• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Distinctive Holiday Homes, competes with HCC

LTTravel

newbie
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
210
Reaction score
0
Points
16
I have been reviewing the membership rules and am very close to making a decision (I've got 30 days left) There are a few things I don't understand, some may be bad, some, very good.
1. It appears from the rules and regulations that the dues and fees are exclusive of all "taxes", except income taxes for the club. I don't understand what those taxes are. Does that also include real estate taxes??? For some of these destinations, this may be $30,000 + per property. If there is 50% occupancy (26 weeks) this can amount to over $1000 (or even more) per week in additional fees. And then what other taxes are there? That's bad.
2. If you are a lite member, you cannot make a reservation in the 30-90 day window, even using and advanced reservation token. That's bad.
3. You can't make a reservation for the first 8 weeks after membership. I don't understand this rule. That's bad
4. It appears that your children (immediate family includes only children, not parents or siblings- they are considered extended family) can be on the vacation alone as long as they are at least 23 years of age for ALL of the weeks. Extended family need to use the extended family tokens. That's good
5. It appears that if you find someone to take over your membership, you can transfer it to them for a cancellation administrative fee, currently $5,000. You may be able to transfer you membership without losing the 20% if you can find someone to transfer it to. That's very good.

I think that I am reading this correctly. I still am confused about the tax thing. Please correct me if I am wrong.
 
Last edited:

vineyarder

newbie
Joined
Apr 21, 2007
Messages
243
Reaction score
0
Points
16
DHH as competitor with HCC

I looked over DHH reasonably closely, but in the end went with HCC as a 2nd DC membership. While I liked alot of what I saw with DHH, there were several downsides in our particular situation:

PRO DHH

  • International emphasis
  • The Yachts!!
  • The expanded services, such as maid and/or butler on-site, RT airport transfers, and luxury car on-site.

CONS

  • Reservation must be Sunday to Sunday; this is really hard, especially with international destinations, where you either have to send the kids back to school with jet-lag or have them miss the Monday... Why sit around twiddling your thumbs on a Saturday, then leave on Sunday, and get back with no time to catch up before Monday morning? IMHO, Sat-Sat is infinately preferable.
  • "Lite" members (the $25K entry point) cannot use the 86' motoryacht, as it requires 8 days plus two advanced booking credits... Other future homes may also require more than one day per night of usage.
  • Cost per night is substantially higher than HCC, PE, etc., even after accounting for F&B credit, car, etc.

Just my thoughts... Do others agree that a Sun-Sun is difficult, esp. for international travel?
 

LTTravel

newbie
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
210
Reaction score
0
Points
16
I looked over DHH reasonably closely, but in the end went with HCC as a 2nd DC membership. While I liked alot of what I saw with DHH, there were several downsides in our particular situation:

PRO DHH

  • International emphasis
  • The Yachts!!
  • The expanded services, such as maid and/or butler on-site, RT airport transfers, and luxury car on-site.

CONS

  • Reservation must be Sunday to Sunday; this is really hard, especially with international destinations, where you either have to send the kids back to school with jet-lag or have them miss the Monday... Why sit around twiddling your thumbs on a Saturday, then leave on Sunday, and get back with no time to catch up before Monday morning? IMHO, Sat-Sat is infinately preferable.
  • "Lite" members (the $25K entry point) cannot use the 86' motoryacht, as it requires 8 days plus two advanced booking credits... Other future homes may also require more than one day per night of usage.
  • Cost per night is substantially higher than HCC, PE, etc., even after accounting for F&B credit, car, etc.

Just my thoughts... Do others agree that a Sun-Sun is difficult, esp. for international travel?

I totally agree with the Saturday to Saturday preference. Exclusive and Ultimate also have the Sunday to Sunday. Their argument is that you can book a Friday/Saturday on a space available basis with this scenario. I would book Sunday to Saturday and just forego the last night. That way I could tighten loose ends before leaving and recover when I got back. I would still prefer Saturday to Saturday, guess I am rationalizing.
You will be able to book the Yacht and holidays on DHH when they change the rules to be able to "bank" and "borrow" weeks. If you forward your advanced reservation token and days to next year, you will then have two advanced reservation tokens and 14 days next year, opening up more options. Not ideal, but that offers much more flexibility, and only because of that am I considering membership. HCC is totally different kind of DC but a great deal in my opinion.
If I can clear up this "tax" charge I think that the cost per night is VERY reasonable.
$7000 per week cost minus the following benefits
$1000 per week in food
$800-$1000 (estimate) per week in car rental (remember they are giving you a luxury SUV)
$250-$350 (estimate) airport transfers. (Reno airport to Lake Tahoe for example should cost at least that much)
$250-$500 (estimate) Daily maid service with breakfast preparation and laundry service

So I estimate the weekly cost at $4150-$$4750 for a $3million property. Two to three times the cost of HCC but the properties are also valued at 2-3 times the HCC homes. Then as a bonus they offer you the space available at $300 per day, which has probably been estimated as their daily variable cost. I think that they are both good.
 
Last edited:

Kagehitokiri

newbie
Joined
Aug 8, 2006
Messages
706
Reaction score
0
Points
16
in addition to banking, lite members can book the 86' yacht ~30 days out for $2400/week.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
I have been reviewing the membership rules and am very close to making a decision (I've got 30 days left) There are a few things I don't understand, some may be bad, some, very good.
1. It appears from the rules and regulations that the dues and fees are exclusive of all "taxes", except income taxes for the club. I don't understand what those taxes are. Does that also include real estate taxes??? For some of these destinations, this may be $30,000 + per property. If there is 50% occupancy (26 weeks) this can amount to over $1000 (or even more) per week in additional fees. And then what other taxes are there? That's bad.
2. If you are a lite member, you cannot make a reservation in the 30-90 day window, even using and advanced reservation token. That's bad.
3. You can't make a reservation for the first 8 weeks after membership. I don't understand this rule. That's bad
4. It appears that your children (immediate family includes only children, not parents or siblings- they are considered extended family) can be on the vacation alone as long as they are at least 23 years of age for ALL of the weeks. Extended family need to use the extended family tokens. That's good
5. It appears that if you find someone to take over your membership, you can transfer it to them for a cancellation administrative fee, currently $5,000. You may be able to transfer you membership without losing the 20% if you can find someone to transfer it to. That's very good.

I think that I am reading this correctly. I still am confused about the tax thing. Please correct me if I am wrong.


Answers

1. This is just a cover all just in case due to the country/state you come from there are any sales taxes in relation your Membership Joijning Deposit or annual dues, this so far has not applied to any US state or Western country we have accepted members from to date , just our lawyers being ultra conservative ...so not something you have to worry about ...

2. Yes that is correct under the current rules ( until 30th ) after the 30th , you will be able to book at any time using your advanced token, and also Deluxe members will have a SAB window of 90 days vs the 60 at present , leaving standard & Lite with a 60 & 30 day window. However you will still only be able to book SAB vacations within your normal window ...

3. This rule actually means you can't have a first arrival date sooner than 8 weeks from when you join you however can make a booking from the day you join. Also this rule is currently waived for all new memberships, but as we get busier this time window allows us time to open property to cover membership growth.

4. your interpretation is correct ...

5. You can find someone to take your place , not your membership , you are refunded the 80 % , and they pay what you were refunded to join, they can also take over any bookings you had in the system at the time. However they are on a new membership , and yours is canceled. Eg say in 10 years a 4 week membership is $400,000 and you wanted to leave and were owed 80,000 back ( 80 % of 100,000 ) you could invite a friend to take your place , they would pay $80,000 and you would get back your $80,000. Now your friend if he had have joined of the street, just his non refundable part would have been $80,000. You have saved him a bunch of money , while he would still only get $80,000 back when he leaves ....you would no doubt have a discussion about what it was worth for him to save all that money ....


Cheers

Nick
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
in addition to banking, lite members can book the 86' yacht ~30 days out for $2400/week.

This is correct , also when you get down to 30 days or less , you can use your days plus one day at $300 to book the yacht .... and yes you can bring a week from next year to this year, so you can book it in advance so you make sure you get the week you want ...

There will not be very many properties or yachts that will be more than 7 days for 7 days ..... the yacht is more just due to the costs ... the normal charter price is $50,000 a week , so at $8,000 to members inclusive of transfers & food/Bev to $1000 it is very good value to normal retail ...

The smaller boats we have in the 53 ft to 65 ft are very good value . I personally prefer the 53' yacht to the 86 ft yacht, as the running costs are almost zero, and i can go for a week for just 3 membership days ...which includes transfers, food & bev ....which makes the real cost of the yacht very little ...

Re the Sunday to Sunday , you have to do it this way, and Members don't have to take a 7 day vacation , the issue is the advance booking credit is used inside this window, you can go for less days, the days you don't use then become Space Available booking daysfor you to use in the future ...

You also have to remember for international travel .. if you go to Europe they are ahead of the US , so you arrive the next day usually , and when you come back you will arrive the same day you left on the Sunday generally, due to the dateline .... also if you go to the pacific from the US they are 19 hours ahead, and when you come back you arrive the day you left there ... so there is more to it than just Sunday to Sunday ...

If we made it Sat / Sat you will annoy Members who want to "last minute" go for the weekend , and find that someone has booked until Sat, so they have to arrive on Sat ... the idea is to break it into Sun - Sun and then Mon - Thurs or Friday - Sun , or any number of days that a Member wants ....

We want members to have as much flexibility as possible so are continually reviewing the rules , and taking advice from active members .... so i will be feeding all of the above feedback into the mix as well, so we can continually improve the access ...

So much appreciated the above commentary ....

Cheers

Nick
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
I looked over DHH reasonably closely, but in the end went with HCC as a 2nd DC membership. While I liked alot of what I saw with DHH, there were several downsides in our particular situation:

PRO DHH

  • International emphasis
  • The Yachts!!
  • The expanded services, such as maid and/or butler on-site, RT airport transfers, and luxury car on-site.

CONS

  • Reservation must be Sunday to Sunday; this is really hard, especially with international destinations, where you either have to send the kids back to school with jet-lag or have them miss the Monday... Why sit around twiddling your thumbs on a Saturday, then leave on Sunday, and get back with no time to catch up before Monday morning? IMHO, Sat-Sat is infinately preferable.
  • "Lite" members (the $25K entry point) cannot use the 86' motoryacht, as it requires 8 days plus two advanced booking credits... Other future homes may also require more than one day per night of usage.
  • Cost per night is substantially higher than HCC, PE, etc., even after accounting for F&B credit, car, etc.

Just my thoughts... Do others agree that a Sun-Sun is difficult, esp. for international travel?

Appreciate the list of pluses :) thanks ...

Re the costs , you really can't compare us to HCC, our homes are a better standard of almost every ER home and currently we are technically a fraction of the ER price to join and our annual dues are less, with many more benefits included such as cars, food & Bev etc ...

I accept of course everyone has different needs and we are not going to meet them all, i tried when i first set out to do this to aim for homes in the $1 Million dollar range, but you just cant get the standard that will impress at that budget level ...

We wanted people to stay in Destinations which would blow them away , both in location , and in the size and quality of the property , along with the furnishings and amenities , and sadly to deliver this , we found we needed to spend over $2 mill a home ,and after experimenting , we felt we had to deliver the level of amenities we do , to make it really work for our Members , so that it really is a vacation , for the whole family , including Mom ... hence the laundry service, Food & Beverage already taken care of , daily housekeeping, breakfast prepared daily , car ready to go , etc etc ...
 

LTTravel

newbie
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
210
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Nick,

Your responses are truly impressive.(Even on a holiday weekend-just joking, I know that it is not labor day weekend in New Zealand) I do not think that I will be able to resist the temptation to join. I was going to join at Lite to try it but now I will have to think some more about it. You are clearing my original doubt about DHH being able to deliver.
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Nick,

Your responses are truly impressive.(Even on a holiday weekend-just joking, I know that it is not labor day weekend in New Zealand) I do not think that I will be able to resist the temptation to join. I was going to join at Lite to try it but now I will have to think some more about it. You are clearing my original doubt about DHH being able to deliver.

It's Fathers Day here today ( Sunday ), should be chilling, but i looked at my email ( dumb move :eek: ) and so couldn't help myself .... i have staff all around the world, on all different time zones , so i find my job is a little 24 hours a day anyway ....( i secretly love it anyway, it is my hobby and my job, you can't bet that .... )

Happy to have you aboard at what ever level suits you .....this forum is so very useful for gaining real time feedback on things ... i am glad it was brought to my attention .....

Ethan my 7 year old wants to kick a soccer ball ... so i am done for now :)
 

puffpuff

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
127
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Location
So. California
It's Fathers Day here today ( Sunday ), should be chilling, but i looked at my email ( dumb move :eek: ) and so couldn't help myself .... i have staff all around the world, on all different time zones , so i find my job is a little 24 hours a day anyway ....( i secretly love it anyway, it is my hobby and my job, you can't bet that .... )

Happy to have you aboard at what ever level suits you .....this forum is so very useful for gaining real time feedback on things ... i am glad it was brought to my attention .....

Ethan my 7 year old wants to kick a soccer ball ... so i am done for now :)
1. It takes 8 days and two reseravaton to use the 86 yacht, those with 7 days per year plan will be excluded , am I right ?

2. The yachts are stationed in Europe and south pacific, but none in the America, is taht correct? If not, where and when?

3. Food allowance is based on grocery cost of purchase? As a vegetarian and not a drinker.

4. All clubs starting out give their charter members the option to upgrade to more extensive plans within a time window where the upgrade diffenece is based on current prevailiing rate. Is this being contemplated. I believe this is a major draw to overcome and instill confidence in DHH as a bonus to those who take chances today. The downside to DHH is zero. EArly adopters take chances and should be rewarded heavily.
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
1. It takes 8 days and two reseravaton to use the 86 yacht, those with 7 days per year plan will be excluded , am I right ?

2. The yachts are stationed in Europe and south pacific, but none in the America, is taht correct? If not, where and when?

3. Food allowance is based on grocery cost of purchase? As a vegetarian and not a drinker.

4. All clubs starting out give their charter members the option to upgrade to more extensive plans within a time window where the upgrade diffenece is based on current prevailiing rate. Is this being contemplated. I believe this is a major draw to overcome and instill confidence in DHH as a bonus to those who take chances today. The downside to DHH is zero. EArly adopters take chances and should be rewarded heavily.

Response:

1. Not excluded , as you can bring a week from next year and use it this year , or wait until it is 30 days from your stay , and book it using your week plus 1 SAB day at $300 or use your week elsewhere and then just wait until 30 days out , and then use 8 x $300 SAB days to go for a week ....

2. Yes , but we are working on a 86 ft yacht for the Caribbean which we hope to have in place for this season ....

3. Yes , cost of purchase, and you choose what you want , and how much , we provide an allowance to stock the home ahead of arrival ... some people use more or less than the allowance , depends on the number of people staying and what you prefer to eat / drink ....

4. We will take this under consideration , as it is a valid point , however we are exceedingly inexpensive at the moment ...i will respond to this within the week ....
 

LTTravel

newbie
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
210
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Response:



4. We will take this under consideration , as it is a valid point , however we are exceedingly inexpensive at the moment ...i will respond to this within the week ....
Nick
If this is in place, it will be an absolute no brainer to join. :cheer:

Just want to make a comment about your web site, since you do look at this thread for useful feedback
1. The main photos of the destinations are great. The thumbnails in the bottom right corner are not clear and do not give your destinations justice. I think that most people who consider DC's are internet savvy and will scour the web sites, I think that full size pictures will offer a better representation of your wonderful destinations. Perhaps even a link to a PDF of your brochure.
2. There is an error in calculation under your column, Membership, Dollars and Sense, Review the Figures in Detail. Under Rental property you have;
Motor Vehicle $4200 (OK, conservative figure)
Vacation Costs $3600 (To be fair to DHH, it should be $4000)
Nightly Charges $70,000 ($2500/day, a fair figure for this quality)

Total $77,800 for 28 days

Daily Cost $1691 (Where did this come from? Should be:
$77,800/28 or $2779)


Hope this is helpful

Those fuel costs for an 86ft motor yacht are a killer($400 for every 20 nautical miles, :bawl:) . How about another sailboat in the Carribean? I will try to convince others to join.
 

Kagehitokiri

newbie
Joined
Aug 8, 2006
Messages
706
Reaction score
0
Points
16
nick said:
Deluxe members will have a SAB window of 90 days vs the 60 at present
very good! i presume you mean premium, correct? (#1) deluxe is currently 90 days.

nick said:
allows us time to open property to cover membership growth.
instead of waitlisting, very interesting.

nick said:
You have saved him a bunch of money , while he would still only get $80,000 back when he leaves ....you would no doubt have a discussion about what it was worth for him to save all that money ....
VERY interesting! so you just pay a $5K fee to the club to transfer the membership? (#2)

nick said:
I personally prefer the 53' yacht
value is great, although IMHO the interior design of the 65' is better. too bad its the one farther away. OTOH gives me another reason to make a trip over there :)

LTTravel said:
Those fuel costs for an 86ft motor yacht are a killer($400 for every 20 nautical miles, ) . How about another sailboat in the Carribean? .
agreed - i also like the "romance" of sailing :D (as in the feeling of tradition/history/etc)

-----

i definitely like what im hearing about your property/destination selection strategies, many of your policies, and your pricing. :clap:

-----

one clarification - re use by children - can they also use the space available(SAB?) nights? (#3)

also, correct me if i am wrong, but wasnt one of the yachts either in Martha's Vineyard/Bahamas earlier this year, or scheduled to be later this year until a scheduling change? (#4)
 
Last edited:

puffpuff

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
127
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Location
So. California
Response:

1. Not excluded , as you can bring a week from next year and use it this year , or wait until it is 30 days from your stay , and book it using your week plus 1 SAB day at $300 or use your week elsewhere and then just wait until 30 days out , and then use 8 x $300 SAB days to go for a week ....

2. Yes , but we are working on a 86 ft yacht for the Caribbean which we hope to have in place for this season ....

3. Yes , cost of purchase, and you choose what you want , and how much , we provide an allowance to stock the home ahead of arrival ... some people use more or less than the allowance , depends on the number of people staying and what you prefer to eat / drink ....

4. We will take this under consideration , as it is a valid point , however we are exceedingly inexpensive at the moment ...i will respond to this within the week ....
1. to avoid confusion, when I say the "current and prevailing" rate, I mean the rack rate at the time of joing membership.

I believe that a three year window for members joining now to upgrade is fair. Most clubs offer this now when it comes down to closing the deal as there is simply no down side.


2. The other clincher is to offer some upside appreciation in membership fee, provided that the member stays in the club for a certain period of time. Statistics show that those who stay around for three years and happy do not leave. That is already proven. On the contrary ,they act as the best salesman for you to recruit new members because they already know the system and they want their friends to do things together within the same system. Members are thus lock in for you over time and you can count on their repeat annual dues. UR and Cresendo have similar packages. The days of 80% straight refund without upside is something of the past unless you are ER. Too much competition out there.

I would suggest something like:

90% of prevailing membership price for members in the club five or more years
80% of prevailing membership price for memebrs in the club 3-5 years
80% of price paid for membersship under three years as you currently have unchanged.

as the club gets stronger, you can choose to stop this in time or simply extend the time period out longer to have a carrot out there for new members, but not as good as charter members. Its a win win for club and members. Now you can also label yourself as a "equity" type club- another good sales point.

I belivee if you adopt the above , togehter with a three year upgrade window. you are giving away nothing in practical terms, but gaining confidence and overcome and cover all the basis of why people dont want to joinn. As well, and most important, you are locking in long term members without maketing cost and eliminate drop out , but guarantees you recurrent and rising annual dues revenue stream in this early phase. This type of carrot you throw out does not affact cash flow . This is not the same as offering too much service you cannot deliver which affact cash flow.

THese two suggestions are cash flow neutral to positive, annual fee positive. Almost all clubs all have done similar programs when they started out. No one complaint then and no one complain now. Only people who miss it kicks themselvs, and those who have it stay on as members and will never leave. Win win for operator and member.

Because DHH is so new and DC as a whole is still a young concept, you are not goign to get 200 people to join even before SEpt 30, 2007 even if you offer the two suggestions. So the max you have is say 30-50 members, but this will be your core group to start spreadinig the word for you. So in the worse worse case senerio, and say you have a redemption rate of of one in four, your down side is 10 members taking "advantage" of this 5 years down the line, when you arleady would have hundreds of members, making this redemption, even if carried out en mass, meaningless in the overall scheme of things. But you have locked in 5 years of annual dues in a stroke, so in the worse case, you still come out ahead in cash flow while any redempton may or may not happen until 5 years out.

The bottom line is that whatever you do in this charter period is only going to affact a small number of people. But this is the key group taht will be your ambassador . They will save you a lot of $$$ in markting cost. That alone is worth hundreds times more $$$$$$. The more carrot you throw out provide that it is not immedaite cash flow negative, the better it is for you over time in my opinion.

The complete charter package :

1. 25k joing fee for 7 days unchanged
2. $1000 a day with all the amenties you promised unchanged
3. Ability to roll foward as you already have in place now
4. Abiliy to upgrade within 3 years
5. participate in the appreciation of membership fee with lock in period

Who would not join if they are half way serious? All this done at practically no down side to you.
 

Kagehitokiri

newbie
Joined
Aug 8, 2006
Messages
706
Reaction score
0
Points
16
IMHO their model for "equity" is very interesting, as it takes it out of their hands and puts it in your own - allowing you to "resell" your membership. >

nick said:
5. You can find someone to take your place , not your membership , you are refunded the 80 % , and they pay what you were refunded to join, they can also take over any bookings you had in the system at the time. However they are on a new membership , and yours is canceled. Eg say in 10 years a 4 week membership is $400,000 and you wanted to leave and were owed 80,000 back ( 80 % of 100,000 ) you could invite a friend to take your place , they would pay $80,000 and you would get back your $80,000. Now your friend if he had have joined of the street, just his non refundable part would have been $80,000. You have saved him a bunch of money , while he would still only get $80,000 back when he leaves ....you would no doubt have a discussion about what it was worth for him to save all that money ....
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Nick
If this is in place, it will be an absolute no brainer to join. :cheer:

Just want to make a comment about your web site, since you do look at this thread for useful feedback
1. The main photos of the destinations are great. The thumbnails in the bottom right corner are not clear and do not give your destinations justice. I think that most people who consider DC's are internet savvy and will scour the web sites, I think that full size pictures will offer a better representation of your wonderful destinations. Perhaps even a link to a PDF of your brochure.
2. There is an error in calculation under your column, Membership, Dollars and Sense, Review the Figures in Detail. Under Rental property you have;
Motor Vehicle $4200 (OK, conservative figure)
Vacation Costs $3600 (To be fair to DHH, it should be $4000)
Nightly Charges $70,000 ($2500/day, a fair figure for this quality)

Total $77,800 for 28 days

Daily Cost $1691 (Where did this come from? Should be:
$77,800/28 or $2779)


Hope this is helpful

Those fuel costs for an 86ft motor yacht are a killer($400 for every 20 nautical miles, :bawl:) . How about another sailboat in the Carribean? I will try to convince others to join.


My fault , you can click on the thumb nails and they become big pictures , just not that obvious is it ....will see what we can do to make it more obvious ...

And yes a typo re the numbers should be $2779 ....must of happened when we change the site recently , thanks for the heads up , i will get programmers to change ...

The plan is to have at least 1 of each size yacht in each region , so there will be more choices in that area as soon as we add enough members in the US ..
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
very good! i presume you mean premium, correct? (#1) deluxe is currently 90 days.

instead of waitlisting, very interesting.

VERY interesting! so you just pay a $5K fee to the club to transfer the membership? (#2)

value is great, although IMHO the interior design of the 65' is better. too bad its the one farther away. OTOH gives me another reason to make a trip over there :)

agreed - i also like the "romance" of sailing :D (as in the feeling of tradition/history/etc)

-----

i definitely like what im hearing about your property/destination selection strategies, many of your policies, and your pricing. :clap:

-----

one clarification - re use by children - can they also use the space available(SAB?) nights? (#3)

also, correct me if i am wrong, but wasnt one of the yachts either in Martha's Vineyard/Bahamas earlier this year, or scheduled to be later this year until a scheduling change? (#4)


Sorry , i am not quite getting the question re children ?

No the yachts were not going to be in Martha's / Bahamas ... but they will be in the future :)
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
1. to avoid confusion, when I say the "current and prevailing" rate, I mean the rack rate at the time of joing membership.

I believe that a three year window for members joining now to upgrade is fair. Most clubs offer this now when it comes down to closing the deal as there is simply no down side.


2. The other clincher is to offer some upside appreciation in membership fee, provided that the member stays in the club for a certain period of time. Statistics show that those who stay around for three years and happy do not leave. That is already proven. On the contrary ,they act as the best salesman for you to recruit new members because they already know the system and they want their friends to do things together within the same system. Members are thus lock in for you over time and you can count on their repeat annual dues. UR and Cresendo have similar packages. The days of 80% straight refund without upside is something of the past unless you are ER. Too much competition out there.

I would suggest something like:

90% of prevailing membership price for members in the club five or more years
80% of prevailing membership price for memebrs in the club 3-5 years
80% of price paid for membersship under three years as you currently have unchanged.

as the club gets stronger, you can choose to stop this in time or simply extend the time period out longer to have a carrot out there for new members, but not as good as charter members. Its a win win for club and members. Now you can also label yourself as a "equity" type club- another good sales point.

I belivee if you adopt the above , togehter with a three year upgrade window. you are giving away nothing in practical terms, but gaining confidence and overcome and cover all the basis of why people dont want to joinn. As well, and most important, you are locking in long term members without maketing cost and eliminate drop out , but guarantees you recurrent and rising annual dues revenue stream in this early phase. This type of carrot you throw out does not affact cash flow . This is not the same as offering too much service you cannot deliver which affact cash flow.

THese two suggestions are cash flow neutral to positive, annual fee positive. Almost all clubs all have done similar programs when they started out. No one complaint then and no one complain now. Only people who miss it kicks themselvs, and those who have it stay on as members and will never leave. Win win for operator and member.

Because DHH is so new and DC as a whole is still a young concept, you are not goign to get 200 people to join even before SEpt 30, 2007 even if you offer the two suggestions. So the max you have is say 30-50 members, but this will be your core group to start spreadinig the word for you. So in the worse worse case senerio, and say you have a redemption rate of of one in four, your down side is 10 members taking "advantage" of this 5 years down the line, when you arleady would have hundreds of members, making this redemption, even if carried out en mass, meaningless in the overall scheme of things. But you have locked in 5 years of annual dues in a stroke, so in the worse case, you still come out ahead in cash flow while any redempton may or may not happen until 5 years out.

The bottom line is that whatever you do in this charter period is only going to affact a small number of people. But this is the key group taht will be your ambassador . They will save you a lot of $$$ in markting cost. That alone is worth hundreds times more $$$$$$. The more carrot you throw out provide that it is not immedaite cash flow negative, the better it is for you over time in my opinion.

The complete charter package :

1. 25k joing fee for 7 days unchanged
2. $1000 a day with all the amenties you promised unchanged
3. Ability to roll foward as you already have in place now
4. Abiliy to upgrade within 3 years
5. participate in the appreciation of membership fee with lock in period

Who would not join if they are half way serious? All this done at practically no down side to you.

I get your point .....and i understand your request ....

However i am not having any problem signing Members at present, nor does it matter to us how quickly we sign them, as our Resort in Fiji covers 100 % of our opex ... so we can run forever so to speak ...

We did not want to be in the "same box" as other clubs , with some crazy need to had members quickly ...

Our original business model called for membership appreciation in value, unfortunately after extensive legal advice , we are very clear that anything that returns you more money than you started with "from the club" is an investment, and then is caught by the Securities Requirements of every country you operate in, and this requires a whole different way of doing things. Many of the clubs currently offering this option are incorrectly structured for this , and will run into serious issues in the near term...

I am open to the idea of allowing a time window for upgrade to people who are early adopters , so they can pay the same amount , for some time in the future ... will be back with a response re this within the week ...
 

Kagehitokiri

newbie
Joined
Aug 8, 2006
Messages
706
Reaction score
0
Points
16
thats odd, i would have sworn i saw those destinations on a yacht schedule originally..
(when i made this post http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=368369&postcount=4)

can members' children book SAB nights @ $300 rate?

it is the premium membership SAB window that is changing from 60 to 90 days, correct?

and so there is a $5K fee when transferring membership?
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
thats odd, i would have sworn i saw those destinations on a yacht schedule originally..
(when i made this post http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=368369&postcount=4)

can members' children book SAB nights @ $300 rate?


it is the premium membership SAB window that is changing from 60 to 90 days, correct?

and so there is a $5K fee when transferring membership?

No , must have been wishful thinking :) , but we will have that on the agenda.

No Adult children of members can only stay without the member Present using family Days , which can only be used with your actual days....

Yes Premium , my mistake ...
 

LTTravel

newbie
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
210
Reaction score
0
Points
16
I am open to the idea of allowing a time window for upgrade to people who are early adopters , so they can pay the same amount , for some time in the future ... will be back with a response re this within the week ...

Am looking forward to your decision on this.
 
Top