FAQ

What is an ISLA?

An ISLA (Integrated Secured Lifestyle Asset) is a legal instrument structured in Luxembourg which allows buyers to engage a value guaranteed asset purchase through a Special Limited Partnership to acquire rights and interests in luxury property, private aviation and other lifestyle facilities.

By acquiring an ISLA, a buyer purchases an ownership interest in the property, documented within the dependable legal framework of the Duchy of Luxembourg and without having to interact with the less reliable conveyancing systems of foreign language countries. This also provides buyers with documented rights and privileges to use a proprietary fleet of aircraft and yachts without charge supported by a Lloyds of London and Swiss Re underwritten value guarantee to ensure the long term value of their investment in an ISLA never drops below their purchase price and with certain inflation rated protections added.

Who sells ISLA's?

O Lifestyle International SARL, a Luxembourg company who develops and operates O brand luxury resorts and real estate internationally, offers the ISLA format as a uniquely advantageous way for purchasers to acquire high end branded residences, private aviation facilities and other premium lifestyle facilities without experiencing the traditionally high costs of ownership and usage and with underwritten protection against adverse market volatility.

Is it like a timeshare?

No. The O brand and the ISLA have no relationship to that industry. An ISLA owner purchases a documented and registered interest in their property and its associated private aviation and other facility rights and they can hold, sell or transfer their interest and ownership at any time. Nobody else has any rights to their property and an owner can elect either to have their residence managed and rented by O Lifestyle as part of their hotel inventory when the residences are available or leave it exclusively for their own use.

Why buy an ISLA instead of conventional vacation property?

Many of the world’s most beautiful vacation spots include more dubious and unreliable legal frameworks and conveyancing systems. These may be expensive, time consuming, unpredictable and burdensome to investors and buyers and usually require foreign language contracts as well as engaging personal tax accounts with the jurisdictions tax authorities. Added together, this creates a less than streamlined, dependable and cost effective environment within which to invest.

An ISLA removes all of these factors and allows a buyer to deal with English language agreements, within one of Europe’s most reputable and reliable legal systems. This allows for transactions without significant cost and which are quick to conclude and dependable in security. The ISLA also negates the need for buyers to interact with any foreign jurisdiction tax authority and the ISLA’s guarantees and underwriting gives buyers confidence that their assets are insulated from any negative value volatility in the real estate market, something which some of these less developed markets are systematically affected by, from time to time.

The following table shows the difference in legal requirements and fees of acquiring an ISLA at O Club compared to purchasing conventional real estate in Greece:

Where can I buy an O Residence?

O Lifestyle is developing resorts with beach bungalow, villa and condominium residences in Greece and will be expanding throughout Europe, USA, Caribbean and other regions. The O Club resort is the first to be developed and is located on a beautiful Greek island, twenty miles off the coast of the Athens Riviera.

When can I buy an O Residence?

O Residences are available for purchase from October 2022 with residences delivered to owners by Spring 2024.

How can I buy an O Residence with its associated private aviation and other amenities?

Purchasing an O Residence and its associated private aviation and other amenities is simple and straightforward and can be done by acquiring an ISLA. Purchasing an ISLA simply requires your legal representative to review the ISLA documentation and once satisfied with its format, an ISLA contract and the purchase of the O Residence and the private aviation facilities attached to it can be accomplished within two days (subject to acceptable KYC provisions).

All agreements are in English and based on Luxembourg laws in order to provide your legal representatives a sound and dependable foundation of understanding of the assets and rights you are purchasing.

How much will an ISLA cost to purchase?

The purchase price of an ISLA is directly related to the style, size and location of the O Residence which is attached to it. ISLAs which provide owners larger villas will typically cost more than ISLAs attached to smaller suites or bungalows. Purchasing an ISLA allows buyers to own luxury property within the dependable and underwritten legal framework of Luxembourg.

Will the value of my condo or villa appreciate?

All O Residences will be located in prime and prestigious locations which typically appreciate considerably over time and even with adverse volatility due to recessions or seasonal downturns, should eventually appreciate. However, ISLAs are uniquely protected by an AA rated Value Assurance Program ensuring their value never falls below their purchase price, irrespective of any real estate market volatility and a structured Buy-Back Program allowing ISLAs to be resold any time after year 5 at an inflation adjusted price ensuring owners are protected from a time value of money factor.

What is the Value Assurance Program

Acquiring an ISLA is structured to provide the owner an array of protections to ensure the value of their asset does not decline in value. At any time after year five, an owner is provided the ability to sell their ISLA back to the company at a price equal to their purchase price and inflation rated for that future point in time (inflation protection capped at 2% per annum). This allows a buyer to know that no matter the state of the local real estate market, the global economy or any other factors that could typically affect their investment, they are protected by an exit provision which protects their asset value even against the time value of money factor. This protection is compounded by the certified underwriting provided by Lloyds of London and Swiss Re which guarantees the purchase price buy back guarantee on a 12 year term.

What is the Upgrade Program?

The ISLA has been formulated to optimize a buyer’s lifestyle preferences in today’s economic environment, but has been designed to adapt to owner’s future evolving needs. O Lifestyle understands owner’s requirements change with time and circumstances and while an owner may appreciate a one bedroom beach bungalow in a vibrant island location today, tomorrow they may desire a larger villa in an alternate location, country or region.

The Upgrade Program has been designed to allow them to exchange their ownership of one residence for a completely different residence in another location and allows them to apply 100% of their investment in their ISLA, inflation rated to the point in time they wish to make the exchange (inflation rating capped at 2% per annum) into a new upgrade residence. This way they are not confined to any one residence or location and they know they can utilize an asset value appreciation without buying and selling property, paying brokers or engaging the expensive and time consuming burdens of typical processes.

How can I organize furniture and management of my O Residence?

All O Residences are sold “turnkey” to buyers with full furnishing, finishes and equipment. Each buyer will be able to choose from a variety of premium packages including furniture, equipment, décor details and soft furnishings. All Residences are fully managed in every way by O, so owners are never burdened with any aspect of their property management and everything they require will be accommodated for them.

Can I live full time at O?

Yes. Residence owners can choose to live permanently or semi-permanently at their residence or visit their property as frequently as they like. It is their property to use as desired without limitation.

What if I only want to use my O Residence for holidays and frequent visits throughout the year?

O Residences have been designed to give optimal benefits to those owners who live elsewhere and wish to benefit from having a luxurious resort property to use as a second home for holidays, short breaks or frequent escapes. If enrolled in the O Hotel Management Program, when your residence is not being used, it will be managed by O's hotel management and rented as part of the resort’s five-star inventory. This will grant the owner a certain number of O Credits which can be used as currency to pay for a prescribed number of annual occupied flight hours on any of O’s private aircraft and is the mechanism by which an owner can obtain up to 50 occupied flight hours every year at no out of pocket expense.

Do I get any of the rental income?

O Lifestyle will endeavor to maximize the rental of your residence within the hotel platform and while owners do not receive a cash ROI, income generated is allocated to the private aviation system to ensure owners receive maximum access to use the aircraft without any cost. This income will also be used to cover all owner’s property ownership expenses, so they have no financial burden to own or maintain their property or to access all the facilities and amenities available to them including O’s fleet of boats and yachts.

What services will be available to my O Residences?

Every O Residence has free servicing to include butler, maid/housekeeping, 24hr room service, local car with driver and other “white glove” hotel style services as well as enjoy international 24 hr personal concierge in over 100 countries provided by www.johnpaul.com and special rates, VIP privileges and free upgrades in over 5,000 hotels globally.

What happens to my personal belongings if my residence is being rented?

Upon your departure from your O Residence, your personal butler will video inventory your residence to mark out the specific location of personal items including pictures, décor, decorations, towels, bed sheets and other items. All clothing and soft items are deposited into the units’ personal storage closets which are then sealed and removed in one piece from the unit. These are then safely stored away while the butler replaces generic five-star hotel style bedsheets, towels, wall paintings and décor in the unit for incoming guests. When you give notice of your intended return, the butler reverses this process to ensure you find everything exactly as you left it.

What if I am too busy to use my O Residence and do not use it at all?

That’s the beauty of an ISLA. Our owners are busy people with successful careers and demanding schedules and if this means they are unable to find the time to enjoy their residence for personal benefit, the advantage and value of an ISLA can be felt in their professional lives. If an owner is unable to use their residence, this merely means they will have additional no cost flight hours to use throughout the year. As a general philosophy, when owners are too busy to use their residences, they typically have a busier professional life which requires more travel and accordingly an ISLA was designed so that when this happens, the less they use their residences, the more they can fly on the aircraft without cost.

What amenities are available to me as an O Residence owner?

An O Residence owner is provided an O Lifestyle Club Membership which provides them full complimentary membership access to all O Clubs and locations, plus exclusive access to the O Private Aviation fleet whether their residence is included in the O Hotel Management Program or not. This gives them access to the aircraft at Members Rates (approx. 50% of market one way charter or jet card rates) even if they have depleted their “no cost” allocation or do not have their residence enrolled in the O Hotel Management Program.

Owners also enjoy full access to the luxury boats and yachts located at each location to use without charge either for day trips or for week long cruises in ultimate luxury. O’s complimentary international 24hr personal concierge support in over 100 countries is operated by www.johnpaul.com and also provides owners VIP treatment, free upgrades and special rates at over 5,000 hotels around the world.

What is O Aviation?

O Aviation is the private aviation division of O Lifestyle, administering the proprietary fleet of super-mid, mid-size, light and very light categories of private jets, exclusively available to owners of O Residences and O Lifestyle Club members. O Residences owners are given access to the O Aviation fleet, to use as required at Members’ Rates. However, residence owners whose units are part of the O Hotel Management Program are granted O Credits providing them with up to 50 “occupied” hours per year of zero cost/free use of the aircraft.

All aircraft can be used to fly from/to anywhere in Europe (including UK, Egypt, Israel, Turkey and UAE by arrangement) and other locations by individual itinerary agreement. USA and Caribbean flight arenas will be added in 2024.

What aircraft does O use?

The O Aviation fleet is comprised of Gulfstream G200/280, Bombardier Challenger 300/350 and Cessna Citation Latitude Super-Mid-size aircraft, Cessna Citation XLS+ Mid-size, Cessna Citation CJ3 Light aircraft and Embraer Phenom 300 and 100 Light and Very Light jets as well as Cessna Citation Mustang very light jets. Other aircraft models and classes may be added to the fleet from time to time.

Who owns and manages the O Aviation fleet?

All aircraft are owned by O Hotels & Aviation AG (a Switzerland company) a wholly owned subsidiary of O Lifestyle International SARL and are operated and managed by Jet Aviation Switzerland. All owner’s and members’ flight reservations, itineraries and requirements will be administered and arranged by Jet Aviation.

Are there any other benefits to the O Aviation facility?

Yes. The O Flight Share System will be operated on the O Phone App and allow every owner and O Lifestyle Club member to share their respective itineraries on all flights. This will allow owners and members to share the cost/hourly debits of any flights and minimize empty leg charges. The O Flight Share System allows an owner to expand their available O Credits and no cost hours by 20%-40%.

How can an owner or member use the O Flight Share System?

An owner can use the O Flight Share System to find passengers for empty legs of their itineraries or alternatively even allow other owners, members or privileged hotel guests to share their main itinerary leg on a “per seat” basis. If an owner is travelling by themselves or with a small party and takes another member group with them on their flight, for every hour, they will only be debited a portion of that hour depending on how many seats are shared.

Is an owner charged for empty legs?

Owner's free/no cost flight hours are calculated as “occupied” hours with no surcharges for empty legs, positioning or repositioning.

How do I access the O Aviation fleet or other amenities?

All owners have access to their personal O Concierge for any facility needs 24 hrs a day and they can also book flights or other amenities and services directly through the O Phone App.

How quickly can an aviation reservation be satisfied?

Potentially immediately depending on itinerary, however owners are encouraged to make flight reservations at the earliest opportunity. The aviation facilities have been calculated and will be managed to provide maximum availability to members. However, there may be peak seasons where usage rates are higher and so owners are encouraged to plan itineraries in advance when possible. Most aircraft in the fleet are based in central European locations to accommodate easy and quick positioning.

What happens if I don’t use all my free aviation hours in one year?

Unused O Credits and free hours can roll over “once” into the following year but must be used within 24 months of their initial engagement.

What happens if a pandemic or other extraordinary circumstances affect O's ability to rent my residence?

In the event of any government ordered shut down or other enforced closure of businesses or international borders or any other extraordinary factors including earthquake, tsunamis, political turmoil, war affect O's ability to generate rental income from its hotel operation and rental system, O may temporarily suspend the provision of the O Credits system and “free” aircraft service, until the extraordinary circumstances have passed. In such an event, owners may still use the aircraft but will during such suspension period be charged Members’ Rates which equate to roughly 50% of the commercial one-way charter or jet card rates.

*All rates in Euro

What is the O Boat and Yacht amenity?

At every O location, a selection of watercraft will be available between 1st April and 31st October. These will include 30-35ft center console and bowrider speed boats and 35-65 ft sports cruisers and yachts with sleeping facilities of up to six people. The boats and yachts will be provided with qualified captains, however any owners with documented qualifications, may also use the boats and yachts without captains (subject to insurance indemnities). Owners may use any of the boat or yacht facilities free of charge, but will be responsible for the cost of fuel, catering, dockage and captain (if required) while in their use. Center console and bowriders can be used for daytime excursions, fishing expeditions and local exploration, while cruisers and yachts can accommodate owners and members for overnight trips to nearby islands and destinations for up to a week at a time.