Pick up the December issue of Conde Nast Traveler for a great story on timesharing that puts the industry in good light for a change. The 11-page section is a consumers' guide to understanding and buying timeshares, fractionals and destination clubs. The well-written and easy-to-decipher section answers a myriad of common questions many consumers have about alternative lodging products—costs, benefits, resale issues, tax considerations—as well as a frank, but not sensational discussion of the industry's past image problems.
The only quarrel I have with the story is that it gives equal weight to destination club products as it does to timeshare and fractionals. Many in the traditional timeshare industry worry that the lightly regulated destination club business may stumble, giving vacation ownership a black eye by association.