Timeshare Trends Blog

The Sol Melia Vacation Club has received the RCI Pinnacle 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. 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. 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, and Spain.

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The Lifestyles Holiday Vacations Club in the Dominican Republic has commemorated its new state of the art, Austrian-designed member services and sales building. The four-story tower, Lifestyles Tower, has been built to provide personalized service for member vacation reservations, special needs and requests, as well as presentations of the latest membership developments. Located in Puerto Plata on the north cast of the country, the tower provides a 360-degree view of the Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resort and its surrounding mountains, beaches and ocean. Lifestyle’s Supreme Members can make arrangements with VIP Services to fly in by helicopter and land on the roof f the tower. The third floor of the Tower houses the new AZUL gourmet restaurant and Anja’s Lounge. The Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resort encompasses five distinct products: The Tropical, The Crown Suites, The Crown Villas, The Residence Suites and the new Presidential Suites. From hotel accommodations to stand alone villas, all guests have access to five swimming pools, nightly entertainment, spa, beach, tennis and more. VIP Members have access to “members only” facilities such as restaurants, bars, swimming pools, exclusive beach areas, as well as golf carts, limousine transfers and helicopter tours.

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The Sandos resort chain’s Caracol Eco-Resort and Spa is pioneering the “green” and “eco-friendly” movements among resort properties. The resort is located in Mexico’s Riviera Maya region, south of Cancun, and was originally built in the 1990s. The resort prides itself on the lack of manicured gardens and concrete areas. It is a lush landscape full of dense jungle greenery, slow-moving rivers, lagoons, and wildlife. No building is taller than three stories, and the canopied paths hide the fact that the property is huge with more than 1,000 units. Wildlife is all around the property with mapaches (small raccoons) emerging from jungle thickets, large turtles laze in the large lagoon, there are wooden planked bridges to watch animals swim through mangroves. Herons, pelicans, seagulls, hawks, sandpipers, badgers, peacocks, coatimundis, burros, and macaws are all natural to the area with a veterinarian on site to care for the animals. There are also complimentary eco-tours on the property. Even with the eco friendliness of the resort, the accommodations are first-class with swimming pools, fine furnishings, exercise facilities, sauna, and more.

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The Scrub Island Resort opened its doors for the first time last month, making it the first resort to debut in the British Virgin Islands in the last 15 years. The resort is the first to appear on Scrub Island and it is a 230-acre private island located one nautical mile northeast of Tortola. The island remained largely untouched until about 10 years ago, when a sailor who frequented a simple beachfront restaurant that catered to passing seafarers, made a deal with the restaurant owners to build a resort on the island.

The results is a complex featuring 26 residential-style rooms, ranging from one to two bedrooms, outfitted with full kitchens stocked with top-of-the-line appliances. Villas, containing two to five bedrooms each, are also available. Each residence affords ocean views that stretch to the neighboring island of Little Camanoe, and their own private patios.

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The Dawn Beach Club is now affiliated with Interval International. Located on St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles, this property is ideally situated on the island’s southeastern shore and includes three-bedroom, two-bath oceanfront condominiums with spacious floor plans. The 1,800-square foot units feature elegant contemporary furnishings and warm teak finishes.

Each has a fully appointed kitchen with stainless steel appliances, satellite television and Wi-Fi, and an oversized patio or balcony. Further reinforcing the value of ownership, new purchasers of this resort will be enrolled as individual members of Interval International, as well as Interval Gold, its upgraded membership program. This gives them the opportunity to exchange their accommodations for those at other resorts in Interval’s worldwide network, as well as the ability to relinquish their resort weeks toward the purchase of cruise, golf, and spa vacations.

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The Los Altos Club in La Romana, Dominican Republic has joined Preferred Residences; a hospitality branded membership and exchange program for luxury whole and shared ownership resorts offered by a subsidiary Interval Leisure Group. Through this affiliation, owners participating in the rental program at Los Altos resort become members of the Los Altos Club and have access to the membership and exchange privileges of Preferred Residences. Los Altos resort is comprised of 116 luxury villas and lofts.

The residences are beautifully appointed with upscale finishes, elegant contemporary furniture, and set in lush gardens. They feature 10-foot vaulted ceilings, custom solid oak doors, travertine marble flooring, spacious living and dining areas, European-style kitchens with granite surfaces and stainless steel appliances, and oversized terraces.

Amenities also include a private beach, multiple international restaurants and bars, championship-level golf courses, the Cygalle Healing Spa, fitness center, numerous tennis courts, an equestrian center, a polo field, a dude ranch, a shooting center for skeet and trap, a full-service marina, a day camp for children, and babysitting services.

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The Hyatt Regency Curacao Golf Resort, Spa and Marina is scheduled to open in January. Located at the Santa Barbara Plantation, a 1,500-acre luxury resort community, the beachfront resort is 25 minutes from the capital city of Willemstad and will feature 350 luxuriously appointed rooms, uninterrupted water views on three sides, white sand beaches, a Hyatt Pure spa, a full-service marina, extensive meeting space and the island’s only Pete Dye-designed 18-hole championship golf course. There will also be a fitness center, multiple outdoor pools, poolside grill, lounge, dive and water sport facility, and 18,500 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space.

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The 170-room Ramada Grand Caymanian Beach Club and Resort is currently at 80% occupancy and ground has been broken for the Wyndham Grand Bay Waterford Cayman Islands. Both resorts are located in Crystal Harbour Safe Haven, overlooking the North Sound. The Ramada Grand Caymanian Beach Club is a pre-existing resort that comprises both timeshare and daily rental units. It was re-branded with the Ramada name in January of this year. The first phase of the property is complete, with the construction of a second phase planned.

The Wyndham Grand Bay Waterford is a private resort comprised of luxurious villas, grand penthouses and an elegant Great House. The Waterford is a private residence club. Guests may purchase whole units or half units or even one eighth of a unit. It is branded as Wyndham Grand Bay and is considered at the top of the branding tier.

The resort will be built in the British colonial style comprised of 47 units and located in Crystal Harbour. It features crystal chandeliers and electronics in each room, a 5,000 square foot spa, a business center, on-site restaurant, lighted tennis court, beach volleyball court, freshwater pool, multiple hot tubs, a kids club and a variety of water activities. There will also be a dock and a fleet of boats available for use by owners with a captain available for each boat. There will also be featured a luxury car service offering a Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes or Audi for owners and guests.

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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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