ELLICOTTVILLE — Need a vacation? Would you enjoy a relaxing,
30-minute Swedish massage, a chance to try out those new golf clubs
or a lazy dip in a heated pool?

If the answer to these questions is yes, then the Tamarack Club may
just be the place to stay while taking advantage of all the
amenities offered by the Holiday Valley resort.

Holiday Valley opened its doors in 1958 and has been growing ever
since. Today, visitors can take advantage of a variety of facials,
massages or any number of Falling Waters’ spa packages. The Double
Black Diamond golf course offers a 6,500-yard, par 70 experience
which includes modified fairways, new bunkers and improved cart
paths.

Holiday Valley is also consistently ranked among the top 10 resorts
in eastern North America by SKI Magazine, and includes 56 slopes
and 13 lifts which are spread over four distinct faces. Richard
Sandler, general manager of the new $40 million Tamarack Club, says
prime location is a key feature for the club.

“We are very centrally located here, being at the base of the (ski)
slopes, right on the golf course and adjacent to the Holiday Valley
pool complex,” said Mr. Sandler.

Named for the Tamarack trees that huddle together by the nearby
snow pine village, the originally-planned location for the club,
construction of Tamarack was completed Dec. 12, 2009 after an
18-month process.

Lodging is certainly a component of Tamarack, but don’t call it a
hotel.

“A lot of other ski areas had been starting this fractional concept
where you don’t own the condominium a hundred percent, you share it
with other owners. Each owner gets a week every five weeks, so you
have ownership throughout the year,” said Jane Eshbaugh, director
of marketing for Tamarack.

Mr. Sandler says the concept behind Tamarack is “multi-faceted,”
adding that simply renting fractional units, or fractions, is also
an option.

“For rental guests, it’s the same idea as if you were to rent at
the inn (at Holiday Valley), where it’s nightly rentals. For
owners, they purchase a fifth of the year. They own (the
condominiums) for life,” Mr. Sandler said. “It’s real estate, so
it’s just like purchasing a home.”

Though the timetable for construction was merely months, it took
years of planning to make this slopeside, four-star
condominium/hotel a reality. Once Holiday Valley’s land planning
consultant suggested construction of a fractional ownership
property four years ago, the resort conducted extensive research
and chose to partner with Terry Elsemore of Fractional Strategies.
Richard Fox of Weber Murphy Fox was given the design/build
contract. In April 2008, the groundbreaking ceremony began.

According to Mrs. Eshbaugh, people from far away have bought
fractions without even visiting Tamarack. Mr. Sandler added that it
has drawn people from Buffalo, Toronto, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and
even Florida.

So what does the Tamarack Club offer?

The area of the club totals 160,000 square feet and offers a
variety of unit types, including studio units, one- and two-bedroom
lockouts and three-bedroom units, totaling 79 units in all.

What’s a lockout?

“If you had a two-bedroom unit, one side is the suite side, which
has a bed, living room and kitchen, and then there’s another
separate side that looked like a hotel room. That’s the lockout
portion,” said Mr. Sandler.                                      
Studio units offer 475 square feet of space and carry a monthly
maintenance fee of $76 and a property tax of $486. At the opposite
end of the spectrum, a three-bedroom executive suite offers 2,179
square feet and comes with a price tag of $292 for the monthly
maintenance fee and a property tax of $1,864.

“We’re part of the RCI network, Resort Condominiums International,
which is a vacation exchange network. You have companies like ours
all around the world and you can trade your week here for a week
somewhere else,” said Mr. Sandler.

Mr. Sandler added that this option is very flexible, since exchange
doesn’t need to take place on a week-for-week basis.

“The resorts are very similar to ours and the rates are the same,
but (the other companies) make their money by charging an exchange
fee of $125,” he said.

Besides space, affordability and convenience, other perks of
Tamarack include valet service, bell service, underground parking,
ski lockers, beautiful scenery and 24/7 desk operations. Owners and
guests may also enjoy the full service at John Harvard’s Brew House
and families can enjoy the club’s proximity to the Creekside Lodge
Children’s Ski School and the Day Care Center.

Though the winter season is Ellicottville’s busiest time of the
year, plenty of events and festivals allow the small village to
attract visitors year-round.

“(Ellicottville is) a great spot and really, really fun. It has
everything you would want on a vacation, including places to shop
and yet it’s a friendly place with a lot of stuff going on with
festivals throughout the year,” said Mrs. Eshbaugh.

With available space fleeing faster than a tee shot at Double Black
Diamond, vacationers may want to make reservations as soon as
possible to ensure a terrific time at the Tamarack Club.

“The level of service that you receive here at the Tamarack, the
quality of construction, it’s all high-end,” said Mr. Sandler.
“It’s just a quality project and we offer a really, really nice
vacation experience.”