What could be more enticing than a luxurious vacation hideaway built on two private islands, surrounded by white sand beaches and warm tropical waters?

This was only the first tempting detail I learned about the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, Rangali Island. Consider the fact that you arrive via seaplane at this amazing resort, located on an Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives.

During your holiday, you can snorkel the magnificent coral reefs of the PADI dive center, indulge your body and soul at the spa, or just relax in your seaside villa—so close to the water’s edge it stands on stilts.

Okay, this was more than enough for me. I was sold. But then I found out that the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa features Ithaa, the world’s first undersea restaurant.

Here’s the concept: you dine on Maldivian-Western fusion cuisine. I have no idea what this is, but it sounds wonderful. You are seated beneath an archway of glass, sixteen feet below sea level in the middle of a sparkling lagoon. Described as an “aquarium-style” setting, you must understand one important detail. In this particular aquarium, you are inside of the glass, while the fish swim freely about on the outside!

I am completely fascinated by everything I have learned about this unique Hilton vacation resort. And I have Lisa Katayama to thank for bringing it to my attention through her post on Wired Blogs. Here’s the link directly to the Hilton webpage for the Maldives Resort. Take a moment and click on it. Even if you are only taking a mental vacation—it’s worth the trip.

And here is the link to SellMyTimeshareNOW’s website. You can search for vacation ownership and rental options which will enable you to be part of the Hilton Grand Vacation Club, or you can take advantage of many other exciting opportunities that make it easier to turn those “mental” vacations into actual holidays spent basking in the warm, tropical sun.

I just found out about a great condotel resource. It’s called http://www.ownahotelroom.org and it’s filled with information about condo hotels, how to buy them, how to find a good one for you, and if you’re so inclined, how to go about developing them (you know, finding a hotel or apartment building at the right price and converting the space into condos which can then be rented like a hotel room when not owner-occupied). Let me know if this information is helpful to you, if you’ve tried a condotel or not, and what you think of them.

Happy Holidays!

Pre-sales have already started for the new Hilton Grand Vacations Club timeshare to be built at the Waikoloa Beach Resort. The timeshare vacation resort will become Hilton’s second timeshare property at this location and may be built in as many as seven stages. The 198 villas of stage one are expected to be complete in August of 2008 and will offer one, two and three-bedroom units.

Hilton Grand Vacations Club has identified a continued demand for upscale accommodations on Hawaii’s Big Island. In June of 2006, the Hilton timeshare company broke ground for the 331 unit Grand Waikikian on the island of Oahu. The Grand Waikikian is also expected to open in 2008.

With these two new timeshare resorts, Hilton Grand Vacation Club will have a total of seven timeshare properties in the state of Hawaii. This seems to me like seven great reasons to buy a Hilton timeshare resale from SellMyTimeshareNOW.com and start planning your next vacation.

Hilton Grand Vacation Club resorts are located in Orlando, Las Vegas, Miami Beach and multiple destinations in Hawaii. Hilton Grand Vacation Club affiliated resorts can be found in prime destinations throughout Florida, Colorado, California, Mexico, Scotland, Ireland and Portugal.

Starwood Capital Group has recently announced that they have entered into a strategic relationship with Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels Company Limited. Jin Jiang currently has 263 hotels either in operation or under development, including 160 properties under the brand, Jin Jiang Inn.

In response to Jin Jiang’s IPO, Starwood Capital has made a $30 million investment in the company, making Starwood the largest shareholder outside the Jin Jiang company. Before Starwood’s investment, Jin Jiang was a state-owned enterprise under the control of the Shanghai City Government.

The two hotel powerhouses will work together to develop and strengthen hotel business in China. Barry Sternlicht, the chairman and ceo of Starwood Capital, was quoted in Hospitality News (http://www.hospitalitynet.org) as saying, “Starwood Capital is very excited about the potential for Jin Jiang in China and abroad, and for our future partnership together… Jin Jiang’s geographic reach and portfolio of owned assets across all hotel categories leaves it uniquely positioned to benefit from the explosive growth in the Chinese hotel industry, fueled by rapidly expanding tourism and business travel. By combining Jin Jiang’s portfolio, which features irreplaceable hotels in Shanghai and other major Chinese cities, with our track record of creating global brands and enhancing asset value in both the luxury and budget categories, the partnership has the potential to create significant value for both companies going forward.”

And as we all know, where hotels go, timeshares and vacation ownership is sure to follow, which is good news as the People’s Republic of China prepares for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.