Marriott Vacation Club International, a division of Marriott International Inc. in Washington, D.C., is building its largest timeshare complex in the United States. The 14 phases will be completed by 2017 in Palm Desert.

Photos By Dan Elliott Harry and Terry Funk are on their vacation at the Westin Mission Hills Resort and Villas in Rancho Mirage.

Marriott's $120 million Shadow Ridge project at 9001 Shadow Ridge Road will include 972 timeshare units.

R.D. Olson Construction in Irvine began work on phase six of the development Feb. 26. The builder began construction on the project in 2000.

Phase six will include 46 timeshare villas. Marriott plans to sell those units for one-week ownerships at $22,000 to $25,000 by March.

"In the last five to eight years the timeshare industry has shown significant growth because people are educating themselves on the Internet," said Ed Kinney, Marriott vice president of corporate affairs.

A timeshare unit, also known as a vacation ownership property, is a furnished unit similar to a condo or apartment that is sold in one-week intervals. Those units come with the use of hotel amenities such as a pool, and room, maid and concierge service.

"It's clean, we've never had a problem and there's so much space. It's different from a hotel room because you own it. It's like being in your own home," said Terry Funk of Fullerton, who owns a timeshare unit at the Westin Mission Hills Resort and Villas in Rancho Mirage.

Timeshares differ from hotel condominiums. Hotel condos are rooms located in luxury hotels and sold like second homes. Deeds are issued to buyers who own the hotel condo 52 weeks of the year. Those owners can rent the room and generate income.

Timeshares are sold in weekly intervals and owners pay a maintenance fee for each owned week. That fee averages nearly $500 a week of ownership.

"Timeshares have more perks than a regular hotel room," said Warren Jerome, Westin Hills Resort and Villas director of villa operations.

Westin Hills timeshare owners get discounted golf course rates, use of the hotel business center, pool, tennis courts and restaurants. Owners can trade their time for stays at other timeshare properties around the world, he said.

Room for more

Marriott leads the timeshare industry with 52 resorts and 10,475 units, according to a Merrill Lynch research report published July 27.

The Fountain at the Westin Mission Hills Resort and Villas in Rancho Mirage.

Hilton Hotels Corp. in Beverly Hills owns 40 properties and 4,272 timeshare units, almost half of which are located in Florida.

Starwood Vacation Ownership, a division of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide in White Plains, N.Y., owns 3,546 timeshare units worldwide and plans to add more than 1,600 new units by the end of the year.

Starwood Vacation plans to build a Westin vacation ownership resort in Palm Desert.

Starwood owns the 316-room Westin Mission Hills Resort and Villas in Rancho Mirage. The success of the timeshares at the Rancho Mirage property prompted the construction of another vacation ownership resort in Palm Desert, spokesman David Matheson said. Those ownerships sold out within a year of opening.

The Palm Desert Westin vacation ownership property will feature two buildings and 46 units occupying 28.7 acres. Construction on the resort will begin this year.

Starwood plans also to construct 250 timeshare units at the Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert. Construction is slated to begin in early 2008.

Those units will occupy 17.6 acres. Starwood also plans to build a 275-room W hotel adjacent to the Desert Willow timeshare units by 2009. That hotel will feature up to 10,000 square feet of meeting space and a restaurant.

The timeshare industry is riding a wave of growth, Kinney said.

The industry grew 16% in the past 12 years and sales reached $8 billion in 2004 up from $5.5 billion in 2003, according to the Merrill Lynch report. Nearly 4 million households in the United Sates own timeshares.

Timeshares can be exchanged for room nights at hotels in the same association or traded for stays at other timeshare properties. That flexibility is driving demand for timeshare units.

Owners can trade time with any timeshare property within the same association or operator.

Timeshare ownership will grow by 30% over the next 10 years, according to Merrill Lynch. Hilton, Marriott and Starwood averaged 17% and 29% growth in timeshare revenues and operating income, respectively, from 2001 to 2005.

Timeshare operators generate income from sales of the units and from management fees and loan portfolios.

"We're always looking for opportunities" for more timeshare locations, Kinney said. "This is our 10th consecutive year of growth in the timeshare industry. That's how popular the industry has become."

When the lodging industry slowed after 9-11 from 2001 to 2003, timeshare sales grew 35%, according to the report.