Steve Case

A New Exclusive Resorts Holiday Offer: $10,000 Gift Card To Join Before December 15th

Real del Mar Residence, Exclusive Resorts

Members of Exclusive Resorts, the world's largest destination club, have long enjoyed a substantial list of white glove services over the years as part of their membership. With the holidays coming closer, Exclusive Resorts is rewarding new members who join before December 15, 2010 with even more services -- by giving them a $10,000 gift card to be used for private chefs, spa treatments, customized excursions, tee times, and more.

This offer is one that might tempt Ultimate Escapes members, as their club bankrupted in September. I have written about this bankruptcy on Luxist before. The members of this club, around 1400, have since received many offers from Demeure, Duo byQuintess and others. Though the $10,000 Exclusive Resorts offer is not specific to Ultimate Escapes members, it may provide more incentive for those who are not yet committed to any club or Villa rental service, and who still are searching for a destination club to join. Since their inception, Exclusive Resorts has maintained a membership satisfaction score in excess of 90% every year, demonstrating the care taken with each member.

Also, despite the poor state of the economy, Exclusive Resorts exceeded many of their goals for 2010, in terms of new membership sales. When the year began, Chairman Steve Case appeared on CNBC and said that a "decent" year was expected for the club. Since then, Exclusive Resorts has sold well over 150 new memberships YTD, with over 100 upgrades from current members. They have also executed their 100,000th vacation this year.

From the business side of the equation, Exclusive Resorts has also spent much of 2010 on reducing costs, an initiative that has them at or under budget for all major cost categories. Last December, Exclusive Resorts finished 2009 with their best sales month of the year. With this intriguing $10,000 incentive, 2010 may be just as lucrative.

Luxist is grateful to Destination Club News for referring this story to us.

Tags: Demeure, Destination Club News, destination club offers, Duo by Quintess, Exclusive Resorts, Steve Case, Ultimate Escapes Bankruptcy

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Vinfolio Gets Big Bucks for Wine Collecting Play

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

It's a tough market for wine collectors. Disposable income is still at a premium, and there is already plenty of competition. There are plenty of brick-and-mortar and online stores catering to wine maniacs ... not to mention the likes of auction houses such as Sotheby's, which dominate the auction scene for liquid bliss. Nonetheless, Vinfolio, which has been around since 2003, found a way to reach into the pocket of former AOL top dog Steve Case (btw: Luxist is owned by AOL).

The amount Case plunked down for a piece of Vinfolio hasn't been disclosed, but it is known that he put $10 million into another luxury business, Exclusive Resorts. Whatever he's put into the business comes on top of $10 million already raised.

Does this mean the upscale wine market is coming back? The economic recovery may still be delicate, but this seems like a smart move for down the road. After all, money in a wine collector's pocket is always looking for a home.

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Tags: AOL, auction, auction-house, AuctionHouse, auctions, sotheby, sothebys, Steve Case, steve case revolution money, wine, wine auction, wine collection, wines

Enlivening Exclusive Resorts: Moving Forward in the Destination Club Industry

by Susan Kime (RSS feed) —

Filed under: By Design

Bovey Castle, England

As with many great ideas, this one started small, and from unpleasant, stressful experiences. Exclusive Resorts was originally founded seven years ago, by Brad and Brent Handler, two brothers who had consistently experienced classic vacation dilemmas with their own families. When traveling with children, grandparents and friends to high-end resorts and hotels, they experienced the same problems again and again: not enough room, no kitchens, child-unfriendly spaces, and the distinct impression from some hotel staffs that larger families with children were noisome rather than welcome.

At the same time, a new luxury travel idea was already in the air. That year, 2002, a company called Private Retreats, based in Telluride, Colorado, was launched to address the same vacation dilemma. It was called a destination club, a new idea with a model that combined two vastly different yet already successful industries: the country club and the fractional jet business. From the country club model came the idea of paying a membership deposit and annual dues, and from the fractional jet world came the idea of paying the dues and deposit in relation to the amount of time the potential member wished to use, so there was a range of pricing, usually from one month to three, or more or less. But in both cases, the member did not own or invest in the club, or the homes, instead he or she paid to use, and so it was called a non-equity club.

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Tags: Americas Group, destination, Destination Clubs, Exclusive Resorts, Miraval, Sea Island, Steve Case

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