Author: Staff Contributor

As inauguration day dawns cold and clear in Washington DC, the US economy has many timeshare sales employees across the company – even those in sunny Key West – feeling the chill.

Last week The Hyatt Vacation Club in Key West implemented corporate-mandated layoffs in their sales and marketing departments. The resort, known as Windward Pointe, is operated by Hyatt timeshare and owned by the Key West-based Spottswood Companies. Spottswood also owns the Marriot Beachside Hotel, the Coconut Beach Resort, the Holiday Inn, and the Comfort Inn, all in Key West.

Built in 2001, this Key West timeshare has 104 two-bedroom, two-bath timeshare units, that Hyatt sells from just under $10,000; to about $30,000, for the highest demand season, which in Key West is during Christmas and during Fantasy Fest, always scheduled near Halloween.

According to KeysNet.com, Larry Shulman, a senior vice president at Hyatt’s Beverly Hills office said, “We don’t typically comment a lot on these types of things … different than any business across the country … we’ve had to revisit our business model and downsize.” Shulman did mention that cuts were happening across the board at many Hyatt properties, primarily hitting the timeshare sales and marketing departments the hardest.

Sales information at the Monroe County Property Appraiser’s office shows that timeshare sales at Windward Pointe in 2008 were less than half of what they were in 2007, even though the average sale price had increased to $21,551.

Currently there are more than 40 Windward Pointe timeshare resales or timeshare rentals available at Sell My Timeshare NOW, starting at just under $10,000.

As we have shared before here at The Timeshare Authority, TATOC (Timeshare Owners and Committees) is the only elected consumer’s timeshare association to represent the interest of timeshare owners in Europe. Currently there are 70 member resorts that are part of TATOC, across Europe, providing vacation access for more than 250,000 families.

TATOC, a Timeshare Association with their Member’s Best Interest at Heart

When TATOC says they have the interest of their members at heart, they mean it. Late last month they announced that despite the fact they would benefit from additional funds, in these challenging economic times, they have made the decision to freeze membership fees for 2009 at the 2008 level. As CEO Taylor explained, “During our recent strategy meeting and despite the fact that the Association needs funds to be able to continue its work, it was felt by the Board that in these difficult times we needed to assist our member resorts as much as possible and so there has yet again been no increase in fees”.

To learn more about TATOC, contact Harry Taylor, CEO, on +44 (0)845 230 2430

Or Jennie Thompson in Media Relations, 00 34 615 022 542
[email protected]

Recent TATOC news in The Timeshare Authority blog:

• TATOC — The Timeshare Association (Timeshare Owners and Committees)
• Buying European Timeshare Getting Safer than Ever

You probably wouldn’t mind a Disney vacation right about now, especially one packed with the charm of days gone by. How about some sunny skies, a busy boardwalk reminiscent of a mid-Atlantic seacoast town, and lodging prices that sound like they belong to yesterday, not 2009?

All this and more is what you can expect from a Disney Boardwalk Villas timeshare resale or timeshare rental, and are some of the reasons this popular timeshare resort is number 39 on the Sell My Timeshare NOW HOT 100 List. When you take advantage of the great pricing in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals, you can plan luxury timeshare vacations at affordable prices.

Vacation in Disney Timeshares and Pick Your Park

Disney’s Boardwalk Villas timeshares are convenient to all the Disney parks, but closest to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. There are plenty of activities on the Boardwalk itself, and you are a short walk from the timeshare units to Illuminations, the Disney Beach Club, the Yacht Club, and the Swan and Dolphin resorts.

Many vacationers pick Disney’s Boardwalk Villas as their choice in Disney timeshares because of the fun activities and nighttime entertainment just outside your door on the Boardwalk.

Great Accommodations at Disney’s Boardwalk Villas Timeshares

You have plenty of choices when you vacation at Disney’s Boardwalk Villas timeshares from studio timeshares, studios plus daybeds, one and two-bedroom villas, or a grand villa which accommodates up to 12 people.

Studio timeshares include one queen bed, a double sleeper sofa, a combination dining and living area, and a kitchenette. With nearly 360 square feet of space, these studio timeshares will accommodate up to four adults and a small child. Studios that include a daybed include all of the above features plus a five-foot daybed, suitable for a small child.

One-bedroom timeshare villas at Disney’s Boardwalk Villas offer twice the square footage of a studio unit. These comfortable villas include one bedroom with a king size bed, as well as a living room with a queen size sleeper sofa. One-bedroom units offer a full kitchen, a stacked washer and dryer, and either a private balcony or private patio. One-bedroom timeshare units are designed for a comfortable vacation by up to four adults, plus one child in a crib.

Two-bedroom timeshare studio villas are over a thousand square feet created by the combination of a studio timeshare villa and a one-bedroom villa. These units house up to eight adults and a child in a crib.

At Disney’s Boardwalk Villas, the Grand Villa is the ultimate in vacation space and comfort. These units include three bedrooms and three baths. The master bedroom has a king size bed and jetted whirlpool tub. The second and third bedrooms have two queen beds, while the living area also includes a queen size sleeper sofa.

For all your home away from home needs, you will find Disney cast members very attentive to assisting you, and for keeping your room neat and tidy, at Walt Disney World, just call “mousekeeping” … of course!

This week we released our statistical analysis for the 4th quarter, 2008.

It has been absolutely amazing that during a time when business looked its bleakest for many industries, including some timeshare developers and hoteliers, here at Sell My Timeshare NOW, we saw remarkable growth.

Because we are a privately held company, Sell My Timeshare NOW is not required to release quarterly reports to our stockholders. However, we believe that everyone who buys timeshare, sells timeshares or rents timeshare with us, is entitled to an update on how things are going. For this reason, we publish quarterly statistical synopses of our business growth and development.

You can download the full 4th Quarter 2008 business synopsis here.

And follow this link to read our press release about the report:

Despite the Economy, Consumers are Buying and Renting Timeshare Resales and Sell My Timeshare NOW Has the Numbers to Prove It

Here are some of the facts you will learn about Sell My Timeshare NOW:

• From 2007 to 2008, the overall number of offers to buy or rent timeshares advertised and marketed by the company increased by 85 percent.
• Totaling $461,470,158, we averaged over $1 million per day in offers.
• During the fourth quarter of 2008, the number of offers to buy or rent timeshare increased by 73 percent, quarter-over-quarter from 2007 to 2008, and increased by 43 percent in the dollar amount during this period.

You can also find copies of past reports archived on our website at www.sellmytimesharenow.com