My grandparents had a timeshare (which was passed along to one of my aunts when they died). As far as I can tell, the timeshare was a good deal for my grandparents — and now my aunt — but only because of their very particular situations:

A) A person who is old and largely computer illiterate can have a certain amount of trouble making their own hotel reservations in this day and age. Timeshares take care of a lot of those issues.

B) My grandparents were well enough off never to worry about the cost of the timeshare.

C) My grandparents had both the time and the desire to travel frequently, and when they got old enough that they could no longer travel, they enjoyed gifting timeshare stays to family members.

D) My grandparents enjoyed trips wherever. They didn’t necessarily want to go to specific cities or see the pyramids or whatever. They just wanted to get away from their country home every so often.

I absolutely agree that timeshares are a terrible investment for most people, but for people who meet criteria B, C, and D, then they can work very well.