Timeshare Information

Petchey Leisure’s six properties in Europe continues to be a part of the RCI network of affiliated timeshare resorts, the global leader in vacation exchange.

Petchey Leisure’s six properties are located across Portugal, Spain and Tenerife. Pictured is Oura View Beach Club in Albufeira, Portugal.

“RCI invented the exchange business nearly 40 years ago and has been the innovator and leader ever since,” said Isla Murray, project director of Petchey Leisure.

“Innovation is important to our business and I believe Petchey Leisure and RCI share the same vision for our industry going forward. We have worked successfully with RCI for many years and we are happy as always to continue that partnership.

“In addition, RCI offers exciting technological resources and marketing advantages for us through its international vision, as well as having the largest possible selection of vacation resorts for our owners. We are very pleased to be working with them,” continued Murray.

 “We are delighted by Petchey Leisure’s continued commitment to RCI. Magnum Global Holdings Singapore Pte. Ltd. (associate of MGM) is new to our industry and as a hugely successful hospitality company, it brings with it great credibility,” said Dimitris Manikis, vice president, Business Development, RCI Europe, Middle East and Africa.

“Our association with Petchey Leisure brand instantly makes this group a major player in the European market. We look forward to a long and successful partnership,” Manikis said.

About Petchey Leisure 
Petchey Leisure is one of Europe’s leading leisure brands. Starting with one resort in Albufeira, Portugal, in the early 1970s, the company has expanded its portfolio and products over the years to encompass many fully-owned and managed holiday resorts in Portugal, mainland Spain and Tenerife as well as inventory at a number of other resorts in Europe and worldwide.

Wyndham Worldwide, one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, again demonstrated its ongoing leadership in global sustainability best practices, achieving an 8 percent reduction in energy use in the first full year of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Challenge.

The government program, launched in 2011 by President Obama, calls on commercial businesses and industrial facilities to reduce their energy intensity by 20 percent by 2020.

This program aligns with the Company’s goals to reduce carbon emissions by 16 percent by 2017 and by 20 percent by 2020.

Additionally as of 2012, Wyndham Worldwide has reduced its global footprint in over 40 countries of its owned, managed and leased assets by 11.7 percent based on carbon per square footage.

“We are continuously developing eco-friendly efforts across our hospitality portfolio, and this latest achievement of meaningfully reducing our energy use further demonstrates our commitment to advancing environmental sustainability best practices, which is a pillar of our strategic priorities,” said Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and CEO of Wyndham Worldwide.

 “Through our Wyndham Green program, we are committed to exploring and adopting innovative environmental practices, as it reduces costs, fosters the efficient use of resources, and ultimately supports both near- and long-term profitability," Holmes said.

Wyndham Worldwide reduced its energy through:

• the Wyndham Green Toolbox, a proprietary state-of-the-art eco-software program that tracks and measures environmental impact 
• an environmental certification program for the Company’s participating 190 timeshare properties, a first for the hospitality industry 
• the implementation of sustainability best practices across the 10 million square feet of Wyndham Worldwide-controlled assets participating in the U.S. DOE Better Buildings Challenge. 

“Our work in sustainability is a tremendous collaboration across all key stakeholders — shareholders, employees, customers, franchisees, suppliers and community partners — who not only develop ideas with incredible potential, but also transform them into tangible results and drive leadership in the industry,” said Faith Taylor, senior vice president sustainability and innovation, Wyndham Worldwide.

Following are highlights of the Company’s featured projects in the Better Buildings Challenge: WVO Green Certification Program, one of the first for the industry. The certification tracks 27 requirements in categories such as energy use, water use, waste reduction, indoor air quality, and education.

• Updating their rooms and building insulation systems with eco-friendly materials. 
• Using green cleaning supplies. 
• Switching to ENERGY STAR appliances and using CFLs for all interior lighting. 
• Changing all building exterior lights to high-efficiency bulbs.  

For more information on Wyndham Worldwide’s showcase initiatives, please visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge website.

Festiva Hospitality Group acquired six new vacation destinations for its resort portfolio from Arkansas-based Escapes! Inc., including properties in Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri.

The expansion is second only in size to the Peppertree Resorts acquisition of 2007, when Festiva added 10 resorts to its property mix.

This latest transaction also adds approximately 9,000 timeshare owners and club members plus nearly 4,000 intervals to the company.

“We have been looking for high-quality and well-maintained properties in the Mid-South and Gulf Coast to add to our resort offering,” said Festiva Hospitality Group Senior Vice President Rich Hartnett.

“A good number of Festiva members live in these areas as well as the Midwest, and they have asked for vacation options closer to home. This transaction not only gives our members what they have been waiting for, it also gives these Escapes! owners the ability to gain access to the Festiva Adventure Club, its privileges and 34 destinations,” Hartnett said.

Property Overview:
1. The Shores, Orange Beach, AL 
This oceanfront Gulf Coast property is Festiva’s first location in Alabama. Amenities include oceanfront balconies, indoor and outdoor pools, steam room, sauna, fitness center, and beach access.

2. Los Lagos at Hot Springs Village, Hot Springs Village, AR
One of Festiva’s three additions in Arkansas, Los Lagos at Hot Springs Village is located 20 minutes from Hot Springs National Park and close to area theme parks.

The 26,000-acre property has nine golf courses, 39 miles of trails, a performing art center, two marinas, lakefront access, fitness center, indoor pool and outdoor pools.

3. The Greens at Bella Vista Village, Bella Vista, AR
The second Arkansas property for Festiva provides guests access to eight pristine golf courses and seven lakes. Resort amenities include on-site clubhouse, swimming pool and tennis courts.

4. Cherokee Village, Cherokee Village AR
The third Arkansas property for Festiva is located on Lake Thunderbird in an area acclaimed for its natural beauty.

The resort gives members access to fishing and boating on the lake, 36 holes of on-site golf, swimming pools, tennis courts, and a recreational center.

5. Branson Yacht Club, Branson, MO
Festiva adds its fourth Branson property with the Branson Yacht Club, located on Table Rock Lake with a half mile of private shoreline.

Resort amenities include two swimming pools, boat launch and marina, tennis courts, and water-sports rentals.

6. Stonebridge Village, Branson, MO 
Located on 3,200 wooded acres just10 minutes from downtown Branson, Stonebridge Village rounds out Festiva’s five Branson properties.

The resort includes an 18-hole golf course; country club; fitness center; swimming pool; and lake access for boating, fishing and swimming.

Grand Pacific Resort Management (GPRM), one of the oldest and largest vacation ownership companies based in California, has been recognized for its service culture and excellence in resort management. 

TripAdvisor® honored ten GPRM managed resorts with Certificates of Excellence.

To receive the awards, properties must consistently receive 4 and 5 stars (indicating a high level of satisfaction with the resort, with five being the highest) by customers who have experienced the resort and express their opinions and ratings on TripAdvisor’s website.

“We are extremely proud that our vibrant and consistent Service Culture has prevailed in showcasing our passion for excellence to our guests,” said Nigel Lobo, COO of GPRM.

“This recognition endorses the guest-centric experiences our associates take pride in delivering while creating memorable vacations for our timeshare owners and as well as those who visit our resorts as exchangers or as traditional transient guests,” Lobo said.

Comments praising GPRM resorts were enthusiastic on the popular travel website. A sample of them include:

• Carlsbad Seapointe Resort: “The best place to be when the sun goes down over the Pacific Ocean.“
• Carlsbad Inn: “a fantastic resort to vacation at."
• MarBrisa: “Perfect Get Away! Wow!“
• Red Wolf Lodge: “Rocks!" 
• Alii Kai: “I loved this condo and can’t wait to return.” 

The resorts recognized with the Certificates of Excellence are: Alli Kai II Resort, Carlsbad Inn Beach Resort, Coronado Beach Resort, Carlsbad Seapointe Resort, Hilton Grand Vacation Club at MarBrisa, Grand Pacific Palisades Resort & Hotel, Hanalei Bay Resort, RiverPointe Napa Valley, Red Wolf Lakeside Lodge, and Red Wolf Lodge at Squaw Valley.

Now in its third year, the award celebrates hospitality excellence and is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor.

Winners of the Certificate of Excellence are located all over the world and represent the upper echelon of businesses listed on the website. Only the top 10 percent receive the prestigious award.

Award-winning Grand Pacific Resort Management (Carlsbad, California) currently serves over 60,000 owner-families every year at resorts ranging in size from under 50 units to over 300 units in the United States and Canada.

Interval International, a prominent worldwide provider of vacation services and an operating business of Interval Leisure Group, announced the affiliation of Encontro Das Águas Thermas Resort, in Caldas Novas, Goiás.

The city is home to one of the largest hot-spring aquifers in the world, making it a very popular destination in central Brazil.

“We’re excited to enter the shared ownership industry and collaborate with Interval, a company known for its quality network and consumer benefits,” said Ricardo Assuncao, partner in RMEX Construtora e Incorporadora Ltda., developer of the resort.

“Our objective is to make our resort one of the area’s finest and we look forward to hosting Interval members who will be able to enjoy the many treasures of Caldas Novas,” Assuncao said.

Encontro Das Águas is currently under construction and expected to be completed early next year. Plans call for the resort to include 384 one- and two-bedroom units in three buildings. Each will feature elegant modern décor, contemporary furnishings, fully equipped kitchen, and high-end electronics.

“It’s a great pleasure to be working with Ricardo and his partners who have been active in real estate in Goiás for many years,” said Marcos Agostini, Interval’s senior vice president of resort sales and business development for Latin America.

“We welcome them to shared ownership, which is playing an increasingly important role in resort development in Brazil,” Agostini said.

Among the wide range of amenities and services the resort will offer are a gourmet restaurant, 24-hour room service, spa and sauna, fitness center, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and cinema.

Activities available nearby include boating, jet skiing, and hiking.

Notable attractions in Caldas Novas are a Japanese Garden built in the Buddhist tradition, the 47 square-mile Serra de Caldas Novas State Park, and the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, which dates from 1850 and is one of the oldest buildings in Caldas.

Interval International operates membership programs for vacationers and provides value-added services to its developer clients worldwide. Based in Miami, Florida, the company has been a pioneer and innovator in serving the vacation ownership market since 1976.

Engineers on Monday were trying to determine the extent of the damage after luxury resort condominiums crumbled into a massive sinkhole a few miles from Disney World.

Dozens of guests at the Summer Bay Resort in Clermont, FL, had only 10 to 15 minutes to escape the cracking building late Sunday. No injuries were reported, but many fleeing guests left behind all their belongings.

About 30% of the three-story structure collapsed hours later, around 3 a.m. Monday.

"My heart sunk. I was sick to my stomach," said resort president Paul Caldwell after getting a call about 11 p.m. Sunday that the 15-year-old building full of guests was splintering.

"No doubt there would've been injuries if they hadn't gotten the building evacuated," Caldwell said.

Security guard Richard Shanley ran through the building waking up guests.

"While you are running by, pieces of the building are falling down behind you," he said. "So you just do what you can and get out.”

That section of the villa housed 24 units. The building was sheared nearly in half.

Paul Caldwell said one building was destroyed and 105 people were evacuated. Two other adjacent buildings were evacuated. Displaced guests were relocated to other buildings.

Caldwell said geologists on Monday estimated the sinkhole was about 100 feet in diameter. "On a preliminary basis, they do not have a concern that it is growing or will grow," Caldwell said.

"Whether or not we will be able to build those units there in that sinkhole is another question. We will replace those 24 units - we have a couple of hundred acres left for development," he said.

Caldwell said he will ask his insurance company for guidance on the clean up. 

Source: Orlando Sentinal

Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO), the world’s largest vacation ownership company and a member of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies, awarded a brand new luxury car to the Todd family during the second drawing in the Company’s Accelerate into the Fast Lane Sweepstakes.

In an event at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort, company executives presented Chris and Melissa Todd, joined by two of their three children, of Humboldt, TN, with a 2013 Infiniti M.

“I did not believe in a million years that we would win a sweepstakes like this. It has been such a wonderful experience that just keeps getting better, and has truly been a blessing,” said Melissa Todd.

“You never hear of anyone who has won something like this, you see a name on a list and that’s about all. To come to Orlando and see the car has been overwhelming. This experience has really been unbelievable,” added Chris Todd.

Chris and Melissa have been CLUB WYNDHAM® owners since 2001 and travel frequently with their ownership.

In April 2013, during a stay at Wyndham Vacation Resorts Great Smokies Lodge, the Todds were entered into the sweepstakes for a chance to win the luxury car.

Their name was randomly drawn from more than 74,000 entries.

“The Todds are an example of a family that uses their vacation ownership to its full potential — spending time together and making memories at some of their favorite resorts across the country,” said Jeff Myers, Wyndham Vacation Ownership’s chief sales and marketing officer.

Wyndham Vacation Ownership is the world’s largest vacation ownership business, as measured by the number of vacation ownership resorts, individual vacation ownership units and owners of vacation ownership interests.