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Marriott Vacation Club continues to evolve and innovate (Part I)
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Marriott Vacation Club’s entry into the timeshare world represented a seismic shift in the industry when they acquired their first resorts in 1984.
At the time the traditional hospitality companies had a microscopic presence at best, most timeshare was created and marketed by independent developers.
Today, the situation is reversed. There are fewer and fewer timeshare-only companies like Bluegreen, Westgate and Shell.
Marriott has been joined by Starwood (parent company to Sheraton, Westin and St. Regis), Hyatt, Hilton and Disney. As a matter of fact, recent months has seen Holiday Inn add a timeshare footprint to their brand. Industry veteran Bob Albertson is one of their top guys, so they are serious about this.
Through all that, Marriott has continued to be an industry leader, in terms of size, membership, branding and innovation.
They have created several brands focusing on different aspects of vacation ownership.
They have the affordable Horizon’s brand geared to the entry level families; flag ship Marriott has both traditional timeshare and fractional product.
Marriott operates a luxurious private residence club under their Ritz Carlton brand.
They have one of the best regarded rewards programs for owners, and while I’m not generally a fan of rewards programs, this one is so good I know a CEO of a competitive program that owns Marriott weeks because he doesn’t want to lose the perks.
Not content to be among the largest and top rated in the timeshare industry, Marriott continues to innovate.
Just announced is what is said to be a very creative approach to offering greater flexibility and comfort to owners at two of their most established resorts, Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert and Canyon Villas at Desert Ridge outside Phoenix.
As part of the expansion of the two properties, new two bedroom villas will include a lock-off feature. The lock-off concept, allowing the two bedroom villa to be used as two separate smaller units for twice as much time, is not new or unique to Marriott.
The changes, a result of extensive owner surveys by MCVI, will be adapted for future developments and expansions.
What makes this noteworthy is the degree to which each week will be in a full timeshare unit, minimizing the compromises of the smaller unit.
The standard in most timeshares across the industry that offer lock-offs is a master bedroom, a kitchen/dining room/living combination and a second guest bedroom.
The master bedroom usually has one king or queen sized bed, and a private master bath. The living room will often have a half bath and sleeper sofa, allowing it to be used by as a one bedroom condo for a family.
The guest bedroom usually contains two double beds, a tv and it’s own bathroom. And, as the name suggests, it can be segregated from the rest of the villa by a locking door, becoming a private adjacent smaller unit available for other guests. It is offered for use, or exchange, as a studio unit; it is not, in most cases, when all is said and done, very different than a nice hotel room.
In Part II we'll take a closer look at the new Marriott Vacation Club villas.
