Marriott Timeshare

The word “branding” used to conjure up visions of a cattle drive and a sizzling imprint stamped on bovine buttocks. But somewhere along the way, the business concept of a company’s “brand” or market image evolved from a noun to a verb, and “branding” became an industry buzzword for the process of spreading one’s corporate image to other goods or services.

Many experts today say that the hospitality industry changed when major hotel brands got into the business of selling vacation ownership and interval timeshare. It is true that big names including Hilton timeshare, Hyatt timeshare, Disney timeshare, along with Marriott, Four Seasons, Starwood and others have had an enormous impact on the timeshare industry as a whole.

The presence of these cornerstone hoteliers made the idea of owning interval timeshare more familiar and more comfortable to many consumers. When big names aggressively entered the timeshare business, a struggling or less reputable timeshare company was certain to be forced out of it. And there is no disputing that a company as large and powerful as Disney timeshare or Marriott timeshare has strong lobbying power on matters of regulating and improving timeshare ownership across the board. But when it truly comes to buying a timeshare vacation property to use and enjoy, remember that there are as many opportunities to buy a fabulous resale timeshare from a company whose name you may not know as there to are to purchase a timeshare owned and branded by a famous hotelier.

Consider the timeshare company known as Bluegreen timeshare. Bluegreen is a leader in developing quality timeshare resorts and vacation ownership properties, yet their name is not necessarily a household word. As a corporation, Bluegreen is a respected builder of residential communities, along with fabulous timeshare condos and timeshare vacation resorts. Yet, many buyers new to timesharing, may not know Bluegreen’s name or realize that this successful company has sold over 54,000 residential and golf community homes in 32 states and is on Forbes’ list of “The 200 Best Small Companies” and FORTUNE’S list of “America’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies”.

Brand loyalty is wonderful. Brand loyalty often allows you to trade perks from one aspect of a company’s services to another, such as loyalty points awarded for hotel stays that can also be used at a timeshare condo. And, if you enjoy one particular hotel chain more than you do others, then automatically booking with that chain takes the guesswork out of travel planning. But when you shop for a timeshare vacation property, whether new or resale, it is a good idea to consider both brand names you know AND those names with which you might not be familiar.

Whether or not you go with a hotel branded timeshare, now is a good time to buy. There are excellent deals available in all types of timeshares and vacation clubs.

You’ve Heard of Emmy and Oscar, But Do You Know About “Stevie”?

American Business Awards has recognized Marriott Vacation Club (Marriott timeshare) as the Best Sales Organization for 2006. Marriott Vacation Club International has 10,000 plus employees and 57 resorts around the globe. This is the second time the Orlando-based timeshare company has received the honor, which is marked by the award of the “Stevie” statue.

In case you are not on a first name basis with Steve, earning a Stevie means gaining industry recognition along with a silver or bronze statuette designed by the same people who created the movie industry’s Oscar and the advertising industry’s Clio.

There were more than 1500 nominations in over 40 categories among this year’s nominees. Congratulations Marriott!

Timesharing has been around since the 1960’s and available in the US since as early as 1970 when the first right-to-use timeshare resort was developed in Hawaii. Most of the early developers were individuals or companies whose names were not well known to the general public. It took another fifteen years before big name hoteliers, interested in the timeshare market, made their decisive move.

To the surprise of many in the hospitality industry, the Marriott Corporation was the first major hotel chain to venture into the timeshare business. In 1984, Marriott purchased the assets of American Resorts, Inc., which at that time owned two resorts on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and had a third resort under construction. Marriott recognized the successful track record of American Resorts in this market and quickly hired many of American Resort’s top executives to run the Hilton Head properties.

Today, Marriot Vacation Club International (MCVI) features over fifty luxury resorts in more than thirty destinations including the US, Spain, the Caribbean, and Thailand. With Marriott’s demonstrated success as inspiration, Disney, Sheraton, Hilton, Hyatt and many other big guns of the hotel business soon found themselves developing and operating timeshares and vacation clubs. Their presence has benefited the industry across the board, raising standards of service, quality, and reliability, and increasing customer confidence in timeshares as a product. Hoteliers in the timeshare industry are able to take advantage of name recognition and customer loyalty from one branded product to another.

But the consumer interested in buying a timeshare resale should not feel left out of the “big name” market. A quick search of the internet reveals that resale opportunities are plentiful for hotel brand timeshares and vacation club memberships. Hotel brand timeshares tend to command higher resale prices, while retaining excellent value.

The timeshare buyer interested in a hotel-brand property as a resale should carefully confirm which of the present owner’s membership perks will transfer in a sale. The answer to this varies from company to company, but since many vacation club members claim their perks alone are worth their membership costs, it is important for the resale buyer to understand exactly what s/he is purchasing. It is also sometimes a good idea for interested buyers to tour a property as a new timeshare prospect, even if they know before they go that they are only interested in buying resale. The time spent listening to a sales presentation affords interested buyers several benefits. They will learn many details about the amenities of the property from the sales presenter. They will enjoy the opportunity to tour the property firsthand and to compare the costs of buying new with buying resale. And they will typically have the opportunity to enjoy a luxury vacation at a free or highly discounted price in return for their time spent at the sales presentation.

A timeshare buyer should always remember that buying resale and paying a lower purchase price does not mean settling for less in the way of quality, comfort, and amenities. In today’s timeshare market, almost any resort product that can be purchased new is also available at a much lower price buying resale from a broker or by-owner service, and dealing directly with the person who owns the timeshare now.

As I reported in early June, when MVCI purchased the Radisson Suite Beach Resort in Marco Island, Florida, with plans to renovate the property as a timeshare, local ordinances stood in their way. Marriott’s intention was to convert the 233-room property into a 219-unit timeshare. But to do that, they’d need to build upward beyond the building’s present 125-foot height.

The timeshare/vacation club developer requested permission to build to a height of 175 feet. At the August 7, 2006, Marco Island city council meeting, a compromise was reached. MVCI will be permitted to build to a height of 150 feet.

According to an article by reporter Jennifer Brannock in The Naples News, (www.naplesnews.com) the president of the Marco Island Civic Association, Kathryn Sullivan, expressed disappointment with the decision. Sullivan was quoted as saying, “I think hotels are important to the economy of the island, and I think we lost a hotel tonight. The danger with this is that we’ll lose more hotels as the owners realize the advantages of going to timeshares.”

A recent survey of island residents showed that more than half are opposed to raising the height regulations for Collier Boulevard, the main thoroughfare on the island. The Naples News says, “Some residents and councilors said they were concerned that the allowance of more units will create traffic and congestion problems, because more people can occupy a two-bedroom time-share than a hotel room.”

And while it is easy to empathize with the local residents’ desire to protect their community from overgrowth, it is interesting to note they have identified some of the very same things we are always saying at SellMyTimeshareNOW.

1. When people realize the advantage of timeshares, it is hard to go back to hotels, and this applies to both vacationers and hoteliers.
2. The spaciousness of timeshares beats out a comparable hotel room every time.