Club Holdings LLC/Quintess

Club Holdings LLC founder and chief executive officer Pete Estler likes to think of his company as “a hotel that operates around the world.”

The Broomfield, Co.,-based firm is the parent company of three major vacation networks — the Quintess Collection, DUO by Quintess and the Tour Club — and its locations range from Maui, Hawaii, for the sun to Aspen, Co., for the snow and also include residences in major cities, such as New York City, London and Paris. One of the company’s crown jewels is Cielos Palmillas, in Los Cabos, Mexico, an enclave known as a “resort within a resort” located in the Palmilla Resort. Since 2007, the company has invested $50 million in its 13 residences at the resort, along with $15 million in its Beach Club, and it’s become the company’s top destination.

But if Estler and co-founder Ben Addoms, who serves as the company’s chief marketing officer, have their
way, the enclave will soon have competition.

“We’re looking for the Colony to replace that as far as our No. 1 resort,” he said.

The company is one of four finalists for the redevelopment of the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort announced earlier this month by the Colony Beach and Tennis Association.

And although the company’s destinations extend throughout the world — to more than 350 residences in 40 locations and eight countries — it also has Longboat Key ties. The company has partnered with the Windemere-based Miller Group Development for design, construction and legal aspects of the Colony project. The Miller Group was founded by Glenn Miller, an original owner at the Colony who arranged the original financing for the resort and owns a unit today at Grand Bay. Miller and his daughter, Stacy Miller, will work together with a team of architects, construction professionals and attorneys who have worked on hotels such as Walt Disney Resorts, Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton.

Estler and Addoms founded Quintess in 2004 with 35 owners located across seven properties.

“We were filling a niche in the five-star-plus industry when we developed Quintess,” Estler said.

In 2010, Club Holdings LLC, the parent company of Quintess, launched the Tour Club, a golf-and-travel club that has an exclusive agreement with the PGA. Last October, the company launched DUO by Quintess, which Estler said is “more akin to a four-star” experience.

Members pay a one-time membership fee for plans ranging from 14 to 28 days in addition to annual dues. For example, the company’s website, quintess.com, lists a 28-night membership as costing $365,000 for a membership payment, along with $39,900 in annual dues. A 28-night DUO membership is available for a membership fee of $79,000 and $22,750 in annual dues. Members then get access to the network’s wide range of properties across a variety of destinations.

They say that the company is a strong contender for the Colony in part because of its emphasis on building long-term relationships and extensive experience in rental management.

“If you were a Colony owner, we would survey every person who stayed in your residence,” Estler said. “We ask them not only about their trip but also how was the technology in the home? How was the TV? How was their service? We actually report back to the owner about the things that need to be fixed. We’ve got a very extensive system.”

“A huge percentage of our business comes from referral of existing customers,” Addoms said. “We want to not only restore the Colony but also restore peoples’ faith and enthusiasm.”

Key players

Pete Estler
Club Holdings LLC board member, founder and CEO
Pete Estler began his career at Bell Laboratories, specializing in telephony systems and systems architecture, and later joined EDS. He went on to found dbINTELLECT Technologies, a marketing information warehouse firm, and MatchLogic, an Internet advertising company. According to a company biography, Estler sold MatchLogic for $90 million in a 1996 all-stock deal. Estler has also been involved in international real-estate investment throughout his career.

Ben Addoms
Club Holdings LLC board member, founder and chief marketing officer
Ben Addoms has 20 years of executive management and investment experience with private and public companies, according to a company biography. He served as president of Excite@Home’s media-and-marketing services and managed its subsidiary, MatchLogic. He also served as vice president of Polk Co., one of the nation’s largest database marketing businesses, and has pursued real-estate development opportunities both in and out of the United States.