Marriott's Marbella Beach Resort accused of piling extra pressure on British timeshare owners with ‘disproportionate’ annual fee increases
Timeshare trouble on Spain’s Costa del Sol
Spain’s Costa del Sol was a notorious hub of high-pressure timeshare activity for decades. That history led to consumer protection legislation in 1999, aimed at curbing the industry’s worst practices. However, many resorts ignored the new laws, and it took a further 17 years before enforcement and court action began to catch up with offenders. By 2024, many of Spain’s biggest timeshare operators had been forced to close their new-member sales operations under the weight of court-ordered compensation payouts.
Among those still trading is Marriott's Vacation Club Marbella Beach Resort.
Marriott's Marbella, at least according to our data based on information from ECC clients, broke the law as much as everyone else.
However, Marriott are one of the wealthiest timeshare companies in the world, with a 2023 turnover of $4.72 billion. They have deep pockets—both to pay lawyers to delay the consequences of lawsuits, and to pay compensation they are ultimately unable to avoid.
Maintenance fees: a second revenue stream
The original timeshare model was simple: generate income through sales, then charge members annual fees to maintain and run the resort properties.
With many Spanish timeshare companies forced to close their frontline sales operations, an insidious practice has emerged: inflating maintenance fees, seemingly as a form of self-compensation. Timeshare contracts typically allow resorts to increase annual fees unilaterally, with little or no input or oversight from members. In some cases, resorts now charge members annual maintenance costs that match—or exceed—what regular guests might pay for accommodation, helping to guarantee substantial profits.
In many ways, timeshare members in the 21st century can be worse off than standard guests staying at the same resort—partly because they are legally obliged to pay whatever they are invoiced each year, whether they travel or not.
Many resorts are now increasing annual charges by considerably more than inflation.
Marriott's Marbella Beach Resort is one of the few companies still actively operating a new-member sales programme.
Despite continuing to benefit from sales income that other resorts have lost, MVCI have been just as enthusiastic as other operators about raising annual maintenance charges.
Maintenance fees up 8.72%—around four times UK inflation
A letter to Marriott's Vacation Club Marbella Beach Resort members setting out the 2024 maintenance fee changes shows an increase of 8.72%, taking the average annual membership cost to €1554.47.
That is around 400% of UK inflation, which currently sits at 2.2%.
Marriott cite a range of reasons for this year’s increase, including a €20.29 rise per apartment per week to use the pool, and €49.43 per apartment per week for a “reserve fund” in case units require refurbishment. Those figures may not sound excessive in isolation, but when multiplied by 51 weeks and then by 288 units, they amount to a total increase of €298,019 for pool maintenance alone.
In other words, the same swimming pool—with roughly the same number of users—will cost nearly a third of a million euros more to maintain in 2024 than it did a year earlier.
The refurbishment planning charge comes to €2521.95 per unit. This is on top of the average €73,000 (before the increases) per unit already being paid by members for upkeep. A cynical observer could reasonably argue that any such refurbishment planning could be covered from the substantial sums already being paid annually for maintenance.
The increase also includes higher charges for “administration and accounting”, front office, housekeeping, and insurance.
Expert comment
"It's a situation that rarely exists outside of the timeshare business," comments Greg Wilson, CEO of European Consumer Claims (ECC). "The resorts can set their fees at whatever they want. The consumer does not get any say in it, and they are contractually bound to pay whatever they are told. So of course it is very tempting for the resorts to increase their demands to these kinds of extremes."
"If I can offer an analogy: imagine employees could decide their own individual pay rises each year and their employers were legally bound to pay whatever increase the worker chose. How much restraint could we expect? People might convince themselves they were being fair, but many would be inclined to justify significant rises."
"Regular holiday booking sites like booking.com or Expedia have to stay competitive with the fees they charge, or customers will go elsewhere. Timeshare customers don't have that choice."
Not happy with your Marriott Marbella maintenance fee increases?
If you are tied into a Marriott contract and want to take back control of your holiday spending, get in touch with our team to discuss your options. If you meet certain criteria, you may even be entitled to financial compensation.
