Touring Hilton Head's Resorts

One thing Hilton Head Island has no shortage of is vacation ownership resorts (we used to call them time shares). There are several major resort companies operating properties on the island, as well as several smaller ones. In practically every area of the island you can stumble upon a resort. Some of these vacation ownership properties are as small as a few units; with few amenities other than a swimming pool, and most of these have long since been sold out and are only available now through "time share re-sale" companies. The larger, and more elaborate, resorts still have plenty of properties to sell and are anxious to show them to you; most offer generous gift packages, just to thank you for stopping by for "show and tell". Touring these resorts can be a fun (and profitable) thing to do; especially if it's a rainy day, or if you're on a tight budget.

You don't have to worry about looking for these resorts; they are looking for you! All over the island there are booths and kiosk staffed with resort personnel, anxious to tell you about the features of their resorts and book you on a personalized tour. Don't be afraid to say "yes" and go have a "look see" when you are invited. Most of the tour guides (or sales people) are quite pleasant and entertaining, and very few are high pressure; after all, this is Hilton Head Island. The resorts themselves are, in a word: Awesome! They are well worth the time it takes to look them over. The gift packages offered by the resorts (your reward for the 90 or so minutes it takes for "show and tell") are equally as awesome!

The resort operators have spent a great deal of time, effort and money making deals to offer you great gift packages. They have negotiated for packages that would cost you, as a tourist, up to several hundred dollars! Don't be surprised if you are offered two, three and four day hotel stays at resort locations all over the country, gourmet dinning at some of Hilton Heads best restaurants, historic tours, cruise and sight seeing tickets, free hotel nights or just plain old fashioned money! If you plan on eating out, or doing anything special while visiting Hilton Head, you are well advised to select a gift package, rather than opt for money. One-Hundred dollars is about the upper limit of the resorts cash (check) offerings, but the gift packages are often worth several times that amount. More over, if you are approached to sign up for a tour, don't be shy about negotiating for a better gift package. The resort staff member that approaches you has a generous gift allowance, and can often offer you much more than he, or she, is letting on.

There are some do's and don'ts in regards to touring Hilton Head vacation ownership resorts. First of all, not everyone qualifies to tour; obviously they don't want to waste valuable time and resources on people that aren't qualified to buy, and that's only reasonable. Qualifications usually include marital status, age, income, and (very importantly) the last time you toured the facility. Most resorts only allow people to tour (and receive gifts) once per year: if you're a professional "tour taker" don't think you're going to fool them; they keep computerized records and they can tell in a matter of seconds, when and if, you've been there before. As a matter of courtesy, don't try to "shop" one resort representative (O.P.C., or "Off Property Contact") against the other; to get a better gift: These people work on commission, they are paid a referral fee for each qualified tour they book; they stand in the hot sun and the drizzling rain, they're laughed at, insulted and lied to on a regular bases, and, quite frankly, they deserve a little better. Moreover, don't lie to them, put yourself in their shoes; how would you feel to find your paycheck short, because someone had been untruthful to you, and you had lost your commission because they didn't qualify?