Timeshare Information

Vacation resort developer Orange Lake Resorts, which operates ten timeshare properties, has announced that it officially closed on a transaction with English Garden LV LLC to expand its portfolio to now include Colonial Crossings Resort in Williamsburg, VA.

The intent for this resort is to become a part of the Holiday Inn Club Vacations® brand in early 2014. The 120-unit Colonial Crossings Resort, located eight miles from historic Williamsburg includes: an outdoor pool, business center, fitness center, arcade, outdoor patio area, meeting space, complimentary Wi-Fi and daily resort activity programming.

Orange Lake Resorts plans to commit more than $8 million over the next year to upgrade the interior of Colonial Crossings Resort.

In addition, a currently unused building will be built-out with new villas and furnishings, where the top two floors will feature the upscale Signature Collection villas with granite countertops, deluxe kitchen appliances and enhanced interior décor.

Orange Lake Resorts also plans to construct a new amenity building on the property.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations was created in September 2008 as a strategic alliance between IHG, the world’s largest hotel company, and Orange Lake Resorts, a leader within the resort industry with more than 30 years of proven success.

The brand’s flagship property in Orlando, located next to Walt Disney World Resort, was established in 1982 by Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson.

Other resort locations include Lake Geneva, WI, Panama City Beach and Marco Island, FL, Brownsville, VT,  Myrtle Beach, SC, Gatlinburg, T., Galveston, TX and Las Vegas, NV. Holiday Inn Club Vacations will continue to expand its resorts to top North American destinations.

Developer Orange Lake Resorts, operator of seven Holiday Inn Club Vacations® resort destinations, has announced that they are taking steps toward minimizing the impact of the company’s carbon footprint by introducing a new $1.4 million PulseFlow tunnel system by Pellerin Milnor Corporation that will save them 15 million gallons of water per year at their flagship Orlando resort.

For nearly 30 years, Orange Lake Resorts has used equipment that processes 1,800 pounds of laundry per hour with 3 gallons of water used per pound, and completing the day’s work of 28,800 pounds of laundry over two shifts.

Orange Lake’s new Milnor equipment consists of a PulseFlow Milnor CBW washer, a Single Stage press, and four pass-through dryers. The new equipment processes 4,000 pounds of laundry per hour, using only 0.3 to 0.4 gallons of fresh water per pound, with the day’s work of 30,000 pounds of laundry finishing in just one shift.

Bill Bell of Steiner-Atlantic, Milnor’s local distributor for the Orlando area, says, “Orange Lake has an eye on the staff’s overall environment and on improvements in efficiencies and expenditures, so we were thrilled that they committed to the corporate investment of introducing this modern equipment from the best in the industry.”

The Orlando resort, with 2,478 villas and an average of 511,853 annual guests, processes eight million pounds of laundry per year. The new equipment allows the company the ability to grow their laundry operation to process up to approximately 10.5 million pounds of laundry per year.

Scott Hedrick, vice president, rooms division, says, “We are delighted to be using the Milnor equipment in our laundry facility. It’s a step towards reducing our impact on the environment on a daily basis and changing how we operate to create significant efficiencies and cost savings while positively impacting the guest experience through improved linen quality. It’s also a pleasure to improve the everyday workplace for our skilled laundry team members, who are truly the ‘heart of our house.’”

Orange Lake Resorts is a timeshare resort developer with nearly 30 years of proven success in the industry. Orange Lake’s flagship property in Orlando, located next to Walt Disney World® Resort, was established in 1982 by Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson. A 1,450-acre golf, water park and sports resort, Orange Lake Resort in Orlando includes 2,478 villas with the ability to expand to 4,500 villas.

Orange Lake Resorts is proud to be one of Orlando Sentinel’s “Top 100 Companies for Working Families” for the second year in a row, winning the Sentinel’s 2011 “Community Service Champion” award for excellence in philanthropic contributions.

The three-year-old partnership between IHG and Orange Lake Resorts has announced the purchase of an additional resort by Orange Lake in Las Vegas, which will become part of Holiday Inn Club Vacations

The 648-unit Las Vegas Desert Club near the Strip is the newest property in the Orange Lake Resorts portfolio, and is the most significant element of the transaction. The one- and two-bedroom property just a block from the Strip adds a western outpost to complement Orange Lake’s portfolio of six locations in the East that span from Vermont to Wisconsin to Florida, as well as Tennessee and South Carolina. Orange Lake will complete an ongoing renovation of the property, and it should join the Holiday Inn Club Vacations roster sometime in 2012.

“Our alliance with Orange Lake has been so successful it showed us we’re strong enough to add ancillary businesses to our core hotel model without distracting from our core mission while producing accretive value for IHG and our partners,” says Del Ross, vice president, U.S. sales and marketing for IHG. “It wet our appetite for other alliances and we have since launched the InterContinental Alliance Resort program.”

“This is a huge step for us,” says Orange Lake President & CEO Don Harrill of the Las Vegas acquisition. “I liken it to five or six years ago when we were a single-site resort in Orlando and began to build a network of resorts around this hub to satisfy our customer base in the East. And now that we’ve established a beachhead in Las Vegas, we can evolve our product offerings and build our membership in the West.”

Harrill says the company will look for other opportunities in the West with targets including San Diego, Phoenix, San Francisco and Hawaii. “We plan to be opportunistic in our growth strategy,” he says. “While acquisitions are typically more cost effective in this environment, we don’t rule out new development in the right situations.”

The independent timeshare giant Orange Lake Resorts and brand company InterContinental Hotels Group joined in a partnership in January, 2009, an alliance that marries Orange Lake’s vacation ownership expertise with the brand recognition of Holiday Inn Club Vacations and the marketing muscle of IHG.

Last fall IHG and Orange Lake announced a rebranding of existing and new Orange Lake resorts under the Holiday Inn name. The common link is a strong one: both Holiday Inns and Orange Lake were founded by entrepreneur Kemmons Wilson, and the Wilson family still owns and operates the timeshare company, Holiday Inn Club Vacations explained in a press release.

Photo Credit: lhonline.com

RCI, the global leader in vacation exchange and part of the Wyndham Worldwide family of brands, and Orange Lake Resorts, home to Holiday Inn Club Vacations, announced a renewal of their affiliation agreement that continues a nearly 30-year business relationship.

“We’ve enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship with RCI, who through the decades has been a leader and innovator in the timeshare exchange community,” stated Don Harrill, president and CEO of Orange Lake Resorts. “As they continue to build on an already impressive collection of high-quality destination options for our members to enjoy, we are pleased that our growing resort network remains part of their worldwide exchange portfolio.”

Holiday Inn Club Vacations’ resorts are strategically located to give vacationers access to top attractions in the U.S., from world-renowned Orlando theme parks and Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee, to the snow-covered peaks of Vermont and beautiful waters of Lake Geneva, Wis. The family-friendly resorts feature activities and amenities to provide visitors memorable vacation experiences, such as special activities and events, swimming pools, on-site restaurants, fitness centers, mini golf and lake or beach access.

“We are very pleased to continue our relationship with Holiday Inn Club Vacations, which began with the affiliation of Orange Lake Resort almost three decades ago,” said Gordon Gurnik, president, RCI. “The vacation experience provided at their six high-quality resorts is in line with the types of vacations that our members have come to expect. Over the years our companies have grown together to create a strong alliance that benefits both members and owners. We look forward to more great things to come at these beautiful resorts.”

RCI’s exchange programs offer many benefits to Orange Lake Resorts’ owners and all RCI members. Those who belong to The Registry Collection program are offered a world of luxury vacation opportunities and experiences at many of the most desirable resort destinations around the world. They also enjoy special services including a personal concierge to assist them 24/7, a Reservation Consultant for trip planning and a unique Guest Certificate program, among other benefits.

RCI Points members enjoy the advantages of exchanging with the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and the world’s first global points-based exchange program, which allows flexible exchange for stays from as little as one or two days to as many as 21 days. To further enhance their vacation experience, RCI Points members have the opportunity to upgrade to a Points Platinum membership, which offers opportunities for automatic upgrades, priority exchange privileges and a myriad of exciting new travel and lifestyle benefits.

Orange Lake Resorts’ Don Harrill Elected Chairman of American Resort Development Association

Don Harrill, president and CEO of Orange Lake Resorts, home to Holiday Inn Club Vacations, was officially elected as Chairman of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) during the recent ARDA Convention and Exposition in Orlando. ARDA is the national trade association representing the vacation ownership industry.

"I couldn't be more pleased with having Don as our industry leader especially at this unique moment for vacation ownership," said Howard Nusbaum, RRP, ARDA's president and CEO. "Don has been a long-time advocate and tireless voice for our industry, as well as someone I've learned so much from during these challenging economic times. With his strong business, financial, and management skills, he is poised to be a truly effective leader for ARDA."

"I'm ecstatic and honored to take on this role with ARDA," said Harrill. "As America emerges from an economic crisis, it's a great time for us, as an industry, to have pride in our product and integrity in the process by which we share our product with consumers."

Created in 1982 by Kemmons Wilson, founder of the Holiday Inn brand, Orange Lake is a growing vacation ownership company which now includes six Holiday Inn Club Vacations resorts. In 2008, Harrill successfully linked a strategic marketing alliance with IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), the largest hotel group by number of rooms, creating the Holiday Inn Club Vacations brand. Orange Lake Resorts is privately held by the Wilson family and continues to own and operate their resort locations, with nearly 3,000 total employees.

Harrill is a Registered Resort Professional (RRP) and has a rich resume in the world of timeshare. Before joining Orange Lake Resorts, he was president and chief executive officer of Trendwest Resorts. Prior to that he was president and chief executive officer of Hilton Grand Vacations Company, where he led the company's financial turnaround and developed and implemented their mixed-use hotel-timeshare resort strategy.

Harrill follows Jim Lewis, president of Disney Vacation Club as Chairman of ARDA. He is joined in the ARDA officer ranks by Wyndham Vacation Ownership president and CEO, Franz Hanning (chair-elect) and Baker Hostetler law partner Robert J. Webb, Esq., RRP (treasurer).

Orange Lake Resorts is located on the shores of 80-acre Orange Lake, in Kissimmee, FL, and offers boating, fishing, board sailing, waterskiing, and sunbathing. Golfers can play the 27-hole course designed by Joe Lee, and tennis players can choose from 15 courts on site. In addition to area attractions such as Walt Disney World, Sea World, and Wet 'N Wild Water Park, visit the resort's 120 seat movie theater, outdoor pool areas and local restaurants.

(Photo credit - orlandosentinel.com)