"So much for a quiet holiday!" CLC owners "raging" at decline of formerly exclusive timeshare resort

Experts consider the two biggest Club La Costa (CLC) members' Facebook groups to be a telling barometer of resort satisfaction levels. Currently members of these groups are venting their frustration with falling standards, following Wyndham partnership and CLC's unpopular decision to rent to non members.

Wyndham partnership

The two main Facebook groups for Club La Costa owners are CLC World Friends and CLC World Friends United. Thousands of members post daily about their experiences of holidays at CLC resorts.

Those experiences appear to be getting progressively worse, and many are blaming the Wyndham partnership announced in late 2021.

Available on booking sites

It doesn't take much more scrolling to arrive at what CLC owners believe to be another major factor in their resort's deterioration

With the downturn in Europewide timeshare sales, CLC along with many other resorts, made the portentous decision to rent their remaining inventory on bookings sites like Booking.com and Trivago. Sometimes, as one poster notes, for less than members are paying in annual fees. After all, the resort has already been paid once by the member for that week. Any money CLC gets for renting it a second time is pure profit.

CLC Facebook group members point out that this has impacted availability and left people who have paid their fees unable to book the holidays they own.

Different type of client

CLC owners generally paid tens of thousands of pounds to join, as well as eye watering annual fees. Families invested that money in 'private' memberships because they wanted to avoid loud or disrespectful 'party crowds'.

While having money is never a guarantee of good behaviour, many people felt that if others were prepared to pay more for membership of an (at that time) exclusive club, they would be more likely to respect the facilities and other members.

Unfortunately for those families, the changes in CLC policy seems to have changed the demographics of the clientele.

So what can unhappy owners do?

Andrew Cooper, CEO of European Consumer Claims (ECC) comments: "Sadly these Club la Costa owners' situations are by no means unique. If you see your own experiences described above and want to know your options for escaping the contract, or even potentially claiming compensation, get in touch with our team at ECC.

"Our representatives will give you expert, confidential advice on your timeshare situation. And the consultation is free."