Timeshare Information

Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) has announced plans to renovate the existing 45 hotel rooms at the Hilton Craigendarroch into 32 spacious vacation ownership suites.

The transition fortifies the company’s commitment to increase year-round leisure travel to the renowned destination in the Scottish Highlands.

As part of this development, traditional hotel operations at the resort will be phased out as the property evolves to exclusively offer timeshare accommodations. Hilton Grand Vacations already operates the 99 timeshare lodges at the resort in Ballater, an enterprise that has proven to be one of the most successful timeshare resorts in Europe.

For more than 12 years Craigendarroch has been among the most highly demanded destinations within the Hilton Grand Vacations Club portfolio. The forthcoming re-branding will include the conversion of the property’s existing hotel units into luxury suite accommodations to be sold as timeshare apartments. The leisure facilities which currently operate as part of the Country Club will also be refurbished. The resort will continue to offer Country Club memberships, as well as guest access to the restaurant and bar areas. 


The transition, made possible through the support of Hilton Grand Vacations and parent company Hilton Worldwide, will take place over the next 12 months. 

Richard McIntosh, Managing Director for HGV in Europe/Middle East/ Africa, commented, “This is truly an exciting project to unfold in one of our key markets, and will no doubt serve to increase the amount of guests visiting the resort as well as the local area each year.” 


“With the resort in its 28th year, this re-positioning will ensure the property’s long-term existence not only as a central part of the tourism business in Royal Deeside, but also as an important local employer,” said McIntosh. 


Beyond Scotland, Hilton Grand Vacations continues brand expansion in Europe with the announcement of a new resort in Tuscany, Italy (due to open early in 2013). Prime Investimenti sri, an Italian real estate company based in Prato, Italy, announced earlier this year that it is to open a luxurious 31-apartment vacation ownership resort to be known as “Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Borgo alle Vigne” in the Tuscan countryside. 

Hilton Grand Vacations has been appointed to provide Sales and Marketing services for weekly vacation ownership intervals at the resort, and Best International has been appointed to provide Sales and Marketing services in connection with fractional intervals at the resort. HGV will also be responsible for providing homeowners’ association management services and resort operations.

Hilton Worldwide has announced the appointment of Anne Marie Chua as director, corporate communications, Asia Pacific. In her new role, Chua will lead external and internal communications for Hilton Worldwide as it continues to expand its hotels and resorts in the Asia Pacific region.

Chua joins Hilton Worldwide with more than 15 years of experience in corporate communications. Most recently, Anne Marie was communications director, North and Southeast Asia, with Alcatel-Lucent, a global telecommunications corporation. In this role, she oversaw the company’s regional communications, corporate social responsibility activities and marketing strategies. Prior to Alcatel-Lucent, Anne Marie worked for several companies including Parkway Group Healthcare, PR Communications Pte Ltd and The Elizabeth Singapore Hotel.

“Anne Marie’s significant experience with a variety of communications roles in the Asia Pacific region will make her an incredible asset to Hilton Worldwide’s global communications team,” said Ellen D. Gonda, senior vice president, global corporate communications. “We are thrilled to welcome Anne Marie and look forward to benefiting from her strong expertise.”

Chua received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communications from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Victoria.

Hilton Worldwide is the leading global hospitality company, spanning the lodging sector from luxurious full-service hotels and resorts to extended-stay suites. For 92 years, Hilton Worldwide has been offering travelers the finest in accommodations, service, amenities and value. The company is dedicated to continuing its tradition of providing exceptional guest experiences across its global brands. Its brands, including Hilton Grand Vacations Club, are comprised of more than 3,700 hotels and resorts and 610,000 rooms in 82 countries. The company also manages the world-class guest reward program Hilton HHonors®.

Club Intrawest, a private vacation club with eight locations across Canada, the United States and Mexico, has its community of members raving about ExtraOrdinary Escapes.

This private exchange collection allows members to use their membership to explore resorts, hotels, and lodging around the world in popular destinations like New York City, Hawaii, Paris, Tuscany, Hong Kong and beyond. All ExtraOrdinary Escapes properties are hand-picked by Intrawest’s industry professionals.

“We realize that members might want to venture outside the Club Intrawest network for a vacation every now and then,” says Chris Thompson, Executive Director of Membership Programs, who has been with Intrawest Resort Club Group (IRCG) for 14 years.

“Whether it’s celebrating a special event or taking that once in a lifetime vacation we want our Members to be able to stay connected to the most unique vacation club in the world while they make the memories of a lifetime.”

ExtraOrdinary Escapes (which also incorporates an RCI component) has grown to encompass relationships with Hilton Grand Vacations Club and Disney Vacation Club.

ExtraOrdinary Escapes is also very selective about which properties it includes in its portfolio. This is to ensure that the quality of the timeshare exchange partners meets the high expectations of members.

ExtraOrdinary Escapes is one of IRCG’s primary assets. With escape options that include storm watching at Vancouver Island’s Wickaninnish Inn (one of the highest rated hotels in Canada) to the excitement of Las Vegas (Hilton Grand Vacations Club at the Flamingo) and the thrill of New York City (West 57th Street by Hilton Club) ExtraOrdinary Escapes offers hundreds of additional vacation options to the Club’s 22,000 members.

Since opening its first location in 1994, people from 48 countries have joined Club Intrawest, enjoying the Club Intrawest locations as well hand-picked hotels, resorts and lodging properties.

Hilton HHonors, the loyalty program for Hilton Worldwide’s 10 distinct hotel brands, was presented with the Best Redemption Ability Award for Hotels in the Americas at the second annual Frequent Traveler Awards ceremony held on April 28, 2011, in Flushing, New York.

The Frequent Traveler Awards, which represent excellence in frequent travel programs worldwide, honor the best frequent flyer and frequent guest programs in the world, and winners are determined based on the overall merits of each program as ranked by voters. This year, more than one million frequent travelers worldwide participated in the voting process, casting online ballots for their favorite programs and campaigns from 2010.

“It’s a great privilege to be recognized by our most loyal guests and to receive this award from among the industry’s elite,” said Jeff Diskin, senior vice president, global customer marketing, Hilton Worldwide.

“For decades, we have worked on designing Hilton HHonors rewards that allow frequent travelers to redeem their points for experiences worth sharing - whether that’s a free night’s stay or tickets to a Broadway show. It’s a great privilege to be recognized by our most loyal guests and to receive this award from among the industry’s elite.”

Hilton HHonors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hilton Worldwide’s ten distinct hotel brands, honors its 28 million members by allowing them to turn earned points into experiences worth sharing. In addition to redeeming HHonors points for complimentary hotel stays, HHonors members can use points to purchase unique experience rewards, merchandise and vacation packages, make charitable contributions, and more.

HHonors is also the only guest-loyalty program to offer ‘Points & Miles’ and ‘No Blackout Dates’ at more than 3,700 hotels worldwide, including participating Waldorf Astoia Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations. Membership in HHonors is free, and travelers may enroll online by visiting HiltonHHonors.com.

Hilton HHonors members can redeem their points for complimentary hotel stays or for any of the thousands of experiences and merchandise items available through the Hilton HHonors website.

Hilton Worldwide is the leading global hospitality company, spanning the lodging sector from luxurious full-service hotels and resorts to extended-stay suites. For 92 years, Hilton Worldwide has been offering business and leisure travelers the finest in accommodations, service, amenities and value. The company is dedicated to continuing its tradition of providing exceptional guest experiences across its global brands that includes Hilton Grand Vacations.

RCI, the global leader in vacation exchange and one of the Wyndham Worldwide family of brands, announced at the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) 2011 Convention and Exposition (March 27 - 31, 2011) that it added more than 100 newly affiliated resorts to its network in 2010.

RCI welcomed some of the industry's most respected brands over the past year including InnSeason Resorts and AMResorts. In 2010, the company also added properties from current affiliates including several resorts each from developers like Fiesta Hotel Group, Holiday Club Resorts, Hoteles Decameron Colombia and Mahindra Holidays and Resorts. Additionally, RCI renewed its relationship with existing affiliates including industry leaders Disney Vacation Club, Hilton Grand Vacations and Bluegreen Corporation.

"We are extremely proud to have added over 100 newly affiliated properties to our expansive network of high-quality timeshare resorts," said Geoff Ballotti, CEO of RCI. "These fantastic resorts are in some of the world's most sought-after destinations. Their addition is a testament not only to the innovative and value-added services we can offer new affiliates but the tremendous support our global team provides to help all of our affiliates thrive and grow."

Since pioneering the vacation exchange concept in 1974, RCI continues to lead the industry with first-to-market innovations. In 2010, RCI embarked on a number of initiatives that continued to transform the timeshare exchange industry. In November, the company unveiled the revolutionary "trading power transparency" for its "RCI Weeks" program to provide more choice, flexibility and control for subscribing members.

As a result of this enhancement, RCI Weeks members can now compare the trading power value of their deposited week to the value of the exchange vacations they are interested in, and can also combine their deposited weeks, gaining greater access to vacations that have a higher exchange trading power.

The first in the industry to offer points exchange, RCI continued to expand the benefits it provides with the launch of the RCI Points Platinum® membership tier. The newest and highest level of its membership, the RCI Points Platinum tier offers opportunities for automatic room upgrades, priority exchange privileges, discounts at tens of thousands of dining locations, preferred rates at ski, golf and dining locations and a myriad of other valuable travel and lifestyle benefits.

The International Tourism Partnership, founded in 1992 and part of the International Business Leaders Forum, is a unique organization that brings together industry leaders to demonstrate in a practical way that environmental and social responsibility make good business sense.

Many global leaders in the timeshare industry recognize their social responsibility and have taken steps forward in collaborating on finding practical solutions to the challenges of sustainable development. Founding member Marriott International is joined by other timeshare and vacation club businesses including Hyatt, Hilton Worldwide, Diamond International, Wyndham, and Starwood Hotels and Resorts - all who share the same commitment to collaborating on finding those solutions.

According to Stephen J. Cloobeck, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Resorts International®, “Our decision to join the International Tourism Partnership demonstrates our acknowledgement of the important position Diamond shares in the hospitality industry and how vital our environmental leadership is in our global operations as we embrace all aspects of sustainability, preservation and social responsibility. We greatly value the opportunity to have the support of the International Tourism Partnership to establish a mutually beneficial relationship toward our sustainability goals.”

The International Tourism Partnership brings together leading corporate partners in the hospitality and tourism industry to demonstrate that environmental and social responsibility makes good business sense.

Its aim is to encourage the hospitality industry to improve its impact on both environment and society by showcasing examples of leadership, working in partnership with other sectors, companies and agendas, and providing practical products, projects and solutions that focus on both short term outcomes and long term goals.

Stephen Farrant, Director of ITP commented, “The issue of moving toward greater sustainability remains a huge challenge but also a great opportunity for the sector. The more enlightened businesses are taking meaningful action on improving their environmental and social impacts, and the International Tourism Partnership has a vital role to play in championing and enabling this.”

The members of ITP represent some of the largest travel and tourism companies in the world, comprising over 11,100 hotel properties and 1.8 million rooms, all of whom agree that only through collective, industry-wide action at local, destination and country levels can real progress be made toward a more sustainable hotel, travel and tourism industry.

Hilton Worldwide today announced the promotion of George J. Massa to vice president and managing director of development, Mexico. In this role, Massa will address development opportunities and foster relationships with current and potential partners in Mexico. Prior to his promotion, Massa served as senior director of development, Mexico, evaluating potential investment, franchise and management initiatives.

“George has an incredible amount of experience in the Latin American hospitality industry and we are delighted that he is taking on a larger role within our organization,” said Craig Mance, Hilton senior vice president, development, North America. "In his new role, George will help us do even more to address the needs of our owners and pursue opportunities in Mexico that will bring many benefits to our company,”

Massa has 36 years of professional services experience in the hospitality industry. He has served several multinational hotel corporations and hotel owners as well as investors, developers, leading lending institutions, government agencies and consulting firms. Prior to Hilton Worldwide, Massa served as president of International Hospitality Solutions, a hotel advisory and management company, and spearheaded the organization’s growth in Latin America.

Massa studied business administration at Catholic University and the University of Lima in Peru. A native of Peru, he is fully bilingual in English and Spanish.

Hilton Worldwide is the leading global hospitality company, spanning the lodging sector from luxurious full-service hotels and resorts to extended-stay suites and mid-priced hotels. For 91 years, Hilton Worldwide has been offering business and leisure travelers the finest in accommodations, service, amenities and value.

The company is dedicated to continuing its tradition of providing exceptional guest experiences across its global brands. Its brands are comprised of more than 3,600 hotels and 600,000 rooms in 82 countries and include Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and Hilton Grand Vacations.

The beautiful Hilton Hawaiian Village resort on Oahu truly has it all. There is so much to see and do at this resort, it is really a premiere vacation destination in and of itself. Activities abound in a surrounding of lush and tropical scenery that will leave you wanting more and not wanting to go home. It’s easy to see why renting a timeshare at this resort is something you’ll want to do year after year and you may even be so overwhelmed by the relaxation and beauty, you’ll consider buying a timeshare resale at this resort for yourself.

It’s All Here
The Hilton Hawaiian Village resort is an expansive property located on 22 beachfront acres in Honolulu. The Hotel has 7 towers, 20 Restaurants, 90 stores and 6 pools. With all this, there is really no reason to ever leave the resort at all. The beach is steps away and there is also a private lagoon for more water activities (see above).

Resort Activities
There are many free resort activities, or those with just a nominal materials fee cost. These include: Lei making, Hula Lessons, Ukulele Lessons, Tahitian Drumming, Snorkeling Lessons and even Sarong tying. The landscaping around the resort is quite lovely with koi ponds (see right), flamingos and tropical plants. You can watch them feed the penguins and turtles in the mornings as well.

Beach activities include surfboard and kayak rentals, or try a paddle boat. The Hilton also has it’s own boat dock for Catamaran sailing and Sunset Cruises. And for the ultimate in relaxation, don’t miss the Mandara Spa for an escape into pampering and comfort.

Island Tours
If you are looking for a paid tours around the island, there is an American Express Tour Desk located right on the property where you can book any number of island tours such as the Polynesian Cultural Center, USS Arizona /Pearl Harbor Memorial, Paradise Cove Luau or Atlantis Submarines to name a few.

Village Experience Card
Because you won’t want to leave the resort, you’ll be happy that they issue the Village Experience card upon arrival through Hilton Grand Vacations Club. Just register the card at the Concierge desk and show it to the various shops and restaurants throughout the resort to enjoy discounts and free items with purchase for those participating in the program.

Aloha!

Its vacation time and you’re about to undertake your planning process in the usual way. Pick a destination. Find a hotel. Book airfare. Done. But, did you know that your favorite hotel chain may also have timeshare rooms available? And, what’s different about these rooms is the extra space and amenities you get, at a rate that is probably half of what you typically pay for a standard hotel room. Why is this? Hotel resorts created timeshare rooms and vacation clubs for timeshare owners who want to stay in home-like accommodations with family amenities. These rooms can be located right in the hotel, or at a separate resort right next to the hotel and are available for rent by the public from the timeshare owners themselves. In doing this, you’ll save a lot of money on your next vacation, which is a big plus, and on top of that you’ll have great comforts of home with extra space, kitchens and washer/dryers too.

Let’s take a look at just some of the hotels that offer timeshare resorts. You’re sure to see some you recognize and most likely have stayed there before:

• Marriott
  Marriott, a world-renowned hotelier, began offering timeshares in 1984 through their division called the Marriott Vacation Club International. They have developed exquisite timeshare properties in the most sought-after destinations around the world. The resorts are considerably large, providing guests with all the amenities of home - including one to three bedrooms, living and dining areas, master bedroom and bathroom, full kitchen, laundry facilities in the unit, and often private balconies. See all Marriott Timeshare Resorts.


• Hilton
  Hilton Hotels Corporation develops and operates timeshare resorts through the Hilton Grand Vacations Club. HGVClub offers their owners expanded exchange and travel benefits on a points-based system called ClubPoints. These points allow them to stay at a variety of participating Hilton HHonors hotels around the globe and enjoy other travel-related bonuses like discounts on cruises and airfare. See all Hilton Grand Vacations Club Timeshare Resorts.


• Hyatt
  The Hyatt Hotel offers timeshare properties under the Hyatt Vacation Club. Their resorts are known for having high-quality amenities in their locations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The HVC gives their timeshare owners access to their collection of luxurious, boutique, timeshare resorts and hotel properties through a points-based program. See all Hyatt Vacation Club Timeshare Resorts.


• Wyndham
  Wyndham Vacation Ownership, formerly Fairfield Resorts, is the world's largest vacation ownership business with a approximately 140 resorts to choose from throughout North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. You'll find Wyndham Vacation Resorts in America's most scenic and popular destinations. Every unit is fully furnished, and many feature special amenities such as washers and dryers, private whirlpool spas, fireplaces and VCRs. See all Wyndham Vacation Ownership Timeshare Resorts.

Want to know if one of your favorite resorts offers timeshares? See this website for a directory of Timeshare Companies. Now that you know timeshare rentals are possible at your favorite resort, consider renting a timeshare for your next vacation. You’ll save money and love the home-like accommodations that are perfectly suited to family travel.