Private residence..destination club..fractional residence..oh my!
Even though we work with the luxury travel industry every day, we sometimes find ourselves second-guessing, is the location a residence club or a destination club? Is it a fractional residence or wholly owned? So, if you find yourself scratching your head when it comes to choosing your next vacation residence, we’ve provided these guidelines to clear up the doubts that we had in hopes to make EVERYTHING about your vacation run smoothly.
Private Residence Clubs are on the higher end of the luxury fractional residence market, often providing gorgeous luxury residence estates in prime locations. However, a Private Residence Club is basically a large country club that you can sleep in. In fact, residence clubs originated as an extension of the country club industry.
They are generally single sites, though a few clubs offer exchanges among other sister locations. They typically offer a certain number of weeks of usage, depending on the membership plan. Ownership is typically divided into fourths, eighths or fifteenths. Fractional ownership tends to reflect an owner’s use of an actual home. Instead of owning and maintaining a beach house year-round, you only purchase the five weeks that you will actually be in that beach house. Other advantages are the feelings of personalized style and the sense of belonging to a club.
Destination Clubs are portfolios of vacation properties used exclusively by club members. They do not offer individual real estate ownership, but as a member you have the freedom to use the various estates in a variety of locations depending on availability. The club owns and maintains the properties for the members to use, thus shielding members from any ownership risks. Destination clubs often offer one residence in a location, such as an oceanfront villa in Cabo San Lucas or a private chalet in Aspen. Members usually have to pay a membership fee and annual dues. Destination Clubs are a flexible alternative to luxury hotels, second homes and vacation home rentals.
The main benefits to a private residence club membership are: an ownership deed in a multi-million dollar estate for a fraction of the whole ownership price and that deed can be sold at any time. The main benefits to a destination club are: the wide variety of vacation destinations and it’s an alternative to ownership.
Both private residence clubs and destination clubs allow travelers to enjoy luxury accommodations in fabulous locations. They both are free from financial burdens that arise with whole ownership and both easily facilitate vacation planning by providing structured times and destinations, thus eliminating that last-minute scramble for the prime destination or perfect vacation residence.
Photo by evhead.
