The Calgary based destination club has added a ski in, ski out property at Fernie Alpine Resort in southeast British Columbia. At the same time several new members joined from the club’s waitlist.
Fernie Home
Fernie Alpine Resort is a world-class ski & snowboard destination, that is famous as a powder town with over 30 feet of annual snowfall. In the warmer months there is hiking, mountain biking, fly-fishing and some excellent restaurants and cool shops make it a year-round destination.
This new 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home is nestled in the woods adjacent to the main hill’s Elk Chairlift. The walk out basement features 3 bedrooms, with large windows that offer amazing views of the ski hill and access to a covered patio with hot tub. The main floor features vaulted ceilings with exposed timber work throughout, a spacious and well- appointed kitchen space with kitchen island and high end appliances, and access to a covered outdoor patio. The master suite is located on the third level of the home and has a 4 piece ensuite bath with soaker tub, custom tile shower, double sinks and cozy sleeping space with a king size bed.
Destination M members have access to all of the amenities at Snow Creek Lodge, including an underground parking spot, hot tubs and outdoor pool.
New Members
Destination M introduced a waitlist for potential new member investors in 2018. The waitlist is actually a good way for members to experience the club and it’s homes, because for a full year they can reserve and use up to 7 nights per year at any available Destination M owned property. The waitlisted members are periodically invited to fully join the club, often when a new property is purchased. This is what happened with the purchase of the Fernie home.
COVID
The COVID pandemic impacted Destination M, just as it did other destination clubs. Most of the homes were closed for a few months in the middle of the year and have steadily reopened as local guidelines changed. With cross border travel restricted it has created some interesting accessibility. “Availability right now is fantastic for our American members”, said Peter Merchant, Chief Dream Officer at M, noting that the largest proportion of houses are in the USA.
“We’ve been flexible on the time frame when Waitlist members can travel,” said Peter, recognizing the limitations that COVID has placed on a lot of travel. “We want to really give them every chance to experience the Club, so they can make an informed decision as to whether to join as full members”, he added.
The club modified the housekeeping protocols earlier this year, with more in-depth cleaning and adding a 24-hour break between member stays at a home.
Being a smaller member owned and managed boutique club, they also decided to add an extra week of use for all members, to make up for the missing vacations in 2020. Members can take this extra vacation week over the next year of their membership.
The club is run on a not-for-profit basis for the benefit of the member families, with all the club’s audited financial information available through the member portal, and members own 100% of the real estate. “Overall, we are very financially sustainable with our dues structure” noted Peter.
