Changes in Club Select and options to add more resorts after a developer purchase

[idofabric Member Find all posts View Profile Close idofabric]

So if you own a ton of points now, and are in The Club, you will have an advantage... Ans if you managed to lock in the point price, an even greater advantage if/when they go to the Premium Resorts. It least that is what I am getting from all that I have read and was told by a DRI home office person last week. Keep in mind that the new, super resorts, will cost more point wise. Which is why we were/are pushed to buy more points and upgrade our status in the Club... or so we were told.
I had asked where DRI was heading when we were called by the DRI home office, and mentioned that we never use all the points we have, or haven't so far, in the last 10+ years. And that we were told by sales people in Flordia that they were building a 20+ story super delux resort at Grand Beach... food/bar/infinity roof pool... And she confirmed that she also was told that! When I asked how many points it would cost to stay, she said it was a good thing to have as many as we could afford, it would not be cheap. However, it would be inline with some of the LosVegas/Hawaii resorts, or a little more.
To me, this would really make a difference between being in the Club, or not being in it. I'm not even sure I would care to stay at such a place. Usually we are not at the resort a lot. So the fancy stuff doesn't matter as much as good beds, linens that stay on the bed, and a well maintained unit.
I would much rather that DRI upgraded all the current holding instead of starting another resort that will cost a lot to build, and a lot of points to stay in. I do, however, see how it would be a great selling point for a lot of people who might want or need all the fancy things in a resort, without leaving it.
I would also like free internet... heck, if Hotel 8 can offer it, why can't DRI? That would be better for me then a whole new resort!

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

So if you own a ton of points now, and are in The Club, you will have an advantage... Ans if you managed to lock in the point price, an even greater advantage if/when they go to the Premium Resorts. It least that is what I am getting from all that I have read and was told by a DRI home office person last week. Keep in mind that the new, super resorts, will cost more point wise. Which is why we were/are pushed to buy more points and upgrade our status in the Club... or so we were told.
I had asked where DRI was heading when we were called by the DRI home office, and mentioned that we never use all the points we have, or haven't so far, in the last 10+ years. And that we were told by sales people in Flordia that they were building a 20+ story super delux resort at Grand Beach... food/bar/infinity roof pool... And she confirmed that she also was told that! When I asked how many points it would cost to stay, she said it was a good thing to have as many as we could afford, it would not be cheap. However, it would be inline with some of the LosVegas/Hawaii resorts, or a little more.
To me, this would really make a difference between being in the Club, or not being in it. I'm not even sure I would care to stay at such a place. Usually we are not at the resort a lot. So the fancy stuff doesn't matter as much as good beds, linens that stay on the bed, and a well maintained unit.
I would much rather that DRI upgraded all the current holding instead of starting another resort that will cost a lot to build, and a lot of points to stay in. I do, however, see how it would be a great selling point for a lot of people who might want or need all the fancy things in a resort, without leaving it.
I would also like free internet... heck, if Hotel 8 can offer it, why can't DRI? That would be better for me then a whole new resort!

I haven't seen Cloobeck's business plan , so I can only speculate based on bits gleaned here and there. Kind of like being a dog sitting underneath the kitchen table, and trying to figure out what the humans are eating based on what you smell and the occasional crumb or morsel that drops to the floor or someone at the table deigns to give you. Nevertheless .....

My speculation is that Cloobeck intends to create a timeshare business that generally follows the pattern used by the large hotel companies. Outfits such as Marriott and Hilton provide a variety of units, ranging from luxury resorts to simple rooms with prices to match. With the different resort collections apparently now being segregated based on overall "quality" it appears to me that Cloobeck is heading that direction.

I think he also wants to create a cachet that will attach some premium to being a member of THE Club. One way to do that is to create a line of top end, flagship resorts. Once the cachet is established, then pricing can firm up along the whole product line, because even members of the lowliest Trust can still have aspirations for the top end resorts - or for any of the other collections.

But first he has to create the cachet, and he does that by filling out the top end of the portfolio.

[mace Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mace]

Grand Beach why do we need more units in Orlando! I guess I'm missing something. I want more locations in city centers places where people like myself would like to use their timeshare instead of hotels, for instance why not have more resorts in places like Savannah, Charleston, Boston, Toronto, DC suburbs, New York, Chicago, Madison, Seattle, you get the idea. Or how about resorts near Park land such as Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier, etc... Am I the only one tired of Orlando, Branson, Williamsburg and the other places with 10+ timeshares.

[winger Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close winger]

...
I think it's also interesting to note that the Hawai`i Trust isn't just Hawai`i resorts any longer. Jockey Club and Sedona Summit are now in the Hawai`i Trust. According to the sales personnel the objective is to segregate properties into Trusts based on property status, with the Hawai'i Trust Collection intended to be the premier group. ....

Isn't the Jockey Club like really worn down and the armpit of something or another? or has it been drastically upgraded recently? If the former, would it be wise to include it in the "Premier" group?

[winger Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close winger]

Grand Beach why do we need more units in Orlando! I guess I'm missing something. I want more locations in city centers places where people like myself would like to use their timeshare instead of hotels, for instance why not have more resorts in places like Savannah, Charleston, Boston, Toronto, DC suburbs, New York, Chicago, Madison, Seattle, you get the idea. Or how about resorts near Park land such as Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier, etc... Am I the only one tired of Orlando, Branson, Williamsburg and the other places with 10+ timeshares.

Remember major city-center locals cost LOTS more $$$ than say Orlando. Remember, timeshares are built at places proven to draw vacationers, with cost-to-build kept in the equation. TS companies develope to make money in the long term. Say if the same amt of people visit San Franciso as Orlando, but Orlando cost 25% less to build and maintain, then of course there would be three TS's in Orlando for every one in San Francisco.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Remember major city-center locals cost LOTS more $$$ than say Orlando. Remember, timeshares are built at places proven to draw vacationers, with cost-to-build kept in the equation. TS companies develope to make money in the long term. Say if the same amt of people visit San Franciso as Orlando, but Orlando cost 25% less to build and maintain, then of course there would be three TS's in Orlando for every one in San Francisco.

I agree that it's a market factor. Developers are pretty focused on making money, and if the urban timeshares that have been built were huge moneymakers, everyone in the business would be building them.

The fact that developers are not stumbling over each other to build in urban locales indicates that urban timeshares aren't that profitable.

[idofabric Member Find all posts View Profile Close idofabric]

Good points about units in city centers... Charleston does have a BlueGreen resort(I think...) The Lodge Alley Inn. It was really very nice when we were last down town. And even thou we live 25 miles away, I would trade into there if I could for family visits, and just so we could stay downtown everyonce in a while. I love Orlando, but it is the closest area we can get into usually.
I also think that the "dog under the table" catching crumbs scene sounds like what I also think DRI is trying to do. I only worry that we will have to spend more and more money on points to get into anywhere we might want to go. And that kinda peeves me as we got into this because we were sold on the idea that by buying a timeshare we were locked into a "great value - money saveing" way to vacation. And in some ways it is... how ever if they build more and more upscale units, and the point cost to stay there also increases, then it does feel like my owner ship of those points are devalued. And yes, I understand that they may be trying to build a system that has a built levels and depending on where the resort is and how many points you have then that is what you can afford. Kinda like different classes of life- peasant/royalty.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

And yes, I understand that they may be trying to build a system that has a built levels and depending on where the resort is and how many points you have then that is what you can afford. Kinda like different classes of life- peasant/royalty.

If my speculations are correct I think it's more like the old General Motors business model.

BTW - if the DRI does acquire Raintree Cloobeck will have the pieces for a new super premium Trust. Several of the Raintree Resorts significantly outclass any current DRI resorts.

[winger Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close winger]

...Several of the Raintree Resorts significantly outclass any current DRI resorts.

Would you mind enlightening the curious souls as to what a few (or all) of these Raintree resorts are (at least in your view) ?

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Would you mind enlightening the curious souls as to what a few (or all) of these Raintree resorts are (at least in your view) ?

Teton Club, Miners Club, Cimarron. Teton Club, particularly, is comparable to a destination club property.

[winger Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close winger]

Teton Club, Miners Club, Cimarron. Teton Club, particularly, is comparable to a destination club property.

Thanks.

Does RT have one website to see pics and details of these resorts? I found the following but not seem to contain much - at least without much digging
Raintree Resorts International - Welcome

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Thanks.

Does RT have one website to see pics and details of these resorts? I found the following but not seem to contain much - at least without much digging
Raintree Resorts International - Welcome

If you start clicking through it takes about 3 clicks (less than 30 seconds with a broadband connection) to get to a page that has hot links for every resort. That's less time than it took to type your post!

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

I know that I've been posting a lot of stuff about DRI and Raintree lately. Before we get too carried away, let's remember that the only "substantial" information anyone has posted about a possible combination of the two companies is my report of what I was told on a sales floor.

That's it. The only solid information is what was said by some timeshare sales people. Everything else is speculation.

Five years ago the hot story was that Ka'anapali and Po'ipu were going to become part of Hilton. Same situation, with the same "going to happen, just a matter of when" types of statements from sales staff.