FractionalExchange.com has announced that Voyageurs Retreat at Giants Ridge has selected FractionalExchange.com for the vacation exchange requirements of its properties in Minnesota.

Giants Ridge is an award-winning resort located in Minnesota’s Iron Range, which provides access to world-class golf and ski properties. It is located three hours north of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and one hour north of Duluth. As a golf resort, Giants Ridge offers two courses, The Quarry and The Legend. Repeatedly ranked among the best courses in Minnesota, these public courses provide challenge and recreation in a beautiful northwoods setting.

The ski area at Giants Ridge has been recognized for years as one of the best in the Midwest, and has been used as a training ground for the U.S. Olympic Nordic Ski Team. The area features Alpine and Nordic runs, along with snowboarding terrain. Additional snow-related options are tubing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling.

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ResorTime.com, a favorite source for on-line vacation and timeshare condominium rentals polled its users to discover their most favorite resort properties.   Nominees were in four areas:   spa, family, beach, golf and ski.  Nominations were made based on noteworthy resort reviews/comments, outstanding amenities and ResorTime.Com staff nominations.

Nominees in the Spa Category were:  Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa (La Jolla, CA), Los Abrigados Resort & Spa (Sedona, AZ), and Palm Canyon Resort (Palm Springs. CA), Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa (Carlsbad, CA), The Westin Mission Hills Villas (Rancho Mirage, CA), The Westin Kierland Villas (Scottsdale, AZ).

The winner is:  Sheraton Carlsbad Resort for its Ocean Pearl Spa.  Locating in the charming coastal community of Carlsbad, this is the second year the world class spa treatments were honored as number one in this category.  In 2008 the resort received recognition in the Best of San Diego Reader’s Choice Awards in the categories of Best Luxury Hotel, Best Spa and Best Tapas (Twenty/20 Grill and Wine Bar).

Nominees in the Beach Category were:  Carlsbad Inn Beach Resort (Carlsbad, CA), Coronado Beach Resort (Coronado, CA), Ka’anapali Beach Club (Maui, HI), Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay (Mazatlan, MX), San Clemente Cove Resort (San Clemente, CA), and Wyndham Ocean Boulevard (North Myrtle Beach, SC).

The winner is: Ka’anapali Beach Club. A short five minute drive from shopping and golf, the resort is situated along Maui’s less crowded Ka’anapali Beach.  The spacious accommodations (every suite offers 820 square feet of living space) showcase a fresh tropical decor matching the surrounding seven acres of tropical gardens.

Nominees in the Family Category were: Carlsbad Seapointe Resort (Carlsbad, CA), Cypress Pointe Grand Villas (Orlando, FL), Dolphin’s Cove Resort (Anaheim, CA), Grand Pacific Palisades (Carlsbad, CA), Sheraton Vistana Village (Orlando, FL) and Red Wolf Lakeside Lodge (Tahoe Vista, CA).

The winner is Carlsbad Seapointe Resort which offers amenities for everyone including swimming pools, a spa, children’s spray pool, a pirate ship playground, and Dolphin Golf (mini golf area). For the sports lovers, this resort is well quipped with basketball, volleyball, and tennis courts. Located in North San Diego County Carlsbad Seapointe Resort is within minutes of LEGOLAND® California, SeaWorld, and the San Diego Wild Animal Park and world famous San Diego Zoo are just a short drive away.

Nominees in the Golf Category were: Bent Creek Golf Village (Gatlinburg, TN), Grand Pacific MarBrisa Resort (Carlsbad, CA), Orange Tree Golf Resort (Scottsdale, AZ), The Ridge at Sedona Golf Resort (Sedona, AZ), Sheraton PGA Vacation Resort (Port St. Lucie, FL), and Vino Bello Resort (Napa, CA).

The winner is The Ridge on Sedona Golf Resort. The resort offers its own on-site championship golf course and a swimming pool while nearby recreational opportunities include tennis courts, jeep tours, hiking and fishing in the stunning natural rugged red rock wonders of Sedona.

Nominees in the Ski Category were: Cedar Breaks Lodge (Brian Head, UT), Grand Timber Lodge (Breckenridge, CO), Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort (South Lake Tahoe, CA), Lagonita Lodge Resort (Big Bear Lake, CA) and Red Wolf Lodge at Squaw Valley (Olympic Valley, CA).

The winner is Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort adjacent to the south shore of Lake Tahoe.  The resort offers a collection of timeshare rentals and vacation condos for a mountain getaway that is far from ordinary. Close to cross-country and downhill skiing at Heavenly Ski Resort and horseback riding, fishing, boating, or mountain biking Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort is also nearby casinos, restaurants and live entertainment.

The nominated resorts and the results of the poll can be found at http://www.ResorTime.com/Bestof2009.   According to ResorTime.Com’s General Manager, Sherry Weeks, “the popularity of ResorTime.Com can be seen in the number of positive comments posted on its web site.  One ‘raving fan’ said, ‘I love ResorTime.com!  Whenever I want I can get a great place and a reasonable price; whether it’s locally overnight or some great vacation place; short notice or down the way! The rooms are always impressive; like you’re staying at a very special suite.  You can’t get this type of room at this price anywhere else! Talk about having an exclusive suite with all the special bells and whistles.  We’ve used ResorTime over and over again with our friends and family and will continue to do so. If you want to go somewhere great and impress others this is the place.’  These are the kind of people voting in our poll and enjoying the best ResorTime.Com has to offer.”

ResorTime.Com, rapidly becoming the go-to source for spacious condominium rentals, has hundreds of luxury resorts for nightly and weekly rentals that accommodate leisure, business and group travel.  All ResorTime Hot Deals and Value Packages change on an ongoing basis. For more information go to http://www.ResorTime.com/Bestof2009  or call 877-477-7368.

Wellington Financial Reveals Details About Liberty Bank’s Loan to Vermont Timeshare Resort Developer

Wellington Financial, the exclusive Resort Finance lending correspondent for Liberty Bank, is pleased to announce the bank has closed a $10 million receivables hypothecation facility with Smugglers’ Notch (www.smuggs.com) in Vermont.

“The facility will be used to finance future timeshare sales,” says Bill Stritzler, owner and managing director of ‘Smuggs.’ “We found the team from Liberty Bank and Wellington Financial to be first-rate when it came to understanding our needs. It’s refreshing to deal with a lender who understands timeshare so well. We’re looking forward to a long-term relationship.”

Liberty Bank Vice President, David Brede observes, “Smugglers’ Notch has been an important timeshare and ski resort developer for many years. We are very impressed with their management team and their consistently high standards.”

Shawn Brydge, senior vice president at Wellington Financial, noted that, “The resort is a terrific four-season destination and management has done a great job of creating a staff that feels more like a family.  The entire operation is run with a passion and excitement directed at creating the best vacation experience possible for each guest; it’s easy to see why they have such successful resort and timeshare operations.”

About Smugglers’ Notch Resort
Smugglers’ Notch Resort is located in northern Vermont’s Green Mountains with skiing and snowboarding for all abilities on 78 trails and 1000 acres of terrain on three mountains. The Resort’s extensive family programs have been recognized by SKI Magazine, the Family Travel Forum, FamilyFun Magazine, and Condé Nast Traveler magazine, among others. Lodging includes more than 600 privately owned and timeshare condominiums. Smugglers’ has received awards from SKI Magazine, the Vermont governor’s office, and other state environmental stewardship agencies for its innovative approach to environmental stewardship. The resort is privately owned by the Smugglers’ Notch Management Co., Ltd.

About Liberty Bank
Established in 1825, Liberty Bank (www.liberty-bank.com), based in Middletown, Connecticut, is that state’s oldest mutual bank, with more than $3.0 billion in assets. Liberty Bank has been actively lending to the timeshare industry throughout the U.S. for over 30 years. The bank’s commitment to superior service has resulted in lending relationships with some of the industry’s largest and most successful developers. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.

About Wellington Financial
Wellington Financial (www.wellington-financial.com) is the exclusive Resort Finance lending correspondent for Liberty Bank and specializes in lending to developers of timeshare resorts, fractional resorts and retail land. Founded in 1981, the finance and service company offers a full range of products, including receivables hypothecation, purchase and conduit facilities; pre-sale and working capital lines of credit; acquisition, construction and renovation financing, as well as mezzanine and equity debt financing. President Ron Goldberg serves on the Board of Directors for the American Resort Development Association (ARDA).

SPI Software , the vacation ownership industry’s technology leader, is pleased to announce that Meadow Lake Resort, a premiere golf and ski resort in Montana’s Flathead Valley, has selected SPI Orange System Enterprise software to manage their vacation ownership operations.

According to Kevin Holliday, vice president of Meadow Lake Development, “We chose SPI Orange for a number of reasons. The software provides an integrated solution for all aspects of our company. It was clearly designed by a team that understands the needs of a timeshare company. The ability to track a client from a lead, to a tour and all the way through to owner reservations and payments was a particularly attractive feature.  The system is straight forward and intuitive, which will make training easier and will reduce errors.  Our decision was solidified when we obtained strong references from other major timeshare developers.”

Matt Brosious, vice president of sales and marketing at SPI, added “We are honored to have been selected by Meadow Lake, a resort that has earned a well-deserved reputation of excellence. Forward-thinking resorts like this continue to make SPI Orange the industry’s software system of choice.”

Resort or vacation club operators wishing to see a demonstration may contact SPI Sales at 305-858-9505 or by email to sales@spiiinc.com.

About Meadow Lake
Montana’s premiere Golf and Ski Resort, located just minutes from Big Mountain at Whitefish, Glacier National Park and Flathead Lake. Meadow Lake Resort is recognized internationally for quality, service and luxurious accommodations. Meadow Lake has been a recipient of RCI’s Gold Crown Resort Award since 1993 and AAA’s three diamond rating since 1994.

About SPI
SPI provides developers and operators of vacation ownership (timeshare, fractional, private residence club and others using either traditional or points-based usage strategies) with its .NET-based software as either an enterprise suite of software called Orange Systems, or in specific modules to handle marketing, sales, property management, finance, maintenance fee and receivables servicing, centralized reservations or Website access operations. Founded in 1978 and based in Miami, FL, SPI can be reached at 305-858-9505, sales@spiinc.com or www.spiinc.com.