The Ritz-Carlton Residences

A whole residence, bought and sold in its own right, with a share of the common parts through the owners association. There is no calendar, no fraction and no membership. The brand is licensed to the developer rather than owned by it. The Miami Beach sales material states plainly that the residences are not owned, developed or sold by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and that 4701 North Meridian, LLC uses the Ritz-Carlton marks under licence. Tenure, the unit number and the association documents are confirmed for the specific residence before contract.

Owners use their residence when they like. There is no allocated week and no occupancy calendar. In Vail the building sits alongside The Ritz-Carlton Club, Vail, a separate fractional club, and club weeks form no part of a whole-ownership purchase. Letting is governed by the association documents and by local rules, and those differ in Colorado, Florida, the Turks and Caicos and Dubai, so the letting position is confirmed for the specific residence before you commit. Where a residence is placed in a rental programme, use is subject to availability.

Service charges are set by each owners association and assessed on the size of the residence, so they are confirmed for the specific residence before you commit. Standing costs then differ sharply by country. The Turks and Caicos levies no annual property tax and takes its money once, as stamp duty on transfer. Florida and Colorado both bill annual property tax through the county. Dubai has no annual property tax, but the Dubai Land Department charges 4 per cent of the price or of its own valuation, whichever is higher, on registration.

Staff are on site at all four addresses, and the shape of the operation is not the same. Grace Bay and Business Bay put a working resort or hotel-grade operation behind the door, with resort dining, spa and housekeeping. Miami Beach and Vail are residential buildings with their own team, concierge and amenity floors rather than a hotel lobby shared with guests. The list below sets out what is actually provided at each address, and it is worth reading side by side before choosing between them.

Vail stands at 728 West Lionshead Circle, completed in 2010 by RCR Vail, LLC, an affiliate of Vail Resorts Development Company: 71 whole-ownership residences from 2 bedrooms to a 6 bedroom penthouse, on the banks of Gore Creek at the base of Vail Mountain. Miami Beach is 4701 Meridian Avenue, 7.5 acres on Surprise Lake, the former Miami Heart Institute rebuilt by Lionheart Capital to designs by Piero Lissoni: 111 residences and 15 stand-alone villas, with 36 private moorings. Temporary certificate of occupancy came in August 2019.

Grace Bay holds 60 condominium residences in two towers along 688 linear feet of beach, 2 and 3 bedrooms, built by Desarrollos Hotelco to designs by Coleman Partners Architects. The resort opened on 22 June 2021 with 147 ocean-view rooms including 23 suites, four restaurants and a coffee bar, a spa and the largest casino in the islands. Business Bay is 48 residences on Marasi Drive, 18 residential floors over 3 podium levels, by Kappa Acca of the Khamas Group, architecture by MMA Projects of Milan, interiors by Ana Moussinet.

Grace Bay is 7.2 miles from Providenciales International Airport, about 14 minutes by car, and the beach is at the door. Vail sits at the base of the mountain on Gore Creek, a walk west of Lionshead village and its shops. Miami Beach is inland water rather than ocean front: the residences look over Surprise Lake and the waterway, with the Atlantic beach a short drive east. Business Bay lies on the Dubai Water Canal beside Downtown Dubai and Sheikh Zayed Road, with Dubai International Airport a short drive north east.

Two of the four need thought before you sign. In the Turks and Caicos there is no annual property tax, but stamp duty is charged on the whole value at transfer, not on the slice above each threshold: on Providenciales that is 6.5 per cent from 25,000 USD, 8 per cent above 250,000 USD and 10 per cent above 500,000 USD, so almost every residence here sits in the top band. In Dubai, foreign nationals may own freehold in designated areas, Business Bay among them, and registration costs 4 per cent to the Dubai Land Department.

Avory deals with the sales office at each address and, on resale, with the owner or the owner's broker. After you enquire we confirm what is genuinely available, send the association documents, the service charge schedule and the letting rules for that residence, and arrange a viewing. Owner stays are arranged directly with owners where the building permits them, subject to availability. Avory is not the brand, the developer or the operator, and holds no inventory of its own. Request access.