In the 18th century the English writer and poet Samuel Johnson said “.. when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” Taking these words to heart SherpaReport went to London last week, and stayed for a few days at one of the Quintess homes in the city.  

AOL Co-Founder and Chairman of Exclusive Resorts Steve Case is leading a $20 million round of new equity financing to further strengthen the destination clubs financial position. The company also recently became the first destination club to reach the 100,000th vacation milestone.

This equity destination club has just added three new homes. Two of the homes are replacements for earlier homes in Deer Valley, Utah and the Gulf Coat of Florida and one is a brand new location for the club on the island of Maui.

Destination club Quintess and the PGA Tour have created a new club giving special access to some of the best that the golfing world has to offer. The initial memberships are aimed at the corporate hospitality market, with individual memberships available later this year.

The equity destination club recently announced that its 142 members, took 655 trips with the club last year, in other words they are taking 4 to 5 vacations a year with the club.

The co-founder of AOL and former Chairman of Time Warner is the majority shareholder and Chairman of destination club Exclusive Resorts. In a recent interview he shared his views on the club and how he saw it developing.

The Hideaways Club, an international property investment Fund that offers its members the opportunity to invest in and enjoy a portfolio of luxury villas and chalets, announced this week that it has formed an alliance with Banyan Tree Private Collection, Asia’s first global destination club.

Ultimate Escapes, has added a new Elite Club residence within the Lungarno Suites in Florence, Italy. Featuring views of the medieval Ponte Vecchio bridge arched over the Arno River.

These two luxury residence funds have formed an alliance which offers each of their owner members access to the homes in the two funds. This means members can choose from 29 homes in 23 destinations around the world.

The luxury second home fund added 30 new member families in 2009. The total membership is now over 90 member families.

Demeure, a new form of destination club that merges a home exchange with equity ownership is about to launch.

Villa Castellamonte del Mare, an exclusive five-star ultra-luxury villa in the Dominican Republic now has a reciprocity partnership agreement with Ultimate Escapes. Members of the destination club, will have exclusive reciprocity access to this 15,000 sq. ft., fully-staffed villa located high atop a sea cliff on the Dominican Republic's beautiful North Coast.

This week the Ritz-Carlton Destination Club announced the opening of its newest ski-in/ski-out property at Northstar, Lake Tahoe.

The equity-based destination club has a limited-time offer, under which prospective members have the chance to buy into the Club for 40% less than the initial membership pricing. Annual dues remain the same, all Club benefits apply and the offer expires March 31, 2010.

Located on the French side of the island, these two free standing, ocean front villas will be available to members of the destination club starting in February next year.

Under the heading “A Shared Destiny”, Lucy Warwick-Ching wrote a very balanced article on destination clubs and fractional ownership. It appears in this weekends House & Home section of the FT.

The luxury second home fund, Equity Estates, has announced the addition of properties in Florence, Italy, and Naples, Fla., to its portfolio. The fund has added five new properties to the portfolio since December 2008 and hopes to add several more properties by the end of first quarter 2010.

In a continuing sign of the times, destination club Distinctive Holiday Homes has quite a few members on it's resignation list and is making adjustments to it's portfolio of homes.

Off-Season in Los Cabos Mexico can be amazing - quiet, peaceful, spacious, un-crowded. But because it's off-season, with all the dicey weather and other challenges that accompany it, you just have to be a bit more flexible.

There's a new fund launching in the UK that is bringing an established investment model to shared vacation home ownership. The company plans to buy luxury vacation homes around the world and balance its portfolio with UK based rental properties.