The RCI Blog

My husband and I purchased our timeshare while we were vacationing alone. The following year we took our 2 daughters and a friend on vacation with us to the Sheraton Vistana Resort in Orlando. Since our previous vacations had always taken place in hotel rooms we were anxious to see their reaction when we arrived. We gave them the key to our villa and told them to go open the door while we grabbed luggage. We waited outside. When they walked into the villa we heard screams. They came running out and the look on their faces were priceless. They were so excited about staying in a 2 bedroom villa at a luxury resort for a week instead of a cramped hotel room and so were we!

-Bonnie R. from Richmond, MN

Loved this resort! Participated in Zumba and water aerobics. Took the Verde Canyon Railroad trip and an extreme jeep tour! Drove to the Grand Canyon for a day, while staying at this resort. Loved Sedona so much that we purchased another timeshare at their sister resort.

- Nancy and Steve F.

I want to tell you about Cabo! I just loved it there! I was amazed by all the cactus and foothills surrounded by the gorgeous deep blue water. The rock formations and the Arch in the Sea of Cortez are spectacular! Locals said that it only rains approximately 11 days a year. Since I live in Florida, I noticed the lack of humidity and enjoyed it immediately. It was true desert conditions, in the 80's during the day and cooled nicely each evening. This was a timeshare trade for me, staying at the RCI Gold Crown, five-star resort Pueblo Bonito Resort at Sunset Beach. The resort is situated on the Western side of the tip of Baja, on a hillside overlooking the Pacific. This spectacular getaway provides incredible views from hacienda-style villas overlooking a magnificent expanse of private beach and sparkling deep blue sea. This has to be the most fantastic resort I have ever experienced. The luxurious all-suite accommodations along with five ocean-view pools was amazing. Even though the beach there is non-swimmable because of the strong currents, walks on the beach and listening to the pounding waves was breathtaking. There is magnificent dining on property but be certain to make reservations. All the restaurants are very popular, The Spa massages and facials were relaxing and delightful. The resort provides complimentary shuttle golf carts to escort guests around the property. They also offer a shuttle bus to adjacent Pueblo Bonito Pacifica, and nearby (10 minutes) to Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos as well as Pueblo Bonito Rose where you can enjoy full use of all amenities and restaurants. These properties are adjacent to each other and are located on one of the best swimmable beaches in Los Cabos, Medano Beach. This is also near downtown and within walking distance to many shops and restaurants. Be sure to try the tortilla soup at The Office. Best I have ever tasted! And you can dine with your feet in the sand! The marina is also located nearby providing boats for diving, whale watching, deep sea fishing and glassbottom boats with boat tours for spectacular views of Lover's Beach and the Arch.

The Los Cabos International airport is approximately 45 minutes from the resort and is near the quaint town of San Jose del Cabo. I recommend arranging transportation with the resort in advance of your arrival. If you rent a car be certain to drive approximately 30 minutes up the Pacific coast to Todos Santos to visit the famed Hotel California and many other interesting shops and sights in that area.

As you can tell I definitely enjoyed Cabo and certainly recommend that you experience this destination for your next vacation. The people are extremely friendly and accommodating and do everything possible to make your vacation a wonderful memory!

- Janelle A. from Clearwater, FL

My husband and I have been vacationing at the Pueblo Bonito Resort in Mazatlan for many years. We have made some very dear friends with several of our servers. The resort is very beautiful and the design is based on a Mexican Pueblo. It is always clean and there is everything you would need if you choose not to leave the resort. But if you do, the surrounding neighborhood is safe and has many shops and restaurants. If you prefer, you may cook in your room as all units are well equipped with a kitchen. There is a deli within the resort where you may purchase food items or there is a small grocery store across the street. There are 3 restaurants at the resort as well as day time cabanas with food and drink. The best thing about this resort is the friendly atmosphere and well trained servers and workers who will serve you with a smile. Although we own at several timeshare resorts, we still go back to this one which was our original purchase. SEE YOU THERE!!!

 

- Don and Patti from Smith River, CA

We have timeshare accommodations in Cozumel which we hadn't been to in several years. We wanted to get back to Mexico this year and thought we'd give Cancun a shot. We always thought Cancun would be too wild for our taste, but we were wrong and pleasantly surprised! We stayed at a beautiful all-inclusive resort on the ocean and it was fantastic. There were no bugs, the beach was perfect, the activities were lots of fun, and the people were terrific! It was safe and clean and friendly and we'd go back in a second! I can't speak for the rest of the country, but the Yucatan Peninsula area is fantastic.

 

- The Driscoll's from Bath, ME

We had additional points left at the end of the year 2 years ago. We've always heard that Aruba had great beaches and a friendly safe island. But the high season starts at the end of December. We traded our points for a vacation just before the Christmas rush to this Island and found the off season great. There were no great crowds, the restaurants really appreciated our business and so did our resort. The weather was slightly cooler than later but we don't want to burn anyway! We had a great trip and found other people who appreciate the off season travel times. What a wonderful trip, we were able to stay across from one of the best beaches, could walk to a lot of activities and enjoy the activities at our resort and the local area. I'm open to trying new vacation resorts in areas we haven't explored in the past! We can't say enough about the benefits we have with our timeshare.

 

- Anthony B. from Magnolia, DE

Even though we are residents of Southern California, we exchanged our timeshare to stay close to home. We stayed at the Grand Pacific Palisades Resort in Carlsbad, CA. This is a very nice resort for families. Everything you could possibly need is nearby. We went about 10 minutes down the road for a nice family day at the beach. LEGOLAND is about a hop, skip and a jump away. Couldn't ask for a better location!

 

- Lori W. from Sun City, CA

I had never been on a vacation before...ever. For our wedding gift, my in-laws gave my husband and me two weeks at any RCI affiliated resort. We chose to go to St. Maarten in the Caribbean and it was paradise! We went to two different resorts - equally wonderful - and when it came time to go back home, I cried and begged to live there forever. Three years later we were invited to hear about RCI at a local hotel. Of course we went and bought a timeshare right then and there. Our honeymoon experience was so amazing that we wanted to always have the option of great vacations! Thanks for starting us off right!

 

- Alexis P. from Maple Valley, WA

It was our son's 10th birthday and we promised him that we would go to Walt Disney World. We stayed at one of the wonderful affiliated resorts there in Kissimmee, Florida and ended up buying a timeshare. It was so great to be able to fix our own meals and the kids could go swimming everyday! We had so much fun and it was so relaxing. We were only 10 minutes away from the theme parks...some nights we could see the fireworks from our place too! It made our son's birthday even better when they gave him a button that said that it was his birthday and everyone at the theme parks all told him "Happy Birthday!" If I had my way we would always stay at a resort for vacation because we can cook our own food, relax, and do laundry so I don't have a whole bunch to do when we get home. It is just like being home, but near a fun place to play too!

 

- Valerie D. from Nampa, ID

As I write this, we are returning from our first, and hopefully, our annual family vacation with our daughter and her family and our son and his fiance. We stayed at the Powhatan Plantation in Williamsburg, Va. and had an absolutely amazing time. The resort was everything we hoped it would be. The staff was incredibly helpful and we were very pleased with our accommodations and the amenities. The location was convenient for Busch Gardens, Colonial Williamsburg, and the outlets. The kids had as much fun as the adults and everyone had their own unit which made vacationing together so easy. I only wished we had bought our timeshare sooner so we could have been doing this for years. Hopefully, we will have many family vacations together in the future.

We became RCI subscribing members over 30 years ago when a very young family struggling to make a living after moving to Queensland for a life-change. Our daughters and then grandsons grew up loving the annual week at Don Pancho Resort at Bargara where we watched turtles laying eggs and hatchlings emerging. Over the years we have travelled the world with RCI. Now retirees, we spend much of our time planning "Where to next?" As we tell everyone - we are definitely Timeshare Junkies!

- Eileen W. from Queensland, Australia

I have been an RCI subscribing member for over twenty years. I have used my week to exchange and to stay at my home resort. I love my RCI membership. I have used my exchanges to travel all over the world plus many fine resorts in the U.S. I have so many wonderful memories of the places I have been with my husband, my family and my friends I could not possibly pick one. If there is ever anyone at the pool talking timeshare and RCI I am the one promoting the virtues. I would never have been able to stay at these fine resorts if I had not been an RCI member.

For Joan K. from Northamptonshire, England, an RCI subscribing membership unleashed her inner adventurer and she has enjoyed two decades of travelling the world with RCI. Joan has always been passionate about travel and this independent divorcee made sure her son, Mark, grew up with the same appreciation for the wonders the world holds for the curious mind. For Joan, a week’s timeshare in Antigua was the perfect gift for Mark. “I wanted to enable him to see the world and to share the experience with friends,” she explained. “Through travel I’ve discovered that I have a real sense of adventure – not for me lying around on a beach all day! I want to get out into the local communities to experience different cultures and the different ways of life the world over.”

After joining RCI in 1991 when she bought a week at Club Tarahal in Tenerife on the Canary Islands, Joan immediately exchanged for a week in Acapulco in Mexico and loved it so much she bought a second week of timeshare, there and then at the resort. Joan shared some of the most exciting and memorable moments of two of her RCI exchange holidays in the European edition of Holiday, The RCI Magazine. Her story (read it here!) sees her on safari in South Africa where she witnessed a ‘kill’ first-hand, and sharing a quiet bathing spot in a hilltop lagoon with monkeys in India. Of course, she got some much needed R&R in fabulous RCI affiliated resorts along the way to recharge her batteries!

This week on the RCI blog, we’ll be sharing stories and photos from those of you who have been RCI subscribing members for 20 years or more. Be sure to check back to hear about all the great places our members have traveled over the years.

Our family usually vacations with our good friends. Our first trip to Mexico, was at a spot of their choice. We decided to go back in 2007, using our RCI deposited time. The wife was very hesitant about staying at a "timeshare resort" as her past experience was poor. However, we stayed at the Mayan Palace on the Riviera Maya. Well, safe to say, she was very impressed and no longer worried about the timeshare horror stories. Our friends were also on hand for our 2009 Cancun visit to the Moon Palace Golf and Spa, which was also an exchange through RCI. I do not think we will be able to go anywhere now without them. Thanks RCI, and our friends thank you too.

In May 2008, my husband, daughter and son went to the Grand Mayan at Riviera Maya. We had coordinated our trip with my brother-in-law and his wife and daughter who also exchanged a room for their timeshare week. The Grand Mayan had large rooms for ourselves and our adult children to share. There was plenty to do at the resort. We explored the Riviera Maya activities, and even enjoyed some spa treatments. The highlight was celebrating our son's 21st birthday...The most difficult part of the trip was navigating the Mexican highways. I'm just glad that my brother-in-law did all the driving instead of my husband. I also came to understand what a terrible backseat driver I am. Both couples came away from that trip appreciating our own spouses. We had a great time and enjoyed the pampering of a luxury resort. Now to plan another trip...

During October 2008, we went on an RCI exchange vacation to the Grand Mayan in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. It turned out to be the best vacation exchange we ever took. It was the most beautiful timeshare resort we had ever seen and their lazy river around the resort was the longest we ever had been on. We did end up buying a timeshare at the Grand Mayan.

We celebrated Canada Day at a wonderful timeshare outside of Ottawa, Canada. We were able to drive into Ottawa to enjoy all of the sights and festivities. A great experience!

- Allan R. from London, ON

What an amazing week we had in Seapoint! The resort was fantastic, could not do more to be helpful. One evening we sent my daughter down to ask if someone could open a bottle of wine for us as we had no corkscrew - she returned with the bottle opened and in a silver bucket of ice!
We did not need a car - the resort shuttle service was better than any we have ever experienced before in our 21 years of timeshare ownership!
The highlight of our week was Table mountain, I did the trip up in less than 10 minutes by cable car, my husband and daughter age 11, did the 3 hour climb to the top. The views were amazing.

- S. Gilfrin from Ruislip, Middlesex, UK

This was our first real trip using our timeshare. We were told by everyone that you have to trade Gold for Gold, Silver for Silver, and so on, that is so not true. With RCI on your side the world is open...We traded for Cabana Beach just outside of Durban, South Africa, the top RCI affiliated resort in the country. WE GOT IT! What an adventure we had. The resort was wonderful, right on the water with spectacular sunrises over the Indian Ocean. Cabana was home base to a week of once-in-a-lifetime day trips. We went diving with sharks, saw a recreated Zulu Village in the day of King Shaka and went on a game drive. Sharks withstanding the game drive ended up giving us the biggest threat of all. Halfway up the mountain we were met head on by a young bull elephant. Nowhere to turn around and he started walking right towards us! We had to back up down the road all the way, with the elephant flapping his ears and swinging his trunk. We later learned from the rangers that there was a new born calf and he was being big brother. Loved it!

San Juan turned out to be a great town. My plans were to cruise for a week then stay in Puerto Rico for 6 more days. The Sol Melia Resort turned out to be the most beautiful place we could have chosen. It was a very modernly designed facility from the check-in areas to the rooms themselves. The pools were magnificent, huge, clear, blue, and the perfect temperature. The most special part of staying in this timeshare was that we were in such close proximity to the only rainforest in the U.S. National Park Service. It is worth a million dollars to see and experience this magnificent treasure only in Puerto Rico. We had such a fun and adventurous time. I recommend it to everyone. It's only about one hour from San Juan and the airport.