Holiday Inn Club Vacations

It's been three years since we've been back to our timeshare. Our home units. Last year when we came we stayed at the Grandview next to South Point. They each have their pros and cons and I'll list them at the end of this blog. What I want to share first, is what our 2 bedroom unit looks like.

Now, my opinions on the differences between the Grandview and Holiday Inn timeshares.

Grandview at Las Vegas

Pros:
Location, if you don't want to be on the strip.
It's off the strip but right next door to South Point which is an extremely family friendly property. Complete with bowling alley, movie theater and arcade.

The rooms are MUCH bigger. The bedrooms EACH have their own jacuzzi tubs.

Two pools. One heated, the other isn't.

Each highrise building is secure.

Stacked washer/dryer is in the room in a closet. It's a pro and con. Pro cause it's right there. No need for a laundry basket (which the property doesn't provide). Con cause its right there in the dining/living area and the capacity is small. 

It's right up the street from our where our friends live. We love being so close to them.

We didn't use any other amenities.

Cons:
No wifi

They are highrise buildings. So you have to take the elevator up to your room. Sucks, if you forget something in the car.

No balcony and the windows have security locks on them so they only open a few inches wide for safety.

If you get home late, parking can be limited because everyone made it home before you did.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations

Pros:

Free Wifi in every room

Located one block behind the Flamingo. So, we're close to the action. But not all up in it.

The property is beautiful. It's a series of apartment buildings and with the security guard at the entrance, we feel safe.

Each building is only three stories. So, if you need to run to the car, it's right there. 

It feels like "home". It's so much nicer to come home to a real unit and not just a hotel room. You don't have to walk through a smoke filled noisy casino to get back to your "place".

There are five heated pools open 24 hours a day. Kids love that!

They completed the club house at the entrance so we now have a convenience store and restaurant on the property if you feel like eating out without having to go "out".

There's a mini putt putt golf course on the property near one of the pools.

BBQ areas near the pool.

Fireplace

Plasma tv's in each room

Stereo and DVD player in the living room.

Balcony. It's nice to go out there and just be able to be "outside" without having to leave the unit.  With the laundry room out there, it's quieter in the house. And it's full sized separate washer and dryer. They even provide trial sized detergent and dryer sheets AND laundry basket. Nice!

A hop skip and a jump from Downtown LV.

Cons:

No jacuzzi tub in the room.

No elevators (none that I could see).

Because it's right behind the Flamingo you sometimes have to deal with some traffic coming and going. But it's nothing major.

No gambling on the property. But personally, I don't see it as a con. I like not having to walk through a casino to get to my room.

Not close to our friends places.

So, after actually typing out the pro's and cons for both, it's pretty apparent that my favorite property is my home location here behind the Flamingo. 

For us, purchasing the timeshares made no sense to us at first. We felt "duped" the first few years because we NEVER used it. We were very young, in our early twenties to be exact. At the time, it was hard to take off a full week of work. With young kids, it was hard to travel. And we didn't really have the money to take long vacations either.

Now, in our thirties (hitting our forties very soon), and settled in our careers, taking a week off for vacation is a regular thing. Being able to book a timeshare ANYWHERE in the world is such a relief. We never have to worry about where we're going to stay no matter where we go. And we NEVER stay in a hotel, EVER. We always stay in a fully equipped condo. We save tons of money by buying food and cooking at home. It's what we call a TRUE vacation. Where we can relax and do NOTHING if we wanted. Ten years into the timeshare life and we are NOW enjoying the benefits of them. It's awesome.