real estate marketing case studies
Westin Whistler
Whistler, British Columbia
Case Study
Developer: Cressey Development Group
Scenario:Whistler is a world-class, four-season resort 1.5 hours north of Vancouver. As it draws millions of visitors annually, Cressey saw it as the ideal site for one of the world’s finest mountain resort condominium developments. The Westin Whistler hotel would be the slopeside star of a mixed-use development encompassing conference facilities, commercial/retail, restaurants and 417 residential condominiums. At the time, however, the concept of owning a condominium in a hotel was relatively unknown and wholly unproven.
Solution:Old tactics simply would not work on this new terrain. Knowing our team’s innovative thinking from the Westin Grand success, Cressey invited us to work magic a second time. We branded the new product as HSO—Hotel Strata Ownership—and marketed the project internationally. Value was added through an owners’ Mountain Club with concierge service, exclusive facilities and resort privileges. The Never Before, Never Again positioning spoke to the truly unique nature of the offering. A multi-tiered release strategy synchronized inventory with demand.
#1
resort hotel in North America (Conde Nast)
Results:
We sold all 417 condominiums in two well-timed phases, establishing new price and sales volume records for Whistler, Canada and North America. Our owners came from around the globe—Australia, Asia, Europe, the Pacific Rim and, of course, Canada and the U.S. Beyond leveraging the Westin brand, we were able to add a new branding dimension with the HSO product distinction.