We rented week 31 at Carlsbad Inn for the final week of our 2-week summer vacation.  We spent Week 30 at Grand Pacific Palisades, and used the week that week to run around San Diego and catch up with friends and family.  Week 31 was all about beach time.  This was our first time back to Carlsbad Inn since our summer vacation in 2019.  This week was all about beach time, although we did spend time getting ice cream in Carlsbad Village (Handels!), making "sun catchers" at the resort, and playing foosball with new friends.

​This week went exactly as we hoped.  During overcast mornings, we slept in, tidied up, and ran minimal errands.  Once the sun came out in the afternoon, we walked to the beach and spent the rest of the day there.  Sooooo relaxing!!!  We checked out beach gear from the resort, and the kids spent hours playing on the beach.  Our two-year old even went down for a 2-hour nap on the beach one of the afternoons!  We also spent lots of time in the pool and watching the summer Olympics.  Our older kids (8 and 6) made friends with other kids staying at the resort (hi Baylor and Tommy!), and were sad when they had to say goodbye at the end of the week.  

The resort is almost finished with major refurbishments.  The major work done on the Oak and Elm buildings has been completed.  The only part of the resort that was still closed for construction was the adult spa and deck.  I really hope the resort gets around to updating its internet service.  It was unreliable and slow in our unit.  The laundry room under Oak also needs updating.  Whereas the machines at GPP accepted credit cards, the machines at Carlsbad Inn still require quarters, and there is no change machine on premises.

​Going from a spacious 2BR/2BA at GPP to a tight 1BR/1BA at Carlsbad Inn was a little challenging, but the rewards of being steps from the beach made it very worthwhile.  Like many other families we met, we love coming back to Carlsbad Inn in the summer, and will definitely be back!

Like many others, 2020 was a difficult year for our family, especially with our children doing remote learning from home.  One silver lining was that we accrued a lot of unused vacation time that we now get to enjoy this summer.  We used GPX to exchange our week 52 at Carlsbad Inn into week 30 at Grand Pacific Palisades.  This was our first time staying at this resort.

We were in a 2 bedroom/2 bath unit overlooking Armada Drive (“garden view”).  It was very spacious, with plenty of room for our 3 kids.  I took pictures of the unit before moving in.  Here’s a few:

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Although GPP is not walking distance from Carlsbad’s beaches, the resort offers a shuttle service that will bring you to and from the beaches.  We didn’t use the shuttle, and never made it to the beach this week, because we were busy enjoying San Diego’s parks and catching up with family and friends.  We tried to get all our sightseeing and visiting done this week because the following week we had reservations at Carlsbad Inn, and we wanted to enjoy as much beach time as possible.  During our stay at GPP, we spent a day at Legoland, which was lots of fun, and so easy to walk to.  In fact, after spending the morning at the park, we came back to GPP for lunch and a little rest, and then walked back to Legoland in the late afternoon to enjoy their water park.  We also spent time at the San Diego Zoo (it’s huge!), Old Town (lunch and shopping at Fiesta de Reyes), and La Jolla Cove (sea lions for the kids, boutique shopping for mom).  With all the time we spent running around San Diego, we needed a couple days of easy pool time at the resort, and GPP was great for this.  The pool has a fun splash pad for the kids, and we met lots of nice families from all over the country (hello Michigan friends!!). 

GPP would not be our first choice for a beach vacation, but for a very comfortable place to enjoy Legoland, and all of San Diego’s many other attractions, this is a great choice.

Following the 1-2 punch of the COVID-19 pandemic and the litigation brought by the California Department of Justice, Welk Resorts has been sold to Marriott Vacations Worldwide.  The official company release is HERE. 

What does this mean to current owners of Welk Resorts timeshares?  Well, it's still too soon to say.  One thing we do know from the press release is that at least some of the Welk Resorts properties will be rebranded under the Hyatt Residences flag. 

We have seen a big increase in people buying Welk Resorts timeshares, including both fixed-week timeshares at the Lawrence Welk Resort in San Diego, and points packages.  In fact, this may be the best time to buy a Welk timeshare in recent memory.  We have seen the company waive their right-of-first-refusal on points packages, allowing buyers to pick up both small and large packages for incredibly low prices.  Savvy buyers seem to be scooping up cheap timeshare weeks now with the expectation that they will increase in value after the resorts are re-flagged as Hyatt or Marriott properties.  

Due to the big increase in demand, we need more listings of Welk timeshares ASAP!  Please call or email me today if you are interested in purchasing or selling a Welk Resorts timeshare.

​Courtney Jex    

Timeshare owners who bought a points package directly from the Welk Resorts between January 1, 2011 and March 2016 may be eligible for a refund of their purchase.  According to a press release issued by the California Attorney General's Office:

Following a string of consumer complaints, the California Attorney General's Office, San Diego D.A.'s Office, and California Department of Real Estate launched an investigation into Welk's sales practices.  Undercover operations revealed that Welk was making false statements and misrepresentations in high-pressure sales presentations at its resort in Escondido, California.  As part of the settlement, Welk will establish a robust consumer restitution program that will provide up to $3,550,000 in restitution to consumers affected by Welk's deceptive sales practices.  The restitution program:

     • Allows consumers who previously submitted a written complaint with the option to (1) rescind their timeshare purchase agreement with Welk and obtain a full or partial refund or, (2) retain their timeshare interest and instead obtain restitution in the form of cash, a resort credit, or additional timeshare points; and

     • Provides notice to other potential victims and the opportunity for them to submit a claim for restitution in the form of cash, a resort credit, or additional timeshare points.  

The restitution program provides relief to two groups of eligible consumers.  The first are consumers who purchased timeshare points from Welk between January 1, 2011 and March 2016 and have been pre-identified as eligible because they submitted a written complaint.  The second group are consumers who purchased timeshare points during the same time period, but who have not previously submitted a complaint related to their purchases.  These consumers will be notified of the judgment and settlement terms, and will be given an opportunity to submit a claim form.

Additionally, Welk has agreed to injunctive terms that require it to implement a compliance program aimed at educating its sales and executive staff on preventing violations. The settlement also requires Welk to pay a total of $2 million in penalties, and reimbursement of investigative costs.

Welk customers who have questions about the settlement or regarding their eligibility for relief under the settlement should visit www.welkresorts.com/resolution for more information as it becomes available.

Like many of you, we are under a mandatory stay-at-home order due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.  Our kids' schools have been cancelled for the rest of the school year, so we are juggling home schooling with working our business.  Not that we're complaining.  The economic fallout from this pandemic is devastating, with new jobless claims topping 6.6 million last week.  We feel very blessed to still be able to run our business during this extremely difficult period.  

With shutdowns in effect all over the world, it remains to be seen how different resorts and timeshare operators will handle cancelled reservations.  Last we checked, even Disney Vacation Club had not figured this out yet.  One thing is for sure though - when the mandatory shutdowns, social distancing, quarantines, and shelter-in-place orders finally end, that next vacation will be extra, extra sweet!

Please bear with us if it takes us a little longer to respond to inquiries and communications in the following weeks.  We hope you stay healthy and safe during these difficult times.

Courtney and Brent Jex
Weeks4Sale.com

Last summer, about three months after our third child was born, we packed up the minivan and did the 8-hour drive from Rocklin to Carlsbad.  We love staying at the Carlsbad Inn during the summer, since it's right on the beach.  It was a little cloudy and cool when we got there, but our older kids, Jeremiah (5) and Penelope (4) were so excited when we got to the beach, that they went right into the water - with their jackets still on!  The weather got warmer during the week, and we had some great beach days.  We also went to Legoland for the first time, visited with some friends and family in San Diego, and ate at some great restaurants.  The resort was doing major construction on the ground floor of the Elm building, so it was pretty noisy during the day, but I can't wait to see the renovated rooms next time we go!  The resort shows movies on the lawn at night during the week, and we watched some of it from our balcony.  Here's some photos from our trip below.  Please call or email me if I can help you buy or sell your timeshare at the Carlsbad Inn.

I just received a really nice testimonial that I had to share.  Thank you! (May not be viewable on mobile devices)

Last year was really busy for us and our family.  With our new baby, I didn’t have time to keep this blog updated, and we certainly didn’t get to travel as much as we would have liked to, although we did spend a week at the Carlsbad Inn.
This year, I am resolved to kick-start this blog, visit more resorts, and help more people with their timeshare and vacation club needs.  In the near future, I aim to write articles on:

1. Why timeshare sellers should hire a reputable broker rather than use an online listing site such as Redweek or Myresortnetwork;
2. Why timeshare sellers should hire a reputable broker rather than using a timeshare cancellation company;
3. Why timeshare buyers should use a reputable broker as their agent;
4. How timeshare buyers can purchase timeshares to build a portfolio of rental income; and
5. How timeshare buyers can identify market inefficiencies to their advantage; and
6. More resort reviews, especially more Marriott properties.

Best wishes to you and your family for 2020, and please think of us for your timeshare and vacation club needs!

On March 4th of this year, we welcomed the newest addition to our family: Violette Owen Jex!  She joins our other daughter Penelope (4) and our son Jeremiah (6).  It's been a really busy year for our family, but we feel incredibly blessed.  

My husband and I decided we were overdue for a weekend alone, so we booked a getaway weekend at Wyndham's Hotel Canterbury in San Francisco.  We left the kids with the grandparents on Friday night, got up early(ish) Saturday morning, and made the two-hour drive to the city.  We are still fairly recent (2.5 years) transplants from San Diego to Northern California, so I won't pretend we have special local knowledge about the city.  But we try to make a couple trips a year, and always get great recommendations from our friends, so we're starting to get more familiar with the city.  We had an *amazing* dinner this trip at LihoLiho Yacht Club, a Hawaiian restaurant a block up the street from the hotel.

Parking at the hotel is expensive - about $40/day to valet your car.  However, there are plenty of public parking garages within a couple blocks of the hotel.  We dropped our bags at the hotel, and went to lunch at a seafood restaurant in the Fillmore district.  We came back a couple hours later and checked in at 2pm.  Check-in time is normally 4pm, but they had a room available for us.

The hotel is very nice!  Here's pictures of the lobby, fitness room, and rec room (with free arcade games and billiards).  There's also a nice media center (where I'm writing this post), with a couple free computers, DVDs for check-out, books left behind by other guests (thank you for the worn copy of "Treasure Mountain" by Louis L'Amour), and TV.


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We're staying in a nice 1BR suite.  It's nicely updated and furnished, although the bed is a little small, and (unfortunately) our room is facing Sutter Street, so we heard lots of sirens last night.  Still, we really like this property, and it's definitely somewhere we would stay again while visiting San Francisco.  We'll probably stay at Club Donatello next time to compare the two properties.  We don't currently have any listings for this site, but please contact me if you are interested in purchasing a timeshare at the Wyndham's Canterbury, and I will be happy to find one for you.  Happy New Year's!