So far, the timeshare industry has weathered the economic problems in the US without significant impact. Most of the leading timeshare resort developers are still publishing solid quarterly reports, and in many cases, timeshare sales are propping up declining hotel revenues.

But when people stop gambling, we have to feel concern for all sectors of the economy. Typically, gambling weathers almost any economic crisis. For the first two months of 2008, gambling revenues in Vegas were down by 4 percent from last year.

Ups and Downs in Las Vegas Timeshare and Hotel Construction

Hotels Magazine tells us, “…Las Vegas has a huge inventory of new casinos and hotels due for completion in the next few years, and a long slump could send the city reeling.”

The bright side:

• Caesars Palace is planning a billion dollar makeover, with a 23-story tower and three new swimming pools.
• MGM Mirage’s $8 billion CityCenter project is still moving forward, encompassing 76 acres on the Vegas strip.
• Westgate Resorts timeshare’s fifty story timeshare resort, the Planet Hollywood Towers, is moving forward to become the only timeshare resort directly connected to a major hotel and casino on the strip.

The bad news:

• Foreclosure has started on a $760 million construction loan for the Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino.
• Plans to build the Crown Las Vegas, a bullet-shaped hotel and casino resort that was supposed to become the tallest building in the city, have been scrapped due to lack of financing.
• For January and February, hotel occupancy was down by 1.5 percent, despite the fact that daily room rates were nearly 4 percent lower than for the same period in 2007.

Serving Your Timeshare Needs

Who can even guess any longer, how the US economy will sort itself out? For people who are in the business of buying real estate, selling oil, or repossessing automobiles, then these are good times. And for the rest of us, who need gasoline to get to work, groceries for our families, and mortgages we can afford, well, things are feeling a little scary.

Wherever you are in this economic rollercoaster, Sell My Timeshare NOW is an affordable, safe, and reliable way to deal with your timeshare needs, whether that is buying timeshare, selling timeshare, or renting timeshare.

With changes in ownership, will Las Vegas’ historic cornerstone, Harrah’s Entertainment, hold its course or will it give in to new trends in hotel and resort development?

The recent trend in Las Vegas has been toward luxurious, uber-elegant hotels and resorts. The Wynn Resort and the Bellagio Las Vegas, along with other properties like the Planet Hollywood Towers currently under construction by Westgate Timeshare, give evidence to the fact that developers believe visitors are willing to pay more for a high-end vacation experience. With boutique properties gaining ground all the time as the latest trend in hotel accommodations, much of the industry seems to be betting their money on the idea that “more is more” when it comes to distinction, elegance, and a unique hotel or timeshare resort property.

Which leaves the legendary Harrah’s — the world’s largest gaming company — trying to decide whether to follow the pack or continue doing what it has done so well over the years. Harrah’s carved out its place in the resort and gaming market by catering to the needs of a middle income client who came to Vegas (or other destinations like Reno, Atlantic City, and Biloxi) to gamble, not to shop and not to spend time in his or her hotel room.

Harrah’s hotels along the Las Vegas strip include Harrah’s, the Rio, the Imperial Palace and the Flamingo. All are very nice but none are true ultra luxury properties. Instead, they afford Las Vegas visitors a pleasant place to sleep and shower before returning to the buffet lines, the shows, and most importantly, the gaming tables, which for many visitors are the sole reason they came to Las Vegas. None of the Harrah’s properties are timeshare resorts, nor are any of them particularly geared to the family vacation.

But Harrah’s is now facing new ownership. The private equity firms of Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group are about to become equity partners in Harrah’s Entertainment. And while word on the street is that the investors will leave current management in place and let them continue to call the shots, who really knows what will happen in the months and years to come?

Harrah’s board of directors initially approved a buyout offer by the two investment companies in April 2007, and late last month Nevada regulators gave their approval. Some sources have claimed that the purchase of Harrah’s Entertainment is one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history. Apollo and Texas Pacific currently manage the investment monies, (around $70 billion) of endowments, charities, and pension funds.

The history of Harrah’s Entertainment goes back to an inauspicious origin as a bingo parlor in Reno in 1937. Currently Harrah’s has some $4 billion slated for new projects, but not all of it will go to the company’s Las Vegas properties. Many brands in many locations are part of Harrah’s Entertainment including some of the Bally Casinos, Caesars, Grand Casinos, Horseshoe, Paris Las Vegas, Showboat, and the World Series of Poker.

It will be interesting to observe the changes made by Harrah’s in the days and weeks to come. With the soft economy overall, will people who travel to Las Vegas be looking for better deals in hotel and timeshare accommodations? Or will the middle-income buyer curtail his trips to Vegas, leaving the demand primarily among the high rollers who are willing to pay the higher prices for plush accommodations? And how will all of this affect timeshares resorts in destinations with Harrah’s owned and managed properties - which are not limited to Las Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City? Harrah’s Entertainment has resorts and or casinos in: Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Iowa, Arizona, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Ontario, and Pennsylvania.

In the end, only time will tell. But current Las Vegas timeshare owners, looking to sell Las Vegas timeshare or use it as a timeshare rental, have plenty of reasons to remain optimistic about the Las Vegas timeshare resales market. Likewise, those of you who are ready to buy timeshare in Las Vegas should expect to find excellent deals on timeshare resales in the inventory of Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Here’s an amazing Royal Flush at World Series of Poker 2007, courtesy of YouTube:

Orlando’s Local 6 TV News stirred up an old issue this past November when they interview David Siegel, founder and CEO of Westgate timeshares, regarding the company’s no-smoking policy for employees.

But this is not “news”. Westgate Resorts timeshares put their no-smoking ban in place in 2003. Westgate Resorts timeshares is part of the behemoth corporation, Central Florida Investments Inc, a conglomerate that includes hotels, magazines, travel services, insurance, real estate, internet companies, oil and even cattle, and is the largest single employer in the Orlando area. And Westgate timeshares in not alone in its crackdown on employee smoking. Other Florida companies have made similar moves. Thanks to the 2002 Florida Clean Indoor Act, smoking is already prohibited in restaurants, malls, workplaces and most interior areas. Many Florida employers prohibit smoking anywhere on company property while other companies also charge employees who smoke higher rates for their health insurance premiums. Westgate timeshares simply took its opposition to smoking a step further by saying: if you smoke, you won’t work for Westgate Resort timeshares.

Legal?

In the state of Florida it most certainly is. And from the perspective of companies, always watching their bottom-line, you have to see their side of it. Smokers increase insurance premiums across the board for all employees. As a general rule, they have lower productivity simply because of the time lost to smoke breaks. Where smoking is permitted on property, cleaning and repair costs to carpet, upholstery, and painted surfaces escalate.

On the other hand, does your employer ethically have the right to tell you that you cannot smoke off property and on your own time?

Dicey questions, and you can count on David Siegel to (pardon the pun) fan the flames of controversy with one of his straight to the point comments. As quoted in the Orlando Sentinel, Siegel says, “When I found out it was legal to discriminate against smokers (in 2002), those were my marching orders.”

Westgate Resorts is the third largest timeshare company in the world, with resorts throughout the US. To learn more about Westgate timeshare resales and Westgate timeshare rentals, visit Sell My Timeshare Now.

• Westgate Lakes Resort and Spa - Orlando, Florida
• Westgate Leisure Resort - Orlando, Florida
• Westgate Palace - Orlando, Florida
• Westgate South Beach - Miami Beach, Florida
• Westgate Branson Woods - Branson, Missouri
• Westgate Branson Lakes - Hollister, Missouri
• Westgate Tunica Resort - Robinsville, Mississippi
• Westgate Painted Mountain Golf Resort - Mesa, Arizona
• Westgate Blue Tree - Lake Buena Vista, Florida
• Westgate Daytona Beach - Daytona Beach, Florida
• Westgate River Ranch - River Ranch, Florida
• Westgate Towers - Kissimmee, Florida
• Westgate Town Center - Kissimmee, Florida
• Westgate Vacation Villas - Kissimmee, Florida
• Westgate Miami Beach - North Miami Beach, Florida
• Westgate Flamingo Bay - Las Vegas, Nevada
• Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort - Gatlinburg, Tennessee
• Westgate Park City Resort and Spa - Park City, Utah
• Westgate Historic Williamsburg - Williamsburg, Virginia

You probably thought my blog on Christmas Eve would be about hearth and home, and in a way, it is.

Over the past few days, Sell My Timeshare NOW has been trying to draw attention to the Natalee Holloway disappearance and to emphasize that the search must continue even though Aruban authorities have closed the case. And at this special time of the year, when we focus so much on family and our blessings, I want to also direct your attention to another family who continues to deal with the anguish of a missing child, the Kesse’s and their daughter, Jennifer.

Jennifer Kesse went missing on January 24, 2005 from her home, or near her home, in Orlando, Florida. If you know Orlando, the time and location make her disappearance even more puzzling. Jennifer was the proud owner of a new condominium, located almost directly across a busy four-lane street from Orlando’s most upscale mall. On two sides of the complex in which she lived are new stores, new restaurants, and typically lots of people and activity. To add to the mystery, investigators do not believe Jennifer disappeared in the middle of the night, but instead went missing on a busy Tuesday morning, during or very near the same time hundreds and hundreds of people were passing through the area in route to work or school.

Jennifer was employed by Westgate Timeshare and was possibly headed to work, or about to leave for work, at the time of her presumed abduction. The founder and CEO of Westgate timeshare, David Siegel, posted an enormous reward for tips leading to Jennifer’s return, hoping to flush out anyone with meaningful information. At this time, there are very few leads in this case; still the search goes forward and Jennifer’s parents continue to keep her story in front of the media.

As you celebrate your holidays, please hold in your heart and prayers the Holloway family, the Kesse family, and the thousands of other families who grieve a missing or abducted child.

Westgate Resort Timeshares is a privately owned timeshare and vacation ownership company based in Orlando, Florida. David A. Siegel, a self-made multi-millionaire, who is personally so colorful I could write this entire blog just about his eccentricities, founded Westgate. Instead, I will save the Siegel stories for another time, and choose to focus instead on the upcoming Planet Hollywood Towers.

Planet Hollywood Towers is being constructed with the help of a $400 million construction and development loan arranged by Textron Financial Corp of Rhode Island. Westgate, which already has 28 timeshare resorts in 11 states, records around $800 million in annual revenues. Siegel obviously sees Planet Hollywood Towers timeshare resort as his crown jewel and has been quoted as saying that the timeshare resort is the first timeshare connected directly to a major resort hotel and casino complex, and will provide Westgate timeshare owners with, “vacation experiences unavailable anywhere else in the world.”

Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino kicked things off last week, with a grand opening that included three days of Hollywood headliners, including Bruce Willis, Barbra Streisand, Jon Stewart, Sugar Ray, and, Earth, Wind, and Fire. The event was hyped as Las Vegas’ biggest party, and any way you look at it, that’s tough billing to live up to.

Not so long ago, the prime piece of real estate on which Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino sits was occupied by the Aladdin, a resort and casino that was both grand and garish, even by Vegas standards. When the old Aladdin closed in the late 1990’s, it was imploded (except for the Aladdin Theater), taking with it memories of Elvis and Priscilla’s wedding held there, the many times part owner Wayne Newton crooned “Danny Boy,” or Neil Diamond sang “Sweet Caroline”, and no doubt the millions of dollars that had changed hands over the years across the gaming tables.

Reopening the Aladdin was attempted in 2000, but everything from the failed opening-night fireworks display, to union squabbles, to changing trends along the famous Vegas Strip made the rebirth of the Aladdin brief and painful.

In 2003, Starwood Resorts and Planet Hollywood purchased the Aladdin out of bankruptcy. To their credit, they have developed the hotel not as homage to movie memorabilia, but more along the sleek lines of the highly successful Wynn Resort.

Still, nothing is certain in Las Vegas success. One day they love you and the next day you’re yesterday’s news. But it least for now it appears that Westgate’s Planet Hollywood Towers are strategically positioned for triumph. The timeshare resort will provide direct access to the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino for timeshare owners in the 1200 villas, which includes 28 penthouse suites.

The nearly 200 boutiques of the Miracle Mile encircle Planet Hollywood, and the 50-story timeshare resort will dominate the corner of Harmon Avenue and Audrey Lane. The towers will include a tropical pool with its own sandy beach and private cabanas, a private pool on the 46 floor for exclusive use by the timeshare owners in the penthouse suites, a fitness center, restaurants, marketplace/deli, and all the amenities $400 million can buy.

Target date for opening this timeshare extravaganza? Even Westgate’s own website doesn’t speculate on when you will be able to buy timeshare at the Planet Hollywood Towers.

Until Westgate’s Planet Hollywood Towers are ready for your next vacation, here are other Westgate timeshare resales for you to enjoy:

• Westgate Blue Tree Lake Buena Vista, Florida
• Westgate Branson Lakes Hollister, Missouri
• Westgate Branson Woods Branson, Missouri
• Westgate Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, Florida
• Westgate Flamingo Bay Las Vegas, Nevada
• Westgate Historic Williamsburg Williamsburg, Virginia
• Westgate Lakes Resort and Spa Orlando, Florida
• Westgate Leisure Resort Orlando, Florida
• Westgate Miami Beach North Miami Beach, Florida
• Westgate Painted Mountain Golf Resort Mesa, Arizona
• Westgate Palace Orlando, Florida
• Westgate Park City Resort and Spa Park City, Utah
• Westgate River Ranch River Ranch, Florida
• Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort Gatlinburg, Tennessee
• Westgate South Beach Miami Beach, Florida
• Westgate Towers Kissimmee, Florida
• Westgate Town Center Kissimmee, Florida
• Westgate Tunica Resort Robinsville, Mississippi
• Westgate Vacation Villas Kissimmee, 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

Westgate Resort Timeshare is the largest privately held timeshare company in the world and the third largest timeshare company globally. Westgate currently owns and operates 28 timeshare resorts in the US—and now they are going to Disneyland!

The Anaheim Garden Walk Mall will be home to a new Westgate timeshare resort, which will feature timeshare units that either overlook the Disneyland theme park, or timeshare units that overlook the mall itself.

Westgate is purchasing the space above the mall’s parking lot and will construct 400 timeshare units. While approval of the building’s design by the Anaheim city commission is still pending, Westgate timeshares are continuing to move ahead with their vision of a seven-story timeshare resort, which will include a fitness center, two pools and water play areas for children.

All timeshare units at Westgate Anaheim are planned as two, three, or four-bedroom timeshares.

Like Wyndham timeshares, Bluegreen timeshares, and other industry leaders, Westgate is in an expansion mode, currently with new timeshare properties in both Las Vegas and Myrtle Beach.

The Westgate timeshare resort in Las Vegas will soar 50 stories about the famous Vegas strip. To be known as the Planet Hollywood Towers by Westgate, it will be the only timeshare property directly connected to a major hotel and casino on the Las Vegas strip. When completed, the timeshare resort will have over 2850 timeshare units.

Westgate’s newest timeshare resort, opening just this year, is:

Westgate Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort timeshare, located in the heart of Myrtle Beach on the famous South Carolina Grand Strand.

Also new at the Westgate timeshare resorts is the opening of the Wild Bear Falls indoor water park at the Westgate Smoky Mountains timeshare. This 70-acre resort is built adjacent to the cool and calm of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee.

For more information about the Anaheim Garden Walk Mall, you might be interested in this blog.

This month, police investigators in the case of missing person Jennifer Kesse, released new evidence that they hope will lead to her return.

As previously reported on the Timeshare Owners Blog, despite more than a year of intensive search efforts, the whereabouts of Jennifer Kesse remain unknown. At the time of her disappearance, Kesse was believed to be en route to her job at Central Florida Investments, the corporation that owns Westgate Timeshare Resorts.

What is perhaps most frightening about Jennifer’s disappearance is that it did not happen in an isolated area or in the middle of the night. Investigators believe Jennifer was abducted as she left for work, or possibly shortly before. Jennifer lives in an upscale condominium she purchased only a few months prior to her disappearance. Across the busy four-lane street from the entrance to her home is Orlando’s Millennia Mall, home to Niemen Marcus, Louis Vitton, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, and other top retailers. Jennifer’s drive to work is relatively short, taking her along busy, heavily traveled roads. Tuesday, January 24, 2006 should have been uneventful for Jennifer Kesse.

Instead, some person or persons are responsible for the disappearance of a bright, attractive young woman, leaving few clues to aid law enforcement officials in finding her. Since the mid-May release of video showing someone driving Kesse’s car about the time of her disappearance, the police have received new leads and may actually be looking for someone they now classify as a suspect.

The reward for information leading to Jennifer Kesse’s safe return is $1 million.

Jennifer Kesse Tips
5389 S. Kirkman Rd.
Box 103-125
Orlando, FL 32819

Again, I urge you to visit the website www.jenniferkesse.com. Study the photos of Jennifer and the evidence related to the suspect. Someone, somewhere has seen something that may help solve this case.

You-Tube video about the search for Jennifer Kesse.

Sadly the one-year mark has passed and still no leads on Jennifer Kesse.

January 24, 2007 marked the one-year anniversary of the date Orlando resident and timeshare employee, Jennifer Kesse went missing. During this past year, we have used our Timeshare Owners Blog to help get the word out about this heartbreaking event. Once again, we’d like to remind you of the facts in this case, always in the that hope that someone, somewhere will remember a key piece of information that might lead to Jennifer’s safe return.

Jennifer Kesse was 24 years old at the time of her disappearance and presumed kidnapping. She was a graduate of the University of Central Florida and an employee of Central Florida Investments Timeshare Company (Westgate Resorts). After working as usual on Monday, January 23, 2006, Jennifer returned home to her recently purchased condo and spoke by phone that evening with several family members, as well as with her boyfriend, Robert Allen, and other friends. On Tuesday morning when she failed to have her routine morning phone conversation with Allen, a resident of Ft. Lauderdale, he called CFI only to learn that she had not arrived at work. Two days later the Orlando Police found Jennifer’s car at a nearby apartment complex.

Despite exhaustive searches of the area the police have no viable leads at this time. The Kesse family, along with Jennifer’s friends, and co-workers at Westgate, continue their efforts to keep Jennifer’s story alive and to spread the word to as many people as possible. It is believed that the abduction occurred on the morning of January 24, and that someone who was in the area at that time may remember details that will be helpful to the police.

What can you do to help?

Here are some of the suggestions that investigators believe might lead to solving this case:

1. Visit the website www.JenniferKesse.com. You can download copies of Jennifer’s photo to distribute by email, print your own flyers, or request flyers in English or in Spanish to distribute in your area.
2. Tape the information with a photo of Jennifer to your car windows, so that everywhere you go, you will be spreading the word.
3. Send information about Jennifer to everyone on your email list.
4. Make it a habit to share the information about Jennifer’s disappearance with strangers you may meet during your workday.
5. And if you know anything—anything at all that might be helpful—contact Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.