Private Residence Clubs and Luxury Fractional Property
Owners of luxury fractional property buy a share of a single residence, that provides them with a couple of weeks to thirteen weeks of usage a year. The ownership period varies by development and can be expressed as a fraction (eg 1/10, 1/8, or ΒΌ) or as a number of weeks (eg 5, 6 or 12 weeks).
Private Residence Clubs are the upper tier of the luxury fractional market, providing all the services of a five star hotel together with the ownership.
There are hundreds of fractional and Private Residence Club developments located in city, beach, mountain and resort destinations. Use our home directory to search through these locations.
They are sometimes compared to timeshares, although there are several key differences. For instance luxury fractionals are in better locations, are more luxurious and typically larger, providing 2, 3 or 4+ bedrooms. They also offer true, deeded ownership whereas timeshares usually just offer a "right to use."
This article covers the reasons people buy fractionals and PRCs, and if you're looking to buy read the list of questions to ask before buying your fractional. For easy reference there is a glossary of terms.
The latest news and research on luxury fractionals and Private Residence Clubs is available below.
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- Written by Nick Copley
Luxury hotel brands have some of the most high profile private residence clubs on offer. The rich history and high brand visibility that the luxury hotels have amassed over the years can give their Private Residence Club an edge over others. If you buy into one of their clubs you will know all that the brand has to offer in terms of standards and service. We compare four of these Private Residence Clubs offered by luxury hotel brands, Fairmont Heritage Place, Four Seasons Residence Club, St. Regis Residence Club and the Ritz-Carlton Club.
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- Written by Nick Copley
We hear a variety of reasons as to why people buy into private residence clubs and luxury fractionals. Usually there are several factors that persuade people that this is the right way to go for their vacation property. We've summarized the main reasons here.
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- Written by Nick Copley
The Residences at The Little Nell in Aspen are now priced at $3,000,000 for a 4 bedroom residence and $1,475,000 for a 3 bedroom residence for a 1/8th share. The price of these has increased substantially over the 18 months since they became available.
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- Written by Nick Copley
The Aspen Times reported the sale of all 275 of the memberships at the St. Regis Private Residence Club in Aspen. Prices varied between $300,000 and $1.5m for four weeks of ownership of a 2 or 3 bedroom suite.
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- Written by Nick Copley
The Magellan, an 860 ft long, luxury residential cruise ship will be completed in 2009. The ship will offer both full ownership and fractional ownership in a variety of suite sizes. Owners will be able to circumnavigate the globe every two years, with stops at 150 ports of call each year.
This is clearly not your typical Private Residence Club, and is the first vessel we've seen of this size to offer fractional ownership.
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- Written by Nick Copley
Located on the crescent on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, the new Fairmont Heritage Place Private Residence Club, will have 50 luxury duplex apartments with sea views.
This unique man-made island, in the shape of a palm tree, consists of a trunk, a crown with 17 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island that forms a water-breaker. The club is located in the Kingdom of Sheba, a brand new resort covering 141,500 sq. metres on the crescent in Dubai.
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- Written by Nick Copley
The Boston Globe had it's lead real estate article on a new Private Residence Club, "The Vanderbilt", that is being created in Newport, Rhode Island. The building was originally built as a mansion by the Vanderbilts nearly a century ago.
The Globe interviewed some of the fractional owners at this new property and their reasons for buying were very typical of the comments we hear all the time, including:
- the time to have fun without any of the normal work associated with owning property
- the relaxing, easy living that it provides
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- Written by Nick Copley
What are Private Residence Clubs?
When we go on vacation, we often feel at our most relaxed if the environment we're in seems like a 'home away from home'. But it's also nice to experience the luxury of a first class hotel. A private residence club offers a combination of both of these things. Located in all the prime vacation settings (beachfront, mountain, leisure resort, vibrant metropolis), private residence clubs offer luxury apartments and freestanding houses. Each property is furnished to the same high quality as a first class hotel.
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- Written by Tom Evans
Destination Clubs and Private Residence Clubs have a lot in common. The terminology can be confusing and the lines between these two are getting increasingly blurry. In many cases the terms are used interchangeably so you'll find some companies that might fit closer to a Destination Club (definition), but which refer to themselves as Private Residence Clubs (definition).
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- Written by Web master
The chart below lists several Private Residence Clubs. Some of these Clubs have just one location while others offer their members the ability to use other properties than the one that they own. The clubs have destinations throughout the world, so there is pretty well a location for everyone.