Hyatt Opens Timeshare Sales In Aspen

Hyatt Vacation Ownership Inc. of Chicago has officially launched sales of a new timeshare property under construction in Aspen, the 51-unit Hyatt Grand Aspen Resort.

Preliminary sales already have raked in $35 million.

Located at the base of Aspen Mountain close to the gondola, the property will offer 30 three-bedroom units, 19 units with two bedrooms and two one-bedroom options. The spaces will range from 1,000 to 2,600 square feet in size.

"The location speaks for itself ...," John Burlingame, Hyatt Vacation Ownership executive vice president, said of the Aspen site in a statement.

Depending on time of year, most unit prices range from $80,000 to the high $200,000s. A penthouse taken at Christmas or New Year's can cost in the high $700,000s.

Most packages include 10 "best days" in winter or summer, plus 10 floating days at unassigned times.

"There's a huge variance between summer and winter," said Hyatt spokeswoman Angie Sell.

Ground recently was broken on the Hyatt Grand Aspen Resort, and the property is scheduled to open in December 2005.

Hyatt already owns and operates 10 timeshare properties nationwide, two of them in Colorado -- the Hyatt Mountain Lodge in Avon near the Beaver Creek ski area and Hyatt Main Street Station in Breckenridge. Another property, the Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch in San Antonio, Texas, also is being developed and will start sales soon.