We’ve all wondered about timeshare from time to time. Many of us have also heard about how high-pressure timeshare salesman are. I decided to venture on my own to a Hilton Grand Vacations Timeshare Presentation, and I will say it wasn’t as painful as I thought. And the value for giving up 2 hours of my time was definitely worth it.
Hilton Grand Vacations Timeshare Presentation Review
As a Hilton Honors Member, you will at one point hear on the phone something resembling “Would you like to earn 500 Hilton Honors points for hearing our promotional offer today?” Of course, it is hard to say no to easy points like that. I was suckered in and decided to hear what they had to say. The “catch” was I had to sit in a 2-hour Hilton Grand Vacations Timeshare Presentation. Being a young college grad, I couldn’t even afford a timeshare even if I wanted it. So I figured it was going to be an easy “no”.
The offer was actually pretty great! Spend 4 days & 3 nights in a Hilton Grand Vacations property in either Las Vegas or Orlando for $199 + tax. To add, they added a $200 mail-in rebate to select Hilton brands. I was able to use my mail-in rebate at the Hilton Woodland Hills on a King Suite the night before my wedding. Keep in mind that $200 is only for the base rate of the room. That does not cover taxes or room charges.
I used my Hilton Ascend American Express to get 12x per dollar on the $199, which got me back about $15 in points value. And with the mail-in rebate for my next Hilton stay, the whole deal was basically free!
The Terms of the offer
While this seems like a “slam dunk” offer, there are of course stipulations and rules to follow…
- You may purchase the offer on the phone. From that time, you have (I believe) 45 days to actually book your trip. From that point, you must complete your travel in 1 calendar year.
- You may not complete your timeshare presentation on the day you check in or the day you leave. I was in Vegas Thursday-Sunday so I chose Saturday.
- If you are married, your spouse must attend the presentation. (My wife and I were not married at the time. However, I would have just said I was single regardless.)
- If you do not complete the timeshare presentation, you will be charged full retail value of the room.
The Hotel & Room
I had a few options in Las Vegas to stay at. We could have stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club at The Flamingo, HGVC at Trump Towers, HGVC on Paradise, HGVC on the Boulevard, or The Elara.
My wife and I decided to stay at The Elara ironically because there was no casino in the hotel, it is part of the Million Mile Shops, it is very close to the strip, and the rooms were very luxurious.
Image courtesy of hilton.com
We checked in just as a normal hotel and confirmed my time for the presentation. I picked first thing in the morning so I could simply get it over with. Hilton Honors members are given 2 free water bottles upon check-in. This is definitely appreciated when it is 100 degrees outside!
We were assigned to a high floor One Bedroom King Suite. It had an incredible view of the Las Vegas airport, so I got to watch airplanes land and take off for hours!
While I don’t have any pictures, this video is very close to what we had. A little bit of different decor, but all the same amenities. I loved this hotel room because of the “condo” style feel to it. Most hotel rooms don’t have full kitchens or separate living room areas. Even though there was only 2 of us, we had plenty of room!
For a similar time period (Thurs-Sun), this room after taxes and resort fees is $1,395!
So if you value your time at an hourly rate, saving $600/hour for two hours of your time is absolutely worth it! However, what does this timeshare presentation actually look like?
The Timeshare Presentation
The Hilton Grand Vacations Timeshare Presentation really wasn’t all that bad. Here is the breakdown of mine.
The presentation was at The Elara, so I left about 5 minutes early from my room. Check in at your time you have reserved. For me, it was 9:00am.
9am-9:15am – Meet with your sales rep. My sales rep was actually pretty friendly.
9:15am-10:00am – Cheesy presentations showing you all of their properties. This is a great way to find new travel destinations that you want to see.
10am-10:15am – You sit down with your sales rep to explain the “points” system. Most timeshare companies sell you points which you can redeem for rooms. These points are different than regular Hilton Honors points.
10:15am-11am – Crunch the costs and how you can finance your new timeshare. This is where your “no” skills have to come into play. They will try every single way to convince you that timeshares are a great deal, when in fact they aren’t. I gave them the no around 10:30ish and they took their sweet time to get me out the door.
Small reminder – Keep your eye on your watch, aka your phone. If they are pushing towards the two-hour mark, say you need to leave as they are intruding on your vacation. They should respect your time.
Check out – At check out, they gave me my $200 Hilton mail in rebate and I was on my way to the pool!
Is it worth it?
100% yes! If you don’t mind sparing two hours of your vacation, it is absolutely worth it. But go into it with a strong will that you will not buy. They may be a little rude to you, but just remember that you are getting essentially a free vacation. Walk out of there with a smirk on your face, and enjoy!
And the best part, is that you are eligible for this every 6 months! I just received another Hilton Grand Vacations Timeshare Presentation promotional email for Las Vegas or New York City.
Have you ever sat in a Hilton Grand Vacations Timeshare Presentation? Or any other brand? What was your experience like?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
We did this last year in Orlando. My wife had a business conference there and we did the presentation time for the period she would be there. We got the $200 voucher and used it at a Hilton later on. I enjoyed my time there and we said NO alot since we never stay anywhere for 7 days unless it is a cruise and travel the rest of the time for free. They understood and quickly got us out of there. They were very nice about this and thanked us for being loyal Hilton members. Very different than those we went through when really young.
That’s awesome Byron! Being polite can go a long way.
Hey Dan did they provide you with a list of blackout dates before you booked?
William,
I can answer any questions regarding this. Are you referring to blackout dates for the timeshare stay? They actually don’t have blackouts, however, they do have raised prices during high traffic. I remember them raising the price to $299 during New Years in Vegas, which is still a deal!
Similar experience for my wife and I, but we bought! We have had our timeshare about 10 years now and absolutely love it. We did upgrade about seven years ago so that we could vacation more. Hilton may not be for everyone but it does work for us. My wife and I will retire early in about a year and will use our Hilton timeshare as much as possible. It is possible we may upgrade one more time.
That’s awesome that HGVC is working for you!
Never buy through HGVC…I’ve bought mine through resales and have saved tens of thousands of dollars! The prices these shark
salesp quote during your timeshare presentation is criminal!!! NEVER EVER BUY THROUGH HGVC!!! I currently own 24,000 HGVC points annually. I bought my points through a timeshare broker by the name of John Raymond based in Carlsbad, CA. He is honest, legit and a really nice guy. Google his name…you’ll be glad you did.
What if you want to extend your stay? How is that billed? Thanks.
I received a similar deal a year ago that I took advantage in Orlando. I would never do a HGV timeshare presentation again. The guy we had was terrible. He assumed we were going to buy when we said no. My husband actually began to consider it at the end, and that made it more difficult. He ended up signing up for a second chance offer for a vacation. I promptly cancelled the whole thing when we got home. Never again.
Why did you cancel your husband’s dream?? Allow him to travel and support his decision for you and your family!!
Oh wow, I’m sorry you had that experience.
Owner here. We bought in Orlando back in 2009 when points were $4 each. We’ve loved it because it forced us to take family vacations almost every year and my kids have been to Disney a bunch, San Diego, Hawaii twice, Mexico twice and Hilton Head next year. And in 2 bedroom condos all but a couple times. I’m a penny pincher and there is no way we would have had these great experiences without the timeshare. That said they are not worth it now. The pricess are crazy. Buy on the resale market for a fraction. As for these 4 night 3 day presentations they are great. Whenever we want to go to Vegas we book one of these, upgrade to 2 bedroom at the Elara if you can can get it and go to the presentation as soon as possible. I tell them right away if they can find me something at $4 a point and lower maintenance fee I’m in, if not no deal. Usually a pretty short meeting. Important note, Hilton has no timeshare properties in Mexico or the Caribbean so if that is a priority for you you have to transfer your points to RCI which has mostly been ok but the properties are not as great.
it sounds like we may have made a pretty good deal if you would buy again at $4 a point. just picked up a deal in Waikoloa, Hi for 3.23 a point. hotel rooms in the ocean tower were going for 5k more than what we got. we started with a 1 bedroom plus. Ive been reviewing some BBB reviews and looking up some things and im getting closer to the 7 day window to cancel my deal. but I think this will work for us. we’ve travelled without it already but hopefully this helps us do better.
We are going to a Westin presentation in Cabo San Lucas in January. January 2016, we did the Westin one in Cancun. $299 for 4 nights in both cases.
I purchased the Wyndham package for Alexandria, hoping to book for April 2019. I have to wait until October for the calendar to open.
The Hilton deals have not been as good as Westin. I just got a mailer to get 500,000 points with a time share purchase.
Hubby and I are in our 60’s. We’ve gone to these pitches for years. Over the last 20 years, the perks have gotten much better. It used to be a free dinner voucher.
That’s awesome to know that the incentives have only gotten better! Thanks for reading!
We have HGVC and love it. The first year we received 20,000 extra points as a signing bonus so we used it a lot. We love all of the rooms we have stayed in and often stay in Park City, UT in a 3BR unit that is like having a full house for the holidays.
I also travel often for work and use a combination of Hilton points and HGVC points for areas like Phoenix that don’t have a resort.
It has worked out well for us.
Ah, thats awesome! Park City is a beautiful area, I live about 30 minutes away in Salt Lake City.
I’m glad these programs are working in your favor!
We did our first HGVC presentation in 2002 and purchased. We have enjoyed it for 16 years with our family, ourselves, and Friends!
These stays are always in a class by themselves and in magnificent resorts! I’ve never regretted our purchase. It has opened at the world to us, made us vacation, and allowed us to spend quality family time with our children and grandchildren!
The promotion packages are well worth the time spent. We have done numerous presentations with a variety of companies over the years. No one has ever been as polite and consistently professional as Hilton Representatives!
if anyone is interested in a recommendation, I would love the privilege to recommend you!!
Thank you so much Mara for reading! I am thrilled that you have gotten real value from HGVC. From the comments, I’m concluding that timeshares do work for some people, and not for others.
I just heard the phone sales pitch, and have committed to an Orlando presentation, but haven’t picked dates yet. I’m looking forward to seeing how the sales pitch goes compared to the Disney Vacation Club, which I’ve been a member of for almost 5 years now. I can’t imagine anyone can beat Disney’s program, but I’m willing to give it a chance. Plus it will give us an opportunity to visit Universal, and possibly Legoland, instead of Disney for a change 🙂
That is so awesome, I’d love to hear how similar my experience is to yours.
Did this article inspire you to try this out?
I found this article right after I booked it, by googling for reviews. I’m happy to see that it was a positive experience for most people!
Ah great!
Are you in the market for timeshares? Or are you simply going to give them the “hard no” like I did?
I was already on the phone, booking an upcoming stay, when they got me to listen to the pitch. I doubt I will buy into it since I have Disney Vacation Club already. I will most likely add points to my DVC membership, when the new resort becomes available, sometime in 2019 🙂
Has anyone used it in NYC? Wondering where the hotels they’d put us in are.
I got suckered into listening to the promotion and purchasing a 3 day/2 night for NY for $285 total. Nothing was mentioned about the having to attend a timeshare presentation until i logged onto the HGVC! Now, to avoid the additional $50 charge if I book 14days after the day I paid, I had to book my NY hotel stay but because I want to travel in early June 2019, the hotel is not guaranteed until sometime after January 2019! I’m not looking to purchase any timeshare but I guess now I’m stuck having to sit through the presentation in order to complete the package deal.
Ah that is a bit unfortunate. But I’m sure your stay in NY will be awesome!
Did they tell you what hotel? Location?
Purchased a Vegas HGVC weekend package and I’m so excited! My sister just recently became an owner & I’m hoping it works at for me as well! I’m planning to travel in May, anyone have insight as to when to give them a call & book the room or does it matter?
That’s awesome!
I always suggest sooner rather than later. Especially if you are planning on traveling around Memorial Day.
What promotional offer did you get?!
Brett, we get it you work for this scam
Mike,
I’m not sure what you mean by this.
I just attended an HGVC presentation this weekend. I’m staying at the property on the Boulevard, though in hindsight, I should’ve booked The Elara as I’m here for my 30th! Oh well. They put me in a king studio room on the 24th floor in tower 1. It’s a nice room, but I learned the hard way I had to pay $20 per day if I wanted my room clean because I wasn’t staying for five nights. They gladly replenished my towels when requested, so that was fine. The presentation was what I expected. My salesperson was nice, but there were three people total who tried their damndest to sell me the ownership. I held my ground and declined. The last guy was a bit rude when I said no, but whatever. It didn’t work for me because I couldn’t justify it as a single guy. Just because I traveled a lot this year and want to travel a lot next year doesn’t mean I’m going to. Besides, I don’t even own a house yet! I may consider it down the road when it makes more sense financially and logistically, but I’d like to talk to actual HGVC owners first before doing anything. Great post!