So last year, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hotpantsgalore & I signed up for a time-share sales pitch. We were given two nights in a hotel near Breckenridge ski resort in return for listening to a two-hour sales pitch for a timeshare condo on the slopes of the resort. We were both extreeeeemely tempted (because the Grand Lodge on Peak 7 is freakin' awesome) but in the end we said no. However, they did talk us into buying a different package: for $1,000, we got 1) two certificates, each good for one week at any Interval International timeshare property worldwide (subject to some restrictions, & more on that in a moment); & 2) a two-night stay at a nearby sister property (Grand Timber Lodge).
Well, last year was not a great year for us to buy something like that package, because we spent the whole damn year hoarding our pennies for a down payment & shopping for houses all the time. So here it is, December 2015, & we hadn't used any of the package. So we booked the resort stay for this weekend, to celebrate HPG's birthday. We spent Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday at the Grand Timber Lodge. The suite was amazing - giant master bedroom, two-head shower, whirlpool tub for two, small but complete kitchen, en suite laundry facilities, & a cute living room with a fireplace. The only problem: it reeked of cigarette smoke. To an almost indescribable degree. We got home last night & I am in the process of washing every piece of clothing that was in the suitcase that we carried into that room, because just being in the suite for a few hours tainted everything. We called the front desk when we arrived, & they sent over housekeeping with.... carpet freshener, I guess? Because we got back to the room on Sunday, it stunk of cigarette smoke AND carpet freshener. We didn't sleep very well with all the odor (& the bedding smelled worse than anything else).
I didn't ski the next day, so I went back to the front desk. They apologized, gave me a credit on my room account, & set up an ionizer in the room for a few hours. I went back in after that - it smelled WORSE. Back the the front desk - & they moved us, not to an equivalent room, but to an employee's suite. Sadface. Finally, they gave us a certificate for another complete two-night stay at the resort, to be used any time in 2016. And a bottle of wine. And a box of snacks. And a $200 credit on our room account. Happyface!
Now, about those two certificates for a week at an Interval International property. They SUCK. They have huge blackout windows - more blackout than window for many locations. They are not, in fact, "certificates for a week at our resorts" - or rather, they ARE but many resorts require you to buy their all-inclusive meals/booze packages, which are extra. A lot extra. Like, $2,000 extra for a week for two adults.
We have booked one trip for next month - a ski trip to Lake Tahoe. We will be staying at the Eagles Nest resort in Tahoe Village. It should be convenient to the Heavenly resort for skiing, but it doesn't have great reviews so we are trying to manage our expectations. Then we will have one more week certicate that we must use by April 9, 2016. We wanted to go somewhere tropical, like Mexico or the Caribbean. But many, many locations are blacked out &/or sold out. Or, they are the resorts that require the all-inclusive packages. I'm still not sure what we are going to do with that last certificate.
This is practically THE definition of a First World Problem but I'm really vexed about what to do.
hotpantsgalore & I signed up for a time-share sales pitch. We were given two nights in a hotel near Breckenridge ski resort in return for listening to a two-hour sales pitch for a timeshare condo on the slopes of the resort. We were both extreeeeemely tempted (because the Grand Lodge on Peak 7 is freakin' awesome) but in the end we said no. However, they did talk us into buying a different package: for $1,000, we got 1) two certificates, each good for one week at any Interval International timeshare property worldwide (subject to some restrictions, & more on that in a moment); & 2) a two-night stay at a nearby sister property (Grand Timber Lodge).Well, last year was not a great year for us to buy something like that package, because we spent the whole damn year hoarding our pennies for a down payment & shopping for houses all the time. So here it is, December 2015, & we hadn't used any of the package. So we booked the resort stay for this weekend, to celebrate HPG's birthday. We spent Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday at the Grand Timber Lodge. The suite was amazing - giant master bedroom, two-head shower, whirlpool tub for two, small but complete kitchen, en suite laundry facilities, & a cute living room with a fireplace. The only problem: it reeked of cigarette smoke. To an almost indescribable degree. We got home last night & I am in the process of washing every piece of clothing that was in the suitcase that we carried into that room, because just being in the suite for a few hours tainted everything. We called the front desk when we arrived, & they sent over housekeeping with.... carpet freshener, I guess? Because we got back to the room on Sunday, it stunk of cigarette smoke AND carpet freshener. We didn't sleep very well with all the odor (& the bedding smelled worse than anything else).
I didn't ski the next day, so I went back to the front desk. They apologized, gave me a credit on my room account, & set up an ionizer in the room for a few hours. I went back in after that - it smelled WORSE. Back the the front desk - & they moved us, not to an equivalent room, but to an employee's suite. Sadface. Finally, they gave us a certificate for another complete two-night stay at the resort, to be used any time in 2016. And a bottle of wine. And a box of snacks. And a $200 credit on our room account. Happyface!
Now, about those two certificates for a week at an Interval International property. They SUCK. They have huge blackout windows - more blackout than window for many locations. They are not, in fact, "certificates for a week at our resorts" - or rather, they ARE but many resorts require you to buy their all-inclusive meals/booze packages, which are extra. A lot extra. Like, $2,000 extra for a week for two adults.
We have booked one trip for next month - a ski trip to Lake Tahoe. We will be staying at the Eagles Nest resort in Tahoe Village. It should be convenient to the Heavenly resort for skiing, but it doesn't have great reviews so we are trying to manage our expectations. Then we will have one more week certicate that we must use by April 9, 2016. We wanted to go somewhere tropical, like Mexico or the Caribbean. But many, many locations are blacked out &/or sold out. Or, they are the resorts that require the all-inclusive packages. I'm still not sure what we are going to do with that last certificate.
This is practically THE definition of a First World Problem but I'm really vexed about what to do.
