Private Escapes
Members

Following the trend of Private Retreats, the world's first destination club, Private Escapes would eventually consist of three distinct clubs: Premiere, Platinum, and Pinnacle.

Each of the club's would have their own real estate portfolios and base of members. Members of Premiere would have access to a collection of homes in the sub $1 million price range, Platinum at $1.5 million, and Pinnacle granting exclusive access to a portfolio of $3 million residences.

Each of the three Private Escapes clubs would grow organically, with the foundation for each new club built upon members upgrading from lower clubs. Private Escapes Platinum would be introduced just a year after the introduction of the original Private Escapes with a list of members seeking to be the first member. Private Escapes Pinnacle would launch in August of 2006 with a similar base of current members looking to upgrade to the luxury level club. The combination of the low cost Premiere Club, the middle Platinum option, and the upper tier Pinnacle would help Private Escapes establish themselves as the third largest destination club in the industry, trailing only Exclusive Resorts and Ultimate Resort in terms of members.

These membership upgrades were largely a result of a remarkable service element that was continually praised by members. In a survey of members in 2004, every member polled gave the club "Very Good" or "Excellent" ratings in terms of quality service and the overall experience of their membership. Private Escapes would also work with leading research firm PeopleMetrics and found that their club exceeded the "world class" rank by receiving marks higher than 96% in satisfaction, advocacy, retention, and member loyalty. Self-administered surveys found similar results, as members gave the club an average 4.72 out of a possible 5.0 for all trips in the months before the launch of Private Escapes Pinnacle.

In September of 2007, Ultimate Resort and Private Escapes announced that they would merge, joining the second and third largest clubs in the industry with approximately 1,200 members. In May of 2008, the two clubs would unite their two respective property portfolios for members to access as executives at both clubs continued to work towards the finalized terms of the deal.

While Private Escapes had maintained a steadfast organic growth model, Ultimate Resort had taken a far different approach. The Florida based club had acquired the assets to Tanner & Haley in a bidding war against ultra-luxury club Ciel, bringing in nearly 650 members to their young club. Ultimate Resort would move from a small but successful upstart club to the established number two player in the industry. Just after their announcement with Private Escapes, Ultimate Resort would also acquire the assets of Ventures Equity, bringing in an additional 20 members from the small club.

When the acquisition of Private Escapes was finalized in September of 2009, 387 of Private Escapes' members signed new agreements with Ultimate Escapes, who continues to use both the Private Escapes and Ultimate Resort growth models moving forward.