Private Retreats
Annual Dues

The first destination club introduced and the introductory club within the Tanner & Haley Resorts family of memberships, Private Retreats would launch a new form of luxury travel that thousands have gone on to enjoy over the years.

"Private Retreats is the brainchild of Rob McGrath, who, as a real estate specialist for JP Morgan in the mid- 1990s, found himself wondering why only 3% of people who seriously consider the purchase of a second home actually do so," the club wrote early in its history. "After a year of research, he concluded that consumersʼ primary reason for not buying a second home is a desire to avoid 'feeling tied-down' to a single resort location."

Tying components of second home ownership with membership at a country club, this new brand of travel proved successful and would eventually lead to the creation of companion clubs Distinctive Retreats and Legendary Retreats.

Private Retreats members would have unlimited annual access to a collection of $1 million properties around the world by paying a fully refunable membership deposit, annual dues, and a per night fee for each night in residence.

As the first mover in the sector, many policies created early in the club's youth would eventually come back to hurt the club. Private Retreats and the other two clubs within Tanner & Haley guaranteed reservations to members, forcing the club to enter into multiple short term leases to meet the availability needs of members.

The collected Tanner & Haley would be forced to file for bankruptcy in 2006. According to bankruptcy documents, "Private Retreats has 349 members with access to 73 properties. Membership deposits average approximately $196,000, annual dues average approximately $7,300, and daily usage fees average approximately $155."

When the club ceased new membership sales prior to their bankruptcy, annual dues at the Private Retreats level were publicly available for $13,750. As stated by the club, the vast majority of all Private Retreats members were paying far less than this published rate.

In addition to the short term leases, these low annual dues also played a major factor in the club's downfall. "[Complete Retreats] have rarely refused a member's travel request - if a desired property in their portfolio was unavailable, [Complete Retreats] commonly entered into a costly short-term lease with a third party. In addition, many destination club members received their memberships at a deep discount and/or locked in low annual dues and daily usage fees."

The assets of Tanner & Haley would eventually be acquired by Ultimate Resort who has since merged with Private Escapes to form Ultimate Escapes. Many members formerly attached to Private Retreats continue to travel with the world's second largest destination club.

If you are a former member of Private Retreats and would like to comment on your experience with the club, please feel free to contact us at contribute@destinationclubnews.com.