I love packing my bags for adventures, especially at a discount. I met "travel dude" at the DC Convention Center where he had a booth advertising low cost trips. The independent agent who isn't an employee of Gold Key, promised tickets to Busch Gardens, gifts cards for meals and a two bedroom stay at the beach. He went on and on about how we would have a kitchen in our room but we wouldn't really want to take the time to cook due to all the wonderful restaurants we could visit using our gift cards. We checked into the hotel to learn there wasn't a refrigerator (let alone a kitchen). Cue in concerned hubby who has schlepped a full luggage cart to a room and the wife waiting in the lobby, whose pain patch has worn off. Gold Key and the hotel had a conversation. We ended up in a nicer room than expected because I am the best advocate for customer service on the planet and the hotel staff "got it." Gold Key came through for us and that helped ease the dishonesty by "travel dude," who is basically anonymous and faceless after you buy your discounted trip. We visited Busch Gardens, but only because we bought tickets ourselves and NOT because "travel dude" kept his word. I don't blame Gold Key for one person's lack of credibility but I can't imagine I am the only person he conned. We had invited family to join us for this visit. Thank goodness it didn't work out for anyone else. Our interest in the resort tour was to explore options for saving while traveling. The tour was given by a nice representative. I felt a bit overwhelmed by all the figures and data thrown at us but any questions we had were answered. We toured a really decent one bedroom condo style set up in one of the hotels owned by Gold Key. The suite overlooked the beach and even had an option of being two bedrooms with an adjoining door. The room(s) were up-to-date and nicely decorated. The hotel was decent and just yards from the beach. I think Gold Key is good for people who have more money than time and like having their trips pre-packaged and decided for them. My consulting gigs are sometimes last minute and not always local. I can't always keep my ducks in a row for a lunch date, let alone a week's travel plans. Gold Key allows you to change your plans for a fee. I would rather go out to dinner than pay a fee to change my plans. I also don't have interest in paying maintenance fees for a shared unit, condo or hotel suite. If a certain number of people are owning weeks at the same room number, I don't understand why the maintenance fees couldn't be divided up (this is a rhetorical question). Gold Key has locations all over the city, state and world. There are many wonderful adventures at beautiful resorts, hotels and Gold Key destinations. If you don't have time to plan your trips and you don't mind monthly fees, this type of arrangement may work for you. My plans can change in two weeks. Scheduling a prime location a year in advance would be a challenge for us. The person who should pay for the extra charges with our hotel stay is "travel dude" and not Gold Key. read more

Here is my timeline of bad events: August 2014 - We invested and given great treatment. Promised a 4-day getaway September - Paid first time and received info from people who did not exists and no info that explained the 4-day getaway October - Received loads of info on how to refer people for sales November - Mailed check on date due and the following three days lead to NINE debt collection calls. The day before Thanksgiving, they called my sister to sell her on Gold Key. I NEVER GAVE HER INFO during the sales process. December - We get more congratulatory info from people who do not exist. We found out by trying to email them. We often deal with angry call center reps. STILL...no info on the 4-day getaway. I tried the websites mentioned and was not able to complete the sign-up process. I work in computers. I know a broken website when I see it. Now, I got all these crappy materials telling me about places I will never see and something I truly do not own. Flat out...they got us. We got scammed by some nice friendly faces while we were feeling good on vacation. I am a sales guy and believe in customer service. They created false documents, false names, bad websites, and have an angry customer service center. This company is a joke. I am surprised they are in business. I leave a star only because I have to. I would rather leave a middle-finger. read more

Don't but here, they are a rip off. Very dirty and they charge a lot of money for maintenance fees. It is better to rent a cottage in Nags Head. read more

I attended the presentation and they put us up in the Ramada. I would not recommend the Ramada to anyone. I would also not recommend this agency. Gold Key only booked us for 3 days and 2 nights when were purchased 4 days, 3 nights. I managed to find and email that showed were were booked for the additional night. The hallways were quite noisy and this was in January. The server in the restaurant was not very pleasant. Gold Key made promises that they did not keep. They would not be upfront about all fees until we agreed to sign up. The more questions asked, the more the truth came out. read more

Now they apparently go by Diamond Resorts. This is a rip off. Sales people tell you anything to get you to buy. Once u spend all your money you find out the truth. Do not buy this timeshares. read more

I went to Beachwoods Resort in Kitty Hawk NC. This was previously the Barrier Island Resort. I assume the Gold Key PHR has taken over this resort. The first two days I got there I had not heat. The last days I had not water. Finally I had to check out a day early. I asked that a manager contact me. I even emailed the person they told me was in charge. They did not even respond to my requests to talk about the problems I had. This is no way to treat a person. I will never go there again and my advice is STAY AWAY from this resort. If this is the way GOLD KEY runs its resorts I would never do business with them. read more