Just got a phenomenal trade!

[classiclincoln]

The other day I traded our 1 BR week 49 Renaissance Aruba for a 1 BR week 52 Royal Palm Club at the RIU in Aruba. I couldn't believe it!!

So, we'll be at the RIU from 12/28 to 1/4 and then shoot over to the condo until the end of March.

What a great use of our Ren week!!

[classiclincoln]

So we checked in yesterday at the RIU and it IS very obvious that the resort treats the timeshare owners like the red headed step child. The 35 or so timeshares are all ocean front, which is super. We got a first floor unit (170) which was super; you walk out the door (no slider), down three steps onto a fenced in astroturf lawn, out the gate right onto the beach. That's nice!

We walked into the lobby which was very fancy; high ceilings with a stained glass area. Nice furniture, large, kinda opulent. Went to the front desk to check in and were told to go to the desk all the way on the other side of the lobby, tucked away in the corner next to the activity and car rental company desks. Don't get me wrong; they were all friendly, but the time share check in desk was kinda out of sight. We were offered the AI plan and didn't even ask how much since we had reservations for the entire week. We did see that we could buy "tickets" for breakfast ($25), lunch ($35), dinner ($55) or for all day ($95) but again, had no interest. We inquired about drinks at the beach & lobby bar, and were told that we could pre pay $50 and each time we ordered a drink, that would be deducted from the pre payment. We did that, just in case we wanted drinks while here. Any unused prepayment money would be credited back to our card. Actually, the $95 daily meal plan wasn't horrible, but not for us.

To get to the unit, we had to go out of the main building, into one building, out that one, along the pool, then into a second building. On the way, I noticed many of the room number signs were broken and the hall was scraped up from luggage or luggage carts hitting the walls. Obviously, minimal maintenance was done. When we got in the room, we immediately noticed is old, outdated, very dark and stuffy. Old furniture, and the pull out sofa was worse than anything we have ever seen in all our travels.

Overall, not bad; the proximity to the beach and first floor location makes up for the rest, especially since we don't spend all that much time in the room. Still a great trade, considering what we gave up. Next week we head over to the condo until the end of March. That's when we'll really feel at home!

[qlaval]

Nice trade, but the condition of the RIU explains why those dates were available...
Good thing you didn't trade a prime Renaissance week for it.

[classiclincoln]

Still would have been worth it; got to spend New Year's Eve in Aruba and see all the fireworks.

Also, since there are only 34 units and they offer an in house rental program for the owners, not much is ever available. Each time I've put in a request with II, I listed the RIU as one of my options and never got one.