Shocker....?
I feel compelled to go back to the original thought Perry had w/ VRBO. I have had average to poor experiences w/ VRBO...units are in the right place but tend to have poor finishings, are tired, or the reservation process was cumbersome and that all drove me crazy. I did have much better luck w/ some of the villa rental sites, particularly those that deal with the Carribean. I once snagged a very nice 5 bedroom villa in St Lucia w/ a daily maid/chef, private pool and ocean front for less than $300/night and that was at the end of the prime season. BTW, St Lucia is over rated, I'll never go back.
Shocker #1: When I was doing my due dilligence on HCC in Nov/Dec 05' I scoured for every piece of info about HCC I could find - the people, the registration of the company, telephone numbers, etc...I didn't want to be had by a scam. During that search I came across a couple of VRBO ads that were HCC units!!! This struck me very oddly, but when I asked Heath about these ads he said that they did list them. He said it was to gain some income and expose the properties and concept to a potential market segment which made perfect sense. My concern was that they might book up time that I thought was for the exclussive use of HCC members.
The reality is that they shortly there-after quit the VRBO angle. Maybe a few months later once they got some momentum with memberships. I can say I'd do the same thing when I had just 20 members too. In any case it did not last long and I have not seen this practice since then.
Shocker #2: VRBO does have some quality units in their system but by and large HCC prices per night are better. If you look at the units down in Playa Del Carmen you'll see direct comparisons of apples vs apples with the Luna Encantada units listed. Off season you can get one of the Luna units almost as cheap as you can through your HCC membership, otherwise they are much more expensive per night through private parties. Of course, this is just this one location and I have not done much research of other comparable units.
I do describe the semantics of the DC concept similar to a golf or country club concept and those in the know understand this simple analogy. I've had a few friends jump in and join HCC too, they see the inherent value and the added benefits of what the staff provides. They have questioned the financial model but each of them has felt comfortable enough to send in a check.
It does appear to me that the DC industry will not now or ever be able to provide what Perry is looking for. I also doubt that he could ever out-perform what most DCs offer by using the listings in VRBO without spending in excessive amount of time to get just the right unit at the right time with significant negotiations either. Even if he did, he would lose some of the non-tangible value of membership services through the respective DCs.
