Marriott’s Timber Lodge is in the heart of South Lake Tahoe, in the upscale Heavenly Village, located one block from the Nevada state line, and within steps of the world-famous Heavenly Gondola.  We took our family here last Labor Day weekend to check out the resort and see the sights of South shore.  The Heavenly Gondola, which is literally right outside the main entrance of the resort, was the first thing we did during our stay.  Our kids were fascinated with it, and could not wait to “take a ride.”  The gondola picks you up in the village, and takes you right up the mountain towards Heavenly Mountain Resort. It lets you get off at the Observatory deck located about ¾ of the way up.  The panoramic view of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding mountains is breathtaking!!  Then you can hop back on the gondola and finish the 2.4 mile ride to Heavenly.  At the top of the mountain is the Ultimate Summer Playground, with a wide array of activities, including zip-lining for kids and adults, rope courses, climbing wall, hiking and even summer tubing (no water or snow)!!  Since our kids were only 2 and 3 years old, we skipped the activities and had lunch at the Tamarack Lodge, but we are definitely taking the kids back when they are older so they can participate in these fun activities! ​

The next day we explored the Village and downtown, along with a quick beach visit.  The Village has several popular restaurants, high-end shopping (think Patagonia and North Face), Starbucks, Cold Stone Creamery, and Nestle’s Toll House Café (our kids loved picking out their own cookies here).  During the winter months, there is an ice skating rink and during the summer it converts to a 18-hole mini golf course.  There was even bungie jumping for kids!  You could stay in the Village all day and have plenty of things to do.   We also took a short walk down to the casinos before heading over to Lakeside Beach. Timber Lodge provides its guests free passes for this beach.  We ended the day by having dinner at Marriott’s “Fire & Ice Grill & Bar” located on the main level, and then of course, ice cream at Cold Stone in the Village.  

Our last full day was spent playing in the resort pool along with the Children’s Activity Room located in the lobby.  The kids had a full day swimming and playing, so they crashed early before the beautiful fireworks display over the lake.  Luckily, we were able to see the show right from our unit’s deck while the kids slept soundly.      

When you buy a Marriott Timber Lodge timeshare, you typically own a floating week during a “season” and you can book your week anytime during that season, based on availability.  There is a “Platinum Winter Season” - Weeks 1-6, 8-14 & 49-50, a “Platinum Summer Season”- Weeks 23-26, 28-39 and a Gold Season - Weeks 15-22 & 40-48 (Spring & Fall).  Obviously, the Winter and Summer season are the most popular and more desirable seasons, so typically they are more expensive than any Gold season week.  There are also a few prime “Fixed weeks”, which are Week 7 (President’s Day week), Week 27 (Fourth of July) and Weeks 51 and 52 (Christmas and New Year’s).  There are 1-bedroom, 2 bedrooms and 3-bedroom units available for purchase that come with full bathrooms, kitchens (kitchenette for the studio portion of the 2-bedroom lock-offs) and balconies (in most units).  There is some flexibility in changing what you own. For example, if you own a 2-bedroom lock-off unit, you can use a one bedroom for a week and a studio for another week (giving you two weeks of usage or trading), or use it as a two-bedroom for one week.  You can also use your week to exchange through the Marriott system, and go to any other Marriott destination, or trade it through an exchange company (RCI, Interval International, etc.).  On the resale market, the purchase price for a 2-bedroom Platinum Winter Season ranges from about $8,500-$11,000 + closing costs.  Prices will vary based on what season you want, and what size unit you’re looking for. 
 
We had a very memorable Labor Day Weekend trip to Marriott’s Timber Lodge and would certainly recommend it for a summer vacation!  We were very surprised by how much there was to do during a summer week in Lake Tahoe, but we are planning on coming back during the winter for some skiing and winter fun here too!  

Because we have family staying in the Palm Springs area the first week of November, we wanted to join them for the week.  We already had a week deposited with Interval International (Week 52 at the Welk Resorts, Escondido), so we called Interval to place a request for the Palm Springs area using this deposited week as our trade credit.  Interval did not have any inventory immediately available, so we placed a request and crossed our fingers.  A week later, we received an email confirming that an exchange had been made for a 2BR villa at the Marriott Shadow Ridge Enclaves in Palm Desert.  We were excited because not only is this a beautiful resort, but we also knew that we got great value for our exchange, as demonstrated below.

As I mentioned above, we used our ownership of a Lawrence Welk timeshare to reserve Week 52 at the Welk Resorts, Escondido.  The 2015 maintenance fee for this week was $902.  The maintenance fees and club dues for the week 44 at the Marriott would have cost us $1,469.  That's obviously a great deal, exchanging $902 for $1,469, but it gets even better when you consider that if we did not use timeshare, and just booked a week using Marriott's online reservation system, the cost would have been $2,150!  By using timeshare, we effectively cut our costs by 60%!  And the truth is that had we not owned timeshare, we never would have paid $2,150 in lodging expenses to make this trip happen.  So either we would not have gone at all (most likely), or we would have stayed somewhere more "affordable" (meaning, not nearly as nice as the Marriott).

Now through October 7th, Marriott Vacation Club International is running a promotion that allows the buyer of a new MVC Points package of at least 3,500 points to receive a $6,790 discount on the purchase price, plus 300,000 Marriott Rewards points. Is this a “good” deal, and is it better than buying a points package on the resale market?  Perhaps, but only for certain individuals, and it turns on how good someone is at using the Marriott Rewards points.

First, there’s no question that on a pure cost consideration, buying resale wins hands down every time.  As of September 10, 2015, a new points package was priced from $13/point.  On the resale market, packages can be bought for as low as $3/point, and still pass Marriott’s right of first refusal.  For a 3,500 points package, that’s a savings of $35,000!  But let’s consider the 300k Marriott Rewards points and the price discount as well.  According to a leading rewards travel site, Marriott Rewards points are valued at $.07/mile, so 300k points could be worth $21,000 in travel credit.  Add on the $6,790 discount currently being offered, and the value of incentives being offered climbs to almost $28,000.  Assuming full price of a 3,500 points package is 13x3,500 = $45,500, the net price is $17,500 after the value of the incentives are subtracted.  That’s still considerably higher than a resale points package that could probably pass the right-of-first-refusal in the $11,000 - $15,000.
 
So the short answer is that even with the discount and the 300k Marriott Rewards points, it’s still a better deal to purchase a points package on the resales market.  And in case you’re curious what 300k Marriott Rewards points could get you, try 7 nights at a Category 9 property like the Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel, or 40 nights at a Category 1 property like the Fairfield Inn in Modesto, CA.

Contact us today if you’re interested in purchasing a Marriott Vacation Club Points package on the resale market.