The Solstice Collection offers its members access to some unique artisanal second homes, spread around the world. SherpaReport recently asked how these homes are being used, which ones are most popular and which ones the members prefer.
Membership Plans
Before we dive into the home usage, its useful to have a recap on the membership structure at this luxury destination club.
The club has three membership levels, Sky, Platinum and Signature, and each one offers advanced reservations, space available reservations and spontaneous use days.
The table below show how these are allocated amongst each level.
| Advanced Access | Space Available | Spontaneous Use | ||||
| Booking Windows | 8 Months | 5 Months | 90 Days | 75 Days | 60 Days | 30 Days |
| Sky | 28 Days | 28 Days | 56 Days | - | - | Unlimited $250/day above 8 days |
| Platinum | 14 Days | 14 Days | - | 28 Days | - | Unlimited $250/day above 4 days |
| Signature | 7 Days | 7 Days | - | - | 14 Days | Unlimited $250/day above 2 days |
Highest Use Homes
The most popular home is “Indian Gap” a rebuilt 150-years-old Texas fort in the middle of Napa Valley. “This is an easy place to get to for several members,” said Kathie Waters, Member Representative at Solstice, “and there is a wonderful array of year-round activities.”
Kathie said that some members reserve it way in advance and others use it for last minute trips, depending on their calendar. The typical stays average 4-5 nights, although trips may vary from a couple of days to 7+ nights.
New York is also a very popular year-round destination. This 3-bedroom, 2800 sq. ft. home, with north and south private terraces, is located in the desirable West Village of lower Manhattan. The Solstice members tend to make shorter stays and reserve it on shorter notice, than some of the other homes. Trips here are usually 2-3 nights each, so great for a weekend break.
The 4-bedroom home in the West End of Aspen is always popular in the winter for the ski season. It also sees a lot of visitors in the summer, when members come for the mountains, hiking, festivals and a whole plethora of events. But it tends to be much quieter in the spring mud season and in the fall. Member trips are usually 5-7 days, said Kathie, with a lot of 7 nights trips over the main winter ski season.
Casa Estrellas is a 4-bedroom retreat in the Pedregal Estates of Cabo san Lucas. The sweeping ocean views are most popular in the winter and spring, but less so in summer when it’s very hot down in Cabo.
The Solstice home in St Barts is set on the hillside with sunset views of Flamands Bay. It features three private bungalows, each housing a master suite complete with ensuite bathroom. The home tends to be most popular from November to April, but not so much in the summer or fall when its hurricane season in the Caribbean. Member trips here and to Cabo are usually a week long, noted Kathie.
The three European properties in London, Paris and Florence have typical stays of 3-4 nights each. Many Solstice members make a European tour staying at 2 or all 3 of the properties. These homes tend to have more activity in the summer and members reserve well ahead of time for vacations during these summer months. During the winter, the European homes are quieter and don’t get booked as far out.
Kathie revealed that the London home get quite a few members staying for business, as well as for vacations.
Members also have special discounted member rates to five other properties in Texas, Switzerland, New Zealand, Morocco and Thailand. When the home in St Barts was temporarily closed due to the hurricanes in 2017, members made use of these homes with their regular membership plan days.
Making Reservations
Members can either use the online reservation system or call or email their member representative. Kathie has found that members reach out if they want help with any trip planning or recommendations, but otherwise are happy to reserve online.
Flexible Program
Solstice Collection members have a lot of flexibility and can make reservations from just one nights stay up to a maximum of 21 consecutive nights. And, they can reserve these for any day of the week, so there’s no restriction on arrival days – basically if the dates are available on the calendar a member can book them.
All members have the options for spontaneous use, which lets them reserve homes within 30 days of travel. Each membership program has some free spontaneous use nights included, then extra nights are available for $250 per night for the whole home.
For Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year – the most popular holiday times – members enter a lottery to make reservations and balance out the demand.
Kathie noted that there are some members whose lifestyle allows them to do quite a bit of last-minute travels, so they make the most of the spontaneous use.
