"Welcome home Mr. Waun” said John, our doorman, as he directed Susan at the desk "Mr.& Mrs. Waun are some of our Inn owners” as we check into our second home.

As owners of a condo hotel, we enjoy our cottage/condo and all the luxury amenities of a 4-Star Lake Michigan resort hotel without any of the hassles of ownership, or rental. In fact, because of the rental income, we were able to buy a third home/condo hotel unit in Miami for the winter months too.

"We use our condo when we want, and the professional hotel management rents it out when we are not in residence. Every maintenance issue is handled, and the all utilities bills are all included in our monthly condo dues. Best of all we are get checks (based on room occupancy) to offset our mortgage and tax expenses” says Nick Wuest about his condo hotel ownership experience.

Condo hotel is just one of several new forms of second home ownership that are beginning to catch on with second home buyers. Could it be the Monopoly phenomenon? In the board game Monopoly, to win you trade all your houses in to get a hotel. Wealthy families have always owned hotels and resided in the luxurious lifestyle they provide. In the early 80's and 90's "condo-tels” as they were known, enjoyed popularity largely due to the tax benefits they offered investors. When the tax benefits went away many projects were scrapped and the trend died out. Today, Baby Boomers in search of second home alternatives are again 'recreating' this trend, and today's condo hotel is much more upscale than yesterday's investor version.

"The 21st century version of a condo hotel is an upscale 3-5 star hotel in the best second home locations with world class amenities and luxury” says Jason Hockman of The Falor Companies, one of America's leading d

evelopers of condo hotels with 11 projects under conversion in 2006, "our buyers are the well-healed who could afford a traditional condo but prefer to have a hassle-free vacation home experience, condo hotel is perfect.”

The first phase of condo hotel projects sprouted in Miami and South Florida, but today projects are being announced in almost every key second home destination, Orlando, Vegas, Chicago, New York, San Diego, Sausalito, Scottsdale, San Antonio, even South Bend have condo hotels. The best part is with condo hotel, you don't have to select just one place, buy two - hotel reservations will help you afford your second home(s).

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