As identified earlier, Vidanta is a private members vacation club and thus access to these resorts is restricted. The following will identify the different methods that you may use access to a Vidanta resort if you have not purchased a contract directly with Vidanta. It will also discuss at a high level and what Perks and Benefits may be available to you thru each of the different methods. This is VERY important when considering the different options and the amount that you may want to pay for each option. Even though the different methods may provide you with the similar access to the different accommodation levels, what is different are the Perks and Benefits that are in Member Contracts that may be transferrable to guests staying in their contracted weeks. Some of these include things like Golf Rates, Spa and Fitness Center Rates, Gondola access and Theme Park tickets.
Below is a brief overview of some of the pros/cons of each method which depending on what types of amenities are most important to you will likely determine which is the best route for you to pursue. We can personally help you with any of these methods so if you have any questions, please send us a note and we can get in contact with you to discuss in more detail.
There will be a separate post that will discuss in more details some of the other perks and benefits that you may be eligible for that you will want to confirm with the member or with Vidanta Customer Service when deciding which method is best for you. These details will be based on OUR current contracts and knowledge of other contract benefits so there may be other members with completely different perks/benefits. This is meant to provide you with some knowledge to be able to ask questions when looking at the different options.
Purchasing Contracted Weeks from an Existing Member
To purchase a contracted week from an Existing Member, you must go directly through that member to purchase that week. Since each member’s contract may be different from other members as to which level(s) of resorts they have access to and the perks/benefits that are included in their particular contracts, this can be a bit confusing when looking at the different offerings you may find on different 3rd Party Travel booking platforms such as such as Airbnb, VRBO, Redweek, Koala, etc. There are also some facebook groups and personal websites where people market these as well that you may be able to follow and gain access to members looking to rent their unused weeks. The best way to ensure that you get what you are looking for would be to rent from someone that you directly know or someone that you know knows that is a member to avoid potential issues as some people don’t actually even know the rules behind their own contracts.
One of the primary reasons to purchase directly from an existing member is that member contracts typically have some types of perks/benefits that are only available to guests staying on those contracted weeks. Probably the biggest perks/benefits are related to the Golf and Spa amenities. Depending on the location you want to visit and your plans to play golf and use the spa services, this alone can be worth THOUSANDS of dollars. Some contracts include a specified number of FREE Rounds of golf, others include a FIXED rate that is about an 80% discount from the standard rate and others are 2-for-1. Some contracts include a specified number of FREE Spa services while others offer an unlimited number of 2-for-1 spa services. Some of these are only for specific spa services and some are for any spa services. All of these different perks/benefits will have direct cost benefits depending on how much/little you plan to utilize each included benefit. If you don’t plan to use any of these benefits, you will probably be better off looking at the other methods documented below.
One other thing to be cognizant of is that some of the perks/benefits are ONLY applicable if the member is also on the property at the time that you are so it is important to understand that as some people will offer weeks that are in parallel with weeks that they are already planning to be there in order to make the benefits more enticing to people. This does NOT mean that you have to be staying in the same unit as the members, just that they have booked the reservation for you under their contract and they are on property at the same time as the guests staying in their contracted unit.
Another benefit of purchasing from an Existing Member is that depending on which resort level they are contracted to determines which other “Sister Resorts” and Priority they also have access to book, thus opening up the amount of inventory that you can chose from. When using the other methods you are limited to what inventory you have access to and typically don’t have access to the higher luxury resort levels. The members also typically have the ability to move their reservations to different weeks if the ones you see don’t fit your window, however as indicated above that could change some of the perks/benefits if that week is the same as the member was also planning to be on site.
Based on the size of the unit and number of people in your party that would plan to use these benefits, it can easily exceed $10,000 in perks/benefits alone. The other methods may “seem” to be a cheaper way and in some cases it may be, but if you just want to go and enjoy all of the amenities and not worry about being excluded from things when you get there then this is the recommended way. If you want to see the Non-Member daily rate that Vidanta will at times offer within 20-days of arrival when inventory is available, you can see this on the website for each different resort and unit type. For example, a 1-Bedroom Grand Luxxe Suite has a non-member rate of $2,350 per NIGHT.
As an example of the potential benefits, if you are a golfer and went to Nuevo Vallarta which has two (2) 18-hole Championship courses, including one that hosts the PGA TOUR Mexico Open and a 10-hole lighted par 3 course called “The Lakes” that will challenge even the best players, if you had 4 people and played 1 round of golf on each course this can be worth around between $2,000 and $3,500 depending on the specific contract benefit that the member had. Not every member has a transferrable golf contract and even if they do the rate can differ whether you are with the member or not. These are all things that you need to make sure to clarify with the member that you are purchasing from. It is recommended to only pay the member once you have contacted Vidanta customer service to verify your reservation and the perks/benefits included to avoid potential conflicts. If you had a foursome playing golf every day of your stay (6 rounds) you would save a minimum of $5000 across all the rounds.
If you want more details about this feel free to send us a direct message or comment below with your contact information and we will be happy to assist you with understanding this in more details.
Purchasing/Exchanging weeks in a 3rd Party Exchange (i.e. Interval International, RCI, Third Home, etc.)
In order to have access to either purchase or exchange weeks within one of these platforms, you must already own another timeshare or have a rental property that you purchased a membership into one of these exchanges to even be able use this method.
If you are able to use one of these exchanges, you may have access to certain levels of units, but probably not the larger higher end units, with the exception of possibly thru Third Home. In each case you may have to have already secured you own week at your home resort before being able to exchange. The one area that you may be able to benefit from in these platforms is if any weeks are offered as Resort Weeks or Last Minute Getaways. In these cases you can typically get weeks in the lower levels of the Vidanta Units or possible the Master Room (studio/hotel room) units in Grand Luxxe.
In any of these cases though, you will not receive ANY perks or benefits that you may have gotten through purchasing a contracted week through an existing member. If these benefits aren’t important to you or you are planning to go to a location that doesn’t really have any luxury amenities such as golf and spa, then this method is likely the best option for you if you have access to it.
Ambassador Certificate provided by an existing owner
Many owners when they purchase a contract with Vidanta at certain level are signed up for their Ambassador program which provides them initially with 10 certificates that they can use to give to friends, family or donate to a charity that can be used to book any unit that the members contract has access to book at the Members Usage Fee. The Usage Fee is the amount that a Member pays when they use their contracted weeks. This usage fee is a severely discounted rate from what the value of that week is as the member have paid a large sum in order to purchase the rights to those contract weeks at this discounted rate.
When an Ambassador certificate is used, the person can book and pay for the reservation directly with Vidanta at which time they will pay the Members Usage Fee plus an additional Administration fee which currently is $299. The person using the certificate will have access to book up to any resort at or below the level of the contract from the member that provided the certificate. Each certificate is numbered and assigned to the member so the reservation people will know what you can have access to. If you do receive a certificate from a member, it would be best to confirm with that person what levels and unit size that they should be able to book before calling to make a reservation. One of the other main differences of using an Ambassador Certificate from a member is that NONE of the perks/benefits of the members contract are transferrable. This means that you will not receive many of the Free or highly discounted benefits and will be required to pay full price to utilize any of these other amenities.
One thing to remember about these Ambassador certificates is that they just give you the right to book a reservation for the Usage Fee of the member so the fee that you actually pay will be based on the level of resort that you book. If you see one of these certificates in a Charity Auction, you will want to clarify whether they are covering any portion of the usage fee or if you are just buying the rights to use the certificate and you then have to pay the usage fee of the unit booked plus the administrative fee.
As Ambassadors for Vidanta, let us know if you are interested in this option and we can see if we have any remaining certificates that we can provide or possibly have other avenues to assist you in gaining access. Drop us a direct message from our contact us page or comment in the post below.
Book a room at one of the Vidanta Resort Hotels
Tied to the Jungala water park in Riviera Maya and the BON Theme park in Nuevo Vallarta, Vidanta does operate a hotel offering on a nightly basis that does provide some additional access to the resort amenities as well. The Jungala Hotel in Rviera Maya offers 52 All Suite rooms that can accommodate up 5 people with one King Sized bed and 2 sleeper sofas. These also have 2 full bathrooms. The BON Hotel in Nuevo Vallarta offers 1 and Bedroom suites that can accommodate up to 4-6 people. The rates on these rooms very by day and season so if you are just looking to stay for a couple of days then this can be a great option. If you are looking to book for an entire week you are probably better off using the other methods as there are not any Perks/Benefits with the Hotel other than the use of the amenities. We have not utilized this method, but based on the website it appears that people that stay at one of these hotels do get access to ALL pools on the property which is not the case with some of the other methods. The number of rooms available thru these hotel options is limited and based on daily occupancy so rates may change daily if you are planning a week long stay. You can learn more about this option at www.vidantaworld.com.
Purchase at Non-Member Rates directly with Vidanta
Vidanta does offer last minute (within 20 days of arrival) some inventory if there is availability at its Non-Member rates. You can find these rates and the direct contact information on the website when viewing each different accommodation level within each resort and location. This will be by far the most expensive method of gaining access as daily rack room rates range from $900 USD per NIGHT for the lowest level up to over $30,000 per NIGHT at the Emperors Pavillion Loft.
