Ever since destination club pioneer Tanner & Haley collapsed into bankruptcy in 2006, business insiders and analysts, along with current and prospective club members, have anxiously kept an eye out for the next implosion in this young industry. In the wake of Tanner & Haley, clubs were compelled to open up their finances to appease members who were wary of losing their sizable membership deposits. While in the last two years destination clubs have matured and merged into well established enterprises with vastly expanded memberships and real estate holdings, at Halogen Guides, we continue to emphasize the importance of prospective members doing their due diligence before joining a club.

Which brings us to the curious case of Portofino Club. The Greenwood Village, Colo.-based club, an early entrant into the destination club world, has announced that it is “restructuring”—selling off four of its homes as it faces an increasingly tenuous financial situation. How tenuous? It’s difficult to say given the fact that the club’s 800 phone number appears to be disconnected, its e-mails go unanswered and its outside public relations director admits that even she has a hard time tracking anyone from Portofino down. What we do know is that President Rance Rogers left the club in September 2007, citing “professional differences in management decisions regarding the direction of the club for the future.”

The official story from Portofino is that they’re converting to an equity model by asking members to become investors; it has been apparent for some time that the club’s membership deposits and dues were significantly to low to support the financing of homes. But the club maintains that they are still operating and filling club reservations and plan to renew sales efforts in May or June of this year.

We’d be very interested to hear from any Portofino members regarding their recent experience with the club. Feel free to leave a comment.