Ryan McFarland

I just got this friendly and self-praising email from Sunterra. I added the links where appropriate though.

Dear Club Sunterra Members and Owners,

On March 12, 2007, Sunterra announced that its Board of Directors has approved an agreement pursuant which Sunterra will be acquired by an affiliate of Diamond Resorts, LLC. We expect the acquisition, which is subject to certain conditions, including the acceptance of 90% of Sunterra’s shareholders, to be completed in the second quarter of this year. I personally want to tell you how excited we are about this development and take a moment to explain how this will allow us to better serve you.

Most importantly, nothing changes for our Club Members and Owners. The same friendly people you know and trust will continue to provide you with the same high level of customer service at our resorts and over the telephone. Your SunOptions, Club Sunterra membership, use rights and payment procedures remain the same. Existing reservations will not be affected and the procedures for making future reservations remain the same. You can expect a future filled with a range of product upgrades and improvements in customer service, which will make your ownership more valuable.

What you can anticipate under the direction of Stephen J. Cloobeck, Chairman and CEO of Diamond Resorts, is a continued focus and commitment to customer service and exceeding customer expectations. Adding to Sunterra’s already strong platform, Stephen brings over 25 years of extensive knowledge and experience in virtually every phase of the successful development, management, marketing and sales of vacation ownership properties. Diamond Resorts’ successful track record includes spearheading the design of Marriott’s Grand Chateau vacation ownership resort as well as the development of Polo Towers, the Jockey Club and The Carriage House, all located in Las Vegas, as well as Kona Reef in Hawaii.

We want to assure you that our announcement will secure and enhance all of the benefits that you have come to expect as Sunterra Members and Owners. We invite you to visit www.Sunterra.com and www.diamondresorts.com for further updates and additional information.

Best Regards,

James A. Weissenborn
Interim President and CEO
Sunterra Corporation

I’m going to have to assume that this will be an improvement for the company. Their horrible outsourced customer service department won’t change (as promised in the press release) but things really couldn’t get much worse than they have been.