County Approves Trendwest's Mountainstar Resort

Company Expects Third Quarter EPS to be in the range of $0.66 to $0.69

Press Release
October 18, 2000
ROSLYN, WA -- Trendwest Resorts, Inc. (Nasdaq:TWRI ), yesterday announced Kittitas County Commissioners approved the Company's land use application for its planned destination resort near Roslyn and Cle Elum, Washington. The approval allows for the MountainStar Resort to be built on 6,200 acres in the foothills of the eastern Cascade Mountains. Plans for the resort include at least two golf courses including one designed by Arnold Palmer Course Design, equestrian, bicycle and hiking trails, numerous recreational amenities and up to 4,650 dwelling units including a magnificent lodge, condominiums, cabins and vacation homes. The resort will include a large amount of open space, occupying approximately 80% of the resort property. The centerpiece of the resort will be the 1,500-acre protected Cle Elum River Corridor that runs through the whole property, which characterizes the natural beauty of the landscape, simultaneously benefiting fish, animals and people.

``We are extremely pleased to achieve County approval of MountainStar,'' said Bill Peare, President and Chief Executive Officer. ``MountainStar will present numerous recreational and entertainment opportunities for many people and will be a tremendous asset to Kittitas County and nearby communities.''

The County has completed 3 1/2 years of environmental review and permit processing for the resort. Mike Moyer, Senior Vice President and the MountainStar Project Manager said: ``The County staff, attorneys, Planning Commission and Commissioners have spent innumerable hours of hard work on the project. Through an environmental evaluation and public review process unprecedented in Kittitas County, the County and Trendwest have reached agreements that will work well for both parties.''

``The approvals for MountainStar carefully follow the dictates of the State Growth Management Act and the County's master planned resort policies,'' commented John Hempelmann, land-use attorney for Trendwest. ``We are very confident that any of the approvals that are challenged will be upheld.''

Effective with the approval vote, Trendwest has begun taking refundable reservation deposits on single-family vacation lots for the first phase of the planned development. Before closing sales on these lots and transferring title, Trendwest must achieve other milestones, such as the transfer of water rights and plat approvals. Water and sewer treatment plants will also need to be constructed to meet the anticipated demands of the resort property.

Trendwest also announced today that it has updated its expectations for third quarter net earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $0.66 to $0.69 per share, exceeding the $0.52 per diluted share reported for its third quarter last year. The Company expects to release a complete report on quarterly earnings prior to a conference call by management on Thursday October 26, 2000 at 8:00 a.m. Pacific. To access the call, please dial 888/694-1314.

Trendwest Resorts, Inc., headquartered in Redmond, Washington, is a leader in the vacation ownership industry. Through its exclusive relationship with WorldMark, The Club, and WorldMark South Pacific Club, the Company provides a flexible vacation ownership system, based on the use of Vacation Credits, to approximately 98,000 owners at 35 locations in the continental Western United States, Hawaii, Missouri, British Columbia, Mexico, Fiji and Australia. For more information, please visit Trendwest and WorldMark on the World Wide Web at www.trendwestresorts.com and www.worldmarktheclub.com.

Statements herein contain forward-looking information concerning the Company's future prospects and other forecasts and statements of expectations. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements made by the Company due to, among other things, the Company's ability to develop or acquire additional resort properties, find acceptable debt or equity capital to fund such development, achieve planned sales levels, as well as other risk factors described in the Company's SEC reports and filings.


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Contact: 

     Trendwest Resorts, Inc.
     Mike Moyer, 509/649-3000
     (Senior Vice President)
     Tim O'Neil, 425/98-2561
     (Chief Financial Officer)
        or
     Morgen-Walke Associates, Inc.
     Jennifer Winter/Doug Sherk, 415/296-7383
     (Investor Relations)
     Catherine Farmer, 415/296-7383
     (Media Relations)
     Wire Services, 212/850-5600