Hotel Condominiums as an investment?

Has anyone ever heard of this or knows anyone who has done this?  Not sure all the details on how it works, but it goes something like this.  You buy a a hotel condominium (essentially a hotel room), and have access to it anytime you want.  And from what I understand, if you are not staying in your room at any given time, the hotel will rent that room out to customers for the evening, weekend, etc.  And I guess you will receive the proceeds from that booking?  Does anyone know more details on how this works, and whether or not it is a good idea or not.  I was looking at the Trump International Tower in Chicago.  I like to vacation in Chicago, and thought having a nice place downtown would be beneficial if I visited often.  Plus, being able to rent it out like a hotel the majority of the year would help me recoup some of my initial investment.  I know this doesn't sound like the greatest investment idea considering how much some of these small hotel rooms cost, but I would like a vacation home in Chicago in the near future and don't want to worry about maintaining my own residence.  Any kind of information would be greatly appreciated.

 

  

i have alot of friends in fl,daytona area, who do this.As far as i can tell it differs from unit to unit,for instance some will let the properties be rented out on a daily basis like a hotel room,,others are more like traditional rentals where u rent it out weeks at a time ahead of time.Its like anythind else,it depends on your invest. goals, i can only speak of my friends but in their case they are in long term,its beachfront in daytona,and we get to party there 4,5 times ayear ,,ity all depends on the general r.e. market and what ur expectations are,and most times the managers of the property do all the paperwork and shit like that for a small%

thanks boiler-room!

 

yeah I just went to a seminar about this type of stuff for hotel/condos by DisneyWorld in Orlando. They will rent it out for you but they take 40% of the gross rent. It stil seems like it's a pretty descent deal. Hard to know for sure though how it goes when youre actually doing it though, sounds great on the outside

yes, I know of some and while you may not make enough to make it cash flow, if it's ina  good spot, you will do fine on appreciation