LTTravel

ER has announced that they will be adding 12- 2 bedroom residences at the Fairmont Heritage Place in San Francisco.

Steamboat Bill

I was in this area a few months ago and walked into the property (uninvited) after getting some hot coco at the Ghirardelli on the first floor. The place will be AWESOME when it is finished and it looked like an empty shell when I was there, thus I would estimate a 2009 summer completion.

Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghirardelli Square combins the charm of meticulously restored historic detail with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts’ world-class luxurious amenities and services. They are offering a total of 53 one, two and three bedroom homes with views of the San Francisco Bay.

I loved the property, but find the Fisherman's Wharf kinda cheesy and touristy and I prefer the Union Square area. Either way, it is an incredible building and I love the Fairmont chain.

Fairmont Heritage Place - San Francisco California

Steamboat Bill

To avoid a misunderstanding....I LOVED this property as it was a historical chocolate factory in the 1800s and is now a retail urban oasis undergoing a dramatic transformation and renovation. I think it is a fantastic buy for ER and other DCs should jump on the bandwagon as San Fran prices seem to always go up.

The views of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge from this location are priceless.

I recently stayed at a Marriott in that area and it was very "noisy" and very crowded with tourists. The local tourist spots were fun for a day, but how many Ripley's Believe it or Not locations do you really want to visit?

Upgrade Girl

Glad to hear ER is buying more California property but I hope this isn't in lieu of Napa or So. CA. They really need to get on the map elsewhere in the state. I'm sure the property will be lovely but Fisherman's wharf has got to be one of the tackiest urban tourist spots in the country outside of Times Square!

DC4MS

Here is a "free idea" for Exclusive Resorts -

Why don't they buy a Winery in Nappa and create a bunch of villas and have a private Exclusive Resorts wine for members only.

Just model it similar to the The Vintner's Club

LTTravel

I know that members of ER have been requesting homes in Napa. but I don't think the demand in Napa will fit their model I myself don't think I could spend more than a few days in Napa at a time and I don't know how many members will spend up to a week at a time in Napa given all the other choices, but I could be wrong. ER may do well with about 5 homes in Napa but 15 or more would go underutilized. They made a serious mistake with Bovey Castle and I think that they made a mistake with Las Vegas. Members were begging for Las Vegas residences. They have 15 temporary residences at the MGM Signature which are rarely booked except for last minute weekend reservations and I think that is because there are not too many other sites that are easlily accessible for last minute weekends or are available for weekends. I don't know what is going to happen when they have 30 residences there. There are other locations where they could use more homes but their model maximizes discounts and efficiecy by getting at least 12 homes in one destination. Napa would also be a huge last minute weekend reservation and occasional long term reservation for a week. I don't think that it would be fully utilized if they built 15-20 homes there, but I could be wrong. 5 homes would probably be enough.

Upgrade Girl

At least Napa is a better year round destination than rural England. It would be interesting to hear from the other clubs' members as to how well utilized their Napa properties are. I like the winery idea! But really, 6 to 10 homes would be a great start in any of the wine areas of California.

3DH

hmmm... maybe rethink it if ER goes with that winery idea that DC4MS threw out there! With enough wine, anything is possible!

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"Boutique" is better! Another extremely satisfied LUSSO member!

Kagehitokiri

people arent using bovey? thats a great value! the places go for like $4K/nt

and they do use the vegas places which are a TERRIBLE value

LTTravel

Yes, you could get a 1 BR at the MGM Signature for $250 a night for 70% of the time. Bovey is just too far out of the way and not enough to do. Maybe if they had more UK members. You could get a reservation there anytime.

ER Traveler

I think Napa is a perfect complement to ER's portfolio. I think East Coast members will spend a full week, especially during peak times and ER does need locations like NY and Vegas and hopefully some sort of Wine Country that will work well as Space Available reservations. And even though ER is really large now, not every location needs to be 15 or 20 homes. I think variety could be a plus.

TarheelTraveler

To me, it seems like ER should have many more destinations than it does. That's presumably the main benefit to being in a larger club. Clubs like UR/PE and Quintess have a higher or similar number of destinations.

I guess ER can and does buy in bulk and perhaps gets a bigger bang for the buck, or alternatively (and probably in many cases) can spend less on property aquisition than other clubs to get to the $3M avg. value mark.

Kagehitokiri

ER buys in bulk so that they can later sell for a huge profit.

in addition to being able to ramp up membership numbers extremely fast.

not the model for me, personally.

3DH

While I realize this isn't on topic, it does go along with the whole buying in bulk theme...

I think one example of buying in bulk being a great asset to them is their Arrabelle homes in Vail... several are now on resale for upwards of 5mil. But, that makes me wonder how long they will stay in the portfolio... they sold (or are selling) their two original Maui homes and are replacing them with units across the street from the beach in order to increase numbers from 2 to 12.

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"Boutique" is better! Another extremely satisfied LUSSO member!

Kagehitokiri

the longer they wait the more they make.

flipping would only really be necessary if they need the cash.

LTTravel

I would hope that They have to keep the Arrabelle homes to average $3million. The Scottsdale homes are worth $1.6- $2 million.

ER Traveler

The decision has not been made to sell the two Wailea Beach Villas. There's been huge member feedback to keep those units and the club is seriously considering it. ER has actually sold very few homes so far. They flipped the Trump units and made a nice amount of money and only a few others (Kohala, Costa Rica, Rosemary Beach). The buying in bulk is good for some locations and good for the bottom line. It keeps the club in business and the service at each destination just gets better so I believe the actual vacation experience has been enhanced over the long term. ER still has the lower density destinations but I would like to see more boutique type locations with fewer units and more exclusivity just to balance the portfolio.

DC4MS </