Westgate Resort Timeshares is a privately owned timeshare and vacation ownership company based in Orlando, Florida. David A. Siegel, a self-made multi-millionaire, who is personally so colorful I could write this entire blog just about his eccentricities, founded Westgate. Instead, I will save the Siegel stories for another time, and choose to focus instead on the upcoming Planet Hollywood Towers.

Planet Hollywood Towers is being constructed with the help of a $400 million construction and development loan arranged by Textron Financial Corp of Rhode Island. Westgate, which already has 28 timeshare resorts in 11 states, records around $800 million in annual revenues. Siegel obviously sees Planet Hollywood Towers timeshare resort as his crown jewel and has been quoted as saying that the timeshare resort is the first timeshare connected directly to a major resort hotel and casino complex, and will provide Westgate timeshare owners with, “vacation experiences unavailable anywhere else in the world.”

Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino kicked things off last week, with a grand opening that included three days of Hollywood headliners, including Bruce Willis, Barbra Streisand, Jon Stewart, Sugar Ray, and, Earth, Wind, and Fire. The event was hyped as Las Vegas’ biggest party, and any way you look at it, that’s tough billing to live up to.

Not so long ago, the prime piece of real estate on which Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino sits was occupied by the Aladdin, a resort and casino that was both grand and garish, even by Vegas standards. When the old Aladdin closed in the late 1990’s, it was imploded (except for the Aladdin Theater), taking with it memories of Elvis and Priscilla’s wedding held there, the many times part owner Wayne Newton crooned “Danny Boy,” or Neil Diamond sang “Sweet Caroline”, and no doubt the millions of dollars that had changed hands over the years across the gaming tables.

Reopening the Aladdin was attempted in 2000, but everything from the failed opening-night fireworks display, to union squabbles, to changing trends along the famous Vegas Strip made the rebirth of the Aladdin brief and painful.

In 2003, Starwood Resorts and Planet Hollywood purchased the Aladdin out of bankruptcy. To their credit, they have developed the hotel not as homage to movie memorabilia, but more along the sleek lines of the highly successful Wynn Resort.

Still, nothing is certain in Las Vegas success. One day they love you and the next day you’re yesterday’s news. But it least for now it appears that Westgate’s Planet Hollywood Towers are strategically positioned for triumph. The timeshare resort will provide direct access to the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino for timeshare owners in the 1200 villas, which includes 28 penthouse suites.

The nearly 200 boutiques of the Miracle Mile encircle Planet Hollywood, and the 50-story timeshare resort will dominate the corner of Harmon Avenue and Audrey Lane. The towers will include a tropical pool with its own sandy beach and private cabanas, a private pool on the 46 floor for exclusive use by the timeshare owners in the penthouse suites, a fitness center, restaurants, marketplace/deli, and all the amenities $400 million can buy.

Target date for opening this timeshare extravaganza? Even Westgate’s own website doesn’t speculate on when you will be able to buy timeshare at the Planet Hollywood Towers.

Until Westgate’s Planet Hollywood Towers are ready for your next vacation, here are other Westgate timeshare resales for you to enjoy:

• Westgate Blue Tree Lake Buena Vista, Florida
• Westgate Branson Lakes Hollister, Missouri
• Westgate Branson Woods Branson, Missouri
• Westgate Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, Florida
• Westgate Flamingo Bay Las Vegas, Nevada
• Westgate Historic Williamsburg Williamsburg, Virginia
• Westgate Lakes Resort and Spa Orlando, Florida
• Westgate Leisure Resort Orlando, Florida
• Westgate Miami Beach North Miami Beach, Florida
• Westgate Painted Mountain Golf Resort Mesa, Arizona
• Westgate Palace Orlando, Florida
• Westgate Park City Resort and Spa Park City, Utah
• Westgate River Ranch River Ranch, Florida
• Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort Gatlinburg, Tennessee
• Westgate South Beach Miami Beach, Florida
• Westgate Towers Kissimmee, Florida
• Westgate Town Center Kissimmee, Florida
• Westgate Tunica Resort Robinsville, Mississippi
• Westgate Vacation Villas Kissimmee, Florida

What a great time to spend Canadian dollars on US timeshare! I know I have mentioned this before, but with the value of Canada’s loonie strong to the US dollar, Canadians have never been better positioned to buy timeshare or rent timeshare in the United States.

And since Canadians are quickly realizing this, there have been a number of articles on timeshares and vacation ownership in the Canadian press lately with good advice for anyone who wants to buy timeshare or buy timeshare resales. But, I was particularly impressed with an article I read in Canada.com, titled, “No such thing as a free lunch“. Reporter Sandy Fife has done an excellent job of defining the pitfalls (many) and the benefits (a few) of attending timeshare promotions in order to enjoy a reduced rate vacation.

Notwithstanding the fact that a timeshare promotion deal may enable you to take a vacation with free or deeply discounted rates, and provides you an excellent chance to try before you buy timeshare, the high-pressure tactics of some salespeople may offset the value of what would have otherwise been a relaxing vacation.

If You Attend a Timeshare Presentation…

Fife offers the following good suggestions for surviving a timeshare promotion:

• Choose a reputable name in the hotel and/or timeshare resort industry for your free (or reduced) getaway.
• Be very careful if you choose to respond to a timeshare promotion that contacts you only by email or phone solicitation.
• And lastly, she says, don’t even think about going if you are susceptible to high-pressure sales pitches.

As one seasoned veteran of enjoying timeshare promotions was quoted as saying, “You should never buy at a presentation, because time-shares cost much less on resale.” I couldn’t have said that better myself.

If you have ever considered going on a timeshare promotion vacation, just to enjoy the perks that come with it, take a few minutes and read the Canada.com article first. And if you want to sidestep the sales rush and developer prices, go straight to shopping timeshare resales.

When you visit the website for Sell My Timeshare NOW, we don’t give you free tickets to theme parks, or a coupon good for breakfast, but you can browse and peruse our huge inventory of timeshare resales and timeshare rentals as much, and as often as you like. You can show up in your pajamas or your favorite sweats, and from the comfort and convenience of your personal computer, you can take your time selecting the timeshare vacation option that is right for you. Best of all, what you save when you buy timeshare resales instead of paying developer prices, will help you pay for future vacations—vacations that don’t involve sitting through sales presentations.

Here are links to a few of the timeshare resorts from which you can choose at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

• Bluegreen Timeshare
• Marriott Timeshare
• Shell Vacations Club Timeshare
• Starwood (including Westin and Sheraton) Timeshare
• Fairfield, WorldMark / Trendwest Timeshare
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club Timeshare
• Westgate Timeshare
• Mayan Palace Timeshare
• Orange Lake Timeshare

Marriott Vacation Club International has announced the second phase opening of its Marriott timeshares at Frenchman’s Cove in St. Thomas. The new phase includes 30 additional two-bedroom timeshare villas and a full service restaurant.

Balconies off each villa overlook the sugar-white sand beaches of Pacquereau Bay. Other features of the timeshare units include fully equipped kitchens, dining areas, a washer and dryer, and multiple Sony televisions and DVD players. The resort is situated on 13 waterfront acres where tropical mountains slope to Caribbean-blue waters.

Marriott Vacation Club International views St. Thomas as a high-demand area among their vacation property owners, and regular readers of the timeshare blog may recall our Timeshare Owners Blog posting one chilly day last February when I wrote about Wyndham Vacation Resorts acquiring the Old Beach Palace resort in St. Thomas. At that time, I quoted Lisa Burby, senior director of Wyndham Vacation Ownership, as saying, “St. Thomas is an extremely popular destination for our owners.”

With Marriott and Wyndham timeshares taking the same position here, I’d say that buying a St. Thomas timeshare resale with plans to use it, rent it, or resell it in the future, is a pretty solid plan.

Here’s Marriott’s great video that appears on You-Tube. If it doesn’t make you want to go to St. Thomas, then the beach just isn’t for you!

Sell My Timeshare NOW releases their First Quarter 2007 Hot Properties List, showing which timeshare resales are receiving the most offers at www.sellmytimesharenow.com

Sell My Timeshare NOW has just released their 2007 Hot Properties List. The entire list includes 1,360 different timeshare resort properties, and ranks them from first to last by the number of buyer offers received, based on the records of Sell My Timeshare NOW, LLC. The top 25 timeshare resales properties for the first quarter of 2007 are:

1. Sunterra Resorts Ka’anapali Beach Club
2. Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas
3. Orange Lake’s West Village
4. WorldMark by Wyndham – Multi-Destination
5. Manhattan Club
6. Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club
7. Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club
8. Marriott’s Newport Coast Villas
9. Sheraton Vistana Resort
10. Harborside Resort at Atlantis
11. Marriott’s Grande Vista
12. Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club
13. Pueblo Bonito Rose Spa and Resort
14. Westgate Lakes Resort and Spa Phase I
15. Mayan Palace Riviera Maya Cancun
16. Pueblo Bonito Resort at Sunset Beach
17. Mystic Dunes Resort and Golf Club
18. Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
19. Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Hilton Hawaiian Village
20. Villa del Palmar, Cabo San Lucas
21. Hilton Grand Vacations Club on International Drive Orlando
22. Point at Poipu
23. Westgate Vacation Villas
24. Hilton Grand Vacations Club at the Flamingo
25. Palace Resort at Moon Palace

Like all statistics, there are several ways to look at the Hot List. If you are a timeshare owner with a property to sell, this list will help you assess the demand for a timeshare unit at your resort. And if you are interested in buying timeshare, the Hot List will help you see which properties are popular with other timeshare vacationers and which timeshares probably offer high-demand timeshare exchange opportunities. But just because you own a timeshare or are thinking of buying timeshare that does not rank at the top of the list, don’t assume there’s a problem with that resort or that it is unpopular. In fact, the opposite could be true. A limited number of timeshare resales at a resort could simply mean that all the current owners are highly satisfied with their timeshares and few timeshare units at that resort ever show up on the resale timeshare market. Other factors, like the week you own and the number of bedrooms in your timeshare unit also affect timeshare resale.

Over the next few months, I am going to be profiling one location each week from the top-25 timeshare resorts on the Hot Properties 2007 List. On Saturday, I will take an in-depth look at number 18 on the list, Disney BoardWalk Villas, and then each week, I’ll focus on more properties from the list.

To obtain a free list of how 1,360 timeshare properties ranked on the resales offers list, contact Sell My Timeshare Now, toll free at 877-815-4227 or send an email to [email protected] and ask for the free Hot Properties List.