Reopening Postponed for Grand Californian Timeshares

Disney Vacation Club has announced that due to the Stay-at-Home order recently issued by California Governor Gavin Newsom, DVC has postponed the reopening of timeshare villas at the Grand Californian Resort.

The resort had been scheduled to reopen only for timeshare owners and guests on December 5, but the order was issued late last week, forcing the hand of DVC to delay the reopening date. The order is expected to last three weeks, which would take it through Christmas, but with the increase of COVID cases in the state it is possible that the order could be extended.

Grand Californian Resort continues to be the only Disney Vacation Club resort closed, with no reopening date set due to the uncertainty of the situation.  

Impacts of State Restrictions on other Timeshare Resorts

The order in California only affects certain regions of the state, but does impact about 33 million Californians. Because of the unique nature of the order, which involves hotel and resort operations in the affected areas, timeshare operators have become creative in how they can keep their resorts operational.

Grand Pacific Resorts, which has the majority of its resorts located in California, has kept its resorts open but only for California residents in the impacted areas. Out of state residents and guests will not be able to stay in the affected resorts if they have bookings of less than 14 days. Meanwhile, Diamond Resorts has closed eight resorts in California until at least December 26.

Hawaii has also seen COVID protocol changes on the island of Kauai, as a mandatory 14 day quarantine requirement has been instituted by island officials regardless of whether inbound travelers have tested negative for the virus.

In mid-October, Hawaii Governor David Ige issued an order allowing visitors to enter the state and avoid the quarantine period if they presented a negative COVID test. All of the Hawaiian islands agreed to the ruling, but Kauai officials recently requested to temporarily opt-out of the ruling, thereby reinstituting the quarantine requirement as of December 2. No date to lift the requirement has been set by Kauai.  

Resorts such as the Hanalei Bay Resort, Makai Club Resort and The Point at Poipu have announced booking cancellations or resort closures. Timeshare owners who own timeshare on the island of Kauai or have bookings over the next month should contact their resort for a status update.

Canada Continues Entry Restrictions

The government of Canada has extended the 14-day quarantine requirement for all non-U.S. inbound travelers until January 21, 2021. This affects all travelers entering Canada from all countries other than the United States. U.S. residents continue to be barred from non-essential entry, as the border remains closed until December 21 with the likelihood of extending the closure into next year.

The moves are expected to prolong the pain of Canadian timeshare operators, who were hoping to have restrictions eased for the ski season and approaching holidays. Canadian tourism has taken a beating from the COVID pandemic, with GDP from tourism down 50-70% this year. 

Bahamas Reopening Two Major Resorts

In another sign that the Bahamas is on its way back from the COVID crisis, the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island and Baha Mar Resort are both scheduled to reopen in the next 10 days. Atlantis will reopen on Thursday, while Baha Mar will follow suit on December 17.

This is not only good news for the resorts and the local economy on Nassau, but also for other visitors looking to use the facilities of these renowned destinations.

Timeshares at Harborside Resort at Atlantis have been open for months, but owners enjoy the associated facilities at Atlantis, whether it is the casino, shopping, restaurants, pools and beach. Visitors will still need to follow COVID protocols such as wearing masks and socially distancing, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.

Timeshare Resort Openings

While most of the timeshare resorts in the U.S. remain open, the latest timeshare information from the major brands is below:

Bluegreen Vacations – All Bluegreen resorts are open, with the exception of Resort Sixty-Six in Holmes Beach, FL which is closed for renovations until April. The status of amenity closures at the resorts are listed for each resort at https://www.bluegreenowner.com/featured/travel-advisory/amenities.

Capital Vacations – Coral Sands resort in Grand Cayman and Sea Palace in St. Maarten are showing as closed on the Capital Vacations website. All U.S.-based Capital Vacations timeshare resorts remain open, so for further details about any of the Capital resorts please click onto https://www.capitalvacations.com/covid.php.

Club Wyndham – All U.S.-based Wyndham timeshare resorts are listed as open, so for more information please go to https://clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/covid-19-information/list-of-impacted-resorts.

Diamond Resorts – California resorts Desert Isle of Palm Springs, Embarc Palm Desert, Marquis Villas Resort, Palm Canyon Resort, Riviera Beach Resort, Riviera Oaks Resort & Racquet Club, Riviera Shorts Resort, and San Luis Bay Inn are all listed as closed until December 26. The Point at Poipu in Kauai, Hawaii is also showing as closed until further notice due to the 14-day COVID quarantine restriction in place by the Kauai government.

The remaining US-based Diamond timeshare resorts are open. Please go to https://www.diamondresorts.com/covid-19-update for further information.

Disney Vacation Club – As mentioned above, the reopening of Grand Californian has been postponed until further notice. All other Disney timeshare resorts are open, so for more information please visit https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/.

Divi Resorts – Divi Flamingo Beach Resort is scheduled to reopen on December 12 as Bonaire works to reopen and adjust COVID protocols for US residents. Divi Carina Bay in St Croix is closed for renovations. Please click on https://www.diviresorts.com/news.htm for further details.

Grand Pacific Resorts – All Grand Pacific resorts are open, albeit with restrictions mentioned above, so please visit https://grandpacificresorts.com/resort-reopening-updates/ for more details.

Hilton Grand Vacations – Grand Waikikian by Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Kalia Suites by Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Lagoon Tower by Hilton Grand Vacations Club and The Grand Islander by Hilton Grand Vacations Club are due to reopen on Dec. 15. The Quin Central Park by Hilton Club, The Hilton Club – New York, the Residences by Hilton Club and Hilton Grand Vacations Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile remain closed. The rest of the U.S.-based Hilton timeshares are open, so please visit https://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/en/travel-alert for more details.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations – all Holiday Inn Club Vacations resorts are open. Click on https://holidayinnclub.com/safe-travels/resort-updates for details regarding COVID protocols at the individual resorts.

Marriott Vacation Club – Marriott Vacation Club Pulse San Francisco and Marriott Vacation Club Pulse New York City remain closed but all other U.S.-based Marriott timeshare resorts are open. For the latest details please visit https://hub.vacationclub.com/brands/marriott-vacation-club/.

Vistana Signature Experiences – all Westin timeshares and Sheraton timeshare resorts remain open as well as Harborside Resort at Atlantis. For Sheraton information please visit https://hub.vacationclub.com/brands/sheraton-vacation-club/ and for Westin details please go to https://hub.vacationclub.com/brands/westin-vacation-club/.

Westgate Resorts – Westgate Leisure Resort, Westgate Blue Tree Resort and Westgate Towers Resort remain closed for the foreseeable future. Westgate Palace Resort now shows a reopening date of March 1, 2021. Westgate New York Grand Central and Westgate Tunica Resort are closed with no announced reopening date. All other Westgate timeshare resorts are open. Please go to https://www.westgateresorts.com/coronavirus-travel-advisory/ for more details.

WorldMark – WorldMark San Francisco is not taking new reservations for stays prior to February 21, 2021. All other resorts in the WorldMark network are open. Please visit https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/news/covid19_impacted_resorts.shtml for more info.