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Not All Timeshare Presentations Are Horrendous! Here’s My Experience Touring a Beautiful Caribbean Resort (and Getting Free Stuff!)

  • Meghan Hunter

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    If you’ve never been to Belize, you should add it to your vacation destination list immediately.  I’ve visited a few different times and have enjoyed everything from world-class diving to zip lining through the jungle.  What I didn’t expect to experience was an incredibly fun timeshare presentation!

    That may sound a little odd.  And I’m sure many of y’all will disagree that it’s worth spending an hour or so of your vacation time to “earn” some sort of free gift.  But I’m a sucker for a good deal.  I’d already used Chase Ultimate Rewards points to fly there and back for free!  So why not enjoy a mini-tour of the island?

    I can honestly say I’d do it again if given the opportunity.  It was that enjoyable, and the gift cards we earned covered our meals and drinks for two days of our weeklong trip!

    Here’s more about my experience.

    Ambergris Caye Is Belize’s Largest Island and Is Known as THE Spot for Divers (and Hey, Maybe Timeshare Seekers Too? 😉 )

    On this particular trip to Belize, I was there for a friend’s wedding on Ambergris Caye.  A group of us were walking down the beach when we were approached by a timeshare saleswoman.  The lady asked the group a couple of questions, then invited us to hop on a golf cart for a tour of Captain Morgan’s Retreat, one of the resorts on the island.

    In return for the tour, she promised each of us a $100 voucher for drinks and another $100 food voucher, both of which would work at most of the bars and restaurants in downtown Ambergris Caye.  Not only that, she had a pitcher of rum punch in hand!

    I was there to celebrate, so I figured why the heck not.  I kind of have a thing for real estate and design, so the idea of touring the resort sounded exciting.  Plus, who can resist free food and drinks?!  I’m no good at sunbathing (I get bored pretty easily!) so spending a couple of hours on the tour wasn’t really wasted time, in my opinion.

    I’m glad I decided to take a chance and go because the tour definitely wasn’t anything like your typical timeshare presentation.  Maybe that’s the rum punch speaking, but we had a really enjoyable time exploring the resort’s grounds in the golf cart.  They showed us some really beautifully decorated thatched roof condos and filled up our plastic cups each time they were empty. 😉

    Again, maybe the rum punch was all a part of the plan to get us tipsy and sell us a crazy expensive timeshare.  But I found the salespeople to be incredibly friendly.  And it was by far the most pleasant timeshare presentation I’ve ever taken part in.

    Admittedly, I think experiences like this are the exception rather than the norm.  I attended another timeshare presentation in Sedona, Arizona, and it was a much more intense experience.  But I’m comfortable saying “no,” even if I have to say it a hundred times.  And I probably haven’t earned an easier $200 since my tour of Captain Morgan’s Retreat!

    Plus, timeshare salespeople are usually aggressive and pushy, so they know that without the promise of a free gift, they likely wouldn’t have anyone show up for the presentation or tour.  For this reason, I don’t mine going into it knowing I’m definitely not going to buy anything.

    Have you ever had a, dare I say, enjoyable time at a timeshare presentation?  Share your experience in the comments!

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    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)