Solstice Collection
Members

When Solstice Collection launched, the club would target just 42 members who would share exclusive access to a portfolio of seven multi-million residences and yachts.

The invitation only club would grow through referrals, slowly matriculating through word of mouth with little interest in following the lead of the industry's dominant players Exclusive Resorts and Abercrombie & Kent Destinations.

The club's organic growth structure would prove successful as Solstice would approach the 40 member mark by the end of 2006 when a meeting with an industry rival would force the club to rethink their membership capacity.

While Solstice was the dominant player in the ultra-luxury segment of the destination club industry, Parallel was quickly gaining momentum. Both realizing the advantages of joining forces, Solstice's Graham Kos and Parallel's Chad Morse began working together to eventually lead to a "merger of equals" in November of 2006.

"What began as casual conversations between two respected industry peers quickly elevated to recognition of complimentary assets that, when combined, would create the undeniable elite destination club in the world," the club wrote, referencing a meeting between Solstice Collection's Graham Kos and Parallel's Tim Wolff. "We believe that the premier destination club should deliver architecturally significant and uniquely appointed homes, backed by a high level of personalized service, financial transparency and member deposit protection. The new Solstice marries Solstice’s growing collection of remarkable homes with Parallel’s best-in-class services, resulting in a member experience unmatched by any club model, or for that matter, outright ownership. Further, Solstice continues its commitment to provide the highest standards of financial transparency to its members, and now introduces, for the first time in the industry, a choice between two deposit reimbursement models based upon each participant’s financial goals."

The collected club would now feature roughly 70 to 80 members and cement themselves as the leading luxury player in the industry as Ciel, Yellowstone Club World, and Everlands entered at similar price points but were unable to dethrown the Solstice and Parallel combination.

The club would continue to grow and approached the 100 member threshold before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009. According to court documents, the vast majority of members were near equally split between the club's Platinum and Signature offerings with a hand full of members in the near $2 million Sky level.

As lower priced clubs such as LUSSO Collection and High Country Club saw virtually no material sales, the upper tier Solstice face a similar problem, exacerbated by defaulting on a loan secured by the club's properties.

Club member Carolynn Rockafellow was appointed as CEO for the bankruptcy, bringing her experience as a Credit Suisse investment banker to the club.

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