Ultimate Escapes Offers High Country Club Members Dues Only Membership

By: Destination Club News
Date: May 14, 2009

In January, High Country Club filed for bankruptcy, cancelling reservations from hundreds of members. Today, Ultimate Escapes has introduced an offer to the former members of High Country Club that will allow them the opportunity to enjoy destination club membership for one year through a dues only structure. High Country Club members interested in the offer will be required to decide before the end of June.

President and CEO Jim Tousignant and Chairman Richard Keith sent out a letter to High Country Club members stating:

As a former High Country Club member, you are probably feeling the loss of not being able to vacation in the way that you and your family have been accustomed. Personalized trip planning and services, private home usage and multiple destination options were what made your club membership so desirable. I'd like to invite you to take this year to enjoy destination club membership in Ultimate Escapes without any membership deposit.

You'll enjoy an Ultimate Escapes membership for one year with absolutely NO membership fees (fees normally range from $70,000 - $450,000). You only pay membership dues for the club level you choose to experience. After you travel this year with Ultimate Escapes, we believe it will make your decision to join our club that much easier.

About Ultimate Escapes:

  • Over 130 multi-million dollar homes in nearly 50 global destinations
  • Over 100 luxury 4 and 5 star hotels in over 100 global destinations
  • Full trip planning and 5-star concierge services to handle all your arrangements - securing a top personal chef, booking tee times, acquiring the best theatre tickets, pre-stocking your groceries and much more.
  • More destinations than any other club

Members of The LUSSO Collection, also in bankruptcy, may also take advantage of this offer.

If a dues only member would like to upgrade to a full membership, they will receive a discount of 35% on their membership fee if they elect to do so within six months. Those that do so within 12 months will receive a 25% discount.

In November of last year, as High Country Club restructured their struggling destination club, Ultimate Escapes introduced an offer to High Country Club members, discounting prices on all three of their clubs up to $40,000.

In the High Country Club offer FAQs, Ultimate Escapes answered the question as to why a dues only structure was not offered.

"We cannot and will not make any offer, including our offer to HCC Members, that is not fair to our existing UE Members or that is not financially sound," Ultimate Escapes wrote. "Some HCC Members have suggested we should just offer them a “free” UE membership, based on the concept that UE will somehow benefit over time by having additional HCC dues paying members join Ultimate Escapes. Frankly, we cannot and will not consider such a financially irresponsible offer, and we think that HCC Members, more than anyone should understand our position."

"When we offered 800 Tanner & Haley members the opportunity to join our club in 2006 and get a free Bronze Membership (14 days of annual use) as long as they agreed to pay our then current annual dues, that deal made sense only because we also acquired over $100 million in real estate assets from Tanner & Haley at the same time with substantial built-in real estate equity. That is not the case with our HCC Offer, as this offer does not involve us acquiring any HCC real estate (although we may look at this possibility separately over the next few weeks and months). We will use our existing excess capacity in UE real estate assets to meet the immediate travel needs of HCC Members who join Ultimate Escapes, and we will likely look to also acquire new homes if needed to maintain proper club capability and maintain reasonable availability for our club members."

Since the initial High Country Club offer in November, Ultimate Escapes has also felt the effects of the economic climate and reached out to members for an assessment of approximately $16 million. Members who elected not to pay the assessment unfortunately had their membership privileges suspended and subsequently has provided Ultimate Escapes increased availability.

Just weeks prior to their bankruptcy, High Country Club introduced a dues only membership for members on other club's resignation lists.

With members of Solstice Collection, LUSSO, High Country Club, One Key World and others left without a club, expect other offers from those still in operation to continue. To learn more about every destination club, please check back frequently.