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The Hacienda Pinilla, a prominent beach and golf resort community in Costa Rica, announces the launch of its first luxury residence program, the Hacienda Club. The Hacienda Club will offer ownership under a traditional fractional model.

In the past, Hacienda Pinilla visitors had to choose from two extremes – stay only a few days at the La Posada Inn or purchase a vacation home outright. Now visitors can enjoy these beautiful vacation homes, while sharing the cost of ownership. The amount of vacation time available to each owner is dependent upon how much of an interest they have purchased. A buyer may have the option to purchase a 1/12 share (providing 4 weeks of vacation) to a ½ share (providing 26 weeks of vacation).

The Hacienda Club Villas – 3 & 4 bedroom luxury homes – are priced starting at $750,000 for outright ownership. However, with the fractional ownership program, owning a piece of the private residence could cost you as little as $98,000. All homes are outfitted by one of the resort’s trusted interior designers, so they come fully furnished and decorated.

Owners of the Hacienda Club will also be given a golf membership at the Mike Young championship golf course and access to the renowned Beach Club. However, the greatest feature may be exclusive access to the club concierge service, where owners can request almost anything from groceries to dinner reservations. The Hacienda Club concierge can also plan activities for guests such as golf tee-times and jet-ski reservations. The resort even advertises that they can even set up a private picnic for you, right on the beach.

For information about this fractional ownership opportunity, visit the Hacienda Club website.

The Sunset World Resorts & Vacation Experiences received the honor of seven awards from Travel Weekly. The industry magazine’s Magellan Awards for 2013 have been announced, and the Sunset World Resorts are excited to be among the recipients.

The respected travel and tourism publication awards its annual Magellan Awards to members of the hospitality industry in a variety of categories. The honors are given in both Gold and Silver levels in categories ranging from room design to marketing. The awards are divided by type of travel such as cruise lines, airports and airlines, and travel agencies.

2013 Magellan Awards

At the Magellan Gold Award level, Travel Weekly awarded Sunset World’s Hacienda Tres Rios honors in both Eco-Friendly Hotel and Room design. In addition, the Hacienda Tres Rios hotel also received a Silver Award for Family Resort. The Sunset Marina Resort & Yacht Club received the Magellan Gold Award for best Waterfront Hotel/Resort and the Sunset Royal Beach was given a Silver Award for Elite Floors room design.

The resort chain was also honored with silver awards for their promotional video, as well as their Vacation Club Share system loyalty program. This is perhaps the most exciting award given to the brand, as this is the 4th consecutive year they have received this honor.

CEO of Sunset World Resorts & Vacation Experiences, Orlando Arroyo says, “We are honored to receive the prestigious Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, which honor the best in travel, for a fourth consecutive year. These important international recognitions motivate us to continuously improve our services and expand our international presence.”

Click here for the full list of 2013 Magellan Award winners.

This summer the Orlando Magic announced that they will partner with Marriott Vacation Club for their upcoming basketball season. Marriott Vacation Club will have a special opportunity to be the presenting partner during a historic year for the NBA team, their 25th anniversary. Given the occasion, 2013-2014 will be known as their “Silver Season”.

Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martin says, “We are honored to have Marriott Vacation Club join us as the presenting partner of our much anticipated Silver Season […] For 25 years the Magic has represented excellence and we are proud to partner with an outstanding brand like Marriott Vacation Club to celebrate this momentous season.”

The NBA team will even sport a new logo co-branded with the Marriott name. The logo celebrates the Silver Season and will be displayed throughout the Amway Center (the home of the Orlando Magic) and surrounding areas of the city.

The Orlando magic will also feature Marriott Vacation Club in select marketing materials and feature the company throughout their website. As a major presence for timeshare ownership in the Orlando area, the Magic organization will promote both Marriott vacation ownership and timeshare rental opportunities.

President and CEO of Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Stephen P. Weisz declares, “We’re thrilled to be the Magic’s Silver Season presenting partner and proud to continue our long-standing relationship with this great team […] For nearly 30 years we’ve been providing exceptional vacation experiences to our owners and guests at our resorts around the world and especially right here in our hometown of Orlando. We look forward to a fantastic season and partnership.”

Both Marriott and the Magic anticipate a big year for the team, both on and off the court.

25 Years of Magic

Although the Orlando Magic is considered a young franchise in the NBA organization, they have already achieved a great deal. So far, they have won 5 division championships in the years 1995, 1996, 2008, 2009, and 2010.In addition they also won 2 Eastern Conference titles in 1995 and 2009.

As an affluent part of the Orlando community, the organization also donates over $2 million to local charities. Through ticket donations, event sponsorships, autographed gifts, and scholarships – the team makes philanthropy a major part of their mission. The team has also helped over 1 million children through the Orlando Magic Youth Fund, founded in 1994. Over the past decade they have donated over 18 million dollar through the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation to this cause.

Recently, Melia Hotels introduced the first twitter interactive hotel, Sol Wave House. Located in Majorca, Spain, the hotel has been remodeled with social media hubs and twitter #hashtags throughout the resort. The Melia Hotel brand is the first to incorporate social media on this level, an innovative idea that is sure to spread.

The resort is built to cater to the most active “tweeters”, adults ages 18-29. The building is designed so that beachfront rooms and balconies are stadium style, allowing guests to overlook the action down below on the beach.

@SolWaveHouse

The most talked about feature is reserved for those guests staying in the new “Party Suites”. Besides the VIP treatment, the suites also come with a Twitter Concierge. This concierge can be reached by tweeting any and all requests during your stay. Guest can use hashtags such as #FillMyFridge to refill the minibar or ask for #moretowels while getting dressed for the day’s activities. This interactive feature brings the concept of personal service to a whole new level.

Around the resort, there are specific hashtag hubs where you can tweet or instagram using provided handles. For example, your party suite may feature a mustache decal on the mirror with the hashtag – #Howdoyoulikemynewlook and #Mustache. The resort’s impressive pool area allows you to tweet while you relax in their “Bali” sunbeds, by tweeting to another bed – “#balibed4, how’s it going?”

The Sol Wave House is named for its live action wave machines: The FlowBarrelTen and Double Flowrider. While some may have experienced a flowrider before, as the surf simulator is popular in many travel destinations, the FlowBarrelTen is brand new. The first to be used in Europe, this revolutionary wave machine shoots water at 13 miles a second to generate a picture-perfect tube wave. Anyone want to #hangten?

Sol Melia Vacation Club

Many in the timeshare industry are familiar with Melia Hotels International and the Melia Vacation Club. The corporation owns over 350 resorts in 35 countries worldwide. Timeshare Ownership with Melia features a points-based system, in which you have the flexibility to travel to multiple resorts – including the Sol Wave House for select members. To learn more about timeshare ownership with Melia, visit their website.