Marriott Vacation Club Reviews 

They withheld details about various fees, they held me 1 hour past the 90 minute requirement (to pressure me), they rushed the signing of the contract, their website "conveniently" has tech issues when I try to make payments (multiple occasions). They said they have a broker that could buy some points from me but he never responds or answers. They claimed they could buy back the points but when I try, they say "we are not doing buy backs at this time". And what they do not tell you is to sell it, you must already have paid the whole loan. They also NEVER TOLD ME I COULD REVERSE IT WITHIN 10 DAYS per Arizona law. They literally never told me or pointed out the jargon used to refer to that process that no average person would even know. Completely criminal.

Limited availability if desired properties, long hold times, misleading sales pitches and they will not buy your points back. I would not buy these points again. The maintenance fees increase yearly with little value. You basically have to make this a part time job just to make a reservation. Do not buy

Marriott Vacation Club is a terrible business that is inflexible, inept, and totally unresponsive to customer concerns!!! I have been trying for says to perform a simple task of changing the reservation name of the person who will be using my time share week for this year. All I get is a dumb error message stating that: "Something went wring. Please try again later or please contact Owner/Member Services". Well I have called THREE TIMES and spoken to three customer service representatives and a supervisor and none of them can do a damn thing to address and fix the problem. They try to act like YOU are the problem rather than THEM and their lousy website and inane and totally inflexible procedures for doing something as simple as changing the name of the person on the reservation. The supervisor suggested that the problem was that I was using my cell phone rather than a desk top computer. So I made a trip to my local public library and used their desk top computers . . . and the result was the same . . . STILL the same same dumb error message!!! The last thing they said was that they would send a report to their tech specialists to check on the problem!!! I was told that it would take four business days??? Please tell me why Marriott Vacation Club Owners/Member Services cannot simply provide an alternative backup for changing the name on the reservation??? It's NOT rocket science!!! American businesses have gotten SO "anal" and inept with all their reliance on computers rather than people in doing thing like providing customer service!!!

First, the "priority booking" promised never materialized when planning our Hawaii anniversary trip. We couldn't arrive on our preferred dates and had to stay at a different hotel initially. Every request for upgraded views was met with waitlists. Second, the accommodations varied dramatically in quality. While Ko Olina Beach Club on Oahu was lovely, Kauai Beach Club was terrible - essentially two connected hotel rooms with a microwave instead of the promised "beautiful full kitchen units." At Waikoloa Ocean Club, construction work made relaxation impossible with dirt and noise everywhere. Most disappointing was discovering we weren't even staying in actual Marriott resorts but in separate buildings. In Kauai, we had to valet with Sonesta and walk through their hotel to reach the Marriott property. None of the "amazing opportunities and privileges" materialized, and the perpetual fees were never mentioned during the sales pitch. You’re better off booking vacations independently than dealing with these misrepresented timeshares.

Marriott continues to lie to us as far as availability for rooms.
They hold back the good rooms for cash customers. Tried to make a reservation for a room using points. Premium rooms not available for time share owners. We have been Marriot Vacation Club members for 25 years. Can’t tell you how many times we have been LIED to!

Sheraton Vistana Villages Resort International Drive Orlando. Avoid this resort with children or teenagers, as management protects pedophile timeshare owner after sexual abuse. Marriott CaseResolution Americas is also unhelpful and is trying to cover everything up. More info on Tripadvisor and HolidayCheck.

I contacted Marriott customer service several times over three months by phone and email. I was always put off and told it would be forwarded to a higher level. Finally, I was contacted by Nicole V. from Marriott Bonvoy® Case Resolution Specialist, which was her last email.

From: CaseResolution_Americas caseresolution.americas.marriott.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 2, 2025, 4:59 PM

Subject: Sheraton Vistana Villages Resort Villas I-Drive/Orlando

Hello Mr. Peters,
I hope this message finds you well. I am very sorry to hear that the hotel has not followed up with you regarding your case.

I have reached out to the hotel on your behalf, and you can expect a response within three business days.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Warm Regards,

Nicole V.
Marriott Bonvoy® Case Resolution Specialist

The Sheraton Vistana Villages International Drive Orlando, of course, never contacted me afterward. The exact details of the sexual abuse by a pedophile timeshare owner can be obtained from Nicole V., among others. You can also read about it in my review on Tripadvisor and HolidayCheck under my hotel reviews. We haven't even been reimbursed for the vacation days lost due to all the meetings with management, security, and twice with the sheriff. Plus all the stress, the many sleepless nights. And all this while my 16-year-old son is already in extremely poor health with four heart surgeries, an artificial heart valve, two stents in his narrowed pulmonary arteries, and multiple sclerosis. I already knew that my Platinum status with Marriott was worthless, but it's a shame that they didn't help us in this matter.

total lies at the presentation. impossible to book for your dates. rates that are too high to justify. i do not recommend

⭐ 1/5 Stars - Avoid at All Costs!
I am writing this review to warn potential buyers about the absolute disaster of purchasing a timeshare from Marriott Shadow Ridge. What began as a seemingly innocent sales presentation quickly turned into a manipulative, exhausting ordeal that has cost me thousands of dollars and endless frustration.
The initial red flag was the misleading sales pitch. What was promised as a quick 90-minute presentation morphed into a grueling 4-5 hour marathon of high-pressure tactics. Our sales representative, Catherine Courtney Trudell, was nothing short of predatory, spinning elaborate lies about the supposed "benefits" of their point system.
The reality is far from the dream they sold. Booking options are extremely limited, with false promises of free travel quickly evaporating. The maintenance fees are astronomical - over $3,300 annually and rising - with no real value in return. When we tried to book accommodations, we were told there was no availability, and they attempted to relocate us to an entirely different state!
To make matters worse, when we sought to exit the contract, Marriott's customer service was a labyrinth of confusion and dead ends. They demand we pay off the entire loan before even considering contract termination.

I could not afford this timeshare anymore. Last year I tried to sell it with Marriott. They informed me it was not sellable, but they would take it back. I thought my nightmare was over. Fast forward, I receive notice for payment of my fees for 2025. I contacted the exit department to no avail. After many emails, they said for some reason the “give back” did not go through and they would expedite it. (One month ago). Today I received notice they were placing a lien on the property and suspending my Bonvoy account.

As an owner since 1991, we have had happy times at Marriott Resorts, but the last two have been terrible. We experienced presentations from untruthful people which have left us very unsatisfied with the JW Marriott organization. Now we are told, after we paid all the Maintenance billings we received, we owe an additional $1500, after paying over $4000 already. But no one seems to be able to tell us what the additional amount is for. We need some integrity and clarity!!

Marriott Vacation Club doesn’t even deserve one star total rip off over sold points with no reservations available. Total fraud… Even worse your phone number will be ruined with random calls trying to get you to spend thousands to cancel the timeshare.

After decades as a Marriott Vacation Club owner, I deeply regret my purchase. The initial high-pressure sales presentation deliberately misrepresented key aspects of ownership. What began as a reasonable investment has ballooned to nearly $70,000 of debt with maintenance fees continually increasing from what was promised as a "small annual fee" to thousands of dollars annually.
Despite planning vacations 6-8 months in advance, I've barely been able to use my timeshare a dozen times in nearly three decades. Where’s the "easy access” they proclaimed?
Then came the ultimate insult during my 71st birthday stay: another high-pressure sales session convincing me to invest $20,000 on "Trust Points" to rescue my investment. Surprise! These points can't even be combined with my deeded week as promised, it’s now practically worthless.
Marriott also concealed that my children would automatically inherit these financial obligations. It was presented as a benefit, not the lifelong burden it truly is. Between the exhausting sales marathons, microscopic contract print, hidden fees, and impossible booking system, Marriott has perfected the art of overpromising and underdelivering.
This isn't a vacation club - it's a masterclass in travel deception. Save your money, it’s not worth it!

Over three decades, our family invested over $250,000 in Marriott Vacation Club points, only to be repeatedly misled by aggressive sales reps and face increasingly unmanageable financial burdens. The company's approach has been characterized by consistent high-pressure to buy presentations at multiple resorts, with salespeople making exaggerated promises about rental income potential, resort availability, and point system flexibility. Our experience revealed a troubling pattern of deceptive practices. Each sales interaction involved being persuaded to purchase additional points, with representatives making unrealistic claims about potential rental income, future resort access, and club membership benefits. The maintenance fees have become super expensive, and the financing of purchases through high-interest loans has added significant financial stress. We found ourselves unable to use purchased weeks due to scheduling conflicts and facing misleading information about future benefits like Chairmans Club status. The company's tactics have been particularly predatory, targeting customers with complex and financially burdensome propositions. Our attempts to manage our investment were consistently met with minimal resort availability, growing financial challenges, and false promises from sales representatives. The mounting pressure and financial uncertainty have left us feeling trapped and deceived. We strongly caution potential buyers to thoroughly investigate Marriott Vacation Club's practices before committing to their timeshare program. Our experience serves as a warning to those considering similar investments, highlighting the potential pitfalls of their aggressive sales approach and questionable business practices. Beware!

We have had our Marriott timeshare for over 2 1/2 years and we love it. We have taken over 4 amazing vacations! For us, the key to make this work is having flexibility.

Marriott had always represented "family" and "value" to me, especially when my mother worked at the Marriott Hotel in Salt Lake City. Thanks to the family rate, I had the opportunity to stay at several Marriott-branded properties over the years. After my mother passed away, I was offered a package deal from Marriott Vacation Club to stay at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan. This was just before the pandemic, around January 2020 or earlier. I attended the required sales presentation at the Sales Center near the Pulse property, where I was presented with a deal for a "deed" to the MVC MZC Orlando and was told my payments would be treated as mortgage loans. Nothing could be further from the truth; this product is worthless. As a traveling surgeon working six days a week, I have found it impossible to utilize my MVC club points as promised. I was never informed that the maintenance fees would continue in perpetuity, becoming a lifelong burden for my beneficiaries. The salespeople assured me I could rent out my timeshare to recoup costs – another blatant misrepresentation, as I can barely secure reservations for my own use. I have recently discovered that these supposedly "exclusive to owner" units are readily available to anyone with a credit card through online travel sites at a fraction of what I pay as an owner. Due to these numerous misrepresentations and the complete lack of value in this membership, I refuse to make any further payments to this predatory company. The entire experience has left me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I cannot imagine giving any more of my hard-earned money to Marriott. The trust I once had in the Marriott brand has completely disappeared.

To date, I have not used a single point or taken a vacation, yet I am saddled with two Marriott Vacation Club contracts I cannot afford OR utilize. As a single parent juggling a demanding career, these deceptive practices have placed an unfair burden on my family, exploiting my trust in Marriott as a reputable brand. As a professional managing a building and construction company, I do not have the bandwidth to rectify a deeply troubling experience with Marriott Vacation Club and have sought assistance from their Executive Team. I was misled, pressured, and deceived into signing not one, but two-timeshare contracts under false pretenses. The Sales Team at the Marriott Vacation Club’s Shadow Ridge put me through a grueling two-plus-hour sales presentation. Exhausted and desperate to return to my family, I reluctantly purchased a timeshare. When I attended an “owners’ meeting” a salesperson informed me my initial purchase lacked sufficient points for my vacation needs, contrary to prior assurances. Trusting his guidance, I agreed to what I believed was an upgrade—only to later discover I had been sold a second, separate contract. The deception continued. I was told that by paying $1,800 quarterly, my mortgage payments would be eliminated, and the two contracts would be combined. This never materialized, leaving me with two distinct financial obligations. Additionally, I explicitly requested that my credit not be run, as I am planning to buy a home, yet Marriott Vacation Club disregarded this, further jeopardizing my financial stability. Finally, I was assured maintenance fees would not apply until 2025, yet I received an invoice on October 19, 2024, due December 2, 2024, an outright contradiction of what I was promised. I have respectfully requested to be released from both contracts and refunded all payments made, given the misrepresentations and unethical sales tactics I endured. They need to do the right thing and put an end to this behavior.

Biggest scam. Don’t invest in this.

Our journey with Sheraton began in July 2011 when we were approached at a theme park as a young couple with a small child. We were invited to what was promised to be a one-hour presentation with the incentive of receiving money to use at a Disney Springs restaurant. Instead, we were subjected to nearly three hours of high-pressure sales tactics where we were led to believe we were becoming part of something "grand and elite." The sales representative aggressively pitched this as a real estate investment, emphasizing that its value would increase over time and that we would be able to pass down this owned and deeded property to our daughter. A full decade later our frustration culminated in an owner's update meeting in July 2022, like our initial presentation, was promised to be an hour but stretched to three hours. Using false urgency tactics, the sales representative pressured us into upgrading our package, claiming we could apply equity from our old unit into the new contract and promising better vacation locations and more flexibility in reservations. They also hid the existence of a $250 annual club fee and additional charges for reservation changes. We've since discovered we can book comparable vacations for significantly less money without the burden of time share ownership. Throughout all our interactions, sales representatives consistently omitted critical information about our children's future obligations. We were never told that our children would be responsible for both the maintenance fees if the timeshare was passed down. Multiple representatives encouraged us to take out additional loans to pay off the timeshare mortgage while concealing that maintenance fees could increase indefinitely, regardless of the mortgage status. When we specifically inquired about maintenance fee changes, we were assured that the amounts shown during our meetings were final and complete. We were never given clear or honest information about our total financial commitment.

Fraudulent company and not a part of JW Marriot

Avoid Harborside at all costs! I attended a presentation that was conducted by Elura Rolle and Sherry Rolle. They are responsible for getting me into this mess with this company. This presentation occurred in October 2012 when I was visiting Atlantis as part of a cruise tour. They approached me and invited me to complete a presentation with them. They misrepresented it to be exclusive and not to mention their lack of transparency. They didn’t disclose product related fees and gave me nothing more than false statements regarding the timeshare. I didn’t realize much of it then because I trusted their judgement and knowledge of their product they presented. Verbally everything sounded good and then they had me sign through a contract leaving out important details. I realize now that I was set up and now, I am dealing with trying to exit this timeshare. Consider this a warning and do not do business with Harborside.