Earlier this week we had the opportunity to speak with a member of The LUSSO Collection. C. McGhee is an investment banker who lives in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. He joined the club in January of 2006 and has visited two of the clubs’ homes to date.

After six months Mr. McGhee is very pleased with his membership experience, though he was confident from the start that the concept was right for him.

“I fit the exact profile of a destination club member: I don’t want a second home, I love to travel, I thought a timeshare was a terrible idea, and I looked at private residence clubs but didn’t like them for many of the same reasons.”

Mr. McGhee and his family sampled a variety of vacation options including five-star resorts prior to joining LUSSO. Their preference had always been to rent a nice home in a unique location and invite friends and family to join them. Mr. McGhee began to realize that it was taking an enormous amount of work to get the trip just right. And often times the work didn’t end with booking the rental and scheduling the itinerary. What’s more, should something go wrong while in residence, it was a challenge just to alert the right person. Let alone actually get the resolution. Not so with LUSSO.

On the two trips he has taken to date Mr. McGhee found LUSSO’s service impeccable and their homes among the best in their location. He echoes a refrain we hear often from the fans of smaller destination clubs – that such clubs are able to “cherry-pick” the best home in a location.

LUSSO has been able to meet Mr. McGhee’s expectations so completely because he was so thorough in his due diligence. He considered several clubs, evaluating their portfolio of homes, their service offerings and their financials. As we at Helium Report recommend, he met with senior management to discuss the club’s structure with CEO and founder Steve Greer.

“I’ve been very impressed with Steve Greer. He was completely open and forthright, which is important as an early member.”

Mr. McGhee encourages the same diligence for prospective members, advising that one should understand everything from the financial model to the reservation system before committing.

The LUSSO Collection’s Kiawah Island property, courtesy of http://www.lussocollection.com