DC4MS

Good afternoon DC4MS,

I thought you might want to know that the resort industry is reacting enthusiastically to Private Escapes’ impending merger with Ultimate Resort!

In fact, the Crittenden Resort Report recently named us one of the Top Companies to Watch in 2008. Listen to what they had to say::

• Private Escapes and Ultimate Resort didn’t merge for nothing. Here’s the brand spanking new name for the combined destination club industry behemoth – Ultimate Escapes. In 2008 the $200M union makes its move to woo the same demographic as both PRC and timeshares by establishing three-tiered memberships offering $1M, $2M and $3M homes aimed at attracting the entire spectrum of vacation home and vacation ownership consumers. Ultimate Escapes’ successful merger provides a win-win situation for the entire destination club industry. The deal blazes a trail for the whole of the industry to follow as a means of increasing business scalability to protect all of the industry’s stakeholders. Expect Ultimate Escapes to provide a new and attractive avenue for brands, which will also continue to fuel the industry’s growth as a whole.

In the remaining days before this exciting merger is finalized, you still have the opportunity to enroll now and then be grandfathered into Ultimate Escapes under the current Private Escapes club structure. That offers a few unique, and valuable, benefits that members who join after the merger won’t enjoy, including:

• Unlimited annual usage membership -This is a great format if you travel quite a lot currently, or if you envision yourself traveling more in the next few years.

• An extremely flexible corporate membership plan which allows nearly 7 weeks per year of travel for you and anyone you designate.

• Added value in the event of a deposit refund. Currently, memberships are available for purchase with the deposit being refundable at 80% of the future value of the membership. We know that the cost of a membership deposit will rise significantly in just a few weeks time, but you can buy in now at lower pricing – and then see that deposit value increase when membership costs rise post merger.

• Lower Annual Dues. By joining before the merger is finalized, your dues will be locked in at today’s lower rates.

Without a doubt, now is a good time to join our club. If you’d like to reserve a current membership plan while you take a closer look at the details, just hit reply and I’ll e-mail you all the information you need.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Karla Jones
Membership Director
314 E. Mountain Avenue
Suite 101
Fort Collins, CO 80524
direct: 970.212.1609
cell: 970.218.9222
karla.jones@privateescapes.com

RAM

Hmmm. I thought that when Private Escapes went from 100% to 80% a year ago on the deposit refund that it was a flat 80% (not 80% of the future value -- as is the case with Ultimate Resorts).

Did this change recently or did I just have it wrong all along?

vineyarder

This changed in late summer, when the merger was announced, in order to be consistent with UR...

DC4MS

Are you allowed to post any new info on the merger?