SW Florida in January, Plus Resorts on the Beach

[JLB]

We've gone by Englewood Beach and Yacht Club and Sea Oats in Englewood a few times, and they have been busy.

[JLB]

There's not much to report about SW FL in January because there is seldom anything available anymore, and never anything decent.

Here's what's available in Florida in January, 2013, and it pretty much tells the story:

FL - Inland [24]
FL - Northern Atlantic Coast [230]
FL - Orlando Area [265]
FL - Panhandle [43]
FL - Southern Atlantic Coast [107]

[JLB]

There's not much to report about SW FL in January because there is seldom anything available anymore, and never anything decent.

Here's what's available in Florida in January, 2013, and it pretty much tells the story:

FL - Inland [24]
FL - Northern Atlantic Coast [230]
FL - Orlando Area [265]
FL - Panhandle [43]
FL - Southern Atlantic Coast [107]

January, 2014:

FL - Inland [2]
FL - Northern Atlantic Coast [66]
FL - Northern Gulf Coast [8]
FL - Orlando Area [157]
FL - Panhandle [6]
FL - Southern Atlantic Coast [144]


Now that I look at them, look at that Southern Atlantic Coast stuff . . . Weston, I bet.

Yup, 117 of the 144.

[JLB]

Sadly, RCI is so desparate for Florida Southern Gulf Coast inventory that they have thrown Lehigh Resort Club into the Sub-Area.

For those newer to these things, LRC, which is about 30 miles from the nearest beach was in the Sub-Area when it was known as SW Florida. When the Gulf Side got separated into Southern Gulf Coast and Northern Gulf Coast, Lehigh got put into Inland, because it is.

Now it's on the Gulf.

[JLB]

Sadly, RCI is so desparate for Florida Southern Gulf Coast inventory that they have thrown Lehigh Resort Club into the Sub-Area.

For those newer to these things, LRC, which is about 30 miles from the nearest beach was in the Sub-Area when it was known as SW Florida. When the Gulf Side got separated into Southern Gulf Coast and Northern Gulf Coast, Lehigh got put into Inland, because it is.

Now it's on the Gulf.

We first went to Lehigh nearly 20 years ago, and it was a regular January thing for several years, until we learned how to do what we were doing, around 1999.

Of course, I started searching and documenting January SW FL availability in 1997, including the decline which began in 2004, for January, 2006, and have been asking anyone who breathes what they think happened to all those SW FL deposits that usetobe.

I guess I'm as close to being able to guess as anyone, and I will guess it is a combination of members no longer giving their prime weeks to RCI, and/or RCI renting them, although no one has ever found where.

[JLB]

Sadly, RCI is so desparate for Florida Southern Gulf Coast inventory that they have thrown Lehigh Resort Club into the Sub-Area.

Now it's on the Gulf.

Of all the irritating things they've done, for me this ranks right up there.

[JLB]

A walk down Memory Lane:

posted 05-31-2005 06:24

"Back to my hillbilly dial-up, and back to the topic.

I have now done these searches many thousands of times. I still am amazed at how little activity there is. The same weeks at the same resorts continue to be available day-after-day, going on for weeks, with very little fluctuation.

SW FL for Jan., 2007, has been 7,8 or 9 for 40 days. Resorts on the Beach for Jan., 2007, has been steadily increasing, as one would expect at this distance out, but has been 44-47 for the last 20 days.

It is not like there is a great demand and stuff is disappearing as quickly as it is deposited.

The difference between now and three years ago is that the nicer resorts never appear any more. The lesser resorts seem to appear as frequently as ever."

[JLB]

posted 05-14-2005 06:29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time for pruning.
Time to bring the meaningful posts over to a new thread. This is necessary because as threads get too long, the forum does not handle them well. Eventually they will be lost.

I will be pulling old stuff over, and you can, too, but here is where we started on the third generation, July 25, 2004:


Officially for RCI, SW Florida is a Subarea that begins at Englewood/Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda and goes south to Marco Island.
I have been familiar with, interested in, in love with SW Florida since going there during my previous incarnation in the 1970's. Initially my interest was in Ft. Myers Beach, but eventually branched out to include Sanibel/Captiva, Bonita Beach, Vanderbilt Beach, Naples, Marco Island, and, yes, Lehigh Acres.

In my new incarnation, we began timesharing in SW Florida, Weeks 1 and 2 each year, in the early 90's. In those days, with no RCI.com, the method of searching involved ongoing searches and relying on the word of a VC. We typically wound up with Lehigh Acres, and with one of the crappy units across the road at Lahaina Inn one week in the early 90's.

With the advent of RCI.com, a better trading week, TUG, and a dose of reality leading to semi-enlightenment, about five years ago we discovered that there are many wonderful resorts in SW FL and they really are/were available.

With RCI.com I began searching SW FL for each January I could, every day I was home. I began recording my searches on March 27, 2002, and have recorded every search since. No, I did not have a crystal ball to know that our best trading week would suddenly lose ALL trading power and I would need my documentation to present to RCI for a remedy. And I had no idea that two years later we would be concerned about prime weeks going directly to rentals.

I believe why I started recording my searches was because of TUG. There were several very nice, very informative members (most of whom seem to no longer be here) who gave advice on areas they were familiar with. As good as their advice was and as well-meaning as they appeared to be, what I found lacking was specifics, empirical data, so I adopted SW FL to study.

I sometimes say that if each of us would do this, for a Subarea we like, it would be a service to all of TUG.

So much for the idle chatter. For those of you who are viewing this for the first time, I just wanted you to be aware of the extent of time and study I have put into this. I have not yet found any simple explanations for the results.

Here's what I've seen:

January, 2004: Search began 3/27/02 with 10 resorts available. The peaks came in July and October, 2002, with 14 resorts. That would have been at 18 and 15 months out. At a year out (January, 2003) it was running 8 and 9 resorts. At six months out it was down to zero to 2.

January, 2005: Search began 3/19/03, with 11 resorts available. The peak came in June and August, 2003, and held through October, with 13 resorts. At 13 months out it was running 5-6, but at a year out it was zero to 3, and never recovered.

January, 2006: Search began 1/28/04, with 2 resorts. In 2/04, it was up to 6, but hasn't done much since. It has hit as high as 9, in June, at 19 months out, the timeframe when the previous searches began their peak. Now, in July, 2004, it has been running only 5-7 resorts.

General observations: First, there has never been any wild and radical fluctuation from one day to the next, as some might lead you to believe. It has seldom changed more than one resort in a day, often times with that one reappearing within the next two days. Several times it has gone many days, sometimes more than a month, with no change whatsoever.

Obviously, there has been a reduction in the number of resorts available.

This was refelected in the 2005 search, when at a year out the typical surge from people Spacebanking in December and January, when fees are paid and trading power is being maximized, did not occur. It was more like what you should see at six months out, 0-3, and never rebounded.

January, 2006, is more obvious. The numbers have simply never been there.

As alarming, the resorts that are not appearing for 2006 are the better resorts. In previous years I saw an occasional Gold Crown, or RID, which I either took or referred to others. Some may remember when I posted Club Regency on Sightings, a Gold Crown I could not take because we already had another Gold Crown!!!! When we changed our plans, I did take it, since it lingered on RCI.com for quite awhile. Club Regency then appeared again and so did Charter Club of Marco and a couple on Sanibel.

But, nothing like that for 2005 or 2006.

So, there it is. The numbers are down. The quality is down. Even searching every day, starting two years out.

- - - - - -
Added 7/26: To give me and mine an alternative, and to share that with others, on March 10, 2004, I began the daily search of "Resorts on the Beach", mainly for January 2006, but also for 2005.

Amazingly, most other areas of Florida do not have the problem I see in SW FL. The Keys, of course, are tough, but I was able to snag a decent place there for Week 1, 2006, something we have always wanted to do,much likeI used to be able to do in SW.

I have seen as many as 55 choices for ROTB for 1/06 and almost as many for 1/05. Some really, really nice places.

Today there were 46 for 2006 and 43 for 2005 (Yes, even at this late date--five months out!).

Go figure!

I have email.

http://www.tug1.net/tugbbs1/Forum11/HTML/005440.html

[JLB]

Sadly, RCI is so desparate for Florida Southern Gulf Coast inventory that they have thrown Lehigh Resort Club into the Sub-Area.

For those newer to these things, LRC, which is about 30 miles from the nearest beach was in the Sub-Area when it was known as SW Florida. When the Gulf Side got separated into Southern Gulf Coast and Northern Gulf Coast, Lehigh got put into Inland, because it is.

Now it's on the Gulf.

I just got an email from RCI saying they have slashed trading power requirement to 4 for now through December, including SWFL.

Guess where.

[JLB]

Why do you think these are still sitting there, while everything else, what little there was, in SW FL was taken long ago?

Lehigh Resort Club (#0101)
Studio 4 (2) Full Sat 12-Jan-2013 Sat 19-Jan-2013 Exchange Fee 8
Studio 4 (2) Partial Sat 26-Jan-2013 Sat 02-Feb-2013 Exchange Fee 8

It is also the only thing for January, 2014:

Lehigh Resort Club (#0101)
Studio 4 (2) Partial Sat 18-Jan-2014 Sat 25-Jan-2014 Exchange Fee 14


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/raymon..._b_817783.html