Over the last year many of the destination clubs have introduced a wider selection of membership plans. New club Botiga is already following this trend and has introduced a membership level providing 2-3 weeks of vacation time per year.

It appears to me that the fractional ownership vacation home industry has been dancing around a topic of fundamental importance for too long - the mark-up or "premium" charged to fractional buyers.

Boutique destination club Lusso has added several beach homes over the last few months and just opened two more, one in Cabo San Lucas and one in Naples, Florida.

Since its launch last year, Distinctive Holiday Homes has already grown to over 50 members and 11 residences. We recently caught up with Nick Wood, the destination clubs founder and CEO.

This early entrant in the destination club sector suffered from too many “first mover” mistakes. The petition for involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy was filed in Colorado District Court at the end of May.

The Cape Codder Residence Club offers the only fractional ownership opportunity in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

With commercial airlines downsizing their fleets and cancelling flights daily, airport travel has become a nightmare. Chartering a private jet never looked more appealing. There are several companies that offer jet card programs, but like any investment, you need to do your due diligence before signing on.

After the recent management changes at Solstice, we caught up with Jeff Scult to talk through the clubs future plans and direction.

Vacation home trends for affluent individuals in America and Europe may be surprising in this tumultuous time for the housing, credit and stock markets. The next 12 to 24 months might not see a huge upswing of second home purchases, but a recent survey by Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank predicts much growth over the next decade.

The newly formed destination club has just joined the Destination Club Association - the trade group that sets best practices - but at the same time Abercrombie & Kent's flawed former business decisions are still around to haunt it.

Ultimate Resort and Private Escapes announced their merger last year, and have now officially announced the new name for their destination club - Ultimate Escapes. The club has three separate clubs, with homes in 50 global destinations.

Located just seven miles outside of Florence, the new Quintess villa is located on 23 acres of vineyards and olive groves.

Enhancing its Caribbean collection of homes, destination club Lusso just announced two new villas on the tropical island of Anguilla.

A European experience in the making. The new destination club, Botiga plans on launching its initial portfolio of homes to members by winter 2008. Botiga is already showing signs of promise. The club is on target to reach 20 Founder Members by the end of June 2008. They currently have three properties secured in their portfolio and three more are on the near horizon for purchase.

Solstice has just announced that its founder, Graham Kos, and unnamed outside investors have purchased a controlling interest in the company. The purchase essentially buys out the holdings of the Parallel management team, with which Solstice merged in late 2006.