Starwood Westin Maui Villa points questions

I am considering buying a timeshare via Redweek for the Maui Westin Villas and went to their 1.5 presentation yesterday. I'm a Platinum member with SPG so very familiar with the SPG hotel program. I have discovered Redweek online since coming back from the tour and researching and see the prices are SO much less to buy on Redweek vs directly from the resort.

MY Questions pertain to what I lose by buying the timeshare via Redweek and NOT buying directly from resort: 1) I believe I don't get Gold SPG status for life, is that correct? 2) I obviously don't get the bonus points they offer if buying from resort (as far as I'm aware, these are the only two downsides of NOT buying directly from the resort...am I correct here?) 3) If I buy via Redweek, do I still get all of the same benefits of being able to convert my week into SPG hotel points if I don't use my week?

Any other heads-up on the upsides or downsides of buying through Redweek vs direct would be great b/c I'm looking at making this purchase pretty soon! Thank you in advance!

You are correct about 1 and 2. As to 3, you do lose the ability to convert your staroptions to starpoints but the conversion rate combined with the fairly high MF;s makes conversion not a worth while thing.

For more info you might want to check out the Starwood forum on tug.net (timeshare users group)