Resort Report – July 2023

As our partnership with the Daniel Morcombe Foundation came to an end last month, the Wishes by Wyndham team reported that more than $49,000.00 has been raised across our Australian Club Wyndham resorts.

At a ceremony to mark the occasion, Bruce and Denise Morcombe expressed their gratitude, saying, “The Foundation is so thankful to Wishes by Wyndham for your very significant donation. This will enable us to provide schools and early learning centres with free resources to educate kids to ‘Recognise, React and Report’ in unsafe situations.”

Many thanks to all of our amazing Club Wyndham South Pacific Owners who contributed generously to this incredible cause.

Club Wyndham South Pacific owners have even more choice at Airlie Beach, where 2 x 1-bedroom Deluxe and 3 x 2-bedroom Grand are now available for booking.

NEW ASSOCIATES

As reported last month, there is a new Associate Resort in Malaysia, the four-star Ramada Suites by Wyndham Kuala Lumpur City Centre. Owners can stay in:

• 5x Studio Executive apartments (two-person occupancy)
• 1×2-bedroom Executive apartments (four-person occupancy)

View the credit charts here.

Our Associate arrangement at the Wyndham Garden Sapporo Odori has been extended to 31 August 2024.

PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT UPDATES

This month, we are unveiling our highly anticipated AU$3 million refurbishment of 87 Club apartments and the common spaces of Club Wyndham Melbourne, located in the heart of the city. In collaboration with renowned interior design firm BSPN, the hotel has undergone a stunning transformation, elevating the owner experience with modern aesthetics, vibrant colours, and locally inspired artwork that reflect the city’s unique charm and culture. As part of our commitment to sustainability, all beds have been recycled through Soft Landing Mattress Recycling, and any surplus items have been donated to charity.

In September, work will begin on refurbishment at Club Wyndham Rotorua.  Between now and the festive season, all 18 apartments will be repainted and set out with new furniture, soft furnishings, and carpet. The reception will also be redesigned with a “lodge feel.”

Here is the timeline for other works in progress:

• End-August: Bathroom works, flooring, new kitchens, painting, and furniture in all rooms at

Golden Beach will be completed.

• End-September: new furniture, lighting, and bathroom works to all rooms at Fiji is expected to be finished.
• November: All new bathrooms, new kitchen cabinetry, flooring, painting, and furniture to all rooms in Dunsborough will be completed. Five out of eight blocks have been refurbished already.
• December: New furniture, lighting, painting, and carpet will be completed on some levels at Kirra Beach by the end of 2023. The refurbishment is ongoing and will be completed in full in 2024.

Club Accommodation Rentals to the Public

We recently received questions from owners about Club accommodation they are seeing for public rental on various accommodation websites. This may happen when:

• The Club itself places excess inventory on booking sites, the proceeds of which are retained as revenue by the Club and used to offset Club operating expenses.
• Owners who have made bookings are selling those bookings, which is permitted under Club guidelines provided it is not done as part of an ongoing commercial enterprise
• Bookings are made by the Developer, Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific

We would like to take this opportunity to provide more detail about the last of these three, “Developer bookings.” Developer bookings can be:

• Sold online to the general public
• Offered to non-owners so they experience club life and, potentially, choose to join the Club
• Used in marketing campaigns to attract more people to the Club, fueling growth and our ability to acquire inventory in the future
• Provided as incentives so we can hire and keep the best people on our team
• Donated to charity

Rules around bookings

As a holder of vacation credits, the Developer is a club owner and must comply with the same booking rules as any Club Wyndham South Pacific owner.

While Club rules state that Premier owners are unable to conduct an ongoing commercial operation through the sale of bookings, they permit the Developer and the Responsible Entity to undertake this activity and allow the Developer to monetise credits through the sale of bookings. Monetising credits in this way allows the Developer to provide many benefits to owners – ranging from Associate Resorts to specific Lifestyle program benefits.

In rare instances, the Developer may make uninterrupted bookings of longer than 13 months with its credits. For example, the Developer recently booked several studio hotel rooms at Club Wyndham Dinner Plain during ski season. This was requested by the Club due to an unforeseen shortage of suitable accommodation in the local area for essential Club resort staff including food and beverage and housekeeping personnel. The Club does not hold credits and is therefore unable to book accommodation itself, so it requested the Developer to book this accommodation for essential Club resort staff with one-time use credits (at cost only) to ensure the smooth operation of the resort during peak periods.

Effect on availability

Since the Developer only books Club inventory by using credits that would otherwise be used by owners, Developer bookings do not place pressure on availability. In other words: the total number of annual credits issued by the Club and Club inventory does not change.

The Developer accumulates credits when:

• One-time credits are received from Developer Exchanges. Associate Resorts and all Lifestyle benefits that allow owners to use credits – for example, Wyndham Rewards Exchange – are Developer benefits, where the Developer provides products or services at its own cost in exchange for vacation credits from owners.
• The Developer holds its own credits in the Club. From time to time, the Developer may acquire credits from other owners or request credits rather than receive proceeds from the sale of credits.

Like all owners, the Developer is responsible for covering housekeeping costs for every booking. It does this by surrendering housekeeping tokens it collects when credits are exchanged for a Developer benefit and must address any shortfall through payment to the Club.

Mixed-use properties

Importantly, not all apartments that appear online as being available to the public are Club inventory booked by the Developer. Apartments appearing online may be privately owned rooms (i.e., not owned by the Club or Developer) in a resort that is not 100% owned by the Club — for example, at Ramada Resort Phillip Island and Wyndham Surfers Paradise. These could be privately let or made available to the public through a letting pool arrangement. For more detail on what inventory is owned by the Club, please consult the PDS.

We hope this provides further clarity around Developer bookings.

Owners’ Meet and Greets have become popular and will continue from 4pm-5pm each Wednesday!