Welk Resort Group Reviews

They told me this wasn't a lifetime obligation. They told me my son would inherit vacations, not a mortgage and ever-escalating maintenance fees that never end — not even after the loan is paid off. Nobody explained that this contract lasts forever. The word "perpetuity" was dressed up like a gift. It's a trap. They dangled zoo and theme park tickets to push me over the edge, then made them impossible to redeem. In 2024, I was pulled into a mandatory "owner update" and pressured into an upgrade that gave me nothing — the Hawaii availability is scarce and underwhelming.

I've paid thousands. I've barely used it. I've been deceived at every turn. If you are sitting in that presentation room right now, please get up and walk out. The promises will not be in writing. The recordings they claim to keep will not be shared with you. And by the time you realize what you've signed, it will feel nearly impossible to undo. I wish someone had warned me.

The "Owner Updates" were nothing more than pressure sales traps disguised as informational meetings. Representatives turned cold and rude the moment I declined to upgrade. One even made inappropriate remarks about gay people when I brought a friend. The financial damage has been severe. Between the $26,000 purchase, closing costs, and $2,000 annual maintenance fees, I've paid nearly $35,000 total. The timeshare debt nearly killed my home loan application by destroying my debt-to-income ratio. To make matters worse, Welk mailed billing statements to the wrong address TWICE, sending my account to collections and refusing to correct it. Had I been told the truth about costs, availability, and resale value, I never would have bought this. Don’t buy a timeshare.

that we simply haven't tried to use the timeshare, which is untrue. They also point to the contract language stating that reservations are not guaranteed. However, during the sales pitch, the representatives made verbal guarantees that contradicted the written text. The signing process was high-pressure and rushed, designed to prevent us from reading the massive stack of documents. We were pressured to trust the sales team's spoken word over the fine print.

WHV also hides behind the rescission period, claiming we did not cancel in time. This is a trap. We signed the contract in October 2018, but we were unable to access the timeshare until 2019. It was impossible for us to know we had been misled until the cancellation window had long passed. Their offers to "help us book" now do not rectify the fact that the timeshare was sold under false pretenses. We are seeking a full release from this contract with no further financial obligations, as well as a refund of the maintenance fees we have paid for a service that is essentially nonexistent. We hope this review serves as a warning to others: WHV uses high-pressure tactics to trap you in financial obligations. Do not trust their promises.

Our main issue is that we want out of this timeshare contract. Our loan is fully paid off, our fees are up to date, & yet we have never been able to use this timeshare. Over the years, we’ve faced several family losses that made traveling impossible. When called to request an extension of our time, the representatives were unhelpful & dismissive. We also tried depositing our time with Interval International, but the points either expired before we could use them or there was no availability at the destinations we wanted.

For years, my husband & I worked in different states, using all of our vacation time to travel between Tennessee & California to see each other. Now that we are retired & finally have time to travel, try he maintenance fees have risen to double of what we pay for our other timeshare week. These fees continue to rise every year, making it impossible to justify the cost.

We were told that owning a timeshare would protect us from rising hotel costs, but this was complete misrepresentation. The maintenance fees alone are as much as a week-long hotel stay, & the additional exchange fees make it even more expensive to use our points. This timeshare has become a financial burden that we can no longer afford. Our children have no interest in inheriting this debt, & we don’t want to pass this financial drain on to them. We’ve tried to make this work, but it’s clear that the system is designed to benefit the company, not the members.

From the start, I didn’t feel good about this. When I signed the agreement, I felt a lot of pressure to do so. I was with my cousin, who also owns a timeshare, and was approached by one of their salespeople. They offered a gift card just to get me into the presentation. The salesperson made it sound like owning this timeshare was an amazing opportunity. He said it would be a good investment, something I could use for the rest of my life, and even pass on to my siblings if they continued paying the fees. That really stuck with me. The whole thing lasted over 2 hours, and I felt like I couldn’t just walk away.

Since buying it, I’ve realized so much of what I was told wasn’t true. For example, they claimed I could use the timeshare anytime I wanted. No one mentioned that I’d need to book a year in advance. Who can plan that far ahead? Life happens, and plans change. Then there were the actual stays. I’ve dealt with problems like dirty rooms and a broken sliding door that made me feel unsafe. Anyone could have entered while I was staying there or even when I stepped out.

Financially, this whole thing has been a huge strain. I’m getting older, and my medical bills for things like diabetes and asthma are stacking up. It’s hard enough to manage those, but the maintenance fees and mortgage payments make it almost impossible. At this point, I can’t afford to keep going with this. I feel misled by what I was told during the sales process, and now I’m stuck in a situation that’s affecting both my financial stability and my peace of mind. I hope Consumer Affairs can help me get a resolution or at least push Welk Resorts to work with me on an exit option. This has gone on long enough.

Every "member update" we attended became another sales pitch trying to extract more money from us, and we recently discovered that this financial burden would pass to our family members upon our death - something that was never mentioned during the original presentation. We expected integrity and transparency from a company bearing the Hyatt name, but instead we've experienced years of financial strain, missed opportunities to pay down student loans, and more. A company that truly respected its customers would never subject young people to such manipulative tactics or hide critical information about escalating fees and inherited obligations. We're deeply disappointed in how Welk Resorts/Hyatt Vacation Club has treated us and would caution others to be very careful before trusting their promises.