I am being offered a timeshare in San Francisco at The Donatello as a gift. I'm not sure if this is a good thing. What should I be asking about or checking on? What kind of financial obligation could I find myself with? Is there trade value? I know San Francisco is an eternally cool place to visit.

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Camama

Be sure to do a title search / estoppel letter to ensure the timeshare deeded is clear, etc.
Expect annual maintenance fees & taxes.
No so sure about this one, but I have better success with the smaller timeshare exchange companies than I have with RCI and/or II. This resort affiliates itself with Shell Vacations Club(a multi destination timeshare vacation club) and sells direct as Club Donatello and there are distinct differences, so be sure about what you are getting and which exchange companies you would be able to use.

Yes, there is one timeshare company in this area that is with the Donatello(Shell) timeshare there. It's called SFX(San Francisco Exchange Company. Here is the link to them SFX Preferred Resorts the San Francisco exchange company

Okay, bear with me here. With this timeshare at the Donatello, you get 1,750 points per year. These would be usable world wide at Shell Vacation Clubs. Now, does RCI handle the exchange for Shell? Would the local San Francisco Exchange company work better? Where do I go to find out what 1,750 points can get me on an exchange? I appreciate any clarification on these questions.

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Camama

I think both RCI & II work with Shell timeshares and vice versa. As for SFX, they too exchange Shell Vacations Club timeshare and works well for a great many folks.

There are SVC timeshare points charts out there on the web that will show what 1750 points get you at the many Shell resorts, in various unit sizes, for different times of the season, for different lengths of vacation.

Thanks. I will proceed to find the SVC timeshare points charts and see what the possibilities are. I guess I wasn't understanding that the exchange companies are separate from Shell Vacation Club.

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Camama

So, I go to Shell Vacation Club website. I couldn't find anything referring to a points chart. Then, via google, I found myself at the TUG website's forum. There is an excellent thread titled, "Shell Vacation Club (SVC) Points Knowledge". Mindboggling details about how to use these points. I think they covered everything and I found a lot of useful info for myself. In particularly a copy of that Points Chart, along with the fact that non-owners are not privy to seeing it. At first glance, I'd say the 1750 points on The Donatello might be worth a couple of nights at a few places within the SVC. Now, I guess I need to find out how far those points would go within the RCI SVC offerings.

Here is the link to that SVC points chart:

http://tug2.net/advice/Shell_Vacatio...ints_Chart.pdf

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Camama