Second Homes for the Adventurous Few

By Neal Sroka

One of life’s greatest pleasures is spending quality time with friends and family. Owning a vacation home is among the best ways to experience this. Many of the luxury resorts in exotic destinations such as the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and the Mediterranean now offer residences for purchase. For example, the most sought after of Douglas Elliman’s resort residences are typically part of a high end luxury community or hotel brand such as Aman, Rosewood, and Four Seasons to name a few. The main feature buyers look for when purchasing one of these residences is flight availability to the destination whether scheduled or infrastruture for private flights.

Very often it takes less time to fly to a luxury destination in the Caribbean to enjoy the sun and sea than it takes to drive from New York City to your beach or country house. Now think where that time can take you to at one of these destinations.

Mayakoba is one of the most successful developments in all of Mexico, located just outside of Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan Peninsula. Approximately 30-min from the Cancun International Airport, is this 1,581-acre enclave of jungle and tropical mangroves bordering white sand beaches. This is also home to a world class golf course that hosts the only Mexican PGA event, the OHL Mayakoba Classic at the Greg Norman designed El Camaleon. Present offerings include three distinct home ownership opportunities from world-class hotels: fractional ownership at Fairmont Heritage Place, several three bedroom multi-level villas at Banyan Tree, and the highly coveted villas at Rosewood Mayakoba built along the serene canals that flow through the entire resort, and offer the utmost luxury and convenience in an idyllic setting.  www.mayakobaresidences.com

Situated on the sloping grounds of one of the most talked about resorts in the Caribbean, Four Seasons Nevis is now offering the Villas at Pinney’s Beach. Pinney’s Beach is an exclusive collection of 3-4 bedroom contemporary-designed homes with full and fractional ownership options. Owners enjoy the spoils of the Four Seasons Resort lifestyle with access to all of the resort facilities including the Robert Trent Jones II designed Golf Course, spa and hotel services along with a variety of restaurants and nightlife. www.fsrenevis.com

Aman hotels have a reputation of being one of the world’s greatest travel experiences. The recently opened Amanera at Playa Grande is an extraordinary 800 acre exclusive destination situated along the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The intimate hotel offers a full suite of services to villa owners including a dedicated chef and villa personal attendant, world-class golf, spa and dining. They are currently offering 2 to 5 bedrooms villas along the ocean cliffs boasting panoramic vistas. www.aman.com

Neal Sroka is the founder of the Sroka Worldwide Team at Douglas Elliman Real Estate specializing in resort real estate in the Caribbean and Latin America.