5 Star Hotels and Luxury Resorts – Without The Hefty Price Tag?

Do you like to stay in 4 and 5 star hotels and luxury resorts around the world? Of course you do, but what are the options for the more cost conscious traveller in 2011?

I have researched the industry in order to provide a better quality vacation experience for my family. You’ll be pleased to hear that there IS a way you can stay in these luxurious resorts for just a fraction of the cost, but let’s look at the options first.

The three main options to stay in these luxury resorts and five star hotels are:

1. To book through a high class travel agency and pay the current price

2. To buy your own vacation property in one of the resorts

3. To invest in a timeshare

Well of course you need to pay more for quality, everyone knows that, but how MUCH more do you pay before you start being "ripped off"?

Have you ever been out with friends when someone says "I got a great deal on a holiday that other people had paid MUCH more for". (Well of course you never hear from the ones who paid more!) Sadly these sort of "deals" are usually only available when you book extremely early or late but if you are happy doing that, then you will get some good deals.

But for the rest of us, what do we do?

Option 1

Invest in a holiday home (a 2nd Property)

You may look at investing in a second property and hope that you will be able to rent it out to cover your costs and create an additional income, but to maximize your returns, it would probably mean renting it out at "peak" times.

There are also tax implications to consider - any income from a second home has to be declared to the taxman which could mean up to 40% (depending on where you live) gone before you see any return. You will also have to take into account overseas local taxes and capital gains tax on the sale of the property.

You should also beware of "loopholes" in the country's land ownership laws, resulting in many "losing" their land to a main highway route or worse losing their home altogether.

You will obviously also need some capital to invest too, not only for the initial down payment, but for the usual fees associated with a property purchase.

So is this a good move? With the current global economic climate any short term profit from a 2nd home in the next few years is negligible. Many "would-be" investors are being scared off with concerns about their investment actually losing them money.

Option 2

Own a Luxury timeshare – the luxury of a "home from home" – without the hassle or tax implications of property ownership.

Hmmmmm

You will have to visit my website to find out the full implication of what I found out about this industry as there’s not enough room here, but it does not make good reading for the timeshare industry!

In fairness the industry sector has been a booming market for the last 20 or so years and some specialist industry blogs and websites would indicate that "many" people are "more than satisfied" with their long term liability .... ooops I mean their Asset!

BUT you only have to search up timeshare on the internet to uncover a host of people who are desperate to get rid of their "Asset" due to massively increased annual or monthly maintenance charges to understand the problems.

Option 3

Buy a timeshare property through the resellers where you can save about 50% off the original price. Well yes, once again if you visit the timeshare forums, you will see that many people are "satisfied" and even "pleased" that they have saved off the original price of the timeshare, but the maintenance fees STILL apply (which is how timeshare companies really make their money) and you still never actually OWN the property, so the value of your investment is NEVER going to go up.

if you just want to be able to go away when YOU choose (and not be tied to one or two weeks a year) and you want to have the choice of destination at the 4 and 5 star hotels and luxurious resorts but you DON’T want the high prices, what can you do?

This could be the perfect solution - Follow the link in the footer to find out more.