travel

Timeshare scams have spread all over the nation as governments and attorney generals warn the public. The latest area that has been experiencing this scam is Palm Beach County. The clerk and comptroller for the county recently released a statement warning timeshare owners to “beware of people posing as court clerk employees seeking fees related to timeshare resales”.

The latest victim was a senior citizen who received a call from a person identifying themselves as Rebecca Reynolds from the clerk’s Division of Affidavits and Fraud. She called to inform the timeshare owner that he was responsible in paying the fees associated with the lawsuit against fraudulent timeshare resale companies.

The clerk’s office warns timeshare owners that no one from that office would ever call asking for payments. If you receive a call asking for payments hang up and report them.

If you are tired of your timeshare and want to get out, contact Transfer Smart today.

As China’s economy grows and its government accepts greater amounts of its people to leave its shores and explore the world, Chinese-born tourists are causing hotel rates to rise across Europe.

“Where you’re seeing a big pickup in (revenue per available room) is in cities where the Chinese have an influence and are traveling, because they fill the lower end of hotels and then the whole toothpaste tube fills – from the bottom up,” according to Starwood Property Trust CEO Barry Sternlicht.

Chinese travelers’ favorite destinations include Rome, Barcelona and London. They are driving all lodging business upwards; not staying at budget places either, increasingly choosing 5-star hotel rooms.

The recent recession hit Americans and Europeans hard, but not so much the Chinese. They are buying cars at record rates, and traveling the world like never before. China’s emergence as an economic superpower is “changing the dynamics of this market,” Sternlicht continued.

Santiago, Chile, with the Andes in the background.

Renaissance Hotel Group, the luxury brand of Marriott International, has announced the building of a new resort in Chile.

The new hotel will have almost 200 rooms and be located on Avenida Kennedy in Vitacura district, Santiago. It will feature a restaurant affiliated with one of Chile’s most prominent chefs and a coffee bar and lounge. As expected with the renaissance brand, there will be a gym, a pool, conference rooms, a gift shop and a ballroom.

Renaissance brands are tailored to the local markets in which they are located. In Chile, authentic Chilean beef will be served in the restaurant, and the rooms will be appointed with classic Chilean décor. “We are thrilled to be bringing the Renaissance lifestyle brand to Santiago,” said Julio Salvador, President of Altamira Grupo Inmobiliario, the group entrusted with developing the property. “With its prime location in the prestigious Vitacura district and proximity to major businesses and attractions, we know that it will be a very successful property.”

Marriott expects the Renaissance Santiago location to rival the luxury found at other famous Renaissance hotels, such as the St. Pancras Renaissance in London and the Renaissance Sao Paulo. If timeshares are sold at this resort, Transfer Smart can get you out of your contract.

Turning the Priceline/Orbitz model on its head, Backbid.com allows hotels to bid on you.

Priceline.com was the name-your-own-price innovator, launching in 1998. Many travel agents have said it changed the very nature of travel, taking the personal trip advisor and cutting them out, offering bare-bones deals for the consumer. The role of travel agent has greatly decreased, something I wrote about here. It’s one of the top ten “Dying Professions,” decreasing in number by 41% over the last six years. Unfortunately, this doesn’t also apply to timeshare sales.

It also changed the industry by sheer amount of information offered alone. The casual traveler didn’t know what the rates were for different hotels, especially upscale ones. Priceline not only made the consumer knowledgeable but expanded their options with everything from car rentals to the flights themselves.

Such power in the hands of the consumer is borderline dangerous to the hotel industry.  “What if every time you bought an item from the grocery store, an article of clothing or a piece of furniture, once you got home you had competing stores offering to sell you the same item for a cheaper price?” asks Jason Q Freed, editor of Hotelnewsnow.com.

Backbid.com works like this. Tell the site you are going to a certain locale, and name your dates and price range. You have to have an existing hotel reservation. This is why hoteliers don’t like it. You have to break your reservation with one hotel, and accept a reservation from a new hotel. In many cases, you can get a room that’s nicer and less expensive than what you originally found.

This business model can extend to everything travel related, from car rental to flights as well. The industry may turn back the tide by not offering refunds on reservations. This in turn can lead to consumers only using hotels that offer the ability to break reservations, increasing their business but also potentially damaging it- after all, if they offer a hotel for $200 and get out-bid post-reservation for $199 every time, and the consumer must take the cheapest price, it can be damaging for all hotels.

The only cure would be for businesses to all agree not to use Backbid. This is a nearly impossible task. Businesses will do anything to make money, especially hotels and timeshare resorts in a down economy that has seen the vacation industry tank over the last five years. Oddly enough, one consumer actually got a Backbid discount bid from the hotel he had actually made the reservation with and saved $39.

York Beach, Maine.

The DoubleTree Hotel in Maine’s biggest city will offer timeshare suites as part of their renovations. While Maine isn’t usually looked at as a hotbed of tourist activity, and therefore usually passed over by timeshare shelling resorts, the head of Hilton sees potential in the market.

“DoubleTree by Hilton now welcomes our loyal business and leisure customers to stay with us in Maine, with the opening of the newly renovated DoubleTree by Hilton Portland Maine. This newest New England DoubleTree by Hilton hotel location extends our commitment to welcoming the world’s travelers in key destinations and providing a comfortable, amenity-rich hotel experience for visitors and residents alike to work and play,” says Rob Palleschi, spokesman for DoubleTree by Hilton.

The New England DoubleTree has upgraded its restaurants, amount of rooms, and expanded its offered services in order to make the place more of a resort and less of a hotel. It already had a premium location, two miles from the Portland Airport and directly across the street from the Maine Mall.

El Chaltén

While we at Transfer Smart never recommend timeshares, but Argentina is such a beautiful place it may be one where a traveler could get swept up in the moment and purchase one. Yikes! After doing careful research, I’ve found what I think are the best beach, restaurant, nightclub and nature sighting. Because we all like specifics, right?

For beach choice go to the Mar Del Plata. It’s called “Argentina’s Miami.” A massive, vibrant, sexy crowd, world-class shopping and even some nature (seal sightings!) make this a can’t-miss.

Argentina’s most famous food product is its steak, or bife. They cook it with coarse salt and fire. That’s all. Pair a parilla completa with a red Gestos wine and you’ll be in heaven. Visit the world-renowned El Viejo Almacenz in Rio for five star dining and authentic live musica.

The tango is the first drink that comes to mind when you think of Argentina, Not the samba. That would be that rival country to the north that speaks Portuguese. Its passion hasn’t escaped the youth culture, and can be found in the biggest nightclubs of Buenos Aires. According to the Buenos Airés Nightlife Guide, the best nightclub is the Fiesta Bubamara. Locals, students and foreigners enjoy electronic music influenced by European DJ’s. The crowd is friendly and it stays open till 6AM on the weekends.

The nature sighting is a pretty easy one. The Foz do Iguacu, or Iguazu Falls, is one of the world’s longest and most spectacular waterfalls. On the Argentinian side, you can touch the water; on the Brazilian side you get the better view. If you’re in the far south of the country, check out the glaciers. People forget that the southernmost part of Argentina is less than 100 miles from Antartica!

The world’s largest Legoland, LEGOLAND Florida, is offering new deals and promotions to entice people to visit them this summer. At 150 acres, it is the world’s largest Legoland, and since it opened in October of last year it’s also the newest. As 2012 will be their first full summer, they want to make a big splash for their inaugural busy season.

Much like a G-rated movie, the park is marketed to kids and their families. On May 26th they will open their Water Park, and new rollercoasters will also open over the summer. There are 50 rides already, with different ones aimed at adults, big kids and small children. The Duplo brand is obviously aimed at the smallest children.

Adults will like the “Island in the Sky” ride, where a rotating platform rises 150 feet into the air and gives you a view of central Florida from 15 stories up. They should also enjoy much of Florida’s first theme park, Cypress Gardens, as many acres of it were preserved. The teenage crowd may enjoy videogames at home however, as very few rides are aimed towards them. Of course the big draw for all is all the inspired ideas one can do with Legos. The Studio City store has a life-sized Lego Darth Vader in front of it, and there are Lego recreations of Tampa and New York’s skylines. There aren’t any plans for a Legoland Resort or Timeshare business yet but we’ll keep you updated.

One-Day adult passes are $75 and kids/seniors are $65, but buying online will take $7 off those prices. Further discounts can be found by buying in groups of 15 or annually.

Legoland Florida‎
1 Legoland Way,
Winter Haven, Florida 33884

Kirkwood Mountain Resort, one of the largest ski resorts in California, was purchased by Vail Resorts of Colorado for $18 million.

Vail Resorts already owns the Northstar California and Heavenly Mountain Resorts. They are looking at numerous other properties around the western United States in order to further expand their business. Effective immediately, pass holders at Northstar and Heavenly Mountain will be able to use the Kirkwood facilities. It will be the smallest of Vail Resort’s ski resort properties. A limited number of rooms at Kirkwood are dedicated to timeshares. Kirkwood is about 35 miles south of Lake Tahoe.

Timeshare Mega Media and Marketing Group, an illegitimate “company,” that claimed to resale timeshares, now has four more people going to prison. Eric Friedman, Alvaro Rodriguez, Hernando Osorio and Joseph Ackermann are all charged with defrauding customers and violating FTC rules regarding the Do Not Call registry.

Since last year, nineteen former employees of TMMMG have been charged and sentenced by the FBI, all receiving prison terms ranging from five to thirty-three months. Investigators say the company made $5 million in one year, and some individual clients paid up to $10,000 to earn what they thought was a way out of their timeshare deeds.

Prosecutors say there were never any buyers and they are now in the process of getting the company to award restitution to the many people they defrauded.

The Kremlin at night.

Russia to the common Westerner can conjure images of blizzards, communism, and lawless towns ruled by gangsters. Many tourism sites agree that most of the country is not conducive to the Western traveler. But the tourist attractions in Moscow and St. Petersburg are world class.

In Moscow the Kremlin is a can’t-miss. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and boasts amazingly unique architecture. There are also many famous Russian Orthodox churches nearby, and the entire city of Moscow is steeped in history. Deserted warehouses have been turned into underground clubs. Concert halls perform Chekov as well as contemporary composers, and cafés and bars abound.

St. Petersburg was the capital of Russia from 1713 to 1728 and from 1732 to 1918. Much closer geographically and culturally to Western Europe than Moscow, it is home to lavish churches, palaces and canals. So much so you can really appreciate the city by boat tour. It is home to the State Hermitage Museum, which has over three million works of art and historical artifacts.