BTW - the inventory reconciliation process described here seems similar to the process at the Embassy Kaua`i as it has been explained to me.
There are fiive types of ownerships at Embassy Kaua`i - garden view, partial ocean view, ocean view, and floating view. A floating view unit can fit into any view category, and the resort has historically allowed floating view owners to reserve into a specifiic view category when they make a reservation. All weeks are year-round float with respect to season.
The Embassy treats Club Sunterra just as it does any individual owner who owns multiple weeks. That is, the resort tracks which ownerships have been affiliated with Club Sunterra and what the ownership type is for each of those ownerships. This then translates to a specific number of units available to Club Sunterra in each view category. Club Sunterra is then allowed to make reservations on behalf of its members in accordance with the numbers and types of units that have been identified with Club Sunterra.
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Where Sunterra appears to be sticking it to Embassy owners is in the floating view categories. The floating view categories have traditionally been the most valuable ownerships because they have been able to reserve weeks in the resort without restriction.
Since 40% of owners at the Embassy have historically deposited their units for exchange, there should be little to no problem for floating view owners to reserve ocean front and ocean view units. Every time an ocean front or ocean view owner deposits a week, that is an extra week in that category available to a floating view owner. Historically, floating view owners have had little difficulty securing ocean front units, even after all ocean front inventory had been sold out (which was before the resort affiliated with Club Sunterra).
Despite the advantages of floating view units, Club Sunterra only offers floating view owners points equivalent to partial ocean view if the unit is converted to Club Sunterra. At about the same time they rolled out this program, the resort started telling floating view owners they could no longer reserve view categories - they could merely reserve time and the resort would then assign them to a specific unit at check-in.
I think there are two things going on here:
- This puts pressure on floating view owners to convert and upgrade just to be able to continue to receive what they've already been receiving.
- This allows Club Sunterra to actually increase its ocean front ownership. The floating view units were the first ones sold at the resort - the view category sales did not commence until the resort had been in sales for about four years. In the original sales program, the specific intervals that were deeded to owners started with Building 1, then went to Building 2, then to Building 3, etc. The low numbered buildings are the ocean front buildings. Thus, most of the actual deeds underlying the floating view units are for ocean front units.
Whenever Club Sunterra gets a floating view owner to convert and upgrade to ocean front or ocean view, they accept the owners current deed and give the owner a new deed for the selected category. Note that the chances are very good that the actual deed they are acquiring is for an ocean front unit, even though the assigned view category for that deed is floating. Since Sunterra is the developer, Sunterra can then convert that old floating view unit to an assigned ocean front unit in their developer inventory. Now they can resell that formerly floating view unit as an ocean front unit.
This allows them to continue to offer ocean front inventory at a resort where the ocean front inventory was sold out befoer the resort affiliated with Club Sunterra.