My family and I have been members of the club for the past four to five years and have taken trips to various properties. In addition to different condominium units in New York City, we've visited a property in Turks & Caicos and, most recently, stayed at a Hilton Head, S. C., property.
The planners and hosts make the whole trip so effortless. Initially, we contact the planners to tell them the type of trip we're looking for and where we'd like to visit. The planner then forwards our specific information to the local host who meets us at the house upon our arrival.
What's great is they'll arrange our itinerary, make restaurant reservations, and even make sure whatever food we want is stocked at the house in time for our arrival. When we arrive, the local host shows us the home, runs through our itinerary and even recommends places to visit. When we visited Turks & Caicos, our host tracked down a local guide who took us snorkeling the first time we visited (see picture above).
The Hilton Head property was a wonderful home in a great location with ocean views. In fact, the back yard was right on the beach - as you can see in my picture below. As my wife and I have children, it was very convenient not to have to pack things and travel to the beach. On this particular trip, another family came with us. The home was large enough to accommodate both families and it was one of the more fun trips we've taken. I have to admit that being there with good friends makes the trip very enjoyable and relaxing.
Equity Estates membership has definitely enabled our family to take much nicer trips and we're traveling more than we normally would. The plan we have gives us 30 nights per year. Even if we only use two weeks, it makes more sense financially to belong. In addition, we can send family and friends on trips through our membership. We have access to their entire portfolio of properties as well as reciprocal arrangements with other clubs that have properties all over the world.
Some future trips include traveling to Anguilla with another family. In addition, we've planned a trip to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. When our children are a little older, my wife and I are hoping to visit some of the European, Far East and South African properties. With Equity Estates, we know, no matter where we want to go, that the home will be a beautiful place in a great location.
Even better, it's like owning a second home without any of the headaches.