Timeshare Trends Blog

A grand re-opening for the Royal Islander Club LaPlage on St Maarten—The Royal Islander Club LaPlage has been operating for 24 years and just celebrated its grand re-opening. Set on the edge of Maho Bay, the Royal Islander Club welcomes guests to St Maarten with two timeshare and condominium properties, the LaPlage and LaTerrasse.

The resort suffered damage from the passing of Hurricane Omar in October 2008. The resort has now been brought back to its legendary status, while also adding several additional amenities with carefully planned upgrades and re-designed units. The Royal Islander Club LaPlage has received the prestigious RCI Gold Crown Award for its 24th year in business.

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Shell Vacations has recently added the Mountainside Lodge to its growing list of resort and timeshare properties. Located in the popular four seasons resort area of Whistler, in British Columbia. Shell Vacations now owns the existing 41-unit timeshare portion of the resort, which is partially owned by about 1,600 existing interval owners as well as 37 all-suite units. The hotel units will all be converted to timeshare units.

The resort is an easy one-minute walk to the lifts of Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, or you may stroll through the European-style village of Whistler, with shops, activities, and restaurants, as well as an active nightlife.

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The Florida legislature has again trampled on the rights of timeshare owners. The legislature is determined to make it as difficult as possible to resell a timeshare. The reason for this is simple. The timeshare developers have lobbyists, and the timeshare consumer does not!

Let me explain.

Timeshare developers are continuing to sell new timeshare weeks. These weeks can sell for $20,000 or more per week. Their biggest problems are existing timeshare owners who want to resell their timeshare.. Resales can be priced at as much as 50% less than the price the developer charges.

So why would a purchaser want to buy a timeshare from a developer when they can buy the same or a similar property for ½ the price? GOOD QUESTION.

If the timeshare owner buys from an existing owner, than the developer does not earn the profit from the sale. Enter the Florida legislature. They are doing everything possible to make it impossible to resell a timeshare. Does this hurt the consumer? Yes. Does this benefit the timeshare developer and their lobbyists? Yes.

Their latest gambit is to add a retroactive “disclosure” law. This law requires the disclosure of sales and not rentals. Are rentals more prevalent than sales in these tough economic times? Of course. But why have resale companies actually disclose good statistics when that defeats the purpose. The law also imposes retroactive disclosure requirements, and very onerous penalties for non-compliance.

Fairness would dictate that the same “disclosure” requirements would be imposed when the developer “tries” to resell your timeshare (If you think that they will try to resell your timeshare when they are trying to sell their own inventory that they make more profit from I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell to you.).

Incredibly, the timeshare developer does not have the same disclosure requirement!!

It is time to voice your anger at this outrageous conduct by the Florida legislature.

Please email your support to info@timsharesbyowner.com by signing the following petition that is listed below stating your displeasure with the Florida legislature.

I HEREBY OBJECT TO THE CONDUCT OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE IN TRAMPLING ON THE RIGHTS OF TIMESHARE OWNERS WHO ARE TRYING TO SELL OR RENT THEIR TIMESHARE IN THESE TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES. I HEREBY DEMAND THE REPEAL OF SECTION 721.20(9) FLORIDA STATUTES.

(Include your name, city and state of residence).

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Holiday Inn Vacations top tier units at the Orange Lake Resort in Orlando have joined the Registry Collection, an elite, invitation-only vacation exchange program run by Group RCI. As a result, Holiday Inn timeshare owners who buy into the top-tier units and the exchange program can use their vacation privileges at high-end resorts around the world.

Holiday Inn’s Signature Collection series scheduled to open January 1 includes penthouse suites villas with high-end furnishings, surround-sound stereo, LCD televisions, spa tubs with hydro-jets, concierge service, private pool deck with attendant, and much more than what may be available for the average timeshare owner.

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Orlando is the favorite destination according to a survey recently released from the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). The 2009 summer survey reveals the top 10 vacation choices, and for the seventh year in a row, Orlando and Las Vegas remain the most popular summer destinations booked by ASTA travel agents.

Orlando came out on top with 17.2% of responses and Las Vegas maintained the second spot with 16% of the votes. Orlando and Las Vegas were followed by San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Honolulu, San Diego, Washington (DC), Chicago and New York. While the same cities have remained in the top ten since 2006, their rankings have not. New York, for example, fell again this year from seventh place in 2008 to tenth place after five years in the number three spot from 2003 to 2007. San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami maintained their spots at numbers three, four and five respectively. Honolulu moved up from number eight to number six in this year’s survey.

When looking at which states see the most summer travelers as booked by travel agents, not surprisingly, Florida again came out on top in 2009, accounting for 20.3% of all responses with cities such as Orlando, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa. Nevada drew the second largest number of responses at 16.1% share with almost all the travel for Las Vegas. California, New York and Hawaii took third, fourth and fifth places respectively. Overseas, the top four international destination cities are London followed by Rome, Paris, and Cancun

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Still on schedule are 50 new units that will open later this year in Disneyland in Anaheim, California, along with three recently opened timeshare properties right in Disney World in central Florida. The ambitious growth in the Disney Vacation Club is coming at a time when sales at the Celebration, Florida based timeshare business fell during the last three months that ended on March 28. It is the first quarterly decline that Disney has recorded in its Disney Vacation Club timeshare arm in several years.

According to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, this has added more pressure at Disney’s worldwide them park division, which has relied on its vacation club to help fuel its profit growth in recent years. The new resorts in Disney World in Florida include the Kidani Village, Treehouse Villas, and Bay Lake Towers. In Anaheim, the Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa is on schedule, the resort in Hawaii remains under construction and is scheduled to open in 2011. Finally, Disney has purchased 15 acres just outside Washington DC with plans to build a family resort and timeshare units.

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FLORIDA COURT RULES THAT OUT OF STATE REAL ESTATE BROKER MUST BE LICENSED—CANNOT ACCEPT ADVANCE FEE FOR SELLING A TIMESHARE

On July 8, 2009, the Circuit Court for Leon County Florida ruled that Stroman Realty, a Texas real estate broker, violated Florida law by not becoming licensed in the State of Florida, and could not collect an advance fee for listing a timeshare.

This was big victory for the State of Florida, and effectively outlaws real estate broker from collecting an advance fee for listing their timeshare no matter where the broker is located. Although the ruling only deals with timeshares or owners located in Florida, this constitutes the vast majority of resale listings.

In the past, real estate brokers have charged advance fees such as appraisal fees, in addition to charging as commission on the sale of the timeshare. This ruling effectively outlaws this practice.

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Group RCI, the global leader in vacation exchange, and Disney Vacation Club, one of the world’s fastest-growing brands in the vacation-ownership industry, announced the agreement, which now allows subscribing members access to an even broader array of vacation opportunities.

RCI now becomes the exclusive third-party exchange provider for Disney Vacation Club, enrolling Disney Vacation Club’s more than 135,000 member families into RCI’s global exchange network. RCI has one of the most expansive portfolios of high-end affiliated vacation resorts, as well as more choices in more countries than any other exchange network.

Disney Vacation Club Members will now be able to enjoy vacations at a variety of destinations across six continents and 25 countries and have access to a significantly broader range of resorts, including all-inclusive options, more nightly exchanges and a selection of luxurious, high-end fractional properties. Similarly, RCI’s more than 3.6 million members will now also enjoy the opportunity to exchange into Disney Vacation Club resorts throughout the year.

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Timeshare sales have continued to drop in 2009 much like they did in 2008, which experienced the biggest drop in the roughly 35 year history of timeshares. According to an executive for Group RCI, there are glimmers of hope in the industry.

Many of the potential buyers of vacation homes, after having been hammered by the economy, are now beginning to turn to timeshares. Unfortunately, this new pool of buyer is generally being required to make down payments of between 25% to 30% of the purchase price. Even in these difficult economic times, customers continue to pay their mortgages and maintenance.

Customers believe that they must protect their investment in their property, which can exceed $24,000. The resorts are also watching their expenses closely, and they do not want cost cutting to impact the customer’s experience. On the chopping block are the 40% of costs generally spent on marketing.

Resort executives believe that they have seen the bottom, and that in the future there will be more resorts built. Many of those resorts will be more austere, and will have less in the way of amenities and luxury features like granite kitchens and stainless steel espresso machines.

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Ritz-Carlton is now offering the additional option of allowing members to stay at a portfolio of vacation homes, as well as Ritz-Carlton hotels and other properties. The Ritz-Carlton Club has been known for selling partial interests in high-end vacation homes. Ritz-Carlton hotels are located throughout the world in exotic locations, such as Egypt, Dubai, and Moscow. The specific destination clubs are located in Hawaii, Colorado, Bahamas, St. Thomas, Florida, California, and Lake Tahoe.

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