In a first amongst luxury vacation home alternatives, members of destination club Ultimate Escapes can now stay at Capella Pedregal in Cabo San Lucas. Equally the owners at Capella Pedregal can stay at 23 Ultimate locations around the world.

Capella Pedregal is Capella Hotels and Resorts' new beachfront resort and residential community, due to open in March 2009. Accessed via a private mountainside tunnel, Capella Pedregal will be comprised of a 66-room Capella Resort and Spa, 38 shared-ownership Capella Residences and 11 private, full-ownership Casonas. Capella Pedregal offers its owners and guests access to a fleet of luxury Viking sport fishers and cruisers at the Capella Yacht Club.

Resort guests and residents will enjoy amenities including a 10,000-square-foot Auriga spa and wellness center; their own personal majordomo; and attendance by Capella's signature Personal Assistants who are on hand to arrange anything from dining reservations to yacht excursions and access to Cabo's many attractions.

I spoke to Jim Tousignant, CEO of Ultimate Escapes to find out about this new “Developer Affiliate Program”. The thinking behind the program is very straightforward, as Jim noted “Most owners of vacation resort real estate don’t use it that much – whether it’s fractional or whole ownership. After 4 or 5 years they get bored.” This new partnership gives the owners at Capella Pedregal a choice of 23 different locations around the world. Jim explained that the Capella owners can contribute a minimum of 1 week or a maximum of 2 weeks of time at their home in Cabo to Ultimate Escapes. In return for this time the Capella owner can then choose to vacation in any of the 23 locations offered by Ultimate Escapes.

These contributed weeks of time at Capella Pedregal are then available for the members of Ultimate Escapes to use. "Cabo San Lucas is the most sought after vacation destination for our members," said Gregg Amonette, senior vice president, Business Development for Ultimate Escapes. "We're thrilled to align ourselves with a property of this caliber and are confident that Capella Pedregal will become a highly desired destination for our members."

Various research that I’ve seen has shown that vacation home owners typically only spend from 25 to 40 days a year at their vacation homes. Giving Capella owners a way to trade some of their unused time should be a real win-win for both sides. The time that owners contribute is more than likely time that their home would be empty any way.

Jim also mentioned that Ultimate have signed a couple of other similar partnerships that they have not yet announced. Some other resorts are approaching Ultimate because of the mutually beneficial nature of these deals. So expect to see further announcements in the future.