Steve Burton Reviews The Manhattan Club

I visited the Manhattan Club in New York city in May and this is my review of this timeshare resort which is probably the most famous resort in RCI.

 

The first point I wish to make is that anybody who is asked by the resort to visit a sales presentation should read Lisa's recent blogs as it appears that owners are having some difficulty booking time at the resort unless you book it nine months in advance. I was contacted twice via E mail by the resort prior to my visit and I was asked if I wished to attend a sales presentation. I politely declined and rather to my surprise and I give the resort credit for this no timeshare sales staff phoned me during my week long stay at the resort.

 

This timeshare resort is unique in my experience because the  trading power required to obtain an exchange is always fifty eight for a studio and sixty for a one bed apartment. At all other timeshare resorts as far as I am aware some account is taken of the time of year and the demand pattern at that time of year. In my view the best time to visit the Manhattan club is the spring and autumn months so avoiding the potentially harsh New York winters and the hot summers where temperatures are often in the 90'sF.

I think one of the first questions you have to ask yourself before trying to get an exchange to the Manhattan Club is the costs involved as it is certain that you will need to combine at least two and potentially up to five or six weeks to get an exchange to this timeshare resort. We therefore need to consider these costs plus the thirty dollars a day housekeeping fee so this is not a cheap timeshare exchange holiday by any stretch of the imagination. I was fortunate in having to combine only two weeks and had a balance deposit credit left after booking my exchange to this timeshare resort.

I found the staff to be friendly and check in and out was done without any undue delay. The location of the Manhattan Club could not be better as its just three blocks from Central Park and three minutes walk to the nearest subway (underground for us UKers) station with a fast, cheap and reliable service to all parts of Manhattan and beyond. I found it worthwhile to book the open air bus tours as there is so much to see in New York so that travelling underground you obviously miss many of the sights. I am not going to give an extensive list of what to do in New York as that surely is a matter of personal taste and many of the highlights be it the Empire State building or the Statue of Liberty don't need any introduction from me.

I have read some reviews of the Manhattan Club on the RCI website that complain about the size of the apartments and therefore question its Gold Crown status. In my opinion this is unfair as it's like comparing apples and pears as New York is unique and the costs of accommodation is very high there so you will find a large two bedroom apartment at many locations that would cost less to build and you would pay less in taxes than a small studio in Manhattan.

It is wise to plan ahead re a potential exchange to this resort as space is frequently not available due to the high demand and the limited number of weeks that are placed in RCI usually in batches by the Manhattan Club. It is wise in my opinion to put on an on going search for this resort due to its limited availability and don't forget that this resort will only let you visit there on exchange once every four years. A question I often ask myself at the end of each exchange is would I like to go back and the answer with the Manhattan Club is a definite yes I would like to return there some day.