Timeshare Information

Orlando-based Club Meliá by Meliá Hotels International, a leading international vacation membership club with locations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Europe, has announced that its member resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, has received the prestigious RCI Gold Crown Resort® Award for its ninth consecutive year. RCI,
the global leader in vacation exchange, presents awards annually to the top RCI affiliated resorts.

“We take great pride in the continual high service levels demonstrated by our staff at Meliá Puerto Vallarta. It’s their ongoing commitment to excellence that has enabled them to earn this prestigious award year after year,” said Denis Ebrill, Club Meliá Executive Vice President.

Club Meliá is an internationally-branded membership club, with more than 27,000 members, 15 member resorts and 27 associated resorts, focusing on leisure lifestyle experiences that include exotic destinations, designer-appointed luxury suites, exclusive services and unforgettable amenities.

The Orlando, Florida based company is part of Spain-based Meliá Hotels International, a 55-year-old international hospitality company with more than 350 hotels in 35 countries on five continents.

Featured Club Meliá locations include Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico; Puerto Rico and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in the Caribbean; Panama in Central America; and the Canary Islands, Marbella and Costa del Sol, Spain, in Europe.

Photo Credit: melia-puerto-vallarta.com

Owners at Poipu Point Resort on Kauai, Hawaii, faced with a special assessment in excess of $5,000 per week for reconstruction to correct water intrusion damage to the buildings, have rebelled against the assessment by filing a lengthy class action Complaint against Diamond Resort International, its CEO Stephen Cloobeck and several directors.

In 163 paragraphs within the 52-page Complaint, the plaintiffs have detailed allegations of intimidation against recalcitrant directors and other methods to gain control of the board of directors by installing Diamond employees as directors. Once in control, according to the Complaint, the Diamond directors increased the management fee paid to Diamond to more than ten times prior levels and imposed the special assessment in violation of the Poipu Point governing documents.

Among the allegations is a claim that the water intrusion damage was known to Diamond before they acquired the resort from Sunterra and that Diamond delayed taking any action until they gained control over the board. Further, Diamond is alleged to have sold points in its collection of Hawaii resorts without disclosing the water intrusion damage and impending assessment.

The Complaint points out that the $65 million total assessment works out to more than $300,000 per unit, and charges that much of the money will be used for renovations unrelated to the water intrusion problem.

Plaintiffs allege the directors committed breaches of their fiduciary duty in assisting CEO Stephen Cloobeck to gain control of the board, voting on matters when they had a conflict of interest and authorizing the water intrusion assessment knowing it was invalid under the governing documents.

Diamond Resorts and Stephen Cloobeck are alleged to have committed consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices in seeking to collect the invalid assessment.

Plaintiffs seek to have the water intrusion assessment declared invalid, all payments already made to be refunded and damages.

Source: Timesharing Today Express

Diamond Resorts International Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Stephen J. Cloobeck, together with CEOs from many of the nation’s leading travel industry companies, met on March 28, 2012, with senior Administration officials at the White House to express support for President Obama’s national travel and tourism strategy.

President Obama’s national travel and tourism strategy would increase travel and foreign tourism to the United States, spurring economic growth and job creation.

As a cornerstone of the U.S. economy and one of our nation’s leading service sectors, the $1.9 trillion travel industry supports 14.4 million U.S. jobs and with the appropriate policies in place, has the potential to quickly provide opportunities for unemployed workers across the country.

Cloobeck expressed his continued support for President Obama’s Executive Order given in January which included a new pilot program and rule change for visa processing in China and Brazil; a final rule to expand and make the Global Entry program permanent; the appointment of new members to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board; and the Nomination of Taiwan to the Visa Waiver Program.

“As a global leader in the travel and vacation ownership industries, it’s my responsibility to be actively involved, united with fellow travel industry leaders, and supporting vital travel initiatives as the U.S. seeks to become the top tourist destination in the world,” said Cloobeck.

Alongside Diamond Resort's Stephen Cloobeck, some of the other CEOs representing the travel industry at the White House meeting included: Jim Atchison, President & Chief Executive Officer, Seaworld Parks & Entertainment; Roger Dow, President and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Travel Association; Dara Khosrowshahi, President and Chief Executive Officer, Expedia, Inc.; Christopher Nassetta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hilton Worldwide; Rossi Ralenkotter, President & Chief Executive Officer, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority; John Sprouls, Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer, Universal Parks and Resorts; and Frits van Paasschen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

ARDA (American Resort Development Association) has joined C.A.R.E (Cooperative Association of Resort Exchangers) as an Associate member.

“It is a great honor to welcome ARDA as a new member of our organization,” said C.A.R.E. president Alain Carr. “C.A.R.E. appreciates the participation of Howard Nusbaum and Jason Gamel at our conferences this past year, and C.A.R.E. has benefited from the knowledge and insight in our industry that they were generous enough to share with us.

Because C.A.R.E.’s values are directly in line with ARDA’s, C.A.R.E. has always been a strong supporter of ARDA and has been directly responsible for many C.A.R.E. member companies becoming and maintaining memberships with ARDA.

Reciprocally, ARDA has been extremely supportive of C.A.R.E. and its efforts to deliver outstanding vacation services to owners and members.

“ARDA looks forward to sharing valuable industry information with C.A.R.E. members through increased opportunities,” said ARDA president and CEO, Howard Nusbaum. “While we’ve participated in C.A.R.E. events in the past, becoming an Associate Member will enable ARDA to educate a broader audience about the policies that impact owners and efforts the industry is taking to protect the integrity of the product and the value of vacation ownership.”

ARDA is the Washington D.C. based trade association representing the vacation ownership and resort development industries (timeshares) with almost 1,000 corporate members ranging from privately-held firms to publicly-traded corporations with extensive experience in shared ownership interests and leisure real estate.

C.A.R.E. (Cooperative Association of Resort Exchangers) is a trade association that has helped provide opportunities for vacation fulfillment and exchanges and revenue enhancement through increased networking opportunities since 1985. Its membership is comprised of developers, wholesalers, travel clubs, HOA’s, resorts, and management and exchange companies. Its member companies offer inventory at over 2500 properties and service over one million vacation owners and members.