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Hilton Grand Vacations at The Crane

Finally. I was in Barbados years ago, where visually it was not my favorite Island, it was the friendliness. The people living there were so nice, you felt like you were part of the culture. I am sure it has changed so much over the years like the other islands have. Looking forward to going to an hgvc in Barbados.
 
Sales are planned to start in the fourth quarter of 2018, and HGV Club Membership occupancy is expected to begin in January 2019.
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Speedy timeline!
 
magmue said:
Speedy timeline!
Click to expand...

They are buying existing villas that are already pretty nice, so I doubt they plan to do very extensive upgrades. They'll want some HGVC branding items and things like that, but it won't be like the Waikoloa hotel conversion where they're blowing out walls to combine hotel rooms and putting in kitchens.

I bet the critical path item is getting a sales force hired/set up.
 
Arrg! At first confused the Crane with the Quin in NYC. :)

Nice to see an addition in a new location. Hope it is not bHC as this would be next to impossible to schedule from the west coast at 44 days.
 
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I can't see where a bHC is practical. The odds of us ever staying there are basically zero unless it's a traditional HGVC property. People traveling to the Caribbean make those plans more than 45 days in advance. It's not like New York where there are a ton of rooms for rent and you can roll the dice on getting into W57th.
 
I believe that they are only buying a portion of the property similar to Elara or Whaler's Village where there are other owners on the property who either own condos or timeshares with another company.

Do you think this will be considered an affiliate?

These plunge units are spectacular. It would be nice if some of these units were included, however I shudder to think of the points required... but still very excited about this addition.
 
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Will this be part of the new "club" or part of the original system. . With 9 month windows etc. And reasonable points redemption needs.

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It doesn't sound like bHC per the statement below.

The timeshare weeks that will be available to HGV owners and guests will be branded “Hilton Grand Vacations at The Crane.”

However, I anticipate that the points would be similar to GI or Ocean Tower. Time to "resale up" and buy some more points!
 
CalGalTraveler said:
It doesn't sound like bHC per the statement below.

The timeshare weeks that will be available to HGV owners and guests will be branded “Hilton Grand Vacations at The Crane.”

However, I anticipate that the points would be similar to GI or Ocean Tower. Time to "resale up" and buy some more points!
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Perhaps.... still more resorts is better for the program. .and if they keep going at this pace I think by the end of next year there will be another 8 to 10 destinations in the portfolio...

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This wording, "and HGV Club Membership occupancy is expected to begin in January 2019." to me implies that it will be part of HGVC not bHC.

Jason245 said:
if they keep going at this pace I think by the end of next year there will be another 8 to 10 destinations in the portfolio.
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Wow, you are optimistic, but I would like that for sure..
 
There is pressure for them to expand in light of the Marriott/ILG merger that just completed. MVC now has the largest portfolio of locations (including Westin and HRC which expanded the MVC system to St. John, Bahamas/Atlantis, Key West, Steamboat, Mexico, and significantly expanded their dominance in Maui and Kauai).

So to avoid becoming a takeover target, HGVC needs to up their game to new locations. In terms of 4+ star, hotel-branded timeshares, MVC, HGVC and Disney are now the only games in town. Disney will continue in their niche. Buyers are now evaluating MVC vs. HGVC.
 
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Great job HGVC! This is a terrific addition to the club.
 
There'll prolly be a period of exclusive buyer-use before club bookings are allowed.
I'm pretty much booked up for 2019 anyway - trips to Yellowstone & Outer Banks*.
... But I'll certainly be "all ears" to hear when the club window opens.

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*If it's still there after Florence hits.

.
 
I have stayed at the Crane many times. This indeed is a good choice. The units with the private pools are awesome. However they have regular units, plunge pool units, 28' ground floor pool units, and now these roof top pool units.

I am assuming that there will be a variety of point levels available.
 
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I hope they will get the number of points right and not make the regular owners feel like they actually cannot vacation there because it is too expensive.
 
This is a fantastic addition! I've tracked this property for years and will definitely stay there -- good work HGVC and we should prepare ourselves for some sobering point requirements.

Best,

Greg
 
All,

If you will tolerate some broad assumptions (that are not rooted in fact), then I think HGVC has acquired a good footprint at the Crane.

We know that HGVC is buying $54.6M of inventory (because the press release says that). Marriott has a development margin of ~20%, so if HGVC has the same development margin, they are buying $273M of retail inventory (based on its sales value).

Another IF: If HGVC will have an average sales price of $50K per unit, then they are acquiring ~5,500 weeks to sell. Platinum weeks will sell for more, Gold weeks will sell for less, Silver weeks will be cheap.

If they are acquiring 5,500 weeks to sell, that's 100 units per week. That's alot.

I know there were a couple of properties (Residences at the Crane? The Crane Resort)? Could they have acquired a number of whole units that are now being sold as timeshares?

I don't know -- but $54M of inventory being acquired is a substantial sum. I welcome comments of others and hope this is remotely in the ballpark.

Best,

Greg
 
I’m just wondering how they’re going to generate tours. I’ve never been to Barbados. Does it get that much tourist traffic?

I’m sure there will be a conversion program for existing owners. That might be an attractive option for people who have owned for a long time and are tired of the same old same old.
 
Thanks @GregT for taking a stab at this.

I am not sure what $54.6 M exactly translates to. However here's my back-of-the envelope SWAG to provide an outside-in market priced view to compare to the cost based scenario in order to give us a range to work with.

A quick perusal of market pricing for the condos for sale at Crane puts them at $600 - $1.1 mil. so the avg condo sales price is $850k. However, we can assume that HGVC received a bulk discount so let's say they got them for an avg of 15% off or $723k

$54.6 M divided by $723k avg condo price = 75 units

75 condo units * 52 weeks = 3900 intervals to sell

3900 intervals * $60,000* avg sale per unit = $234M Gross Sales

Bottom line: Combining with Greg's analysis, there will be approximately 75 - 100 condo units per week if prices are $50 - $60k. If average condo prices HGVC purchased are higher end e.g. $1M** then there are about 54 units per week.

Unlike some affiliate properties where there are only a limited number of units, Crane will have a decent number of units which will enable good availability for HGVC members.

* The average retail sales price could be higher given pricing at Ocean Tower is over $100k

**The average condo sales price could also be higher than above because the developer may have sold a higher proportion of higher priced, hard-to-sell condos thus raising the average (but giving HGVC a significant discount to close out their interest and move onto the next project.)
 
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FWIW...Just realized that Barbados is not in the Hurricane belt (Aruba too). This will make it a lot easier to sell units and keep the property occupied in the off season.

Kudo's to HGVC for moving forward on this excellent addition.
 
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Man I hope this winds up being a good thing for members. The beaches in Barbados are 2nd only to the Bahamas in terms of beauty.
 
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