Timeshare Trends Blog

The Hotel Jerome is Aspen is now an Auberge Resort. The Jerome will join a collection of award-winning Auberge properties including Napa Valley resorts, such as Auberge du Soleil, Calistoga Ranch and Solage Calistoga; Esperanza in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Rancho Valencia in Rancho Santa Fe, California; Encantado in Santa Fe, New Mexico; The Inn at Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, South Carolina, and the Auberge Residences at Element 52 in Telluride, Colorado. Among the amenities at the Hotel Jerome, there’s exclusive access to the Aspen Club and Spa, a fitness studio, heated pool and jacuzzis, picnic baskets for day trips, 24-hour concierge, valet parking, and more.

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Bluegreen Wilderness Club at Big Cedar was presented with the City of Branson’s 2011 Green Initiative award for its eco-friendly practices. While Bluegreen Wilderness Club is decidedly focused on rustic luxury, with 18 Concierge and Presidential villas, slate and hardwood floors, flat-screen TVs, exquisite fireplaces, stainless steel appliances and soft, comfortable and inviting furniture and bedding; it is also diligent about remaining energy conscious and eco-friendly. The resort is eco-friendly in its landscaping practices to reduce use of water and fertilizer to guard against runoff into Table Rock Lake, and to recycle organic materials into the soil by composting and mulching. The resort’s recycling programs divert and transport an estimated 128.5 tons of recyclable material that would otherwise be sent to a landfill.

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Auberge Resorts is expanding into ski country. The 80/50 Mammoth located in Mammoth Lakes, California will be rebranded as the Auberge Residences at Mammoth. This newest addition to Auberge’s portfolio of exceptional resorts and residences includes 28 one, two, and three-bedroom luxury residences that will be available as both fractional ownership and rental units. Ideally situated just steps away from the Village gondola that provides direct access to skiing, the property is surrounded by majestic pines and framed by the towering Sierra Nevada mountain range, offering world-class skiing and year-round outdoor activities, eclectic shopping and dining, spa services and entertainment venues. The residences echo the beauty of their natural surroundings through the use of rustic mountain elements of flagstone, burnished wood, copper, leather, granite and slate, and expansive windows. Additional amenities include rooftop pools, fitness and treatment rooms, a private roof top clubroom, media room, and game room. .

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The Westgate Planet Hollywood Towers Resort will be rebranded as a Hilton Grand Vacations Resort. Resort Finance America (RFA) has acquired controlling interest in the resort and has appointed Hilton Grand Vacations to rebrand the property and provide vacation ownership sales and marketing services. The property was developed by Westgate and opened in late 2009. As the largest single vacation ownership building in the world, the Planet Hollywood Towers has 52-stories and 1,201-units offering adjoining access to the Miracle Mile shops and is adjacent to Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino complex.

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The Inn at St. Ives is the newest RCI property in Michigan. Situated in Mecosta County in the heart of Michigan, the resort is perfect for outdoor enthusiasts and includes golfing, biking, hiking, hunting, fishing, horseback riding, snowmobiling and snow shoeing. The resort features a full health club, health spa, fireplace, restaurant and snack bar, and conference facilities right on site.

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The Asheville Club at 151 is now a private residence club that sits atop the Hotel Indigo in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. An elegant companion to downtown Asheville’s gourmet restaurants and art scene, the property is comprised of lavish two and three-bedroom residences atop this new boutique hotel and will be sold as part of a fractional private residence club offered by Residence Club Partners, an Asheville-based company. The Asheville Club at 151 awards its owners a luxury second home with the services of an exquisite hotel.

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RCI welcomes Somerpointe Resorts into its exchange network. RCI recently announced an affiliation agreement with Somerpointe Resorts, which includes 12 properties in Las Vegas, Hawaii and Orlando. Somerpointe Resorts is the successor developer of Tahiti Village Vacation Club, Tahiti Vacation Club and the Club de Soleil Vacation Club in Las Vegas, the Gardens at West Maui Vacation Club, Hono Koa Vacation Club, Kahana Beach Vacation Club, Kahana Villa Vacation Club, Maui Banyan Vacation Club, Maui Beach Vacation Club and the Sands of Kahana Vacation Club on Maui; Kona Islander Vacation Club on the Big Island of Hawaii; and the Villas at Regal Palms near Orlando.

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Salem, Massachusetts is the perfect place for a Halloween vacation. Salem is one of the most haunted cities in America and is an iconic witch-filled, ghost-filled town. The most haunted spot in Salem is now known as Gallows Hill Park. This is the site where the majority of accused “witches” were hung during the witch hysteria that gripped the town in 1692. Salem has been forced to embrace its tragic past, and today has turned its history of witches into its main industry. Police cars are adorned with witch logos, a local public school is known as the Witchcraft Heights Elementary School, and the Salem High School football team is called the Witches. Salem is definitely a hot spot for Halloween celebrations. From October 1 through November 1 you can join the Halloween festival in everything from parades to psychic fairs to tours of haunted houses.

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The Las Olas Beach Club in Cocoa Beach continues to be successful. As featured in a recent Orlando Sentinel story, this resort is completely sold out, their owners are happy, and yet it is based on the old formula from when timeshares first started in the 70s– when timeshare buyers purchased the same week in the same unit at the same resort each year. Now many timeshare companies sell points that may be exchanged for different resorts and weeks at locations around the world. Big developers such as Marriott and Wyndham have crowded out many of the old single site developers. Las Olas with its 28 units and 1,000 owners says it considers their longtime owners to be an extended family and they work with each owner to resolve ownership problems, which is one reason why they continue to be successful. The American Resort Development Association is now looking at some of the best practices of legacy resorts like the Las Olas to utilize in the big development timeshare companies.

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The Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has secured financing for $360 million to build a luxury resort right on Disney World property and will commence construction in December 2011. The 444-room hotel will include a rooftop restaurant with views of the Magic Kingdom and a lazy river water feature, among other amenities, and is expected to open in mid to late 2014. The project will include as many as 40 Four Seasons timeshare units and up to 90 private residences.

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