WorldMark Seattle – The Camlin

1) Hotel is a little creepy.
2) Rooms are pretty nice and so is customer service.
3) AMAZING location.
I feel an obligation to update you on my experience with the sales presentation.
1) Presentation is closer to 2 hours, even though the girly checking you in coyly says it’s about 90 mins.
2) One of the sales reps does not know where Shanghai is. Lost credibility with me. He said, «Oh! Brian just came back from Shanghai!» REALLY? If you both discussed Shanghai, how come you couldn’t find it in the book of Worldmark hotels under CHINA?
Hrmm… Sketchy sales tactics.

the camlin is a grand dame of seattle. unfortunately this city is turning into a glitter dome, and someone built a giant building in front the camlin sign.
everyone here was great. the sales guy was a bit much, but thats what they do, try to sell you something. LOL
your front desk people are very sweet, and helpful. the rooms are wonderful and beds are comfy. I will be back again and again here. simply fabulous.

My boyfriend and I stayed here for 3 nights and really enjoyed it. We stayed in a 1 bedroom studio which was great because it had a separate bedroom from living room. It also had a kitchenette with coffee and a coffee pot so I didn’t have to wait to get to a restaurant to have my morning coffee. It was very clean and what I especially loved was all the windows through out the room. The bed was comfortable and the curtains kept the bedroom very dark! It’s in an awesome location as well. Walking distance to everything and in a clean, safe neighborhood. The staff was so warm and welcoming every time we left and came back. It really gave it a cozy feel. We did attend a Timeshare presentation which since I had never been to I found to be interesting. They were not pushy when we told them that we were not interested in purchasing a timeshare but honestly I hope to buy one in the future. The credits can be used towards flights and cruises now not only resorts so that was awesome news to me. I would 100% stay at The Camlin again. It was a wonderful experience that left us with warm memories :)

Yes… it is a timeshare. I have stayed at several of their properties… and this one is one of the ones where they do pressure sales. We were told at check in that the presentations would be one person to thirty guests, which it was not… but doing the presentation offset our valet parking to $ 10 for the whole wkend… which was nice.
Other than the sales presentation… this is a nice place to stay, it is in close proximity to the waterfront, pike place market, seattle center and various dining, shopping and entertainment spots.
I was however awakened at 2 am by very loud gunfire in the area… and there was also a hairball in the shower on the wall. And yesss… I do agree that having to go all the way to the basement for ice kind of sucks.
The staff was very friendly for the most part, and I would return.

Great staff, very friendly and all so helpful! We had a 1 bedroom suite and it was perfect. Large and very clean! Next time I go to Seattle, this is the place I’m staying. It’s only 7 short
blocks to Pike Market.

The hotel itself isn’t my style. Kind of old world, Victorian feel. I was here for a job interview though, so I can’t say I got to experience much. The employees were all nice but I did hear them offering a lot of additional sales… Hmmm. Not sure that’s the way to greet guests.

Best way to build travel experiences! My wife and I got timeshare a while back (4 years). We started with some of their samples and only kept using them for about 3 years. We then finally gave it a try and became owners. We were a bit skeptical at first, but it has been one of the best decisions we had ever made! It definitely isn’t for everyone and that’s what’s good about the samples they give.
Pros: lots of options worldwide, saves you money on travel expenses, great hospitality and service.
Cons: depending on which sales person and where you do the presentation, some of them can be bit persistent in trying to get you to become a member.

OK place to stay.
Small, dated but close to the convention center. Had decent channels and Internet access and the people were nice.
Horrible bathrooms. Slow elevator. Small, small gym and you can only get ice in the basement.

We have been World mark owners for about 10 years and have attended several sales presentations over the years at various resorts. The staff says the are «updates of information» but they are really sales attempts. We attended an «information update» at the Camlin and came away so mad because of the high pressure and demeanor of the sales representative that we vowed we will never attend another one at any resort and will tell our guests not to attend. If we ever buy more points it will be through EBay. We like World mark reservation staff and resort front desk staff but will never talk to sales people again.

So to start off the WorldMark Seattle — The Camlin is a TIMESHARE. The building is old and holds a lot of history in Seattle. Set kind of in the middle of town. Close the shopping and food but not very close to the water.
When you drive up there really isn’t anywhere to unload your bags, they do have bell staff but you have to park in the Valet area just to check in. You might even have to park down the road if they are busy. There is almost no street parking and Valet is $ 20 a day and or you can park in a parking structure two blocks away for $ 18 dollars a day. The entrance isn’t wheel chair friend and is narrow.
The building is old but the rooms are more modern. There is Wifi but they charge you for it. The rooms are nice but the bathrooms are small, and there isn’t AC, you might think. It’s Seattle and you don’t need AC but the building gets warm and AC would be nice.
There isn’t a restaurant or room service. They have a pool which I enjoyed but they asked my daughter to get out because it was adult swim for the last hour of the night. No one was out there so I let her go back in.
Overall it wasn’t a bad hotel but they harassed me every day I was there. They want me to come to a timeshare meeting. I am not an owner my parents are. I know the truth about time share and wont buy. So they keep calling and offering me more stuff to come.
1^st call: $ 50 AMX Card
2^st call:$ 100 AMX card
3^rd call: $ 100 AMX card and $ 100 food card.
4^th call: Seattle Mariners Tickets.
5^th Call: Came down and will give you anything off our prize page.
I finally went to the front desk and told them I wasn’t going to come leave me alone. I might stay here again but it isn’t my first or second pick. Also the views suck.

WorldMark Camlin is the yardstick by which we measure other timeshare resorts. We recommend it without reservation. However, there are some changes coming, inside and out.
Inside, the building will undergo the ten-​year refurbishment in 2015 (April 19^th to September 30^th). The plan is to do one floor (five units) every two weeks.
Outside, construction continues on the 815 Pine Apartments, directly south (and nearly touching) Camlin. Noisy! The building should be finished in spring 2015.
BTW, if you are in the resort on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., be sure to attend the historical tour of the Camlin, given by the Resort Manager, Pedro Lama. He gives a great presentation, integrating clever storytelling and photographs to bring the history of the Camlin alive. Scalawags and schemers, bootleggers and celebrities, sunken yachts and long hidden treasure, this tour of the Camlin is a great introduction to the colorful and controversial history of the flagship resort of the WorldMark system.

I don’t know why this has so many great reviews? Have timeshare owners forgotten what a hotel is suppose to be like.? Yes it suppose to be clean but what about service? What about food? What about the extras. I would never stay here again considering there are 100 other hotels with so much more to offer timeshare people look around ! Demand more. I am a holder too but no never again with this resort!

The staff was superb here! Thanks everyone for being so accommodating, much appreciated! I am totally recommending this resort to others I know who are owners.
The resort is centrally located to everything. Across the street is the metro which takes you to Pikes place or can also be a nice walk if you’re inclined. We had a 1 bedroom which was plenty for the four of us. Can’t wait for my next worldmark stay!
Be sure to Ck out the 11^th floor view from the «cloud room» and also the basement which has some old items from the original hotel before Worldmark purchased the property.

This is the worst timeshare company EVER!!!
I am both and owner of this timeshare and a former employee of 5 years. The way they hike up their dues for owners and they «housekeeping» fees makes this a complete joke. Nothing is ever available when you want it to be and they have completely oversold their product — unless you want to go to Branson, MI. They sell their «travelshare» credits for 2,000 times the amount then you can find regular credits on ebay. Then they force you to sell secondary market so you lose $ 20,000 in the process. It was ok back when it was Trendwest, but Wyndham has caused this company to be too corporate for their own good.

This is a great place to stay! Love The Camlin.

The doorman will greet you with a smile and maybe even a song. The-​front desk staff is friendly and accommodating. Once you step into the lobby you are taken back to a time when elegance and warmth were the expectation not the exception. I told the the front desk we were celebrating two special birthdays and they went above and beyond special treatment. We checked in early to a great room. The extra time allowed us the time to enjoy the city. When we returned to our room there was a decedent chocolate cake and a card for the birthday girls signed by the entire front staff. Extra nice touch that we won’t forget. This nostalgic hotel is a real gem and can only be rivaled by the staff from the first hello until they bid us farewell and asked us back again. I am hesitant to continue raving about this place because it may not be as available to me but I can’t help myself.

Lack of Flexibility in Refinancing Arrangements Makes it Too Burdensome
SITREP
I’ve a lot of friends (including Unilocalers) who are happy with Wyndham Vacation Ownership Timeshares and the business plan it is based upon. However, there are others — including myself — who have found in the last years of this devolving economy, that this organization’s immovable stance for now allowing refinancing is totally unrealistic. And while I hate to air my dirty laundry, it has become financially prudent for me to allow this debt to die.
THE SETUP
I got married. Then I got separted 2 years later. Then divorced 2 years after that. But in that first 2 years, it’s amazing how quickly a newlywed couple without impulse control can rack up common debts. [No shit.]
Our first married summer while my then-​spouse & I were kickin it in Lake Tahoe, she became enamored of the «Vacation Opportunity Plan» Kiosk in the casino of Harrah’s (being in a casino should have been my FIRST CLUE about «choppy waters ahead!»). With an incentive to receive a free weekend stay at one of the timeshares, my spouse was enthused about going to the marketing meeting and then to my surprise (because I honestly thought we were gonna game the system like we do all «opportunities») she wanted to sign up for a vacation plan with Wyndham (which at this time was TrendWest Worldmark, before TrendWest was bought out by Wyndham).
THE PLAN
Quite simply, a timeshare with Wyndham has different options based on your budget and your interests in enjoying a network of resorts all over the West Coast (at that time) and now Nationally and Internationally with Wyndham.
Upon my lovely ex-wife’s urging, we opted for the basic 7000 credit plan, which depending on the location of the resort and the time of year, could get us a 4 day tiny studio stay in SF, OR almost 2 weeks at 3-​bedroom facilities in Klamath Falls, Oregon or Arrow Point, ID on Coeur d’Alene Lake (and actually these latter two were nice).
DECISION-​MAKING
I actually deferred the decision making to my then-​spouse since she was a contract negotiator for Hewlitt-​Packard and used to dealing with contracts every day. BAD DECISION. Never rely on just your spouse’s skillsets, especially if they are pushing for the deal and may be motivated by factors that cloud their judgement. I should have listened to my gut-​instinct. But we did it. We got into the timeshare plan & used it fully as a couple.
RENEWING WITH UNSAVORY CONDITIONS
AND we actually double our credits a year later, but renewing meant an increasing monthly payment, increasing maintenance dues once a quarter, and worse, an increase of the contract’s interest rate to 22% from 15%. It’s my own fault — I didn’t catch that. But my ex-​wife DID and she didn’t tell me, which is a problem when you trust someone to look out for your best interests, and this episode actually portends to an entire ARRAY of marriage-​communication-​issues eventually leading to our divorce (another story).
ONWARD
I’ll save a lot of minute boring details by saying when we got divorced, it wasn’t easy to divide up the DEBT. As a means to not have her stall the divorce, I took on the Wyndham debt, and a couple others, by myself. But now as a single-​income earner (as opposed to two), it became a hardship, especially after several years of ongonig budget cuts with the job which kept meaning my pay check kept shrinking as costs kept going up. Now at this point I just can’t afford this millstone around my neck anymore.
PROPERTY INTEREST
The funky thing about timeshares is that they see themselves as being allowed to take the benefits of property ownership (such as being able to write-​off the «mortgage-​interest» associated with paying the contract), but not being held accountable to the same standard of property law such as lowering their interest rates like a true mortgage company would for a refi.
So while I was able to lower my mortgage interest rate on my condo from 8% to 4.5%, I could not lower the dam timeshare contract interest rate from 22% to anything lower, though I’ve made this plea for each of the last 5 years.
THE LOWDOWN
At this point, all I can do really is let the contract default, and lose all the investment of money I have at this point in the timeshare credits I have accrued over the years since Wyndham is incredibly inflexible at any renogotiation of interest rate on the contact which would dramatically lower the monthly payment to something much much more manageable.
I’m a grown up and I have have to «own» my mistake /​my situation and deal with it as best as I can. But the lesson learned here for me is to watch out for quasi-«property» contract scenarios of any nature (timeshares, vacation co-​ops, community asset-​arrangements, etc.) where it is a bit squishy on what happens — and what collateral you have (if any) to mitigate what can become a financially ugly situation for you, especially if you do NOT want to go bankrupt.

Haunted ?! Perhaps I should have done some research before staying here.
This timeshare is the 2^nd most nicest, cleanest and most modern I have stayed in thru WorldMark (the first being NOLA). Ended up with a corner studio on the 3^rd floor. It was well stocked (fridge, sink, hairdryer, pull out bed, sitting area, etc.) — very quaint, cozy and very clean.
You can ride the new monorail system from Sea-​Tac to the end in downtown and it’s just a few blocks in walking distance. Ridiculously cheap transportation!!!
It’s on the cusp of the good part/​bad part of downtown. Evidently, we were warned not to walk in the area where the bridge is in the evening. However, if you’re walking towards downtown, it’s safe. Downtown is within blocks, but downtown is pretty much dead by 9pm.
Stayed here since I was in town for the Seattle Rock N Roll race and the start and finish was at the Seattle Center. It was only a mile away; 15−20min walk. It was great! This hotel is centrally located between downtown, Pikes and Seattle Center. Very easy to get to the monorail system.
I was given a little welcome package and was asked if I wanted to attend a presentation. I respectfully declined and I wasn’t pressured. Staff is awesome and customer service was on par. You also get a free movie ticket for a DVD, coffee/​water and cookies in the lobby. There’s umbrellas available for use if you forget yours!
There’s a pool, game room and supposedly an outlook on one of the top floors (which I wasn’t able to get to). There’s a tour you can take, which is only available at certain times.
What was freaky was on the first night. We turned in early since I had my race in the morning. All of a sudden I awoke to the sound of someone trying to get into the room. The attempts were loud and abrupt. When we went to check the peep hole, no one was there. We had a corner room next to the laundry facility, so therefore no one could have mistaken our room for theirs. From that point on, we heard some weird noises and the next night we had difficulty sleeping.
Upon check out, I asked the staff if the hotel was haunted. The dude laughs in my face and mentioned that there was couple suicides that have occurred in the past. One of which Ozzy Osbourne was staying at the hotel and discovered the body.
WTF?!
Note: There is no elevator or ramp to get into the hotel, so if you’re on crutches, a wheelchair, have a stroller or a large ass suitcase — Good luck!

Camlin ~ revisited!
Headed North to see Van Halen at The Tacoma Dome and stayed a few nights at my beloved Camlin.
We had a studio on the courtyard and it was small but quaint. I, being the dork that I am, kind of like sleeping on a Murphy bed. It makes me think of Lucy and Ethel. I digress.
As always, the service was outstanding and the folks that work there are wonderful. We actually set through the timeshare presentation to earn a $ 100 gift card. They promised 45 minutes and, other than being late to start, they were low pressure. We already own and our rep was totally cool.
I love this place. It has charm and history. It’s not the fanciest place but I’m glad that they were able to retain the «heart» of the property.
Can’t wait for my next trip!

We just got back from Seattle where we had the privilege of spending the weekend in the hotel.
When we arrived following our 3 ½ hour drive we were a bit worn but the lobby itself embraced us with it’s beauty. And then we were greeted with a warm smile and friendly tone by three different staff members who spoiled us with amazing service.
I signed up for valet service since it only cost us $ 14 more for the whole weekend with 24 hour in and out service. This was a great treat for the entire weekend since we were rolling all over the city. Each time they were super fast bringing our car around.
The rooms are very nice and well kept with modern electronics and though they converted to the standard modern key cards they have each old door knob framed by it’s original room which is a pretty awesome touch.
We also got to stay in one of the cabanas which are more private and away from the main hotel yet still close to everything — it was really nice.
We were able on our last night to spend the evening with our friends in the pool and hot tub which were both set to the perfect temperature and made for an amazing evening of relaxation and fun.
I must say this was by far my favorite trip to Seattle yet thanks mostly to this great hotel!