As I have been trying to decide whether to buy Marriott or DVC on Hilton Head, I did a price comparison to see if one strongly favored the other. It was amazing how close they came. I compared prices for each of 3 seasons at Barony Beach (using a Garden Villa) with the cost of points it would take to stay a full week in a 2BR at DVC during the applicable season (using $65 a point). Here's how it came out:
Platinum BB ($20,500) = 315 points ($20,475) $25 diff
Gold BB ($18,500) = 285 points ($18,525) $25 diff
Silver BB ($14,100) = 215 points ($13,975) $125 diff
The killer was the maintenance fees/dues. While they stay at around $500 for each season at BB, they go from $745 to $950 to $1040 at DVC. Despite this, I've decided to go with DVC because I can get 5 nights (S-TH) during the summer for about half the cost of a summer week at BB. Also, as a Marriott owner in Orlando, I get a discount at the Hilton Head Marriotts and can always trade the Orlando week. I'm not trying to start a major discussion about Marriott and DVC (been there, done that.) I just thought the closeness of the prices was interesting. My suspicion is that the competition from Marriott (which unquestionably dominates the HH market) is why DVC offers the $10 buy back at HH (of course, you still get first year's use at Marriott which would need to be considered plus the Marriott Reward points for buying.)
Platinum BB ($20,500) = 315 points ($20,475) $25 diff
Gold BB ($18,500) = 285 points ($18,525) $25 diff
Silver BB ($14,100) = 215 points ($13,975) $125 diff
The killer was the maintenance fees/dues. While they stay at around $500 for each season at BB, they go from $745 to $950 to $1040 at DVC. Despite this, I've decided to go with DVC because I can get 5 nights (S-TH) during the summer for about half the cost of a summer week at BB. Also, as a Marriott owner in Orlando, I get a discount at the Hilton Head Marriotts and can always trade the Orlando week. I'm not trying to start a major discussion about Marriott and DVC (been there, done that.) I just thought the closeness of the prices was interesting. My suspicion is that the competition from Marriott (which unquestionably dominates the HH market) is why DVC offers the $10 buy back at HH (of course, you still get first year's use at Marriott which would need to be considered plus the Marriott Reward points for buying.)