This Timeshare Owners Blog post is for college sports fans everywhere-
While you may root for the Tigers, Wildcats, Jay Hawks, Blue Devils, Gators, Huskies, or other high profile college sports team, there are many fans cheering on the Geo Ducks, Banana Slugs, and Boll Weevils.
…Until this week, I’d never heard of any of these teams.
The Geo Ducks is the official team name for Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. These ducks, however, don’t quack. Geo Duck, pronounced gooey-duck, is the name of the largest burrowing clam in the world. “Go Clams Go!”
But the interesting team names don’t stop here. In the ranks of US universities and colleges, you will also find: Trolls, Stormy Petrels (a type of bird), Keel haulers, Ichabods, Cobbers, Gorlocks (even after Googling the word, I am not sure what a gorlock is), Lemmings, Poets, Moundbuilders, White Mules, and Squirrels. All of which suddenly make those names we are accustomed to, like the Trojans, Bruins, and Cardinals, seem downright boring.
And if you will be attending sporting events, art exhibits, plays, concerts, or any other activity at these uniquely-named universities and colleges, you can skip the motels and hotels, and schedule to stay in timeshare rentals or timeshare resales. There are great opportunities in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals at all of these locations, which means you never have to miss any of the Geo Duck and Banana Slug excitement.
Credit for the sports team information in this blog posting goes to Josh Pahigian, who wrote the original article for ESPN Travel. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
Timeshare resales that make it easy to take in home games for Geo Ducks:
You have to hand it to the people at Travelodge UK for being genuinely concerned about the well-being of their customers.
During a trial period, guests at Travelodge hotels in London Heathrow T5, Bristol Central, Birmingham Fiveways, Manchester Central, and Edinburgh Central will receive a pair of complementary pajamas, scientifically designed to improve their sleep. These are no ordinary pj’s.
Made from a fabric called Dermasilk, they are designed to feel like a second skin. When you wear these pajamas, your skin can breathe, can more easily regulate your body temperature, and maintain its moisture balance, all of which should lead to a better night’s sleep.
According to Leigh McCarron, Travelodge Sleep Director, “As a retailer of sleep, we are constantly investigating innovative ways, on how we can help our customers attain a good night’s sleep. Something as simple as changing your bed attire can dramatically affect your quality of sleep.
To support our pjs trial, we conducted a sleepwear study, which examined the nation’s attitude towards nightwear. These findings have been incorporated into our final pajama prototype – resulting in the ultimate sleepwear.”
The findings of the Travelodge study on sleepwear revealed that among the 3000 British adults surveyed:
• 23 percent said itchy nightclothes stop them from getting a good night’s sleep.
• 66 percent said being too hot or too cold at various points throughout the night interferes with their sleep pattern and 54 percent say they are more often too hot while 35 percent say they are too cold.
• 23 percent of women will wear socks to bed in order to stay warmer while only 11 percent of men will sleep in socks.
If you are a regular reader of the Timeshare Owners Blog, you may recall last November when I wrote a blog post about Travelodge UK’s concern over nude sleepwalking. I suppose if the new second skin pajamas are a success, then the hotel chain will have succeeded in improving the quality of sleep for many of their guests and at the same time reducing the epidemic numbers of nude sleepwalkers that they have been dealing with in recent months. (see our November 11, 2006 blog post here)
You have to applaud Travelodge’s commitment to improving every detail of their guests’ stay in their hotels, and wonder if providing free sleepwear will become a trend at hotels and timeshare resorts. After all, the plush, terry bathrobe has long been a trademark of many better hotels and resorts.
And in the spirit of, “don’t knock it, ’til you’ve tried it,” I won’t completely rule out sleeping in such ‘unique’ sleepwear, but I can’t help but wonder which would ultimately be more disturbing: seeing other hotel or timeshare resort guests sleepwalking in the nude or seeing them sleepwalking in these odd looking pajamas?
What do you think? Would you be willing to don a pair of these pj’s in the pursuit of a great night’s sleep? Have you stayed at other hotels or resorts that provided you courtesy sleepwear?
eBay is a Powerhouse; But Not When it Comes to Timeshare Resales
eBay is a Powerhouse, but not when it comes to selling timeshare
In a very short time, eBay has created a powerful, effective global marketplace that serves as yard sale, antique auction, real estate showcase, trading post, and memorabilia collector’s paradise. Old, new, valuable, eclectic, or pure junk, you can find it all on eBay…including timeshare resales.
Beyond creating a worldwide flea market, eBay has also afforded a way for people to supplement their incomes or even build small (and sometimes not so small) businesses. eBay entrepreneurs are a whole new category of business people, so much so, that the eBay empire has also established eBay University to train aspiring merchants in their structure and business model.
When You Sell Timeshare or Buy Timeshare Through an Online Auction
Yes, you can even buy timeshare or sell timeshare on eBay. When you sell timeshare through eBay, you have the choice to handle the sale yourself or to go through an eBay store that resells timeshare. Selling your timeshare weeks this way may work for some people, but online auctions are truly a situation of both buyer beware and seller beware.
For example, I just checked today’s timeshare resort properties advertised on eBay and found timeshare weeks listed at a starting bid of one cent—that’s right—one penny. Some have a reserve amount on them, meaning the timeshare will not be sold until a minimum price is met, but others are sold without the reserve. This is potentially a one-penny selling price; received after you (the timeshare seller) pay a fee to advertise your timeshare resale on eBay. And as a timeshare buyer, don’t assume that these rock bottom prices are actually the amount that you are required to come up with at the close of the auction. Instead, be sure you read all the fine print, because you are sure to be hit with closing costs, maybe advance or past maintenance fees, and other costs that turn your penny-priced property into a much larger expenditure. Additionally, as a timeshare buyer, you may not be given the choice of which timeshare closing company you wish to use to finalize your transaction, giving you even less control of the final dollar amount your budget priced timeshare deal will cost.
A timeshare owner posting on the TUG website recently observed: “Did you see the auction on eBay, a small 1 br gold week so that was an original Starwood went for the whopping amount of $3.25. Yes the decimal point is in the right spot.”
Another reason to be cautious in any online auction is that there is often nothing to standardize the information provided about the timeshare resale. If a timeshare seller knowingly or unknowingly, misrepresents the facts about the timeshare weeks he or she owns, the prospective buyer has no real way of sorting out fact from fiction. Important details about the timeshare weeks being advertised can be omitted or misstated. As a timeshare buyer, your risk can be great. As a timeshare owner who wants to sell timeshare, you will find the timeshare resort ad you credibly present is competing with ads that may promise amenities or terms they cannot deliver.
The Challenges of Buying and Selling Timeshare Resales on Auction
When you try to sell timeshare in an online auction, you are attempting to sell timeshare in a marketplace that contains timeshare properties owned by people who are apparently willing to pay to give them away! Combine that with how quickly eBay’s ads expire and you have a tough way to sell timeshare unless you too, are ready to pay someone to let you give them your vacation property.
In an interesting move this week, eBay announced that beginning in May, sellers will not be allowed to leave negative comments about their customers. They will still be permitted to leave positive ones. According to eBay spokesperson, Usher Lieberman, “The No. 1 reason buyers cited for decreasing or ceasing their activity on eBay was negative unwarranted retaliatory feedback they received from sellers.”
Remember that no one solution is best for every person who wants to sell timeshare or buy timeshare. Your needs and your objectives are unique. But before you turn to any online auction to buy or sell timeshare, consider all your options. An online auction is truly a case of caveat emptor…buyer beware…and sometimes, it is “seller beware” as well.
To learn more about safe, effective ways to sell timeshare or buy timeshare resales, visit Sell My Timeshare NOW.
Orange Lake Country Club in Orlando, Florida has recently completed the first phase of its three-phase renovation.
For starters, Orange Lake Country Club timeshare resort has opened The Marketplace, which includes a pro shop, retail space, and dining area. Included in The Marketplace is the General Store, which is a full service grocery store, and a pizzeria that offers dine-in, take-out, or delivery.
The second phase of renovations at Orange Lake Country Club, Orlando, includes redesigning the main entrance and lobby of the clubhouse, enhancing the beach and pool areas, and adding new amenities including a new fitness center and a family fun center.
Phase Three of the renovations and revitalization of Orange Lake Country Club timeshare are expected to be completed this summer, with a new entertainment facility that will include shopping, two restaurants, and a poolside bar, offering live music.
Orange Lake Country Club timeshare resort is one of the largest single timeshare resorts in the world. While they are perfectly located for a vacation that includes all the Central Florida theme parks and attractions, there are so many on-property amenities that timeshare owners often say they find themselves never leaving the resort.
To learn more about owning timeshare weeks at Orange Lake Country Club timeshare in Orlando, visit Sell My Timeshare NOW, where we have an extensive inventory of timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.
