The Strip's CityCenter hotels up the ante

High-tech touches and green innovations are set on a luxurious stage at the Vdara Hotel & Spa, Mandarin Oriental and Aria Resort & Casino.

Packed into 67 acres between the Monte Carlo and the Bellagio casino hotels, CityCenter is billed not just as the Las Vegas Strip's next evolutionary phase, but also as a spectacle capable of pulling the region's tourism from its death spiral.

Yet with nearly 5,900 new luxury hotel rooms to fill, that spiral may be intensifying. Between Dec. 1 and 16, the developers unveiled the 1,495-guest room Vdara, the 392-guest room Mandarin Oriental, and the 4,004-guest room Aria Resort & Casino and its 17 restaurants and cafes.

As a whole, the hotels offer a template for 21st century Vegas; it's the locus of sophisticated recreation for the well-heeled brainiac. Stuffed with whiz-bang technology, cutting-edge green operations and urbane décor, the hotels create a new kind of wonderland where pampered lifestyles tread softly on the planet's resources.

Vdara and the Mandarin Oriental offer a respite from sensory overload with casino-free lodging. The centerpiece, Aria Resort & Casino, provides an orgy of deluxe gambling, dining and people-watching.

The complex is connected by sometimes-confusing ramps, escalators and a three-station monorail, which make the place look more like a futuristic airport than a distillation of Manhattan. Without the chaos of taxis, office workers and urban grit, many areas feel more like a fantasy Manhattan, a sort of Theme Park for Rich People.

The cleanliness is a plus, the product of many eco-conscious, unseen factors. CityCenter made environmental impact central to its design and operation, and most buildings boast one of the highest ratings of sustainability, the U.S. Green Building Council's Gold LEED certification. Happily, natural light and fresh air are abundant in most private and many public spaces.

Clean air was one welcome surprise in a three-day visit to the new hotels. (The 400-room boutique Harmon Hotel won't open until late this year). Though a similar design sensibility of modern, curvilinear shapes and earth-tone palettes unites the hotels, each offers distinct amenities and advantages. Here are the highlights from my recent stays at all three.

Vdara



With nary a slot machine on the property, entering the 57-story Vdara is practically serene. Had I booked one of the hotel's natural-gas-powered limos, I could have offset my airplane flight's carbon emissions. Yet my arrival was cushioned by the lobby's light perfume, a 32-foot Frank Stella artwork and a (mostly) competent staff seasoned after 16 days on the job.

Though it has a sizable spa, pool complex, restaurant, bar and nearly 1,500 suites, the hotel's orderly layout makes it easy to navigate. Originally designed as a condo hotel, the 500- to 1,650-square-foot suites have the most residential yet urban feel of the three hotels. Even in the smallest suite, there's room for a lush king bed, sofa bed, reading chair, desk, kitchen, dining table and a free-standing spa bathtub.
Vdara (an invented name) is one of the few upscale Las Vegas hotels hospitable to families. Spring for one of its 250 Panoramic rooms, and you'll get a four-person dining room table, a washer-dryer and full-sized kitchen appliances.

Vdara also may be CityCenter's best hotel for conducting business, given the guest rooms' generous work spaces, laptop safes, fast wireless access and media hubs that can connect an array of electronic devices to the flat-screen TV. Those features and access to the compact fitness center are covered by a $15 daily resort fee.

A pool deck offers a variety of smallish swimming/dipping spaces and views of buildings. Life is better indoors: Even the smallest, lowest-price rooms offer multiple, wired-for-technology work spaces. The wide array of green materials in the custom-designed décor shows that sustainable design doesn't always mean burlap and bamboo. Design firm BBG-BBGM used stone, wood and metal to create a durable, eco-friendly and more natural environment, said Julia Monk, managing partner.

Vdara, which is behind Aria, is removed from the intensity of the Strip and from most CityCenter visitors. A corridor connects the hotel to a monorail that zips to the Bellagio, Crystals and the Monte Carlo. Just don't expect to transfer easily to any other hotel in the complex. Despite the developers' boasts of the center's "connectivity and access," Vdara refused to move my luggage across the road to Aria. This eco-conscious hotel required that my guest and I retrieve the car, drive the confusing loops to Aria and park again, instead of allowing a bellman to push a cart half a block down the sidewalk.

2600 W. Harmon Ave., Las Vegas, (866) 745-7767, www.vdara.com
Doubles from $129
Check CityCenter Rates at Hotels.com by city, dates and number of guests

Aria Resort & Casino


Aria is a universe unto itself, though the curving steel-and-glass structure designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects serves as CityCenter's crossroads. It's the destination for high-energy, high-priced activities such as gambling, drinking and dining.

Its two hotel towers, nine bars, 17 restaurants, 1,840-seat theater, gift shop, spa, pool and 300,000 square feet of meeting space mean you need never leave. Even if you're not a Vegas person who loves the roar of gambling energy, Aria offers a sophisticated new take on casino hotels that should appeal to the poker-phobic.

You need a flow chart to track the contributions of every designer and architect who gave the place its many distinct personalities. Some modern-day Mussolini must have made the hotel crews operate on time, which may explain how every restaurant was ready with menu samples at the Dec. 16 grand opening party. Most large hotel projects open in stages, yet all but Aria's pool and several Peter Marino-designed deluxe suites were ready for the gala, though paying guests, including me, arrived the next afternoon, its first open-to-the-public day.

Compared with Vdara, Aria's handsome guest rooms are less spacious and offer fewer in-room amenities, but the ivory, green and brown palette, walnut furnishings and chrome accents make it feel as luxuriously cozy. Aria switches up the predictable hotel room layout with built-in wood media centers (bring your own cords), automated curtains that wrap an entire wall and a large spa tub within the marble shower enclosure.

Day 1 revealed that the hotel's 10,000 employees are inexperienced. Few were well versed in the hotel's layout, fewer understood the room's high-tech features, and restaurant service was often awkward and slow. Service was almost absent in the 80,000-square-foot spa, where you may have to hunt for the coed Shio Salt Room and Ganbanyoku stone beds (heated granite slabs). Without a spa treatment, visiting the gym or spa costs hotel guests $30.

Still, the resort begs for superlatives, and earns a few, given that it's billed as the world's largest Gold LEED-certified building and has highly advanced in-room technology. A central control panel can open the windows, adjust the lights, temperature, TV, music and check flight information. Yet two engineers had to be summoned at midnight after the software crashed.

Despite its opening-day jitters, Aria's sophisticated design, cuisine, technology and commitment to environmentally sound practices set a new standard in hospitality and Vegas-style excess. Now, thanks to recycling programs, limousines fueled with compressed natural gas and ventilation married to slot machines that's built to clean and circulate the air, it's possible to enjoy excess responsibly.
3730 Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, (866) 359-7757, www.arialasvegas.com
Doubles from $159
Check CityCenter Rates at Hotels.com by city, dates and number of guests

Mandarin Oriental


The happiest words ever spoken to an exhausted traveler are these: "Consider it done." The staff members at the Mandarin Oriental follow up those reassuring words with the kind of service that has nearly vanished from luxury hotels with staff cutbacks.

Service was prompt, personal and attuned to privacy on my visit, two weeks after its Dec. 4 opening. A nice touch: A valet closet opens to the hallway to allow staff members to deliver laundry, mail or packages without disturbing the room occupants.

As the most luxurious, nongaming hotel in CityCenter, the 47-story Mandarin Oriental brings new aesthetics and expectations to hospitality. Guests get stunning views from the 23rd floor check-in desk, which is flanked by a tea lounge, the Mandarin Bar and Twist, the only U.S. restaurant by Pierre Gagnaire.

Interior designer Adam D. Tihany created an elegant, intimate and, ultimately, escapist environment where guests can, he said, "have moments where you don't have to think about anything but enjoying yourself."
He delivered on that promise with the room design, a mix of maximum-impact materials such as marble shower tile, leather and shell headboards, chrome accents and velvet upholstery. Sliding panels reminiscent of a tea house move to conceal the bathroom windows and reveal a softly rendered portrait of an Asian woman.

The guest rooms and public spaces subtly reference Asian design with art and decorative accents -- paintings of kimonos, panels that slide like shoji screens, pendant lamps that resemble Japanese lanterns, and high-sheen built-in drawers that suggest the lacquer and tiers of Tansu chests.

This level of service and style comes with a price: Plan on spending $345 for the least expensive room, $30 for valet parking, $18 to steam a dress and $100 to visit the spa without scheduling a treatment. Massages are a minimum of 80 minutes and cost $260 on weekends. Yet the portions and quality of food at the MOzen Bistro yielded one of the best values in the complex. The menu's mix of Indian, Chinese and other Asian flavors in the entrees, such as a complex curry and rice or a rack of lamb, are mostly $25 to $38.

Guests also get indulgent little extras in the rooms: yoga CDs and a mat; abundant Schott stemware in the bar stocked with half-bottles of liquor; a safe with a jewelry tray; and a fully outfitted bathroom with a multi-nozzle hair dryer and a flat iron in a silver leather case.

The rooms are wired with a high-tech system that can automatically control the drapes, temperature, TV and more. With most of the glitches fixed, this system worked.

Tihany's modernized view of Asia is, indeed, an escape to an idealized existence. It's ideal for CityCenter, a place that raises the stakes on fantasy, luxury and, ultimately, the future of Vegas hospitality.

3752 S. Las Vegas Blvd., (702) 590-8888, www.mandarinoriental.com
Doubles from $345

Original Story: LA Times

One Steamboat Place logs $15.25 million in 1st round of closings

Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs real estate market received a qualified boost Monday when the first 13 condominium sales closed at One Steamboat Place for a combined $15.25 million.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. Ambassador Robb Stevenson walks through the new promenade in front of One Steamboat Place on Wednesday. The luxury condominium project had 13 sales close Monday for a total of $15.25 million.

This week’s closings included 10 residence club sales totaling $4.45 million and three whole-ownership sales that combined for $10.8 million. The most expensive was a penthouse condominium that sold for $4.2 million, according to records at the Routt County Assessor’s Office.

Keith Marlow, Timbers Resorts director of sales, said it would be several weeks before the next round of sales are closed but declined to discuss the details of this week’s transactions.

“We’re very, very proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Marlow said. “When the first sale closed last week, (Timbers CEO) David Burden happened to be in town, and we drank a champagne toast in the gentleman’s unit. But we still have a lot of work to do, and we don’t want to pound our chest or report daily numbers. It’s going to take all winter to close all of these units as we work on an individual basis with the buyers.”

Project Director Chris Burden told the Steamboat Pilot & Today on Nov. 12 that his company expected to close 100 transactions within 30 days. Marlow said Wednesday that some buyers, who have been waiting for two years to close on the new condominiums, have asked for additional days to work on the details of their financing.

The news at One Steamboat Place, where the new public plaza opened Wednesday, comes near the end of a difficult year in which the third-quarter dollar volume of $227 million was just 38 percent of the $597 million recorded through the third quarter of 2008. In comparison to One Steamboat Place’s $15.25 million in closings during the first three days of the week, the entire Steamboat market saw $27.24 million in sales during the month of September this year.

If there is an asterisk next to last week’s closings at One Steamboat Place, it’s that virtually all of the whole ownership sales and the bulk of the residence club sales represent contracts were signed as of August 2007. So, they don’t represent new business.

However, Realtor Pam Vanatta, co-owner of Pruden­tial Steamboat Realty, said although this month’s closings at One Steamboat Place represent contracts written in another year, she thinks they will reflect positively on the current Steamboat market as it turns the calendar page to 2010.

Vanatta, who has clients buying at One Steamboat Place, said the sales reflect a “will to close” on the part of those buyers, which is reminiscent of the market before the noteworthy increases in the valuation of properties between 2005 and 2007 and the speculative investment that resulted.

“Historically, the Steamboat market was never just an investment,” Vanatta said. “People have always purchased property here because they wanted to be here. We’re going back to a time when people bought because they wanted to enjoy Steamboat.”

The residence club sales all ranged from $415,000 to $495,000. All 10 of them were for four-bedroom, four-bath condominiums. A round of three-bedroom residence club sales is expected to begin closing soon.

One Steamboat Place initially offered 80 condominiums including 38 whole-ownership vacation homes priced from $2.5 million to $4.7 million, plus 42 residence club condos being marketed as one-eighth shares. The first residence club shares represented 336 fractions. The initial club offerings ranged in price from $625,000 to $735,000.

In early 2008, the developers reported that they had sale agreements for 148 eight-shares in the $600,000 price range.

Later, one-twelfth ownership opportunities were introduced at $370,000 with the intent of incremental steps in price as units went under contract.

One Steamboat Place principal David Burden said the eight-shares represent Timbers’ bread and butter at its resort developments, and the 12-shares are brought on line when the market indicates a demand for a more diversified product. Burden described the development as a $200 million construction project.

Towers and cables spanning Mount Werner Circle for the new gondola linking Resort Ventures West-developed Trail­­head Lodge with One Steam­boat Place were in place this week and await cabins and testing before the anticipated February opening.

Chris Burden told the Pilot & Today this month that One Steamboat Place will open to guests Jan. 9. Timbers Resorts projects 80 percent occupancy during ski season.

For More Information Visit: PrivateResidenceClubs.com

Original Story: Steamboat Pilot & Today

How Ritz-Carlton Stays At The Top

An interview with Simon F. Cooper, president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.

Ritz-Carlton has become a leading brand in luxury lodging by rigorously adhering to its own standards. It is the only service company in America that has won the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award twice, and Training Magazine has called it the best company in the nation for employee training. Its unique culture starts with a motto: "We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen." One of its remarkable policies is to permit every employee to spend up to $2,000 making any single guest satisfied. Ritz-Carlton codifies its expectations regarding service in "The 12 Service Values," "The Credo," "The Three Steps of Service," "The 6th Diamond" and other proprietary statements that are taught to all 38,000 employees throughout 73 properties in 24 countries. Simon Cooper, who has led Ritz-Carlton for the past eight years, talks about what makes Ritz-Carlton, well, the Ritz.
Forbes: What is the Ritz-Carlton model?
Cooper: We focus on three fundamentals. First, location--making sure we get absolutely the best location, where our luxury customers want to stay. Second, product--building the right physical product for what our guests want today and what they will want tomorrow, which means an investment of between $500,000 and over $1 million per room. That's the platform. Third, people--our ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. They animate the platform. But you must get the first two right. If you're not in the right location, or if you don't have the right physical product, then employees, ladies and gentlemen, can only do so much.
How do you ensure everyone is on the same page?
We use what we call "lineup," which is a Ritz-Carlton tradition. The concept comes from the early restaurants of France, where the chef got his whole team and all the waiters and waitresses and the maitre d' together at 5:30 in the evening. It's a sort of round table. Everybody is there. The chef communicates what they are going to be serving. For the Ritz-Carlton, we want every single hotel, everywhere in the world, every partner, every shift, to utilize lineup, which typically takes around 15 minutes every day. Part of the lineup everywhere around the world is a "wow story," which means talking about great things that our ladies and gentlemen have done. That is a wonderful training and communication tool, where every department layers on the department message. And it's based on having the same message everywhere, every day, and then each hotel layers on its own message.
How do the ladies and gentlemen focus on service?
We entrust every single Ritz-Carlton staff member, without approval from their general manager, to spend up to $2,000 on a guest. And that's not per year. It's per incident. When you say up to $2,000, suddenly somebody says, wow, this isn't just about rebating a movie because your room was late, this is a really meaningful amount. It doesn't get used much, but it displays a deep trust in our staff's judgment. Frankly, they could go over that amount, with the general manager's permission.
The concept is to do something, to create an absolutely wonderful stay for a guest. Significantly, there is no assumption that it's because there is a problem. It could be that someone finds out it's a guest's birthday, and the next thing you know there's champagne and cake in the room. A lot of the stuff that crosses my desk is not that they overcame a problem but that they used their $2,000 to create an outstanding experience.
There are stories about hiring a carpenter to build a shoe tree for a guest; a laundry manager who couldn't get the stain out of a dress after trying twice flying up from Puerto Rico to New York to return the dress personally; or when in Dubai a waiter overheard a gentleman musing with his wife, who was in a wheelchair, that it was a shame he couldn't get her down to the beach. The waiter told maintenance, who passed word, and the next afternoon there was a wooden walkway down the beach to a tent that was set up for them to have dinner in. That's not out of the ordinary, and the general manager didn't know about it until it was built.
As chief executive, how do you manage your day and your staff?
The current economic climate requires me to spend more time on the road than in the corporate office. Thanks to technologies like the BlackBerry and cellphones, I have global reach wherever I am in the world. When I'm at home, I usually spend a few hours at my desk on weekends, preparing for the days ahead, returning e-mails. My assistant's desk is always full when she comes in early on Monday morning.
To manage my staff, I value everyone's opinion and listen to the pros and cons of every issue, but at the end of the day, the decision rests with me, and we move on to the next topic. As Harry Truman said, the buck stops here.
How do you keep up with trends?
We do a great deal of research that focuses on a broad study of luxury products and the market for high-end goods and services. Often you can see a trend coming before it becomes one by analyzing the data and studying the researchers' conclusions and predictions. At Ritz-Carlton, we want to set trends, not follow them. On the other hand, we do not position ourselves as a trendy hotel company.
How do you measure success?
On the customer side, Gallup does phone interviews for us, asking two types of questions, functional and emotional. On the functional side, we ask: How was the meal? Was the food hot? Was the service good? Did you like the menu? How was your room service? Was your bedroom clean? And Gallup has established "indicators," where this is one question that if answered as five out of five indicates that all the other questions will be answered positively. Our functional indicator is "The room was clean." On the emotional side, our indicator is "I had a sense of well-being." We know we must first pass the functional question before the guest will focus on the emotional question.
For employees, the most important internal metric we measure is voluntary turnover, which is an indicator of talent acquisition and training. We hire typically about 2% of the people who apply for jobs with us. Bringing on the right ladies and gentlemen and then nurturing them to provide them with career opportunities will reduce turnover. Training is really important, because it nurtures the careers of our ladies and gentlemen. Naturally, in a tough economic climate keeping staff satisfied is more challenging, but obviously it's as important as ever.
Isn't your growth as a hotel company limited by how many hotels you can build?
A breakthrough in our thinking was understanding that we are not a hotel brand but a lifestyle brand. For a hotel company, growth is reliant on the development of new properties, which is limited. But as a lifestyle brand, we can offer the unique Ritz-Carlton lifestyle in non-hotel formats as well. Whether you are spending a night, spending a week, buying five weeks of fractional ownership or buying a lifetime in the Ritz-Carlton, with Ritz-Carlton Residence, we feel that we represent lifestyle, that we have moved beyond being just a hotel company.
More than 3,000 people have bought in for several million dollars each, and to me those people are brand devotees for life. Of course, all strategies are sensitive to significant market turns, but from the long-term perspective of growing a customer base that is absolutely married to the brand, it has worked out extremely well.
What is the key to building a successful corporate culture?
A culture is built on trust. And if leadership doesn't live the values that it requires of the organization, that is the swiftest way to undermine the culture. No culture sticks if it's not lived at the highest levels of the organization. It takes an extraordinarily long time to build a culture.

For More Information: Visit: PrivateResidenceClubs.com

Original Article: Forbes

Dakota Mountain Lodge & Golden Door Spa Opens in Park City

Dakota Mountain Lodge & Golden Door Spa Opens in Park City, Utah;
First Ski Property for The Waldorf Astoria Collection

The prestigious Waldorf Astoria Collection opened its first ski resort, the Dakota Mountain Lodge & Golden Door Spa, in Park City, Utah. Dakota Mountain Lodge is located at the base of The Canyons® Resort, one of the top-rated mountains for skiing and snowboarding in the United States. Featuring 175 elegantly appointed guestrooms, world-renowned Golden Door Spa and award-winning Spruce restaurant, Dakota Mountain Lodge is Park City’s newest luxury property.

“Dakota Mountain Lodge is our vision of the perfect Park City experience: unparalleled access to world class amenities and service befitting a Waldorf Astoria Collection luxury property, within a stunning alpine setting,” said General Manager Jim Miller. “With an exceptional spa, fine cuisine and elegantly appointed accommodations, we are delighted to bring a new standard of luxury to Park City.”
Dakota Mountain Lodge & Golden Door Spa reflects a contemporary mountain elegance with dark finished woods, tile and stonework – a sophisticated and subtle departure from typical mountain lodge decor. Guests can gather year-round in the large outdoor courtyard that features fire pits and a heated pool and whirlpool spas with sweeping views of the surrounding mountain vistas.

Guestrooms are finished with custom designed furniture, natural colors and rich interiors to create a casual yet sophisticated retreat. Available in king or queen rooms, each room is designed with a gas fireplace, 42” HDTV, spacious bath with jetted tubs and/or steam showers, and private patio or balcony. Suites are one-to-four-bedroom, some loft style, and feature large gourmet kitchens with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. The Presidential Suite is a six bedroom suite with private study, massage room and exhibition kitchen. Guests can enjoy panoramic views of the Wasatch Mountains in the suite’s Great Room through floor to ceiling windows.

Dakota Mountain Lodge features world-class wellness destination Golden Door Spa, widely recognized as the first luxury destination spa in the United States. As one of only six Golden Door spa locations in the world, the resort offers both a destination spa program and individual treatments in a resort setting from Golden Door. The 16,000-square-foot facility with 15 treatment rooms will serve as a day spa for locals, a resort spa for travelers and a destination wellness retreat for spa aficionados. The full service spa features a custom designed fitness center with an extensive menu of classes as well as a hair and nail spa.

Guests will also enjoy the first outpost of award-winning Spruce restaurant of San Francisco, which was named one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in 2008. Featuring the same convivial sophistication as the flagship location, the restaurant’s winning formula combines gracious, top-tier service, an exceptional wine program and Executive Chef Mark Sullivan’s contemporary American cuisine that showcases the finest in local and seasonal ingredients. The 5,000-square-foot restaurant has 160 seats with indoor and seasonal outdoor seating, private dining areas and a lounge.

The hotel also offers the option of full ownership with 104 spacious residences, ranging from 359-square-foot studios to 2,015-square-foot four-bedroom, four-bath suites. Hotel residences range in price from $400,000 to $2 million.*

For Information Please Visit CondominiumHotels.com/Contact.php

ROBB REPORT SELECTS THE RITZ-CARLTON CLUB AS THE “BEST OF THE BEST”

Ritz-Carlton Club San Francisco

The Ritz-Carlton Club, the premier fractional ownership program, has been awarded the distinction of top “Fractional” vacation home purveyor in the world for Robb Report’s 21st annual “Best of the Best” issue. A leading source for the luxury lifestyle, Robb Report has recognized The Club three times in this category.

This year, as The Ritz-Carlton Club celebrates its tenth anniversary, the brand has evolved to offer Members an expanded collection of vacation options beyond the award-winning fractional offering. The new Ritz-Carlton Destination Club is an equity-based program offering two choices – either a Home Club Membership (identical to the successful fractional ownership offering) which provides titled use of a residence for Members to return to throughout the year, or the newest deeded enhancement, Portfolio Membership, which affords the opportunity to discover a wide variety of premier destinations and accommodations through a points-based currency.

“It’s truly an honor to be recognized by Robb Report as “Best of the Best,” and it reaffirms the quality and prestige of our membership program,” said Peter J. Watzka, executive vice president and chief operating officer for The Ritz-Carlton Development Company, Inc. (an affiliate of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C.).

Based on a full year’s search, the “Best of the Best” winners were chosen on the basis of quality of facilities, services and amenities as of March 2009. Yet, as Robb Report highlights in the magazine, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club has much more in store for the future by providing unparalleled experiences to its membership in beach, golf, ski and city destinations.

With locations in San Francisco; Aspen, Colo. and St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. to name a few, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club offers the legendary service for which The Ritz-Carlton is renowned. Members benefit from a heightened level of service as they are paired with their very own member experience manager who will serve as their primary liaison. Additionally, Members will enjoy the privilege of a dedicated concierge staff providing services that include everything from airport pick-up and pre-arrival provisioning of the residence, to unpacking and pressing pre-sent garments and arranging a complete vacation itinerary.

About The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club is an equity-based luxury travel program where Members select either a Home Club Membership which provides a titled residence and usage at a property they can return to every year, or a deeded Portfolio Membership which affords the opportunity to discover a wide variety of locations and experiences. Combining an innovative choice for luxury vacations at some of the most sought-after destinations in the world and coupled with the legendary services of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club offers an inspirational vacation lifestyle tailored to each Member’s expectations.

For More Information: Visit: PrivateResidenceClubs.com

Ritz-Carlton New Destination Club

Ritz-Carlton Destination Club

After 80 years and more than 70 hotels providing legendary service, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, raises the bar again with the unveiling of a new way to enjoy an inspiring vacation lifestyle: The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club.

An evolution of The Ritz-Carlton Club, this equity-based private membership program offers two choices -- either a Home Club Membership (identical to the successful fractional ownership offering) which provides use of a titled residence at a property they can return to throughout the year, or a deeded, Portfolio Membership which affords the opportunity to discover a wide variety of premier destinations and accommodations.

Portfolio Membership

Many of the most distinctive travelers want the freedom and flexibility to visit an array of the world's most beautiful and elegant destinations. If you count yourself in their number, Ritz-Carlton Portfolio Membership will be your natural choice.

Portfolio Members use The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club currency called "Club Points" to craft the kinds of escapes others only dream of. Ritz-Carlton Destination Club vacation homes are yours to choose from.

With Portfolio Membership in The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, you'll find destinations that are available on your dates of travel. As a Portfolio Member, you'll have access to the Ritz-Carlton destination Club online member reservation system, which makes finding and reserving your vacation home nearly effortless. This powerful tool gives you real-time destination availability information, while offering the elegant simplicity you expect from The Ritz-Carlton experience.

Ritz-Carlton Destinations

With Portfolio Membership in The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, you own an interest in Ritz-Carlton Destination Clubs' select collection of unique luxury properties and gain access to dozens of The Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts. This collection includes Ritz-Carlton Club properties in Colorado, California, Hawaii, Florida, Bahamas and St. Thomas. In addition membership includes a usage plan for select Ritz-Carlton Hotels worldwide in twenty different countries. It's an entirely new way to experience renowned service and quality worldwide.

Membership Levels

Portfolio Memberships offer a beneficial interest in a trust where Members customize their vacations through a points-based currency. This annual allotment of currency is used to reserve accommodations based on travel dates and residence floor plan. Initial membership grants 5,000 Club points, but additional interests can be purchased in 2,500 point increments. Portfolio Membership pricing starts at $120,000 for 5,000 annual Club points.

The Portfolio Membership option allows the ultimate flexibility for the Member who prefers a different experience each time they travel. For example, a Member may decide to use a four-bedroom residence in Abaco, The Bahamas for a family celebration and use a one-bedroom in San Francisco for a romantic getaway. When choosing from the collection of residences, each is assigned a varying nightly point value. The new Hotel Exchange Program also enables Members who purchased a Portfolio Membership to utilize up to a 25% portion of their Club points at participating Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts worldwide.



If you would like more information from Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, Please Visit: PrivateResidenceClubs.com

First Home At Christophe Harbour Ready For Construction

Christophe Harbour, St. Kitts

At the height of the Caribbean season, Christophe Harbour recently celebrated another milestone in its steady development on 2,500 acres at the southeast peninsula of St. Kitts.

A crowd of media, government officials, local contractors, builders, and the homeowners’ families gathered at Sandy Bank Bay on Thursday, March 19 to break ground on the first home at Christophe Harbour.

Unspoiled and undiscovered, the Caribbean island of St. Kitts will soon offer one of the world's most sophisticated and desirable resorts. Christophe Harbour, on St. Kitts’ stunning southeastern peninsula, will set the scene for an unprecedented master-planned resort. The project spans 2,500 acres with access to six spectacular beaches. Its natural harbour, sheltered by green hills and high bluffs, will provide the ideal setting for mega-yachts as centerpieces of a seaside village of restaurants, shops, boutiques and a five-star luxury boutique hotel managed by Mandarin Oriental Hotels. Atop the green cliffs will be a Tom Fazio championship golf course and clubhouse plus a collection of luxurious villas, and private homesites.

Christophe Harbour offers exceptional real estate opportunities for second- and third- homeowners seeking resort residences that include services from Mandarin Oriental. All of the condo hotel residences at the Mandarin Oriental are fully furnished with optional rental management programs available. A very limited number of condo hotel residences will be released in the founders program; reservations for these are presently being accepted. Plan your tropical escape for St. Kitts now. Resort Home price range is from the 500's to 2.6 million.

Contact - CondominiumHotels.com For Full Information packages