IV *International Herald Tribune | ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT | Friday, September 19, 2008

FAMILY TRAVEL | Toy concierges and bubble discos

Have family will travel — in style, of course

DESTINATION CLUBS | Luxury fractional ownership

Upmarket vacation alternative to timeshare investments

M any hotel groups around the worldare offering fractional club mem-bership and private-residence

ownership at their luxury properties — al-lowing participants to enjoy the pamperingand privileges such clubs offer without theaggravations of owning a property outright.

By purchasing a share at a “destinationclub,” buyers can vacation at a property andenjoy all its amenities in a more cost-effec-tive way than they would if they whollyowned a vacation home.

Shares normally range from one-quarterto one-twelfth ownership. At the moment,prices range from some $40,000 to morethan $1 million, depending on share, loca-tion, size of the property and the level of lux-ury afforded.

Luxury fractional ownership is similar totraditional timeshares, as it offers deededproperty with the same rights and chancesof appreciation or depreciation as other realestate transactions. But it differs in the levelof luxury, services and amenities.

With luxury fractional ownership, the titleis usually conveyed to the owner by a co-beneficiary interest in a trust, which is recor-ded and guaranteed by a title insurancepolicy. Each owner holds a simple interest inone or more homes, which can be sold,willed or transferred by the owner.

Services offered at many clubs includepre- and postarrival concierge services thatrange from stocking the refrigerator to ar-ranging tee times and prepping skis to dailymaid service and even placing family photosin the unit. Airport shuttles, “free” use of acar and family storage facilities are also in-cluded at some clubs.

Targeting mainly the 78 million babyboomers in the United States who are plan-ning to retire in the next 15 years and whohave an estimated $1 trillion in disposableincome, the Ritz-Carlton says that its frac-tional and wholly owned residences are“firmly positioned for tremendous growthopportunities.”

Golden years

“Baby boomers have revolutionized theterm retirement,” says John Cottrill, the se-nior vice president of Ritz-Carlton Club andResidences, based in Orlando, Florida.“Many work well into their golden years,while increasing leisure time and activities

such as traveling, spending time with theirfamilies and seeking new and one-of-a-kindexperiences.”

According to Cottrill, most second homesare used an average of two to four weeks ayear. The current Ritz-Carlton destinationclub portfolio runs a broad gamut, from ski-ing in Aspen or Bachelor Gulch, Colorado tolounging on the beaches of Grand Caymanor Abaco in the Bahamas or enjoying thecosmopolitan urban lifestyles of San Fran-cisco or New York.

New properties are planned for Chicagoin Illinois, Lake Tahoe in California; KapaluaBay and Kauai Lagoons in Hawaii, SouthBeach in Miami, and the Turks and Caicos Is-lands in the Caribbean.

Membership services at their ski loca-tions include having boots warmed and skisready and waiting beside the ski lift. In Color-ado, a “ski nanny” is on hand to meet thechildren at the residence and escort themthrough the rental process and ski school.At day’s end, the kids are accompanied totheir own après-ski party.

Golfers have the choice of a traditionalwalking caddy or a forecaddie armed with in-formation on each hole, the strategy forplaying it and the exact yardage and knowl-edge of the putting surfaces.

Banyan Tree Private Collection claims tobe the first asset-backed destination club inAsia offering perpetual and transferablemembership. Members enjoy one week’sstay per year at any of Banyan Tree’s villasfor 50 years.

Besides its traditional destinations inAsia and the Indian Ocean, the group has ac-quired properties in London, Tuscany andProvence, with plans to include Barbados,Mexico, Greece, Morocco and India in thenetwork. Membership costs a one-time feeof $120,000, plus $3,000 annual dues.

Fairmont Heritage Place (FHP) is the ex-clusive private residence club of the Fair-mont Hotels and Resorts group. Among itscurrent locations are Acapulco in Mexico,Telluride in Colorado and St. James in Barba-dos. More properties in Vail, Colorado andPunta Cana, Dominican Republic are in thepipeline.

Owners have reciprocal-use options thatallow them to trade their vacation time atany other FHP location or any property in theFairmont hotel portfolio. Participants arealso entitled to membership in the FairmontPresident’s Circle, which includes upgradesand many other privileges at Fairmont prop-erties worldwide.

J.C.

F or many of the world’s wealthy, true re-laxation can be obtained only in sur-roundings that offer the ultimate in pri-

vacy and safety. Many high-profile peoplerecognize that owning one’s own island isamong the few reliable ways to completelyescape the pressures of work, curious on-lookers and the paparazzi.

Today’s famous island-ownersinclude Johnny Depp, NicolasCage, Brooke Shields, RichardBranson and Ted Turner.

Farhad Vladi, one of the world’smost prominent private islandbrokers, estimates that there areabout 30 island transactions ayear. Brokering island sales andrentals for more than 30 years,Vladi Private Islands has soldsome 2,000 islands to date. Themost expensive island for sale onVladi’s Web site (www.vladi-private-islands.de) is Great HansLollik in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a500-acre (202 hectare) patch ofsand and tropical vegetation thatis available for $45 million.

Vladi divides the islands into two maincategories: ‘‘quality islands’’ that are veryhabitable, close to infrastructure, not too farfrom the mainland and with easy access tomedical care; and ‘‘adventurer islands,’’which don’t offer these advantages.

‘‘We can see today that the quality is-lands are sought after by people who intendto personally use these islands — in gener-al off Europe, North America, New Zealandand Australia,’’ says Vladi. ‘‘On the otherhand, investors tend to buy adventurer is-lands in the hope of selling them for more ata later date, as these are inexpensive prop-erties.’’

Quality is scarce

Vladi bemoans the fact, however, thatquality islands are almost always in shortsupply as their owners tend to hold ontothem for some time because they arestrongly attached to them emotionally, andthe islands are stable financial assets.

One of Vladi’s hot properties at the mo-

Ritz-Carlton’s destination club portfolio includes ski resorts such as Aspen, Colorado.

I n the not-too-distant past, a typical familyvacation consisted of taking thecheapest charter flight to some budget

Mediterranean sun spot or piling the kids,dog and camping gear into the back of thecar for a road trip to various national parks.

How times have changed. Nowadays,some of the world’s most luxurious hotelgroups and travel companies are going outof their way to cater to family travel withproducts and services that were unimagin-able just a few years ago.

The prestigious St. Regis hotel in Wash-ington, D.C. — known for accommodatingpresidents and prime ministers rather thanpreteens — recently added a“toy concierge” who deliversDVDs such as ‘‘Mary Poppins’’and ‘‘Star Wars,’’ or goodiesfrom an “FAO Schwartz ToyTreasure Chest” that includeseverything from Candyland andScrabble games to Lego kitsand carpet skates.

Even hotel chains that havetraditionally catered to grown-ups are becoming more kid-friendly. The brand SuperClubs — whichgained worldwide fame for its adults-onlyHedonism Resorts — has created a newbrand called Starfish especially for thosewith children. With beachside locations inBrazil and Jamaica, Starfish keeps youngones entertained with everything fromtrapeze lessons and rock climbing to giantwater slides, banana boat rides and bubblediscos (rooms filled with bubbles for the kidsto run, slide and dance through).

Some hotels blend fun and learning, likethe Cape Sounio Grecotel Exclusive Resortnear Athens, which sits on the edge of boththe Aegean Sea and a national park protect-ing ancient ruins. Created by the oceano-grapher Jean-Michel Cousteau, the resortfeatures an “Ambassadors of the Environ-ment” children’s program, which includessnorkeling, stargazing, underwater photo-

graphy, kayaking, team challenges and envi-ronmental science workshops. “Through afascinating series of activities over and un-der the seabed, junior guests learn moreabout their world and how to get a deep re-spect for nature,” says Sarah Clark, vicepresident of marketing for the PreferredHotel Group, which includes the CapeSounio resort. “Kids play and learn togetherwith the most famous family in ocean dis-covery — the Cousteaus.”

The new Park Hyatt Beijing, located in theChinese capital’s highest building, will alsohave family programs that combine amuse-ment and education. “When serving a family,

instead of offering a standardfamily package, our experiencedconcierge team will identify theneeds of the family membersand personalize their itineraryaccordingly,” says the hotel’shead concierge, Benny Xiao BinZhao. “If a family is interested inlearning more about local cul-ture and hutongs [houses alongnarrow lanes],’’ says Zhao,‘‘then we could potentially ar-

range a rickshaw tour. If the family is inter-ested in contemporary art, then we could ar-range a guided tour to the 798 Art District.The key is to make the Beijing experiencerelevant and memorable for each of ourguests.”

Around the world, Hyatt has developedall sorts of programs and services foryounger guests. The Park Hyatt Saigon of-fers baby bath amenities, bottles with asteam sterilizer, cribs, table-edge guardsand a special selection of DVDs.

At the Grand Hyatt Bali, kids can learnBalinese arts and crafts. At the Grand HyattKauai Resort and Spa in Hawaii, childrencan take hula lessons, learn about en-dangered monk seals or learn palm-frondweaving. At the Park Hyatt Toronto, the exec-utive chef, Joan Monfaredi, offers an exclu-sive behind-the-scenes tour for kids, includ-

ing a child-size chef’s outfit and apersonalized apron signed by Monfaredi.

Disney pioneered the family-friendlycruise long ago, so it was only a matter oftime before other cruise lines followed suit.

Crystal Cruises offers a three-tired “Juni-or Activities Program” that caters to passen-gers aged between three and 17. Daily activ-ities are published in onboard newsletters,and permanent facilities include a librarywith books and DVDs, the Fantasia play-room with arts, crafts and games, and theWaves video arcade for teenagers. Crystalalso offers special menus for kids whocrave food other than gourmet (which isprobably all of them).

Even adventure cruises to exotic placesare getting into the family act. The 48-pas-senger Eclipse offers special family cruisesaround the Galápagos Islands during sum-mer and winter school holidays. Kids are giv-en their own naturalist guide and Zodiac boatfor water activities and shore excursions.Youngsters can also eat together at theirown table and participate in evening groupactivities like crafts, music and movies.

National Geographic Student Expeditionsoffer high-school students a hands-on expe-rience in a dozen different exotic destina-tions, including China, India, the Saharadesert, the Costa Rican rain forest and Ice-land’s glaciers.

Teen participants choose an “on assign-ment” project at the start of each journeythat might include photography, writing, cul-ture and arts or spiritual traditions. The ex-peditions are lead by National Geographicwriters and photographers who have experi-ence in each destination.

Smithsonian Journeys has also createdhalf a dozen upscale family vacations in-cluding a Tuscan sojourn based at a mediev-al castle with its own gourmet restaurantand swimming pool. Activities include learn-ing how to paint frescos, tower climbing andplaying soccer against a local youth club.

J.R.Y.

PRIVATE ISLANDS | Rent or buy

Civilization is leftbehind on remoteprivate islands

‘If a family isinterested in

learning aboutlocal culture,

we couldarrange a

rickshaw tour’

ment is Sanda Island, off the coast of Scot-land. Located 45 minutes by helicopter fromGlasgow, this 400-acre chunk of historyalso entitles its owner to the neighboring is-lands of Sheep and Glunimore as well as theright to use the title ‘‘Laird of Sanda’’ and toissue one’s own stamps and gold coins.

Of course, one doesn’t have to own an is-land to take advantage of its privacy, be-cause many of them are for rent. In fact,Vladi says it’s essential for individuals torent a few islands in diverse locales beforedeciding to buy in order to ‘‘strip away falseillusions about islands.’’

Those who crave the advantages withoutthe hassles of upkeep can rent a ‘‘full-ser-vice island.’’ One of the most luxurious ofthese is Musha Cay in the Bahamas. Ownedby the magician David Copperfield, it com-prises a group of 11 private islands covering700 acres with 40 ‘‘sugar sand’’ beachesand five secluded beachfront villas that of-fer the utmost in island luxury to as many as24 of the renter’s nearest and dearest

friends and relatives. Depending on the sea-son when one chooses to rent, Musha Cayrates range from $24,750 to $44,500 pernight, all inclusive. An ecofriendly alternativeis Turtle Island in Fiji, which offers 500 acresthat can accommodate 28 guests foraround $275,000 a week.

Lighthouse living

At the other end of the spectrum — forthose who really want to get a way from it all— four people can opt to stay in a light-house keeper’s home on a private islet inMyken Fyr, north of the Arctic Circle, off thecoast of Norway, for ¤2,500 ($3,560) perweek. The lighthouse is not in a tower, but onthe roof of the keeper’s wooden home, highabove the shoreline, with stunning oceanand mountain views.

The house has recently been refurbishedwith four twin-bedded rooms, sitting room,kitchen and bathroom. Myken Fyr is avail-able self-catered or fully serviced.

J.C.

Forsythe Island inMarlboroughSounds, NewZealand (aboveand lodge, inset)is available forrent. Its peaks,oceanfront andviews are obviousassets.

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