This spring Helium Report spoke with Michael Beindorff, the COO of Exclusive Resorts, about the destination club’s new high-end tour program, Once in a Lifetime. Beindorff said the club would test the program for a year and expand it if member feedback was positive. The tour program was a hit with ... Read Full Article »

Exclusive Resorts members itching to get more vacation time out of their club could take advantage of a new membership supplement. Exclusive Resorts, the largest destination club, currently charges a $459,000 membership fee, and $34,900 in annual dues for 45 days’ use of their $1 billion real estate portfolio. But ... Read Full Article »

After leaving AOL Time Warner, Steve Case switched gears and invested his time in everything but technology. One of his many projects includes Exclusive Resorts, the leading destination club which was acquired by Case’s Revolution LLC in 2004. Revolution’s latest venture – Revolution Places – is starting off big with ... Read Full Article »

In a surprising move, Exclusive Resorts announced to members that they are buying 30 two-bedroom units at the new Las Vegas MGM Mirage residential development on the Strip, also known as Vdara at CityCenter. The new units on floors 42-48 will not be ready till sometime in 2009. Meanwhile, Exclusive Resorts ... Read Full Article »

In a letter to their members, Exclusive Resorts, the world’s largest destination club, disclosed results of a study they conducted to identify patterns in reservation requests and critical bottlenecks. Here is a summary of their findings: Members travel extensively with the Club Exclusive Resorts’ members take an average of 7 trips per ... Read Full Article »

Exclusive Resorts members received a notable package from FedEx this week that contained a long letter on the status of the club, and a brochure illustrating the new additions to its real estate portfolio. Helium Report obtained a copy and is examining the details. The letter addresses usage and availability of ... Read Full Article »

Six months ago, Helium Report predicted Exclusive Resorts would soon announce a $1 billion real estate portfolio (click here for our Nov 2006 analysis). Today, Exclusive Resorts officially confirmed the estimate in a press release declaring the luxury vacation club “owns more real estate than all other destination clubs combined.” Exclusive ... Read Full Article »

Exclusive Resorts announced at the beginning of May that their new development of 24 residences at Sea Island, Georgia, will be ready for members in early 2009. In reference to the status of the residences, Donn Davis, CEO of Exclusive Resorts, said that they “are already involved in final architectural ... Read Full Article »

It’s hard for destination clubs to accommodate the ski season demand, especially since most of the demand is so concentrated between the months of December and March. Clubs do their best with acquisitions and leases, but as we have said before these luxury vacation homes will probably always have 100% ... Read Full Article »

Last week, we posted a story about Exclusive Resorts’ latest program: Once in a Lifetime – a series of ultra-high-end tours available to members of the luxury destination club. We spoke with Michael Beindorff, COO of Exclusive Resorts, to learn more about the program and find out whether the addition of ... Read Full Article »

Esperanza, Castello di Casole, One Steamboat Place, and The Rocks are some of the most popular and well-known resort properties. These boutique, private residence clubs were all developed from the ground up by the lesser known Timbers Resorts of Carbondale, Colorado. The company currently manages six stand-alone, luxury resorts in ... Read Full Article »

The most recent announcement from Exclusive Resorts demonstrates the company’s willingness to define what the destination club experience is, yet also raises some questions that deserve some closer examination. Its latest program is called Once in a Lifetime experiences, and they include: Private members-only cruise aboard the Yachts of Seabourn Cultural immersion ... Read Full Article »

Shane Mitchell, a reporter for Travel and Leisure Magazine, mystery shopped three destination clubs earlier this year, and reported her findings in the March issue of the magazine. She reports on her life as an under-cover prospect for Quintess, Solstice and Exclusive Resorts. In the end, she concludes that she is ... Read Full Article »

Destination club Exclusive Resorts recently acquire 16 two-bedroom, city residences at the new Mandarin Oriental in Chicago. This is in addition to their six residences under construction at Chicago’s Trump International Tower. Exclusive Resorts has been on the lookout for a quality development in the Windy City since many of its ... Read Full Article »

We hear London summers are lovely – especially if you’re a member of a destination club with an exclusive residence in the prestigious Mayfair district. Exclusive Resorts has just announced announced the release of three new apartment residences in London, connected with the Metropolitan Hotel. The Mayfair residences offer two ... Read Full Article »

Exclusive Resorts has introduced a deferred payment option for those interested in joining their destination club. While new members can pay the full membership free up front, they now have the ability to select a deferred payment plan. (Annual dues are the same for both payment options.) The program allows “highly ... Read Full Article »

Exclusive Resorts recently announced that starting March 15, 2007 the destination club will move to a waitlist status for new members. Previously, the waitlist has enabled them to balance the addition of new homes and new members to their luxury vacation club. As Exclusive Resorts grows, they need to maintain property ... Read Full Article »

Exclusive Resorts recently unveiled their Ultra Plan. The basics of this new “money is no object” plan are: 60 days of use per yearSix advanced reservations and two priority holiday reservationsFour active space available reservations, within a 90 day windowAbility to use up to three residences at one timeUnaccompanied sharing for ... Read Full Article »

Reportedly the first of its kind, Exclusive Resorts just opened a $75 million, members-only resort at Peninsula Papagayo, a 2,300 acre residential resort community on the north Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Called Poro Poro, the development has 21 luxury residences, each averaging 4,000 sq. ft. and a 20,000 sq. ... Read Full Article »

Helium Report launched a Member Review feature earlier this week for destination clubs. We’ve received a few reviews for Exclusive Resorts and one for Quintess, Catch the Dream. Here are excerpts and links to the complete reviews: Exclusive Resorts Member (Bay Area, CA) As a family of five, since joining ER we ... Read Full Article »

Destination club industry leader Exclusive Resorts is on pace to announce a $1 billion luxury real estate portfolio by the end of 2006. In October, Helium Report spoke with COO Michael Beindorff about the club’s anticipated release of 70 new residences in the fourth quarter of this year. The destination club’s ... Read Full Article »

The World is an ultra-luxury residential cruise ship with 165 residences and owners can join the ship at anytime during its always-sailing itinerary. A two bedroom, two bath, 1,300 sq. ft. residence aboard the cruise ship can be purchased for $2.7 million, with annual fees of about $235,000 ($650/day). But there ... Read Full Article »

In the next three months, Exclusive Resorts will release 70 new homes, bringing their portfolio to 370 homes in 35 destinations, more than any other destination club. (Read a recent story about their development plans here.) Last week, we chatted with Michael Beindorff, COO of Exclusive Resorts (photo, right), who talked ... Read Full Article »

What do you do after 21 years of professional tennis and eight Grand Slam titles? Join Exclusive Resorts and team up with Steve Case to promote the industry leading destination club. Less than a month after retiring from the sport, Andre Agassi announced a partnership with Exclusive Resorts. His wife, former ... Read Full Article »

Exclusive Resorts stunning member growth over the summer months (over 400 new members, about 250 in July alone) will obviously create new demands on home availability, as those members get online and start to book their vacations – especially around peak holiday periods. The company has acknowledged availability issues in ... Read Full Article »

We spoke today to Gary Feracota, one of the founders of Pinnacle Yachts, a sail and power boat “leaseshare” program. We will profile his company and offering soon, but his thoughts on the keys to a successful fractional program are very relevant to anyone considering joining any fractional club. ... Read Full Article »

Every week, we receive several requests from readers for our “Cost-per-Night” model which we built in Excel. The proprietary tool helps prospective members compare the cost of destination clubs to other luxury travel alternatives such as five-star hotels or villa rentals. While you can still download a copy from us, Helium ... Read Full Article »

The Post and Courier, the local newspaper for Charleston, South Carolina, featured Helium Report co-founder Greg Shove in an article today about destination clubs. The story by Kyle Stock highlights the benefits of membership while also pointing out the local zoning restrictions that sometimes make it challenging for clubs to ... Read Full Article »

We spent some time on the phone recently with Michael Beindorff, COO of Exclusive Resorts, who walked us through the destination club’s real estate development plans for the next two years. The bottom line: Exclusive Resorts boasts an impressive development plan that adds over 100 homes in 7 locations to their ... Read Full Article »

One of the most respected analysts, Rick Munarriz, at one of our daily reads, The Motley Fool, just added his 2 cents on the state of the destination club industry. Nothing too much new for readers of Helium Report, but he did ask a good question: When will the big guns get ... Read Full Article »

We’ve talked before about members needing to “master” the reservation system of their destination club, especially for very popular homes or when booking at peak travel times. This challenge has probably been most acute with Exclusive Resorts, simply because they are the first club to reach scale and need to balance ... Read Full Article »

Last week we estimated Exclusive Resorts had added more than 100 members in the month of July. We’ve now confirmed Exclusive Resorts added over 250 members in that month alone – obviously a strong signal about not only their club, but also the appeal of the luxury destination club concept to ... Read Full Article »

Availability continues to be the bugaboo of destination clubs that can’t be squashed. This is particularly acute for new members who have yet to master the reservation process. The fact that there is a “reservation process” to be “mastered,” is concern enough, and this has leaked through to prospects evaluating ... Read Full Article »

After three major announcements, Exclusive Resorts will increase its membership fees on all plans by $30,000 on August 1, 2006. Annual dues for Executive, Elite, and Affiliate plans will rise about 10% as well. The chart below indicates the current pricing, new pricing, and percentage increase. As the leader in the ... Read Full Article »

Cycling enthusiasts will remember “The Look” that Lance gave Jan Ullrich five years ago. Today, Exclusive Resorts sprinted up Alpe d’Huez and left the field behind in the “Tour de Destination Clubs.” We speculated yesterday which club Armstrong could potentially sponsor. We’re sure he would appreciate Exclusive Resort’s dominating performance, as ... Read Full Article »

If you’re on a mission to surpass Imelda Marcos’ infamous collection, a 25-year supply of Manolo Blahniks or Jimmy Choos (new pair a day) could earn you an Executive Membership at Exclusive Resorts. Neiman Marcus’ BEST customers – not just an InCircle member or even Platinum InCircle – we’re talking Chairman’s ... Read Full Article »

The heavyweight champ takes the prize for April. Helium Report readers requested industry leader Exclusive Resorts by a slim margin over other destination clubs. Here’s the Top 10 list for last month: Exclusive Resorts – largest membership base Tanner & Haley – destination club pioneer Dream Catcher Retreats – one of the fastest ... Read Full Article »

One of the benefits for destination club industry leader Exclusive Resorts is the exposure that comes with having Steve Case’s name attached to their brand. Sunday’s New York Times plugs Case’s appearance tomorrow at an American Express conference in Carlsbad, CA. He will be discussing his “new definition ... Read Full Article »

I was asked last week by a reporter if the destination club industry needed regulation – my immediate reaction, being a fan of smaller government, was no. The second part of my answer was that what was needed right now was disclosure and assurance. Disclosure during the sales process, so that ... Read Full Article »

No, it’s not a new 20 bedroom estate rivaling the Palace of Versailles, but it is the new home of industry leader Exclusive Resorts, as reported by the Denver Post. With 200 employees, Exclusive Resorts has more people working at their headquarters than most clubs have as members. Destination clubs ... Read Full Article »

Spoke to a reader from Silicon Valley last month who was about to make his final decision on what club to join and wanted to get our thoughts on the industry. We think he was in some ways very typical of a destination club prospective member: successful entrepreneur, married with two ... Read Full Article »

We have had the impression over the last few months that the Destination Club business has been marketing “homes and floorplans” to prospective members, and not focusing enough on what is the USP (unique selling proposition) of the concept: the fact that you have access to a 4+ bedroom home, ... Read Full Article »

First in a series of brief destination club overviews. Imagine building a new home every other day, in cities all over the world. Managing construction timelines, controling expenses, and decorating luxury residences are tremendous efforts. Exclusive Resorts has managed the feat almost 300 times. With 1700 members and the largest ... Read Full Article »

<!-logo and address-> Membership Inquiries: http://www.exclusiveresorts.com Click here to request more information <!- profile data-> Membership Members (as of 1Q06) Over 1800 Member cap N/A ... Read Full Article »