Marriott Vacation Villas Completely misleading exchange practices Santa Ana, California

A personal experience for people interested in purchasing a timeshare: buying a timeshare at Marriott Newport Villas has been one of the more disappointing decisions I've made in my life.   I paid $30k for a Newport Villa platinum week timeshare on the promise of being able to "pick from any destination I'd like" given the trading value of Newport Villas.   Nothing could be further from the truth.  After spending countless hours trying to exchange our week for ANY reasonable destination we've finally given up and will vacation in our home resort (we live in San Diego).  The kids are thrilled, vacationing in south LA.   We did exchange a week two years ago for a sub-par resort in Tahoe.   We looked at the cost of booking the resort directly and it was about $180/night.  For the seven nights it would have cost us $1260.  Our yearly maintenance and exchange fees run about $1100.   Umm, why did I give you $30k?   Sound advice: if you're considering a timeshare, please, please just find a good travel agent instead.   You'll be much happier.