Chirag Kabrawala practices in the area of real estate law with an emphasis on the hospitality and resort development industries.  As a member of the firm’s Hospitality Industry Team, Chirag has experience in the acquisition, development, financing, franchising and disposition of hotels, restaurants, resorts, condo-hotels and related properties.  Chirag also works closely with the firm’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights practice, where he counsels clients in the hospitality industry in the negotiation and documentation of loan workouts and restructuring of debt.

Prior to the practice of law, Chirag was associated with Deloitte & Touche, LLP, one of the world’s largest accounting and consulting firms, where he served as an advisor to multinational corporations with respect to U.S. income tax planning for inbound and outbound international business transactions.

Diamond Resorts International®, with global headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, is one of the largest hospitality companies in the world with more than 200 branded and affiliated resorts and over 27,000 guest beds in 28 countries with destinations throughout the continental United States and Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. Offering simplicity, choice and comfort to more than 418,000 owners and members through the branded hospitality service of approximately 5,000 team members worldwide, Diamond Resorts International® is dedicated to providing its guests with effortless and relaxing vacation experiences every time, for a lifetime.

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Miki Todd, President, Trazen International

Tarzen International, a specialist at providing creative hospitality solutions to the timeshare and hospitality industries, has recently completed the installation of kitchen and bath cabinets and granite counter tops for Palm Beach Shores Resort on famed Singer Island in Palm Beach Shores, Florida.

According to Miki Todd, President of Tarzen International (www.TarzenInternational.com), “We appreciate the opportunity to provide our services for this resort and look forward to a continuing relationship with them.” Tarzen’s renovation of several units at this oceanfront resort included the replacement of kitchen cabinets, granite counter tops, plumbing fixtures, and the addition of islands to the kitchens. The company also renovated bathrooms, including textured walls, painting and decorative vanity cabinet full wall systems with granite tops and new plumbing fixtures.

Tarzen provides creative solutions in wood furniture, stone surfaces, cabinetry, vanities and upholstery for the hospitality and timeshare industry. The company includes a team of talented professionals who work with each new client to create elegant and functional furnishings, manufacturing products that are specific to each client’s unique requirements. This includes living room, dining room, bedroom, wood and mixed-media furniture, upholstery, kitchen and bath cabinetry and decorative vanities. The company also procures and professionally delivers granite and quartz stone surfaces and counter tops.

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Diamond Resorts International® (Diamond), a global leader in the hospitality and vacation ownership industries, continues its global sustainability efforts through the cultivation and utilization of local fruit, vegetable and herb gardens at resorts worldwide. Ka‘anapali Beach Club in Maui, Hawaii, The Historic Powhatan Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia and Vilar do Golf in Algarve, Portugal each utilize on-site sustainable gardens for everyday cooking in resort restaurants.

The use of these gardens enhances the natural environment while benefiting the ecosystem and local economy. Minimal chemical pesticides and fertilizers are used during production and the installation of underground watering systems decreases water waste and eliminates runoff. Each garden boasts unique features and hosts an array of fresh produce native to the area while specific to the cultural cuisine and restaurant offerings. In addition to cooking benefits for the restaurants, the gardens have also proven useful as an educational tool for guests and children as they are allowed to tour the gardens, pick fresh ingredients and participate in cooking demos.

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Diamond Resorts International thrives upon the service excellence platform set forth by Stephen J. Cloobeck. By responding to customer feedback and engaging in cost efficient and effective solutions, Mr. Cloobeck has successfully developed a hospitality product that is much more than vacation ownership, but guarantees a lifetime of memorable vacation experiences to all owners, members and guests. The Meaning of Yes ensures that every guest receives the vacation they deserve. Diamond team members are currently being trained worldwide to work collectively to improve the guest experience and commit to providing relaxation simplified.

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“LIFT develops a comprehensive set of solutions that includes hotel and residential rental distribution, addressing a very relevant need in Middle East and North African markets”, says Tisdall, Managing Partner at LIFT. “We have seen rapid supply growth in many markets, much of it in the non-traditional category of residential rentals or vacation rentals,” he continued. “There is tremendous potential in the region as companies emerge from the global downturn and look to optimize asset performance. AHIC is the ideal forum in which to launch our services,” added Tisdall.

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Led by President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Koscher, Bluegreen Communities has operated for 45 years and focuses on the acquisition, development, marketing, and retail sale of master-planned residential communities in the Southwestern and Southeastern United States. As such, the operations of Bluegreen Communities do not align with Bluegreen’s long-term strategy of being a pure-play in the vacation ownership, resort and hospitality sectors.

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Safari Drive is an award-winning 4.8-acre mid-rise waterfront development near the corner of Camelback and Scottsdale roads. Safari Drive’s unique design, by Miller Hull Partnership of Seattle, and location on the river make it a one-of-a-kind residential opportunity.  44 Monroe, a 34-story condo tower in downtown Phoenix, is Arizona’s tallest residential building.  It is situated on the light-rail route and in the heart of downtown’s central business district.  Sales for both began in late October.

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Margalit brings more than 25 years of hotel experience to Foley, focusing his practice on real estate development and operations, finance and investment, growth strategy, management agreements, regulatory compliance and corporate administration, among other issues facing the industry.

Prior to his role with NEM, Margalit served as General Counsel to a family holding company of the global interest of a Forbes billionaire, including the majority interest in a global publically traded hospitality company. He oversaw the global business and their philanthropic and personal interests. Earlier in his career, Margalit served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for a number of large corporations, among them Kimpton Group Holding LLC, ZipRealty Inc., Best Western International Inc., Unison Healthcare Corporation and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

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DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL® (Diamond), a global leader in the hospitality and vacation ownership industries, today announced Sarah Hulme has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Global Club Operations.

Sarah Hulme will continue to oversee worldwide club operations and management as well as all service contact centers, including the United States and European customer service departments. Additionally, Ms. Hulme will manage the continued development of THE Club® member offerings involving member benefits and the resort affiliate program, which has grown the resort portfolio to nearly 200 resorts providing a choice on every continent since 2008. Her expertise of THE Club® at Diamond Resorts International® will continue to position Diamond as a worldwide hospitality and vacation ownership leader.

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RMI Management LLC (RMI) recently launched its Hospitality Management Services division and signed the Kimball Condominiums Owners Association to its client list.

RMI is a full-service community and property association management company based in Las Vegas. The company’s Hospitality Services Management division works with community associations and property managers dedicated to timeshare properties. This new division of RMI offers vast management opportunities, enabling RMI to grow beyond the realm of traditional community management.

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DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL® (Diamond), a global leader in the hospitality and vacation ownership industries, today announced that three senior level executives are assuming leadership roles for Sales and Marketing Operations in North America.

Derek Kanoa will maintain a key leadership role as Vice President of Sales and Marketing over his area of expertise, the Western Business Unit. Diamond would like to thank Mr. Kanoa for the integral role he has played and will continue to fulfill for Sales and Marketing Operations as he is a critical player to the success of the Western Business Unit.

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DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL® (Diamond), a global leader in the hospitality and vacation ownership industry, concludes its DRIven® to Fitness challenge to promote a healthy lifestyle for team members and announces the grand prize winners of the corporate DRIven® to Fitness challenge, soon to launch worldwide.

With the conclusion of the year-long fitness program, Diamond is pleased to announce the winning team of the corporate DRIven® to Fitness challenge and recipients of the $10,000 grand prize is ‘Fit For Life’ with a combined loss of 112 lbs, constituting a 12.6% total weight loss. Other teams with recognizable results include, ‘Tech-no-flab’ with an 11.5% weight loss and ‘Muscle Tech’ with an 11.3% weight loss. The total weight loss for the company nationally was 4,602 lbs.

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DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL® (Diamond), a global leader in the hospitality and vacation ownership industries, continues its global commitment toward brand strength and sustainability with its continued Cintas apparel partnership and the introduction of the RegenerationTM front desk and resort manager suiting program which is made with eco-friendly fabric.

Made with ECOGIR® recycled fabric, Cintas , partnering with Bagir, made these garments with 100 percent recycled fabric to help divert landfill waste, save energy and reduce CO2 emissions. Each suit is made from approximately 25 recycled 2-liter plastic bottles and reduces water usage by as much as 90 percent. Plus, they are home launderable to save even more energy and resources, saving employees as much as $1,000 annually.

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In business for more than 145 years, American Hotel Register offers the most complete OS&E and FF&E solution in the industry. With on-staff LEED AP and ASID expert designers and project managers, the FF&E Solutions team within American Hotel is a full-service resource for renovations, conversions and new construction projects, offering comprehensive services from interior design to installation:

• Interior design
• Turnkey project management
• Procurement
• Online FF&E order guides
• FF&E replacement programs
• Financial management
• Installation

The FF&E team at American Hotel maintains a design showroom at its world headquarters in Vernon Hills, IL, located 30 minutes north of Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Through a series of finely decorated and completely outfitted guest rooms and public space designs, the new showroom highlights the full spectrum of capabilities offered by American Hotel. Deidre Schwartz, LEED AP, ASID, director of design & development for American Hotel’s FF&E Solutions team, says, “Our showroom has been a tremendous tool in helping customers understand the magnitude of our operation and the level of expertise that we offer. We will continually be changing and updating our showroom displays to reflect the most current design schemes and trends that we see being embraced in the hospitality industry and related markets.”

The company provides FF&E services to all major hotel brands, management companies, time-share and independent properties, health care and higher education facilities, government and military lodging, homeowners associations and senior living communities. In 2009, American’s OS&E experts managed 1,200 new openings representing 130,000 rooms; its FF&E experts opened 600 hotels and supplied services to 20,000 guest rooms.

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Part of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies (NYSE: WYN), Wyndham Exchange & Rentals was recognised for its strong growth in the UK market alongside nine other businesses including construction and engineering firm Renew Holdings and the Allied Healthcare Group.

Wyndham Exchange & Rentals owns and operates several leading holiday brands across Europe that have been acquired over the last nine years including Hoseasons, English Country Cottages, Canvas Holidays, Landal GreenParks® and Novasol®. It has since become the world’s largest full-service vacation rental business.

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Diamond Resorts International® (Diamond), a global leader in the hospitality and vacation ownership industries, continues its global commitment toward sustainability by limiting traditional forms management through online handbooks, application processes, and training modules and webinars.

According to Stephen J. Cloobeck, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Resorts International®, “The global reach of our Human Resources team has to be in real time. We must be available to our team members throughout different time zones just as we are to our owners, members and guests and we must be able to respond quickly with our service commitment. Advances in technology afford us the opportunity to reach our current and prospective team members just as easily and seamlessly as our guests without the unnecessary use of papers and inks. As we improve our commitment to service excellence, we are also mindful of our sustainability and the health of our communities.”

Diamond Resorts International®, working closely with its suppliers and business leaders since the inception of the brand three years ago, continues to reduce paper and ink costs, uses recyclables and improves energy efficiencies. Every day the organization reaffirms its commitment to sustainability and, with its major global footprint and therefore environmental impact, Diamond Resorts International® plans to do more as a company to promote measurable improvements and to build eco-awareness and sustainability at managed and operated sites worldwide.

Annually, nearly 1.4 million owners, members and guests enjoy the simplicity, choice and comfort Diamond Resorts International® offers through our branded hospitality experience.

Diamond Resorts International®, with global headquarters in Las Vegas, Nev., is one of the largest vacation ownership companies in the world with more than 160 branded and affiliated resorts and over 24,000 guest beds in 26 countries with destinations throughout the continental United States and Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. Offering simplicity, choice and comfort to more than 400,000 owners and members through the branded hospitality service of more than 5,500 team members worldwide, Diamond Resorts International® is dedicated to providing its guests with effortless and relaxing vacation experiences every time, for a lifetime. To learn more, visit DiamondResorts.com.

DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL® (Diamond), a global leader in the hospitality and vacation ownership industries, today announced that Dennis Nau will join the company effective October 4, 2010, as Senior Vice President, Resort Operations for its North America and Caribbean locations. 

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The Mariner Group and The Harp Group, along with its sister corporation Portfolio Hotels & Resorts, have recently formed Meritage Hospitality Group (MHG) to acquire selected hotel and resort properties with the purpose of renovating and repositioning them … but with a unique twist. The repositioning will be achieved by converting a portion of the rooms to shared ownership units and/or developing additional shared ownership units on land adjacent to the hotel or resort property. A strategic component of the business model includes a marketing, sales and management alliance with existing points-based multi-site vacation ownership club programs.

Explains Meritage principal Allen G. Ten Broek, “Shared ownership is now a proven and solid component of the hospitality industry. It has continued to experience market demand and sales success even during current economic conditions. We are confident that the addition of this real estate component and the sale of a portion of shared ownership interests in these properties will dramatically increase their financial success as well as investment returns. Our business plan has been well received in capital markets, enabling us to move forward with several acquisitions in the near future.”

Meritage Hospitality Group will utilize traditional hotel and resort turnaround programs as they acquire and enhance properties. They will also invest in needed capital improvements and implement new strategies to improve an asset’s operating profit. Key to their success is the selection of the right type and location of properties and integrating the shared ownership component with ongoing hotel operations. Ten Broek cautions that only a properly capitalized company ¬– like MHG – supported by an experienced, creative, and focused management team can be successful at executing this unique business plan.

The Meritage Hospitality Group partners include The Mariner Group and The Harp Group.

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DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL® (Diamond), a global leader in the hospitality and vacation ownership industries, today announced that David F. Palmer has assumed the position of President and Chief Financial Officer, Diamond Resorts Corporation with immediate effect. Palmer will assume the responsibilities of President and Chief Financial Officer for Diamond Resorts Corporation and its subsidiary and trade companies. 

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Announced today, a new project management company enters the hospitality industry scene, Trinity Design & Construction Group. Led by veteran, David Knight, Trinity is positioned to become the renovation project management solution for the lodging and timeshare segments.

Trinity insures every project is delivered to the approved scope, budget and schedule. “Accountability will be the fundamental factor in our success,” said Knight, president and managing partner with more than 25 years of experience. “Through our management expertise and established relationships with strategic partners, our clients will benefit from this collaborative, environmentally-conscious and cost-effective approach.”

Knight’s experience is extensive. He began his career working for city planning and economic development offices in Phoenix and Springfield, Mo. His primary focus was the planning and implementation of multi-million dollar downtown and commercial redevelopment initiatives. Later, he joined Butler Rosenbury and Partners in Springfield where he provided local and national clients with planning and development services for commercial and industrial projects. Most recently, he worked at Marriott Vacation Club International (MVCI – timeshare division for Marriott International, Inc.) for more than a decade, where he served in a variety of capacities leading efforts in resort planning and design; renovation services oversight; condominium association (COA) board negotiations; Marriott joint venture and executive operating committee meeting coordination; and project and financial asset management.

Trinity has strategic partners ranging from architectural and interior design to procurement, warehousing and construction. One such partner is Frazee, Inc., a general contractor with over 30 years invested in hospitality renovation construction. “We understand the importance of having a strong project management team to coordinate the various service providers,” said Clark Frazee, president. “Over the years, David has demonstrated the ability to successfully manage and collaborate across disciplines. Aligning ourselves with Trinity Design & Construction Group supports our goals to deliver the best in client service.”

About Trinity Design & Construction Group
With offices in Florida and California, Trinity Design & Construction Group is the renovation project management solution for the lodging and timeshare industries. With more than 25 years of experience, Trinity insures every project is delivered to the approved scope, budget and schedule. For information, please call 407.497.6367 or visit www.trinitydcgroup.com. Trinity can also be found on Twitter @TrinityDCGroup.

Coordinated by the company’s Wishes by Wyndham philanthropic program, contributions will be made throughout the day, which has been dubbed a “Day of Giving,” beginning with a $25,000 donation to First Tee of the Triad and Victory Junction, on behalf of Wyndham Worldwide, the PGA TOUR Wives Association, and Furnitureland South.  The children’s charities received the donation at 10:30 a.m. at Furnitureland South in Jamestown, N.C. in conjunction with the store’s “The Price is Right” game which enabled customers to play for more than $30,000 in home furnishings and featured an appearance by CBS commentator Peter Oosterhuis.

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By Matt McDaniel, editor

In 1984, Marriott became the first branded hospitality company by nearly a decade to enter the timeshare industry with the acquisition of American Resorts and its premier Marriott’s Monarch at Sea Pines resort on Hilton Head Island. And on June 21, 2010, Marriott Vacation Club made perhaps the company’s biggest announcement ever, publicizing the launch of the points-based Marriott Vacation Club Destinations program in North America and the Caribbean. After more than 25 years as an industry leader, Marriott Vacation Club made a move that, while described by some industrywatchers as inevitable, is nevertheless bold: a switch from a traditional weeks-based system to points.

“After a quarter century of providing unforgettable vacations, we are excited to announce the most significant program innovation in our history: a new product offering that is easy to use and will provide our owners unparalleled flexibility,” said Lee Cunningham, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Marriott Vacation Club, North America and the Caribbean, in a prepared statement. “Over the years, we have successfully evolved our product offering based on owner feedback, and the Marriott Vacation Club Destinations program reflects a tradition of owner involvement and was designed specifically for both current and future owners.”

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LaTour Hotels and Resorts will offer management of the Homeowners Association, concierge services, extensive residential services for owners, a rental program and exchange opportunities. 

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The awards which took place this week at London’s Grosvenor House hotel have become a byword for quality, class and achievement that everybody in the industry strive to win.

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DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL® (DRI), a global leader in the vacation ownership industry, has today announced they will continue to provide its workforce with the ‘DRIvenSM to Fitness’ challenge originally launched as a 90-day program earlier this year due to popular demand and increased participation.

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RCI Asia Leisure Real Estate Symposium was a resounding success with a great turnout/attendance from leisure real estate owners and developers, senior executives and decision makers in the hospitality and leisure real estate industries in Asia. “The BIG Reveal” Symposium was held over two days, April 22-23, at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore.

Attended by more than 120 delegates, the Symposium was organized and hosted by RCI Asia. RCI, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange, introduced the concept of vacation ownership exchange in 1974 and has since revolutionized the vacation ownership experience for leisure real estate developers and leisure travelers with service and product innovations. RCI is the vacation exchange business of Wyndham Exchange and Rentals, which is owned by Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, one of the world’s largest hospitality companies with leading brands in lodging franchising, vacation ownership, vacation rentals and vacation exchange.

The Symposium was a response to an emerging interest in vacation ownership in the Asia region, which is expected to gain further momentum over the next few years. RCI recognizes the rising demand for quality leisure real estate models to capture this growth. At the event, RCI revealed the winning strategies of vacation ownership and unveiled innovative initiatives that will help to further accelerate the development of vacation ownership in Asia. RCI’s president and CEO Geoff Ballotti gave an inspiring keynote address on the transformation of the vacation ownership industry and RCI’s progressive initiatives in customer engagement and social media platforms.

The Symposium was characterized by optimism and a high level of interest, and delegates actively participated in a series of forums and panel discussions that revolved around topics on vacation ownership trends and opportunities, fractional real estate and ownership, and cross-border success and sustainability.

Leading industry players such as Michael Burns, president and CEO, Private Residence Resorts; Paul Dean, principal, Dean & Associates; Jeff Healy, president, ResortCom International; and Gordon Hu, CEO, HNA Hotels & Resorts, shared their experiences and insights on finding a competitive advantage in the global luxury market and leveraging the value and benefits of vacation ownership in existing hotel chains.

These informative presentations gave delegates much food for thought for their leisure real estate developments.

Delegates brought their discussions beyond the formal sessions and continued to share experiences and exchange views on various aspects of vacation ownership, establish new business contacts and broaden their business network during networking events that included a sumptuous dinner at The Forbidden City in Clarke Quay, by the waters of the Singapore River.

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This partnership works in concert with Wyndham Worldwide’s Strategic Sourcing group which seeks to leverage global purchasing to achieve savings, support brand standards and improve the guest experience at all Wyndham properties.

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DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL® (DRI), a global leader in the hospitality and vacation ownership industries, has today announced its decision to join the International Tourism Partnership (ITP) which will place DRI alongside other global leaders in the hospitality sector who share the same commitment to collaborating on finding practical solutions to the challenges of sustainable development.

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As part of its expansion into the Asia Pacific region, LaTour Hotels and Resorts, which offers personalized, luxury hospitality management services for four- and five-star properties worldwide, and Tri-Asia, a hospitality management company based in Phuket, Thailand, will now manage the Dewa Phuket Resort.

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Orlando-based Webb is a partner at Baker Hostetler, one of America’s largest law firms, where Webb maintains a diverse real estate, business, and hospitality law practice with a strong emphasis on resort development, timeshares, fractionals, hotels, condominium hotels, second homes, cruise ship and residence vessel programs, and the growing national travel and leisure industry.

Webb is the senior member and was the founding leader of the Baker Hostetler Hospitality Industry Team. He has practiced in virtually all aspects of the international resort and leisure industry over the past 30 years, and was instrumental in the creation, design, and development of many of today’s leading multisite timeshare plans, including the Disney Vacation Club, the Hilton Grand Vacations Club, the Hyatt Vacation Club, the Allegro Vacation Club, Club Navigo, and the Four Seasons Residence Club.

Rob has participated in the drafting and adoption of every Florida statutory amendment and administrative rule affecting the timeshare industry since 1983, including the lock-out law, the timeshare solicitor and owner referral laws, the timeshare resale broker law, the vacation club law, Florida’s streamlined timeshare foreclosure law, and the personal property timeshare amendments of 2003.

Rob has been active in the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), the national timeshare trade association, since 1981. He currently serves as Treasurer of ARDA, as a member of the ARDA Board of Directors and its Executive Committee, as a board member of the ARDA International Foundation, as an ARDA Trustee, as Chair of the ARDA Legislative Council, and as counsel to ARDA-Florida.

Are you a native Floridian?
No, I was born in Tehran. My father was career military – he had sort of a quasi-political position and had a lot of political postings. One of them was in Tehran after the Shah overthrew his father.

When did you move to Florida?
We moved to Florida, for the first time in 1965, and then back in 1971, six months before Disney opened – and I’ve been here ever since. That’s a long time, and so you can imagine all the changes I’ve seen.

You’ve seen it all, I guess!
Well every time I think that, something else happens! But I’ve seen a lot of it.

Today you’re a partner with Baker Hostetler. When did you join the firm and what did you do before?
I started at a small firm in Orlando called DeWolf, Ward & Morris. My mentor there, Max Morris, had one of the early timeshare practices, and we represented Kemmons Wilson when he did Orange Lake Country Club in 1981, Deb Linden at Island One in 1983, and Marriott in 1984 when they bought American Resorts and got into the business. We came to Baker Hostetler in December of 1988, and except for my year off at Island One, I have been here ever since.

You said “we” came to Baker Hostetler?
Max Morris; Brian Lower, who is now executive vice president at Orange Lake; and I – as well as a law clerk named Andy Marcus, who is now chief legal officer and COO for Tempus Resorts. One of the great joys of my life and my practice is that I have had a number of protégés over the years who continue to make me very proud. Brian and Andy are certainly two of the major ones.

How much of what you do is involved with shared ownership in one way or another?
I’m a board-certified real estate lawyer and I would say I have a fairly broad commercial real estate practice. At the height of shared ownership it was probably 75% of my business; right now, shared ownership is probably 35%. A lot of that has to do with the fact that there isn’t a whole lot of new stuff going on in the industry – we continue to represent existing clients, and I’m doing some new things and trying to stay on the curve of what’s happening next. I’m certainly looking forward to the volume picking up again, and when I’ll be doing more transactions and less litigation and bankruptcy work.

With all the shared-ownership legislation you’ve been involved in creating, what’s the most meaningful or had the most impact?
That’s an interesting question. Understand, there are a lot of people involved in any legislation that gets done around the country – no one person can take credit for it. But I’d probably suggest two or three things. One piece of legislation I had a disproportionately large amount of involvement in, simply because it arose out of two of the timeshare resorts that I was representing at the time, is Florida’s lock-out rule. It doesn’t sound like a big deal – it’s a law that allows timeshare HOAs to deny access to the unit to a delinquent owner. In most cases that’s difficult to do because the owner has the deed, and unless you actually foreclosed the lien and taken their timeshare away from them, in many states it’s very difficult to deny them use because they’re delinquent. I pioneered that particular piece of legislation after having amended a couple of my clients’ bylaws to provide for it, because my theory was the law didn’t say you couldn’t do it.

But the Florida state regulators had the right to review it and accept it, and they refused to accept it; in essence they said, that while the law doesn’t say you can’t do it, it doesn’t say you can. We appealed their denial of the bylaws to two different appellate courts and while both courts agreed with us that it was an important remedy, they also agreed with the state that this kind of remedy would need to be authorized by the legislature.

And so the following year, ARDA-Florida went to the legislature and got it adopted. It’s not flashy, sexy legislation – but it has a provided a means for so many timeshare HOAs to recover unpaid assessments, which not only allows people to lock out delinquent owners, it also allows the HOA to rent their timeshare interest for them and apply the net proceeds to what they owe.

So it’s fairly comprehensive, and without it, particularly in these economic times, there would be a whole lot of Florida timeshare HOAs that would already be in bankruptcy. It’s one of the most important collection tools they have.

Another one of the most important pieces of legislation at the state level would be California’s timeshare law that we got adopted in 2004. California had very repressive subdivision-based policies that they aggressively used to the detriment of the timeshare industry. California regulators didn’t really think much of the timeshare industry – and they had some good cause to feel that way, but as the industry changed, their viewpoint by and large did not. My partner at the time, Dave Sampson, was the drafter of the legislation; he and I worked very hard on that for ARDACalifornia, along with other members of the legislative committee – that really was people working together.

At the federal level, I drafted the amendment to the Internal Revenue Code that we got Congress to adopt in 1997, exempting timeshare association reserves and excess revenues for the most part from federal income taxation – that’s a little bit of an overstatement, but I think for purposes of trying to describe the legislation it’s accurate. ARDA members had been threatened with audit by the Jacksonville, Florida district of the Internal Revenue Service, and the IRS held the position that timeshare associations were different than condominium associations or neighborhood associations who really have a limited role of mostly maintenance and repair and operation – they felt that timeshare associations were involved in all sorts of little businesses and making all kinds of profits that should be taxed. The IRS wouldn’t negotiate with us, and so ARDA national went to Congress and I wrote the amendment to the Internal Revenue Code – again, with a lot of oversight; I’m not a tax lawyer! But we got it adopted and it survived a line-item veto from President Clinton. That was extremely meaningful because, again, if you start taxing reserves and taxing excess revenues it would have an enormously detrimental effect on our business.

Those are the three big ones. Also, last year in Florida we got an exemption from Florida sales tax for all timeshare exchanges – which had been a sword hanging over our necks for 25 years. We had really been afraid; we solved it in other states, but we’d never been able to address it in Florida, and then we had a three- or four-year period that the Florida Department of Revenue focused on it, and they told the legislature they thought it should be taxable, and that forced our hand. We had to try and do something because if you apply Florida sales tax to each side of a timeshare exchange, by our calculation applying the fair-market rental value of a week of timeshare as the tax base, it would have added about $160 to each side of a Florida timeshare exchange and that would have had an tremendously negative effect on our business as well.

It seems a lot of what you do is fight against municipalities and states that seek to draw revenue from timeshare because their constituents aren’t necessarily the timeshare owners.
I think that’s very insightful. As Howard Nusbaum, ARDA’s CEO, likes to say, their attitude is “Tax the tourist, not the
voter.” But the reality is that many of their constituents do own timeshare. One of the most effective things that we do as ARDA is Jason Gamel – vice president of state affairs for ARDA, our lead state lobbyist, and a former Baker lawyer who also is a protégé – spending time with legislators or council members to make them understand just how many of their constituents own timeshare. This isn’t just about taxing the non-resident, non-voting tourist. And that’s a very big part of our revenue-protection strategy, if you will, because every state is trying to get more revenue and they look at a luxury product like timeshare and say it’s ripe for taxation. We say, you’re not just taxing the tourist, you’re also taxing your constituents – but it isn’t even that.

We already pay more than our fair share of tax. We pay very high property taxes in most states because we get taxed in
many cases on more than just the bricks and mortar – the value of property – and we pay sales and use taxes, and transient occupancy taxes when we rent timeshares. We pay state income taxes as developers, employment taxes and workman’s comp, and just about everything else you can think of. So, ARDA does financial impact studies that show states and municipalities how much they got from timeshare over the past few years through all these different taxes.

And when you combine that with how big of an employer the industry is and the fact that while, yes, most timeshare users are tourists, you should welcome us, local government, because we don’t use your schools, thank God we don’t use your hospitals very often, and we’re paying taxes to support your local infrastructures – so instead of overtaxing us, you really should encourage us.

It’s a very, very powerful and effective message.

Switching gears, let’s talk about your year with Island One in 2000. Why did you do that, and why
did you go back?
Deb Linden, who is like a sister to me – I like to tell people she’s my oldest client – is a beautiful woman and a very capable and tough CEO, I believe the only female CEO of a major timeshare developer (I hope I’m not insulting anybody by forgetting someone). Deb came to me in the last quarter of 1999 – I knew she was raising equity to really grow her company – and she said she needed somebody like me.

I’d been practicing for 20 years at the time and had been her lawyer for most of that time and knew her company very well. Deb told me she could really use my help in house, and told her I wasn’t going to be a general counsel, but I sort of half-kiddingly said I might do it if I became president of Island One. And she said she’d be willing to do that. So I sadly said goodbye to Baker Hostetler, but I was moving on to a new phase in my career and I was going to put my money where my mouth was. Within 30 days after I started, Island One had a licensing arrangement with Carlson Company to use the Radisson Vacation Villas brand for a new project. We made a deal with Ron Jon Resorts in Cocoa Beach to put the Ron Jon brand on our existing product that we couldn’t put a Radisson brand on. I was deep into talks with two different developers to acquire them. It was all so exciting.

And then I learned the meaning of business risk when two bankruptcies happened within 30 days of each other and suddenly the people that were getting ready to write us big checks – many millions of dollars – weren’t willing to do it anymore. They didn’t understand these bankruptcies, they didn’t understand what they said about the stability or lack thereof of the timeshare industry. One of the bankruptcies was Sunterra, which as you remember was a venture-capital rollup of several different timeshare companies. It was a good company, but they had systems and people that didn’t really talk to each other – it was like putting different pieces of Play-Dough together and unfortunately it came apart early in my term as president of Island One.

But the even greater blow was 30 days after that our lender, Finova, went bankrupt. We were trying to raise equity and the primary source of the debt we had lined up was from Finova. Their timeshare portfolio performed beautifully, but it was only 15% of their overall lending portfolio and they wrote off an $800+ million health care loan and they couldn’t survive. So we couldn’t raise equity because these bankruptcies had shaken the capital market’s confidence in timeshare, our committed debt was no longer available and we were scrambling to get new debt. Suddenly the harsh light of business-risk reality hit me right in the face.

I had walked away from one of the most exciting law practices in the country. I’m glad I did it, make no mistake. But lawyers are notoriously risk-averse and suddenly I realized exactly how far I had moved outside that safe little cocoon that lawyers almost by definition tend to practice in. Frankly it was a hard lesson; it cost me a lot of money and it took me a long time to rebuild my practice.

But the lessons that I learned, both at Island One and coming back to Baker and reestablishing myself, made me a much better lawyer than I was before, simply because I understood business risk better, and now my advice means more to my clients as a result of that experience, being able to leaven an academic lawyer’s view of risk with somebody who went out there and did it and took it in the shorts.

But you know what? Honestly, I would do it again. I have every confidence in Deb Linden and Island One is a great company. Sulyn Stumbras, the president of Island One’s management company, is one of the best managers in the timeshare business. I’m glad I had the guts to try it. I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but I have no regrets.

And you were able to go back to Baker Hostetler – so you could go home again, so to speak?
It’s funny you say that – Thomas Wolfe was right: You really can never go home. However, I was welcomed back at Baker Hostetler and encouraged to go out and create new business and get back into my mentoring mode. That made sense to me; it just took me a while to rebuild my practice. So here I am, 10 years later, older and wiser: boy, did I learn a lot.

Diamond Resorts International® (DRI), a global leader in the hospitality and vacation ownership industries, has today announced it is working closely with its European membership who have authorized a third party reseller, Travel & Leisure Group (TLG), to act as reseller for Diamond Resorts European Collection (DREC) points. This is the first time DREC members have had the opportunity to deal directly with an authorized reseller.

Travel & Leisure Group International Timeshare Resale Brokerage, is a family owned company working closely with developers and helping owners to sell their timeshare and buyers to make the right choice when it comes to vacation holiday ownership. A financially sound international timeshare company, TLG have steadily consolidated and expanded their business throughout the world, and says Maria Mills-Farinas, Managing Director of TLG, “we are delighted to be able to offer the consumer this new opportunity and to assist Diamond Resorts European Collection members with a never before offered opportunity as well as a reputable partner and process. Many of the members have been with Diamond for a very long time and it’s time for them to let someone else enjoy what they have for so many years. And we are glad to be a part of that process, to help them find an alternative.”

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“ResortCom is a company that has been in business 25 years, but sometimes even our customers don’t know what we really do,” says ResortCom International Chairman John Small. “The name ResortCom International doesn’t really tell you anything about what we do. So what we’re trying to explain to potential clients all of the services we offer, we generally say we do everything but build and sell – and still it doesn’t register. So after nine years of this, my partner Jeff Healey and I decided to brand our hospitality division under the name Tapestry Resorts, with the tag line of A Hospitality Management Company, which says it all.”

Since 2002, when Small, the former COO and senior vice president of RCI Management, merged his hospitality management company, International Resort Management (IRM), with ResortCom International, the organization has successfully provided a wide range of hospitality services under the ResortCom banner. As 2010 approached, Small and his team decided to consolidate all of ResortCom’s hospitality services into one distinct brand.

Why the Name Tapestry Resorts?
After a great deal of thought and research, the ResortCom management team came to the conclusion that the company’s current and potential clients have a wide range of divergent needs – and that ResortCom offers a wide range of services to satisfy those needs. They came to the conclusion that the right combination of solutions to satisfy those divergent needs, when done with skill, result in the weaving of a beautiful tapestry that can be observed with pride by all parties. The goal is that ultimately the Tapestry Resorts logo and name will become synonymous with careful listening and excellent delivery of the perfect combination of solutions to needs as defined by the company’s clients.

“This newly branded division will focus strongly on hospitality management and most importantly, drive results for our clients,” says Small. “At Tapestry Resorts, we don’t sell; we listen, so we can identify each client’s needs, anticipate future opportunities and provide relevant solutions. Once clear goals are identified by both parties, Tapestry Resorts guarantees every client’s success.” And that guarantee is genuine, not just marketing-speak: “We’re probably the only management company in this industry that guarantees performance,” Small explains. “That’s part of our proposal process.”

Understand that the new name isn’t merely window dressing, either. “In addition to rebranding our company, we’ve also redefined what we do and how we do it,” Small says. “We are specialists in resort management, reservation services, rental management and vacation club management. But we’re mainly hospitality professionals, so we can handle hotels, condos, timeshares, fractions and any combination on a mixed-use campus.”


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The ARDYs showcase outstanding accomplishments among individuals, teams, resorts and companies in a variety of categories.  Tapestry Resorts had two silver finalists in management and administration: Janeth Olachea, general manger of the Park Plaza in Park City, Utah, and Jennifer Laboy, a front desk agent at Club Cala Resort in Boqueron, Puerto Rico.

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The resorts are located in the popular Swedish ski area of Sälen, which offers some of the country’s best skiing and snowboarding and is best-known for hosting the start of Vasaloppet, the world’s oldest, longest and largest cross-country ski race, which regularly attracts more than 15,000 participants.

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The brand assurance program is a crucial part of Sol Meliá’s “brand equity” strategy for all of its various brands.  The process began with a series of brand “boot camps” facilitated by LRA to help further define each brand and how that offering is delivered at the property level.  The evaluation program is designed to measure the effectiveness of the implementation process and delivery of a “branded” guest experience at each property.

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“Merlin is easily the most comprehensive software found anywhere in our industry today” says Mike Bailey, chairman of the two resorts. “We looked at a number of other options, but Merlin’s functionality, accessibility and interactivity could not be matched”.

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ePercipio is an internet-based learning management system (“LMS”) that is scalable across multiple industries, multiple functional areas of an organization (human resources, sales & marketing, legal, operations & administration, finance), and across all organizational constituents (employees, customers, stakeholders). The ePercipio platform offers partner-clients a suite of key applications including a dynamic custom branded e-community interface, and a course builder application (patent pending with the FTC), among other innovative integrated functions.

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Vanderslice, who has an extensive background in international hospitality and packaged goods, has worked at such notable companies as Club Med, Inc. and Kraft General Foods.

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Hilton Hotels has been voted the most recognized hotel brand in both the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) according to the 2009 Maktoob Research Travel Monitor. The annual syndicated study on travel trends and preferences tracks performance of the major players in the UAE and KSA hospitality and airline industries by canvassing and assessing opinions of frequent travelers from the two countries.

Hilton emerged as a front runner in brand awareness in the UAE and KSA at 73 per cent improving on last year’s performance by 11 percent and 7 percent respectively. The Hilton brand also performed well on the usage index with 18 percent of respondents in the UAE, and 15 percent in the KSA preferring a Hilton stay over those of most other brands. The study also showed the brand is likely to maintain its substantial market share, with 23 percent of respondents from both markets intending to stay at a Hilton hotel next year.

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