Following the announcement of the $200 million Private Escapes and Ultimate Resort merger, Private Escapes’ CEO Richard Keith spoke with Helium Report about what’s next for destination clubs, why bigger is better and why he thinks tiered pricing is the future of the industry. The combined Private Escapes-Ultimate Resort club will ... Read Full Article »

Occasionally our own travel plans will coincide with last-minute availability at a destination club home. Last week, we were in New York for four nights, and got the chance to stay at one of Private Escapes’ condo units. We could only get two nights there, as they had a member ... Read Full Article »

Recently, destination club Private Escapes adopted the industry standard practice of an 80% refundable initiation fee. (The refundable deposit is the portion of the membership deposit that will be returned if you leave the club.) However, they’re offering a special deal for new members referred to Private Escapes by an existing ... Read Full Article »

Premiere, Platinum, and now Pinnacle. Private Escapes launched their third destination club on Monday, entering the crowded but rapidly growing luxury segment of the market. A charter group of 15 members have joined at a $350,000 membership deposit and $22,000 annual dues. When factoring in the nightly fees of $185 and ... Read Full Article »

Richard Keith, founder and CEO of Private Escapes, walked us through his club’s upcoming announcement of their Pinnacle Plan, the third and highest tier membership of Private Escapes. Based on what we heard, we expect the new club will be a legitimate contender in the luxury destination club tier, competing with ... Read Full Article »

Last week we gave our readers an early preview of Ultimate Resort’s “Ultimate Travel Card” program. Not surprisingly, other clubs are also offering new, more affordable ways to get into a destination club – programs that should help clubs convince prospects to “test drive” this concept. The reality is that the ... Read Full Article »

For our second featured home of the week we cross the continent to Private Escapes’ home on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Located in Corolla at the northern strip of the island, this home is part of Private Escapes’ Platinum collection. This 3,557 square foot residence is placed on the ninth ... Read Full Article »

As we noted last week, Private Escapes enjoyed significant appreciation on their real estate portfolio. Now they have announced a significant expansion of that portfolio with the addition of seven new homes. Regular readers will recall that Private Escapes offers two membership plans, Escapes and Platinum. One feature of ... Read Full Article »

Privates Escapes recently announced that they issued the first annual club credit to their Platinum members. One of two destination clubs with a member rewards program, Private Escapes allows its Platinum level members to reap the benefits of real estate appreciation. Private Escapes estimated the 2005 appreciation of their club’s ... Read Full Article »

What’s the best way to spend $200,000? If you’re Private Escapes, you’re hoping it’s a membership in their Platinum club instead of the new Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. At next week’s auto show in New York City, Private Escapes will feature their destination club against the backdrop of a ... Read Full Article »

This CNBC clip is from last year, when Private Escapes launched their Platinum membership program – the one that provides members with some degree of upside: 18% of the appreciation of the underlying real estate is returned to the member in the form of club credits. Click here to ... Read Full Article »

According to Richard Keith, founder, CEO and owner of Private Escapes, the destination club industry features Exclusive Resorts as the hare, racing to gain market share, fueled by Steve Case’s cash, and his own club as the tortoise, slowly building solid momentum. His numbers seems to back him up – ... Read Full Article »

In a recent ad in The Robb Report Collection magazine, Private Escapes claims that a “leading independent market research firm” conducted a survey of their membership. Some of the results of that survey: Membership Communication – 93% Cleanliness of Properties – 97% Reservation Process – 90% Sales Process – 99% Total Satisfaction Rating – 96% Our ... Read Full Article »

<!-logo and address-> Membership Inquiries: http://www.private-escapes.com Click here to request more information <!- profile data-> Membership Members (as of 1Q06) 150+ Member cap 400 ... Read Full Article »

<!-logo and address-> Membership Inquiries: http://www.private-escapes.com Click here to request more information <!- profile data-> Membership Members (as of 1Q06) 100+ Member cap 400 ... Read Full Article »