The infinity pool and villa at
Exclusive Resorts' Tuscan property.

Partially Yours

BY ANN GERACIMOS

"Location, location, location" goes the real estate mantra. So, too, goes the siren call of the burgeoning number of fractionals, destination clubs and combination fractional interest/private residence clubs that are heating up the luxury travel market.

The word "club" is used loosely in many cases - but the mission of these decidedly upscale ventures is consistent: mainly shared ownership arrangements that provide service, serenity, and, in some cases, a sense of belonging to a community of like-minded souls tired of the responsibilities involved in independent ownership of a second or third home.

Fancy staying in a multi-million-dollar home in a restricted enclave with annual fees ("dues") of five and sometimes six figures? Or owning from one-seventeenth to one-quarter in a so-called "fractional," assuring you of deeded real estate that comes with a certain number of guaranteed vacation days a year? The locales are typically eye-popping, well-maintained sites chosen for their diversity and views.

New vacation options for the wealthy have brought about a new vocabulary with definitions that are fluid, depending on the source. A fractional is definitely one up over a time share, which implies buying time rather than real estate. Holders of fractional deeds have limited ownership interest in a specific property, whereas destination club owners buy membership rights for up to 30 years to stay in different properties at different times. And some clients buy homes or villas outright that then can be rented out and serviced as part of a membership arrangement.

"We believe that being member-owned, member-managed and member-driven is key to our leadership in the luxury destination club market," said Quintess, LRW Founder and EVP. "Nearly half of our members have made a separate financial decision to invest in Club Holdings LLC, the parent of Quintess, LRW. This aligns the interests of our shareholders and members in a very powerful way."

The five-year-old Exclusive Resorts operates on a similar principle, offering its members - several thousand at present, who average seven trips a year - the right to use some 300 vacation homes in 35 destinations for stays up to 45 nights a year by joining one of three plans. The upfront cost is $239,000 to $459,000 with annual dues ranging from $13,900 to $34,900. The average home site is worth $3 million and comes equipped with the finest amenities money (on a wholesale basis) can buy. The organization is part of Steve Case's Washington, D.C.-based Revolution LLC.

"Exclusive Resorts' members can plan a perfect vacation in under one minute - we take care of everything - allowing them to relax with family and friends," said Donn Davis, ER CEO. "We are proud to have an astounding 95 percent member satisfaction rate - unheard of in the luxury hospitality industry." Quintess, LRW - and the industry as a whole - has similar member satisifation rates.

As District resident and member Tom Evans states, "they are very focused in North America" and, like Quintess, LRW include New York, Miami, Mexican and Caribbean sites as well as homes in numerous Western U.S. locations for a comprehensive grouping of beach, mountain and metropolitan sites. There is a castle in England, a villa in Tuscany, and apartments in Paris. Mr. Evans, president of a small investment banking firm, heard about ER through associates who then introduced him to one of the founders. While not the family's only vacation choice, he gets help from his 16-year-old twin daughters, who like researching ER destinations on the Web. They gave up a second home in Manhattan five or six years ago. "I didn't like being tied down," he says.

The wide choice of destinations is what attracted Richard and Mary Ellen Stieglitz of Potomac, Md., semi-retired grandparents 61 and 59 years of age respectively, to the club. They paid close to half a million up front for 45 vacation days a year and feel "like kids in a candy shop."

Ritz-Carlton Clubs (and Residences) is a fractional/private residence operation attracting several thousand members overall, although with fewer sites on tap at present. The company, part of the Marriott Corporation, plans to develop at least two new locations a year - most of them freestanding properties - and makes a strong case that its "brand" elevates its offerings beyond competitors. They like to speak of the Ritz-Carlton "lifestyle." One singular advantage of the brand idea is a qualified reduction of up to 30 percent for stays in Ritz hotels.

Fractional owners sometimes decide to buy wholly-owned homes on club sites so they can participate in benefits on an a la carte basis. The handsomely landscaped Ritz-Carlton Golf Club and Spa in Jupiter, Florida, near West Palm Beach, contains villas, residences and estates within a walled community of 285 acres that became fully operational just two years ago. It is marked only by a single entrance, guarded by a friendly gentleman in jacket and tie.

Curious onlookers aren't welcome; nor are casually interested buyers invited for a short stay unless they are close to signing up. This reporter, visited for one night as a company guest to experience the Ritz brand firsthand and to meet and talk with clients.

Mary Lockhart of Westchester, N.Y., visiting with guests for an all-girl spa weekend, likes having to fly only four hours to enjoy her family's fractional ownership - a four bedroom house - and says she knows people who have bought "more than one share to get more time." The relatively low number of destination choices is just fine with her since "how many vacations can you take in a year?"

A bachelor healthcare business executive in his 40s bought into Jupiter on the grounds that the weather would always be better than at his Cape Cod home, and he calculates that he can be on the driving range the very afternoon he arrives. His 35-day annual one-twelfth share week (Saturday to Saturday), affords him the valuable downtime - "I come for the quiet" - he craves. But it was the emphasis on a healthy active lifestyle that sold him. A retired New York City couple bought a house on the property and pay extra for the service touches. They liked not feeling the sense of discrimination that they said often accompanies private clubs in Manhattan.

Primarily a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf resort, the land also contains, among other amenities, a five-acre Bald Eagle preserve, a large spa, tennis court, bike trails, a children's program and door-todoor golf cart service. (Golf membership is $55,000 for fractional owners; different from those in socalled wholly-owned residences.) A shuttle takes members one mile to the ocean but the curving pool seems as central to action as the club house. Most members rent a car at the airport but private pick-up service can be arranged in advance.

Twenty-five sales personnel work at the Ritz' Jupiter resort alone to ensure success, but what the future holds for the ever-shifting and expanding high-end resort market as a whole is anybody's guess. Dick Ragatz of Ragatz Associates, who studies the market out of Oregon, says he has seen the extra-exclusive private residence clubs - prime real estate - grow by 92 percent in just a short period. Perhaps overkill might dampen somewhat the "exclusivity" label and crowd the scene. How many unspoiled powder sand beaches and untrammeled mountain trails can be left?

Doubtless, these ventures and dozens of other luxury vacation properties being advertised with flashy blue-sky-all-the-way promo materials count on customers' viewing them as just desserts for a hard-working life. It is the club experience that never requires attendance at a meeting. Carefree in a way - as long as the "club" managers are watching the controls.