Beach Resorts, Hotels, Timeshares, and Condos: How to Choose the Best Option

Spending your vacation and holiday time by the ocean can be a wonderful investment of your disposable income. But like many people you may wonder about making a longer-term investment that leads to profit as opposed to just spending money on travel each year. This article covers the reasons you might choose each type of beach vacation choice, including resorts and spas, hotels, timeshares, and condominiums:

Future investments: While you may have disposable money now, and thus be tempted to buy that timeshare or condo by the ocean, you need to assess whether you may have future investment possibilities or financial needs. It is not always easy to liquidate a condo or timeshare quickly, so you may not want to be locked in.

Flexibility: Obviously with condominiums, but also with timeshares, you will be locked into one or more specific destinations. If you decide that you actually love snow skiing, or you or your family suddenly prefers lakes, you may wish you had booked a beach hotel or resort instead of deciding on a more permanent timeshare (especially if it has limited options) or condo.

Appreciation: Condos are tied in to the real estate market and resale value usually increases long term (if and only if you've done your homework). Timeshares, on the other hand, are more attuned to the travel market than the real estate market - you own the time, not the property.

Fixed destination: If you are the type of person who likes to get to know the folks who live locally to your beach vacation destination, and/or get to know your way around for later use, you might be happier with a condo or hotel by the ocean, rather than a timeshare or resort (especially a luxury resort or spa) designed so that most of your time will be spent on site.

Weeks per year: If you have limited vacation time, or the money it takes to fly to your destination might prohibit tons of trips, a condo may not be a worthwhile investment.

Fees: Ocean condos will have fees that could be highly significant each year, so make sure you factor these into any calculations of your investment's potential. Time shares also come with fees, though usually these are manageable.

Expanding family: If your family might grow, especially to the point of outgrowing the size of your beach condo, you may want to look into the other options.

Weather: A nasty hurricane or a string of storms could hurt your travel plans if you own a condo in a beach community. Also, no matter which option you choose, beware that storms could make the place look a lot different than the pictures in the brochure, or your experience before.

Local economy: One of the major pieces of homework you must do is about the direction of the local economy. A condo owner could be unpleasantly (or perhaps pleasantly if you took a risk) surprised by changes in the local (or even national in another country) economy where the condo is situated.

Activities: While it is not always the case, in general a beach resort (again especially a luxury resort or spa) or timeshare at a resort location will offer the widest variety of activities and events. Condominiums and hotels may have less to offer, though this could lead to more peace and quiet, as well as more interesting investigation of the surrounding area.

Odd weeks and spontaneity: Timeshares can be a wonderful investment, but like many forms of travel require planning and often a standard week (Saturday to Saturday for example). Beach hotels and resorts allow for any combination of days, but the best choice for the truly spontaneous vacation by the sea is a condominium.

There are many other reasons you might choose to one of these options over the others for your vacation holiday. The issues covered above are just the beginning, and particularly if you are going to choose a beach condo or timeshare purchase you have to do a lot of homework. Best of luck to you, because no matter what you choose, you can be sure that beach communities and vacation spots will provide a great deal of fun and enjoyment.