Uncategorized

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.

We’ve written about this in the past at The Timeshare Authority, but it’s such a fun story that we wanted to bring it to our readers’ attention again this year.

Last week a crowd watched excitedly as 161 sea turtles hatched on the shores of Disney‘s Vero Beach Resort. After two long and anticipated months, both guests and Disney cast members happily welcomed the baby loggerhead turtles with open hearts.
The mother of the hatchlings, Claire, is sponsored by Disney’s Animal Program and Disney’s Vero Beach Resort. In a true Disney fashion, she was named after the character in the Disney Pixar film Monster’s University.

“Sea turtles face monstrous challenges throughout their lifetime, but all of us can help” says Anne Savage, the Conservation Director for Disney’s Animal Programs.

Disney’s Tour de Turtles

Claire is also a member of the “Tour de Turtles”, which is sponsored by the Vero Beach Resort, as well as Disney’s Wildlife Program and Worldwide Conservation Fund. The program was created to learn more about the nesting habits of sea turtles, while raising awareness about threats to turtles in the wild. Each turtle in this program has been outfitted with satellite transmitters to track their travel patterns.

DVC’s Vero Beach Resort patiently awaits the arrival of two additional hatchling nests. Carrie, another member of the “Tour de Turtles” program (and likewise named after the character from “Monster’s University”) had also laid eggs on the beaches of the resort earlier this year. Lucky guests will be witness to two additional hatchings as Carrie came ashore twice during the nesting season, which spans from May to October.

About DVC’s Vero Beach Resort

Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, part of Disney Vacation Club, combines the magic of Disney with the flexibility of timeshare ownership. The resort is conveniently located about two hours away from Walt Disney World, allowing families to spend time in Orlando and then spend a relaxing week at the Vero Beach Resort. The beachfront timeshare offers a variety of accommodation from studios to three bedroom cottages the sleep up to 12 people.

Interval International has officially announced its partnership with The Gourmet Society. Through this partnership, Gold and Platinum II owners in the UK will be able to receive discounts at almost 7,000 restaurants.

Managing director of the Gourmet Society, Simon Leonard says, “We are delighted to announce this partnership with Interval International. Having worked together in the past, we know how much its members will value the quality and quantity of the restaurants that we offer. We look forward to enabling them to enjoy great savings whenever they dine out with us.”

Eligible Interval International members can contact the exchange company and request a Gourmet Society membership card, free of charge. This card can be used at participating restaurants (and even movie theaters) to receive exclusive discounts. What discount to offer is left to the restaurant’s discretion, but the more common discounts include:

• Buy one, get one free (no set menus)
• 25% off the entire check

How it Works-

1. Use Gourmet Society’s website or mobile app to browse thousands of restaurants
2. View the available deal for that restaurant
3. Make a reservation
4. Use your Gourmet Society card, and enjoy your meal!

About the Gourmet Society
The Gourmet Society was created to allow consumers to benefit from dining at their favorite restaurants – but with a great discount. Currently The Gourmet Society has over 6,900 participating restaurants with more joining every week. The Gourmet Society’s website provides the extensive list of restaurants and the exclusive offers at each one. Before their partnership with Interval International, the Gourmet Society consisted of about 500,000 members.

RCI, the largest vacation exchange company in the world, announced that its RCI Green Awards program is now accepting applications for 2013.

RCI has collaborated with Green Key Global, a forerunner in eco-certification to present awards to three RCI affiliated resorts with outstanding commitment to eco- friendly initiatives. This will be the third year that RCI will present the annual awards.

Gordon Gurnik, President of RCI says, “Going green is not a trend; it is a commitment to doing the right thing for the earth, and preserving it for future generations of travelers. So many of our affiliated resorts are doing wonderful things on the property level and these efforts are also valued by RCI members. We want to make sure their hard work is recognized with the RCI Green Awards.”

In recent years, many resorts affiliated with RCI have created eco-friendly programs to reduce waste and increase environmental awareness. Ratings are specifically based upon practices such as energy preservation, land use, indoor air quality, and operational regions. It is anticipated that many timeshare resorts will apply, but only three resorts will receive the honor of the RCI Green Award. The three RCI resorts will be awarded a Platinum, Gold, or Silver Award.

Past winners of the award have set the bar high with last year’s winners including:

• Platinum – Grand Pacific Palisades Resort
• Gold – Carlsbad Seapointe Resort
• Silver – Hilton Grand Vacations Club at MarBrisa

To apply for the RCI Green Award, applicants must also apply for a Green Key Eco-Rating making them also eligible for Green Key certification. This certification can benefit the resort through potential financial savings and recognition as a Green Key resort by popular online travel resources.

The application deadline is January 15, 2014.