Ultimate escapes

DUO by Quintess: The New Destination Club, A New Option for Ultimate Escapes Members And Others

A DUO by Quintess residence, Cabo San Lucas

Two weeks ago, I reported on the Ultimate Escapes Destination Club bankruptcy, which is the largest bankruptcy in the brief history of the luxury destination club industry. This industry has had more than its share of well-publicized bankruptcies, with the members of these clubs usually left out in the cold, money and great travel expectations lost. In this most recent case, 1400 or so Ultimate Escapes members are in this kind of labyrinthine Limbo.

But for many of these UE members, being in such convoluted place is not their first time. To understand the importance of the options created by Quintess and others, it is crucial to understand the unusual context in which the Ultimate Escapes members find themselves.

Approximately seven years ago, in 2003, the first destination club, Private Retreats, launched in Telluride, Colorado. Two years later, Private Retreats changed its name to Abercrombie & Kent Destination Club. The A&K name was leased by Private Retreats. Eventually, A&K ended their licensing agreement with Private Retreats, and the destination club was renamed Tanner & Haley.

Tanner & Haley went bankrupt in 2006-- the first destination club to do so. Then, Ultimate Resort, a small destination club founded in 2005, gathered up the Tanner & Haley members, offered them a way to continue their travel club membership by purchasing the T&H homes. About a year later, Ultimate then instigated a complicated merger with another club operator called Private Escapes. More members were picked up there. And, Ultimate Resort's name change to Ultimate Escapes. So if you're following the bouncing ball, some of the present members of Ultimate Escapes, were actually refugees from Tanner & Haley, and also Private Escapes. So, it is easy to surmise that these members have -- also! -- been bounced around from club to club.

But wait! There's more.

Tags: Ben Addoms, Destination Club history, destination clubs, DUO by Quintess, luxury destination clubs, problems with Destination Clubs, Quintess, Quintess LRW, The Tour Club, Ultimate Escapes, Ultimate escapes Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

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Another Destination Club Bankruptcy: The Latest On Crisis And Opportunity

by Susan Kime (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Books

I have been writing about the Destination Club industry for six years now, and have covered the bankruptcies of Tanner & Haley ( Chapter 11 in July 2006), High Country Club LLC ( Chapter 7 in January 2009), Lusso (Chapter 11 in December of 2008 ) Everlands ( this wasn't exactly a bankruptcy, but they did cease operation, and Ultimate Escapes purchased their member list) and Solstice (Chapter 11 in March 2009.) For Luxist, I have written about Exclusive Resorts, Abercrombie & Kent, Ultimate Escapes and Quintess vacations. I have also written and spoke about the dark side of the charismatic idea in print and online. I also spoke about this idea back in 2006 at a NorthCourse Conference in Athens.

So, for many, though Ultimate Escapes bankruptcy news today is terrible, it is not shocking. Rather, in Yogi Berra's words, it is deja vu all over again, as there seems to be a well-known fissure in the non-equity destination club model, and this fissure is one that only four clubs ( Exclusive Resorts, Equity Estates, Quintess and Abercrombie & Kent Residence Club) have been able to patch successfully. This crack lies in assumption: that the economy will continue to grow, members will continue to buy into the clubs and real estate assets will continue to rise. As can be seen through any glass darkly, our economy has NOT worked this way, and many have lost more than just their shirts.

Tags: Charisma, charismatic ideas, Destination Clubs bankruptcies, Ragatz Associates, Ultimate Escapes, Ultimate Escapes bankruptcy

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The Ultimate Escapes Escape: The Anatomy Of The Destination Club Vacation

by Susan Kime (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, By Design

The story below deals with my Ultimate Escapes escape: an experiential vacation trip I took last month. Those who know me know that I have experienced many destination club residences and villas, and I am usually asked questions about them, as many people have heard mixed reviews, due to the well-publicized bankruptcies of Lusso, High Country, Tanner & Haley and Solstice, all within the past few years. But, the vision and the reality of the destination club remains. At present, there are probably between 7,000 to 8,000 members for DCs, and those members are fiercely loyal, due to the treatment they receive on their vacations. It became obvious, early in 2004 when the industry was in its infancy, that it encountered an unexpected consumer need (not fault) line -- the need for sanctuary and for legacy from their vacation time.

Tags: acqualina, destination club, destination clubs, mia, resort clubs, ultimate escapes, vacation club

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The Design Of A Great Vacation: Quintess and the Destination Club Experience

by Susan Kime (RSS feed) —

Filed under: By Design

As with many great ideas, the destination club idea was not born in a vacuum. Its distant ideological cousin, the timeshare, originated in the '70's in Europe. It was a simple idea, buying space for time, but because of some developers' sales techniques, the timeshare developed a less than stellar reputation. However, the idea itself remained viable, and it evolved – from owning a 1/30th share in a small apartment, to owning shares in much more substantive residences, and in the clubs themselves,. The membership deed or the fractional share all came with significant amenities: private chefs, limo drivers, dedicated destination hosts, existing only to make dinner arrangements, acquiring the best concert tickets, creating worry-free vacations on every known dimension.

The destination club idea took hold in the early 2000s. In the beginning, were the nonequity clubs, then came the equity based ones. With the former, the member did not own anything, paid a one-time membership deposit, annual dues, and vacationed in elite destinations in $2-6M homes. With the equity-based clubs, the members owned the clubs, bought the homes and had much to say in the club management.

But there was a dark side to this idea – and it was its explosive and unexpected growth. In 2003, the sales volume was a modest $513.M. In 2006, it ballooned to $2.5B.

All went well until the industry hit a major bump in July of 2006, with Tanner & Haley, the first Destination Club, to bankrupt, followed by many others. Out of the 31 functioning destination clubs extant in 2006, there are now, in 2010, five. But these five are strong,fiscally transparent, and consumer-centric, taking a lessons-learned approach from the failed clubs. The equity-based clubs, where the members own the residences, are Equity Estates, and Abercrombie & Kent Residence Clubs. The non-equity clubs, are Exclusive Resorts, oldest and largest, Ultimate Escapes, the second largest with has multi-leveled membership plans, and, Quintess arguably, one of the smaller and most boutique-like, with many architecturally significant homes, all priced at 4M and up.

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Tags: destination clubs, DestinationClubs, Exclusive resorts, Quintess, Ultimate escapes

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Ultimate Escapes Offers Free Airfare To Attract Members

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Wings

Destination club Ultimate Escapes has sweetened the deal to attract new members. They are now offering new club members free airfare for a year to any Ultimate Escapes destinations. By purchasing a membership between now and December 31, 2009, new members, their families, and friends will be able to fly at no cost to more than 150 Ultimate Escapes destinations worldwide on the airline of their choice. Airfare is paid for the first year of membership, or up to $25,000.

The club offers multi-million dollar homes in desirable destinations across the world from ski towns to beaches and cities located throughout Central and North America, the Caribbean, and Europe, There are three tiers of membership: Premiere entitles you to homes with an average value of $1 million, Signature membership offers homes valued at around $2 million and Elite membership includes stays in home with an average value of $3 million. Within each tier there are bronze, silver, gold, platinum and platinum plus levels of membership with escalate in price based on the amount of days. A Premier Silver membership costs $95,000 plus one year membership dues of $9,500.

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Tags: free airfare, FreeAirfare, membership clubs, MembershipClubs, ultimate escapes, UltimateEscapes

Ultimate Escapes Destination Club

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Whether you are into spending your winter vacation on a beach or on the slopes, Ultimate Escapes has it covered. The destination club's membership includes the chance to experience more than 140 properties in over 50 locations around the world. The properties include beach cottages, larger homes, apartments and yachts.

There are three tiers of membership: Premiere entitles you to homes with an average value of $1 million, Signature membership offers homes valued at around $2 million and Elite membership includes stays in home with an average value of $3 million. Within each tier there are bronze, silver, gold, platinum and platinum plus levels of membership with escalate in price based on the amount of days. A Premier Silver membership costs $95,000 plus one year membership dues of $9,500.

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Tags: destination club, DestinationClub, luxury, ultimate escapes, UltimateEscapes