The Timeshare Industry can be ruthless in its dealings, and often, consumers are thrust into a chaotic sales pitch before they even realize what is happening. In these whirlwind situations, it’s difficult to understand who you are truly dealing with, and to whom the contract belongs to. Vacation real estate corporations use subsidiary shell companies to create different points of contact across the world. And while this information is in the open, the general public is often unaware of who is above or below the company they are currently signing on with, and most importantly, who to get in contact with when their deal has gone awry. It’s an integral part of their scam; misdirection—and should be among the first and foremost thoughts to consider when looking to free oneself from a Timeshare.
The Timeshare Industry is Bigger than it Seems
Almost every major hotel chain, no matter how localized, has a hand in the Timeshare industry. Smaller chains are bought outright and remodeled by the parent company. These newly acquired chains or resorts usually keep their names, but their paperwork, contracts, mission statements, and advertising changes to match their parent organization. Larger chains however, partner with the smaller resorts, opting to form a new venture, and in doing so, form powerful conglomerates composed of a ring of smaller resorts, making it that much more difficult for the average consumer to parse out what resort chain they contracted with, where to complain, and where their money is being spent. Big Resorts hide out while the smaller partner resorts deceive consumers, one major reason for doing this is to shift legal liability away from any one name if you attempt to sue a resort. Alternatively, it’s done to strengthen their case and intimidate the consumer, as instead of going up against one resort as one would expect, you are suddenly against the resort’s chain. The subsidiary may own the brand name, but the greater corporation owns the subsidiary.
How to Find the Resort Chain
So how does a consumer protect themselves? The simplest solution is to do your research prior to purchasing a timeshare. The information is public, and often, a quick web search is all it takes to follow the chain upwards. However, the vacation corporations are vast, and in some cases are a global network. The quickest method then is to search the archives of the US Security and Exchange Commission, where corporations by law are required to provide a full list of subsidiaries and brands registered under their names, annual revenue, official corporate registration under by each state. There are only a select few major Conglomerates that exist, managing nearly every hotel or resort brand one could imagine.
Provided below, is a short list detailing a few of the major Timeshare Conglomerates, and examples of subsidiaries consumers may have signed on with. This list is in no way exhaustive, but provides context as to how these timeshare companies can weave around legality under different entities.
Berkley Group
- Lando Resorts
- Vacation Village
- Massanutten
Bluegreen
- Ascend Resorts
- Tradewinds Resorts
- Carolina Grande
Cerberus Capital Management
- Exploria Resorts
Hilton
- Canopy
- Conrad Hotels and Resorts
- Curio Collection
- Diamond
- Embassy Suites
- Grand Pacific Resorts
- Hampton Inn
- Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV)
- Home2 Suites
- Homewood Suites
- LXR
- Signia
- Tapestry Collection
- Tempo Hotels
- Waldorf Astoria
InterContinental Hotel Group
- Avid Hotels
- Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts
- Even Hotels
- Holiday Inn
- Silverleaf
- Orange Lake
Mariott
- Courtyard
- Delta Hotels
- Design Hotels
- Fairfield
- Gaylord Hotels
- Interval International [#2 ranking Hotel Booking Company in the World]
- Renaissance Hotels
- Residence Inn
- Ritz-Carlton
- Sheraton
- Towneplace Suites
- Welk Resort Group
- Westin
Starpoint
- GEO Holiday
- Sapphire
- BQ Resorts
Vidanta
- Vida Vacations
- Grand Luxxe
- Mayan Palace
- Sea Garden
- The Grand Bliss
- The Grand Mayan
ResortCom
- Villa Group Resorts & Spas
- Universal Vacation Club International: (UVCI)
Westgate
Wyndham
- AmericInn
- Baymont Hotels
- Baymont Inn & Suites
- Club Wyndham Resorts
- Days Inn
- Dazzler Hotels
- Dolce Hotels and Resorts
- Esplendor Boutique Hotels
- Hotel Howard Johnson
- La Quinta Inn & Suites
- Paniolo Greens
- Ramada Hotels
- RCI [#1 ranking Hotel Booking Company in the World]
- Registry Collection Hotels
- Super 8
- Trademark Collection
- Travelodge
- TRYP Hotels Worldwide
- Wingate Hotels
- Worldmark
- US Franchise Systems
To learn more about the Timeshare Industry, visit https://thetimesharelawfirm.com/
To schedule a consultation, contact The Timeshare Law Firm at, 321-224-1111
Comments are closed