http://www.tflguide.com/club-mahindra-membership-fees-review/ This excellent blogpost makes the point that memberships of Club Mahindra, Sterling, Country Club etc have hidden fineprints and costs, which make it difficult to avail it. For example, non transparent reservation of rooms, non alignment of incentives between members and owners once timeshare is sold, active resale market at 30%-50% discount etc. Also, with the Indian hotel market developing due to OYO, AirBnB and OTA(GoIbibo, MakeMyTrip, ClearTrip) and quality standards going up, it is no longer difficult to get basic quality standards met. Some of you may feel that the target segment for these memberships is different-HNI goes for timeshare while middleclass/lower middle class for OYO etc. But star hotels are increasingly discounting on OTAs, and now even timeshares offer rooms there. For example, I recently got 3 nights in Sterling, Munnar for Rs 3200/night inclusive of 18%tax. The lowest price displayed was Rs 2800/night a day before I booked(missed that unfortunately). and this for a price inclusive of breakfast. I wonder what would members think of this. After all, they have paid membership fee, and AMC sort of fee, with limited choice of hotels(often this is away from city centre, so costlier taxis etc).
Also, timeshares are good for family vacations but these are in peak seasons in school holidays where often supply is limited. For young couples who can travel in offseason, these memberships are good. But it does not evolve with lifecycle needs
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