We reported last year on several start-up destination clubs, one of which was My Global Playground. We met the founders and were impressed with their passion and enthusiasm, though a little skeptical of their ability to really get any traction in a market that was increasingly dominated by larger players. After all, it’s very tough for a new club to truly get off the ground and break the proverbial “chicken-and-egg” problem. Successful clubs require getting enough members to join in order to finance the acquisition of more homes that, in turn, help attract new members.

It has become apparent to us that My Global Playground, which was an advertiser on the Helium Report website, has had a tough time making progress. Our calls to the company go unanswered and recent efforts to reach a membership director and media relations contact at the club were unsuccessful. Although the website is still operating, an email query sent to the the company this week was bounced back to us with an error message alerting us that the My Global Playground email message box was full. Another attempt to reach the company through their website resulted in an automatically generated message saying that a a membership director would be in touch with us within 24 hours. We’re still waiting for that call.

We can only assume that the club is not still selling memberships. The club touted its collection of multi-million dollar homes in five locations, including St. Thomas, Paris, and Maui. The Destination Club Association (DCA), a trade membership group for the industry, says that My Global Playground has never been a member of the organization. In fact, the DCA had repeatedly tried to reach out to the club but never received a response.

Obviously we hope that anyone who did join My Global Playground did not not lose their membership deposit. If you are considering joining a start-up club, read through our Decision Guide to Destination Clubs. Joining any destination club means asking a series of tough due diligence questions and examining a club’s financial standing.

Is My Global Playground the only club struggling? Likely not. There are other clubs on our watch list that we are keeping a pulse on, so stay tuned for more updates. If you know anything about the status of My Global Playground, please send an email to tips@heliumreport.com.