sherilah

Hello,

We are thinking of joining either HCC or UE. Just wanted to see what other members feel about each of the clubs. We are a family of 3, and like to go on many small vacations a year, not usually longer than 5 days in a row. We live in Los Angles, CA.

We like the lower fees of HCC, but are concerned that the properties are going to be more "condo"-ish. We like resort ammenities, such as food and drink service while you are laying by the pool. We also do not book our trips more than 3 or 4 months out.

Do you think the fees of UE are worth it? I know they are considerably lower than ER, but it's still a lot of $$ to put down vs keeping it in the bank.

Any thoughts would be greatfully appreciated!

Kagehitokiri

welcome to the forum sherilah.

DCTraveler

Read the entire thread:

Which is the Better Travel Fix? High Country Club or Private Escapes?

It will give you tons of information. The Travel Guy's comparisons are about 95% in unison with mine. Overall, I think that HCC has a decent advantage on most properties I have compared 1:1 and I understand quite a lot better for ski in-ski out. Pricing is also better for HCC, but what you lose is: (1) flexibility -- any reservation verrsus set 7 day or 4 day intervals, (2) ability to book out more than 1 year, and (3) reciprocity at higher level clubs.

Kagehitokiri

good point. that thread and another >

Which is the Better Travel Fix? High Country Club or Private Escapes?
Fair & Balanced Comparison Of HCC And Ultimate Escapes

i believe there were others as well, but not as long.

smtravelor

We belong to UE, originally PE, and started in the Premier level and then moved up to the Signature level in advance of the PE/UR merger. We usually travel with 3 or 4 people also.

You will find a lot of debate on these forums about the merits or UE vs. HCC and it is hard to find objective information since posters tend to be biased in favor of the club they belong to.

I will try to be objective and point out that UE provides a local host in all locations. IMO, this is a signficant benefit and ensures that the condition of the property when you arrive is in top shape. The local host provides security that you will not run into the types of problems that a few of people have posted about HCC properties. We have also found the local host to be extremely helpful in assisting with anthing we need during the vacation.

I have not visited any HCC properties, but I expect that there is not that much difference between the HCC properties and the UE Premiere level properties. And some of the HCC properties may be comparable to UE higher levels. However, with UE, you also have the opportunity to use the properties in the higher level clubs on a reciprocity basis, which we have enjoyed doing.

You have to make a decision whether the cost difference between HCC and PE is justified by having the local hosts on site, which IMO it is, and the other differences, including a larger number of properties.

DC membership has been a great experience for my family and we have been very pleased with PE/UE so I think you won't go wrong whichever one you choose.

sherilah

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the postings so far. It's such a tough decision! We were originally looking at timeshares, but the places that you stay seem so ordinary, which is why we are now thinking about DC.

Sheri

DC4MS

You will find many former (and current) timeshare owners that have upgraded to HCC and UE Premiere clubs and you are in the right place for information. Both clubs are very strong as entry level destination clubs. Of course, Destination Clubs do not offer deeded real estate like timeshares, but there are many advantages over timeshares that DCs offer.

HCC offers a very attractive entry price and even has a few tremendous trophy homes.

UR Premiere has an attractive upgrade policy in case you decide to upgrade to a more expensive club and they offer a 80% membership fee based upon current rates.

I don't think you will go wrong with either choice, but I recommend studying the locations of the homes to see what clubs offer the locations you desire most.

Some people here could not decide, so they joined both clubs.

Bourne

Welcome to the forum...

HCC vs UE Premiere is a tough decision. In additions to the links above, you may want to read opinions/reasons of members that were in the same boat a few weeks/months back.

It's not too much but this may also be a factor.

__________________
The Nile is a river in Egypt......

kddpac

Welcome Sherilah-
We considered UE premiere and HCC also. We also live in the LA area and take mostly 3-5 night trips. We recently made our final decision and decided on HCC after 6 months on intense research. I will try to summarize why we chose HCC:

1. The obvious price benefit of HCC over UE.
2. We felt that we could not be certain about terms/rules of UE in the future due to the recent merger of 2 large clubs
3. We visited the Tahoe HCC property and PE Tahoe property and in our opinion, HCC quality and location FAR exceeded the PE property (now UE has a couple others to choose from that were inherited from UR).
4. HCC has many locations on the west coast for easy travel for us.
5. HCC has variety of homes that range in price/size; UE premiere has only one level of homes and VERY LIMITED use of reciprical properties.

We do appreciate the value of the on site host, however we found that the local concierge desk (at least at the Tahoe property) was very helpful with local area activities and anything that we may need. Many of the HCC properties are situated where there is access to a "front desk" staff/concierge and we felt that was all we need as a young couple without kids. HCC assigns everyone a member representative that can arrange for various activities, restaurant reservations, grocery shopping, baby sitting etc which is similar to all the other clubs.

We are not impressed with time share travel as the quality of accomidations seems unpredictable and the travel is generally limited to full one week intervals. We needed more flexibility with long weekends etc.

Although the HCC calender seems more crowded than UE, if you can plan ahead a little, it seems you can get what you want. I have studied the calender since early March so that I would have a feel and although the summer seems busy, the spring had plenty of availablilty.

We only made our decision 2 weeks ago to join HCC and it was a tough one to make but we feel that it was the best choice for us. If you are considering the signature level of UE, I might have another opinion. We are going to watch UE and how things progress post merger and who knows, we could end up having 2 memberships down the road!!

Feel Free to PM me if you want to discuss anything in further detail!

Welcome again!

Kasey

sherilah

Thanks again, everyone. Now I have to convince my husband and we will be set! Has anyone traveled to any of the destinations with kids? We have a 3 year old...

Thanks!

Sheri

willmyclubmakeit

The homes are great for traveling with kids as they have their own rooms, you can get their favorite food, and there is space, but of course you need to pick locations that have the right options for entertainment/activities for them. There are also less other kids around as you are not at a hotel.

DCTraveler

Many time with kids starting with kids 2 and 4. This is what really makes the DCs really awesome for families.

Bourne

3 and 0.1 here...

If you are born in the "Bourne clan", you better learn how to travel at an early age. The AAdvantage card for the kids showed up at home before the Social Security card did.

__________________
The Nile is a river in Egypt......

governor

DC's great for traveling with little kids. Room for them to run around. Washing machine so not packing tons of clothes. Kids can take naps and you don't have to sit quietly in the same hotel room. And frankly, you relax much more. I do think DC's are perfect for kids when it's a property embedded in a resort or condo hotel. Versus homes that are beautiful, huge, but totally secluded. Pick a DC more integrated and amenitized to a resort.

sherilah

It seems like the HCC and UE properties aren't that integrated & amenitized to a resort. We actually LIKE staying at big resorts that have pools w/waterslides, cocktail service, restaurants. To me, it's part of the vacation. I don't really want to have to do laundry when I'm on vacation...would rather pay more and not have to deal!

Are there any other DC's that are on the reasonable-ish end that have more hotel-ish? I looked at ER, which seems totally amazing, but their annual dues is I think $14,000. That's tough to justify for a family of 3!

Sheri

Desties

Both clubs have properties in resorts. Both have places in La Costa (in Carlsbad, California) which has a major pool complex with several waterslides. One of my favorite UE homes -- in fact, my favorite -- is the Somerset property in Turks & Caicos. It is on the beach, with all of the resort amenities (a few swimming pools, a croquet field, etc.). If you saw Ben Stiller's The Heartbreak Kid, UE has a few units in the Mexican resort where the film takes place.

As for amenities, UE provides daily maid service at most of its properties (yes, the homes too).

However, if you truly prefer the resort feel over having standalone homes, your best bet may be a timeshare, a fractional, or just booking some of the finer suites within many of the resorts that appeal to you. It will be less money upfront and more flexible (at least in terms of booking resorts).