Reservations and availability are critical components of your evaluation. At some point, you have to bet on the competence and good faith of the management team of the club to manage the availability issue as the club matures. These clubs are ALL relatively new and are encountering these issues as they grow – there are no rules or magical success formula.

Based on our research, the Number One issue affecting member satisfaction is the ability to get a home when they want to, especially in the holiday seasons.

The member-to-home ratio that all the clubs use in their marketing is an interesting benchmark, but probably meaningless – would you be impressed with a health club that told you their member to gym equipment ratio was 6:1? The ratio on its own is not sufficient. What is more important is whether you can get on the machine you want at 5:30pm – when everyone is hitting the gym after work.

For the gym, they are trying to manage variables such as non-usage (members pay and don’t come), peak time usage, off-peak usage and so on. The same challenges apply for destination clubs.

We think you should evaluate:

(1) Reservation Rules
All clubs market the member-to-home ratio (most say 6:1), but how important is that really and what does it mean? The ratio can be misleading since clubs are launching different membership plans (group, corporate etc) allowing multiple parties to book. So a more relevant ratio to consider is the total number of parties that can book an advanced reservation.

(2) Your Travel Profile
Spend some time really analyzing how you would use this club. How many days per year? For week-long trips or weekend getaways? Can the trips be planned in advance, in terms of timing, and where you want to go? Are you traveling with kids, friends or nannies – or is it just with a spouse?

Is it important that you travel during certain holidays – like Christmas – and how will you feel if you can’t get access to home over that period. Remember a 6:1 ratio means that at 100% occupancy of all the homes, 17% of members get a home during for a peak week – the rest do not.

Which leads us to one of our “Top Ten” Due Diligence Questions…

Does my travel profile (when, where, size of home needed, last minute or advanced) really match well with the profile of the club (reservation policies, choice of locations, number of homes and management philosophy)?

You will notice that we have not stressed the number of available days that you can stay in a home as an important factor. For most, the membership plans offer more than enough days – typically 30-60. Again, we think the issue will not be using those days up, but rather whether you are able to get the location/home you want, when you want it.

(3) Making a Reservation
The reservation process needs to be simple, clear and transparent – and fair. Ask your club how they handle availability look up and actually making the reservation. Also ask how they handle multiple requests for the same house at the same time. Any club should have this system online – even a small club with less than 100 members. Exclusive Resorts offers prospects a demo of their proprietary online reservation system.

Summary
You need to be comfortable that your own travel profile will be satisfied, based on the size of the club and the travel profile of its members. We also recommend you take a long term perspective on your membership. Some years you will get exactly what you want; others you will not. These clubs are not replacing 4 or 5 star resorts, in terms of the ability to get the room (or house) you want when you want it, whether at the last minute or even in advance. If you really need to be in Vail during Ski Week, you may need to book a couple of rooms at a resort, since your club may not have availability.

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