Wyndham Resorts continue in their yearlong rebranding process as Fairfield Timeshares take on the Wyndham Vacation Ownership name and traditions.

This spring, Wyndham Vacation Ownership Timeshares, the largest vacation ownership company in the world, expanded the Wyndham name in the Washington D.C., area by rebranding the former Fairfield Old Town in Alexandria. With the 2009 scheduled opening of the Wyndham Vacation Ownership timeshare resort at the Nation Harbor complex, there will be two Wyndham timeshare resorts in the metro Washington area.

Effective in April of this year, the Fairfield Washington, D.C. at Old Town Alexandria became known as the Wyndham Old Town Alexandria. In a press release issued by Wyndham Worldwide, Franz Hanning, president and chief executive officer of Wyndham Vacation Ownership said, “When we unveiled this resort, it quickly became one of the fastest selling properties in our entire system.”

The Wyndham Old Town Alexandria has 88 timeshare units and is conveniently located near access to the Washington D.C. transit system, making it a perfect location for both business and leisure use. Deep discounts are available now on Wyndham Old Town Alexandria timeshare resales at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Investigation continues into timeshare fires in Tennessee.

In our May 29 blog, I told you about fires at the (Wyndham) Fairfield Glade timeshare resort and Oak Knoll timeshares, which are still under investigation by Tennessee fire investigators and the state fire marshal. Two fires occurred less than a week apart. The first, at Oak Knoll timeshare, did much less damage than the second, which destroyed six timeshare units at Fairfield Glade.

While I don’t have any updates about the investigation, I thought you’d be interested in reporter, Michael R. Moser’s article, that appeared in the Crossville Chronicle. According to the article (dateline May 26, 2007), Terry and Melissa Byrum were on their honeymoon when smoke and the sounds of the fire drove them from their timeshare unit, shortly after one o’clock in the morning. Melissa Byrum worried that not only did the couple lose their wallets, billfolds, and all personal identification, but they lost the list that told the couple who had given them each of their wedding gifts. The new bride worried how she would send thank you notes to her guests.

A few doors away, Bobby and Peggy Dawson of Kinston, NC, were at the timeshare resort seeking a peaceful and relaxing place to enjoy their wedding anniversary. Thankfully, Byrum, who first became aware of the fire, was able to awaken the Dawsons and help lead them to safety. And William Brown and Gene Saywill of Decatur, AL, were pleased to make it safely out of the fire, but were not so happy about losing their favorite putters, with a tee time scheduled for the next morning. Their timeshare stay was a scheduled golf outing at one of the five championship golf courses at Fairfield Glade resort.

Fire, especially a possible arson, is a frightening thought. But the good news here is that all six timeshare guests involved, got out of the fire safely. Representatives of Wyndham Resorts, the owner of Fairfield Glade timeshares, were on the scene immediately. They ensured that everyone had emergency lodging and the items they needed to get through the next few days. Wyndham representatives remained on the scene through the night and for much of the following day.

Good job Wyndham and Fairfield Glade timeshares for taking such good care of your timeshare guests, despite an unfortunate situation!

Investigators look for possible connections between recent fires at Fairfield Glade Timeshare Resort and at Oak Knoll Timeshare Resort.

A fire at Fairfield Glade timeshare resort in the early morning hours of Tuesday, May 23, is under investigation by the fire marshal and state fire investigators. The blaze destroyed six timeshare units and damaged two others at the resort community, located in Tennessee’s Cumberland Mountains, between Knoxville and Nashville.

Fairfield Glade resort village includes timeshare units and timeshare condos, privately owned homes and vacation rentals, and a range of amenities from five championship golf courses to horseback riding, boating, hiking, and a wellness spa. Oak Knoll timeshare, where a fire damaged one timeshare unit four days earlier, is also part of the Fairfield Glade resort community.

If you own timeshare at Fairfield Glade, you may wish to contact the timeshare company to learn more about which timeshare units were destroyed or damaged. Fairfield Glade is a Wyndham timeshare and part of Wyndham Worldwide vacation ownership. You can rent or buy Fairfield Glade timeshare directly from the timeshare unit owner at SellMyTimeshareNOW.com.

Name may change but quality remains with Wyndham Vacation Resorts.

Effective in 2007, you can expect Fairfield Resorts, TrendWest North America, and TrendWest South Pacific to be renamed and re-branded as part of the Wyndham hospitality empire.

When the name change is completed, more than 140 timeshare resorts throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific will carry the Wyndham identity and logo.

Fairfield Resorts will become Wyndham Vacation Resorts. TrendWest South Pacific will be known as Wyndham Vacation Resorts-Asia Pacific, while WorldMark by Trendwest will become WorldMark by Wyndham. Wyndham Worldwide chairman, president and chief executive officer Stephen P. Holmes, announced last summer that for Fairfield Resorts, the re-branding process will begin immediately.

Industry experts believe that the renaming will go a long way to reinforcing the Wyndham brand, especially on mixed-use hotel and timeshare properties, which seem to be the way of the future. When corporations re-brand a product, there is always initial cost and at least a little confusion. In the end, it typically proves to be a cost-saver, allowing the corporation to focus all of their marketing and advertising dollars on a single identity or label.

The historic golfing tradition of the Greater Greensboro Open — a professional tournament that has been in place nearly 70 years — has officially become the Wyndham Championship, effective with the 2007 playing season.

According to Stephen P. Holmes, chairman, president and CEO of Wyndham Worldwide, as quoted in the Greensboro News-Record (www.news-record.com), Wyndham is excited about the sponsorship because many of the people who buy a Fairfield resort timeshare or a Trendwest timeshare (both part of the Wyndham Worldwide brand) are from the Greensboro and Raleigh Durham area of North Carolina. As Holmes explained, “this is a large market for our customers.”

Wyndham Vacation Ownership, as a timeshare company, is the world’s largest vacation ownership business. Through their two primary timeshare company brands, Fairfield Resort timeshare and Trendwest Timeshare, Wyndham Worldwide has developed or acquired more than 140 vacation ownership or timeshare promotion properties with over 18,000 individual timeshare condo units.

The Wyndham Worldwide brand includes Wyndham Vacation Ownership, a timeshare company involved in timeshare promotion for Fairfield Resort Timeshare and Trendwest Timeshare. It also includes the Wyndham Hotel Group and the RCI Global Vacation Network Group. The RCI Global Vacation Network is the world’s largest timeshare condo exchange network and is one of the world’s largest global marketers of vacation properties for rental or timeshare promotion.

The 2007 Wyndham Championship will be part of the PGA Tour’s Fed-Ex Cup schedule, which is itself a new departure for US professional golf. While all of the fine points have yet to be established, the Fed-Ex Cup is patterned loosely after NASCAR’s Nextel Cup, which allows the top 10 drivers to compete for the cup in a 10-race series. Until this year, a PGA Tour member’s status to play the following year was determined almost entirely upon dollars won in each tournament played.

Hospitality industry giant Cendant will create Wyndham Worldwide, a new business entity

Cendant Corporation is expected to spin off Wyndham Worldwide during the third quarter of 2006, making Wyndham Worldwide the largest hospitability company in the world to offer a range of lodging products and services. The spin off will establish Wyndham Worldwide an independent, publicly traded company, with the following branded products: Wyndham®, Ramada®, Super 8®, Wingate Inn® and Days Inn®; the vacation exchange and rental businesses of RCI®, Novasol® and Landal GreenParks®, and the timeshare businesses, Fairfield® Resorts (FairShare Plus®) and Trendwest® Resorts (WorldMark®)

The company has mentioned no plans for merging the two timeshare giants, Fairfield and TrendWest. As Stephen P. Holmes, Cendant vice chairman explains, "Even as we adopt a new corporate brand to represent the sum of our hospitality businesses, we recognize the tremendous value and equity of each of our brands. Our commitment to our total brand portfolio remains just as strong, and we will continue to grow and enhance the presence of our brands within their respective market segments."