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SECOND
HOMES WITH ALL THE
AMENITIES OF A LUXURY HOTEL
Private
Residence Clubs & Fractional Ownership Offer an
Appealing Lifestyle
Being
pampered is a part of the resort experience for many
vacationers. Impeccable service is what often leads
them back to top hotels again and again.
Those
who prefer a private residence in their getaway locations
can choose from an array of housing options. But they'll
have to make their own dinner reservations and contact
the plumber themselves.
But
what if you could own a private second home in those
beach and mountain locales and still be treated as
if you were at the Ritz? That's the idea behind residence
clubs, one of the fastest-growing segments of the
vacation-home business and one that hotel operators
-- including Ritz-Carlton -- have embraced.
"We're
selling a lifestyle along with the house," said Alan
Fuerstman, chief executive of Montage Hotel &
Resorts, which is building 14 villas and offering
14 additional home sites at its Montage Resort &
Spa in Laguna Beach, Calif. "You can get room service,
use of the spa and pool, and have our chef coming
over to do a dinner party for you."
Those
home sites, some of the last oceanfront property available
in Southern California, don't come cheap: $4.5 million
to $6.5 million for the lot alone. (Nine of the 14
are still for sale; the 3,000-square-foot villas are
sold out.) But they represent a way for resort developers
to make their high-cost projects more economically
feasible, one of the reasons the concept has become
more popular.
"We're
in the process of putting together a development in
the [California] mountains, and we see this working
wonderfully there," Fuerstman said. These buyers
are younger than we would initially have
thought. But what we find is that the buyer who falls
in love with these properties has stayed in the hotel
once or twice and wants to embrace that lifestyle,
capture it on a daily basis," he said.
The
Residences at Montage represents the latest in the
evolution of the hotel industry in the second-home
market. The villas and home sites at the Laguna Beach
property are being sold outright to buyers, not as
time-share or fractional-ownership units.
It
has been 20 years since Marriott became the first
major hotel chain to enter the vacation-ownership
business with its purchase of American Resorts. That
initial foray involved time-shares that were sold
as a right to use a condominium unit for a specified
time, generally one week of the year.
Marriott
Marriott
still operates two brands that sell traditional time-shares:
Marriott Vacation Club International and the more
moderately priced Horizons by Marriott Vacation Club.
Owners are able to trade weeks in order to vacation
in a large number of destinations.
In
2001, Marriott added its Grand Residence Club concept.
The first club opened in Lake Tahoe, Calif., in 2002
and the second in London last year. The clubs combine
fractional ownership of a second home with the amenities
and service of a luxury resort. Fractions from three
weeks to 13 weeks range from $83,900 to $550,000.
The
hotel company also operates the Ritz-Carlton Club,
another fractional-ownership product where buyers
can purchase interests from 21 to 35 days per year
for $98,000 to $490,000. Ritz-Carlton Club resorts
are located in Aspen and Bachelor Gulch, Colo., St.
Thomas and Jupiter, Fla.
In
addition, the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton offers
for-sale condominiums at 11 U.S., Caribbean and European
destinations that provide concierge, dining and butler
services.
Four
Seasons
High-end
hotelier Four Seasons also has been developing private
residence clubs. It has fractional-ownership properties
in North San Diego, Calif.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Jackson
Hole, Wyo.; and Punta Mita, Mexico, near Puerto Vallarta,
which is under development.
And
Hyatt Vacation Ownership, an affiliate of Chicago-based
Hyatt Hotels, has broken ground in San Antonio, Texas,
on what will be its 11th vacation ownership property;
eight are open and two others are slated to open this
summer.
Exclusive
Resorts
Not
all the hotel-type developments involve hotels, though.
Exclusive Resorts, founded by Brad Handler, a member
of eBay's startup team, offers a collection of luxury
vacation homes that members have access to. The company
has more than 200 homes in 25 locations worldwide,
with 12 additional sites planned.
The
homes average about $2 million, but members pay a
one-time deposit of $375,000 to join, plus yearly
dues that the company describes as "modest." Exclusive
Resorts' members can use a member-services manager
to make travel arrangements and have access to an
on-site concierge in their destination.
Members
can also take advantage of Exclusive Resorts' strategic
partnership with Marquis Jet, which provides access
to the NetJets private jet fleet.
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