Bonnett Creek Update

[JimC]

The Bonnett Creek property (the landlocked real estate that Walt could not purchase at a reasonable price) has been under development. There is a Fairfield resort already under construction which will have 1,594 units in nine buildings.

Wyndham has announced that it will build a hotel and spa on the property as well. Both companies are owned by Wyndham Worldwide, the Cendant spinoff recently admitted to the S&P 500.

 

[Deb & Bill]

That's probably why Wyndham sold off the hotel in DTD.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The Wyndham announcement was made about four months ago. A week before the Wyndham announcement, Hilton announced two hotels.

At this time, there are four resorts under construction or planned within the master-planned, 70-acre Bonnet Creek Resort:

• Fairfield Orlando at Bonnet Creek Resort, a Wyndham Vacation Ownership Resort — 1,594 timeshare units upon completion.
• Hilton Bonnet Creek — 1000 rooms
• Waldorf-Astoria Bonnet Creek — 500 rooms
• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Hotel and Spa at Bonnet Creek Resort — 400 rooms

The Fairfield has some buildings open or business.

The Bonnet Creek Resort is surrounded on three sides by Disney property. However, the Bonnet Creek Resort, although convenient to Disney, is an off-site complex. Access to the Bonnet Creek Resort is from Buena Vista Drive near Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

That's probably why Wyndham sold off the hotel in DTD.

Actually, it's more complicated than that.

Blackstone Group bought the entire Wyndham International company in mid-2005. That transaction included the Wyndham Palace, across the street from the Downtown Disney Marketplace. Then, Blackstone Group sold the Wyndham brand (but not the hotels themselves) to Cendant, which subsequenty spun off their lodging division (including their Fairfield timeshare company) as a separate company, which they named Wyndham Worldwide.

Meanwhile, Blackstone Group dropped the Wyndham name off many of their better properties and created a new brand for those properties — LXR Luxury Resorts. The former Wyndham Palace is now the Buena Vista Palace, an LXR Luxury Resort. (When the hotel was originally built, it was also called the Buena Vista Palace.)

Confusing, eh?

So, Wyndham didn't really sell off their hotel in Lake Buena Vista. And the Wyndham company that's building the new hotel within the Bonnet Creek Resort is really a different company than the Wyndham that owned the Wyndham Palace — although it's the same Wyndham brand!

I should have stopped after I wrote the first line of this reply — "Actually, it's more complicated than that."

 

[Deb & Bill]

Wow, that was complicated. Thanks for the info, HH.