You would pay around 7000 Rs as annual fee. That translates to 1000 Rs / night.
So you spend a total of 2600 Rs / night.(may be 20 – 30% less for a Sterling package)
A similar math for White Studio at 2.0 lakh upfront and 7000 Rs annual fee would be 2250 Rs / night
Do you spend this amount of money for each night of your vacation every year?
Make your own decision.
