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 Travel & Outdoors | January 2008 
Top 10 Destination Club Locations
 Amy Gunderson - Helium Report
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Destination clubs sell members on variety. Why have one second home in a single location when you can have an entire portfolio of properties across the U.S. and even around the world? With a destination club membership, they say, you don’t have to choose between buying a ski cabin, a beach house or an urban pied-a-terre. You can have it all.
Of course, the variety of destinations is dependent on an individual club’s portfolio and its planned rollout of future developments, and clubs need to balance their mix of destinations with practicality. You might love the beaches in Thailand, but it’s not likely all of your fellow club members would list Phuket on their travel list. Sydney has broad appeal but its distance from the U.S. hardly makes it a yearly travel destination for club members. And that ski resort in Washington that you think is a hidden gem? It doesn’t have name recognition.
It’s no secret that Exclusive Resorts dominates the destination club industry with the largest number of properties available and currently in development, but when it comes to destination club locales, what’s the bigger picture? We took a look at the real estate portfolios of nine of the biggest U.S.-based destination clubs and here’s what we found.
Where are the homes?
Snow, sand and streets. From mountain homes and beach retreats to city residences, as a rule, destination clubs are best at covering these three markets. The hands down winner of the most popular destination home location is Cabo San Lucas. On the tip of Mexico’s Baja peninsula, Cabo brings in beach loungers and sport fishermen alike, and is easy to reach because of the plethora of direct flights from the U.S.. Also landing on the list of most popular locales are New York, Maui, Deer Valley, Scottsdale and Tuscany. These real estate and tourism magnets are not only home to residences owned by a wide variety of destination clubs, but are also areas where the biggest clubs have opted to buy multiple properties.
What are the options south of the border and in the Caribbean?
Mexico is the biggest foreign destination, and in addition to Cabo San Lucas, there are a number of club homes in Puerto Vallarta. Fans of Cancun and Cozumel should note there is little in the way of residences on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Central America remains an emerging market. Sure American buyers thinking about second homes have begun eyeing Panama, Belize and even Nicaragua as low cost locales for a vacation home, but destination clubs have taken a more conservative approach and gone into markets with better infrastructure and a proven tourism draw. Costa Rica is the biggest destination with properties from three clubs, but only one club has a property in Belize. Lusso Collection is the only club in our survey currently developing homes in Panama.
A presence in the Caribbean is an obvious must for any big destination club, but not all the islands are covered. In fact, Puerto Rico, a destination that attracts plenty of tourists, don’t have any club homes at all. Instead, clubs have opted for homes on islands that see less tourist foot traffic. The biggest Caribbean destination is the Bahamas and most club homes are on Abaco Island. Various clubs also have a presence on Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, St. Barts, St. Lucia, St. Martin, Virgin Gorda and Grand Cayman.
Do U.S.-based clubs have European retreats?
Destination clubs have planted real estate flags across the pond in the United Kingdom, Italy and France. Six clubs have homes in Paris, and there are nearly 20 club residences in Italy, with the greatest concentration in Tuscany. London, not surprisingly, is the prime destination in the U.K..
There are plenty of destination clubs in Colorado, but what are the other options stateside?
In the U.S. there are 20 states with club locations, and while the selection could keep you visiting new locations for years with nary a repeat, there are some surprising absences. For instance Seattle, Santa Fe and Sedona are all popular vacation locales that have not made it to the destination club ranks.
The most popular state is certainly Colorado, with more than 90 destination club properties in tony ski towns like Vail, Aspen, Steamboat Springs and of course Telluride, which has 24 homes. In California, mountain and desert properties make up most of the units in locations like La Quinta, near Palm Springs, and the towns surrounding Lake Tahoe. Arizona is a popular home base, with most club homes located in Scottsdale, and Florida has some 50 destination club properties with 14 based in Miami. Connecticut, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Vermont and Oregon each have just a handful of homes, or in some cases, only one.
Hawaii on the other hand weighs in with a healthy dusting of destination club homes, the majority of which are on Maui, and New York tops urban locales with 50 destination club condos in Manhattan alone.
Are there clubs with exclusive locations?
Exclusive Resorts has several homes on Virgin Gorda at Little Dix Bay. Solstice has a property in Brazil, while Quintess, LRW has a home on Canounan Island in the Grenadines. Lusso Collection has a unit in Big Sky, Mon., and Private Escapes has the only home in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
One Key has an exclusive residence in Bermuda, a country that other clubs don’t have on their roster likely due to the difficulty foreigners have in owning property there. One Key gets around this complication by leasing rather than owning its homes. They are also represented in Nantucket, Boston, and Mont Tremblant, Quebec.
How big are the homes?
The good news is that when you join a destination club, you will never have to relive the experience of your first cramped apartment. Homes for the most part are very spacious. In fact there are very few one-bedroom residences available, with the exception of homes in New York. There is a significantly larger number of two-bedroom residences, even in urban locales like Paris, and three- four- and five-bedroom layouts make up the majority of homes out there. The largest residences top out at six bedrooms. |
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