Wyndham Vacation Ownership Acquires Grand Beach Palace Resort in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wyndham Vacation Ownership, the world's largest vacation ownership company and a member of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies (NYSE: WYN - News), today announced that it has acquired the Grand Beach Palace resort (formerly the Renaissance Grand Hotel) located on the northeast side of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, with plans to convert the property into its flagship Caribbean timeshare resort. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The beachfront property, which has remained vacant for more than two years, will undergo a $40 million renovation including the conversion of its 290 existing hotel rooms into 143 fully furnished condominium-styled timeshare units. The resort is expected to welcome its first guests in late 2008 and will operate within Wyndham Vacation Ownership's FairShare Plus portfolio of resort properties.

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"Wyndham timeshare owners consistently rank St. Thomas among their top locations for vacationing, and we're tremendously pleased to expand our presence in the Caribbean with the acquisition and repositioning of this property as an upscale vacation ownership resort," said Franz Hanning, Wyndham Vacation Ownership president and chief executive officer. "We look forward to working closely with Governor deJongh, local planning and development officials and other leaders throughout the community to complete this exciting vision."

"The reopening of this beachfront property on the East End of St. Thomas and the planned multi-million dollar renovation is a significant boon for not only the hospitality industry but for local contractors and development firms that will likely be called into service as this project takes shape," said U.S. Virgin Islands Governor John deJongh. "We welcome the Wyndham Vacation Ownership brand to the Virgin Islands and look forward to the high level of service presently provided at another Wyndham brand on St. Thomas, The Sugar Bay Resort."

The newly acquired resort is situated within six hillside and seven poolside buildings that will be converted into a combination of studio, one-, two-, and three bedroom condominium-styled units, as well as a select number of presidential suites. Other amenities include two on-site restaurants, boat dock, conference area and a nearly 5,000-square-foot beachfront pool overlooking the picturesque Water Bay harbor. The 25-acre property, which boasts a thousand-foot stretch of palm-fringed white sand beaches, is located approximately one mile from the highly popular 300-room Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa.

"The upscale design, planned amenities and guest services we envision for this property will fully complement the neighboring Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort and Spa," Hanning continued. "Adding a world-class vacation ownership resort in close proximity to the island's most spectacular resort hotel will dramatically increase our ability to showcase both properties and share all that St. Thomas has to offer with thousands of Wyndham hotel clients and timeshare owners from around the world."

Steven A. Rudnitsky, Wyndham Hotel Group president and chief executive officer, said the purchase "leverages Wyndham Worldwide's dual competencies in lodging and vacation ownership" and exemplifies how development of an upscale vacation ownership property can benefit a nearby hotel under the same brand.

"The conversion of the Grand Beach Palace hotel into a first-class vacation ownership resort will benefit the nearby Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort and Spa by offering travelers the best of both worlds: a resort hotel for casual visitors and an upscale vacation ownership destination for those who chose to make a long-term investment in family getaways," he said.

About Wyndham Vacation Ownership

Wyndham Vacation Ownership is the world's largest vacation ownership business as measured by the number of vacation ownership resorts, vacation ownership units and vacation ownership interests. Wyndham Vacation Ownership includes marketing and sales of vacation ownership interests, property management services to property owners' associations and development and acquisition of vacation ownership resorts.

Through its three primary consumer brands, Wyndham Vacation Resorts, WorldMark by Wyndham and Trendwest South Pacific, Wyndham Vacation Ownership has developed or acquired more than 140 resort properties throughout North America and the South Pacific that represent more than 18,000 fully furnished, condominium-style units and more than 750,000 owners of vacation ownership and other real estate interests. Wyndham Vacation Ownership, headquartered in Orlando, Fla., is a member of the Wyndham Worldwide family (NYSE: WYN - News) and is supported by more than 14,000 employees globally.