Print
E-mail
Share
digg
Newsvine
Facebook
Stumble
Technorati
reddit
Fark
twitterVegas timeshare company to close sales operations
Published Tuesday, June 23, 2009 | 6:29 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, June 23, 2009 | 8:16 p.m.
A Las Vegas timeshare company has shut down its sales and marketing operations and is planning to seek bankruptcy.
Consolidated Resorts Inc., which owns Tahiti, Tahiti Village and Club de Soleil in Las Vegas, made the announcement today. Tahiti Village is on Las Vegas Boulevard near the I-215 Beltway while Tahiti and Club de Soleil are on Tropicana Avenue, west of Decatur Boulevard.
"As a result of the dramatic changes in the economy and the shrinking timeshare lending environment, Consolidated Resorts, Inc. has shut down its sales and marketing operations in Las Vegas, Orlando and Hawaii and will file for bankruptcy protection," company spokesman Ken Chupinsky said in a statement. "The scarcity of lenders in the timeshare industry has made it impossible to continue the company."
The operation of the resorts will continue uninterrupted, he said.
"What doesn’t change for all of the owners that have purchased from us for over 25 years is the continued operation of the 14 resorts. The resorts will continue to operate uninterrupted so owners that have reservations do not need to worry."
Owners with questions were referred to Soleil Management, which can be reached at 1-800-775-8463.
Company officials weren't available to discuss what effect the shutdown will have on jobs.
Consolidated and its parent company, ASNY Corp., made news in 2007 when Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said one of its real estate investment funds had made a substantial investment in ASNY's timeshare business.
But soon the economy went into a tailspin and the Wall Street Journal reported this year that by the end of 2008 the fund, Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Limited Partnership 2007, had written off to nothing its $372 million investment in ASNY.
Consolidated was sued earlier this year by Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s Palazzo resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
Palazzo alleged Consolidated had failed to open timeshare marketing booths at the Palazzo and the Shoppes at the Palazzo and owes it $8.5 million in annual rent. In its response, Consolidated said the five-year booth contracts were not enforceable. That lawsuit is pending in Clark County District Court.
A second suit was filed in the same court Tuesday against Consolidated by Casino Royale, 3411 Las Vegas Blvd. South.
Casino Royale alleged Consolidated breached an agreement to pay it for the right to operate a timeshare marketing booth used to invite prospects to a vacation ownership sales presentation.
Under the deal, Consolidated was to guarantee the property $20,000 in monthly room night revenue and buy 125,000 promotional slot play certificates per hear, the lawsuit said. Consolidated has not yet responded to that suit and its policy is to not comment on lawsuits.
Discussion: 31 comments so far…
Post a comment
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Wonder drug for men no success story
- Metro admits to improper release of criminal history data
- CityCenter: One man’s concept of a real city
- If Palin’s book is so bad, then why is it a best-seller?
- Was a foiled bank heist a cry for help?
- Bellfield tolls again for UNLV in 76-71 win over Louisville
- Metro corrections officer remembered for his love of family
- Notebook: UNLV prospect Polee likes what he sees, and hears, at the Mack
- Live game blog: Bellfield, UNLV come through late, upset No. 16 Louisville
- UNLV recalls last year’s close shave at Louisville
Blogs
The Kats Report
If the message is 'rock out,' then KISS is indeed a message band (1 Comment)
Could a savior of shuttered Las Vegas Art Museum be ... Peter Max? (6 Comments)
For Paul Stanley and KISS, rock and roll is not over (6 Comments)
Twenty years ago today, Human Nature took root on the farm (1 Comment)
Robin Leach's Las Vegas Celebrity Watch
Photo Gallery: Donny Osmond’s triumphant return to the Flamingo
The Kats Report
'DWTS' champ Donny Osmond still deft afoot in return to Flamingo (8 Comments)
Politics: The Early Line
Meeting of GOP governors draws challengers, not Gibbons (5 Comments)
Calendar »
- 30 Mon
- 1 Tue
- 2 Wed
- 3 Thu
- 4 Fri
-
DJ showdown at Prive
Prive | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Rok Box with Mike Carbonell at Tabu
Tabú Ultralounge | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
DJ Riz at Jet
Jet | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Football specials at Diablo's
Diablos Cantina
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
but i thought vegas was recession proof.
this has nothing to do with lenders. give me a break.
this is the gravy train of tourists and baby boomers with money stopped pulling into the station and they can't work the "you want free tickets to a show" hustle to get people to buy these things.
i feel bad for the people losing their jobs. it's really, really, tough out there.
stevem-
You speak without any knowledge.
Maybe it's a surprise to you but timeshare is sold in other places besides Las Vegas. It clearly states in the article that Orlando and Hawaii are shutting down too.
Indeed, it is the lack of lenders that's the largest part of the problem.
It's all going down the tubes.
Isn't this the place that Alan Thick & Tanya Roberts peddles on late night TV?
well, since i am a realtor, i say i have A LOT of knowledge.
duh...orlando and hawaii are both tourist related towns.
just like vegas.
this has NOTHING to do with lending. that's them trying to put their "spin" on it.
there are a TON of homes being sold. so, lenders are lending.
Well it seems the only people who have the money are the Chinese. Every time I put my offer in for a house, it gets rejected. The bank accepted another NOT HIGHER offer for cash (less than what I offered) from "Asian investors."
So maybe all these Chinese buyers with there money from sweat shop factories in China will buy the timeshares.
I worked for Consolidated and lost my job yesterday because of "The scarcity of lenders in the timeshare industry has made it impossible to continue the company." If we can't sell, we can't stay in business! I worked on commission with a monthly bonus on sales, and yes sales have gone down dramatically! It is sad that so many of us are now without a job. When we got the news and were sent home yesterday, I thought that none of us would be paid for last week ... until I got a call last night telling me to come in and pick up my final paycheck. I have a lot of respect for the company, they could have screwed us, but they didn't.
stevem-
You appear to be misinformed. Maybe Consolidated just made up this as a reason to shut down? Same reason that all the other time share companies said they are in trouble. Do they have a secret that they're all keeping? Of course not.
It's good that you have a lot of knowledge. Now you can add to it.
I feel sorry for the folks who have lost their jobs, but I will not miss being asked 5 times a day if I want free show tickets or if I will be in town tomorrow night. I've complained to the casinos about the sales pitches - I understand these folks are just doing their jobs, but it was ridiculous the number of times you were approached by these folks trying to sell these units.
I am informed. Timeshares are sold to anyone, financed at 18% interest, then the loans are sold off. Since no one is buying the "paper" behind those loans, the companies are in trouble.
Also, you can complain to the casinos about being approached, but they make $30,000+/- a month rent for the booth rentals, plus they make money by selling the premiums or "gifts" you receive for taking the tour.
AND, lenders may be lending for homes, because they can reposess them. Since techically there is no property owned when you buy a timeshare, no bank will give a mortgage, because there is no property actually backing the loan. I'm happy Steve M is not my realtor.
Thanks, Sugar1, for saving me from making the same explanation. Well said.
Consolidated shut down sales and marketing because they had no marketing. This group was still doing the "old school" approach to tour generation.
and sugar1...
i am glad you are not my client.
it seems people haven't learned to sniff out reality from p.r. spin.
if there was demand...there would be lenders.
these things are sold to tourists. the number of tourists is down = demand is down = they can't make their margin = they have to shut down.
this guy isn't going to say "nobody is buying our stuff" because that looks bad, so he says "no lenders" to take the heat off himself and his product.
company spokesman = paid to "spin" things.
i do feel bad for their sales staff. they will probably have to go outside the timeshare industry to find jobs. my girlfriend was one of those people that stopped you and asked you about free show tickets and i know what a grind that is. she only made money...any real money...if people ended up actually buying a unit and that's what...like 1 out of 100?
you gotta stop A LOT of people to make any real money.
Duh- They would agree to buy but couldn't get financed. Oh, I forgot, the timeshare industry wont tell the REAL reason for their problems.
It's a secret.......ha
Hmmmm....SteveM is a realtor? That and $4.00 will get you into Starbucks. I'm a broker out of Orlando, in the timeshare industry for nearly 20yrs. I'll put this very simple for Steve's sake. Residential properties are financed on the primary market for the most part. Only in the worst case, are secondary lenders used and almost never hard money. Hard money is from individual investers, in case Steve is a little nieve. Foreclosure is a simple process, having only one title holder.
On the other hand, timeshare is totally different. It is financed primarily through the secondary market, which is in dire straits right now. As a second means of finance, hard money is common; as is developer financing. This is a risky busines for lenders, as they must finance marginal borrowers. To make matters worse, foreclosure is difficult at best with multiple owners. This kind of financing is almost non-existant, not showing any changes in the near future. This timeshare problem is not only in the entire United States, but international too.
So Steve....I hope the knowledge is useful to you. At least, you wont be embarrassing yourself the next time you try to impress everyone. Continuing education is always a plus, you may try it sometime.
Stayed on the Club De Soleil( by error) was not told by EXPEDIA this was a timeshare,and not advertised as one.Prepaid and to much trouble to attempt a refund, I stayed my 7 days. A real dump.Thought I was in a one star hotel. No great loss to me.
Did I mention all the "by the hour" girls flyers hung on my door daily and slid under my door.The welcome kit given me including some very personal items for both men and women.Just sad the dump will be a eye sore on the community now as it sits empty.
Dear Stevem;
Great that you are a Realtor and know a lot about RESIDENTIAL real estate, get informed. That there is no lenders is the absolute truth, Consolidated had by far the best and most amazing marketing I have ever seen in my life, unfortunately just like other companies in town, which I am not going to mention, it has no more lenders and they will also soon go down. You see, in timeshare when someone buys one the timeshare company doesn't run a credit report or checks their credit at all sometimes, then they have banks like Tammac Financial that buy their loans which they gave to customers at an average of 17%; because of the financial troubles many people are DEFAULTING on their timeshares and letting them go. This is losing a lot of many for the lenders and since nobody likes losing money companies like Tammac have said that as of August of this year they will no longer buy timeshare loans or they will reduce the amount of loans that they finance significantly, leaving only the companies that can hold their own paper like Marriott and Hilton afloat.
Aloha,Just so sugar1 knows, most timeshare owners DO receive a DEED to "Real Property" and in Hawaii a Real Estate License is required to sell Timeshare, because it IS a Real Estate purchase...The loans being sold have always been how the company makes the money..If they can't sell the "paper" they can't stay in business..Aloha..P.S. 33 booths in Vegas, 7 booths in Lahaina, Maui; and also Honolulu as well.. 4 sales room in Vegas also HI, FLD..More than 900 people lost jobs in Vegas alone, not including Hawaii and Florida..
http://www.simplyhired.com/a/jobtrends/t...
look at that graph and have a nice day.
this is a demand - side problem, not a lending problem.
stevem- So, everybody is wrong here, timeshare companies are participating in a massive cover-up, and you're right? Oooo-k :)
Looking forward to seeing: we never landed on the moon or professional wrestling is real!
i'm not saying it's a cover-up, you idiot.
i'm saying that the DEMAND is way down, evidenced by the graph in that link and a p.r. guy is never going to say "people don't want what we are selling"...because he'd no longer have a job...so instead he says "there are no lenders".
do you think if 100 people went to a kiosk for tahiti village last friday and said "i want to buy a timeshare" that there wouldn't have been a lender somewhere to take that business?
there are too many people out of work and too many baby boomers that have to work another 5 years to be able to retire...to give them money for a timeshare in vegas.
So, agrees with the article but you and I'm an idiot?
Stevee- You've made a fool of yourself here.
As a party of one, if we're keping score, you're way behind. Come back with a helper. If you can find one.
Comment removed by staff.
Well, I really feel sorry for all those time share buyers eager to buy a time share but who can't get financing. Must be tens of thousands of them. What a crying shame. Any way to get some of that stimulus money for the timeshare industry?
So in the end when stevee coludn't win he's a bigot.
OMG are you for real Steve, I sell timeshares and have no problem selling. The problem is financing. My company cannot sell loans for those who have substandard credit unless they come up with a huge down payment, and those are the people who can't wait to buy. Timeshares are not houses which but the way are not that easy to get a loan for either. I also worked for Tahiti for a short time they were a marketing machine! FYI no one walks in anywhere and says "Hey can I buy a timeshare?" that's why good salepeople make 6 figures. Hello what planet are you from??????
Steve...quit stirring the pot!!! You REALLY can't be that stupid. Or, can you? I'm beginning to question your claim, being a Realtor. You seem to be FAR to uneducated.
Maui Boy, read your deed, you just may be surprised that you own a teeny tiny percentage of a REAL ESTATE TRUST not the property itself. The deed allows you usage rights, not actual property.
I've worked in timeshare in Vegas since '94 in a changing market. I have mixed feelings about timeshare as I've worked for 'em and had 'em and still travel a lot with them and also attend a lot of tours (for the gift) without buying. Timeshares are a great way to travel but are very expensive and you're better off if you want to own one to go thru a resale company such as REDWEEK or even EBAY and you can land a good deal if you shop around for a couple grand or less (instead of $10-30k financed at 17.9%)
I've worked for Consolidated and first off if you were greedy enough to attend a 2-hr tour for show tickets, you can't blame salespeople for selling their craft..you can say no and leave with your gifts... And if you buy, Consolidated is the only company I worked for that gave you a (taped) welcome call after your purchase to make sure you understand your purchase. Most people don't read their contract until they get home to know of the cancellation period. It is your responsibility. Some timeshare companies are better than others, and thousands of people enjoy them yearly. It's sad to see the Las Vegas community of companies be challenged by today's economy.