The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, California.
Photo courtesy of Westin.

By Wendy Perrin

Question from reader JBreuner:

"My wife and I just signed up for the Westin Vacation Ownership program during a trip to the Westin Mission Hills Resort in Palm Springs, and now my wife, especially, is having a little case of buyer's remorse.  Can you please provide me with some Web-based resources where I can get some straightforward, honest information on vacation ownership programs (timeshares)?  Is there any place out there - on the Web or elsewhere - that rates the various vacation ownership programs available?  We have about one week remaining to cancel our agreement with a full refund if we decide to opt out.  I could really use your advice!"

I know zip about Westin's program and it's been 15 years since I attended a "vacation ownership" (marketingspeak for timeshare) sales presentation, so I can't advise you very well. What I CAN tell you is that 15 years ago, on assignment for Conde Nast Traveler, I pretended to be Joe Prospective Timeshare Buyer and sat through several 2- to 3-hour sales pitches presented by reputable companies such as Hilton, Marriott, and Disney.  Although the timeshare industry has changed since then, my guess is that the advice I learned still applies because, when I was just searching the Web for sites to recommend to you, I found similar advice given only last month by one of the greatest consumer travel experts ever, Ed Perkins of Smarter Travel. (The same Smarter Travel whose blog Today In Travel was one of the finalists I was up against in the 2007 Travel Blog Awards last week.)

So here's what I learned 15 years ago: