Starwood Hotels opening timeshare gallery
By KEVIN POST
Business Editor, 609-272-7250
Published: Friday, March 21, 2008
ATLANTIC CITY - Global hospitality company Starwood Hotels is building its first freestanding timeshare sales gallery inside its Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel.The 7,500-square-foot gallery will employ 20 to 25 people and, when fully functional, will sell weeks at 25 resorts from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands, said David Matheson, spokesman for Starwood Vacation Ownership."Timeshares are becoming more and more of a mainstream product," Matheson said. "Starwood and companies like it are bringing credibility to the industry."Starwood typically sells deeded ownership of weeks each year in one- or two-bedroom fully furnished villas at resorts. Brands include Westin and Sheraton, with four-week blocks available in the upscale St. Regis and Luxery Collection, he said.Prices for a week - deeded to the buyer in perpetuity - range from about $13,000 to $28,000, for vacation space that is "as nice or nicer than any condo you've been in," he said.
Once the vacation space is purchased, there is an annual maintenance fee of $400 to $800, Matheson said, to ensure the space retains or improves its appeal and to fund major renovations when needed.Owners who don't wish to use the vacation space in a given year can trade it for time in a different resort, he said. Or they can convert the value to Starwood guest points and use them to stay at any of Starwood's 900 hotels around the world. Or they can bank the points and use them for additional vacation time the following year.Starwood entered the time-share business in 1999 with the acquisition of what is now the Sheraton Vistana Resort, the first time-share resort built in Orlando, Fla., and the first named to Conde Nast's Gold List, he said. It's just 3 miles from Disney World.After a soft opening in mid-April, the Atlantic City sales gallery will begin by offering that property and the Sheraton PGA in Port Lucie, Fla., he said, and add the other 23 resorts by June.GOOD FRIDAY CLOSINGS The following is how public agencies, municipal services and banks will be affected by Good Friday, today:Federal offices and services: Open. There will be mail delivery.State offices, courts and services: Closed, including Motor Vehicle Commission inspection stations and service centers.County offices and services: Closed. Essential services and transportation will be open. Recycling services are not affected. Municipal offices and services: Some open, some closed. Banks: Some open, some closed. Check with individual institution. Schools: Most closed.Stock market: Closed.Transportation: NJ Transit's trains and buses will operate on a weekday schedule. Check Holiday Service Guide box on bus line timetable for specific information. Call 800-582-5946. The hearing impaired should call 800-772-2287.Offices at The Press: Classified, open; Editorial, open. To report breaking news, call 609-272-7239.
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