Holiday Inn Club Vacations

This week, Holiday Inn Club Vacations broke ground on its newest resort, Colonial Crossings. The new resort was acquired earlier this year and is the 11th resort in the Orange Lake Resorts brand.

The resort, originally known as Colonial Crossings of Williamsburg, will undergo renovations to convert the hotel into an Orange Lake timeshare property. The company has contracted Henderson, Inc. to complete the renovation. Formed in 1957, Henderson is a well-known contracting company based in Williamsburg, VA. The main construction includes a brand new kids club, and 11,205 square-foot sales office, and a large outdoor area for guests.

Colonial Crossings will feature a distinct resort experience, fully embracing the culture for which Williamsburg is famous. Millions of visitors come to Williamsburg to experience the history of colonial life, and Holiday Inn Club Vacations is excited to embrace this new opportunity.

Orange Lake Resorts CEO, Don Harrill states, “Our plan for the Holiday Inn Club Vacations brand has been to grow to iconic American locations where families go to spend quality time together. This resort in historic Williamsburg is a great fit, offering richness in culture and area attractions for every age and interest. Henderson, Inc. have been great partners to move our construction forward for this resort and enhance our guest experience—and they’ve been so welcoming to us in this local community.”

Construction is expected to be complete in the spring of 2014.

For the eleventh year, Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort hosted the RCI Christel House Open. This fundraiser golf tournament helps support the Christel House mission of helping children around the world break the cycle of poverty.

Played at the Orange Lake Resort 18-hole, Arnold Palmer-designed Legends golf course, this tournament event is part of the RCI Christel House Open which is the  largest multi-day charity golf tournament in the world. At 14 tournament sites—11 at US golf courses and 3 in Mexico, the United Kingdom and South Africa—golfers were teeing it up for the benefit of the more than 3,000 children of Christel House, this past Monday.

 Golf at The Legends at Orange Lake Resort

Whether a golfer is part of the Christel House fundraiser tournament, or just at Orange  Lake Resort to enjoy a family vacation or a golf outing, the 7,072-yard championship course is a favorite among players of all skill levels. Built in 1998, the course features Floradwarf greens and Bermuda fairways.

Designed as a Par 72 course, the front nine are a Scottish-style links golf experience while the winding fairways of the back nine are lined with pines, oaks, and blooming flowers, reminiscent of a Carolinas-style course.

You can find out more about The Legends Golf Course at the Orange Lake Resort website (click here http://www.orangelake.com/plan_an_event/golf_facilities). And you can click to learn more about the life changing accomplishments of Christel House.

More about the RCI Christel House Open at Orange Lake from The Timeshare Authority blog:

• Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort Hosts Golf Fund Raiser 

As the awards were handed out at the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) 2013 Convention and Awards Gala, one name kept coming up, again and again: Holiday Inn Club Vacations timeshare. Claiming seven awards, including the ACE (ARDA Circle of Excellence) Spirit of Hospitality Award, Holiday Inn Club Vacations timeshare was recognized by the industry for its achievements and excellence.

Don Harrill, president and CEO of Orange Lake Resorts that operates ten resorts under the Holiday Inn Club Vacations brand, said of this year’s ARDA Convention and Awards Gala, “We enter the convention as competitors and we leave as industry colleagues and friends. This year, I saw an increased sense of camaraderie and collaboration among industry leaders and associates within committees and panels, ending with the culmination of the week’s events through the celebration of our people at the gala. We are ecstatic that Holiday Inn Club Vacations is honored this year in every category within the awards – from the ACE to sales and marketing to management and administration, advertising and interior design. Our people are at the heart of all we do as an industry, and this was their time to shine.”

Of special note is Holiday Inn Club Vacations team member Neal McDonald, the senior director of recreation operations and resort activities for Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort and this year’s recipient of the ACE (ARDA Circle of Excellence) Spirit of Hospitality Award.

MacDonald was honored with the ACE Award for his work within the organization, which includes supporting the work of 90 team members within the custodial, activities and entertainment programs; heading up the implementation of the recycling program for the 2,478-unit resort; hundreds of volunteer hours  contributed to Orange Lake Resort and Holiday Inn Club Vacation’s philanthropic partnerships, such as Give Kids the World Village, and much more.

It’s Saturday … what’s shaking? The answer to that would be “you,” if you plan an Orange Lake Resort timeshare vacation.

Every day on The Timeshare Authority blog we talk about the opportunities and values in spacious, amenity-laden timeshare resales and timeshare rentals. And as important as these benefits are, they are not the main reasons to buy a timeshare or rent vacation ownership properties.

Vacations are fun!

Yep, that is it. That is the most important fact to remember about timeshare vacations; they are fun! We has said it so many times before: life is better when you are on vacation. Whether your idea of fun is sleeping in followed by napping poolside or you want to jet ski, rock climb, and zip line by day while you party at the hot spots by night, there is a timeshare resort that is just perfect for your kind of fun.

Life will always throw you challenges. Tomorrow is a big question mark. And far too many of us forget that fun only happens in our lives when we open the door to it, when we seek it, and when we stop doing all those must-do things and simply embrace fun.

When Swampy, Holiday Inn Club Vacation’s mascot alligator at Orange Lake Resort gets together with friends, guests, and owners for a little Harlem Shake, everyone should be reminded to drop what they are doing, shake off their worries, plan a vacation, and have some fun. What better way to shake it up than a vacation in the sunshine at the Florida timeshare, Orange Lake Resort, or perhaps one of the other great Holiday Inn Club Vacations timeshares?

Now help us help Orange Lake Resort get Swampy and the Harlem Shake viral. Share this blog post, like the Swampy video on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/VacationOwnershipcom and then shake up your life, get out of your routine, and make a commitment to plan a vacation and have more fun!