Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional Ownership News, Resort Reviews & Guides » Central America

Sol Meliá Vacation Club Earns RCI Gold Crown Resort® Designation For Gran Melia Puerto Rico Resort

Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional Reviews — Thu, 13 May 2010 16:57:31 +0000

Sol Meliá Vacation Club (SMVC), an international vacation membership club with locations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Europe, has been awarded the prestigious RCI Gold Grown Resort designation by RCI, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange, for its Gran Meliá Puerto Rico resort in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, minutes from the El Yunque rainforest.

A select number of RCI affiliated resorts meet RCI’s requirements for recognition and have earned the RCI Gold Crown Resort award. These resorts have attained high levels in resort accommodations, hospitality and member experiences as measured by RCI.

“We are excited that our product and experience in Puerto Rico exceeds RCI guest expectations, demonstrating the dedication and commitment of our team there,” said Denis Ebrill, Sol Meliá Vacation Club’s Executive Vice President.

L - R: Luis Perez, SMVC Resort Manager, Gran Meliá Puerto Rico; Julio Villasenor, SMVC Regional Director for Puerto Rico; Denis Ebrill, Executive Vice President, Sol Meliá Vacation Club; Eugenio Macouzet, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Caribbean, RCI; and John Dishinger, Director of Business Development, Caribbean, RCI

Sol Meliá Vacation Club is an internationally-branded membership club focusing on leisure lifestyle experiences that include exotic destinations, designer-appointed luxury suites, exclusive services and unforgettable amenities. Each Sol Meliá Vacation Club vacation experience is different from the other, aligned with local culture and customized to fit Members’ leisure lifestyle needs.

RCI is part of Wyndham Exchange & Rentals, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and the European leader in vacation rentals, with exclusive access for specified periods to more than 65,000 vacation properties in approximately 100 countries.

Orlando, Florida based Sol Meliá Vacation Club is part of Spain-based Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts, a 50-year-old international hospitality company with over 350 hotels in 30 countries on five continents. Sol Meliá Vacation Club Members have more vacation lifestyle options through global luxury accommodations in a variety of unique resort and urban destinations around the world, as well as flexibility to choose length of stay, season and size of unit. Featured Sol Meliá Vacation Club locations include Cancun, Cozumel and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico; Puerto Rico and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in the Caribbean; Panama in Central America; and the Canary Islands, Spain, in Europe. For more information, call 866-379-5950, or visit www.smvc.com.

Sol Meliá Vacation Club Receives RCI Pinnacle Award

Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional Reviews — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:06:17 +0000

RCI affiliate recognized as top-performing partner

A select number of RCI affiliates meet RCI’s requirements for this annual honor and have earned the RCI® Pinnacle Award. As a top-performing RCI affiliate, Sol Meliá Vacation Club has received the award for its volume of business.

‘It is a pleasure and privilege for Sol Meliá Vacation Club to be recognized by RCI to receive this prestigious award. We consider this to be an important indicator of our overall success in providing unique and high quality vacation experiences in all our destinations,” said Denis Ebrill, Executive Vice President, Sol Meliá Vacation Club.

“For over 35 years, RCI has been working with its affiliates to transform the vacation experience for owners and resort developers alike,” said Gordon Gurnik, president of RCI North America. “We pride ourselves on helping our affiliates grow their business while also making dream vacations a reality for their owners and our members. The RCI Pinnacle Award allows us to honor and recognize our top performing affiliated resorts who continue working to offer vacation experiences to our 3.8 million members worldwide.”

RCI is part of Wyndham Exchange and Rentals, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and the European leader in vacation rentals, with exclusive access for specified periods to more than 65,000 vacation properties in approximately 100 countries. Wyndham Exchange and Rentals is comprised of vacation exchange, including RCI, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and provider of travel services to businesses and consumers and The Registry Collection program, the world’s largest luxury exchange program; vacation rentals, including Endless Vacation Rentals, Landal GreenParks®, Novasol®, and other renowned vacation rental brands, through which vacationers can rent a variety of property types, from city apartments to villas; and NorthCourse® Leisure Real Estate Solutions, a research and consultancy firm providing advisory services to the global leisure real estate industry. Wyndham Worldwide Corporation is one of the world’s largest hospitality companies with leading brands in lodging franchising, vacation ownership, vacation rentals and vacation exchange.

Orlando, Florida based Sol Meliá Vacation Club is part of Spain-based Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts, a 50-year-old international hospitality company with over 350 hotels in 30 countries on five continents. Sol Meliá Vacation Club members have more vacation lifestyle options through global luxury accommodations in a variety of unique resort and urban destinations around the world, as well as flexibility to choose length of stay, season and size of unit. Featured Sol Meliá Vacation Club locations include Cancun, Cozumel, and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico; Puerto Rico and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in the Caribbean; Panama in Central America; and the Canary Islands, Spain in Europe. For more information call 866-379-5950 or visit www.smvc.com.

Steps To Fractional Success Launched By Star Resort Group

Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional Reviews — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:33:09 +0000

Star Resort Group (Scottsdale, AZ), a leading developer, marketer and seller of resort real estate in North America, has reacted to the business climate with a “cautious optimism” when it comes to fractional ownership.

Carl Berry, CEO of Star Resort Group and pioneer in the shared ownership resort industry, notes that there are key hard steps and soft steps to success in making the product work in 2010-2011.

Steps to Success

1. Know the market. Are people ready to buy? Star Resort Group’s SMART assessment program surveyed customers to determine this factor. Surprisingly, in late 2009 and early 2010 the results have been surprisingly positive.

2. Know new media and new media lead generation. There’s lots of talk about web sites on steroids, social media, blogging, search engine marketing, EDM marketing, pairing with industry websites, with real estate broker websites and the like. There’s lots of talk out there. But, how does one make it work?

3. Get a CRM program (such as SalesForce.com) to capture all these new media leads in a format that works for 24/7 and gives permitted users access 24/7 to track prospects and sales.

4. Get the right project. Sounds simple doesn’t it? But, the core adage of location still holds true, quality building is still important, stylish furnishings are still necessary, and the correct size for the bulk of the market is paramount.

5. Determine the right share size to sell. Offer multiple share sizes. Be innovative in the use plan. Have a common sense reservation plan. All this sounds simple, but this is the area where success or failure will largely be defined.

6. Build the HOA budget with a combination of ‘built-in’ services and other a la carte services. The balance in this task is to meet the expectations of the owner for carefree vacations with an annual fee that makes sense as it’s applied to their use. At Star we’ve done a full 180 going from all-inclusive to a combination of included services and extras. Naturally, there’s no fooling with the maintenance and reserves for replacement part of the budget.

7. Deliver a level of hospitality management that will fulfill the owner’s expectations.

8. Educate and train the selling staff in the science of how to sell fractions. There’s no ‘art’ here; just the science of knowing the product and documents; to be unconsciously conscious in the presentation; and to fully understand the decision making process of the buyer who are concerned first with personal use and second with ongoing costs. Lastly the staff should understand that maybe one of the buying ‘unit’ will want the fraction more than the other, so if there is an ‘art’ it’s bringing along the trailing buyer.

9. Sales of documentation and registration in selling jurisdictions are necessary and must be accomplished before hard sales begin.

10. Marketing from Branding to EDMs, from Old to New Media must be skillfully planned and executed to first fill the customer pipeline with qualified leads; and secondly, to keep the pipeline full for the selling staff.

11. Administration and escrow management is vital for this process and translates the product into cash in the final analysis. Does the title and escrow company accept credit card down payments? Can a documented sale be closed within 30-days?

12. Purchase financing is mandatory. At this time there is no third-party financing available due the financial collapse of September 2008. Therefore, developers have to make the loans and warehouse the loans until they can be sold. Star estimates that will be mid-2011.

The twelve steps above are all ‘soft’ steps.

The ‘hard’ steps involve product:

Product to Sell

1. The ideal situation is to have completed product, completely furnished, with all amenities in and ready to use. However, presales are sometimes necessary and provide an advantage in that, last minute configurations to the product can be made based on customer response. If presales have commenced, a firm construction loan needs to be in place, subject to the presale requirement, so the buyer can expect a semi-firm date for construction to begin and occupancy to occur. At Star we’ve sold in all situations. In a recovering market like there is today, the more certainty the better.

2. Before there can be new product to sell there’s the total lack of development and construction financing, and also buyer financing. These markets are still frozen save for a very few isolated cases of local banks continuing to work with their developers. The vise banks find themselves in is that on one hand the Federal government says to, ‘Get the money out’, and on the other hand the FDIC auditors say, ‘Don’t you dare make any loans’. This is a nationwide situation.

3. The current end loan options out there are:

A. The developer makes and holds the balloon loans for the 3, 5 or 7 year period.
B. Some brokers are working with developers to ‘package’ their developer-made loans in the right form to be sold, if and when the market opens up.
C. Lastly, some developers are just stuck as they don’t have the capacity to get releases from their lender, save for all cash sales or huge down payments, and to then carry the paper themselves.

4. There’s been talk of private money coming in for the loans, but there’s also the consensus that private money will flow first to timeshare loans as they yield is much higher than for fractions.

The real question is how will fractional developers move beyond potential stumbling blocks to successfully bring in those who want quality, vacation home living at an affordable price?

Star Resorts is a leading developer, marketer and seller of luxury fractional ownership real estate, private residence clubs, timeshares, and whole ownership resort real estate products in The Americas and soon in Europe. Star Resorts provides sales and marketing, development and management expertise to developers throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America. The Company also develops resort projects for its own account, and is unique in that aspect.

Find out how Star Resorts can assist in the development of your project. www.starresortgroup.com

Sol Meliá Vacation Club Captures ARDA Award For Customer Relations And Nominations For Three Other Industry-Wide Awards

Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional Reviews — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:16:12 +0000

Sol Meliá Vacation Club (SMVC), an international vacation membership club with locations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Europe, received a total of four award nominations at the 2010 American Resort Development Association (ARDA) Annual Convention and Awards Reception in Las Vegas in the categories of Sales VLO/QAO, Owner/Customer Relations Manager, electronic newsletter and Web Site. Bringing the gold home for SMVC this year was Wanda Hernandez, Member Services Training Manager.

“I am pleased and proud that Sol Meliá has become so well known in the industry to continue to garner ARDA nominations and awards,” said Denis Ebrill, Sol Meliá Vacation Club’s Executive Vice President.

Sol Meliá Vacation Club Team at the ARDA Awards include from left to right: Raul Ojeda, Vice President of Sales and Marketing; Fior Minaya, Sales Representative Sol Meliá Vacation Club Dominican Republic and nominee for Sales VLO/QAO Award; Wanda Hernandez, Member Services Training Manager and ARDA Award Winner for Customer Relations Manager; Reina Soto, Director of Member Services; Jorge de la Osa, Coporate Counsel and Cuauhtemoc Novello, Director of Corporate Marketing

ARDA is the Washington, D.C. based professional association representing the vacation ownership and resort development industries. Established in 1969, ARDA has over 1,000 members today ranging from privately held companies to publicly traded companies and international corporations with expertise in shared ownership interests in leisure real estate.

Sol Melia Vacation Club Joins The Registry Collection

Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional Reviews — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:19:18 +0000

Dominican Republic and Canary Island resorts become part of elite group

Sol Meliá Vacation Club (SMVC), an international vacation membership club with locations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Europe, has joined The Registry Collection®, the world’s largest luxury exchange program including luxury fractional, whole ownership, private residence club, high-end timeshare, villas and manors, luxury cruises, yachts and private jets. Sol Meliá Vacation Club at The Reserve at Palma Real and The Reserve at Paradisus Punta Cana, both in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and Sol Meliá Vacation Club at Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, now have the prestigious “by invitation only” affiliation with The Registry Collection.
“It’s an honor for us to have these three distinguished resorts meet the high standards of affiliation with The Registry Collection,” said Denis Ebrill, Sol Meliá Vacation Club’s Executive Vice President. “We also are very excited that its gives our Members access to high-end exchange experiences within an elite portfolio.

Sol Melia Vacation Club Receives 2010 RCI Gold Crown Awards For Punta Cana, Dominican Republic Resorts

Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional Reviews — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:27:12 +0000

Sol Meliá Vacation Club (SMVC), an international vacation membership club with locations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Europe, has received the 2010 Gold Crown Resort® awards by Group RCI, a worldwide leader in vacation exchanges with more than 3.5 million members globally, for all of its resorts in the Dominican Republic – The Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real, The Reserve at Paradisus Punta Cana, Paradisus Palma Real and Meliá Caribe Tropical.

The award is presented annually to RCI affiliated resorts in recognition of outstanding resort facilities and service, based on guest feedback in specific areas, including resort quality, service and overall vacation experience.

RCI Gold Crown Resort Award to Sol Meliá Vacation Club at Paradisus Palma Real: From left to right: Carolina Zapata, RCI Senior Account Executive for the Caribbean; Alexander Avramovic, Regional Managing Director Sol Meliá Vacation Club Dominican Republic; Eduardo Alcalde, Hotel Manager Paradisus Palma Real; Perla Rowland, Regional Resort Manager, Sol Meliá Vacation Club Dominican Republic; Denis Ebrill, Executive Vice President, Sol Meliá Vacation Club

“We feel honored that each one of our resorts in the destination continues to exceed RCI guest expectations, thereby validating the dedication and commitment of our operations teams at each of these resorts to the highest standards of quality,” said Denis Ebrill, Sol Meliá Vacation Club’s Executive Vice President.

Citadel Trustees Ltd Enters Into A Strategic Partnership With Best Group

Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional Reviews — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:12:53 +0000

Citadel Trustees Ltd (Citadel) is pleased to announce that it has recently entered into an exclusive Mutual Co-Operation Agreement with Best Group, thus enabling the company to expand its B2B services to a much wider developer client base.

Christopher Allen, Director, commented “Citadel is very proud to have entered into such a strategic alliance with Best Group due to the close underlying synergies between both companies and this new relationship will allow us to not only offer our bespoke Trustee and Stakeholder Services to a much wider market, but also enhance the process through which a developer will be able to offer his fractional product to the
market”.

Citadel and Best Group have been closely examining the Fractional market for considerable time now and have identified the need for a one-stop service, which offers a professional and cost effective package of key commercial, legal and trustee services to real estate developers looking to enter the Fractional market. This unique service will in essence mean, that once Best Group has taken the developer through the initial commercial feasibility phase, then Citadel will structure the legal framework for the project making it a more streamlined and cost effective process, giving greater credibility to the fractional product as well as enhancing its operational efficiency.

Best Group, www.thebestgrp.com, which at the recent 2009 OPP Industry Awards received the Highly Commended accolade in the category of OPP Best Fractional Service Award 2009, holds a prominent position in the Fractional market where it is highly regarded for its services to real estate developers, particularly in Europe, the Caribbean and Central America.

Brad Lincoln, CEO Best Group commented: “We are really pleased to be able to offer fractional structures and trustee services for fractional developers through this partnership with Citadel Trustees. Citadel has an excellent reputation in the market and a team with decades of experience worldwide. Being able to project manage the entire setup of the fractional scheme with a trusted partner will enable us to help developers get to market more quickly and cost effectively, using the experience of a strong team backing them”.

Citadel Trustees Ltd., which is also authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority, is a fully owned subsidiary of Hutchinson & Co Trust Company Ltd. which has been operating for twenty-five years, and was formed as a specialist Trustee with a principle focus on emerging products, in particular those requiring stakeholder and escrow activities, as well as Hotel buy-to-let schemes and other leisure related
investment products. Citadel operates its Head Office out of Camberley, Surrey and has branch offices in Spain, Thailand, India and China. For further information about Citadel, please visit www.citadeltrustees.com

Alternatively, contact Christopher Allen, Director of Client Services and Business Development, by email at
chrisallen@citadeltrustees.com or, call the company’s UK Head Office +44 (0) 1276 482015/16.

For information on advertising and editorial opportunities with Perspective Magazine & Owners Perspective Magazine; the leading independent B2B & B2C magazines for the timeshare and fractional ownership industries visit www.perspectiverates.com

Le Meridien, A European Rooted Hotel Brand, Expands Its International Presence With Its First Hotel In Central America, Le Meridien Panama

Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional Reviews — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:30:06 +0000

Le Méridien Panama offers superior service in an art rich, contemporary environment designed to inspire the creative guest

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) today announced the opening of Le Méridien Panama, the European rooted hotel brand’s first property in Central America. Set in the heart of Panama’s cosmopolitan capital city, Le Méridien Panama, owned by developers Bern Hotels & Resorts Panama, is a modern, contemporary building located on the edge of the Bay of Panama, boasting spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and the Panama City skyline. Surrounded by the intimate cafes and chic galleries of Panama City’s vibrant Uruguay Street, Le Méridien Panama is within the city’s financial district and a short distance from Panama City’s major tourism attractions, such as the Panama Canal, considered one of the “Eight Wonders of the Modern World.”

“We take pride in this new hotel in Panama, as the property will be a key hotel for international travelers interested in exploring the modern and diversified culture of Panama,” said Osvaldo Librizzi, President of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Latin America. “The pipeline of Le Méridien hotels in Latin America has a focus on city centre hotels and resorts in leisure destinations to complement the brand’s footprint worldwide.”

“We are honored to open the first Le Méridien hotel in Central America and look forward to being part of the brand’s development into a contemporary lifestyle brand,” said Glen Champion, VP for Bern & Hotels and Resorts Panama.

Designed by renowned Panamanian architect Mallol Ignacio, Le Méridien Panama features a jaw-dropping double height entry with an overturned glass pyramid that reflects vibrant colors throughout the sleek black granite lobby. Offering 111 guestrooms, including 29 suites, the hotel also has 4,000 square feet of function space ideal for corporate meetings and events as well as intimate social affairs. In addition, Le Méridien Panama features a signature restaurant, Latitudes, by Panamanian Chef Anibal Chiari, a contemporary fusion concept of international cuisine that can seat 75 guests, including a communal table and private dining room. Latitudes also offers Le Méridien signature breakfast, which includes reinvented favourites with components developed by three-star Michelin chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Coffee Culture, a global programme developed in partnership with illycaffè. The hotel also offers spa treatments in the Sensory Spa by Clarins with six treatment rooms and a fully-equipped fitness center and outdoor pool and terrace, overlooking the Bay of Panama.

“Le Méridien Panama marks a milestone in Le Méridien’s global re-launch and transformation into a lifestyle brand as we open in Central America for the first time and celebrate our 15th new Le Méridien hotel since Starwood acquired the Le Méridien brand in November 2005,” said Eva Ziegler, Global Brand Leader, Le Méridien and W Hotels Worldwide. “Le Méridien‘s vision is to transform the functional and transactional driven hotel experience into an emotional connection with our guests, delivering a new perspective through art and cuisine, the brand’s passion points, in a relevant way in order to attract a new, aspirational audience – the creative mind.”

Le Méridien Panama showcases the newly introduced global Le Méridien arrival experience, curated by international arts provocateur Jérôme Sans, the hotel brand’s cultural curator since 2006, and developed together with members of the LM100, Le Méridien’s family of cultural innovators. Le Méridien arrival experience, designed to make the first ten minutes of the guest’s stay memorable, consists of four signature elements, including the transitional portal, which is a visual and audio “wall” of art and sound at the entrance of the hotel that engulfs each guest to reset their minds, leaving the outside world behind for the world of Le Méridien; the sensory experience, illustrated through Le Méridien signature scent, sound and use of light, creating a unique and distinctive atmosphere; UNLOCK ART™ programme, which features an artist designed key card collection that not only offers access to the guestroom but also to Le Méridien affiliated contemporary cultural centers; and lastly, the elevated experience, which transforms the event of riding an elevator into an “elevating experience” through sound.

At Le Méridien Panama the hotel’s transitional portal has been developed by artist and LM100 Member Younès Rahmoun. His role within LM100 originated when he was engaged by Le Méridien brand to create the art pieces, entitled “Zahara 77 Flowers,” “Nisf Sahâba” (Half Cloud) and “Sahâba / Massar” (Cloud / Rangelands) for various Le Méridien transitional portals around the world. The exclusive keycards at Le Méridien Panama, part of the UNLOCK ART programme, have been created by American artist Sam Samore and provides guests with access to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC), one of Panama’s largest cultural and design institutions. The scent at Le Méridien Panama has been developed by LM100 members Eddie Roschi and Fabrice Penot from Le Labo, an innovative perfume company from New York, and the 24-hour music piece of the transitional portal and elevated experience has been created by LM100 member, musician and composer Henri Scars Struck. In addition, Le Méridien Panama has engaged local Panamanian artist Igor Kourany to curate artwork throughout the hotel, including a large piece at the entrance titled “Sky Dancers” that reflects the fiery colors and vibrant urban landscape of Panama City.

About Le Méridien
Le Méridien, the French-born hotel brand currently represented by 104 properties in 50 countries, was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) in November 2005. Since then, Le Méridien has gone through a brand re-launch, which included appointing a full-time Cultural Curator – French arts-provocateur Jérôme Sans – and transforming numerous guest touch points, thus bringing unique and interactive experiences to its guests. With close to 80 of its properties located in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Le Méridien brand provides a strong international complement to Starwood’s primarily North American holdings. Plans call for dynamic expansion of Le Méridien hotels and resorts within the next five years, concentrating in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, including destinations such as India, Thailand and China. Le Méridien Hotels recently opened new hotels in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Shimei Bay (China), Dallas and will open in Philadelphia, Xiamen, Chongqing Nan’an, and Qingdao (China). in the coming months, and has recently signed new hotel deals in Taipei, For more information, please visit www.lemeridien.com.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 966 properties in more than 100 countries and 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft®, and Element SM. Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

Sol Meliá Vacation Club At Gran Meliá Palacio De Isora, Tenerife, Captures RCI Developer Innovation Award

Perspective Magazine: Timeshare & Fractional News & Reviews — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:32:57 +0000

Orlando-based Sol Meliá Vacation Club (SMVC), an international leisure vacation membership club with locations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Europe, has been presented with the 2008 Developer Innovation Award for the new Sol Meliá Vacation Club at Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, by Group RCI, a worldwide leader in vacation exchanges with more than 3.5 million members globally.

Pictured from left to right for the award presentation at SMVC at Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora are: Ovidio Zapico, RCI Spain; Fernando Navarro, SMVC at Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora; Ignacio Diaz, General Manager of Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora; Denis Ebrill, Executive Vice President of Sol Meliá Vacation Club; and Dimitris Manikis, RCI VP Business Development.

RCI’s Annual Awards for Developer Achievement include the Developer Innovation category, recognizing resorts with new vacation ownership projects that are eco-friendly, have unique features, are family friendly and provide a high level of service, starting with the point of arrival.

“The Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora is one of the finest quality resorts in the Canary Islands and is a great new location for us,” said Denis Ebrill, Executive Vice President of Sol Meliá Vacation Club. “We are proud to receive this award and RCI’s recognition of our unique product offering.” SMVC at Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora features 200 one and two-bedroom oceanfront suites with lavish amenities such as plasma TVs, fully-equipped kitchenettes, upscale wood and granite accents. Resort features include five restaurants, six bars, room service, wine cellar, golf simulator, two tennis courts, world-class Yhi Spa, four adult swimming pools, two children’s pools, including one of the largest swimming pools in Europe.

Sol Meliá Vacation Club is an internationally-branded membership club that focuses on providing leisure lifestyle experiences that include exotic destinations, designer-appointed luxury suites, exclusive services and unforgettable amenities. Each Sol Meliá Vacation Club vacation experience is different from the other, aligned with the local culture and customized to fit Members’ leisure lifestyle needs.

SMVC is part of Spain-based Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts, a 50-year-old international hospitality company with over 350 hotels in 30 countries on five continents. Sol Meliá Vacation Club Members have more vacation lifestyle options through global luxury accommodations in a variety of unique resort and urban destinations around the world, as well as flexibility to choose the length of stay, season and size of unit. Featured Sol Meliá Vacation Club locations include Cancun, Cozumel and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico; Puerto Rico and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in the Caribbean; Panama in Central America; and the Canary Islands, Spain, in Europe.

The Future of Luxury Vacations

Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional Reviews — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 10:24:56 +0000

by Campbell Jefferys

Brent Handler

In just a few short years, Exclusive Resorts has gone from an idea born on a Hawaiian beach to being the world’s premier vacation club, now with over 3,400 members.

Over 400 luxury vacation residences are available in prime locations around the world, from beachside villas to mountain cabins to cruise liners. Brent Handler, cofounder and president of Exclusive Resorts spoke about the outstanding progress his company has made, about the burgeoning luxury destination club industry, and about why it’s better to join a club rather than invest in a vacation home.

Exclusive Resorts has achieved tremendous success in just three years. How do you account for such success in such a short time?

I think there are three main factors to our success. First, we offer more choice and flexibility than anyone else. Second, our quality is second to none. And third, we have a fantastic group of employees, both here in Denver and on site around the world.

As far as the industry itself is concerned, at first I think members were just attracted to the idea of an effortless vacation. Before I co-founded Exclusive Resorts, when I went on vacation I had a choice: I could stay in a hotel or a resort, I could rent a villa, or I could take on the headaches of buying a second home or a timeshare. And while each of those has its benefits, they all come with their own set of problems. That’s not the case with Exclusive Resorts. Our members enjoy fantastic private residences, all the amenities and convenience of a luxury resort, and dozens of destinations like a world-class hotel chain. And that’s without the uncertainty of rentals or the cost to own and maintain a second home.

The luxury destination club market is currently very competitive. What edge does Exclusive Resorts have over the competition?

It comes down to flexibility, ease and value. We offer over 400 luxury residences in 37 of the world’s most desirable destinations. We partner with amazing resorts and amenity providers. All the usual work of planning a vacation is made very easy for our members, thanks to our dedicated Member Services Managers and Onsite Concierges. And you can’t beat the value of getting 400 homes for the cost of a down payment on one, without any of the hassles.

You currently have residences in North and Central America, the Caribbean, and Europe, with more under development. Will we see further developments in the near future?

We have an incredible real estate team that assesses locations, development options and amenities to find projects that will be a fantastic fit for our members. We know where our members want to travel because we listen to them very closely. We survey our members regularly and follow up on their suggestions for new destinations. We are always examining exciting opportunities that will answer the specific requests we receive from our members.

We live in a modern world of time constraints and fluctuating property prices. What advice can you give to customers choosing between buying a vacation home and joining a vacation club?

Any prospective member needs to sit down and evaluate their vacation needs before they make a decision. If you just want to go to the same place every year, maybe you don’t need a destination club. For some, a second home in one location is right for them. But for those who want to experience vacations in locations around the world, who crave that variety, a club like ours provides that without the usual headaches. There’s no maintenance, HOA, tax, or real estate deflation to worry about. And you don’t have to become an expert on Costa Rica or Paris or Puerto Vallarta to have an amazing vacation there. The way I like to put it is, the first place our members should see on vacation is the beach, not the grocery store. That’s the way travel should be.

Is this the future of luxury travel? Will we see more people shying away from investing in property and turning instead towards upmarket clubs?

Our industry is still very young, but it’s growing at an unbelievable rate. Exclusive Resorts has grown from fewer than 100 members a few years ago to more than 3,400 members today. As awareness grows, so does our club. With the current concerns about declining real estate values, we predict that many will take a look at joining a luxury destination club as an alternative.

The market for luxury destination clubs is actually larger than many people think. We believe this model has the potential to continue to grow into a large piece of the luxury travel industry. Luxury destination clubs put the luxury travel lifestyle within reach of a greater percentage of the population than ever before by eliminating the headaches and bringing together everything people want in one easy package.

How are luxury destination clubs different from basic timeshare options and fractional investments?

Timeshares and fractional investments operate on a completely different business model. The most fundamental distinction is that luxury destination clubs don’t sell any real estate interest to the purchaser. Basically, we operate like a country club. Members pay dues and have access to the club’s services; in our case, to over 400 multi-million dollar vacation residences. With timeshares, you purchase an interest in a particular plan and a specific property and typically have a designated time of year to use your share. With Exclusive Resorts, members can vacation at any time of year they want and at any one of our 37 destinations around the world. And our membership fee is 75 percent refundable.

What does the future hold for Exclusive Resorts?

More memorable vacations for our members. We are really excited about the future of Exclusive Resorts. We believe in providing our members with the most rewarding vacation experiences possible and we have a fabulous team in place in order to do this now and in the years to come.

Todd Harris

Giving Members the Best

It is the quality of service which sets the leading luxury destination clubs apart from the rest. Todd Harris, senior vice president of Hospitality & Member Services, spoke about the services offered by Exclusive Resorts.

What kinds of services are available for members of Exclusive Resorts?

Exclusive Resorts combines the best of all worlds. You get a spacious, elegant private home, the amenities and convenience of a luxury resort, and the breadth of destinations of a world-class hotel chain. It’s a completely new way to travel. We provide dedicated Onsite Concierges who look after members around the clock and make sure everything is taken care of. They buy groceries, coordinate the daily housekeeping, make the arrangements if you want a private chef and provide all the standard concierge duties including making reservations and offering advice on the local attractions, as well as unique personalized service designed to make members feel at home from the moment they arrive.

With nearly 400 residences available, do members often seek advice when choosing their holiday location?

Our members have several options to choose from. We have a terrific Member Services team in our Denver office which looks after every aspect of planning members’ travel. Each club member is assigned a dedicated Member Services Manager who learns the member’s travel preferences and can help them make the best decisions so they can get the most out of their vacation. We also have a proprietary member reservation system called ER Compass® that empowers those members who prefer to “do it themselves” to research every destination and residence in detail. And we’ve partnered with leading brands including American Express and Marquis JetSM to provide even more options to uniquely customise every vacation.

You worked for 14 years with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Why should customers join a destination club instead of opting for a five star hotel or resort?

I think a five star hotel experience, like Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons, is still a wonderful option for some travellers, particularly for business travel or couples travelling alone. Exclusive Resorts has been successful because we offer members travelling with a larger family or other families an opportunity to really connect with each other during their vacation. Part of why the affluent traveller values time off is to help reconnect with family and friends. Obviously it’s much easier to do this in a spacious four-bedroom residence that really feels like home than if everyone is staying in separate hotel rooms.

While Exclusive Resorts provides similar world-class service and amenities as a hotel, our concierges are more readily available to personally assist with members’ needs. A hotel concierge often has 150 or more rooms of guests and no way to deliver the in-depth personal attention our members get. Finally, the cost of four luxury hotel rooms or suites could easily run over US$5,000 a night making a week-long stay cost close to US$40,000 after paying taxes and service charges. In many cases, this is double what our members pay in annual dues for up to three or four of these week-long vacations.

Ritz-Carlton offers fractional ownership through the Ritz-Carlton Club. How does this club compare with the luxury destination club of Exclusive Resorts?

The Ritz-Carlton Club’s fractional concept works very well for some people. Having managed the Ritz-Carlton Club at Bachelor Gulch, I think they provide a good service experience for travellers who enjoy going back to the same location over and over again. As I see it, Exclusive Resorts membership provides three major benefits over many fractional products. First, the size and quality of the homes. Compare a four-bedroom private residence with a two-bedroom condo that might have neighbours next door, above and below. Second, the amazing variety of residences and destinations. And third, ease of use. We have a very simple and transparent way to plan and book travel, where members can either book themselves or have their Member Services Manager book for them.

Which of the residences are currently in the highest demand?

It may sound like a cliché but it is hard to say that any one location is in the highest demand. Many of our members love the beach and, therefore, we offer a significant number of residences in beach destinations. However, residences in mountain and metropolitan destinations also have great appeal to our members year-round. You could say that our members’ highest demand is variety.

Exclusive Resorts has membership levels that are tailor-made to fit a variety of lifestyles. These range from 10 nights per year for a $160,000 deposit and $13,900 annual dues up to 60 nights per year for $500,000 deposit and $59,900 annual dues. All membership deposits are 75 percent refundable should a member ever choose to leave the club.
www.exclusiveresorts.com