These Hassle-free Vacation Homes Offer Benefits to Communities and Individual Owners

There is a new trend taking hold in many major resort areas. Up and down the beaches, the old mom-and-pop hotels and motels are closing as residential property surges in value and luxury condos take their place. But a new hybrid product, condo hotels, could help satisfy both the profit motive and the need for hotel unit inventory.

Owners Receive Rent Revenue

A growing number of large, high-rise properties in Florida, Las Vegas and across the country are part of the condo hotel wave in which each unit is a condominium owned by an individual buyer who uses it part time as a vacation home. When owners are not using their condo units, the hotel's management company rents them to outside guests.

Cities that thrive on tourism need hotel rooms for their visitors. Condo hotels can help preserve the number of available rooms. The hotel management encourages owners to participate in the rental program rather than boarding up their condos for much of the year. Owners receive a portion of the rental income, usually around 50 percent, and have the comfort of knowing that someone else is responsible for the property's care in their absence.

Hassle-free Vacation Homes

For the individual investor, condo hotels offer an opportunity to own a vacation home in a popular destination and have access to a hotel's vast amenities from spas, pools and fitness centers to fine-dining restaurants and concierge services. The condo owners get all the services of a four-star or five-star hotel, and none of the hassles of second home ownership. The hotel's management company takes care of all upkeep as well as finding hotel guests.

Ritz-Carlton, Trump, Starwood, Hilton & Hyatt

Part of the success of individual condo hotels is due to the brands with which they're associated. And the names getting into the business these days are indeed impressive. They include Ritz-Carlton, Trump International, Starwood, Hilton and Hyatt, to name a few. Those names guarantee quality and professional management. Plus they bring sophisticated reservation systems and marketing to help ensure that owners' units maintain high occupancy rates and generate substantial revenue.

Rent Revenue Offsets Ownership Expenses

Prices for luxury condo hotel units range from $300,000 to well over $1,000,000. Like a traditional condominium, there's a condo association, property taxes and a monthly condo fee. The revenue a condo hotel unit generates helps to offset these expenses.

Condo Hotels Often Appreciate in Value

Another benefit for condo hotel owners is potential appreciation. Owners stand to gain financially if values go up. Most properties sell the majority of their condo hotel units in the pre-construction phase. Those buyers who get in early when prices are at their lowest and unit selection greatest are ones most likely to see the greatest appreciation.

Condo Hotel Concept Catching On

The latest reports show that over 90,000 condo hotel rooms are in the pipeline. The condo hotel boom is not isolated to the popular cities in Florida like Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Orlando. Condo hotels are sprouting up in many other major destinations including Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach and the Bahamas.

Major metropolitan areas like Chicago, Boston, New York and Toronto are getting condo hotels as well. So are some resort towns that are near to major cities such as the Wisconsin Dells which is within driving range of Chicago and Minneapolis.

Even some exotic locations are joining the trend. In Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates, construction will soon begin on at least four large, five-star condo hotels. Various Caribbean and European developers are exploring the concept too. Given the success of recent condo hotel developments, many more are sure to follow.

For more information on condo hotels including listings of available properties, visit www.CondoHotelCenter.com.



About the author:

Joel Greene is the President of Condo Hotel Center located in Miami Florida, which specializes in the sale of condo hotels. Visit his information-packed web site, www.CondoHotelCenter.com for more on condo hotels and to see condo hotel listings, photos and prices. You can also sign up for his free Property Alert newsletter to be notified when new properties come on the market.

Written by: Joel Greene