Marriott Vacation Club Reviews 

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.

I have a lot of points but I can't get a reservation anywhere I want to go. I've been trying weekly for over a year.
There properties are great, their service is wonderful, but they don't care about owners actually being able to get a reservation.
There are vacancies in Orlando and Hawaii, but nowhere anyplace else.
They have been so focused on selling points that it seems like they have oversold their capacity in desirable locations.
Their sales person even told us: "Get a reservation in Aruba or someplace highly desirable and then put it on Vrbo and us the profit to pay your annual fees).
That's what everyone has done, plenty of availability on Vrbo but none on the Marriott site.

I acquired the Marriott Vacation Club the end of November 2024, the actual mortgage was signed December 1st. I have never utilized the services because there was an issue with booking or no availability. I tried to book the Marriott Vacation Club in Manhattan for my husband's 70th birthday, but was told that there was an issue with the system and I had to book a hotel somewhere else for $500. The problem really starts when I receive two bills 1 for 746.90 for Maintenace fees (prorated for the year) and the 2 for 229.17 for club fees. I am currently paying a monthly mortgage for property that I am unable to utilize. I called Marriott Vacation Club sales office and customer service and expressed that I would never agree to a prorated anything and I refuse to pay for fees for something I can't utilize. They went ahead and froze my Marriott Bonvoy account and have people calling constantly to upgrade so I can utilize the properties. This is predatory at it's best. I was told everything will be frozen until I pay $976.07 for services that I never utilized.

A big lie and scam. I'm trying to get out for zero dollars now. DON'T BUY!!!

appointed with my experience with Marriott Vacation Club. I was misled during the sales presentation, where promises were made that turned out to be completely false. I was told I could easily cancel or resell the timeshare if it didn’t work out, but when I tried to return it, I was met with resistance and complete refusal.
The representatives were friendly during the sales process but became unresponsive and dismissive once I expressed dissatisfaction. I feel trapped in a contract I no longer want, and Marriott Vacation Club has shown no willingness to work with me or offer a resolution.
This experience has been emotionally and financially draining. I trusted the Marriott brand, but this feels like a scam. I urge others to be extremely cautious before signing anything. Do your research and don’t fall for the high-pressure tactics.

Not Only was I booked up for a vacation for a year and when I went to make my dates I was told I wasn't eligible! I was penalized because of their error as well as they made me wait the full 10 days to get my money back it's 7 to 10 days to get your refund and I waited the full 10 days today is the 9th day I still haven't received my money tomorrow the 10th this is ridiculous unprofessional as well as it's so many hidden fees I lost $200 a year ago with this vacation club and I took it as a loss and still booked with them and here I am again going through more I guess it's my own fault. I would not recommend this company for anybody their thieves

Steal your money and do not receive anything. If you are speaking to a rep, DO NOT BUY. No matter what they are saying it is all lies. Save your money do not do it!

WARNING: Think twice before signing with Marriott Vacations.

My wife Val and I fell into their trap on 2/11/24 at the Orlando office after meeting with sales rep Mike Perez. What started as a referral from family turned into our worst financial nightmare.

THE LIES THAT HOOKED US: Promised 2,500 annual points + 5,000 bonus points - Access to "hundreds of resorts" through Interval International - Told we could book Disney World resorts starting January 2025 - They compared it to "real estate" we could pass
to our children or sell back - Failed to mention the $400+ annual service fees or that our package would become "obsolete"

We put down $3,505 and opened an AmEx card for bonus points, with strict instructions not to pay extra on the mortgage or lose everything.

THE REALITY: Complete radio silence from our sales rep despite repeated calls. Then came the ambush - what was supposed to be a 90-minute "owner Q&A" on 11/26/24 turned into a 3-hour high-pressure sales call with Beth Rieber demanding we upgrade to Platinum.
She revealed our 2,500 points were worthless and that we'd been intentionally undersold from day one.

By 2/14/25, they flat-out told us our package was obsolete, and 4,000 points were now the minimum for decent bookings. When we asked to cancel, they said we had to pay off the entire mortgage first. Then they literally ushered us out.

ZERO customer service. ZERO transparency. 100% predatory tactics.

We've never used a single point or service, yet they continue harassing us to upgrade before we've even experienced what we bought. This isn't timeshare ownership - it's financial entrapment designed to bleed you dry through endless upsells.

Save your money and your sanity. Go anywhere else.