The September 25, 2006 Timeshare Owners Blog told you about Hilton Breaks Ground on New York Timeshare Resort, reported on the groundbreaking of this exciting project. So it was very nice to read this week’s press release from Hilton timeshare, announcing that they are topping off their West 57^th Street Hilton Club project. “Topping off” doesn’t mean the project is complete and ready for your next timeshare vacation, but it does mean that the final bucket of concrete has been poured for the superstructure.

The Hilton timeshare company considers this project to be a significant milestone. According to Mark Wang, president of Hilton Grand Vacations, “Our vision to create a distinctive shared ownership project from the ground up in New York City is another step closer to becoming a magnificent reality. Built in the heart of one of Manhattan’s most prestigious neighborhoods - and upon the legacy of the Hilton commitment to excellence - West 57th Street by Hilton Club transcends traditional timeshare and continues to experience high demand. After years of planning, and working alongside world-class developers including Tishman Construction, we will soon be able to accommodate our owners and guests in unprecedented style.”

Hilton Timeshare Luxury

When complete, the Hilton Club timeshare resort will offer guests the first Spa Chakra in New York City, featuring massages, facials, body treatments, and signature Chakra Health therapies. The property includes 161 luxurious timeshare condos, from studio, to one-bedroom and penthouse suites, all with dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows, fine linens, upscale furnishings, flat screen televisions, entertainment systems and marble and granite detailing. On property will be valet laundry service, a 24-hour doorman, concierge, outdoor dining terrace, and the private Owners Lounge for food and beverage service.

As we have mentioned before, the location couldn’t be better. Timeshare owners or timeshare guests will be within walking distance of Central Park, the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Museum of Modern Art, Radio City Music Hall and shopping on Fifth Avenue.

Currently the resort is on schedule to open in the second quarter of 2009.While Hilton timeshare originally listed these timeshare condos as starting at $40,000, up to $100,000, they now quote prices as starting at $58,000.

The Other New York Hilton Timeshare Option

Hilton timeshare already boasts a fabulous Manhattan timeshare resort, the Hilton Club New York. Currently Sell My Timeshare NOW has Hilton Club New York timeshare resales available, starting at around $14,000. The Hilton Club New York timeshare, located at West 53rd Street and Avenue of the Americas. (Sixth Avenue) is also convenient to the Midtown attractions you want to enjoy. As Hilton’s flagship New York property, it has undergone a multi-million dollar renovation, adding dining options in both the New York Marketplace and Etrusca Ristorante, and a new 8,000 square foot fitness center and spa.

To get started enjoying Hilton timeshare ownership in New York City, visit Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Research and Markets, a firm that bills itself as the world’s largest market research resource, has released a report saying that globally, the vacation ownership industry holds strong market potential. The 40-page report cites as evidence of this, the fact that, “the US economy is facing the challenges of a slump in the housing market and an increase in fuel prices…(but) the vacation ownership industry has not fallen to the economic woes and is fairly insulated from the economic performance.”

The report concludes that while consumers may be taking shorter vacations or staying closer to home, they have not stopped buying timeshare or renting timeshare for this purpose.

The State of Timeshare Sales Outside the US

According to the Research and Markets report, Europe is still trying to update governmental regulations to better serve and protect both the people who buy timeshare and the people who sell timeshare. Once this occurs, the report speculates that the timeshare industry in Europe will resume the growth levels it enjoyed during the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Other potentially strong international markets, according to the report’s findings, include Malaysia, Singapore, India, Indonesia, and China. The growing affluence of Asians, paired with new low-cost air travel options, are cited as reasons that have helped spur this expansion.

Research used in the report focuses on four timeshare companies: Wyndham timeshare, Marriott timeshare, Hilton timeshare, and Starwood timeshare. The full report is available at: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c84948#. But don’t expect the wisdom it carries to come cheaply. Purchased in its least expensive format, this timeshare market report costs EUR 910.00, or approximately 1,440 USD—and for that price you could just go ahead and buy timeshare as a resale by shopping the competitive prices available at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Who could have imagined that the business affairs of Donald Trump would show up in the Timeshare Owners Blog as frequently as they have this past year? But Donald Trump’s reality reads better than fiction, and new chapters seem to be written almost weekly.

If you have somehow missed the continuing saga of Trump’s dream to build a hotel and timeshare resort on the Scottish coast, I direct you to these past postings on the Timeshare Owners Blog.

Trump’s Efforts to Build a Hotel and Timeshare Resort in Aberdeen, Scotland:

• Drama Continues Over Trump Hotel and Timeshare Resort
• Hey Donald Trump, Can You Get Me a Timeshare Deal?
• Aberdeen Golf and Timeshare Resort a Little Closer to Reality
• Can One Scotsman Stop Trump’s Resort and Timeshare?
• Donald Trump’s Controversial Golf and Timeshare Resort in Aberdeen, Scotland Part II.
• Donald Trump’s Controversial Golf and Timeshare Resort in Aberdeen, Scotland

…And now for the latest chapter in Trump Golf’s quest to build the finest golf resort and timeshare in Scotland.

Photo courtesy of The Daily Mail

Earlier this month the Scotland’s heraldic authority stated that Donald Trump had broken the law by not registering a coat of arms the Trump Organization has been using on stationery and other promotional materials for its proposed Aberdeen golf course, hotel, and timeshare resort. Citing a regulation that is more than 300 years old, the Scotland heraldic authority says Trump has been illegally using a coat of arms that features three lions and a fist holding an arrow as part of their marketing campaign for the golf resort.

The Court of the Lord Lyon, which has held authority over coats of arms in Scotland since 1642, has issued an order that the Trump company must immediately stop use of the image. Not only is the coat of arms unregistered, but according to a quote that appeared in United Press International, Romilly Squire of the Scottish Heraldic Society says that having Trump’s name in the crest breaks a key law of heraldry. Apparently, a motto should have been used rather than a name.

According to a slightly tongue-in-cheek blog post on The Nation, written by author and columnist, Nicholas Von Hoffman, Trump also uses a similar logo for Trump University. I wonder if the Trump U lion is a registered coat of arms or if the keepers of heraldic integrity will have to rap The Donald’s hands for that unauthorized use as well?

Great Choice for a Scotland Timeshare Vacation

And while the world waits for the resolution of the Trump hotel and timeshare resort issue, remember that there are always opportunities to enjoy a great Scotland timeshare vacation or golf timeshare vacation by taking advantage of Scotland Timeshare Resales and timeshare rentals through Sell My Timeshare NOW.

• Sunterra Resort Kenmore Club
• Moness Country Club
• Loch Rannoch Highland Club
• Hilton International Grand Vacations at Hilton Coylumbridge and Hilton Craigendarroch
• Great Glen Water Park Club
• Edinburgh Residence
• Cameron House

Lodging Econometrics (LE), a Portsmouth NH company that monitors trends in hotel real estate, has released hotel growth projections for 2008.

In their report titled, 2008 Outlook for the Lodging Industry, Lodging Econometrics says that the Construction Pipeline stood at 5,438 projects and 718,387 guestrooms at the end of the fourth quarter 2007, meaning that the hotel industry now offers more than 700,000 rooms for the first time ever.

According to Patrick Ford, president of Lodging Econometrics, “The development boom is led by projects in the upscale and mid-market sectors, which together make up 83% of the non-casino projects and 76% of the guestrooms in the Pipeline. These chain scales include the high profile brands from the top franchise companies – Marriott, Hilton, InterContinental, and Choice, as well as Best Western. These companies had an outstanding year selling their family of brands both to developers for new construction and to investor groups interested in reflagging their open and operating hotels.”

According to Lodging Econometrics research, there are 1208 new hotels projected to open in 2008 translating to 133,628 guestrooms and 1456 hotels projected to open in 2009, which will add an additional 166,236 guestrooms.

The hotel industry experts at Lodging Econometrics assess that this growth pattern indicates, “a clear reflection of optimistic developers who anticipate the lending markets will have stabilized and approached normalcy when they are ready to seek financing.”

While this forecast is almost entirely derived based on the numbers of hotels already under construction, the new report acknowledges that 2009 numbers could decline slightly if economic and lending conditions turn out to be worse than currently projected.

Hotel developers were hoping that the residential real estate mortgage and lending situation would have improved by the end of 2007, and that it would not interfere with lending for hotel development in the future. Because there has not been an improvement, according to Lodging Econometrics, the Federal Reserve started a series of auctions in December to infuse banks with capital at reduced rates. These emergency auctions are meant to encourage banks to be more proactive lenders.

Since that time, the rate cuts by the Feds have surprised (and pleased) most of us. The assessment by Lodging Econometrics is, “Lenders simply have to resume lending.” But even the Lodging Econometrics people acknowledge that the impact of the cuts by the Federal Reserve will take months to truly begin to turn the economy around.

Hotels and Timeshare Resorts May Feel the Belt Tighten

Many of the people who buy timeshare weeks have not been hurt by the mortgage crunch. They have owned their home long enough to have sufficient equity to help them weather the soft economy, and frequently, their homes were bought before the days of irresponsible mortgage lending practices. Yet, I don’t have to tell you that everything from gasoline to groceries has gone up dramatically in price.

So far, the hotel industry has not dealt with enough decline, nor has it gone for a long enough period of time, that serious damage has been done. And timeshare resorts have felt the belt tightening even less than hotels. But how long can either hotels or timeshare resorts hold up if a true recession unfolds?

According to the Lodging Econometrics report, “the Condo Hotel boom is over, while the number of new Timeshare announcements is certain to decline.” Here’s who their report predicts will fare the best in upcoming months. “Properties under 200 rooms, with the top brands and the most experienced developers - having conservative proformas that account for anticipated supply increases in the years ahead - will be the most attractive to finance during the current turmoil, either through local institutions or a declining number of national lenders.”

I can’t help but believe, that timeshare resales will feel the impact of the economy less than other sectors. Besides the fact that often timeshare owners and timeshare buyers are in better shape going into the economic crunch than are many other Americans, the most important factor is that a decline in the number of new timeshare resorts to be built should only serve to drive up the value of existing resorts.

I am not predicting that the value of timeshare resales you currently own will soar, or even necessarily increase, but it may very well be one of the few areas of the economy that does not take a nose dive. And in a declining economy, holding your own, can be a very good thing.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez calls it, “Alba”. It’s a Spanish word that means “dawn” and in Venezuela it stands for a trade initiative that Chavez believes will make the country less dependent on trade with the United States.

When Hilton Hotels and Grand Vacation Club’s operating license to manage the 900-room Hilton Hotel Caracas expired, the government of Venezuela took over the management of the property. The state-managed hotel is described as a “socialist tourism business”.

President Chavez’s plan calls for taking the former Hilton (what he termed as a flagship for international capitalism) into his vision for “Socialism of the 21st Century”.

The London Daily Telegraph, quotes Eustacio Aguilera, the president of Simon Bolivar Centre (the government institution that now owns the hotel) as saying, “Now everyone will have access to a great hotel and be able to enjoy it.”

The irony in this statement is that the least expensive rooms in the Hotel Alba Caracas cost pounds 70 per night, while the average income in Venezuela is around pounds 100 per month. Alas, the inherent flaw in government by a socialist dictatorship rears its head again!

For several months, Hilton has listed the hotel in Caracas as “under renovation”. Guests who have stayed there recently say it is obvious that no renovations have been either commenced or completed in a long time. Descriptions of the hotel’s present condition range from, clean but outdated to downright filthy. Guests describe the service as: poor, substandard, non-existent, and rude.

At this time, Hilton Hotels and Hilton Grand Vacations still manage two other resorts in Venezuela, the Hilton Barquisimeto and the Hilton Margarita & Suites, which is a Hilton timeshare resort.

Other opportunities in Venezuela timeshare and Venezuela timeshare resale include:

• Dunes Hotel and Beach Resort Timeshare
• Hilton Suites Venezuela Timeshare (Margarita Island)
• Lagunamar Hotel Resort Casino Timeshare Resale
• La Ceiba Beach Resort Timeshare Resales
• Pueblo Caribe International Beach Resort Timeshare Resales

No one disputes that this is a tough real estate market in which to try to sell your home, but I have to admit that when Pacific Union Homes found a way to boost home sales by throwing in bonus timeshare, it was a sales strategy that caught me by surprise.

Pacific Union Homes builds new residential housing in northern California. After battling a rough year in home sales, and the cold reality that September home sales in the state had reached 20-year lows, Pacific Union decided to sweeten the deal for buyers. They began offering a program they advertise as, “Buy a home, get a vacation in paradise – Orlando, Hawaii, Vegas or even Mexico - every year, for the rest of your life!

The Pacific Union Homes bonus timeshare giveaway, promises prospective homebuyers that they can, “be the owner of a fabulous Pacific Union Home, and get your own vacation getaway for life from Hilton Grand Vacations, all for one amazing low price.”

The company’s strategy apparently has served to provide them a much needed boost in the real estate market. According to an article that appeared in RISMedia, “The builder did honor the wishes of some buyers who didn’t want a week’s timeshare, but did want the cost of it deducted from the price of their new home…but such requests were rare.”

I have to point out that there are cheaper ways to own Hilton Grand Vacations Club timeshare, or any other timeshare. You don’t have to buy a new house in order to enjoy timeshare vacation ownership; and with the excellent availability of Hilton timeshare resales, you don’t even have to buy timeshare from Hilton in order to enjoy owning Hilton timeshare.

Still, if you have been battling the real estate market, unable to sell your home, you could consider taking a page from this homebuilder’s playbook and buy timeshare resale to add as the distinctive perk that might make your home stand out in the competitive real estate market.

And if you are looking for a great deal on a Hilton timeshare resale, Sell My Timeshare NOW can help you find a Hilton timeshare that is right for your budget and your vacation needs, and we won’t expect you to buy a new home in the process.

• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at Sea World International Center, Orlando, Florida
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club on International Drive, Orlando, Florida
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at the Flamingo, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at the Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club on the Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at the Kalia Tower, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida

What a great time to spend Canadian dollars on US timeshare! I know I have mentioned this before, but with the value of Canada’s loonie strong to the US dollar, Canadians have never been better positioned to buy timeshare or rent timeshare in the United States.

And since Canadians are quickly realizing this, there have been a number of articles on timeshares and vacation ownership in the Canadian press lately with good advice for anyone who wants to buy timeshare or buy timeshare resales. But, I was particularly impressed with an article I read in Canada.com, titled, “No such thing as a free lunch“. Reporter Sandy Fife has done an excellent job of defining the pitfalls (many) and the benefits (a few) of attending timeshare promotions in order to enjoy a reduced rate vacation.

Notwithstanding the fact that a timeshare promotion deal may enable you to take a vacation with free or deeply discounted rates, and provides you an excellent chance to try before you buy timeshare, the high-pressure tactics of some salespeople may offset the value of what would have otherwise been a relaxing vacation.

If You Attend a Timeshare Presentation…

Fife offers the following good suggestions for surviving a timeshare promotion:

• Choose a reputable name in the hotel and/or timeshare resort industry for your free (or reduced) getaway.
• Be very careful if you choose to respond to a timeshare promotion that contacts you only by email or phone solicitation.
• And lastly, she says, don’t even think about going if you are susceptible to high-pressure sales pitches.

As one seasoned veteran of enjoying timeshare promotions was quoted as saying, “You should never buy at a presentation, because time-shares cost much less on resale.” I couldn’t have said that better myself.

If you have ever considered going on a timeshare promotion vacation, just to enjoy the perks that come with it, take a few minutes and read the Canada.com article first. And if you want to sidestep the sales rush and developer prices, go straight to shopping timeshare resales.

When you visit the website for Sell My Timeshare NOW, we don’t give you free tickets to theme parks, or a coupon good for breakfast, but you can browse and peruse our huge inventory of timeshare resales and timeshare rentals as much, and as often as you like. You can show up in your pajamas or your favorite sweats, and from the comfort and convenience of your personal computer, you can take your time selecting the timeshare vacation option that is right for you. Best of all, what you save when you buy timeshare resales instead of paying developer prices, will help you pay for future vacations—vacations that don’t involve sitting through sales presentations.

Here are links to a few of the timeshare resorts from which you can choose at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

• Bluegreen Timeshare
• Marriott Timeshare
• Shell Vacations Club Timeshare
• Starwood (including Westin and Sheraton) Timeshare
• Fairfield, WorldMark / Trendwest Timeshare
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club Timeshare
• Westgate Timeshare
• Mayan Palace Timeshare
• Orange Lake Timeshare

A September 5 article in Hotels Magazine tells us that perhaps as much as 3 trillion US dollars will be invested in Middle East tourism over the next 20 years.

$3 trillion!

So I bet you are as interested as I am in who is spending that money and what they are creating. Here’s the way the Hotels Magazine article breaks down Middle East hotel and resort development:

• • Rotana Hotels and Resorts (a regional chain) will double its portfolio to 53 hotels by 2010.
• • Marriott International currently has 22 hotels there and plans to add 16 more.
• • Hilton Hotels has 11 properties in various stages of development in the region and anticipates committing to 20 more within the next 5 years.
• • Japanese owned JAL Hotels has already opened a new 257 room property, with plans to open two more, even larger, next year.
• • India based Flora Group Hotels is opening their sixth hotel in Dubai later this year, with plans for 4 additional properties.
• • By 2010, European based, Accor will triple their number of managed properties in the Middle East, with 30 hotels, accounting for more than 8,000 rooms.
• • By 2009, Rezidor Hotel Group will add 20,000 rooms, although this number also includes the company’s growth plans for Europe and parts of Africa. Currently Rezidor has 14 Radisson properties in the Middle East.

What is perhaps the most amazing point about this extensive list is that it doesn’t include timeshare developments, the hotel and resort development underway by companies that are actually based in the Middle East, nor does it include the development of any budget brand properties.

The Timeshare Owners Blog writes frequently about the rapidly changing face of the resort and timeshare industry in the Middle East. It’s hard to be a part of the timeshare business and ignore what is going on. Growth in this corner of the world is staggering. Reports say that perhaps as many as one in four of all construction cranes are located in Dubai, and remember, Dubai is only 3885 square kilometers in size, or about three-quarters the size of Rhode Island.

What does this astounding growth and development mean for you as a timeshare owner or someone who wants to buy timeshare?

For starters, owning a timeshare with exchange privileges in a network that includes the United Arab Emirates, Israel timeshares, Egypt timeshares, Lebanon timeshares, Saudi Arabia, Syria, or other parts of the Middle East, means your timeshare should always have good exchange potential. It should also have a decent resale value, as well as good potential for use as a timeshare rental.

But what this incredible growth (much of which is funded by US industry) means for Americans and western culture as a whole, onl time will tell.

In today’s blog, I am adding not one, but two YouTube videos. They are very different in content, as the first one follows, in high-energy fashion, the construction of the Burj Dubai-a skyscraper which, when complete, will be the tallest building in the world. As you watch the video, look for the slides near the end that give you an idea of just how tall a roughly 160-story building really is.

After you watch the Burj construction video, take a few more minutes and watch the very serene video about the development of some of Dubai’s outer islands. While this second YouTube was put together as a promotional piece for a company providing water taxi services, the information about some of the residential islands themselves is very close to mind-boggling.

In January 2008, Stephen F. Bollenbach, co-chairman and CEO of Hilton Hotels will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Americas Lodging Investment summit according to the Hospitality Net.

Hilton Grand Vacations and The Hilton Club, or what is also referred to as Hilton timeshares, are wholly owned by the Hilton Hotels Corp. Acquisition of Hilton Hotels, including the timeshare division, is currently underway by the Blackstone Group, according to Reuters News Agency.

Bollenbach was originally scheduled to retire from Hilton on January 1, 2008 and would have then received $4 million over five years for serving as a consultant to the company after he retires. Instead, Forbes reports, he will likely be involuntarily terminated after the acquisition by the Blackstone Group and receive $10.5 million in a severance payment.

It will be interesting to see if Blackstone succeeds in acquiring Hilton.

You can buy new Hilton timeshares from the Hilton corporation and in doing so, you will indirectly be contributing to the retirement fund of a lot of hardworking Hilton employees and some very highly paid executives and stockholders. Or you can buy Hilton timeshare resales directly from their current owner and put the money you save in your own retirement fund, or anywhere else you would like to use and enjoy it.

Hilton timeshare resales at Hilton are available at:

• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at Sea World International Center - Orlando, Florida
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club on International Drive - Orlando, Florida
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at the Flamingo - Las Vegas, Nevada
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at the Las Vegas Hilton - Las Vegas, Nevada
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club on the Las Vegas Strip - Las Vegas, Nevada
• Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Waikoloa Beach Resort - Waikoloa, Hawaii
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at Hilton Hawaiian Village - Honolulu, Hawaii
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at the Kalia Tower - Honolulu, Hawaii
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club at South Beach - Miami Beach, Florida
• Hilton Kings’s Land (planned to open 2008) Hawaii
• The Grand Waikikian (planned) Hawaii

Or visit Sell My Timeshare NOW to look for timeshare resale values at these Hilton Grand Vacations Club affiliated or Hilton managed timeshare resorts.

What is the first big clue that timeshare resorts are edging out the hotel market, claiming more and more vacation business and a bigger piece of the hospitality and tourism pie?

Simple.

The fact is that most major hotel chains are devoting as much or more attention (and more dollars) to their timeshare and vacation ownership divisions as to their regular hotel business. There are the Disney Vacation Club Resorts, Marriott Vacation Club International, the Hyatt Vacation Club, Hilton Grand Vacations, Wyndham Vacation Ownership and even the Ritz Carlton Club and Residence, to name a few of the big dogs now on the playing field.

Timeshares, or vacation ownership, as some providers like to call it, are giving hotels such serious competition that in top tourist destinations like Orlando, Florida, hoteliers actually blame the decline in room night bookings on the excellent offerings in timeshares, timeshare resales, and timeshare rentals.

Today, most leading hotel companies have a timeshare division, even though many like to avoid use of the word “timeshare” and replace it instead with phrases like vacation ownership and vacation club. No matter what you call it, it’s still timeshare. Ritz-Carlton Hotel spokesperson, Vivian Deuschl, says the Ritz-Carlton Hotel company will no longer even manage a hotel unless it includes a residential component, according to a July 6, 2005 article published in USA Today.

A recent Time Magazine article about the newest trend in hotels, makes me wonder if one specific trend isn’t a direct response to the competitive pressure hotels feel from timeshares. The Time article states, “Global tourism is thriving, and the luxury segment, the top 15 percent of the market by price, is driving it. With rates as high as $25,000 a night, these are the most profitable rooms in a hotel, and they consistently have the highest occupancy rates”. The Time Magazine article, titled “The Grander Hotel”, goes on to cite Smith Travel Research as showing that luxury room revenues increased more than 10 percent from 2005 to 2006.

Let me make something clear, we are not talking about the type of luxury you find in a fabulous beachside Marriott Vacation Club timeshare, where the suites are spacious and the amenities are practically perfect. Time Magazine is talking about uber-luxury, targeted at a market willing to pay thousands or tens of thousands per night for hotel accommodations, sometimes referred to as “ultraluxe”.

While this may be a growing market, I’d say that it is not one that most of us are going to be part of, at least not on a regular basis.

Let’s see, you can pay $25,000 for one room night—one time—at an ultraluxe hotel. You can buy a fabulous timeshare week from the timeshare developer for about the same amount of money and use it for 7 days, each and every year, for the rest of your life. Or, for that kind of money, you can deal directly with timeshare owners who want to sell timeshare they currently own, and you can buy the right to enjoy anywhere from 14 nights to perhaps as many as 30 or even 60 or 70 nights, per year, every single year, as long as you own the timeshare. Own a timeshare for 20 years, and you conceivably could get 1400 vacation days and nights from an initial expenditure of $25,000.

I suspect many of us will be passing up ultraluxe and “settling” for more affordable (and more logical) levels of luxury.