The Hacienda Pinilla, a prominent beach and golf resort community in Costa Rica, announces the launch of its first luxury residence program, the Hacienda Club. The Hacienda Club will offer ownership under a traditional fractional model.
In the past, Hacienda Pinilla visitors had to choose from two extremes – stay only a few days at the La Posada Inn or purchase a vacation home outright. Now visitors can enjoy these beautiful vacation homes, while sharing the cost of ownership. The amount of vacation time available to each owner is dependent upon how much of an interest they have purchased. A buyer may have the option to purchase a 1/12 share (providing 4 weeks of vacation) to a ½ share (providing 26 weeks of vacation).
The Hacienda Club Villas – 3 & 4 bedroom luxury homes – are priced starting at $750,000 for outright ownership. However, with the fractional ownership program, owning a piece of the private residence could cost you as little as $98,000. All homes are outfitted by one of the resort’s trusted interior designers, so they come fully furnished and decorated.
Owners of the Hacienda Club will also be given a golf membership at the Mike Young championship golf course and access to the renowned Beach Club. However, the greatest feature may be exclusive access to the club concierge service, where owners can request almost anything from groceries to dinner reservations. The Hacienda Club concierge can also plan activities for guests such as golf tee-times and jet-ski reservations. The resort even advertises that they can even set up a private picnic for you, right on the beach.
For information about this fractional ownership opportunity, visit the Hacienda Club website.
Interval International Adds Brazil Timeshare: Encontro Das Aguas Thermas Resort
Interval International Adds Brazil Timeshare: Encontro Das Aguas Thermas Resort
Only a few weeks back we looked at the issue of Brazil timeshare (see: Is Brazil Timeshare Heating Up?). Now we are noting the addition by Interval International timeshare exchange of Encontro Das Águas Thermas Resort, a fractional property in Caldas Novas, Goiás.
Known for one of the largest hot-spring aquifers in the world, Caldas Novas, Goiás, is located in central Brazil. The luxury resort, Encontro Das Aguas Thermas Resort, is currently under construction, and expected to be available for your next vacation by early 2014. At build-out, the resort will offer three buildings and a total of 384 one- and two-bedroom units. With contemporary décor, modern furnishings, and fully equipped kitchens, the new Encontro Das Aguas Thermas Resort will attract vacationers, seeking the therapeutic relaxation of the hot springs, paired with a spa, sauna, fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools, on-site cinema, gourmet restaurant, and 24-hour room service. Each luxury unit will provide its guests upgraded electronics for staying connected and plenty of boating, jet skiing, and hiking for ‘disconnecting’ and relaxing fun.
Ricardo Assuncao, partner in RMEX Construtora e Incorporadora Ltda., developer of the resort says, “We’re excited to enter the shared ownership industry and collaborate with Interval, a company known for its quality network and consumer benefits.
Assuncao adds, “Our objective is to make our resort one of the area’s finest and we look forward to hosting Interval members who will be able to enjoy the many treasures of Caldas Novas.”
Royal Timeshare … Enough Talk about the Royal Baby
Although the world welcomes the arrival of George Alexander Louie, the new royal prince (His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge), here in the ‘colonies’ a new heir to the throne doesn’t impact our lives greatly. But a royal timeshare, that’s something differently entirely.
Being sold as fractional ownership property, the Queen Anne Mansion is a beautiful, private residence club resort. With recently completed renovations totaling over $5 million, the 12,000-square-foot Queen Anne Mansion, offers seven elegantly appointed suites, as well as 5-Star service from the in-residence Owner Concierge service.
Feel like a king or queen in this royal timeshare.
The property, located in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, was originally built in 1891 as a private home. After many years as a tourist attraction, it has been painstakingly resorted and upgraded to reflect its period grandeur while incorporating modern conveniences and an on-site spa.
Ownership in the Queen Anne Mansion is being sold in 82 ownership intervals and the property is part of The Registry Collection of RCI.
If you ever want to indulge yourself like royalty, the Queen Anne Mansion is truly a royal timeshare experience.
Looking at the Bachelor Gulch HOA Vote on Ritz-Carton Management
It isn’t everyday someone says “no” to Ritz-Carlton, but that’s exactly what the timeshare owners at the Ritz-Carlton Club Bachelor Gulch have done, voting out the Ritz-Carlton hotel and property management company. With this vote, the prestigious Ritz-Carlton name will be dropped from the ski-in/ski-out resort property. Replacing Ritz-Carlton will be Timbers Resorts as the new management company.
In a 5-page letter to its membership, date May 17, 2013, the RCC-BG Condominium Association, Inc. Board of Directors voiced how difficult the decision had been and how carefully they had considered their actions. The following is excerpted from the Board’s letter to the member/owners at Bachelor Gulch.
“As we have shared previously, members of the Board and our fellow members were completely caught off guard and surprised by MVW’s sudden announcement on July 17, 2012 regarding the overall direction of the Ritz-Carlton Destination Club (“RCDC”) brand. MVW stated that:
The Abaco (Bahamas) and Kapalua (Hawaii) properties would no longer be in the RCDC system, and
MVW would begin providing cross-access between the exclusive RCDC system and the 51 Marriott Vacation Clubs.
The Board felt that MVW’s announcement and its planned course of action would undermine the significant investment each of us has made in Bachelor Gulch. Instead of simply accepting the changes, we decided to seek measured, proactive solutions regarding the new Marriott Vacation Club affiliation and overall management of our Club. Through this process, our desire was to maintain our relationship with MVW. Members of the Board reached out to and met with the MVW executive leadership personally and shared our member’s interest in remaining a Ritz Carlton Destination Club. However, despite our repeated attempts for MVW to clarify their intent and to address numerous concerns raised by our members, we realized that MVW’s actions and positions were not consistent with that of an exclusive Private Residence Club investment and exchange experience. “
The Big Picture on Bachelor Gulch Resort
Bachelor Gulch is a 54-unit resort on Beaver Creek Mountain near Avon, Colorado, with some 650 owners. Those who bought ownership at the private residence club (which is essentially an exclusive timeshare) from Ritz-Carlton Destination Club paid hundreds of thousands for their ownership.
With this decision comes a rebranding of the resort as it will no longer carry the Ritz-Carlton name. (Note: The connected Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch hotel will retain the Ritz-Carlton name.)
The loss of the Bahamas’ Abaco Club at Winding Bay and of Kapalua Bay on Maui as exchange destinations was addressed twice in the Board’s letter, as was the point that the new management company of the former Ritz-Carlton Club Kapalua Bay is the Timbers Resorts. (Interesting note: this Timbers management agreement is a temporary 7-month contract.)
Two other resorts have been removed from the Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, with the Bachelor Gulch decision becoming the third departure, leaving six Ritz-Carlton Destination Club remaining.
TheDenver Journal quoted Ritz-Carlton Destination Club Spokesman Ed Kinney as saying, “The homeowners association has the option to not renew a contract if they so choose, and we certainly respect that. We would have loved to have kept the property but we understand it’s their prerogative to let the members vote.”
In response to concerns voiced by owners at Bachelor Gulch that Marriott Vacations Worldwide will be offering exchange privileges between the Ritz Carlton Destination Club system and Marriott timeshare owners, “Kinney said members could choose to not visit Marriott destinations, and that Marriott timeshare owners would need a “tremendous” amount of points to use a property such as Bachelor Gulch.” (source: The Denver Journal )
Nonetheless, the position of many Bachelor Gulch owners seemed to be summed up by this letter written by an owner to the BG Condominium Association, “So people that could afford to buy Ritz Carlton Destination Club for $200,000+ or so can now use a Marriott Timeshare that can be bought resale for less than $5,000.”
The member/owner vote on the decision to make this significant change was as follows:
67.86 in favor of the change
8.61 against the change
23.53 non-voting
In a PDF document available from the Timbers Resorts the management company addresses the transition, saying, “Timbers Resorts is pleased to be the RCC BG Board’s recommendation from the Request for Proposal (RFP) submission for the property management, exchange services, & member benefits for the current Ritz Carlton Club Bachelor Gulch. We feel that we are uniquely qualified to assist in every facet of this project; real estate sales/ marketing, hospitality operations management, HOA management, and project repositioning.
The Hacienda Pinilla, a prominent beach and golf resort community in Costa Rica, announces the launch of its first luxury residence program, the Hacienda Club. The Hacienda Club will offer ownership under a traditional fractional model.
