DC4MS

I just had a very interesting 30 minute conversation with “MARK CAIN” the Managing Director, Marketing for Solstice. He was extremely pleasant on the phone and was just getting back from a business trip and had very limited knowledge of this website or my previous request for information on Solstice.
I politely asked him if I could receive a copy of their marketing material or sales brochure as I am collecting one from each of the major Destination Clubs that we feature on our website and that I was the Administrator of an online social discussion website for Destination Clubs.

He stated that Solstice does not produce a high quality sales brochure like many of the other destination clubs as they have a very different approach towards marketing since their club was founded four years ago. He stated that his club has an almost “anti-marketing business model” as they don’t think anyone would join Solstice just based upon an elaborate sales brochure. In fact, he said that they simply don’t want to compete with the elaborate sales materials of some destination clubs and would rather let the Solstice Collection of homes speak for themselves.

He stated that the Solstice website is very elaborate and has multiple slideshows, a property map, photos, full descriptions, and floor plans of all of their homes along with tons of information about the club for potential members doing their initial due diligence. There is even a section of PDF downloadable materials for media members.

He informed me that the majority of their new member inquiries come from current member referrals, personal networking, word of mouth, and from occasional reviews in magazines or trade publications. When someone is serious about deciding if the club is for them, they request a $25,000 refundable deposit that is put in escrow so they can begin to discuss all the financial transparency issues with prospective members and spend quality time getting to know each other.

Mark told me that the research and planning by prospective members is primarily performed on their website as this offered the most complete source of information about their club. He indicated that they are not in any rush to sign up new members as they are interested in growing the club with people that will best match what they are offering. He reiterated that they provide much more information to prospective members about their financial stability during the due diligence process.

When I asked him how many members have joined Solstice at the Signature ($615,000 deposit & $34,000 annual dues), Platinum ($975,000 deposit & $54,000 annual dues), and Sky ($1,950,000 deposit & $86,000 annual dues) plans, he would only confirm that their total membership was above the already published 80 member mark.

I thanked him for spending time answering all my questions and told him that if they were able to get over 80 members to spend an average of $1,000,000 (educated guess) to join Solstice without a sales brochure, then they must be doing something very different than all the other destination clubs and I now understand why Robb Report refers to Solstice as the “Best of the Best.”

Kagehitokiri

according to an article on halogen or sherpa, there is also a waitlist for the sky membership.

my favorite destination club ad >
Elite Traveler - March/April 2007

i think FS has the best hotel/resort ads, and find the above solstice ad to be pretty similar in style.

NeilGoBlue

I spent an hour last night looking at their website and their homes and I was not impressed.. some of the homes are nice. But, some of the homes are 1 bedroom and 1 is a hotel suite.

Not what I expect for they prices they are charging.

Kagehitokiri

the other NY condo is 3BR.

the 2BR hotel suite @ soho hotel >
http://www.firmdale.com/index.php?pa...py_page_id=219

apartment £1395
soho £2150
terrace £2750

i agree to a certain degree, IMHO ciel seemed perfect, and lusso is the most consistent overall. but solstice has some great properties. (and amenities - like snowmobile in verbier) - plus unlimited use.