TS Today - Creating a Vision for the Future of Vacation Ownership Issue #96 Nov/Dec, 2007 | Page 8

TimeSharing Today

Page 8

Nov/Dec, 2007

Russ on
the Road
By Russ Hiner, Hialeah, FL

First Fairway at Walden,
Montgomery, TX
The resort is about 5 miles east of the
city of Montgomery, a quaint little city with
boutique shopping and places to eat. It is
less than 2 miles from the resort to a Super
Wal-Mart and some other shopping. Originally the resort name was Inverness at
Walden. I don’t know why the change but
Inverness II is adjacent to this property
and has a common driveway in one place.
There are 96 units, one above the
other, but 51 are now privately owned condominiums, leaving an assortment of timeshare units scattered in the complex. Some
of the private owners do not follow the
rules for timeshare exchangers, such as
stuff outside their unit or on the balcony
railings. No big deal, just different.

The resort has an outdoor pool
and a hot-tub (in a gazebo) between
the rows of units. This is shown on
the map as a “lagoon” and there is a small
stream running through it, though the
water is simply pumped from place to
place. Our unit had a nice, lush, peaceful
view through the glass sliding doors to
the patio and the lagoon.
The big attraction is the Golf Club at
Walden on Lake Conroe, co-designed by
Bruce Devlin. It is rated in the Top 10 Private courses in Texas, with some “National
Best” rated holes. The $65 Green Fees include a cart, practice range privileges and
3 new golf balls. (What would I do for balls
on the 2nd hole?) The course has a dress
code: no blue jeans, T- shirts or tank tops,
and men’s shirts must have a collar and
sleeves. For women, halter, tube and crop
tops are unacceptable.
The Yacht Club was highly recommended for lunch and dinner. We did not
eat there despite the offer of a free bottle
of wine. We did have supper in the Caddy
Shack, which was good and reasonable.
There are two other golf courses nearby.
Movies and board games were available
from the office, no charge. Everything else
was 2 to 20 miles away.
The check-in was quick and easy. We
were given some sheets with the above
info. Other restaurants and things to do
were also listed. Some of these were in
Conroe, a larger town about 15 miles away.
There was no unit book.
Our unit was on the ground floor. Just
inside the door, on the left was the bedroom with twin beds, and no TV. The room
was small. The beds were pushed against
opposite walls and had a small chest, with
a lamp and its 40-watt bulb, between them.
The wall at the foot of the beds had a
closet, a tall, narrow chest of drawers and
the door to the bath. The bath had a tub/
shower and was well lighted. It was set
up with a door to the hall also, so there
was privacy for those who used the
sleeper/sofa.

Just to the right of the door was a
galley kitchen. On one side was the pantry, stove, and refrigerator. There was no
icemaker, but at least there were ice cube
trays and the door opened the “right” way.
There was not much counter space here.
On the other side above the sink was a
pass-thru to the dining area. The counter
space here was also limited because the
microwave took some space and there was
a stacked washer/dryer in the corner. The
overhead cabinets, which held the glasses
and dishes, were at least 68 inches from
the floor, awkwardly high. The recessed
fluorescent ceiling light was not bright
enough. The pantry closet held the small
appliances, such as blender, coffee maker,
toaster, hand mixer, and electric can opener.
The other shelves gave space for dry groceries. The resort did not recycle.
The dining table was large enough
for six. The chandelier over it could have
been b ɥ