Featured Property: The Discovery Club Vancouver

By: Destination Club News
Date: February 28, 2010

The 2010 Winter Olympic games are starting to wind down and many destination club members got to enjoy up close access with properties near the Vancouver site. "Our Whistler residences are so close to the downhill course, members could hear Lindsey Vonn from the hot tubs on their decks today as she won the downhill gold!" wrote Exclusive Resort earlier this month. The Whistler property available to M Private Residences members proved to be so popular that it needed a special lottery to determine which lucky members would be able to access it during the games. While Exclusive Resorts and M Private Residences both offer fantastic properties in Whistler, The Discovery Club's residence in Vancouver takes our weekly property award, capturing approximately 43% of the vote.

Unlike more traditional destination club offerings, such as Exclusive Resorts and M Private Residences, The Discovery Club does not own the properties available to members. Instead, members have access to a collection of "Affiliate Properties" consisting of five-star hotels, resorts, and adventures around the world.

According to the club's Shawna Walker, this model is advantageous to other destination club structures during these difficult market conditions with declining real estate values. "The Discovery Club is very different from equity-based destination clubs who pool funds to purchase real estate assets," wrote Walker in the club's blog last year. "Such a strategy can be advantageous when market conditions are good, but as we’ve witnessed in recent times, these clubs are experiencing difficulties as real estate prices continue to drop in this economic downturn. Some clubs whose mortgages extended beyond the new values are filing for bankruptcy. This has caused some uneasiness among consumers in the industry. By contrast, the Discovery Club is well-positioned to capitalize on this opportunity as the club does not purchase physical assets. In addition, if a contracted hotel property becomes run down or neglected, the club can simply choose another hotel in the destination rather than extract additional fees from members. This creates a sense of security and protection for members."

One of the primary advantages this model has over others in the destination club industry is that clubs can rapidly expand their property portfolio as new membership sales aren't required for a new residence to become available to members.

In downtown Vancouver, members have access to the 119-room Shangri-La Hotel, the first Shangri-La in North America. Located within a 61-story building, the tallest in the city, the Shangri-La offers rooms ranging from 450 to nearly 1,400 square feet with half of the suites including balconies overlooking the city. Each suite is decorated with a "contemporary style with distinct Asian touches" and floor-to-ceiling windows let members enjoy the city without ever leaving the confines of their unit.

There are many different options within the destination club industry, making finding the one that is best for you a lengthy process. Clubs like The Discovery Club offer hundreds of properties around the world to members, but typically in luxury hotels and resorts. Other more traditional destination clubs have less total destinations, but typically include single-family homes, allowing friends and family to travel with members. Weighing the pros and cons of each club can often be an arduous task, but requesting a free copy of our Destination Club Guide can help simplify the process by helping you identify important decision criteria and understanding the benefits and risks of destination club membership.