Marriott Vacation Club Reviews

When we went to a presentation at the resort, we directly asked the salesmen, “Is this a timeshare?” They lied to our face and said no. The whole thing was just one shameless lie after another. We were told the points dont expire… but they do. We never heard about maintenance fees… until we got the bill. We were promised all these great trips… but nothing is ever available to be booked. We tried tried to talk to them directly about it but they don’t care. They are completely fine with trying to ruin our families ability to travel and it is just so heartbreaking. The only suggestion they had was to pay off our loan entirely or be foreclosed on.

DO NOT GET INTO THIS. ITS A MASSIVE SCAM. THEY GET YOU IN FOR A 90 MINUTE PRESENTATION AND GET OFF ON TANGENTS TO DISTRACT YOU. THEY BRING IN THE MANAGER THAT'S GOING TO APPROVE SWEETENING THE DEAL. THEY LEAVE YOU SITTING AND STEWING FOR HOURS SO YOU GET ANTSY, THEY RUSH YOU TO THE MAN WHO'S GOING TO REVIEW THE CONTRACT WITH YOU. THEY WILL NOT TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE 10 DAYS TO CANCEL. MARGIE THE SALES REP SOLD US A MIRAGE. YOU WILL REGRET THIS. MARGIE CAMACHO SANTIAGO AND ALL THOSE SALES REPS ARE SCAMMERS THAT TRICK PEOPLE INTO GETTING INTO THESE CONTRACTS TO GET THEIR COMMISSIONS THEN THEY HANG YOU OUT TO DRY WITH CONDESCENDING, PATRONIZING REMARKS. THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES. THIS IS EVIL. DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING AND JUST SAVE YOUR MONEY AND SAVE UP FOR YOUR VACATIONS. THEY SELL YOU LIES. EVEN IF YOU HAVE POINTS, THEY TELL YOU THE POINTS GET YOU SO MUCH AND THEN SOME, BUT THE POINTS AREN'T ENOUGH FOR ALMOST ANYTHING AND YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY OUT OF POCKET. I WANT OUT AND THEY IGNORE MY CALLS AND EMAILS.

My experience is not about a specific resort but the overall ownership. I am President's level, and even though you have a "dedicated" line for the President's Level, it is a joke. Whatever you see online to book is the same as what the customer service sees. DO NOT BUY any ownership. I have looked every day 13 months ahead, and there is no availability at all. I purchased to be in a President's Level for the reason of hoping to have a book at ease in a resort that I wanted, but I was wrong. NOT worth it all.

We had a very disappointing experience with Marriott, specifically with their Vacation Club. Last year, we stayed at a Marriott property on Kona Island (Kaua‘i), Hawaii, and were introduced to the Marriott Vacation Club. During the presentation, everything sounded impressive — we were shown how the program works and how it could benefit us as frequent travellers. However, many critical costs, especially the annual maintenance fee, were never clearly disclosed to us. While these charges may have been buried in the fine print, they were never explained verbally during the presentation, which we found misleading. I’ve been diligently paying the monthly instalments for the past year, but was recently shocked to receive an unexpected $1,500 (USD) bill for the annual maintenance fee. I have spent the past weeks trying to contact the company to discuss this issue, but have found them unwilling to acknowledge the lack of transparency. I have shared the email correspondence I had with their employee who enrolled us into the programme, however they seem to not acknowledge it all. They have made it clear that I am required to continue paying, regardless of my concerns. I am currently requesting to cancel the contract and at least receive a partial refund, though the process has been extremely frustrating. Based on my experience, I would strongly caution others: do not trust the promises made during the enrolment process and avoid signing up for the Marriott Vacation Club.

We called and There is no help, no empathy, no desire to remedy the situation. I WILL RESTATE - We were repeatedly presented with misleading and false enticing claims that led us to reluctantly purchase a minimal 1500-point plan. We were told that we could exchange our MVC points for Marriott Bonvoy points at a highly favorable rate, allowing us to stay at premium Marriott properties around the world while visiting our kids and grandkids. The presenter showed us examples of using the points including hotels in Paris, Hawaii, and other desirable locations, claiming such stays would cost only 400 points a week. We were also told that our points could be used for cruises, concerts, theme parks, and luxury resorts, further adding to the illusion of value. These representations were entirely false. Once we gained access to the reservation system, we discovered that the actual point requirements for properties were vastly higher, typically 3,000 to 6,000 points, making them unaffordable and impractical. (We only gain 1500 points a year.) My wife and I were cautious at the time due to our issues with back and leg pain. We asked about cancelling the contract and the MVC presenter totally misrepresented the ability to back out of the agreement easily. Since joining, we are no longer able to travel due to pain. We are both undergoing several surgeries each annually. Our issues are not easily fixed by surgery. Even traveling by car is difficult and limited to a couple of hours and that is not likely to improve after surgery. I was placed on the Veterans Administration 100% totally and permanently disable list due to Service-connected disabilities since signing up for their program. I want to explain the misrepresentations in the presentation we received. Before our issues became life-altering, I was making plans to take my wife to Hawaii. Of course I wanted to use my MVC points. However, I found out that the promises made during our required 90-minute presentation greatly over-promised on Marriott reality. Starting with reserving a room (or availability). We learned that MVC prioritizes selling room inventory to third-party travel sites like Expedia, corporate conferencing/travel agencies, and Booking.com, leaving MVC members with little to no availability unless you plan a year out. This system prioritizes profit over the interests of owners and renders the program effectively unusable. Not only can you NOT find a room, the rooms are many more points than advised during the presentation. I unfortunately decided to purchase and (wrongly) assumed that we could recoup our investment or sell the plan if it didn’t suit us. Something promised by the representative. That belief turned out to be totally false. Not only is the resale market virtually non-existent, but MVC has offered no path for cancellation or relief, short of paying off a $20,000 loan, that comes with no room reservations, for a product we cannot use. • By using some simple math, I found that ownership is worthless. Start with just the initial investment for us and divide by the average cost of a room ($20k / $350 = 57) That means that we could stay at a hotel of our choice anywhere for almost 2 months. Compare that to Vacation Club properties - the price (points required) and lead time to make a reservation makes using MVC points worthless. Even if you double the room cost and we still get a month where and when we want to stay. • Now, let’s compare that to our Club points capability. With ownership, we receive 1500 points a year. I just searched Hawaii and there is no availability until a year later, and I saw the cost is about 5000 points for 7 days. Above my 4500 points accrued after my $20k “investment.” NOT counting the $1500/yr maintenance fees, and paying Marriott $3120/yr interest on my Marriott loan (Marriott gets double dipping), it is painful trying to navigate the MVC app. • I searched Booking.COM and found the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa available on June 18, 2025 (this year not next year for $3900 for 18-25 June 2025 (or $557/night), WITH free cancellation. Compare my $20k investment + 2 years maintenance fees and interest = $24,000 and Hawaii at $557 a night = 43 nights we could have stayed on the amount of ‘good-deal MVC ownership’ costs alone. This is gross misrepresentation making this a SCAM since you pay thousands for nothing. I want to simply walk away from their program and get my $24,000 back (and growing). I cannot use the program anyway and it is monetarily killing this 100% Service-Connected disabled retiree, with fixed income, that was hoping this program would help him and his wife during travel - and it will NOT.

Thankyou so much for the reviews. I owe it to you. I got a first call from mvc, i was excited that i am being offered such a great hotel at such low price. But i was sceptical about why i am being offered at such low prices. I mean whyy whyy whyy.... I searched for your reviews guys and here I am. Such absurd conditions like age criteria and income criterion and some stressful presentation. Thankyou once again for saving me by providing your experience. Thanks thanks thanks....

These lying scumbags are the lowest form of life on the planet. You will be beyond sorry to fall for their total lack of integrity and complete absence of familiarity with that thing called “hospitality”. Once they get your money, their whole attitude changes from accommodating to “you’re on your own, buddy”. Avoid like the plague.

Buyer beware! Marriott will take your money and abandon you! During the sales pitch, they gave us vacation info on the 2500 point plan, even though they knew we only had 1500 points to oversell us on what our points could do. They will sell you on being able to use your points for all these different trips, but in the end, our 1500 points could only manage to cover a single night in Savannah, Georgia. And that is IF you can find something to book. Most resorts are booked up months or even over a year in advance. We are promised there was an exit program in case we needed it so we didn’t have to worry about that, but in 2024 after our son was hospitalized, they switched it up on us and said that the exit option was only available AFTER paying off the mortgage in full! The maintenance fees ended up being hundreds of dollars more than what we were told to expect, and for all we pay, we haven’t gotten close to what it was worth. So we wanted out but after extensive talks with their service dept, they say they won’t take it back, but they are happy to foreclose on us if we miss the payments. Is that their only solution? Is foreclosure really the only solution for taking back our points? Probably not, but its the only one that Marriott will tell us about. Don’t trust these people. Marriott is heartless.

I’ve been touring/driving buses for 15 plus years and seen almost every tourist trap out there. What Marriott pulled at their Orlando JW property was the worst scam I've encountered. Concierge offered me $150 for a "vacation club presentation" during my layover. Being on the road 310+ days yearly, extra cash sounded good. Big mistake. Marcus Mitropoulos and his manager tag-teamed me for hours with lies. Said maintenance fees would stay around $2,200 yearly - it turns out they jump 5% or more each year. Claimed I was buying valuable real estate with resale potential - these timeshares are worthless - I can’t even give them away because nobody wants them. Every question I asked got brushed off with bonus points and fancy talk. They booked me at some resort I didn't want that can't be canceled. They rushed me through signing papers with a notary named Rose who explained everything in vague terms while I felt overwhelmed. The really shady part - they coached me on answering financing questions to get approved despite poor credit. They know exactly what they are doing, targeting working folks like me without time to research properly. As someone who's stayed in hundreds of hotels nationwide, Marriott lost a customer for life. They prey on hardworking people wanting decent vacations, then trap you in contracts that get more expensive every year. Skip their "presentations" - it's a sophisticated con game. Book vacations the honest way with hotels that won't trick you into lifetime financial obligations. Marriott timeshares are pure predatory nonsense. 

We have been Marriott members since 2018 and bought in Asia. When in Asia we used them most years and it worked well. However, since moving back to Europe it’s impossible to book anything in Europe especially peak times when kids are out of school. Like others we were told that we cannot use choose from a huge selection of hotels and that peak times will usually require higher points. This is fine if you can actually book anything. Every time I review anything on the website it’s almost always unavailable. I raised this when I went back to Thailand a couple of years back and was told it was because people who bought into the programme years ago bought a set week/s at a set place and since they changed it to points, unless those release their set weeks then it’s likely we won’t be able to book. More recently I have some club points I need to use within next couple of months. It’s been 2 months in contact with Marriott and I am still no close to booking anything. I’m told to use the new hotels, cruises etc link on their website but trying to book through here only allows to book for up to 2 people. I’m then told to use Hopper app but on discussion with them, they tell me I can’t use Marriott points on Hopper and I need to book through Marriott. I’m getting passed pillar to post without any resolution. It’s a complete sham! Marriott- stop apologising to people and do something about it. Everyone is complaining about the same thing. Do not ask me to call either as I am not getting anywhere with my current issue. You should be contacting me directly and trying to improve the service I am getting offered here.

TOTAL SCAM. I booked the first day they told me I could book and wanted to book an extra room for my kids. 10 months in advance they said they were booked and sold out. NOT POSSIBLE. This is a scam.

My family and I got suckered into this timeshare scam back in March 2023 during our Orlando vacation. They promised us a gift card for sitting through a presentation. What a joke - it turned into over 3 hours of non-stop haggling from multiple salespeople. Noris made it sound amazing. She said our 7 kids could use the points whenever they wanted for trips, but guess what? We found out later that an owner has to be there at check-in every single time. So much for flexibility! I've tried booking twice for a Colorado conference and once for Arizona. Never any availability. Their app is garbage too, constantly crashing when you try to use it. They swore up and down that buying this wouldn't hurt our credit while we were buying a house, but sure enough, there's a hard inquiry on our credit report. They told us this was like buying real estate that would go up in value. Total lies. This thing is worthless and just keeps costing us more money every year. We've already spent $7,500 plus about $1,000 on maintenance fees every year, and we still owe over $13,000 at almost 14% interest! The maintenance fees keep going up too, which they barely mentioned during their sales pitch. What they sold as an investment is actually a money pit that's impossible to get out of. If this had any value, they shouldn’t have any problem taking this back and reselling. There's no way to sell or transfer this thing because no one wants a timeshare, it’s junk. This has been nothing but stress and wasted money for our family. So disappointed.

We've been trapped in Marriott Vacation Club's deceptive timeshare program since 2013, and it has been nothing but broken promises and financial manipulation. What started as a "60-90 minute sales pitch" in Maui turned into over two hours of high-pressure tactics that convinced us to purchase vacation points that were completely inadequate for our needs. Every time we tried to book reservations, we couldn't get the dates or room types we wanted, leading to years of frustration and wasted money. The sales team continuously pushed us to buy more points until we reached "Chairman status," falsely promising this would give us better availability and the ability to sell points through Marriott to cover maintenance fees - both claims turned out to be complete lies. The situation became even worse after Marriott acquired Westin, Sheraton, and other brands, making it nearly impossible to book the properties we actually wanted. Our recent experience at the Pelican Hills location was the final straw - the representative refused to help us with bookings or listing our points unless we purchased even more points through him, while our previous representative had already left the company. Despite reaching Chairman status and paying escalating annual maintenance fees for over a decade, we've received zero value from this program. Marriott Vacation Club operates through deceptive sales practices, makes promises they never intend to keep, and leaves customers stuck in contracts that benefit only the company while providing no real vacation value to members.

My experience is similar to so many 1 star reviewers i can't believe that it's even legal for MVC to operate. We were pressured into buying a misrepresented set of points that are nearly impossible to use. On the two times we were able to make it (across 10 years mind!), we had to go to repeated sales pitches. It's disgusting how aggressive they are and we ended up cancelling the membership entirely in 2024 - after 8 months we begrudgingly got an email to confirm and accept our position. We have however been harassed for 'not paying our maintenance fee' though despite repeatedly stating that we had signed the required release form. They're happy to ignore these emails but to send us threatening letters. It's not just unethical but it should be illegal the level of harassment and consequently distress this has caused. Please don't make the same mistake as us and avoid this business at all costs. At least they don't seem to have stooped to the level as other companies and flooded with fake reviews - and for that I begrudgingly give it one star. Awful company.

We stayed at Sheraton Vistana from Sunday 07/13 to 07/16. We had to leave the property on 07/14 Monday because there was a water main break. We went back to our house in The Villages so we could use the bathroom and shower since no accommodations were made to assist with this. I understand that this was an issue that occurred and was beyond the front desk control but the last email that was sent was that the water would be on and of throughout the day never that it would be out for over 24 hours. When I went to the desk they assured me that someone from the management staff would reach out and offer some sort of offer. This was on Tuesday at 1pm as off 8pm on Wednesday still no communication from any member of management. This is not what Marriott stands for! Marriott Vacation club charges us over $8000 a year in maintenance fees and or quick to try to get you to purchase more, but once they get your money they never respond to issues! As with anything once one problem arises every small detail stands out. We tried to purchase tickets at the ticket desk and the first guy on Sunday was Rude and more worried about his phone. Then the guy on Tuesday was stuck on the phone with a customer for over 20 mins. I do believe that the only way to make the purchase would be in person but he was by himself and was stuck. Then finally on checking out you send a text for a gift and coffee. We waited for another 20 mins because someone who was checking in (check in time is 4pm not 10am) was there with the girl and she was trying to talk him into a talk this should not happen when people are checking out. When i said this to the girl she said well she’s all alone. Then when i told her about how unhappy we were with the issue with the water all she said was well we told you someone would reach out to you from management there’s nothing else to do. This is the only Timeshare hotel that I know that doesn’t have any management on property for 3 days! Since Marriott has a terrible reputation as not getting back in touch with its owners I am waiting to see if we get any response to this email. I will give Marriott 2 days to reach out before I post this to Social Media. Look forward to some response from Marriott! Just read your response. That’s funny i called Orlando Utilitites commission and they did not have a water main break. The break was in Vistana Villages in the new section of the resort. Why would you lie and say this was caused by a city main break? Chris Tandy Owner! Sent from my iPad

Avoid going to the Marriott Surf Club in Aruba. We are staying nine nights there, and the construction is incredibly loud. They will book rooms directly below the construction from the above floor, which is unbearable. Management's only response was to say we were informed in an email that construction would be done during that time. That same email was entitled Your inspired vacation awaits. STAY AWAY. Worst vacation ever.

We decided to deed back our timeshare at Vistana to Marriot. All maintenance fees were up to date but we were told to pay another year's fees before the deed back process could take place. We did this and the deed back was eventually completed. However, we had two weeks which we had paid Vistana for and asked that they be deposited with RCI. Marriott declined the request from RCI firstly, we think, -because maintenance fees were delinquent. This was inaccurate. Secondly they said that to deposit the two weeks with RCI we would have had to have requested the banking before the deed transfer was complete and that we appeared not to have done so, Also incorrect. When I pointed out these two corrections to Marriott, I had a reply which said that their "system" would not permit the two weeks to be deposited with RCI. Also, I was welcome to go to Vistana and use the two weeks due to me - but could only use them at Vistana. They were unable to process banking my weeks with RCI. Marriott have not been at all helpful and this is in total contrast to RCI who have been wonderful. Having been one of the very first Owners at Vistana, I feel totally let down by Marriott. My last communication from them said that they may not reply to further emails from me. This appears now to have been implemented since they appear to have ignored my last email

My husband James and I entered into a timeshare contract with Marriott Vacation Club during a trip we took to celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary. This trip held deep emotional significance, not only as a celebration of our marriage but also as a much-needed respite following an incredibly difficult and emotionally draining period in our lives. It was in this mentally and emotionally fragile state that we attended a sales presentation. We had accepted the invitation primarily to make the trip financially feasible and were led to believe the presentation would last only 90 minutes. What followed was an emotionally charged and high-pressure sales pitch that lasted four hours—not the promised 90 minutes. Before the presentation even started, they took our driver's licenses with no explanation and refused to return them right away, essentially holding them to prevent us from leaving and likely to run unauthorized credit checks. However, after hours of relentless pressure to accept an offer, we eventually caved and accepted their final offer. In our emotionally vulnerable state and desperate for something positive to look forward to, I agreed to buy the 1,000-point plan. My Husband, overwhelmed and struggling with what was clearly an anxiety attack, could barely endure the process and told me to "do whatever you want...let's just be done with this." Since signing up, we have not used a single benefit of this "club." I have spent $7,836 in monthly dues and $3,044 on annual maintenance fees—a total of $10,880 for absolutely nothing. We feel cheated and deeply regret this decision, especially now that we understand the long-term financial obligations, including the increasing maintenance fees and lifetime burden that this places on our son. We were not informed at the time of purchase that this contract could bind our son for life or that it would be nearly impossible to extract ourselves.

What began as a simple Vistana arrangement has slowly turned into a heavy financial burden filled with confusion. In July 2023, we went to what we thought was an "update meeting" but found out it was actually a sales presentation. The representatives told us about using extra points to cover maintenance fees, though we later learned we would need to handle the rental process ourselves. Their plan to combine our accounts never happened. The situation became more upsetting in May 2024 when, after telling them about our money problems, a manager suggested we "upgrade" and simply stop making payments on part of our ownership - advice that left us feeling confused and let down. The paperwork mess that followed has been very frustrating. We've received mixed-up letters - denial of use notices, lien warnings, congratulations on final payments, and new loan statements - all coming within weeks of each other. One document says we're getting a $3,241.37 refund while another says my husband suddenly owes $179,613 with heavy $2,421.01 monthly payments. This messy system seems to confuse owners without meaning to and pull them into more and more complex money problems. The lack of connection between departments, unclear sales talks, and mixed-up letters show a company that has trouble keeping things organized. After thirty years of being loyal customers, we now face unexpected stress, money worries

We have put up with this timeshare ownership for nearly a decade and no matter what “upgrades” we make, it never gets better. The fees just go up and up forever and there’s no limit to how much they will charge us for them. Last year we had to pay $5900.00 in maintenance fees that could have been used to actually travel. This timeshare doesn’t make vacationing easier or better, just more expensive. The only solutions they have are to sell you another upgrade package, which by the way, they never told us would come with more maintenance fees. This whole thing feels like one giant rip-off after another that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. And to make things worse, when we try to talk to them about shedding these worthless points, we cannot ever get a response from them. This is all just so terrible and we need to exit this awful program once and for all.