Savvy visitors to Orlando have been enjoying the convenience of a service called Owner's Locker that allows them to store their personal items on site between visits rather than hauling them back and forth.

Recent moves by the airlines, including the announcement by American Airlines that it will begin charging for all checked bags, means that using the Owner's Locker service is not just a convenient way to have personal items on hand when visiting Orlando. 

Owner's Locker has become an extremely effective way to avoid the hassle and cost of dealing with luggage on airplanes.

Owner's Locker Members purchase a Locker for their vacation items; it's picked up from their resort when they leave and stored in a climate controlled warehouse until their next trip when it is waiting at the front desk when the Member checks back in to any one of over 200 resorts in Orlando.  There's a one-time fee of $75 for the Locker and the initial delivery and pickup and then it's $99 per year for storage and one free delivery/pickup per year.  And, best of all, there's no weight limit on what you can store in your Locker.

Owner's Locker-the purple place for storing your vacation stuff.

www.ownerslocker.com

Judy Wiley, Fort Worth Texas Star-Telegram Travel Editor wrote an article about what people could do avoid luggage charges and had this to say about Owner's Locker:

- Owner's Locker would probably save money in the long run for frequent travelers to Orlando. The service lets you fill a locker with the items you need on every trip, delivers it to any of more than 200 hotels in Orlando, then picks it up after you leave. While it's wildly convenient, it won't save you money if you don't travel often to Orlando. The initial set-up fee is $75 for the locker and the first delivery and pickup. Then, the basic service starts at $99 a year -- that's for climate-controlled storage and one delivery/pickup a year.
See www.ownerslocker.com for details.

you can read the entire article here.

But really, his name is Rob and to say that he has been a good friend of Owner's Locker (and mine) is an understatement. I mentioned Rob's role in our Beta Trial in an earlier post. Not only was he instrumental in making our initial splash, he has also helped us develop an excellent partnership with The DIS. He's always been a phone call or an e-mail away whenever I've needed advice. And he has made himself available on many of his frequent trips to Orlando. Like the morning last week when he joined me in making the delivery rounds at several resorts. Here we are outside of Disney's Old Key West Resort about to head out.

And, boy did we have a great conversation. Rob doesn't own a part of Owner's Locker but I feel like he's one of our directors. Someone I can turn to for advice on where Owner's Locker should go. Rob and his wife Liz own a total of 29 weeks of vacation clubs, timeshares and fractionals. Is he an expert on this market or what? I love bouncing ideas off of Rob. And he's not shy in telling me what he thinks. And he even wears an Owner's Locker t-shirt when he rides shotgun in the purple van.

Brian and I have really been lucky to have so many people be generous with their ideas and support. It doesn't get any better than Rob.

Thanks, Doc!!

JDVM
www.ownerslocker.com

The short answer to both of those questions is “no.”

A lot of people ask us how far in advance they need to sign up. Maybe they assume that there is some sort of 30 day deadline or something like that. That if they leave it until the last minute, they won’t be able to sign up for Owner’s Locker. Not true.

It won’t surprise you to learn that we want to make it easy for people to become Members of Owner’s Locker. If someone is on vacation, sees our van or someone carrying a Locker and thinks, “Gee, I need one of those,” we don’t want them to have to wait until their next trip to WDW.

So you can sign up for Owner’s Locker anytime---even if you’re already at your resort in Orlando and we’ll have your Locker to your resort the next day at the latest. We get a lot of calls from people while they are on vacation and I love signing people up over the phone from their room. My favorite story, though is the day I saw Brian flying out the door with an empty Locker saying he would explain later. He'd gotten a call from a Member who was in the parking lot of their resort about to head for the airport when they realized they needed another Locker pronto. Brian to the rescue.

It’s not just a quest for Members that’s involved here, though. The whole point behind Owner’s Locker is convenience and treating people the way WE would like to be treated.

When we were building our systems, Brian and I discussed the issue of deadlines and decided that we just wouldn’t have any. After all, we are dealing with people’s vacations. And we both hate that “gotcha” feeling you get when you wind up paying a penalty because a deadline was missed.

The issue really came up as we discussed what the cutoff time would be for scheduling and changing Visits. Should Members have to tell us ___ days in advance for us to have their Locker waiting for them? Well, we looked at each other and both said, “no.” That’s one of the reasons we use bar codes and have a highly sophisticated scheduling and tracking system. We think you should be able to tell us about a Visit any time—even if you’re already at your resort. And we feel that you should be able to modify your Visit at any time as well. Plans change, waitlists come through, people change resorts. And we didn’t think it was fair to charge people extra for last minute changes. We just pushed the developers to come up with a system to handle all of these possibilities.

And once we had this capability built for Visits, it was easy to use it for signing up as well. So sign up any time you want!

But are we sure that new Members don’t have to give us 30 days notice? Yes we are sure…..but I’ll tell you where that 30 days comes in…..and it will help me answer the second question about signing up. And that is that it is never too early to sign up.

While we want to be as convenient as possible to our Members, we also like to know as far in advance about when people are coming and, in particular, when people want to join. The first Visit is a lot of work for us as we have to build a new Locker and get it ready for the new Member’s first Visit. So we would prefer that new Members sign up as soon as they decide they want to use Owner’s Locker rather than waiting until the last minute.

But while we want to encourage people to sign up as early as possible, we don’t want to penalize you by making you pay for something months before you’ll see it. Again, we wanted to be fair. So, when you sign up, you will not be charged your Membership Fee until 30 days before you arrive for your first Visit. This way you can go ahead and sign up when you make your reservations or even before and not get charged. You can also use the site and use the online inventory function to list the things you are going to put in your Locker.

We think that’s a fair way to treat people. This is not a short term relationship we want to build! Just ask that family in the parking lot. Boy were they releived when Brian showed up with another Locker.

JDVM
www.ownerslocker.com

Warning! Warning! Danger, Will Robinson: Boring stuff ahead

With apologies to the Robot in "Lost in Space," here is a short-ish version of how this service came to be. A couple of people have asked (I promise), so here goes.

The idea for Owner's Locker has been around for a long time and I'm glad it is finally seeing the light of day. It really is a combination of three experiences I've had spending time away from my home base and the lengths I would go to to feel comfortable away from home. I'm from Kentucky and in 1990, the company I worked for transferred me to London (the real one, not the little one in south eastern Kentucky). While living in London, I used to like to get away on weekends. I loved the big city, but it was nice to get out in the country (England has some beautiful countryside) and chill out. I liked it so much that I bought a small cottage in the area known as the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, down the road from Oxford. The kids, dogs and I would pile into the Land Rover Defender (still my favorite car) on Friday afternoons after school and come back Sunday evenings. What fun.

At first, things were sparse in the cottage as I didn't particularly want to duplicate every earthly belonging I had. It was a bit comical to see the things that I would haul back and forth--like a TV, believe it or not. I eventually broke down and bought a TV for the cottage, but I continued to use what became know as the "country box" for a couple of years. About the size of an Owner's Locker (surprise, surprise) I would toss things into it during the week in London that I thought I might need in the country that weekend. I'd take it to the country, use the items and then put them back in the box along with anything else that I thought I might need in London. Since no one else used the cottage, after a couple of years, I did wind up duplicating everything in the country box and it fell out of use. I think one of those expensive lever corkscrews was the final thing I was taking back and forth.

In May, 1992, I bought a lot of points at a vacation club in the Orlando area. And at about the time that I discovered the joys of the country box, I decided that something like that for our time in Florida would be great. What we needed was a Florida box. Like the country box, it would hold the things we needed while we were away from home. Unlike the country box, however, it was impractical to take it back and forth to England, so I arranged to have a friend keep it in his garage when we were not in Florida. He worked at the resort we visited so he would bring it to work the day we checked in and take it home with him the day we checked out. Sounds like Owner's Locker, doesn't it?

Anyway, we came to Florida several times per year and really loved the Florida box and really learned how to use it over the next few years. The more we used it the more we liked it and the more we learned. I discovered that it was not a good idea to put smelly sneakers in it and I realized that I needed to keep a list of what was in the box for reference. It was neat to open the box when we got to Florida and the kids all liked seeing the pool toys and art supplies that they remembered. Oh yes, and I bought my third lever corkscrew.

The idea really gelled for me in 1999-2000 when I was based in Copenhagen for six months and commuted home to London on most weekends. I worked out a deal with a hotel to leave a few suits, shoes, toiletries, laptop, etc. (and four dirty shirts) when I checked out on Friday mornings. This was really handy because I could leave from the office after work on Friday; go straight to the airport and straight on the plane without checking any luggage! And on Monday, I got on the plane with only a briefcase, went straight to the office and checked into the hotel Monday evening after work to find all of my stuff (and four clean shirts) there waiting for me. This whole, "gee, I don't have to pack" experience did it for me and Owner's Locker moved from being an idea to a company.

I began working on it in my spare time. Became obsessed with it actually and talked about it constantly. When the company I worked for decided to shut their London operation down, I began to focus even more on the design of this company and, with the encouragement of my wife, determined to pursue this dream full time. So here we are.

JDVM
www.ownerslocker.com

Wasn't it in the movie "Help" that Ringo used that line? He probably wasn't the first person to say it, and it likely came from the Beatles' fascination with Eastern religions at the time. Anyway, we can be pretty sure that he wasn't referring to second homes when he said it!

But the line is relevant to the discussion here. Because what is and isn't a second home is pretty much in your mind. In another post, we described a second home as someplace different that is familiar as well. A known quantity. Instant relaxation. You know, you don't have to actually own a second home to have a second home mentality. As long as you like coming back to familiar territory, it doesn't matter whether you own it outright, own part of it or rent it. A hotel room you come back to time and time again, a timeshare or vacation club interest you own, a condo you own and rent out when you're not there. All of these can be a just like a second home if you want them to be.

Second homes aren't for everyone but there are a lot of people out there who like to take a break by returning to a familiar place again and again. And, it's this concept of familiarity that is at the heart of what we at Owner's Locker like to call the "second home mentality."

This second home mentality is not something that can be particularly defined and is extremely personal. It's the feeling of comfort you have when you are surrounded by things familiar to you. Here are some examples:

-Being able to find your way from the airport to your resort without a map.
-Being recognized by the waiter at your favorite restaurant.
-Reaching for the shampoo and it's the brand you always use.
-Pouring champagne into your own special glasses.
-Being able to come straight to your resort without having to stop and stock up.
-Sitting in the same spot by the pool.
-Knowing the best shops to buy vacation clothes.
-Making fried chicken in your cast iron skillet.
-Needing a band-aid and not having to run to the store.
-Finding the swim goggles you used the last time you were here.

Not all of these will hit your radar screen. What makes one person feel at home might seem odd to someone else. What examples can you add to the list above?

This second home mentality is what Owner's Locker is all about. It's our business to help make your timeshare or vacation club interest seem more like your true second home. We know that everyone has different ideas about what will make them feel like they are at home. This is why resort companies really can't provide you with all of the comforts of home--because your idea of what this means is different from anyone else's.

And this is why we hope that you will think Owner's Locker is a good idea--because it will allow you to store whatever it is that makes you feel at home while in your vacation home. We're sure that there are lots of ways that you've tried to accomplish this already. Please share with us some of the things you've already done to personalize your time at your favorite vacation resort. And, tell us some things you have wished you could do or things from home you have wished you had with you. We love to hear what will make your stay special and it will help us continue to improve our service that will make you feel at home the instant you unlock the door.

JDVM
www.ownerslocker.com

So, just what is a second home? That used to be a simple question with an easy answer. Second homes have been around for...well for as long as people have had homes, really. And, we tend to think of second homes as the expensive retreats of the very wealthy. The Pope has Castel Gandolfo. The President has Camp David (which used to be more aptly named Shangri-La), England's Queen has Windsor Castle (along with Balmoral and Sandringham) and Manhattan's elite have huge weekend getaways in The Hamptons.

Today, however, second homes come in quite a variety of flavors, shapes and forms. Some even have wheels---or keels. But, more on that at another time.

But what's the deal with second homes? Why bother? Isn't one home enough?
Do some of us really need a place of refuge? A place to escape to? Apparently so and in increasing numbers.

The idea of a second home is wrapped up in two concepts that seem diametrically opposed: it is someplace different....yet it is someplace familiar.

Just about all of us want to take a break from day to day affairs. That's easy. We like to get away. Sometimes it's no more than a trip to the movies, a picnic in the country or a boat ride on a nearby lake. Then there's the vacation, whether it's a two week, cram everyone in the car deal, or a romantic weekend retreat. Many people like to go someplace different each time they take a break. While for others the best break is to get away--but to a place that they've been to many times before.

There's a great feeling of instant relaxation when you unlock the door to your cottage in the countryside, build a fire in your fireplace, open a bottle of your wine and prop your feet up and chill out. It's also an exciting feeling to check into a hotel in a city you've never visited and have room service send up a bottle of champagne. Both of these activities are fun. Some folks like adventure while others like familiarity. The people who like familiarity will say the new hotel experience can be stressful. The people who like adventure may say that going back to the cottage in the country is a bit boring.

But we're talking second homes here so let's leave the adventurous couple to enjoy their champagne. With second homes, it's all about the known quantity. Familiar surroundings. Knowing instinctively what to do and where to go. Returning to a favorite restaurant where they recognize you. Going on a bicycle ride and not needing a map. And, not needing to rent a bicycle, by the way. To many folks these feelings are what a second home is all about.

Today there are many ways to enjoy the benefits of a second home without actually owning it. The marketplace has expanded to provide people with the second home experience through a variety of different products. People may not use the phrase "second home," but going to the same hotel time and time again is really a manifestation of the second home mentality. Buying a timeshare or vacation club interest is another way some people get that same enjoyment of getting away to a familiar place and Owner's Locker is a company that helps these owners get the second home feeling each time they visit. Does this sound like you? What are the things you like about coming back to the same place to get away? What are some things that would make your enjoyment of your vacation home even better? That's what we're all about at Owner's Locker. We would love to have your comments and suggestions.

John
www.ownerslocker.com

Did you know that fractional timeshare owners have a storage facility at their resort where they can keep their personal items? That way, their time share seems more like a second home….and they don’t have to haul as much stuff back and forth every time they visit their resort. Great idea, but why is it just for owners of fractional timeshare units?

In the first place, what’s a fractional, anyway? In the old days, timeshares came in one flavor: the fixed week. You bought the second week in October in a specific unit in Gatlinburg to watch the leaves change color. That unit was yours for that fixed week in October and that was that. In the late 1980’s, vacation clubs came on the scene providing much more flexibility. You could come at different times, and in some cases, not come at all and save your time for another year altogether. But here’s the important part. With both fixed week timeshares and vacation clubs, each unit has approximately fifty owners.

The new kid on the block is the fractional timeshare which has a vastly fewer number of owners per unit. Instead of fifty, it’s twelve or ten or, in some cases, only four owners per unit. So an owner of a fractional timeshare that only has four owners can spend roughly three months per year in the unit. Perhaps not all at once but spread out over the year. Now that’s a timeshare. Or more accurately, that’s a second home!

As you might imagine a fractional timeshare costs substantially more that a typical timeshare or vacation club. And the owners not only pay a lot more, they get a lot more. The units are bigger and more glamorous. The locations are very nice, too. But the fractional timeshare owner also gets special parking spaces, concierge services and storage space. A place to put all of the things that make a place seem like it’s really yours. A place to keep all of the things you like to have to make you feel at home

The companies who build fractional timeshares knew that they were creating a premium product that they could sell for a premium price. And, they knew that the buyers would demand an exceptional degree of service and amenities. No small bottles of shampoo/conditioner in these bathrooms. While they knew that storage was a desire of many of their purchasers, they didn’t quite realize just how important it was. In fairness, the purchasers of the fractional timeshares probably didn’t realize how important the ability to store personal items was until they began utilizing the storage space provided…and then asking for more.

A major developer of fractional timeshare resorts has said that the main difference between their first project and their second was the doubling of the storage place provided for each owner; and the difference between the second and the third project was the doubling of storage space for each owner yet again. It seems like the more storage space you have, the more you need.

So why should fractional timeshare owners have all the fun? Why can’t timeshare and vacation club owners have a place to store personal items between visits?

Well, can you imagine a resort building fifty storage areas for each unit? The storage areas would be bigger than the unit! It doesn’t mean that you’re out of luck unless you own a fractional, though. Now there’s a company called Owner’s Locker that will allow you to have the same convenience that owners of high end fractionals have. Even better, actually because we pick up your stuff from your resort when you leave, store it while you're away and have it waiting for you at your resort when you return. And it’s available now in the Orlando area. Let us know what you think of our service that helps make you feel like you own the place!


JDVM
www.ownerslocker.com