PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. November 6, 2010: WHAT’S ON THE MENU THIS WEEK?
EARLY RETIREMENT: That’s right. Woody’s Roadkill Cafe is taking an early retirement, I’m taking my act off the road. ITG’s new blog The GateHouse, which is based on the same model as the former Street Talk, will be going live next Saturday, [...]

(Published Every Saturday.) STREET TALK IS BACK! Well, not really but almost. Woody’s Roadkill Cafe is going to be replaced by a new blog called The GateHouse, which will be based on the same model as the former Street Talk. New name, same game, if you will. Easy to follow, easy to participate, plenty of opportunity for you to have your say about whatever you want! (Read More)

(Published Every Saturday.) WATERLOO: There’s some irony in there somewhere. Ultimate Escapes, the second biggest destination club that was growing like gangbusters until very recently, had to file for bankruptcy protection last month (the “ultimate escape“?) The company, and its members, are apparently being rescued by a company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario. Waterloo– ya know? Get it? (Read More)

(Published Every Saturday.) GRUNTLED OR DISGRUNTLED? Wyndham Vacation Resorts (AKA Fairfield Resorts) says that Jim Faucett is just a disgruntled former employee, and I’d have to agree with that except the word “disgruntled” doesn’t go far enough to describe Faucett’s degree of gruntledness with both Wyndham and the timeshare industry in general. (Read More)

Published Every Saturday. SKI TOWN USA: Steamboat Springs, up in the northwest corner of Colorado, had a pretty good summer season. Wyndham Vacation Ownership, which sells units at The Village at Steamboat under the brands WorldMark by Wyndham and Wyndham Vacation Resorts, did a whopping $45 Million in sales through August 2010, selling more than 650 timeshares. (Read More)

Published Every Saturday. THE GRAPEVINE: A little birdie tells me that a certain rep at the Hilton in New York City was discovered to be handing out double first day incentives to get sales. For instance, he would upgrade an existing owner to 20K and give away 500K Hilton Honors Points to seal the deal (a 10K value in Europe). As it was explained to me, that essentially gives you a 3-week Category 7 hotel stay with Hilton (that’s all Greek to me…). (Read More)

Published Every Saturday. A CONTROLLING DECISION: This is big news. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has handed down a decision that is likely to reverberate within the timeshare industry throughout the states in its jurisdiction. That’s even though the case in point has nothing to do with timesharing. (Read More)

Published Every Saturday. HE’S BAAACCCKKKK! Artie Spector has regained control of Consolidated Resorts, et al, successfully closing the sale from the bankruptcy estate and bringing the company back ‘home’. On Aug. 31, 2010, The Arthur Spector Companies completed the acquisition of all of the remaining timeshare inventory and operating assets comprising the Tahiti Village, Tahiti and Club de Soleil vacation ownership resorts in Las Vegas and other resorts in Hawaii. (Read More)

Published Every Saturday. BUDDY CAN YA SPARE A DIME? Good old CFI/Westgate is in trouble again.

It hasn’t been a good year for David Siegel and the gang. The economic Big Bang hit them so hard they were forced to put a lot of assets up for sale (including Siegel’s unfinished mansion and the timeshare project across from Disneyland) to raise money. (Read More)

Published Every Saturday. DEAD SKUNK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AWARD: Considering the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the upcoming 9th anniversary of 9/11 and of course the anniversary today of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech, this week’s stinker just has to be that sanctimonious twit we all know and love Glenn Beck, who will be helping his faithful audience of beckerheads “take our country back” and “restore honor” today at the Lincoln Memorial. Read More…