Spotlight is a new column written by Susan Kime, an experienced luxury lifestyle journalist. As a guest contributer to Helium Report, Susan will periodically share her insights into various resorts and fractional real estate options. An avid world traveler, Ms. Kime has written over 100 stories for leading luxury publications. Visit her website at http://susankime.com.

Overview

The Aventuras Club at Puerto Aventuras is currently offering fractional ownership in three settings. The villa residences are situated in three separate, environmentally diverse areas within the guard-gated community of Puerto Aventuras, a resort enclave, about an hour south of Cancun.

The Villa residence areas on the marina, lagoon, and beach, are all under construction. The Laguna I residences will be completed at the end of June, this year; the Marina villas will be completed in January, ‘08, while the beachfront villas will be completed in November of next year. The Laguna II, the final part of the Aventuras Club, will be finished in June of next year.

Location The Aventuras Club is located on the Riviera Maya in the Eastern Mexican Caribbean, 15 minutes from Playa del Carmen and 30 minutes north of the ancient Mayan walled city of Tulum, built in the 6th century, AD. The location of the Aventuras Club, which sits within the guard-gated community of Puerto Aventuras, can take advantage of all the community enclave has to offer: swimming with Dolphins, sea kayaking, parasailing, sport fishing, as well as hotel services (the Omni has a boutique hotel within the community- only 30 rooms) and 12 restaurants, most all overlooking the Dolphin pools, lagoons and marinas.

Details

There are three areas where the Villa residences are being built. Each building overlooks distinct areas of Puerto Aventuras: the 28 Laguna Villas are all located on an ocean inlet, with small private beaches and ocean views. At the 19 Marina villas, the owners are within 300 yards of the two marinas with fishing boats, as well as the Dolphin Lagoons. At the 14 beach-front villas, the owners can walk out of the residences directly onto the sandy beach and go swimming or kayaking in the Caribbean. Pricing ranges from $60,000 to $120,000 per 1/13, averaging four weeks. In addition, Aventuras Club is part of Intrawest’s exchange network, Resort To Resort, so the Aventuras member also has access to 155 properties in over 30 resort destinations throughout the world.

How it looks

The one, two and three bedroom villas range between 1,050 and 2,000 square feet. All of the villas have Caribbean interior design appointments, including porcelain tile floors, brick paved ceilings, and mahogany arched doors. Hand-painted porcelain sinks, all with fractional amenities: on-site concierge, daily maid service, airport transfers, and pre-arrival grocery shopping, to name a few.

Onsite Report

I traveled to the Riviera Maya, Puerto Aventuras, and the Aventuras Club last week. This is an unspoiled part of Mexico, still replete with Mayan ruins – Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Tulum and Coba. Puerto Aventuras is a safe, guard-gated enclave – behind the walls of which are Dolphin lagoons, great restaurants, a hotel, condos, boutiques, and other small shops that cater to the tourist and vacationer. Yet, this is not a touristy place. It seems more like a friendly, happy community – somewhat like the mythical Shangri-la – this time, not in the mountains of Nepal, but in the jungles of the Mayan Yucatan. The Aventuras Club was a pleasant surprise; fractional clubs that manage this low of a price per share often have cut corners on amenities. But this club hasn’t.