A reader submitted a counter argument today in response to our post last week about Exclusive Resorts. Should destination club investors reap all of the real estate gains while members simply enjoy the luxury of resort vacation homes?

As we have said, we think the answer is yes. We want the business to be sustainable and real estate gains in the portfolio over a five to ten year period are an important component to making the business sustainable.

From Flexcar to Flexjet, consumers are increasingly willing to trade up to the finer things in life, without wasting their hard earned money unnecessarily. How do you justify buying a second home for 30 days of usage a year when you can join a destination club for 1/10th the price? The clubs take on interior decorating, cleaning, fixing, and even cooking. Chicken Little would have a tough time accusing the Ritz-Carlton of making unfair profits for providing 5-star service.

Destination clubs can be viewed as a “sustainable business” from another perspective, as well. Why flaunt your wealth with a mega-condo or a personal 767 when you can divide an under-utilized asset through a fractional usage model? Arguably, destination clubs reduce the footprint of super-sized resorts on Planet Earth by allowing members to share the homes.

Now, Exclusive Resorts is clearly not a socially responsible venture like Steve Case’s Revolution, but we can imagine a specialty club in the future that caters to environmentally-aware families. Solar heating, bamboo floors, a Prius in the garage… San Francisco’s green showhouse could be the prototypical home.

Submit a comment and share your thoughts – Are destination clubs the wave of the future? Or will Steve Case have to endure more Carl Icahn press releases – this time calling for the fractionalization of fractionals?