Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom

Mark Evans and Susan Borrett

When our family were initially considering the purchase at Borgo one of our thoughts was how would we be able to continue to holiday in other destinations, whilst also using the benefits that the acquisition at Borgo could bring. At the time of our fractional purchase we were living in Mexico and we knew that whilst we would love to visit Borgo more than once a year logistically this would not be feasible. This concern was quickly mitigated when Lee outlined the benefits of also being a member of the Registry Collection/RCI exchange scheme and the large number of sites they had to exchange within the scheme. After a little investigation we discovered that the large majority of their sites were in the USA/Canada and also Mexico so we felt we had resolved this concern. Since becoming a fractional owner almost 9 years ago we have undertaken many exchanges and in particular during the initial couple of years and whilst still living overseas we visited many stunning locations throughout Mexico.Returning to the UK in 2011 we have continued to benefit from using the scheme, as have both sets of our parents (you have the option to give gift certificates if you wish) utilising sites throughout the UK, Europe and the Middle East. My parents have been the most nomadic with visits in the last 18 months to the Isles of Scilly, Croatia, Portugal and a couple of designations in the UK. There are some advantages of endless time to take holidays! As they slow down they are still keen to explore the many sites within the UK which are also continually being added to by the Registry Collection/RCI portfolio.Membership of the Registry Collection/RCI requires the payment of an annual membership fee and then each time a deposit of a week at Borgo is made your will be credited with a certain number of points, depending on the value of the week being deposited. They have a great web based search option so when you have identified an exchange you would like to undertake a further exchange fee is payable to them for the exchange (this is tiered depending on level of accommodation being booked). When staying at these various locations you usually having nothing further to pay with the exception of the housekeeping fee at Borgo which will be your responsibility when someone exchanges into Borgo for your exchange week.The number or properties and locations continues to grow and they are adding further sites with recent additions being Costa Rica, South Africa, Australia so you will never get bored of the options available to you.We felt the options available through this scheme have allowed us to enjoy many other holidays that we would otherwise not have experienced whilst still bringing us back home to Borgo for the obligatory summer holidays our 11 year old son has become accustomed to whilst growing up, which is fantastic! We look toward to many more years at Borgo interspersed with odd weeks in other locations as an alternate option.——I can still recall the first time I read about Borgo as I was 6 months pregnant with our son Ben and commuting to work reading a copy of the Independent newspaper. In the property section were details of an award that had just been won my Borgo and I thought I would take a further look on the website which I duly did. I knew we would never be able to own a property outright and whilst my partner dreamt of buying a run down house in he hills and taking the next 10 years to complete the restoration we knew it was just a pipe dream. Having worked with clients that operated fractional ownership developments I knew the concept was one that worked for all parties and all I needed to do was convince my partner Mark, which took a number of years!We had travelled extensively through the north of Italy and the Tuscan/Umbria regions following our passions of watching motorcycle racing so we had spend weekends, long weekends and even weeks holidaying in Italy and knew we both really like this area. Having lived in London for almost 20 years and then the last 3 in Mexico City we knew that any holiday destination needed to have some peace and tranquility from the manic city lives we were leading.Almost 4 years later and whilst we were living in Mexico we finally agreed to make a visit to the hamlet but as our time back in Europe was so short last summer (and we could only make a 3 day visit) we decided to send an advance party (in May) of my parents who are both intrepid travelers, even in their early 70’s. They loved the place and spent a week travelling around the region to enable them to prepare a full resume for us of what was a available to do and see in the area. They particularly enjoyed the pizza night and chatting motorcycle stories with a number of other guests and my father too is still a motorcyclist in his 70’s. The only complain since we purchased is why didn’t we do it 10 years ago!Our first impressions and ones which our son Ben enjoyed was the drive up to the hamlet along the gravel track, he though it was brilliant. Upon seeing the hamlet as you come around the final corner you enter a sense of calm and remoteness which was very appealing. Seeing inside the properties was everything I had expected and more as I had spent so much time reading articles and perusing the website that I had this picture in my mind already of a lovingly restored property completed in the way they had existed in the past but with all the conveniences of modern day living.One of the things that we love about the hamlet is the feeling at one with nature and this was reinforced in my recent visit with our son Ben (unfortunately Mark had to stay and work in Mexico!) and my parents and we spend some great days walking in the woods and around the property. Ben was in heaven as living in one of the largest cities in the world, open space and nature are two things that can sometime be hard to find. We found porcupine quills in the woods, he followed dear and wild boar tracks, played in the streams, climbed on the diggers he found in the woods and thoroughly enjoyed the outdoor life we were able to experience for a weekBefore making our purchase we considered if we ourselves, family and friends, would be interested in sharing our enjoyment in staying here and the answers were yes. For our stage in life we knew we would never be able to own outright and didn’t was the costs and hassle with maintaining a place 100% of the time so this seemed an ideal alternative. It could also be something that would remain in the family in the future for others to enjoy. So we were sold and even Mark had come around to my way of thinking 4 years after planting the original seed.We considered the purchase a combination of both a lifestyle choice and an investment and we hope to be able to share this with our family and friends in the future. We hope to make as much use as possible of the hamlet over the coming years and look forward to exploring further areas and towns in the locality in more detail.Whilst living in Mexico during the past year we have not been able to make full use of the hamlet but now we will be returning to the UK this summer to live we hope to have many more memorable weeks at Borgo. This summer we even have a Swedish family who we met in Mexico coming to join us for a week’s holiday and my parents again for a week also.

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