History of Fairmont
Fairmont filed its first prospectus in British Columbia with the superintendent of real estate in the late 1970s and recently celebrated its 29th anniversary. From its beginnings at the Mountainside Golf Course in Fairmont Hot Springs, B.C., business operations have grown to include more than 500 Five Star Award Winning luxury villas as well as luxurious houseboats and motor homes.
In 1978 developer Lloyd Wilder started building the first resort in Canada to be constructed for timeshare ownership. Fairmont Mountainside Villas sat on 22 acres in the interior of the Mountainside Golf Course and included 116 cedar villas and a large recreation center. The villas were still under construction when Wilder sold an active interest in the timeshare marketing and development company to the Fairmont founders, a group headed by Collin Knight and Douglas Morcom who then completed the final 36 Villas at the Mountainside project.
The new team sold the remaining units at Mountainside for Mr. Wilder, then purchased nearby land and started developing the Riverside and Hillside Villas on the Riverside Golf Course. The Company continued in 2005 to demonstrate its industry strength as it opens its fourth project, Riverview Villas, also on the Riverside Golf Course, bringing on stream high end inventory of 1,632 interval weeks which are now ready for occupancy and sale.
In 2001, Fairmont acquired the Lake Okanagan Resort located near Kelowna, B.C. Between 1984 and 1988 the resort was operated by Canadian Pacific Hotels as a resort hotel complex situated on approximately 300 acres of mountainside parkland with 4,700 feet (1,430 meters) of waterfront.
In 2005 Fairmont acquired the Costa Maya Reef Resort at Ambergris Caye in Belize. The Costa Maya Reef Resort consists of 30 villas built in 10 buildings and consists of 10 – 2 bedroom villas and 20 one bedroom villas – all with kitchens. There is also an outdoor pool, a restaurant, lounge/games room, commercial kitchen and offices, a palapa poolside bar, a 300 foot dock, a dive shop and a staff housing building. There is also a guest water taxi shuttle and golf cart rentals as well as kayaking and snorkeling. The property has approximately 750 feet of ocean beach frontage with a protected concrete seawall and contains approximately 22 acres with ample future development opportunity.
In 2005 Fairmont acquired time share vacation villas located at the Oasis Resort in Mesquite Nevada. The acquisition represents over 500 time share intervals and the units are all one bedroom, fully furnished vacation time share suites with kitchens. Mesquite is located at the Nevada, Utah and Arizona border and is a popular stop for travellers driving to Las Vegas on Interstate Hi-way 15. The Oasis Resort is a full service resort with amenities, restaurants, golfing and casino operations. There are several pools including a water park, go-cart track, mini golf and nearby gun club. The area is well known for its many golf courses, national parks, and great weather.
Fairmont Vacation Inventory also includes 11 new 60-foot luxury houseboats, available only to its member families and 16 houseboats available from the acquisition of the Shuswap Lake Resort Club. The 11 new boats contain fireplaces and island kitchens with two fridges. These boats also have hot tubs for eight, and a fuel transfer stations on the rear deck.
The Makaha Resort & Golf Club on Oahu, Hawaii was purchased in 2004. Formerly owned by All Nippon Airways Hotels and branded as a Sheraton Resort and Golf Club during the 1980s and 1990s, this Polynesian style resort consists of 173 hotel units, a convention center, a restaurant and an 18-hole championship golf course designed by William Bell the same architect of Torrey Pines fame in California. This three hundred acre resort also includes luau grounds, tennis courts, games room and massage services, a fitness room, stocked Pro Shop, driving range, putting and sand practice area, concierge tour assistance, lounge and entertainment, large swimming pool with four fountains, shuffleboard, basketball, craft and ukulele lessons, hiking trails and nearby waterfalls.
Fairmont Resort Properties Ltd. officially purchased the timeshare operations of Royal Host Inc. effective January 1, 2007. These society and locations include ownership of Portofino Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and RVI Club, management of Grand Lakefront Resort Club Canada, Grand Lakefront Resort Club USA, Las Gaviotas Vacation Club II, Royal Harbour Resort, and Banff Rocky Mountain Resort.
Fairmont Resort Properties Ltd. announced in 2007 the acquisition of the assets and future lands for development of Rancho Banderas Resort in the State of Nayarit, minutes North of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Rancho Banderas is a 5-star Interval International resort with a 50-unit mix of studio, one, two and three bedroom unites. The resort is Mexican colonial in its decor and had fabulous on-site amenities including restaurants, spa, water pools and slide, and beach activities. While the resort is currently sold out, there are future plans for approximately 200 villas of various styles equipped with extensive amenities. This thriving area of Mexico is predicted to be the Riviera of West Coast Mexico.