Every timeshare resort has its own history. Maybe you’ve been operating with legacy systems for years, cobbling together workarounds that somehow keep things running. Or perhaps you’re managing multiple properties across different time zones, each with its own quirks and challenges. You might have a unique ownership structure that doesn’t quite fit the standard mold, or guest services that go well beyond the typical resort experience.
The reality is, no two timeshare operations are exactly alike. Your reservation flow, billing cycles, maintenance schedules, owner communication preferences, and staffing needs are as unique as your property itself. Yet most property management systems take a one-size-fits-all approach, forcing you to adapt your operations to their software rather than the other way around.
That’s where Merlin takes a different path.
Understanding What Makes You Different
We start with a simple premise— your property management system should work the way you work, not force you into someone else’s workflow. Before we write a single line of code or recommend any solution, we invest the time to truly understand your operation from the ground up.
Our consultative approach begins with an in-depth needs analysis. This isn’t a quick checklist or a standard questionnaire. We collaborate with your team—front desk staff, maintenance supervisors, accounting personnel, management—and learn how your resort actually operates day to day. We want to understand the nuances that make your property special and the pain points that keep you up at night.
During this discovery phase, we dig into the details. How do you handle owner communications when someone has a question about their week? What happens when a guest checks in early or needs to extend their stay? How does maintenance track work orders across buildings, and how do those requests get prioritized? What are your busiest seasons, and how does your current system handle the increased load? Where are the gaps between different software platforms you’re currently using?
We also look at what’s working well. Maybe you have a reservation process that owners love, or a billing system that’s actually quite efficient. We take the positive into consideration and build on it. If something’s broken, we fix it. If something’s missing entirely, we create it.
Building Your Custom Solution
Once we have a complete picture of your needs, we don’t hand you a proposal and disappear. Instead, we roll up our sleeves and build a fully working beta property management system specifically designed for your operation. This isn’t a demo or a mockup—it’s a functional system built with your workflows, specific requirements, and unique challenges in mind.
The beta system includes everything you need to run your property: reservation management that handles your specific booking rules, owner portals that match your communication style, maintenance tracking configured to your property layout, billing systems that accommodate your payment structures, and reporting tools that give you the insights you actually need to make decisions.
But we go further than just building the system. We also provide a comprehensive cost analysis that shows you exactly what you’re getting and how it affects your bottom line. This analysis breaks down implementation costs, training requirements, ongoing support, and—most importantly—the return on investment you can expect from improved efficiency, reduced errors, and better guest and owner satisfaction.
The cost analysis also compares your current situation to what life will look like with the new system. How much time does your staff currently spend on manual data entry? How often do billing errors occur, and what does it cost to fix them? What’s the impact of double-bookings or missed maintenance issues? We quantify these hidden costs so you can make an informed decision based on real numbers, not just promises.
Why This Approach Works
The timeshare industry has enough challenges without your property management system adding to them. Owner expectations continue to rise. Guests demand seamless experiences. Regulations get more complex. Staff turnover means you’re constantly training new people. And through it all, you need reliable systems that just work.
By taking the time to understand your specific situation and building a working beta system before you commit, we eliminate the guesswork. You get to see exactly how the system will function in your environment, test it with real scenarios, and make sure it solves the problems you actually have. Your team gets hands-on experience before making any final decisions. And you have clear financial projections that show the true value of the investment.
This consultative approach takes more time up front, but it delivers better results in the long run. You end up with a system that fits your property like a glove, staff who are confident using it because they helped shape it, and ownership who can see the tangible benefits in both operations and finances.
Moving Forward Together
Merlin’s commitment doesn’t end when the system goes live. We understand that your needs will evolve as your property grows and the industry changes. Our consultative relationship continues through implementation, training, and beyond. We’re there when you need to adjust workflows, add new features, or simply get questions answered.
The Merlin Advantage treats your property as the unique operation it is. We invest the time to truly understand your needs, and we build solutions that deliver real, measurable results. Because at the end of the day, your success is our success.
Let’s get the conversation started. Contact Mike Ashton today to arrange a demo.
Frequently Asked Questions: The Merlin Advantage
1. How does Merlin’s onboarding process differ from a standard software setup? Most providers use a generic checklist and force you into their pre-set workflows. The Merlin Advantage is built on a consultative approach. We spend time with every department—from accounting to maintenance—to learn how your resort actually operates. We then build a functional beta system that mirrors your specific rules before you even go live.
2. What exactly is the “Beta System,” and is it just a demo? It is not a demo or a mockup. It is a fully functional version of the Merlin platform, configured specifically for your resort. It includes your unique booking rules, owner communication styles, and billing structures. This allows your team to test the software with real-world scenarios and provide feedback before the final implementation.
3. How do you help us measure the actual Return on Investment (ROI)? We conduct a detailed cost analysis comparing your current manual processes with the efficiency gains of a unified system. We quantify “hidden costs,” such as the time spent on manual data entry, the cost of billing errors, and the impact of missed maintenance. This gives your board a clear, numbers-based view of how the system improves the bottom line.
