Could Wyndham be taking over Club La Costa?
A Club La Costa (CLC) press release on 25th October 2021 announced a ‘strategic partnership’ with Wyndham, sending the timeshare rumour mill into overdrive. But what does it actually mean for the businesses?
Some perspective
First of all, even though Club La Costa was once regarded as a giant in the European timeshare world, it is a speck of dust compared to Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. The latter turned over $1.3 trillion (with a T) in pandemic struck 2020. CLC’s turnover is a fraction of 1% of that number. This isn’t going to be a relationship between two equals. For CLC this is game changing, but for the mighty Wyndham, this is just another day at the office.
What exactly is the new relationship?
Disconcertingly vague phrases like ‘operational partnership’, ‘strategic partnership’ and ‘collaboration’ give no breakdown of the financial commitments involved. All we know for sure is that Wyndham will be rebranding 12 CLC properties as some of the brands under the Wyndham umbrella for ‘midscale and upscale’ family accommodation options.
One can safely assume that this involves some form of payment to CLC, which the insolvency practitioners FRP are likely to be interested in investigating on behalf of CLC’s many creditors.
What do the experts think?
Industry experts believe that this partnership is likely to have significant effects for CLC members:
- Availability: With Wyndham guests now having access to CLC properties, the CLC timeshare owners may now have even less availability than they do at present. “CLC members already complain to our switchboard about how difficult it is to get the week they want,” says Daniel Keating, information Officer for the Timeshare Consumer Association (TCA). “It’s difficult to see this move as doing anything other than making that problem worse as Wyndham guests are inserted into already contested inventory.”
- Member services: It’s no secret that CLC’s member services, such as kids’ clubs, welcome packs and onsite entertainment have been disappearing from CLC resorts. With weeks being rented to regular holidaymakers, are Wyndham likely to fund these services that even CLC are abandoning? “Unlikely,” believes Keating. “This is all about money. With no members joining CLC, they have to be looking to maximise profit on the annual fees. They can only push the fee costs up so far before the members revolt, so they will look to minimise outgoings instead. CLC members paid tens of thousands of pounds to join something that anyone can now book through Expedia. They paid this premium because of all the little touches like Member Services. This downgrading of service is clearly unfair to CLC owners.
- Will Wyndham take on CLC’s debts? “Probably not,” according to Dan Keating. “Wyndham are the world’s largest hotel franchising company. They are smart operators, and will want no part of the mess CLC have got themselves into by disregarding consumer laws for all those years. I would be very surprised if Wyndham had not contractually separated themselves well and truly from CLC’s self imposed financial quagmire.
- Will CLC owners be asked for more money? Many owners believe that they will face pressure to ‘upgrade’ their memberships in order to benefit from access to properties across the Wyndham pantheon of hotel brand giants. “Timeshare owners are used to being harangued by inhouse sales assaults every time they visit a resort,” says Daniel. “it’s difficult to imagine that the parties involved in this deal won’t see it as bringing a host of sales opportunities involving the beleaguered CLC members.”
- Is this an attempt by CLC to avoid paying the millions they owe? CLC owes a fortune to various creditors, including tens of millions of pounds to consumers that they sold illegal membership contracts to. Industry observers are speculating that this rebranding could be an attempt to distance CLC from their creditors. “Club la Costa may consider it a psychological win if they can remove the tainted CLC name from the resorts, they may feel that their victims will lack a target to focus on, making them more likely to give up,” Keating says.
- Is this testing the water for a more complete takeover? Wyndham could swallow up CLC in one gulp, should it choose to. The world’s largest hotel franchising company has a comprehensive track record for absorbing the competition and the CLC resorts appear to be ideal targets for its burgeoning expansion into European holiday destinations. “A complete Wyndham takeover would seem like a perfect parachute for the CLC team,” Keating confirms. “They seem to be looking for a way out of their financial mess and this must be very inviting. If Wyndham were to take over CLC completely, the latter’s memory would fade away a little more every day. Just one problem though. The CLC debts would have to be dealt with first.
If you have questions or need advice on this, or any other timeshare related matter, contact our team at the Timeshare Consumer Association
Related links
- CLC and Wyndham joint press release
- Another timeshare giant calls it a day. Club La Costa announces “discontinuation of new timeshare sales”
- Desperate times for Club La Costa?
- https://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/european-consumer-claims/pressreleases/successful-high-court-application-as-administrator-bdo-replaced-in-timeshare-giant-club-la-costas-ongoing-administration-scandal-3118077
- M1 Legal committed to supporting investigation of Club La Costa World timeshare administration scandal
- Yes, you can still claim compensation from Club La Costa. Here’s why…
- Do you qualify for timeshare compensation? A quick guide:
- Timeshare manipulation tactics. How people are influenced to buy on the day
- £80k to join an “exclusive” timeshare club that is now on booking.com
- Observers bemused as RDO attempts to claim ‘major Club La Costa victory’ during insolvency struggles
- Club La Costa. Customer service likened to an old time comedy show by disappointed members
- Enough is enough. Victims fed up with timeshare companies’ futile schemes to avoid legal obligations
Tags
TCA reviews Timeshare timeshare compensation claim Timeshare advice Can tca be trusted? Timeshare reclaims CLC World timeshare business check American Timeshare Timeshare refund Who are TCA Timeshare Advice Centre CLC Who are Timeshare Consumer Association Timeshare Consumer Association can tca be trusted timeshare compensation Who are the TCA timeshare bankruptcy timeshare businesscheck Timeshare consumer association reviews help with timeshare problems timeshare consumer association review Daniel Keating Timeshare compensation claims Timeshare refund claims TCA wyndham hotels & resorts wyndham clc world resorts and hotels
Regions
Timeshare Consumer Association. Contact us on: T: +44 2036704588 or +44 2035193808 (ask for Daniel), E: enquiries@timeshareadvice.org (Address to Daniel).
WhatsApp (message only) +447586871055
TCA provides a central resource of consumer information on timeshare matters for the media and other organisations — We work towards encouraging responsible, honest, timeshare operators. We also publicly expose negative consumer practices and organisations which operate in a manner detrimental to timeshare buyers and owners.
An important part of our mission is to lobby UK and European Governments and regulatory bodies for improved consumer protection in the timeshare environment and collect information on frauds and mis-selling, for action by enforcement authorities.
We are staffed by former and current timeshare owners, as well as former timeshare industry staff. We know our way around the timeshare business
Timeshare Consumer Association Newsdesk here
Timeshare Consumer Association on YouTube here
Timeshare Consumer Association on Facebook here
Timeshare Consumer Association on Medium here
Timeshare Consumer Association on LinkedIn here
Timeshare Consumer Association on Quora here
Timeshare Consumer Association website here
We are a proud member of the UK Small Charities Coalition
First published on MyNewsDesk November 2021
