HHI--DVC or Rental for Family Trip?

[DisneyStarWisher]

I am really having a hard time trying to decide what to do. Right now, we have two 50-point HHI contracts. The plan in the near future is to use them only for family trips, a GV every three years for 5 nights in the summer. Then my DH and I will go the other years and rent a house or villa in the Palmetto Dunes area. When looking at the prices of a rental, I realized we could rent a 3- or 4-BR for a whole week (not just 5 days) for less than what we are paying for our HHI DVC dues. So that got me wondering if maybe we should sell the two HHI contracts (and use that money to buy a BRV resale which we are going to be doing in the next couple of years anyway) and then just book rentals at HHI for our family trips. We don't have grandkids yet, but what scares me with a rental is losing that Disney feel, the use of the beach house, and all the fun activities they have for kids. Has anyone done it both ways--Disney and a rental--and can give me some insight into what to do?

 

[hayesdvc]

We have a 200+ points at HHI and as you mention the dues are not cheap. We stayed at several other resorts in HH over the years prior to being able to somehow get a seven month reservation the later part of June using points from another of our other DVC contracts. I wish we had never gotten the reservation. We fell in love with the resort, the CMs and the HHI contract followed.

At the time we first stayed at HHI, we were considering other "cheaper" timeshares in HH including the Marriott Grand Ocean resort.

Could the dues we pay, cover other cheaper stays at HH? Certainly.

I am paying about $1.25 more in dues per point for HHI than I do my other DVC contracts. We currently feel the additional $400+ dollars are well worth our annual experience.

Good Luck with your decision.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I know it's ultimately your decision, but we toyed with the idea of buying a retirement home on HHI, but finally decided that we just couldn't give up the resort. Staying at the Disney resort is such an integral part of the HHI experience for us.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

Personally, I like the Sea Pines Area and the Palmetto Dunes area. I can get great bargains on a house or condo in areas with more activities and amenities.

 

[bobbiwoz]

The Disney feel is why we keep our HHI points, and use them at HHI.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Personally, I like the Sea Pines Area and the Palmetto Dunes area. I can get great bargains on a house or condo in areas with more activities and amenities.

This is what I need to know more about. Do other areas have organized activities for kids? We are only interested in the Palmetto Dunes area.

Personally, we think we will be happier as a couple if we do not stay at the Disney resort. It would cost too many points to get a 1-BR than we are willing to pay. With a rental, we will have a full kitchen, and since we are wanting to go for two weeks at a time, we will do a lot of meals in. We also have had some issues with noise in our HHI studio before. And honestly as a couple, we will be ok not having the Disney feel since we will be going to WDW every year, too. I like the relaxing vibe of the whole island, and having a little space from all the Disneyness will be ok with us. With that said, if I have grandkids with me, I want them involved in fun activities. I just have to decide if it's worth quite a bit more money to have activities with the Disney feel. We also plan to take them to WDW every three years, too. Just not sure if that will be enough Disney with them.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

This is what I need to know more about. Do other areas have organized activities for kids? We are only interested in the Palmetto Dunes area.

Personally, we think we will be happier as a couple if we do not stay at the Disney resort. It would cost too many points to get a 1-BR than we are willing to pay. With a rental, we will have a full kitchen, and since we are wanting to go for two weeks at a time, we will do a lot of meals in. We also have had some issues with noise in our HHI studio before. And honestly as a couple, we will be ok not having the Disney feel since we will be going to WDW every year, too. I like the relaxing vibe of the whole island, and having a little space from all the Disneyness will be ok with us. With that said, if I have grandkids with me, I want them involved in fun activities. I just have to decide if it's worth quite a bit more money to have activities with the Disney feel. We also plan to take them to WDW every three years, too. Just not sure if that will be enough Disney with them.

It has been a while since my kids were that small, but we enjoyed the beach, biking, exploring the marshes, etc.
see this site for some good ideas. https://www.seapines.com/recreation/activities-tours/
Also, see https://www.palmettodunes.com/activities/hilton-head-island-activities

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

It has been a while since my kids were that small, but we enjoyed the beach, biking, exploring the marshes, etc.
see this site for some good ideas. https://www.seapines.com/recreation/activities-tours/
Also, see https://www.palmettodunes.com/activities/hilton-head-island-activities

Thank you for the information. It looks like the resorts have the basic things that anyone can do on the island. Disney definitely has many more organized activities for kids. This is going to be a hard decision! Financially speaking, it makes sense to sell. The points cost us $2.42/point over the lifetime of the contracts. With the current annual dues being $7.7159, 295 points for a GV for the first week of June for 5 weekdays would cost us $2990 (and of course, annual dues will increase over the next three years). That's nearly $600/night! I know that's a lot cheaper than paying cash for a GV, but other 3-BR or even 4-BR accommodations (non-DVC) are nowhere near that even in the middle of summer. Plus those accommodations don't expire in 2042. But this doesn't account for the warm fuzzy feeling I get when I think about the fun our kids have had at the Disney resort and that I'm sure my future grandkids could have.

 

[Dean]

I am really having a hard time trying to decide what to do. Right now, we have two 50-point HHI contracts. The plan in the near future is to use them only for family trips, a GV every three years for 5 nights in the summer. Then my DH and I will go the other years and rent a house or villa in the Palmetto Dunes area. When looking at the prices of a rental, I realized we could rent a 3- or 4-BR for a whole week (not just 5 days) for less than what we are paying for our HHI DVC dues. So that got me wondering if maybe we should sell the two HHI contracts (and use that money to buy a BRV resale which we are going to be doing in the next couple of years anyway) and then just book rentals at HHI for our family trips. We don't have grandkids yet, but what scares me with a rental is losing that Disney feel, the use of the beach house, and all the fun activities they have for kids. Has anyone done it both ways--Disney and a rental--and can give me some insight into what to do?

I'm not a huge fan of the location whether it be DVC or the Marriott nearby. We own and use Marriott's for such trips with family. I have seven 2 BR units reserved for next summer and that's what we did in 2017. We also own a condo, all on the beach. What it sounds like is you could rent for the larger groups and use points for the smaller one might be the best option. Unless you decide you don't want to use DVC at all in any form, I wouldn't sell even if you have to rent a couple of years to allow you to tryout things.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

I'm not a huge fan of the location whether it be DVC or the Marriott nearby. We own and use Marriott's for such trips with family. I have seven 2 BR units reserved for next summer and that's what we did in 2017. We also own a condo, all on the beach. What it sounds like is you could rent for the larger groups and use points for the smaller one might be the best option. Unless you decide you don't want to use DVC at all in any form, I wouldn't sell even if you have to rent a couple of years to allow you to tryout things.

I totally agree with you about trying it out before we sell. It's tempting to sell before we try it out since we want to buy a BRV resale soon and that would give us the cash upfront to do it. But I think it would be wise to wait and just save up cash for that resale. I retire in 2020 and will use the HHI points to hopefully go to Aulani that year. After that, we plan to start trying some non-DVC options in HHI and then if we decide to sell, we can use the cash we make for something else--maybe a small camper! I do know that if we decide to keep the DVC we will use it with grandkids not for the solo trips. For the solo trips, we want a full kitchen and we want to stay for about two weeks. We have nowhere near the points for that.

 

[Dean]

I totally agree with you about trying it out before we sell. It's tempting to sell before we try it out since we want to buy a BRV resale soon and that would give us the cash upfront to do it. But I think it would be wise to wait and just save up cash for that resale. I retire in 2020 and will use the HHI points to hopefully go to Aulani that year. After that, we plan to start trying some non-DVC options in HHI and then if we decide to sell, we can use the cash we make for something else--maybe a small camper! I do know that if we decide to keep the DVC we will use it with grandkids not for the solo trips. For the solo trips, we want a full kitchen and we want to stay for about two weeks. We have nowhere near the points for that.

One thing about DVC HH is that it's one of the few good timeshare options with smaller villas. The Marriott's are all 2BR or one that has a few 3 BR, same for the new Hilton resort there. If your points are qualified, I'd give it some time, likely several years. But renting a house or condo is usually cheaper than a timeshare overall. For comparison One can buy a 2 BR Marriott Grande Ocean Platinum (summer) week for under $15K for the 2 BR and yearly dues currently of 1400. While Marriott has sold EOY options at many resorts, they did not at Grande Ocean or most HHI properties (they have 8 there) than I know of.

If I read correctly, you have 100 pts per year. Even with banking/borrowing, the most you could get together for NORMAL SUMMER is 4 nights unless your UY is August where you can overlap the UY and get 400 pts to use. So if your UY is August and you can saddle the UY, you could get 5 nights in a 3 BR no weekend nights or 11 nights in a 1 BR if you only do 1 weekend. If you can't straddle the UY the most you could get for summer would be 4 nights in a 3 BR or 8 nights in a 1BR. Now if you could go at lower times you could stretch that a bit but I suspect you're tied to school calendar's for the larger trip anyway as we are. There are condo's with 1 BR and there may be studios in some timeshares that have a better equipped kitchen than does DVC studios. If you have more flexibility with travel with just the 2 of you, esp after retirement, this would favor using the DVC points for you smaller group at fringe times and paying cash for the larger group during the summer. One can normally get a small discount renting a house or condo for 2 weeks instead of one though. Going through the RCI resorts on the Island and looking only at Silver Crown or above, I only found 4 of the 21 resorts listed that had smaller than a 2BR but I did see many with 3 BR and one of 5 BR.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

One thing about DVC HH is that it's one of the few good timeshare options with smaller villas. The Marriott's are all 2BR or one that has a few 3 BR, same for the new Hilton resort there. If your points are qualified, I'd give it some time, likely several years. But renting a house or condo is usually cheaper than a timeshare overall. For comparison One can buy a 2 BR Marriott Grande Ocean Platinum (summer) week for under $15K for the 2 BR and yearly dues currently of 1400. While Marriott has sold EOY options at many resorts, they did not at Grande Ocean or most HHI properties (they have 8 there) than I know of.

If I read correctly, you have 100 pts per year. Even with banking/borrowing, the most you could get together for NORMAL SUMMER is 4 nights unless your UY is August where you can overlap the UY and get 400 pts to use. So if your UY is August and you can saddle the UY, you could get 5 nights in a 3 BR no weekend nights or 11 nights in a 1 BR if you only do 1 weekend. If you can't straddle the UY the most you could get for summer would be 4 nights in a 3 BR or 8 nights in a 1BR. Now if you could go at lower times you could stretch that a bit but I suspect you're tied to school calendar's for the larger trip anyway as we are. There are condo's with 1 BR and there may be studios in some timeshares that have a better equipped kitchen than does DVC studios. If you have more flexibility with travel with just the 2 of you, esp after retirement, this would favor using the DVC points for you smaller group at fringe times and paying cash for the larger group during the summer. One can normally get a small discount renting a house or condo for 2 weeks instead of one though. Going through the RCI resorts on the Island and looking only at Silver Crown or above, I only found 4 of the 21 resorts listed that had smaller than a 2BR but I did see many with 3 BR and one of 5 BR.

We have a June UY. The plan is to bank and borrow to get 300 points. We will either use them for a GV for 5 weeknights at the beginning of June or over Fall Break in October (Dream Season). If we need to go in the middle of summer (Premier Season), we will do a 2-BR plus a studio. We have no grandkids now and probably won't for several years. But I do know that if I keep the contracts, we will use them for the family trip. My DH and I have no desire to have the Disney feel when it's just the two of us since we will be going to WDW every year, too. Also, we want to go to HHI for two weeks EVERY year, so there is no desire to bank or borrow to get a longer stay that way. If we did a 1-BR every year for two weeks during Dream Season, we would need over 300 points if we went two years straight and then take a year off when we do the non-DVC family trip. Not happening. At Palmetto Dunes, there are several 1-BRs that would work for us and cost around $1500 for the two weeks. That's much less than just the annual dues for 400 points, not even counting the buy-in. My decision is going to be whether to keep the points for family trips or not.

 

[Dean]

We have a June UY. The plan is to bank and borrow to get 300 points. We will either use them for a GV for 5 weeknights at the beginning of June or over Fall Break in October (Dream Season). If we need to go in the middle of summer (Premier Season), we will do a 2-BR plus a studio. We have no grandkids now and probably won't for several years. But I do know that if I keep the contracts, we will use them for the family trip. My DH and I have no desire to have the Disney feel when it's just the two of us since we will be going to WDW every year, too. Also, we want to go to HHI for two weeks EVERY year, so there is no desire to bank or borrow to get a longer stay that way. If we did a 1-BR every year for two weeks during Dream Season, we would need over 300 points if we went two years straight and then take a year off when we do the non-DVC family trip. Not happening. At Palmetto Dunes, there are several 1-BRs that would work for us and cost around $1500 for the two weeks. That's much less than just the annual dues for 400 points, not even counting the buy-in. My decision is going to be whether to keep the points for family trips or not.

Thanks for the additional information. Given the update, I'd use for other DVC locations and not use DVC for HHI. For most for this situation, I'd either rent buy a different timeshare to use. I don't know your preferences but I don't get the sense you're tied to the beach but that issue would certainly color my recommendations. Those times are certainly cheaper than the summer. You might investigate the coral resort system. I don't have much knowledge of their system but they have some good options on HHI. Just renting for the 1 BR will be the cheapest short term and will give you more flexibility. A timeshare like Marriott will give you more and higher end options but will certainly cost more than the $1500 for 2 weeks a year. If you do decide to rent, lock it early in (like the next year while you're there this year) once you find something you truly like.

But the other issue is what you want in terms of amenities and quality. If I were in your situation wanting to go yearly and for those times knowing what I know, I'd likely buy Marriott. It would be more expensive but it'll give you a higher end experience and other options. Two Gold weeks at Grande Ocean would be roughly $10K total and $2800 a year. You'd get a reservation priority reserving them together by being able to reserve at 13 months out rather than 12. You could then do 2 consecutive weeks roughly the same as DVC dream season up until mid June then starting after the Sept holiday. Then you could do 2 weeks concurrently so you'd have 2 units at the same time for your family trips. Marriott has 8 resorts, 2 of them would lose the first 2 weeks in June (Barony & Surfwatch) but Surfwatch does have 3 BR units. Your comparison would be renting at some of the ocean front condo complexes. I know my 2 BR condo which isn't quite as high end but is in an OF complex,rents for roughly $1300-1600 per week during that time frame.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Thanks for the additional information. Given the update, I'd use for other DVC locations and not use DVC for HHI. For most for this situation, I'd either rent buy a different timeshare to use. I don't know your preferences but I don't get the sense you're tied to the beach but that issue would certainly color my recommendations. Those times are certainly cheaper than the summer. You might investigate the coral resort system. I don't have much knowledge of their system but they have some good options on HHI. Just renting for the 1 BR will be the cheapest short term and will give you more flexibility. A timeshare like Marriott will give you more and higher end options but will certainly cost more than the $1500 for 2 weeks a year. If you do decide to rent, lock it early in (like the next year while you're there this year) once you find something you truly like.

But the other issue is what you want in terms of amenities and quality. If I were in your situation wanting to go yearly and for those times knowing what I know, I'd likely buy Marriott. It would be more expensive but it'll give you a higher end experience and other options. Two Gold weeks at Grande Ocean would be roughly $10K total and $2800 a year. You'd get a reservation priority reserving them together by being able to reserve at 13 months out rather than 12. You could then do 2 consecutive weeks roughly the same as DVC dream season up until mid June then starting after the Sept holiday. Then you could do 2 weeks concurrently so you'd have 2 units at the same time for your family trips. Marriott has 8 resorts, 2 of them would lose the first 2 weeks in June (Barony & Surfwatch) but Surfwatch does have 3 BR units. Your comparison would be renting at some of the ocean front condo complexes. I know my 2 BR condo which isn't quite as high end but is in an OF complex,rents for roughly $1300-1600 per week during that time frame.

We really aren't interested in purchasing another timeshare. If we don't stay at DVC for our family trips, we will just rent.

What I'm needing to know is has anyone stayed off-DVC property with younger kids and not missed the Disney activiites? Just wondering if those activities and the Disney feel are worth the extra cost.

 

[Dean]

We really aren't interested in purchasing another timeshare. If we don't stay at DVC for our family trips, we will just rent.

What I'm needing to know is has anyone stayed off-DVC property with younger kids and not missed the Disney activiites? Just wondering if those activities and the Disney feel are worth the extra cost.

We stay other timeshares with activities and options, we find the location and options better than DVC. With our larger groups we have many kids of all ages.

 

[SwanVT2]

This is what I need to know more about. Do other areas have organized activities for kids? We are only interested in the Palmetto Dunes area.

Personally, we think we will be happier as a couple if we do not stay at the Disney resort. It would cost too many points to get a 1-BR than we are willing to pay. With a rental, we will have a full kitchen, and since we are wanting to go for two weeks at a time, we will do a lot of meals in. We also have had some issues with noise in our HHI studio before. And honestly as a couple, we will be ok not having the Disney feel since we will be going to WDW every year, too. I like the relaxing vibe of the whole island, and having a little space from all the Disneyness will be ok with us. With that said, if I have grandkids with me, I want them involved in fun activities. I just have to decide if it's worth quite a bit more money to have activities with the Disney feel. We also plan to take them to WDW every three years, too. Just not sure if that will be enough Disney with them.

We are looking at Hilton Head for our next family vacation next April. I am curious about what noise issues you had. We would be in a studio and I am a light sleeper who needs quiet. Thank you.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

We are looking at Hilton Head for our next family vacation next April. I am curious about what noise issues you had. We would be in a studio and I am a light sleeper who needs quiet. Thank you.

Sometimes in a studio you can hear your next-door neighbors through the connecting door. I've heard if you are in a studio under a GV you will hear footsteps above you. In all the DVCs we have stayed in, HHI seems to be the least noise-proof. I always bring earplugs to sleep in.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We don't own DVC, but do vacation every summer on HHI. We always rent in Palmetto Dunes. We have stayed in the same condo the last several years. I found it on vrbo. The complex is ocean front, but we are in a second row condo. It is a lovely 2 bedroom condo and we pay $3025 for 2 weeks.

 

[apulk]

Our home resort is DVC-HHI -- bought in July 1997 -- about a year after it opened. We have been there just about every year since then and quite a few times multiple trips per year. Our kids are now 19, 21, 26 and 28 -- they still LOVE DVC-HHI but over the last few years at least (5-6 years) we have found that it's actually a better deal to NOT use our HHI points at our home resort. It has been way easier to find better deals for 8-10 people (now all adults) in villas/houses in Palmetto Dunes or Shelter Cove -- and a better use of points to book at 2 bedroom or multiple studios at WDW or Disney's Grand Californian. We just got back from 6 nights lake view in a 2 bedroom (sleeps 9) with 3 bath at BLT and loved it. It was about 300 points for the stay -- same # of nights prime time summer at HHI would be 271 points. If we were to "rent" points from certain sites -- the 6 nights at BLT would be at least $5000. If we booked on cash -- WAY more than that, maybe $8k-$9k with DVC discount on cash. We can easily do better ocean front in prime time July on HHI for 8 people (usually about $2400 for a FULL week) -- we could actually do two villas that would sleep a total of 16 ocean front for probably $4500. To sell our HHI points and start over at another resort seems like it would take a long time of "lower" dues to make up the significantly higher cost to buy in the current year vs. what we paid in 1997 (which was about $50/point I think).

But when our kiddos were younger we NEVER would have thought of not doing DVC-HHI. If/when grandkids come along then I think we might change our tune again -- for now, we're holding onto our 210 HHI points (even with higher dues) and taking our chances with 7 month out availability at WDW or Cali. We've been very lucky so far -- have had 2 New Years weeks in AKL (Jambo and Kidani), May Lake view at BLT, a few Saratoga Springs (because nothing else was available) and Beach Club villas and Boardwalk (both a pretty long time ago now).