Margaritaville Vacation Club® Celebrates Groundbreaking Ceremony With The Governor of St. Thomas

ORLANDO, Fla. - April 7, 2014 - PRLog -- Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO), the world’s largest vacation ownership company and a member of the Wyndham Worldwide (http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/) family of companies , and Margaritaville Hospitality Group, celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony of the first-ever Margaritaville Vacation Club^® resort in St. Thomas.

The event took place on February 12, 2014, at the future home of Wyndham St. Thomas, located on the northeast side of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Wyndham Vacation Ownership leaders including Gary Hyde, senior vice president, resort operations and Rob Landry, vice president, project management, development planning and construction, joined St. Thomas Governor, John P. de Jongh, Jr., and commissioners and staff from St. Thomas EDA, DPNR and Tourism to mark this exciting event.

“We’re thrilled to see construction begin at Margaritaville Vacation Club,” said Governor de Jongh. “Hospitality is the livelihood of our island and this new resort will open up so many opportunities for the people of St. Thomas.”

In 2013, Wyndham Vacation Ownership and Margaritaville Hospitality Group announced their plans to redevelop the former Grand Beach Palace Resort. Wyndham St. Thomas, a Margaritaville Vacation Club resort, is anticipated to open in early 2015 and will be the first resort of its kind in the world.

Construction will take place in two phases over the next three years, including the conversion of its 290 existing hotel rooms into 262 fully furnished condominium-style timeshare units. The renovation will begin with the seven beachfront buildings and common areas including reception, pool area and 5 O’clock Somewhere bar. A Margaritaville^® restaurant, dive shop with water activities and venues for live music are also included in the plan at this time.

Wyndham Vacation Ownership has hired J. Benton Construction of St. Croix in a joint venture with Moss & Associates of Florida to complete the renovation and construction. The Company will be looking for local craftsman to work on the renovation of the former Grand Beach Palace Resort. Interested parties can contact jbmossjobs@mossemail.com. The design team for the resort includes L2 Studios architecture and Harris Civil Engineers, who have been involved with other USVI projects, as well as Design Poole interiors and McBride Company designers.

Upon the completion of the full opening of the resort, approximately 125 full-time jobs ranging from front-desk clerks to sales associates will have been created. As an employer of choice, full time associates will receive comprehensive health and welfare benefit packages. Wyndham Vacation Ownership anticipates that hiring for these positions will begin later this year and interested applicants will be able to apply online at:WVOJobs.com (http://jobs.wyndhamworldwide.com/).

The Company also recently began sales of Margaritaville Vacation Club. To learn more visit http://www.margaritaville.com/vacation-club/.

About Wyndham Vacation Ownership

Wyndham Vacation Ownership (http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/about-wyndham-worldwide/w...), a member of Wyndham Worldwide’s  family of companies, is the world’s largest vacation ownership business, as measured by the number of vacation ownership resorts, individual vacation ownership units and owners of vacation ownership interests.  Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its five primary consumer brands, CLUB WYNDHAM^®, WorldMark^® by Wyndham, Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific, Shell Vacations Club and Margaritaville Vacation Club^®. As of December 31, 2012, Wyndham Vacation Ownership had developed or acquired more than 185 vacation ownership resorts throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and the South Pacific that represent more than 23,000 individual vacation ownership units and more than 900,000 owners of vacation ownership interests. Wyndham Vacation Ownership is headquartered in Orlando, Fla., and is supported by more than 15,000 employees globally.

Pictured: James Benton (Benton Construction), David Cooper (Moss & Associates), Lisa Hamilton (President Hotel & Tourism Association), Chad Moss (Moss & Associates), Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr., Monique Sibilly-Hodge (Assistant Commissioner of Tourism), Percival Clouden (CEO, Economic Development Association), Andrew McAllister (Moss & Associates)