• Timeshare hotels in vacation spotshotels in mountain swiss resort image by Andrei Kazarov from Fotolia.com
  
  Since its inception in the 1960s, the concept of timeshares has been used by brand-name hotels to develop resorts in many vacation areas of the world. A hotel timeshare is a method of use or ownership of a hotel, apartment-hotel or condotel where several parties have rights to use of the property. The two basic types of timeshare ownerships are a leased or right-to-use timeshare and a deeded or fee-simple timeshare. In accordance with usages, hotel timeshares are of fixed, floating or points system types.
  
  

Leased Timeshares

• In a leased timeshare, the right to use the unit is owned for a limited time only, usually for a period of 25 to 30 years, but the period can sometimes be as low as 10 and as high as 50 years. After the specified period, the right to use reverts back to the developer or the hotel. During the period of ownership of the right to use, the buyer has an exclusive right to use the unit for a specified number of days in a year, usually a week. This right to use ownership is like a long-term lease.
  
  

Deeded Timeshares

• In a deeded timeshare, the buyer owns a piece of the property and gets a deed to the property. His ownership is forever unless he sells. When he dies, the property goes to his heirs. It is like ownership of a home, except the property is owned by several others. The property is a fixed unit, and usage is for a fixed amount of time (often a week) and is for specified dates of the year. The buyer has actual part-ownership, has claim to the property and has a say on goings-on in the hotel.
  
  

Types of Timeshare Usages

• A fixed timeshare is where the usage is fixed for specified dates of the year, usually a week every year, for a specified number of years. This differs from a floating timeshare, where the actual dates are not designated, even if the length of time is (in which case the owner of this form has to reserve his usage dates ahead of time). The third type of usage is the points system timeshare, where specific numbers of points are purchased that can be used to use specific types of units for a specific number of days and dates.