Greetings All,

Do you have a Google alert for 'fractions'? Once a day links to articles and blogs arrives from them.

What these daily reports demonstrate is the rapid growth of the fractions business in the usual and some quite unusual locations. I continue to wonder how many of these projects will find their way to an effective reservations plan, a realistic budget and most importantly to a very realistic view on the service level the project is to offer its owners.

Question: can a fractional project ever offer five star service levels as defined by either Mobile or AAA? I think not? Your opinion?

I look back at the Deer Valley Club, first in the world in its class, and then to our Northstar Club, now up and running for over five years and observe what owners value, what they are wiling to pay for - forget what the developer thought they would pay for - and what service levels are really offered post sell out. Comments and Observations?

Last week I spent a delightful few hours in the Napa wine country at Carneros Inn and their Orchards at Carneros Inn a 17-unit luxury fractional project a-building and ready for delivery this summer. Project exec. Phil Carville is an old pal from the Squaw Valley timesharing days. He has engineered an excellent development to complete the master plan of this mixed-use property: luxury hotel, terrific spa, three restaurants, etc. The hotel and fractions are managed by Plump Jack, who has a winery in the Napa Valley, restaurant in San Francisco and hotel in Squaw Valley -- no connection to Phil's earlier deal there.

Reed Anderson, late of Hemingways in Ketchum Idaho, is project sales manager. He's a talent. His spouse, Ann, is equally excellent in the hospitality set up side of the business. She's just finished a stint at the Rancho Santa Fe project.

How's the Registry Collection doing? I hear some talk of another independent exchange coming on line. Is it needed?

Pencil in the Ragatz Conference March 5-7 in San Francisco.

Here's to a grand 2007 for the business and for all of us!

As the winter selling season kicks off; our Star projects are under full sales. I'd like to commend our sales personnel for the excellent job I know they will do in the coming months. All these are fractional or private residence club products.

At the The Pinnacle, Purgatory Lodge, Durango CO, Michael Davis leads the team with both PRC and fractional products.

Expedition Lodge at Kirkwood Mountain Resort CA, Dede Bacon, Melisa Maxey and Gwen Niccoli are the sales pros.

For the Mt. Superior Residence Club, Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort UT, Bill Orwig and Peggy Wright will set new per square foot sales levels for the Rockies.

Meriwether Ranch, for the Meriwether Land & Cattle Company MT, Ron Frank, Jami Duffy and Josh Potvin are fortunate to have the Big Hole River in their back pocket.

Additionally, we welcome Bill Orwig as our sales director at Snowbird. Bill's one of the true pros in the business going back to the very start of the PRC business.

Like many companies Star uses the survey tool to generate prospects. At Snowbird and Freestone in WA [more about this property in later blogs] we have received record responses [for us at least] from those interested in buying fractions.

Jim Parker, another real sales pro, uses the acronym "PMS" with customers.
New to me, but probably old hat to others, it stands for, no, not that! but:
photos, memories and souvenirs from a vacation.

Another nice twist: "The Ritz Carlton of Private Residence Clubs" seen in their recent print ads.