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Would You Play Ball With Wyndham Timeshare CEO Franz Hanning?

Would You Play Ball With Wyndham Timeshare CEO Franz Hanning?

Emotions were high Tuesday night in Orlando as the Orlando Magic, who had waltzed unbeaten through their first eight games of the play-off season, struggled against a very focused Boston Celtics team in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Yet despite the fact Magic fans were clearly hyped, anxious not to head to Boston 0 and 2, you probably wouldn’t expect Wyndham Vacation Ownership CEO Franz Hanning to be the fan in a verbal altercation that involved tossing around a basketball with NBA referee, Joe DeRosa.

At halftime, as the three officials headed to the scorer’s table to retrieve their warm up jackets, DeRosa still carried a basketball. Disgruntled fans heckled the referees as the three approached the officials table with one fan saying something that clearly struck DeRosa the wrong way.

DeRosa responded by flipping the basketball he was carrying toward the irate fan who countered by immediately tossing it back at the referee. Of course, in the game of one-upmanship with a ref, expect the fan always to come out on the short end of the deal. DeRosa simply called in Amway Arena Security Officials, although it is unclear whether he asked that the fan be ejected or just relocated to another seat. At the time, ESPN and other sources covering the game did not identify the fan, who was later said to be Franz Hanning, CEO of Wyndham Vacation Ownership, the Wyndham timeshare ownership division of Wyndham Worldwide.

It is believed that Hanning was directed to seating in another area of the arena, perhaps out of earshot of the game officials. Regardless of what he or others said, seasoned ref Joe DeRosa, was out of line in throwing a ball at or to a spectator and the NBA is looking into the matter. And although Hanning is an Orlando resident, he is reported to be a friend of Doc Rivers, former Orlando Magic coach and current Boston Celtic coach—all of which makes hard to determine whether Hanning was unhappy because he felt the referees were favoring Orlando or favoring Boston.

Basketball fans score big on accommodations when they schedule timeshare vacations to correspond with big games by their favorite teams. Your Orlando timeshare could make it much more convenient for you to catch the Magic throughout each year’s season play.

Here’s a look at what happened Tuesday night between Hanning and DeRosa:

Westgate Timeshares PH Towers… Who Owes Whom Roughly $20 Million?

Westgate Timeshares PH Towers… Who Owes Whom Roughly $20 Million?

PH Towers Westgate opened this past December and currently says only about 20 percent of its timeshare units have sold. But the rest of this Las Vegas timeshare’s units are not sitting empty; they are being used as hotel inventory by Planet Hollywood resort (which is owned by Harrah’s Entertainment Inc).

The 52-story, 1200-room Las Vegas timeshare is described by Westgate timeshare as both the world’s largest timeshare building (all units contained within a single structure) and the only timeshare in the world that is fully integrated with a casino.

The timeshare’s builder, Tutor-Saliba Corporation, has filed a foreclosure lawsuit in Nevada’s Clark County District Court against Westgate Planet Hollywood Las Vegas LLC. Tutor-Saliba alleges that Westgate owes the company $19.3 million based on the terms of the 2007 Las Vegas timeshare construction contract. According to the Las Vegas Sun, Westgate Resorts timeshare plans to fight the lawsuit against their newest Las Vegas timeshare property and says that liens filed against the resort by Tutor-Saliba and liens filed by subcontractors cover duplicate issues.

Westgate Timeshare Tells Its Side of the Story

Mark Waltrip, chief operating officer of Westgate Resorts, was quoted as saying, “We have exhausted every effort to work cooperatively with Tutor-Saliba to resolve these issues. We have previously provided Tutor-Saliba a well-documented position that has been independently verified by a third-party construction management firm and proves that not only are these claims totally without merit, but in fact Tutor-Saliba owes Westgate in excess of $18 million. In addition, Tutor-Saliba signed an agreement subordinating its claim to the lenders on this project and therefore has no right to pursue this course of action. We not only intend to vigorously defend these claims brought by Tutor-Saliba, but also seek recovery of millions of dollars in claims due to Westgate, including overcharges, credits due for unperformed work, liquidated damages for untimely performance and failure to comply with the plans and specifications of the project.”

So Westgate timeshare and the construction company for this Las Vegas timeshare agree that somebody owes somebody between 18 and 19.3 million dollars. One thing is certain, until this is resolved, only the attorneys involved benefit by the situation.

Sol Meliá Timeshare Post 124 Percent First Quarter Gains

Sol Meliá Timeshare Post 124 Percent First Quarter Gains

Sol Melia Vacation Club at Melia Puerto VallartaOrlando, Florida-based Sol Meliá Vacation Club offers beautiful timeshare resorts in popular vacation destinations including Mexico timeshare, Puerto Rico timeshares, Central America, the Canary Islands and Spain timeshare. Sol Meliá Vacation Club is part of the fifty-year old hospitality leader, Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts, which is headquartered in Spain.

In what the timeshare and hotel company predicted last year would an “insipid” recovery, the company released its first quarter 2010 financials last week, with Sol Meliá showed a profit of one million Euros. This marks a 124 percent increase over the same period in 2009. EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) for the company also increased for the first time since the presentation of the annual results in 2007.

The company is hinging part of its optimism about future earnings on the economic recovery in the US, saying, “The economic recovery in the United States, our most important feeder market for Latin America and the Caribbean makes Sol Meliá confident, nevertheless, that results will improve overall for 2010 in the region; and in particular the reactivation of hotel occupancy from the US (60% of our total guests in the region) also points towards a recovery in Sol Meliá Vacation Club.”

Unpredictable Challenges for Mexico Timeshare, Dominican Republic Timeshares, Venezuela Timeshares, and Spain Timeshares

The company also acknowledges the impact of events additional to the poor economy on its business. These events include the effect the Influenza A virus in Mexico; of earthquakes in Haiti on bookings in neighboring Dominican Republic timeshares; the devaluation of the Bolivar in Venezuela; and the impact of volcanic ash fallout on Spain timeshare and other resorts in Europe.

Sol Meliá currently employs more than 33,000 people worldwide and was one of a select number of RCI timeshare exchange affiliates to meet RCI’s standards of recognition as a top-performing partner. Sol Meliá Vacation Club received the award based on the company’s volume of business.

Warning from RCI to Timeshare Owners

Warning from RCI to Timeshare Owners

Just because callers claim to be affiliated with RCI, doesn’t mean they are.

This is the costly lesson some timeshare owners are learning. To combat the recent problem, RCI is notifying it’s subscribing members to be on the lookout for a timeshare scam in the form of misleading timeshare resale or timeshare rental offers. Some “entities” have been contacting timeshare owners and either claiming or implying to be connected with RCI.

These businesses may then ask for fees or even power of attorney in order to conduct business (supposedly a timeshare sale or timeshare rental) on behalf of the timeshare owner. RCI suggests that timeshare owners with any questions about the authenticity of a call they receive, simply contact RCI directly at 800-338-7777 for confirmation.

If you are an RCI subscribing member and did not receive RCI’s letter, signed by RCI North America President, Gordon Gurnik, or you are a non-member, but you wish to learn more, go to the website for InnSeason Resorts and click on the words– Alert: RCI Resale Advisory. InnSeason Vacation Club has helpfully posted the letter there.