How To Select Your Hilton Grand Vacations Home Resort

Optimizing Annual ClubPoints & Maintenance Costs

One of the most popular approaches for selecting a home resort when buying a Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare on the resale market, is to simply buy as many ClubPoints as possible, while keeping your annual maintenance costs as low as possible.

A ClubPoint Is A ClubPoint During Club Season

At the end of the day, a ClubPoint is a ClubPoint, regardless of your home resort, once you begin booking within the 9 month or less booking window known as Club Season. Once you’re booking a reservation that is 276 days (9 Months) out, the only difference between HGV owners will be how much in annual maintenance costs they paid to receive each ClubPoint.

HGV Booking Windows

Booking windows for HGV resorts vary from resort to resort, but below you will find the most common booking windows for many popular HGV resorts:

If you’d like to learn everything there is to know about booking windows, and see what each resort’s booking window is you can read our article here: Hilton Grand Vacations Booking Windows: How Far In Advance Can I Book?

Low Maintenance Cost Home Resorts

If you’re looking to optimize the amount of maintenance per annual ClubPoint you receive, selecting a resort with historically low maintenance fees would be an advantageous option.

Some examples of home resorts that fit this description would be resorts in Las Vegas, Nevada such as Hilton Elara, Hilton Flamingo, or Hilton Las Vegas on Paradise.

Also, another great option would be any of the Hilton properties in Orlando, Florida such as Hilton SeaWorld, Hilton Tuscany Village (International Drive), Hilton Parc Soleil, Hilton Las Palmeras.

These home resorts are in low-tax states, and have historically had some of the lowest annual maintenance costs per annual ClubPoint.

Subject To Availability

All reservations for points-based timeshares are subject to availability. So trying to book certain Hawaiian resorts during peak times 9-months out during the Club Season booking window can be challenging. If you’re flexible in the times of the year you’ll travel and resorts you wish to travel to, you’ll be able to get the best value with selecting a low maintenance fee home resort, and booking during the Club Season booking window.

Optimizing Your Home Resort Priority Booking Window

Another approach to selecting the perfect home resort for your situation would be to target the home resort that you would like to vacation to most. If you have a particular destination or resort that you would like to travel to for the majority of the years you will own your Hilton timeshare, it may be of value to simply own at that resort.

Home Resort Booking Priority

The simple benefit that you receive with this method is a 3-month period where you can book your home resort before owners at other resorts are allowed to book at your home resort. If you’re booking anywhere between 12 to 9 months and 1 day prior to your check-in date, you will have priority booking at your home resort.

This can mean having consistent year-to-year access to one of the most desirable locations within the HGV resort portfolio. This scenario works best if you’re the type to plan your vacations 1 full year in advance, have your heart set on traveling to a popular resort year after year, will consistently want to book the same unit size, and are okay with a possibly higher initial and annual costs.

Generally Higher Initial Purchase Price & Maintenance Costs

If your preferred home resort happens to be in New York City, or Hawaii, for example, you can generally count on a higher initial purchase price, as well as higher annual maintenance fees. For some travelers, they are more than happy to pay slight to moderate higher costs to be able to travel to the place they want to visit year after year, and not contend with competing for availability.

Home Week Priority Booking Window Requirements

In order to book during the Home Week Priority booking window, which is 12 to 9 months prior to check-in, you’ll have to satisfy the following items:

How Far In Advance Will I Plan My Vacations?

Understanding the timeline of when you will be planning your vacations can illuminate which approach to go with. If you’re the planning type, and like to have plans for trips 9 months or more in advance, buying at the home resort you want to travel to each year could be a great option.

If you like to plan trips 9 months or less in advance, it would be wise to look into optimizing your annual maintenance costs, as you will be booking during the Club Season booking window in most travel years.

Will I Be Traveling For A Full Week Each Year, Or Planning Shorter Trips?

If you like to take smaller, but more frequent trips each year, this will mean you will not be able to take advantage of the Home Week Priority booking window. In this case, you will want to pay as little as possible initially as well as annually for each ClubPoint you receive.

Will I Be Traveling During The Same Season Every Year?

To take advantage of the Home Week Priority booking window, you will need to book your deeded season. If you feel you will be traveling during different seasons from year to year, even to the same resort each year, consider that you will need to book reservations outside of your deeded season during the Club Season booking window.

Will I Need To Change Unit Sizes From Year To Year?

If you will be changing the unit size from year to year, you will need to book during the Club Season booking window, and may want to simply optimize for the lowest costs.

Do I Want To Travel To Popular Resorts During Peak Season Each Year?

If you have your heart set on a specific resort, during a peak time of the year for that location, and don’t want to contend with availability, purchasing your home resort at that location can be a great option. This can help guarantee you will be able to book at the resort you love, during the time of the year you are able to travel.