More than sun and sand to enjoy during your Mexico timeshare vacation

There is a multitude of reasons to enjoy a vacation in a Puerto Vallarta timeshare resale or timeshare rental, some you may know, and others that might be a surprise. But before I share with you some of the really interesting information I have recently learned about Puerto Vallarta, let me give you two links to our website where you can find an amazing inventory of timeshare vacation properties, in Puerto Vallarta as well as other great Mexico timeshare destinations.

Puerto Vallarta timeshare resales – Puerto Vallarta timeshare rentals

Puerto Vallarta has an interesting history. For many years, it remained a small beachside secret enjoyed primarily by visitors who traveled from other parts of Mexico or southern California. Then Hollywood came to Puerto Vallarta, and it was never the same.

In 1963, famed movie producer, John Huston, choose the site for the filming of The Night of the Iguana. The film starred Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr, and Ava Gardner—three of the most press-worthy names of their time. But what really drew attention to the small town, was the arrival of Elizabeth Taylor, who came to be near Burton during the movie’s production. Now add to that, the drama of Taylor’s ex-husband Michael Wilding already on the set as Burton’s press agent. Or the fact that Peter Viertel, who had once been romantically involved with Ava Gardner, accompanied his wife Deborah Kerr to the movie location, and it is easy to understand why, overnight, Puerto Vallarta became a media hotspot.

But development has been kind to Puerto Vallarta. Despite the luxurious hotel and timeshare resorts, there is still a strong measure of village charm. Most days, the sky and the ocean compete to see which one can be the bluest. Just off shore, in the protected waters of Banderas Bay, dolphins play year-round and humpback whales come to spend the winter. Forested hillsides slope down to the sea, and you can canopy tour (also known as zip lines) a great deal of the area on one of the most extensive canopy cable networks in Mexico.

Puerto Vallarta has wonderful shops and galleries to browse, but some of the most amazing art in the area can be found right on the beach. One particular example is the “La Rotunda del Mar” statues overlooking the ocean. Puerta Vallarta is rich with outdoor sculpture, with some of the most interesting pieces appearing along the Malecón, a favorite beachside boardwalk.

Our appreciation to the people at wired blog for bringing this artwork to our attention.

Timeshare company on the fast track.

I often talk about our company, Sell My Timeshare NOW, in this blog, but I realized recently that I have never really told you some of the most interesting facts about how we got started.

When we began the business, our “office” was nothing more than a spare room at my house. That was three very short—very busy—years ago. Co-founding the timeshare company with me was my partner, Mark Eldridge, and we have built and grown our company without any outside investment funding or capitalization.

We’ve come a long way from the three-person crew that started the business. Today, Sell My Timeshare NOW has 80 employees and plans to hire more. We’ve relocated twice since the days we were a one-room operation. In the fall of 2005, we moved into our present location. A spacious restored mill building, constructed in 1814 in the historic New England town of Dover, New Hampshire. We also have an office in Altamonte Springs, (Orlando) Florida.

In 2006, SellMyTimeshareNOW.com presented $229,962,492 in offers to buy or rent timeshares to our customers. And that’s a number we are well on our way to surpassing this year. All of this means that if you treat your customers with courtesy and respect, and you create and diligently maintain a high visibility website where timeshare owners can easily and affordably buy, rent, or sell timeshare, you can build a great business. You can create a thriving dot-com, despite the fact that you are a long way from Silicon Valley.

Online company takes the lead in providing great customer service.

A few weeks back, BusinessWeek (“Customer Service Champs,” March 5, 2007) released their “Customer Service Elite List“.

This was a first-time endeavor for the magazine, in which they identified the best 25 US companies for customer service excellence.

USAA took top honors on the list. In case you are not familiar with USAA, they provide banking, insurance services, and financial planning to people in the US military and their family members. Other than USAA, the rest of the names on the list are all household words. They are:

1. USAA
2. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
3. Cadillac
4. Nordstrom
5. Wegman Food Markets
6. Edward Jones
7. Lexus
8. UPS
9. Enterprise-Rent-A-Car
10. Starbucks

A couple of things really stood out to me about this list. Because our company, Sell My Timeshare NOW deals with most of our customers by phone, email, or sometimes fax and letters, and because we take the business of providing good customer service so seriously, I was pleased that the number one company also delivers their services the same way we do—online! It proves what we say at Sell My Timeshare NOW. You don’t have to meet your clients face to face for them to know that you appreciate their business and are committed to working your hardest to help them buy, rent, or sell timeshare in a way that is efficient and economical for them.

I was also pleased that in addition to (#2) Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the list included (#11) the Ritz Carlton, and (#22) JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts. Three of the top twenty-five companies on the Customer Elite List are in the hotel, timeshare, and fractional business. This is a good endorsement of why you can buy a Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, or Marriott Vacation Club International timeshare resale with confidence that you and your family will enjoy many great timeshare vacations there.

Disney announces the timeshare expansion we predicted months ago.

In November of 2006, I wrote about Disney’s planned expansion on the western perimeter of it’s Orlando, Florida, Walt Disney World Vacation property. On March 1, 2007, the management at Walt Disney World Resort made the announcement official. Their “Western Way” development plan calls for approximately 4500 timeshare condos and hotel units, as well as a retail shopping village that will include restaurants, grocery stores, and shops.

This mixed-use tourism district will focus primarily on value-priced lodging and numerous services will be directed both at tourists and at the many Disney employees. Workers at Walt Disney World go by the title of “cast member” and currently number about 60,000 people in the Central Florida area.

Disney also announced plans for a luxury resort to be developed on the northeastern side of their sprawling property, in partnership with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. The land for the expansion will include the current Eagle Pines and Osprey Ridge golf courses (two-eighteen hole courses) that will be replaced with a luxury hotel, one eighteen hole championship golf course, fractional ownership vacation properties, and single and multi-family vacation homes.

Walt Disney World president Meg Crofton says, “…we are thrilled to be able to bring Four Seasons to our resort.” Kathleen Taylor, president and chief operating officer of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts says, “the resort will have all the ingredients needed to create memorable vacations: gracious and caring staff; beautiful surroundings that are thoughtfully designed; and services and amenities that make every experience one to cherish.”

Recently I mentioned the World Travel Trends Report 2006/07, which revealed that today’s traveler has fewer vacation days, but demands higher standards of luxury and service. When Disney adds a 5-star Four Seasons Hotel to their Orlando family vacation destination, you can assume they are also aware of this trending toward upscale accommodations.