We originally joined Quintess as an alternative to second home ownership; we wanted the broadest range of properties possible. For this reason, Collection Access was important to us from the beginning.
Since our immediate family is just four people, we love the option of staying at the smaller DUO properties, but we also often travel with our extended family, for which the Quintess portfolio is ideal. The diverse nature of The Collection portfolio was essential because we wanted the ability to access all of the different types of homes. THE TOUR CLUB also appealed to us. I love to golf and my wife sometimes joins me, but more than that, we have family and friends we want to visit in many of the locations. We'd love to get out to Orlando to see friends and take the kids to Disneyworld, and Pelican Hill on the Newport Coast will be another great place to catch up with friends and family and take the kids to Disneyland.
Early in December, we stayed in Deer Valley for our very first Quintess trip. It was a birthday trip for my wife, and we invited our good friends. We were blown away by the property – it was just amazing. It's so nice to be able to bring another family and not worry about being on top of one another; there is just so much space. There a real "wow factor" about the house and the service was spectacular. Our Host Diane, was terrific and a true Deer Valley enthusiast. She did everything: had groceries in the fridge when we arrived, arranged ground transportation and suggested good restaurants in an area where we would have had no idea to go. Overall the whole process far exceeded our expectations. Plus the Deer Valley resort was awesome.
We just returned from the Quintess home in Naples over Christmas, where we were having a family reunion. My aunt and uncle live there and then three of my four sisters and their families came, too. The house was spacious enough that everyone had plenty of room. To celebrate my sister and brother-in-law's fiftieth birthdays, our Host helped arrange for Chef David Goins to do a cocktail and cooking demonstration for about fifteen of us in the home. Chef David did an amazing job – he paired cocktails with the food he was cooking, did a great demonstration and taught us all about how he selects his ingredients. The food was wonderful and Chef David and his team provided incredible service.
In February of this year, we're headed to the DUO property in Vail – the three-bedroom Ritz-Carlton Club home. Before we looked at The Quintess Collection, we were looking at The Ritz-Carlton Vacation Club. With the Vacation Club, it would have been difficult to secure the same three-bedroom condo (with an inordinate number of points required), whereas with The Quintess Collection, we had no problem getting the three-bedroom home! I am really looking forward to the family amenities that make The Ritz-Carlton Club so convenient; we'll put our two young girls in ski school for a few days and my wife and I will get to carve a few turns of our own.
We'll return to Colorado again in June, except this time we'll stay at the Quintess home in Beaver Creek. My wife and I were married ten years ago in Beano's Cabin in Beaver Creek. Our Member Relations Manager Diane suggested that we stay there for our ten year anniversary and she also proactively secured the reservation for us. We've already invited our extended family to come join us at Beano's Cabin for a celebration of our marriage. Whether we're skiing or mountain biking or hiking, we love the mountains in the summer and the winter!
In the spring we'll head to Los Cabos, which comes highly recommended to us; we've heard great things about the homes and the destination, and we're looking forward to bringing my sister and her three daughters, who are already blown away by the caliber of the home from the pictures and videos. And in a four-bedroom home, there will be plenty of space for all of the kids and the adults to relax and spread out. Then, in summer of 2013, we'll head to yet another tropical paradise - Turks & Caicos - which we've heard has some of the most beautiful beaches in the entire world, besides being home to one of the newest additions to the Quintess portfolio.
We are very happy we made the investment in Quintess. Already it has changed our lives by providing amazing experiences and helping to make family vacations a major priority.
Brad Brodigan is a member of destination club Quintess