Good News for Hawaii Timeshare Owners with Plans to Ease COVID Restrictions

Following Hawaii’s extension of quarantine restrictions to incoming visitors through the month of July, Governor David Ige has announced plans to ease restrictions once the calendar turns to August. Beginning August 1, timeshare owners and all other visitors will no longer need to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine, as long as they can provide proof that they have tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of arrival.

Proof of the test will be required on arrival, and no testing will be conducted at the airport. Travelers will continue to have their temperature checked at airports throughout Hawaii, with those registering higher than a 100.4 degree temperature to be tested a second time. Hawaii currently has 901 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 18 deaths out of a population of just over 1.4 million residents.

The reopening of Hawaii is obviously great news for Hawaii timeshare owners looking to get back to their properties. Hawaii ranks number 4 among states in terms of total number of timeshare resorts, following only Florida, California and South Carolina. Occupancy rates hovered around 89% before the shutdown, so getting owners back into their timeshares is an important step towards the recovery of the tourism industry in the Aloha State.  

Good News for the Bahamas

The iconic Atlantis Resort has announced a reopening date of July 7, with Harborside Resort leading the way along with the Royal (East and West). Other accommodation options will reopen in phases and social distancing and other COVID-related precautions will be in place. Several of the resort’s famous amenities such as the water park, Mandara Spa, Ocean Club Golf Course, casino and beach along with 18 onsite food establishments will be open, although some will have staggered opening times.

A Pause on Florida Beaches

With the rise in the positivity rate among Floridians being tested, some Florida beaches are being closed over the July 4 holiday weekend. Beaches along the southeast coast from Palm Beach south to Key West are scheduled to be closed mainly from Friday through Sunday, as local officials are concerned about the potential crush of beachgoers hitting the sand over the holiday. 

Meanwhile, Orlando timeshare visitors looking to hit the beach this weekend can still visit neighboring Brevard County and legendary Cocoa Beach along with Volusia County beaches such as Daytona Beach. West coast beaches such as Clearwater Beach running south to Naples and beaches along the Florida panhandle are also open this weekend at the time of this writing.

Beaches in other top east coast vacation communities such as Myrtle Beach, Ocean City and Atlantic City are open, with casinos opening in Atlantic City tomorrow. 

Timeshare resorts across the country continue to reopen, and updates about the branded resorts can be seen below:

Timeshare Resort Openings

Bluegreen Vacations – Bluegreen club resorts are open except Hotel Blake, which is still closed for renovations. Club associate resort Tropical Sands Resort opens on Friday and Pono Kai Resort opens on July 31. All other associate resorts are open. Click https://www.bluegreenowner.com/featured/travel-advisory-resort-status for more details.

Capital Vacations – No changes here as Coral Sands (Grand Cayman) and Sea Palace (St Maarten) are the only Capital timeshare resorts reported as closed. For more information please click https://www.capitalvacations.com/covid.php.

Club Wyndham – Wyndham timeshare resorts in New Orleans, New York City, San Francisco, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania remain closed along with other select destinations. Rhode Island resorts are scheduled to open on Sunday. A majority of Wyndham timeshare resorts are open across the country, so for the latest information on which resorts are open and which ones are closed, click on https://clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/covid-19-information/list-of-impacted-resorts.

Diamond Resorts - Alhambra Villas in Kissimmee and Crescent Resort on Miami Beach are closed until July 30. Five Diamond timeshare resorts in Hawaii are due to open July 31. Marquis Villas Resort in Palm Springs opens August 1. Otherwise, all other U.S.-based Diamond timeshares are open. Click on https://www.diamondresorts.com/covid-19-update for more details.

Disney Vacation Club – Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House is expected to reopen only for DVC owners beginning July 10. The reopening of villas at Grand Californian has now been postponed after Disney officials extended the closing of Disneyland in response to government officials dragging their feet on reopening approvals. While no reopening date has been set for Aulani, this should soon change following the anticipated August 1 easing of Hawaii quarantine restrictions. Please check https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/ for updated information.

Grand Pacific Resorts – Indian Palms Vacation Club in Indio, California, remains the only Grand Pacific timeshare resort still closed, anticipating a September 1 reopening date. Hawaii resorts are open, keeping in mind the 14-day quarantine still in effect through July. For more information please visit https://grandpacificresorts.com/resort-reopening-updates/.

Hilton Grand Vacations – Hawaii, Chicago and New York City resorts remain closed. All other U.S.-based Hilton timeshare resorts are open. For more info, please click on https://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/en/travel-alert.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations – Fox River Resort in Sheridan, Illinois reopened yesterday with Mount Ascutney Resort in Brownsville, Vermont  due to reopen on July 16. For more information please go to https://holidayinnclub.com/safe-travels/resort-updates.

Marriott Vacation Club – the Aruba government has authorized arrivals from the U.S. to begin July 10, so Marriott Aruba timeshares will be accessible to U.S. residents at that time. The reopening of Marriott Vacation Club Pulse at The Mayflower, Washington D.C., has been pushed out to July 25. Marriott’s Waikoloa Ocean Club, Marriott Vacation Club Pulse San Francisco and Marriott Vacation Club Pulse New York City remain closed until further notice. All other U.S.-based Marriott timeshare resorts are open. Please go to https://hub.vacationclub.com/resort-updates/ for more details.

Vistana Signature Experiences – All Westin timeshare and Sheraton timeshare resorts remain open.

Westgate Resorts –Westgate Historic Williamsburg Resort is now open, as are the majority of Westgate timeshare resorts. The next set of resorts scheduled to reopen are Westgate Leisure Resort, Westgate Blue Tree Resort, Westgate Palace Resort and Westgate Towers Resort – all due to reopen August 3. For the latest details, please go to https://www.westgateresorts.com/coronavirus-travel-advisory/.

WorldMark – WorldMark Chelan - Lake House, WorldMark Shawnee Village, WorldMark New Orleans - Avenue Plaza and WorldMark Palm Springs are the next WorldMark timeshare resorts due to open on Sunday or Monday. Most remaining resorts which are still closed have extended their reopening to August 2. Please visit https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/news/covid19_impacted_resorts.shtml for more details.