Despite all the bad weather in recent weeks, summer is closer than you think and the sun will soon be shining on the many beautiful vacation sites in New England. This seems like a great time to share with you some interesting and helpful facts about the Oak ‘n Spruce Timeshare Resort in South Lee, Massachusetts.

The Oak ‘n Spruce Timeshare Resort is located in western Massachusetts’ Berkshire Hills, approximately 125 miles west of Boston and about 75 miles northwest of Hartford, Connecticut.

On-property amenities at the timeshare resort, include 18-holes of miniature golf, basketball, both indoor and out door swimming pools, a lounge, fitness center, movie theatre, ping-pong, and a pool table. Besides excellent places to hike, bike, picnic, or just enjoy the great outdoors, the Oak N’ Spruce timeshare is conveniently near the historic Hancock Shaker Village, the home of the first missionary to the Native Americans, and the Norman Rockwell Museum, featuring the largest collection of Rockwell’s paintings in the world.

Triple Self Portrait (detail) © 1960 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN Post cover February 13, 1960

The nearby city of Tanglewood is the summer home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Silverleaf timeshare company classifies the Oak ‘n Spruce timeshare resort as a “Getaway Resort” because it is located within a two hour drive of major metropolitan areas.

The Silverleaf timeshare company has been in business since 1989. The first Silverleaf timeshare resorts were all located in Missouri or Texas. When the timeshare company went public in 1997, they added additional timeshare resorts in Illinois and Missouri. In 1998, they acquired the Oak’ n Spruce timeshare, and more recently have expanded to include Apple Mountain timeshare resort in Georgia, the Seaside timeshare resort in Texas and the Orlando Breeze timeshare resort in Florida. To learn more about Oak ’n Spruce timeshare rentals and timeshare resales, click here. To learn more about other opportunities for timesharing in Massachusetts, click here.

Missouri Secretary of State’s Office issues cease and desist orders over possible timeshare investment fraud.

Robin Carnahan, Missouri Secretary of State, has issued cease and desist orders against four Missouri men, a business in Panama, two Mexican businesses, and a Nevada promoter. Allegedly, the group has targeted Missouri residents, all of whom are between the ages of 64 and 86, for an “investment” deal that promised returns between 9 and 11 percent for 25 years.

After investing a minimum of $5,000 each, the individuals were told that their “investment” was actually a timeshare resort property in Cancun, Mexico. Sell My Timeshare NOW reminds you, timeshares should never be purchased as an investment for financial return.

Timeshare vacation property offers an excellent way to “invest” in a vacation lifestyle. Timeshare units afford you a way to lock-in today’s vacation prices for a lifetime of vacation accommodations. And timeshares are one of the easiest ways for busy families to manage their vacation planning. In many cases, when timeshares are owned as deeded property, the timeshare can be left through your legal will to your heir, providing generations of vacation enjoyment. But timeshare ownership, as rewarding as it can be, should never be entered into as an investment for the purpose of realizing financial gain. Not only is it unethical to represent timeshares as investments, it also violates Securities and Exchange Commission laws.

In the Missouri case, the investments totaled $1.8 million. According to an article in the Kansas City Star, “Carnahan’s office said the investments were not registered in Missouri and the investors did not understand that they had to manage their timeshare units themselves.”

In other words, the only way for the new timeshare property owners to earn a return on the money they spent on timeshare intervals, is for them to use it as timeshare rental properties. Saddest of all is the news that some of the money these people spent was from their retirement funds or other annuities, or from certificates of deposit and IRAs, representing money that is critical to their support.

The businesses named in the cease and desist order are: Yucatan Resorts (Mexico); Resort Holdings International (Mexico); Majesty Travel (Panama); and Resort Holdings International (Nevada, US). Action against these companies may also be taken in Minnesota, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and New Mexico.

Lastly, let me take this opportunity to remind you that, if you are interested in Mexico timeshare, there are excellent, legitimate ways to purchase it as a Mexico timeshare resale, Cancun timeshare resale, Mexico timeshare rental, or Cancun timeshare rental.

Zoning laws that limit the length of stay or the size of a hotel unit are creating problems for developers of condo-hotels and fractionals in parts of the Florida Panhandle

Pensacola Beach Developers hope to replace a Clarion hotel*, damaged by Hurricane Ivan, with a new 216-suite fractional resort. Each unit in the resort property would be sold to eight owners, who would individually pay to use it six weeks per year. When the owners were not using it, the suite would be available for rent to short-stay guests as a hotel room.

According to Joe Endry, owner of JME Realty, as quoted in a Pensacola News Journal article of April 12, 2007, each of the fractional or hotel units would average 1,250 square feet in size and would rent for $275 to $300 per night. By comparison, a traditional hotel room is between 300 and 450 square feet in size and generally rents for $150 per night (or less) in that particular geographic location.

The crux of the problem is that some officials say visitors who stay longer and have the use of a kitchen and dining area will utilize these in-suite amenities and thereby dine out fewer times than short-stay guests who do not have access to kitchens and eating areas. The critics say that a fractional or condo-hotel component added to a project essentially turns the property into an apartment unit, rather than a hotel, creating a difference that would be felt sharply by local restaurants.

As legislators, including the Santa Rosa Island Authority and Escambia County commissioners, attempt to sort through the distinctions that define one type of property as a hotel, another as a timeshare, a third as a fractional, and still another as a condo-hotel, they are considering hiring a hotel consultant to assist them.

One thing is certain, as resorts more frequently become multi-use properties, this issue will have to be ironed out in board rooms and meeting halls across the country.

* Note to readers: While the Pensacola News Journal identifies the site in question as being that of the hurricane-damaged Clarion hotel, other sources have said that it is the site of an old Best Western motel or and old Holiday Inn.

Elysian Development Group is acquiring the luxury Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado.

David Pisor, the CEO of Elysian Development Group is acquiring Aspen’s Hotel Jerome. Pisor currently owns and runs the Elysian Chicago hotel, which has 51 private residences as well as 181 guest rooms. The Elysian’s private residences reportedly sell for between $480,000 and $640,000.

While it has yet to be announced whether the Hotel Jerome will convert to a condo-hotel property, fractional, or timeshare resort, many anticipate such a move, based on Pisor’s business history. The Aspen Times (March 29, 2007) even referred to the Hotel’s new owner (meaning Pisor) as a “Chicago timeshare specialist”.

Timeshares have also been a touchy subject with some of the residents and council members of Aspen, which explains why the future of the Hotel Jerome remains, at this point, a little uncertain.

Nevertheless, there are other fabulous fractionals, timeshare resorts, and timeshare rentals in and around Aspen, Colorado, that are perfect for your ski vacation or just enjoying the great outdoors.

The award-winning, historic Hotel Jerome was built in 1889 and most recently owned by the Gaylord family who also owns Nashville’s Opryland Hotel, as well as the newspaper, The Daily Oklahoman.