A luxury property investment fund, membership gets you access to 100 exclusive apartments around the world as well as a share in the portfolio’s appreciation.

The Hideaways Club is a global property company that manages two international investment funds – a collection of luxury villas and chalets as well as city apartments.

The first fund launched was the Classic Collection, which offers members an equity share in portfolio of £1 million ($1.6 million) plus luxury villas and chalets across the world.

Investores in the fund get year round access to a range of 100 luxury holiday homes as well as equity ownership in the entire property portfolio. The fund in limited to 600 members. Members also share in the value appreciation of the entire portfolio of properties.

Following on from the Classic Collection, in January 2011 The Hideaways Club launched its second property investment fund, the City Collection, a portfolio of fully-services luxury apartments in the world’s most vibrant cities.

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An international property investment company, The Hideaways Club manages two funds: the Classic Collection, which consists of luxury villas and chalets, and the recently launched City Collection, which features two-and three-bedroom apartments in some of the world’s most vibrant cities. The premise is a simpla, if not inexpensive one, open primarily to high net individuals and professional investores. Members receive equity ownership in the entire property portfolio, as well as a given number of night a year in any one of the properties.

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The Hideaways club started in 2006 as a private investment fund that gave its members the opportunity to own joint equity in a global property portfolio of 120 luxury villa properties in some of the most sought-after location in the world. In july 2011 he launched the City Collection, which took the same model and dropped it into the urban environment. The fund currently comprises 16 properties from New York to Bangkok, but it will expand to 120 city-based two and three-bedroom apartments in prime locations in the next five years.

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Czech-born Tomas Berdych, rated number six in the world rankings of professional ten-nis players, has agreed to become an ambassador for high-end property investment club, The Hideaways Club. The potential grand-slam winner joins retired British cham-pion Tim Henman, who signed up as an ambassador to the club in 2009.

The Hideaways offers investors two portfolios of luxury second homes – which they also get to use up to six weeks a year.

Both ambassadors pay full price for the membership but are reportedly allowed a re-duced rate on concierge charges.

Berdych said: “I frequently travel to some of the most exotic countries in the world, staying in beautiful properties in wonderful locations. But having stayed in one of the company’s villas, I can only say I have never been so impressed and so well-looked af-ter.”

The Hideaways Club has always tried to distance itself from the time-share concept. Styling itself instead as an investment club, investors buy a share of the portfolio, cost-ing from £122,500 ($188,487) to £235,000, allowing four to six weeks’ annual usage. Service charges are up to £14,000 a year to cover everything from maintenance to a concierge service in every property.

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Rated number seven in the world rankings of professional tennis players, Czech born Tomas is considered by many to be one of the most exciting players in the game and a potential Grand Slam winner. He joins several other notable sports stars as an Ambassa-dor for the equity destination club, The Hideaways Club.

He first picked up a tennis racket at the age of five and since turning professional in 2002 and winning his first title at the AMS tournament in Paris in 2005 has stormed up the rankings to his current position. Not only is he the number one Czech player, a country renowned for producing some of the finest players, but among many other top finishes he has been a Wimbledon finalist, has achieved his third ATP World Tour title and in 2011 won the China Open in Beijing.

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Investment fund destination club TheHideaways Club has announced that tennis star Tomas Berdych has become the company’s latest ambas-sador, joining Tim Henman and F1 driver Nick Heidfeld in the role.

Rated number six in the world rankings, Czech-born Berdych was Wimbledon runner up in 2010.

Berdych said: “I am thrilled to be involved with such an exciting and innovative company as The Hideaways Club. l frequently travel to some of the most exotic countries around the world, staying in beautiful properties in wonderful locations. But having stayed in one of the company’s fantastic villas, l can only say I have never been so im-pressed and so well looked after which made for such an enjoyable and memorable experience.”

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From procuring hot theater tickets to chartering a deep sea fishing excursion to planning an impromptu sweet sixteen birthday party, creating memorable, fun vacations is the primary goal of the destination club concierge.

Many times, they also arrange transportation, make dinner reservations or hire a personal chef, book tee times, and take care of paperwork and other miscellaneous tasks to make the trip as seamless and trouble-free for their guests as possible.

The SherpaReport spoke with a few of these professionals, also known as destination hosts, destination managers or personal travel concierges (PTCs), from Equity Estates, The Hideaways Club and Quintess. They told us about the rewards of working as a concierge or host as well as some of their more memorable experiences.

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Set in the beautiful ski areas of Chamonix and Morzine in France, Nendaz and Crans Montana in Switzerland and Niseko in Japan, the luxurious, designer built chalets offer a wide variety of terrain, accommodating for all ski and snowboard requirements the majority having ski-in, ski-out accessibility.

The four Nendaz properties offer over 412 km of pistes and 92 lifts. The Chamonix and Morzine areas are world renowned for their pristine slopes, Chamonix for its spectacular views of the Mont Blanc Massif and Crans Montana for its wide variety of activities.

Niseko, generally acknowledged as Japan’s finest ski region is widely reported as having the finest powder skiing in the world. Each of the chalets accommodates up to 10 people and offers the highest standards of luxury and service for which The Hideaways Club is known.

The majority are built in the traditional style with the Nendaz chalets offering fabulous panoramic views of the valley below. Each family orientated chalet is equipped with open plan living areas, under floor heating, modern fully equipped kitchens, internet access, flat screen TV, DVD players, Bose and iPod music systems and traditional log fireplaces.

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For a fraction on the cost of just one city apartment Members will have equity ownership in, and exclusive usage of 120 city apartments.

The Hideaways Club is a global property company that manages two equity-based property investment Funds. Following on from the success of the first Fund of luxury villas and chalets across the world, in June this year the company launched its second Fund, The City Collection, which provides investors with a new way to enjoy an unrivalled and luxurious city lifestyle.

The City Collection offers Members a wide selection of fully serviced two three bedroom apartments in some of the most glamorous and vibrant cities around the world. These include Paris, New York, Miami, Istanbul, Barcelona, London, Prague, Rome and Vienna amongst many others. Additional cities to be included in the portfolio will be as diversified as Moscow and Rio de Janeiro to Bangkok and Sydney with the ultimate target of 120 city properties over the next three years

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A Hideaways membership is a lifestyle investment – emphasis on lifestyle. We offer our members a full five star Concierge Service, which will cater to every Member’s desire, from in-house spa service to organising private yachts for the day. The combination of a Central Concierge, who will arrange private transfers and in-house fine dinning ahead of your trip, with our Local Concierge who will look after your every need once you have arrived at the villa, makes for the most seamless travel possible.

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The Hideaways Club, which is based in London, is seeking to raise the profile of what it is and does in the region. The club has two funds – The Classic and City – and allows investors to buy into a portfolio of luxury properties around the world.

Targeted at professionals and entrepreneurs, the Hideaways Club, which was founded in 2007, claims to be a more financially astute way of owning a second property overseas.

It’s Classic fund offers a share in 37 luxury holiday homes around the world, ranging from the French Riviera, the Swiss Alps to Marrakech, Morocco and Bali and costs £250,000 to join, with a £14,000 annual fee.

Depending on when they book, members will receive between six to eight weeks in the properties of their choice. A half share option exists for £132,500 a year, with annual fees of £7,000.

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Leisure-net are delighted to announce they have signed a 12 month contract to work with leading global property company The Hideaways Club. The Club specializes in the equity ownership and management of two international investment Funds.

Membership of the first Fund, the Classic Collection, offers Members the opportunity to invest in and exclusively enjoy an entire portfolio of luxury villas and chalets throughout Europe, Africa, Mauritius and South East Asia ultimately targeting 100 properties globally and 600 Members.

In June this year the company launched its second Fund, the City Collection, a portfolio of luxurious two/three bedroom apartments which provide Members with a new way to enjoy an unrivalled and luxurious city lifestyle in cities as diversified as New York to Bangkok and Paris to Singapore with ultimately 120 apartments world wide.

Leisure-net will be providing regular Member insight surveys to The Hideaways Club including the use of Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a key customer service mix.

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The company’s first fund, the Classic Collection, operates 37 chalets and villas throughout Europe, Africa, Mauritius and South East Asia, and has in excess of 248 members to date. Ultimately there will be 100 properties in the portfolio and 600 members.

Launched in June this year the company’s second fund, the City Collection, has this week signed up its 50th member. It currently has 11 apartments available for use, with a further six due to come on line in the next two months. The fund will eventually consist of a portfolio of 120 city apartments globally and 1,200 members.

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Gloria Tessler found herself in Puglia, deep in the heels of southern Italy.

Luxury villa in a beautiful location may not suit the adventurous globe-trotter.But if you hanker after – and can afford – an exclusive beauty spot with your own concierge and a private chef, a Hideaways Club villa could be an option. Less of a time-share, they say, than an investment. You get a share of the equity of the funds’ portfolio and up to eight weeks’ holiday per year.

Hideaways are literally named: they are not easy to find. Three of us finally reached the villa in Masseria La Rosa in Puglia deep in the heel of Italy and about ten minutes from the village of Carpigiano.

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Many of us dream of a holiday home with guaranteed golf and good weather. Others are looking for a fairway-side bolt-hole in which to retire. But money’s tight and the whole second home business looks seriously expensive both to get into and maintain. What to do?

Well, broadly, there are two approaches: the first is to buy outrighta smaller apartment, somewhere not too costly; second is to purchase a fraction of a property for the few weeks a year you actually want to us it.

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A holiday home once meant a house in the Dordogne or a bougainvillea-fringed villa in

Andalusia. You only had time to visit it a few weeks a year and the first days were spent

phoning the pool man and buying new towels, but it was yours, all yours. How oldfashioned.

These days any individual worth their high net is not content with just one

property, but a score.

For those who want to enjoy many different properties without the hassle of full possession,

one solution could be fractional ownership. Started in the US in the early 1990s by

groups of friends who pooled resources to buy holiday homes, it has developed from

simple part-ownership of a property in one location to an elaborate and increasingly upmarket

share in hundreds of properties around the globe.

Put simply, investors buy into a fund that entitles them to limited use of a portfolio of

properties – usually about four weeks per year – but, crucially, they have a share in the

equity. It may not be romantic but it is functional, if somewhat corporate.

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The Dubai apartment is located within the 5-star The Address Hotel, overlooking the Burg Khalifa and Dubai Fountain. In Paris, The Hideaways Club has acquired a residence within the 8th Arrondissement in ‘The Golden Triangle’ to the City Collection. Other recent additions to the city portfolio include a penthouse in Times Square, New York, and a three-bed apartment in Vienna, Austria.

The Hideaways Club has already proven itself against tough market conditions. Co-founder Stephen Wise said: “We’re coming up to 50 members in the City Collection – compared to the launch of our Classic Collection this represents more than double the pace of membership growth.”

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The Fitness First founder now spends half the year in Europe and the remainder in Malaysia.

Mike Balfour of Fitness First, the gym chain, is lokking to expand his business interests in Asia, so has acquired residency status in Malaysia, where the top rate of tax is only 26%.

Balfour, a self-professed late-starter entrepreneur, left school at 18 and qualified as a chartered accountant. In 1992, at the age of 42, he bought an old squash club in Bournemouth- that became the original Fitness First.

The company, now the largest chain of health clubs in the world, floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1996 and was taken private in a £415m management buyout in 2003. BC Partners, a private equity firm, then acquired it for £835m in a management secondary buyout in 2005.

Though he still has a small shareholding, Balfourleft the board in 2009, reportedly after a row over strategy. He then founded the Hideaways Club, a global property company that allows investors to purchase equity shares in two luxury property funds. Members put a minimum £132,500, which gives them three weeks’ use a year of any property in the equity share of a fund.

Balfour is also a founder shareholder of Yacht Plus, the super-yacht business, and is now focusing on expanding his Pure Health & Fitness brand, a chain of gyms in eastern Europe.

Balfour, 62, and his wife Margaret split their time between Europe and Malaysia. They have two children: Sarah, 30, and James, 28.

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Formed in 2007 in Gibraltar, The Hideaways Club is a global property company specialising in the ownership and management of a collection of international properties via investment funds.

The idea is that instead of committing a significant financial outlay to a property purchase, thereby taking on the risk of unforeseen issues arising from property ownership and the likelihood of boredom from visiting the same place every year, The Hideaways Club offers to provide the reality without all the attendant hassles and costs of sole ownership.

The first fund, the ‘Classic Collection’, is the largest club of its kind in the world. With a minimum investment of £132,500, investors own a shareof, and can utilise for holidays, a portfolio of luxury villas throughout Europe, Africa and South East Asia.

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What do New york, London, Paris, Venice, Miami, Istanbul all have in common? Apart from being thrilling destinations in their own right, they are also key players in the City Collection, a new concept from The Hideaways Club that combines all the seclusion and flexibility of a private apartment with the concierge services of a five-star hotel.

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