St. Maarten/St. Martin is timeshare heaven. Numerous resorts offer
timeshare ownership including La Vista Beach Resort, Summit Resort
Hotel, Pelican Resort & Casino, Princess Port de Plaisance,
Royal Palm Beach Club, Flamingo Resort, The Atrium Resort and
Wyndham Sapphire Beach Club as well as several on the French
side. The concept of timeshare ownership is where you purchase
a week or several weeks vacation at a resort. You then own the
week(s) for life; and in most cases, you can leave it to your
heirs. Depending on the resort and a small fee paid to a Vacation
Exchange Network such as RCI or Interval International, you can
exchange or use your week(s) at a resort in a different location
or even a different country.
From time to time, local people will stop you and try to sign
you up for a 60-90 minute timeshare tour at a resort. Usually
a "No interest" is enough, but some are persistent
and will even say, "You don't have to buy anything; you
just have to listen to the sales pitch." This salesperson
gets paid $25 or $35 for every tourist they sign who takes the
tour. On the French side, they drive up in a car and tell you
to scratch a contest card to win a prize. Everyone wins a prize,
but you must take the tour to get it. One tourist friend calls
them, "Timeshare Hounds!" But if you take the tour,
the resort will reward you with Casino Chips, a dinner for two
at a fine restaurant or even a boat trip to one of the surrounding
islands even if you don't buy anything. So, pay attention,
you may end up owning a piece of the island! |