Did you watch Padraig Harrington defend his Open Championship title? The drama of a back to back win in one of the oldest and most prestigious professional golf events is exciting, and could lead to what sports commentators call, “a win for the ages,” if Harrington is able to pull off the rare back to back to back victory with a win at the 2009 Open. (Peter Thomson was the last to accomplish this feat with British Open wins in 1954, ‘55, and ‘56 … and again in ‘58).

But while the golf world speculates on whether professional golfer Padraig Harrington will be the next three-peat British Open winner, Padraig himself is going about business as usual, practicing, playing, polishing the Claret Jug, and oh yes, shopping for a new Portugal timeshare.

Padraig Harrington has recently purchased a fractional villa at Oceânico Group’s Vilamoura Golf & Garden Resort in Portugal. Timeshared or fractional ownership at Vilamoura includes membership in the seven Oceânico golf courses, including the Oceânico Victoria, where the Portugal Masters is played.

Padraig Harrington says: “Buying at Vilamoura Golf & Garden Resort not only gives me the security of a quality property investment, but it will allow me to practice on a different course every day of the week, a quality that very few resorts can offer. Away from the golf courses there are swimming pools, great beaches and fantastic leisure facilities, so I can spend some quality time with friends and family, and I’m already looking forward to it.”

The Vilamoura Golf & Garden Resort is located on 170 acres in the center of Portugal’s Algarve region and includes luxury 2 and 3-bedroom condos; 3-bedroom semi-detached villas; and 4 and 5 bedroom detached villas. Harrington has purchased a 5-bedroom fractional villa with a private swimming pool and services that include use of a Sunseeker luxury cruiser, in-house concierge service, and limo service. Other professional golfers who own property at the fractional and timeshare resort include Retief Goosen, Paul McGinley, Lee Westwood, David Howell, and Darren Clarke.

Expanding into the US, Oceânico Group USA has recently purchased Little River Golf & Resort in the Pinehurst golf area of North Carolina.

To learn more about affordable vacation ownership luxury in Portugal timeshare, and Portugal golf timeshare look at timeshare resales at the some of these excellent resorts:

• Club Albufeira
• Clube Forte
• Clube Praia da Oura
• Four Seasons Fairways

In an article published July 15, in the Scotsman.com, Macdonald Hotels, Scotland’s largest independent hotel chain, is threatening to cut off power and water to Loch Rannoch timeshare resort. Loch Rannoch Highland Club represents 3,000 timeshare owners of 85 timeshare condos at Scotland’s Loch Rannoch Resort, which until 2003, was managed by Macdonald Hotels. In a decision by the timeshare owners, management was switched to Timeshare Management Services, a company managed by Edward Monks.

Somewhere in the change, someone failed to deal with the matter of water and electrical services, which Macdonald Hotels alleges now total £450,000. In a letter that The Scotsman says it has seen, the timeshare owners committee has been warned that unless, “full payment of the sum the hotel chain claims it is owed is made by 24 July the group would have no alternative but to cut off the lodges’ water and electricity.” …now that would make for an unpleasant timeshare vacation, wouldn’t it?

More to the Story at the Loch Rannoch Timeshare Resort

Based on the report in The Scotsman, there appears to be more to the story than who pays the light bill. Monks explained that they (the timeshare owners) had sent the hotel a check for £177,819 with the stipulation that it be accepted as payment in full. Both the timeshare owners, (led by Monk) and Macdonald Hotels agreed that the hotel owes the timeshare money for past management fees. On the other hand, the hotel says that the timeshare also owes them management fees.

But here’s the detail that may really be the sticking point. Settlement terms offered by the timeshare owners included the stipulation that they be allowed access to the leisure facilities at the Macdonald Loch Rannoch hotel, next door to the timeshare resort. They also asked that the management of the timeshare revert to Macdonald Resorts in 2010 when the current contract with Monk’s group lapses. The timeshare owners have been banned from using the resort facilities since the management change in 2003.

How This Timeshare Tale Will End

It is not likely that timeshare guests at Loch Rannoch will go without either water or electricity, even if the dispute remains unsettled by the target date. While the issues sound problematic, (and owing a half million pounds is nothing to sneeze at) matters such as these, have a way of being worked out.

Loch Rannoch timeshare is a lovely resort in an idyllic setting overlooking the sparkling blue Loch Rannoch. The area is renowned for its fishing and hiking, and overall picturesque tranquility. Let’s hope a little of that harmony rubs off on these two parties in conflict and they get this now 5-year old dispute settled.

The Organisation for Timeshare in Europe met this week for their biennial United Kingdom conference. Held in Edinburgh on Thursday, the event was sponsored by Scottish Development International. It was particularly fitting to see the conference return to Scotland, since the first timeshare resort in the UK was opened in 1976 at Loch Rannoch.

The UK chairman of the Organisation for Timeshare in Europe, Frank Chapman, said, “I was fortunate enough to open the first timeshare resort in the UK at Loch Rannoch. At the time this was a completely novel concept in holiday home ownership in the UK and it has proved incredibly popular, with 115,000 week long holidays now taken every year in the UK.”

“Timeshare has thrived in Scotland because it offers a unique opportunity for both UK holiday makers and those from abroad to regularly visit and build up a relationship with some stunning properties and locations across the country. Scottish Timeshare provides some of the best facilities in the world and visitors are able to enjoy the best that Scotland has to offer: from the stunning lochs and mountains of the highlands to the vibrancy of culture in its cities.”

Topics of discussion for the meetings included:

• Developments in digital and electronic marketing
• The future of tourism in Scotland.
• Design innovations and how the timeshare industry can learn from these.
• And an open forum on what the Organisation for Timeshare in Europe can do for you.

The Organisation for Timeshare in Europe works to improve representation for reputable companies in the timeshare industry, and to promote fair-trading, equality within, and growth of the timeshare industry.

The OTE has 130 members from all parts of Europe, and includes timeshare resort developers, timeshare exchange companies, timeshare management and marketing companies, trustees, financial houses, and timeshare resale companies.

Follow this link to read the European Directive that covers the timeshare industry in Europe.

Follow this link to read the section of the European Directive that specifically deals with timeshare in Spain.

And follow your heart to buy timeshare resales that offer you flexibility, luxury, and the kind of affordable timeshare pricing you only find when you buy timeshare resales.

This week, Sol Meliá Vacation Club and Timeshare Resort announced the realization of a business milestone. The timeshare company developed three properties in 2004, and today the internationally branded club has 13 international locations.

As part of Spain-based Sol Meliá Hotels and Resorts, the vacation club has properties in Mexico, Europe, the Caribbean, and Central America, with more than 20,000 members worldwide. Alain Grangé, Chief Executive of Sol Meliá Vacation Club and Leisure Real Estate Division, says, “We have been profitable since our first quarter of business from vacation club sales, member and network operations, rental and Club portfolio.”

The vacation club and timeshare credits its success in part to the fact that its projects are fully integrated with those of the company’s hotel and resort divisions. The timeshare company feels this creates a beneficial synergy of marketing, sales, products, operations, financial strength, and customer loyalty.

But here is the single most important reason the company gave for its success and rapid growth. Alain Grangé described loyalty as a two-way street and said, “We couldn’t expect our customers to be loyal to us if we weren’t loyal to them first.”

Applause! The word loyalty is thrown about a lot in the business world, but it is rarely used to talk about a company being loyal to its customers. Loyalty is all too often forgotten in business today, and the few companies that demonstrate it deserve to profit because of it.

You can read the Sol Meliá Vacation Club and Timeshare press release here.

And you can learn more about the opportunity to become a member of Sol Meliá Vacation Club and Timeshare. Go to Sell My Timeshare NOW and look for the outstanding opportunities in Sol Meliá Vacation Club and Timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.

• Sol Melia Vacation Club at Gran Melia Puerto Rico
• Sol Melia Vacation Club Dominican Republic

Research and Markets, a firm that bills itself as the world’s largest market research resource, has released a report saying that globally, the vacation ownership industry holds strong market potential. The 40-page report cites as evidence of this, the fact that, “the US economy is facing the challenges of a slump in the housing market and an increase in fuel prices…(but) the vacation ownership industry has not fallen to the economic woes and is fairly insulated from the economic performance.”

The report concludes that while consumers may be taking shorter vacations or staying closer to home, they have not stopped buying timeshare or renting timeshare for this purpose.

The State of Timeshare Sales Outside the US

According to the Research and Markets report, Europe is still trying to update governmental regulations to better serve and protect both the people who buy timeshare and the people who sell timeshare. Once this occurs, the report speculates that the timeshare industry in Europe will resume the growth levels it enjoyed during the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Other potentially strong international markets, according to the report’s findings, include Malaysia, Singapore, India, Indonesia, and China. The growing affluence of Asians, paired with new low-cost air travel options, are cited as reasons that have helped spur this expansion.

Research used in the report focuses on four timeshare companies: Wyndham timeshare, Marriott timeshare, Hilton timeshare, and Starwood timeshare. The full report is available at: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c84948#. But don’t expect the wisdom it carries to come cheaply. Purchased in its least expensive format, this timeshare market report costs EUR 910.00, or approximately 1,440 USD—and for that price you could just go ahead and buy timeshare as a resale by shopping the competitive prices available at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Would you be surprised to learn that 15 percent of all households in Finland are considering the purchase of timeshare weeks or timeshare condos? Finland based, Holiday Club Resorts Oy, is not surprised; they have recognized the opportunity to grow their hotel and spa business through the development of new Nordic timeshare resorts.

With 5.3 million people in 2.4 million households, (according to Timeshare Perspective Magazine) Finland has some 800,000 people who currently have the potential to buy timeshare. Neighboring Sweden offers another 1.5 million potential timeshare owners—and these numbers only reflect people who can afford to buy timeshare from the developer. Imagine how these figures increase if you include all the people who can afford to buy timeshare at the fantastic discounts available in timeshare resales.

Holiday Club Resorts is Thinking Big about European Timeshare

Holiday Club Resorts Oy is the oldest timeshare company in the Nordic countries. They are part of the RCI timeshare exchange, and they offer Holiday Club timeshare resorts in high-demand ski destinations, as well as numerous spa resort hotels. Currently Holiday Club timeshare, which has timeshare resorts in Sweden, Finland, and Russia, projects they may be on their way to becoming the largest European timeshare company.

Holiday Club Resorts Oy is seriously going after new timeshare owners. They have set up some of their timeshare condos in line with the concepts of the Stress Free Area®. Stress Free is a registered design of the Conbalance company, that specializes in interior space planning. In Stress Free designs, attention is given to planning lighting, color selections, fabrics, and furnishing to enhance a sense of calmness and wellbeing for the occupants.

Timeshare Resales, the Nordic Opportunity

Listening to the media tell you about the surfeit of home foreclosures and the spiraling increase in the costs of energy and durable goods, you may feel that this is an impossible time to sell timeshare. But these statistics from Finland and Sweden are just one more reminder that the person who buys your timeshare resale could be from anywhere in the world, provided you advertise your timeshare resales through a company that uses the world wide web to create a broad base of global marketing.

And as an interesting post script, I have to compliment the people at Holiday Club for the timeshare advertising slogan they pose to their market, “Why buy a cow when you need a litre (liter) of milk?”

…I couldn’t have said it better myself.

You own timeshare weeks. You get a call, out of the blue, from a timeshare sales company that tells you they have someone interested in buying your timeshare real estate. Maybe you were thinking about selling…maybe the idea to sell timeshare you own had not crossed your mind before. Either way, if there really is an interested buyer, you think…perhaps this is a good time to sell my timeshare.

So you send the timeshare sales company a refundable deposit, typically between £ 400 and £ 1000 (approximately 750 to 1900 US dollars). The timeshare company calls the fee a “guarantee”. Once they have the deposit, they explain to you that they will hold your deposit for up to twelve months, awaiting the timeshare sale they had implied was imminent.

So you wait…and wait…and finally called the timeshare sales company, who tells you either that there has been a paperwork slowdown or perhaps, does not even take your call at all.

You are the victim of a timeshare scam.

Your timeshare real estate won’t be sold and you probably won’t see your “guarantee” money again, or at best not more than a small percentage of what you paid, should the legal system be able to intervene on your behalf. While this and other timeshare scams have happened before, this particular scenario describes Yacht Trading UK, a timeshare sales company that now faces charges in British High Court, following an investigation by the UK governmental Companies Investigation Branch.

In reality, Yacht Trading UK was never more than a post office box in Manchester, England, from which mail was then forwarded to Spain. Checks were cashed, some “company executives” (and I use the phrase loosely) were living the good life, and not one single timeshare resale was ever sold, nor did any of the timeshare owners receive their money back.

The petition to wind up the company in the public interest was presented in December 2007 and the company went into compulsory liquidation earlier this month. Good that they have been shut down, but the people behind this company have been part of other timeshare scams in the past, and are likely to surface again.

If you have had problems with Yacht Trading UK Timeshare company, and would like additional information about the investigation, contact: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, PO Box 326, 17-21 Chorlton Street, Manchester, England M60 3ZZ. Telephone: 0161 934 4182 Email: piu.north@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk

Also, here is an interesting link to HolidayWatchdog.com where you can read about the problems others have had with this timeshare sales company. You are also welcome to post your comments here on the Timeshare Owners Blog or Sell My Timeshare NOW’s Timeshare Owners Forum.

You have to hand it to the people at Travelodge UK for being genuinely concerned about the well-being of their customers.

During a trial period, guests at Travelodge hotels in London Heathrow T5, Bristol Central, Birmingham Fiveways, Manchester Central, and Edinburgh Central will receive a pair of complementary pajamas, scientifically designed to improve their sleep. These are no ordinary pj’s.

Made from a fabric called Dermasilk, they are designed to feel like a second skin. When you wear these pajamas, your skin can breathe, can more easily regulate your body temperature, and maintain its moisture balance, all of which should lead to a better night’s sleep.

According to Leigh McCarron, Travelodge Sleep Director, “As a retailer of sleep, we are constantly investigating innovative ways, on how we can help our customers attain a good night’s sleep. Something as simple as changing your bed attire can dramatically affect your quality of sleep.

To support our pjs trial, we conducted a sleepwear study, which examined the nation’s attitude towards nightwear. These findings have been incorporated into our final pajama prototype - resulting in the ultimate sleepwear.”

The findings of the Travelodge study on sleepwear revealed that among the 3000 British adults surveyed:

• • 23 percent said itchy nightclothes stop them from getting a good night’s sleep.
• • 66 percent said being too hot or too cold at various points throughout the night interferes with their sleep pattern and 54 percent say they are more often too hot while 35 percent say they are too cold.
• • 23 percent of women will wear socks to bed in order to stay warmer while only 11 percent of men will sleep in socks.

If you are a regular reader of the Timeshare Owners Blog, you may recall last November when I wrote a blog post about Travelodge UK’s concern over nude sleepwalking. I suppose if the new second skin pajamas are a success, then the hotel chain will have succeeded in improving the quality of sleep for many of their guests and at the same time reducing the epidemic numbers of nude sleepwalkers that they have been dealing with in recent months. (see our November 11, 2006 blog post here)

You have to applaud Travelodge’s commitment to improving every detail of their guests’ stay in their hotels, and wonder if providing free sleepwear will become a trend at hotels and timeshare resorts. After all, the plush, terry bathrobe has long been a trademark of many better hotels and resorts.

And in the spirit of, “don’t knock it, ’til you’ve tried it,” I won’t completely rule out sleeping in such ‘unique’ sleepwear, but I can’t help but wonder which would ultimately be more disturbing: seeing other hotel or timeshare resort guests sleepwalking in the nude or seeing them sleepwalking in these odd looking pajamas?

What do you think? Would you be willing to don a pair of these pj’s in the pursuit of a great night’s sleep? Have you stayed at other hotels or resorts that provided you courtesy sleepwear?

It was a safe prediction to say that we hadn’t heard the last of the controversy over the Trump hotel and timeshare resort planned for construction near Aberdeen, Scotland, despite the application being rejected last week by the Aberdeenshire local council.

If you haven’t been following the story, there have been too many ups and downs in this hotel and timeshare resort project for me to properly take you through all of them. Let’s just say that on the negative side there have been environmental concerns, some very resistive Scottish farmers, and a host of objections that range from the traffic and activity the two golf courses, hotel, luxury homes and timeshare condos would generate, to a general sense of “we just don’t want it here,” voiced by some of the area residents.

On the positive side, there is the promise of new jobs, a huge boost to the local economy, the possibility of hosting a future British Open, and Donald Trump’s desire to pay homage to the Scottish roots of his late mother, not to mention, I assume the chance for a number of people to make big bucks along the way.

After being rejected in November by the local councilors, the Trump Organization, according to the New York Times, announced they might just build their $2 billion project in Northern Ireland.

The fallout from that statement led to others, higher up the Scottish political hierarchy, deciding it was time to interject themselves into the situation. BBC NEWS says that Labour Aberdeen Central MSP, Lewis Macdonald, addressed parliament, explaining that the situation had arisen because, “Aberdeenshire planning chiefs had delegated powers of authority over ‘vital’ decisions in their own area.”

This prompted Brian Adam, the SNP MSP for Aberdeen North to say, “I am very concerned that if this development doesn’t go ahead, it’s going to deliver an international message that Scotland is not the kind of place to come and invest in.” The Scotsman.com quoted Lewis Macdonald, the Labour MSP for Aberdeen Central, as saying, “The bigger picture here is about the kind of message that Scotland is sending out to the world and about whether we’re able to take opportunities when they arise.”

If you have followed my over six months of writing about this in the Timeshare Owners Blog, then you know that the planned resort sounds spectacular. Trump International Golf Links Scotland would create one more jewel in Scotland’s crown of legendary golf courses, which start in the south at Muirfield, and include St. Andrews, Gleneagles, Carnoustie, Royal Aberdeen, Murcar, Nairn, Inverness, and finally Royal Dornoch in the north. The hotel and timeshare resort’s design would be elegant, a showpiece to the Scottish countryside.

Whether this is a case of a few naysayers thwarting development for an entire region, or if the people of the Aberdeen coastal area have valid concerns about negative environmental and social change to their homeland, I am just too far away from the situation to say with certainty. But I can’t help but wonder, when the local people have fought this so hard and for so long, why does a developer persist in pursuing the location? I am willing to bet there are suitable places to build this resort where the residents would welcome The Donald and his development dollars with open arms.

We’ve had a few interesting comments from people with strong opinions on the plans for this golf course, hotel, and timeshare resort, and I really appreciate it when our readers share their thoughts. Anyone else like to add to the discussion?

Here’s a very cool virtual tour on YouTube of another one of Trump’s controversial projects the Trump SoHo Condos.

It is probably fair to say that people don’t often get the best of Donald Trump.

But if you have been following the saga of Trump’s attempt to build world class golf courses, a hotel and timeshare resort near Aberdeen, Scotland, you know Trump has faced a number of delays in getting approval for the project. Among them has been a Scottish farmer, Michael Forbes, who refuses to sell his farmland to the Trump Organization. Forbes’ land is centrally located in the planned golf and timeshare resort area and while Trump says he could and would build around the Forbes’ property if necessary, it has been obvious that Trump has been somewhat stumped by Forbes’ resistance to sell his family farm.

So last week when radio DJ Robin Galloway telephoned Donald Trump, pretending to be a real estate agent representing Michael Forbes, the Trump Organization was eager to talk to the man, who they thought might be bringing them a solution to the stalemate.

According to The Daily Record, Galloway told Donald Trump, “Forbes was willing to ’stand aside’ and give up his land in return for an annual, two-week trip to New York for two.

Galloway went on to ask, “Is there any chance of doing a timeshare?”

Trump’s reply was, “I could do something like that. I’d look after him.”

Before hanging up, Galloway confessed to Trump that the call was a prank. Reportedly, even Donald Trump saw the humor in the hoax, recognizing the irony in the idea that a Scottish farmer who refuses to sell his land so that a timeshare resort can be built, would ever be offering to trade that land for two weeks in a New York timeshare.

Use this link to Scotland Real Radio to hear the entire phone call with Donald Trump.