A Magazine Exclusively for WorldMark Owners April 2008 Grape Expectations ESCAPE TO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA’S WINE COUNTRY • THREE DAYS OF DESERT FUN AT WORLDMARK INDIO • COMING SOON: WORLDMARK LONG BEACH Call Today 1-800-585-4833 With RCI ®, you have more choices More Places. More Experiences. More Vacation. Now there are more places and more adventures for Worldmark owners to choose from than ever before: over 4,000 affiliated resort destinations in 80 countries around the world. Call an RCI Vacation Guide at 1-800-585-4833 to help you find the perfect vacation experience for you and your family.1 RCI offers great member benefits and the flexibility to travel in a wide variety of ways, from resorts around the world and cruise experiences, to rental opportunities2, 3 at special member-only pricing.4 Plus, RCI provides a complete support system for planning your vacation and managing your ownership resources. Call for details on the benefits you’ll get from your Worldmark Ownership and RCI. 1-800-585-4833 Book your RCI vacation today. 1 These exchange vacations are limited. Destinations and travel times are subject to availability and confirmed on a first come, first served basis. Offer includes only accommodations and specifically excludes travel costs and other expenses that may be incurred. Taxes, additional fees and charges may apply. Mexican resorts may charge a mandatory all-inclusive fee. Promotional discounts and offers may not apply to all properties. Other restrictions may apply. Offer void where prohibited by law. 2 EXTRA VACATIONSSM: Prices are based on a seven-night stay. Additional fees, charges and taxes may apply. You won’t have to deposit a vacation week. These Extra VacationsSM getaways are limited and subject to availability. Additional restrictions may apply. 3 LAST CALLSM vacations are limited and subject to availability. These prices are only available online. Additional fees, charges and taxes may apply. Additional restrictions may also apply. 4 Destinations and travel times are subject to availability and confirmed on a first come, first served basis. Offer includes only accommodations and specifically excludes travel costs and other expenses that may be incurred. Taxes, additional fees and charges may apply. Mexican resorts may charge a mandatory all-inclusive fee. Promotional discounts and offers may not apply to all properties. Other restrictions may apply. Offer void where prohibited by law. Resort Rental, LLC and the logo are service marks used under license. All Rights Reserved. Resort Rental, LLC Address: 7 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, NJ 07054 © 2008 Resort Rental, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. ANDREW FERGUSON/iSTOCK ANDREW contents APRIL 2008 features 12 Rendezvous in the Redwoods WorldMark Windsor provides the perfect setting for four friends to meet and discover the local diversions while re-discovering one another. 20 Three Days in the Desert A bright star on a dark night, WorldMark Indio, situated outside of Palm Springs, Calif., is the perfect spot for unwinding and discovering local fl avor. departments 4 FROM THE DESK OF… Peggy Fry, Vice President of Owner Services, lets you in on how WorldMark delivers exceptional customer service. 6 YOUR CLUB Inventory Specials, Owner Education, seasonal pool openings, spotlight on WorldMark Lake of the Ozarks, nominations for the WorldMark Board of Directors 26 YOUR TRAVEL OFFERS GEORGE GREEN/SHUTTERSTOCK GEORGE 30 LASTING IMPRESSION ON OUR COVER: Sauvignon grapes glisten on the vine in Sonoma Valley, Calif. An owner takes a day trip from Indio. Photograph by Garry Gay/Getty Images. from the desk of... Dedicated to Delivering Exceptional Customer Service By Peggy Fry Vice President of Owner Services y 15 years servicing WorldMark owners has taught me one irrefutable fact — owners are fierce in their love of WorldMark. There’s rarely an instance Mwhen I’m asked what I do for a living that I don’t find the person asking is either an owner or a friend or relative of an owner, and furthermore, has a story to share with me of how WorldMark has changed their life. At the very least, WorldMark has allowed them to create priceless family memories and experiences. Your Vacation Planning Center, Reservations, Owner Services, Travel and Exchange departments share a deep dedication to delivering exceptional customer service at each owner interaction. Service lives at the top of minds and is reinforced through continu- ous agent training, leadership training, WEST survey results and the new Wyndham At Your Service (WAYS) monitoring tool. • Agent Training Regularly scheduled agent training keeps our teams updated on accurate resort and program information while focusing on delivering great experiences to owners. • Leadership Training In addition to operational leadership training, we realize that taking care of our employees means taking care of our owners. We encourage our employees to go above and beyond, and to do whatever it takes. • Wyndham Electronic Satisfaction Tracking (WEST) This electronic survey is much more comprehensive than the surveys of the past and allows owners to share service experiences directly with management. • Wyndham At Your Service (WAYS) WAYS allows supervisors to monitor calls according to specific criteria and enables them to expeditiously resolve any service issues or concerns. At all levels of WorldMark, we embrace and commit to deliver these service values to you, our Owners: Be Respectful, Be Responsive and Deliver Great Experiences Every Day. We live these values internally as well, with a keen awareness that the culture will extend to each and every guest interaction. Your feedback is vitally important and enables us to deliver an excellent experience with every phone call or email. Please be certain to complete your WEST surveys — for both your vacation planning experiences and your resort stays — as your feedback al- lows us to consistently improve the service we provide you, our most important assets, our owners. 4 DESTINATIONS | April 2008 Nominations Open for Senior Vice President, WorldMark by Wyndham, WorldMark Board of Directors Hospitality Division Dave Herrick Editor in Chief Ruth Shively Senior Editor ominations are now being accepted for the 2009 WorldMark Board of Directors. This fall, Kelly Hanlon Assistant Editor Katharine Davis Nowners will vote to fi ll two open positions on the board. Creative Director Bill Olivari Candidates who wish to be placed on the ballot should submit the following information by Art Director Susan Myers-Feeney May 9, 2008: Designer Douglas Rickard Deay Production Jamie Olson • A written nominee statement (no more than 350 words) outlining the desire to be a candidate for the Board. Contributors: Stephanie Aardal, Kati Arrubla, Patricia Bastone, Misty Beaupre Zoutte, Sylvia Betancourt, • A resumé outlining the nominee’s qualifi cations to serve on the Board, including Maren Culter, Tami Fitch, Amy Godwin, Alyssa professional work experience, timeshare or hospitality background, civic or political Moore, Reid Nichols, Heidi Rennick, Brian Runnels, experience, and any other experience on other boards of directors. Resumé should also Brittany Tracy include educational background and professional certifi cations. Reservations Department • Nominee must be current on all fi nancial obligations to WorldMark, The Club. 1-800-457-0103 Mon. – Fri., 6 am – 9 pm PT Sat. & Sun., 6 am – 5 pm PT The WorldMark Board will establish a nomination committee that will evaluate each nomina- tion and will make fi nalist recommendations to the Board for fi nal approval. The criteria used for Owner Services 1-888-648-7363 evaluation are: [email protected] 1. The strength of the nomination statement provided by the nominee. Mon. – Fri., 8 am – 6 pm PT 2. The value the nominee would add to the Board, based upon the nominee’s resumé which (Closed Tue., 2 – 3:30 pm PT) describes the nominee’s professional background and any other experiences and/or Sat. & Sun., 8 am – 5 pm PT education that would be useful in serving on the Board. WorldMark by Wyndham Travel 3. The value the nominee would add to the Board, based upon the nominee’s timeshare 1-800-953-5511 Mon. – Fri., 8 am – 8 pm PT industry and/or hospitality background. Sat., 9 am – 4 pm PT 4. The years of ownership and usage of WorldMark, The Club, exchange programs, other (Closed Wed., 2:30 – 4 pm PT) timeshare products and familiarization of the timeshare industry as a whole. Loan Payments, Maintenance Dues, Finance 5. The nominee’s understanding of the collaborative relationship between the developer and 1-800-779-0760 WorldMark that must exist for the long term success of WorldMark. RCI® 6. The fl exibility of the individual to attend quarterly meetings in person or by telephone 1-800-585-4833 conference call. Interval International (II) 7. Whether or not the nominee’s account refl ects that he or she has been consistently in good Service line: 1-877-678-4400 standing in the past, i.e. whether the nominee was consistently current on all contracts, Flexchange recording: 1-800-722-1747 dues payments and other fi nancial obligations to the Club. Destinations Editor 8427 SouthPark Circle Submissions by mail must be postmarked by May 9; submissions sent by fax or e-mail must be Orlando, FL 32819 received by May 9. Nominee information should be sent to: (407) 370-5200 [email protected] WorldMark Election Attn: Stephanie Aardal Visit the WorldMark Web site at www.worldmarktheclub.com WorldMark, The Club 9805 Willows Road NE © 2008, WorldMark, The Club. All rights reserved. Vol. XVIII, No. 3, April 2008. Destinations is published Redmond, WA 98052 monthly except January by WorldMark, 9805 Willows Road NE, Redmond, WA 98052. Destinations is an official Fax: 425-498-3082 WorldMark publication. Subscriptions are covered by dues paid by owners of WorldMark. Non-owner subscription E-mail: [email protected] price of $11 per year, including state sales tax.