Fractional

Starwood Vacation Ownership (Starwood Timeshares) has expanded their fractional properties with the opening of The Phoenician Residences part of The Luxury Collection Residence Club.

Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, the 250-acre resort has undergone a major renovation to include floor plans that range from 1400 square feet to 2400. Each fractional unit has hardwood floors, a natural stone fireplace, a private plunge pool and spa, an outdoor summer kitchen, LCD televisions, and imported Irish linens.

On-property amenities include a USGA championship golf complex with 3 nine-hole courses, chipping and putting greens, and a driving range. The Tennis Garden offers 12 lighted courts, while other features include nine swimming pools, a 165-foot water slide, private cabanas, and a spa and wellness center.

The MoneyCentral Business Wire on MSN.com quoted Matt Avril, president and managing director of operations at Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc, as saying, “This newest offering in our portfolio of fractional resorts is the perfect complement to the St. Regis Residence Club properties in Aspen and New York. As a premier destination, The Phoenician (R) is a perennial favorite of sophisticated vacationers, and we are extremely excited to offer ownership opportunities through The Phoenician Residences, our first fractional resort under The Luxury Collection brand.”

Prices for fractional ownership at The Phoenician Residences start at $150,000 up to $400,000 and range from three weeks of vacation time upward. Fractional owners at The Phoenician Residences also have the option to exchange weeks for stays at other Residence Club properties or for Starwood Preferred Guests Starpoints.

Starwood properties include the following brands: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Four Points by Sheraton, LeMeridien, Aloft, Element, and Sheraton timeshare resorts and Westin timeshare resorts. More information is available on Sheraton timeshare resales and Westin timeshare resales from Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Recent Timeshare Owners Blog posts about Starwood timeshares include:

• Starwood Will Be Selling Timeshare from New Sales Galleries

Most people understand the concept of timeshares, even if they don’t know all the fine points. They realize that you can either jointly own a timeshare condo with many other owners or own the privilege of vacationing for a specific number of weeks in that timeshare condo. Some timeshares are deeded property ownership while other timeshares are based on the sharing of time at the vacation resort rather than the sharing of the real estate itself. Either way, the product qualifies as a timeshare, even when it is called a vacation club or vacation ownership.

What Makes a Timeshare A Timeshare?

Timeshares can be found in a range of sizes, from efficiency or studio rooms to 3 and even 4-bedroom timeshare units. Locations vary; some of them are great getaway retreats, some are urban timeshares, and others put you in the heart of a high-demand tourist destination.

Looking at Fractionals

While these qualities are all (typically) true of fractionals, as RCI explains, “The major difference between timeshare and fractional ownerships is money.” Fractionals – for good reason – cost more to purchase than do timeshares.

A fractional may be a condominium, or it may be a detached home. And the perks that come with fractionals can be amazing. Benefits like the use of a luxury car, the services of a private chef, or storage for your personal possessions between visits, may come as part of your fractional ownership.

Another important distinction of fractional properties is that they typically are built in locations that are so high-demand, only the uber-wealthy can afford to own them as sole owners. Fractionals can be found at the top ski resorts and on beachside property that is simply too valuable to be sold to a single owner.

Timeshare typically is owned in one-week intervals, although one owner may own multiple weeks. Fractionals, however, usually involve owning at least a month and can be up to 3 or 4 months of time, although not necessarily consecutive weeks or months.

RCI’s list of similarities between timeshare ownership and fractionals is not conclusive, but it does identify some of the commonalities of the two.

Timeshare and fractional can both be:

• Bought as deeded properties.
• Rented out to others during periods of non-use.
• Shared among family and friends.
• Resold at any time.
• Willed to kin. (Or I might add, willed to anyone else to whom you would like to leave it.)

At this time, someone who is trying to sell you a multi-million dollar fractional is unlikely to refer to it as a “timeshare”, but the fact is, the concept is basically the same. Right now, it is typically difficult to find fractional ownership properties under $100,000, with many being priced into the millions. But remember that the lines between timeshares and fractionals are already blurry, and they are only likely to become more so in the future.

To learn more about timeshare ownership, timeshare resales, and fractionals contact the timeshare specialists at Sell My Timeshare NOW. And watch the Timeshare Owners Blog this week for more posts on the topic of fractionals.

As 2007 was winding down, ad agency JWT put together a list of seven trends they believed would drive consumer thinking and behavior in the year 2008. In a summary of their report, published by Hotels‘ magazine, Ann Mack, director of trendspotting at JWT was quoted as saying, “We believe it’s essential to plot societal shifts in order to develop big brand ideas. Trendspotting allows us to figure out how the mood of the moment is affecting people’s lives.”

What interested me was the fact that among the seven key trends identified, one of them is timesharing. While JWT refers to it as, “Cooperative Consumption,” you and I recognize a description of timeshare ownership when we hear it.

Predicted Growth of Fractional Ownership as a Concept

According to the report, “Fractional ownership is moving beyond the shared planes of the jet-setting elite. The masses are already sharing everything from art to cars to designer handbags, and as technology for pooling demand and resources becomes increasingly sophisticated, this model will be applied to an even wider range of categories.”

Yep…that’s a lot of words, for describing timesharing, but timeshare ownership of luxury items is exactly the point being made by JWT, one of the most famous brand-building advertising agencies in the world today.

What Acceptance of Fractional Ownership Means

The Hotels’ article analyzes the report, saying, “Fractional ownership is nothing new in real estate and hospitality, but the building trend of consumers sharing is worth noting and considering – perhaps a mixed-use development makes good sense, and whole ownership is not the only residential component available.”

I don’t think it is a stretch to say that mixed-use development is already the path being taken by many hoteliers who have an established presence in the timeshare industry. Additionally, one would think that as people who have never dreamed of buying timeshare real estate become comfortable with the idea of owning everything from cars to dogs to jewelry on a timeshare basis, they would become equally as receptive to the idea of shared vacation property ownership.

Timeshare real estate ownership has always been a great idea and the millions of satisfied timeshare owners prove this. But the popularity of buying timeshares and timeshare resales is presently only a pale hint of what it has the potential to become; and according to JWT’s predictions about the movers and shakers, it is well on its way.

Learn more about the opportunities available in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

People who use the smaller timeshare exchange companies frequently give them accolades for the personalized service they receive; yet many timeshare owners still don’t realize that RCI (Resort Condominiums International) and Interval International are not the only options in timeshare resort exchange.

The San Francisco Exchange Company, also known as SFX Preferred Resorts, has recently purchased a new purpose-built office building in Alameda, CA to serve as their corporate headquarters. They may be a smaller company, but they are definitely moving forward in growth mode.

Mel Grant, president and CEO of SFX Timeshare Resort Exchange says, “With 150,000 members, and as a result of current and anticipated future growth, it has become necessary to acquire more space giving us the ‘capacity’ for further expansion.”

The timeshare company’s official press release states, “SFX is not a replacement for other exchange companies. Rather, it is positioned as an “added layer” of premium service, which resorts use effectively in addition to their formal affiliation.”

As SFX Timeshare Resort Exchange has grown, they have added a division to focus on fractionals. The Fractional Collection is a subsidiary of SFX Preferred Resorts. SFX believes that because they focus on high-end timeshares, high-end fractionals are a natural extension of their services. The Fractional Collection will also be housed in the company’s new Alameda offices.

According to SFX Timeshare Resort Exchange, many informed consumers will not purchase a timeshare unless they know it qualifies for exchange through SFX, because SFX attracts the only high-end resort brands. The timeshare exchange company’s website describes their services in this way, “Regardless of any resorts exchange company affiliation, individual timeshare Owners own the rights to their time and can request the service of any exchange company willing to accept their weeks for exchange. SFX allowed Owners to exercise this right to its fullest, a never before realized value.”

To learn more about the opportunities in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals, visit our company’s website at www.sellmytimesharenow.com.