Nevada Timeshare

Last week, ARDA (the American Resort Development Association) released a media announcement looking at American travel trends for 2011. Here’s some of the patterns they identified:

• Americans will be traveling more in 2011 than in the past few years.
• Trip Advisor estimates that 69 percent of travelers will take international trips this year with the top three destinations being Paris, London, and Rome.
• Trip Advisor predictions also show that in the US, top destinations are Las Vegas, New York City, and San Francisco.

Travel and Timeshare Sales and Timeshare Rentals

What does this renewed enthusiasm for travel indicate for timeshare sales, timeshare resales, and timeshare rentals? Many things, all of which are as good for timeshare owners as they are for the timeshare industry.

As more people discover the opportunities of timeshare rentals, the spacious accommodations and the great prices, travelers will quickly realize that their vacation dollars are going further, allowing them to travel more or stay longer. And timeshare owners who want to rent timeshares they currently own may find a larger and more competitive market for renting timeshare.

And as travelers take to the highways and skyways, timeshare sales companies and timeshare resale brokers will be able to market in targeted ways, recognizing in advance the trending interest in Las Vegas timeshare, New York City timeshare, San Francisco timeshare, and European timeshare. As Howard Nusbaum ARDA president and CEO, explains, “This resurgence of travel is terrific news for the timeshare industry. More travelers are beginning to understand the value and comfort of a timeshare vacation and with resorts in all of these popular 2011 destinations, vacationers will find exactly what they need.”

Follow this link to read the ARDA media release in full.

Marlena Forst, president of the David Walley’s Resort timeshare, board of director sums it up like this, “We made a great decision in selecting Trading Places for management — their expertise is unparalleled. The owners (timeshare owners at David Walley’s resort) were eager to ask questions and left feeling optimistic about the bright future of David Walley’s.”

Timeshare stories with a happy ending … they just don’t get enough media coverage. David Walley’s Resort, a Nevada timeshare, was part of Celebrity Resorts, a timeshare company that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. The Timeshare Authority blog has followed the story—really two parallel stories—reporting to you on them regularly. On one hand, you have Celebrity Resorts timeshare and 35 affiliates in voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The timeshare company owned and operated thirteen timeshare resorts including Nevada timeshare, Florida timeshare, Hawaii timeshare, and timeshare in Colorado, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Celebrity Resorts, at the time, had approximately $12 million in secured debt and $23 million in unsecured debt.

Now for the good news side of the story. Board members at David Walley’s Hot Springs Resort and Spa in Carson City, Nevada, a popular regional resort, rolled into action when the bankruptcy was announced, seeking to protect the interests their resort and their timeshare owners. Here are some of the critical steps they took:

1. Opened lines of communication for David Walley’s timeshare owners, keeping them apprised of changes and possibilities as they happened. Through mail, a purpose-built website and no doubt, endless responses to telephone inquiries, timeshare owners knew where things stood throughout the process.
2. The Board then launched a search for the best timeshare management company for their situation, continuing to keep timeshare owners in the loop on where things stood.
3. Most recently, Trading Places International has hosted town hall meetings at multiple sites, convenient to many of their owners, to introduce Summer Winds Resorts and the new role that company will play at David Walley’s timeshare resort.

In meetings in Sacramento and Genoa, (some with attendance so large an additional meeting had to be scheduled) Trading Places International was introduced as the timeshare management company while Summer Winds Resorts was introduced as the owners of the resort spa, restaurant, cottages, numerous unsold timeshare intervals, the deli and undeveloped land nearby to the timeshare resort.

Trading Places International timeshare exchange is experienced in guiding other resorts successfully through the transitions process. For timeshare owners at David Walley’s, the positioning of Trading Places International provides owners the perk of being able to take advantage of timeshare exchange through Trading Places International, with no membership fee owed, only the timeshare exchange fee itself to be paid.

Other News from The Timeshare Authority blog on events at David Walley’s

• Timeshare at David Walley’s Hot Springs Resort & Spa Update
• Updates for Timeshare Owners at David Walley’s Hot Springs Resort and Spa Timeshare
• David Walley’s Hot Springs Resort and Spa Timeshare Updates to Timeshare Owners

The Tahiti Village, Tahiti timeshare, and Club de Soleil timeshares were acquired on August 31, by The Arthur Spector Companies. The acquisition includes all of the unsold timeshare units and intervals (inventory) and the operating assets of the three Las Vegas timeshare resorts: Tahiti Village Resort timeshare; Tahiti Resort timeshare; and Club de Soleil timeshare.

In 2007, a Goldman Sachs sponsored fund invested in Consolidated Resorts, acquiring 75 percent interest in these three Las Vegas timeshares, while the Spector family retained 25 percent interest in the properties. In 2009, Consolidated Resorts filed for bankruptcy because the credit crisis had virtually cut off the resort ownership’s resources for growth funding. Since that time, the former Goldman Sachs fund has terminated its interest in the timeshare group and the assets again became available for acquisition.

The Arthur Spector Companies and the Spector family are no newcomers to timeshare. Spector companies have been a leading timeshare developer in Las Vegas timeshare, Orlando timeshare and Hawaii timeshare for more than 30 years. The Spector family expects to invest over $30 MM in the Las Vegas economy through timeshare development and timeshare expansion.

Arthur Spector explains, “We are especially thankful that we were able to assist the trustee to protect the interests of over 100,000 timeshare owners in these difficult times. All of the timeshare resorts have remained fully operational, the owners have had uninterrupted use of their vacation plans and continue to choose Las Vegas and Hawaii as their vacation destinations. We look forward to rebuilding this vital sector of the Las Vegas economy.”

Arthur Spector is a trustee member of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA).

Past The Timeshare Authority Blog posts on these Las Vegas timeshares:
Timeshare Owners Should not be Impacted by Bankruptcy Filing at Consolidated Resorts
Consolidated Resorts Timeshare says Bankruptcy Will Not Affect Timeshare Owners

When Celebrity Resorts timeshares filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, timeshare owners at the thirteen Celebrity Resorts properties were justifiably concerned. The owners association at David Walley’s Hot Springs Resort and Spa in Carson City, Nevada, (one of the resorts formerly affiliated with Celebrity Resorts) immediately stepped up for their owners with meetings, a plan for the future, and web pages where timeshare owners at this Nevada timeshare could get answers to the questions that naturally arise in this situation.

But visit those web pages today, and you no longer see posts from nervous timeshare owners or agendas for upcoming discussions and ‘hashing out’ sessions among the board members. Instead, when you visit the Owners Corner page of the website you find a letter from the Board of Directors, written late in July. In this letter, the board explains how diligently they scrutinized timeshare management companies in search of the right solution for David Walley’s resort and the timeshare owners there.

After choosing Trading Places International (TPI) as the new management company, the board believes that David Walley’s Hot Springs Resort and Spa is on the path to a bright future. As Marlena Forst, president of the David Walley’s Resort Association says, “The welcome news that Trading Places had successfully transitioned the Hanalei Bay Resort (Hawaii) from their preceding management company, Celebrity Resorts, was a determining factor in our selection.”

Trading Places’ New Role at David Walley’s Timeshare

Trading Places’ role in management of David Walley’s Resort is as an independent third-party company that assists the resort in finding solutions to the economic challenges it has faced while at the same time, laying the groundwork for the successful operation of the property going forward.

Along with the transition comes a wonderful benefit for timeshare owners at David Walley’s, in that they automatically can take advantage of timeshare exchange through Trading Places International, with no membership fee owed, only the timeshare exchange fee itself to be paid.

It is very good to see how well timeshare can work in the short and long term when the owners association takes responsible action, addresses problems, and effects solutions. And right now, it looks like a win-win situation for both David Walley’s Hot Springs Resort and Spa timeshare owners and for Resort Operations at Trading Places.

Previous reports on the changes at David Walley’s by The Timeshare Authority:

David Walley’s Hot Springs Resort and Spa Timeshare Updates to Timeshare Owners
(published March 15, 2010)
Updates for Timeshare Owners at David Walley’s Hot Springs Resort and Spa Timeshare
(published April 28, 2010)