Marriott’s ‘Villas’ attracts both U.S., international vacationers

By Art Jacobson

Marriott’s Villas at Doral offers timeshare ownership and the amenities of the adjacent Doral Golf Resort and Spa. (Photo by Ed Raduns When you combine a world famous resort with an innovative idea and one of the world’s best-known hospitality companies, the results can be quite spectacular. That’s what happened when Marriott’s Vacation Club International opened the Villas at Doral.

The upscale timeshare resort on NW 87th Avenue, directly across from the main entrance to the Doral Golf Resort and Spa, offers lavishly decorated two-bedroom/two-bath villas for purchase in intervals of one week or more. Sixty-eight of the planned 252 units have already been completed.

“So far, we’ve sold approximately 2,000 weeks,” said Villas at Doral project director Lisa Dusart. “About half of our owners are from the United States, mostly the northeast, and the rest are from all over the word, primarily Latin America and the Caribbean — Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil and the Cayman Islands. We also have some European clients as well. Our owners are from the same places as the tourists who visit Greater Miami. When you consider what we have to offer, you can readily understand why so many people have purchased a timeshare here.”

In addition to the outdoor pool, whirlpool spa and exercise room at the Villas at Doral, timeshare owners have access to the amenities of the Doral Golf Resort and Spa. These include five golf courses, the Jim McLean Golf School, the Arthur Ashe Tennis Center with both hard surface and clay courts, the Blue Lagoon water aquatic playground featuring four pools and a 125 foot water slide; beach and boardwalk areas; recreational area bar and grill; jogging trails; an award-winning spa with 52 treatment rooms; fine and casual dining; plus the exclusive shops and boutiques within the resort.

“Each 1,208-square-foot villa can accommodate up to eight people comfortably,” said Dusart. “Each has two bedrooms and two baths, either a golf or a lake view, a soaking tub in the master bath, a private balcony, a fully-equipped kitchen with service for eight, comfortable living and dining areas, three television sets — one equipped with a VCR — plus a utility room with a washer and dryer. They are indeed a home away from home.”

Timesharing, sometimes called vacation or interval ownership, is a rapidly growing concept where vacationers purchase accommodations for the periods of the year when they expect to use them. Since they own their vacation accommodations, timeshare owners do not have to worry about future rate increases and can sell their timeshare, rent it to other people, exchange it for comparable accommodations at resorts all over the world or leave it to their heirs. “One of the most important differences between the Villas at Doral and other timeshare properties is that it is a part of Marriott’s Vacation Club International,” said Ray Mason, director of sales. “Not only is Marriott one of the largest, most knowledgeable and most highly respected organizations in the hospitality industry, it has the experience and the resources to create customer benefit programs which greatly enhance the value of owning a timeshare at the Villas at Doral.”

He said that Villas at Doral timeshare owners may use their villas during the week in the season they purchased, split the week into two mini-vacations, trade it through membership in Interval International — a separate company — for time at another Marriott Vacation Club International resort or at approximately 2,000 similar resorts in 75 countries all over the world. They may also exchange their week every other year for Marriott Rewards points, which are redeemable for worldwide Marriott accommodations, airfare, cruises and car rentals.

Villas at Doral timeshare owners also receive special privileges when arranging stays in the four other Marriott Vacation Club International resorts known as the Florida Club — Ocean Pointe at Palm Beach Shores, Beach Place Towers in Ft. Lauderdale, Grande Vista in Orlando and Legends Edge at Bay Point near Panama City.

Meantime, Dusart extended an invitation to local residents to come and take a look at the new Doral resort.

“We would like to invite the people who live in Doral to be our guest for a visit to the Villas at Doral so that they can see what is available to them right here and at our other resorts both within Florida and around the world. For more information, call 305-629-3323.