Hideaways Club

"The Hideaways Club is Europe's premier fractional ownership property company offering its members exclusive usage and 100% safeguarded ownership of an entire portfolio of magnificent properties."

That is the brief introduction from The Hideaways Club, the "club run by Europeans, for Europeans." Hideaways has a unique real estate acquisition model, focusing on destinations all within a short flight from London. As such, the club has a distinctly central European angle with homes already in France, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland, but the club has plans to expand outside of the region with homes in Thailand, Vietnam, Oman, and South Africa.

Launched in January of 2007, the club's executive team of Mike Balfour, John Loverling, Stephen Wise, Helmut Schön, and Patrick Henchoz brought a diverse collection of entrepreneurial skills to the table, ranging from hospitality experts to venture capitalists.

Despite the European focus, the club is crafted highly after the United States fractional market. "We have refined a business model, which is already proven in the USA, to create a proposition that is even stronger for the European market," said Balfour.

Similar to most other European based destination clubs, members purchase a stake in the entire property portfolio rather than a right to use like many US based clubs. A membership is actually a share in a Gibraltar-registered property company which owns all of the properties. A seperate Gibraltar-registered company manages the properies for members' use. The managing company receives 20% of any capital appreciation and 80% of the appreciation belongs to members. The club also complies with regulations and rules of the Financial Services Commission in Gibraltar.

In April of 2009, two new investors, Jonathan Feuer and Nick Bettany, each purchased a 10% stake in the club, providing the club both capital and experience. "Obviously it provides us more capital," began Chris Moody, The Hideaways Club's Director of Sales. "But it also brings in some very experienced investors putting money into the real estate investment. They are two very experienced guys and our founders are very pleased to be able to raise capital in the current environment. I think that more than anything it illustrates the business model is a good one."

This business model that Moody refers to has helped to establish The Hideaways Club as one of the leading destination clubs in the European market, with a growing level of international interest.

To learn more about The Hideaways Club, please visit the club's quick links found to the right or request a free copy of our Destination Club Guide.

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