Destination club Exclusive Resorts rolled out six new membership plans to replace its existing stable of four levels. The plans, available in ten day increments from 10 to 60 days, include access to advanced reservations, but holiday bookings are now only available for an extra charge. Members will have the option of purchasing one week of holiday time for every 20 days of usage; to wit, a member at the 20 day level may purchase one week of holiday time, while a member at the 40 day plan may purchase two. Along with the announcement of the new plans, effective at the end of April, the club also reduced its membership refund promise to 75 percent of the initial deposit, down from 80 percent.

“We have spent a long time and a lot of energy trying to really understand how consumers want to buy this membership product,” said Brent Handler, Exclusive Resort’s president. “Effectively we have unbundled memberships.”

Reigning in Holiday Availability

Previously, the club had combined features such as advanced reservations, space-available reservations and, most importantly, holiday reservations in each of its plans, with higher-end options including improved access to reservations during the most popular vacation seasons. The new plans include one week of advanced reservation for every ten days of membership purchased, but Exclusive Resorts has opted to sell holiday reservations for an additional non-refundable, one-time fee. The option to reserve one week annually at Christmas, New Years or President’s Day every year for the duration of your membership costs an extra $59,000, while a guaranteed slot during spring break week, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving can be secured for $39,000.

“All hospitality companies have supply and demand imbalances as it relates to peak travel times,” admits Handler. The move to sell holiday reservations separately brings more control to the club and allows it to more easily manage availability during the most sought after vacation times. “We can control it down to the holiday. We can sell holidays or not sell holidays,” he said.

The move by Exclusive Resorts effectively widens the options on the entry level, said Handler, noting that the club wanted “to assess if there was a way to make membership appeal to a broader cross section of candidates.” There are now three plans for less than $300,000 offering between 10 to 30 days of use, compared just two plans under the old membership structure with offerings between 10 and 15 days.

Club Drops Deposit Refund to 75 Percent

Perhaps the biggest news to come with the rollout of the new plans is the club’s move to a 75 percent membership refund, down from the previous 80 percent guarantee. Handler said the move would positively impact the overall health of the club and its members, downplaying any suggestion that new members might balk at this lowered refund.

“Membership deposits are debt,” said Handler. The less debt on the books, he said, “the better for the company and the better for all of the members. We are a stronger club with less debt.” Handler insisted that the drop in the percentage of the deposit refunded would be seen as negligible in the eyes of new members, especially because the club has effectively added more days of use to less expensive plans and increased annual dues slightly. Specifically, he pointed to the old 15 day plan, which carried a membership deposit of $239,000 and annual dues of $13,000. Under the new plan structure, members can sign up for a 20 night plan for $199,900, some $40,000 less than the old plan which had five fewer nights. Annual dues, however, will ring in at an additional $6,000.

We’ve taken a look at the real cost per night of Exclusive Resort’s new plans and found that the lowest cost per night drops with the new offerings. Under the old structure, the cost per night—assuming that members used all of their allotted nights—ranged from $1,195 to $1,598. With the new model, the cost per night has widened to between $1,122 and $1,740, depending on the plan.

So what does this mean for current members? Well, members can do nothing and stick to their current plan, or they can opt for one of the new offerings. Those current members who opt to switch will get a 100 percent credit for what they paid for their current membership to put towards the cost of a new plan. The one catch? Only upgrades are allowed.