posted 04-11-2005 08:25               

See: http://www.tug1.net/tugbbs1/Forum23/HTML/002016.html

Patty

posted 04-11-2005 11:33               

To put this in perspective, according to a recent article by John Doak, a leading Cayman architect, there was over $1bn in property insurance claims from Ivan, and normally about $75m of construction per year. In other words, construction will be very, very busy for a long time to come.

I have no direct knowledge re Morritts, but I know of very few condos or hotels that have opened EARLIER that their predictions.. and several that are opening later.

My best wishes to our neighbours at Morritts... but if they have told RCI that they won't re-open until April, I would prefer that they do that and then later find themselves able to give an earlier date.. than the other way around... ie if they said (say) August 2005 and then found that they suffered delays, this would cause no end of problems.

posted 04-11-2005 12:26               

ralphd

[This message has been edited by ralphd (edited 04-11-2005).]

posted 04-17-2005 06:56               

I mentioned earlier how slowly everything is going in Cayman now. There are now (according to Government stats in the media last week) 460% more construction workers on island than pre-Ivan, and trust me, all of them are super busy. The leading tiling company on island told me last week that they are not taking any new orders for installation until July.

As the Morritts forums have now been largely restricted to Morritts owners (and some people, like myself, have been banned from making any posts at all on there), potential visitors to Morritts can get little information on updates.

I would therefore encourage Ralph to post whatever he can so that potential (RCI exchange etc) visitors to our beautiful island can get the latest information.

I would reiterate that the island, whilst still showing some scars (damaged buildings, flora that will take time to fully recover), is indeed beautiful. I just spent several days touring some key tourism industry people around the island (the people who decide which destinations and resorts are offered by the likes of Expedia, American Express Travel, AAA Travel, Liberty GoGo, American Airlines Vacations, Apple etc).... and these folks were VERY pleased with what they saw. The beaches are gorgeous (with more sand than ever!), the undersea world better than ever, and all resorts that are open took the time and investment to upgrade and renovate better than before.

In other words, you should not hesitate in coming to Cayman this year !

posted 04-17-2005 10:29               

There are 2 open sections on the Morritts forum for non-owners if you have travel or activities related questions about Morritts or Cayman. We love to brag about our paradise.

Other than that there is no need for non-owners to have acess to the owners area or have information posted here as to our updates.

posted 04-17-2005 12:45               

While there certainly is information that need not be shared with the public I would have thought the type of information that would be restricted would pertain to internal budgets, establishing mf's, member discounts not offered to exchangers or renters and other such info.

I would have thought that communicating openly with owners, exchangers and anyone interested in the resort (ie. potential owners) about the status of the resort, plans to repair the resort and the method of dealing with the backlog of exchanges, spacebanked weeks and owner weeks would have been preferred over hiding the information which can only lead to speculation and misinformation.

JMHO

quote:

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Originally posted by tmbrit:

Other than that there is no need for non-owners to have acess to the owners area or have information posted here as to our updates.

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posted 04-17-2005 15:05               

Yes they want exchangers and new sales but right now they are dealing with owners needs which is what any one would expect from your resort.

Most of us don't go to other timeshare resorts sites to see how they are doing if I don't own there and if I had an exchange I would understand that RCI or II are the only ones that can answer my questions or help as they are who I made the exchange with not the resort directly.
Actually we feel quite fortunate, a lot of resorts don't even have a site or forum or its owners only.

posted 04-24-2005 14:21            

quote:

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Originally posted by Heron:
Interesting attitude.

While there certainly is information that need not be shared with the public I would have thought the type of information that would be restricted would pertain to internal budgets, establishing mf's, member discounts not offered to exchangers or renters and other such info.

I would have thought that communicating openly with owners, exchangers and anyone interested in the resort (ie. potential owners) about the status of the resort, plans to repair the resort and the method of dealing with the backlog of exchanges, spacebanked weeks and owner weeks would have been preferred over hiding the information which can only lead to speculation and misinformation.

JMHO

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What I find interesting is that someone who has no financial interest in either of the Morritt's resorts makes assumptions about what actions should be taken by the Boards of Directors (BODs) of these resorts, and who should be allowed access to what is, unquestionably, a private forum.

The Reef suffered little damage due to Ivan and, as an owner at a neighboring resort, I'm pleased that this was the case. I share in the joy of the owners at the Reef that their resort was reopened shortly after Ivan, and that they were not hit with a huge storm assessment.

I don't question the decisions of The Reef management, nor do I post speculation about what's going on over there. I, for one, would appreciate the same courtesy being extended to Morritt's by the owners and the management of The Reef, especially since The Reef doesn't have a forum for their owners and potential guests. If their management is concerned about getting information to potential owners and visitors to the East End, let them create and maintain their own forum.

Regarding the huge hurricane assessment....well my assessment was the largest levied by the Tortuga Club BOD, at $795. Considering that my annual maintenance fee is $620, versus $800 at The Reef, and considering that my weekly charge for electricity is usually $100 less than a comparably sized unit at The Reef, that puts my annual costs at roughly $300 less than costs for a 2BR unit at The Reef. As I recall, the hurricane assessment for a 2BR unit at The Reef was approximately $200. The $600 difference between the assessment at The Reef and the assessment at Morritt's Tortuga Club is made up in two years. After that, my costs are again $300 per year less. So much for the "large" assessment at Morritt's.

Tom Cayman was banned from the Morritt's forums for a reason. Instead of acting as a good neighbor, which he represents himself to be, he continually sniped at Morritt's management on the Morritt Owners Forum. Almost every one of his posts included some dig at Morritt's. If a guest in my home acts as he did, then I ask that guest to leave. That's exatcly what happened to Tom and, in my opinion, he hasn't been missed by anyone.

JMHO

posted 04-24-2005 19:33            

The two Morritt's resorts, 2082 and 5930, will begin accepting guests on September 1st. The oceanfront units will not be ready yet, and members will be moved to the completed units. For this reason, RCI was showing a conservative reopening date.

Your exchange in October should be fine. Sorry for the alarm this caused you.

We value your participation in our program.

Sincerely,

E-Communications
RCI - North America

posted 04-25-2005 04:06               

In the order of your post:

I didn't make any assumptions, I expressed an opinion that more information would help put an end to the speculation that can only damage the reputation of Morritt's.

I made no mention of storm assessments.

How would I know that you don't question the decisions at The Reef - you've made 2 posts including this inaccurate one. I didn't speculate on what's going on "over there" not even remotely, good or bad.

I made the comment about information to potential owners not Tom and as such The Reef's management isn't concerned unless you have made the mistake of thinking I somehow am a manager at The Reef. I must admit when I see Morritt's units for sale on eBay I am concerned that these people may have little knowledge of what is "going on" because they have no way of finding out. Why should I care - I don't know, I guess I really shouldn't. I hope that if I was in their position I'd have a way to ascertain the facts about the place I was purchasing. And I always look at the resort's web site and read their forums if they have them before buying - perhaps I'm unique on this point.

Again, no mention was made of assessments.

I have no knowledge of what Tom may or may not have posted nor do I necessarily care.

posted 04-25-2005 04:34               

quote:

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Originally posted by ati2d:

The two Morritt's resorts, 2082 and 5930, will begin accepting guests on September 1st. The oceanfront units will not be ready yet, and members will be moved to the completed units. For this reason, RCI was showing a conservative reopening date.

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posted 04-26-2005 15:42               

Thx for the kind words

In my post in this thread, I defy you to see where I was sniping at Morritts management.

Also, of course you are accusing me of doing the same on the Morritts board, but of course it is private so the vast majority of TUG members can't verify that accusation.

I did post with some frequency on those boards after the Hurricane, but to be honest I was mostly drawn into posting by people clamouring for information (in such areas as the intricacies of insurance, where everyone in business in Cayman became somewhat of an expert!), so where I had information I gave it.

I was also being neighbourly, sorry, but that is the way I am. I also gave a large discount on rental rates to any Grand Cayman timeshare owners who wanted to come and stay with us while their resort was closed, and a lot of people have happily taken me up on that offer, which I was pleased to give.

Anyway, as to the Morritts forums, it did ultimately appear to me that whatever I said, as the guy from The Reef, only served to remind Morritts owners of their situation. In the end I could have said "the sky is blue in East End today" and I would have been flamed. I therefore discussed things at length with the Morritts marketing guy, Erik (who has a tough job and I have a lot of time for, btw), and agreed with him that I should stay off. I was never actually banned per se, just that all non-owners were shut off.

Anyway, just thought I would clarify.

Oh, but another clarification, as to the comment that The Reef had little damage, we had $7m in damage to an 88 room resort, if that is a little damage, I'd hate to see what a lot is !

I won't get into a discussion on relative levels of fees or assessments, we ain't comparing apples with apples.

In closing, I say again that I hope the moderators of the Morritts forums continue to spend some time here to update TUG members on progress... and on that note, I can report that construction is now underway again at the (Morritts) shopping centre project across the road from us. Work started last week, and is now firing away cleaning up debris and getting fencing put up... fingers crossed it continue at this pace and opens by the end of the year....

posted 04-27-2005 15:31               

I think the Morritts thing has been beaten to death and it is time to move on. The whole thing was a PR disaster for the resort. When you aren't candid with the owners this is what happens. It will be some time before the wounds heal, on both sides.

Things appear to be on the road to recovery the only thing remaining is the settlement with Lloyds of London. I don't plan to be back at the resort for several years while they try and work off the inventory backlog.

Onward!!!!

Cheers,

Paul

posted 04-28-2005 14:55               

quote:

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Originally posted by Poobah:
All,

I think the Morritts thing has been beaten to death and it is time to move on. The whole thing was a PR disaster for the resort. When you aren't candid with the owners this is what happens. It will be some time before the wounds heal, on both sides.

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Although it may seem beaten to death, these threads are very informative and helpful in making a purchase decision. Management sets the tone. Their policies and attitude can elevate an otherwise average setting, or they can take the luster off of paradise.

posted 04-29-2005 07:44               

quote:

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Originally posted by huestous:
Although it may seem beaten to death, these threads are very informative and helpful in making a purchase decision. Management sets the tone. Their policies and attitude can elevate an otherwise average setting, or they can take the luster off of paradise.

I've lurked the Caribbean boards for some time now, and for us, its a pretty simple decision. Tom's candid, thoughtful, and helpful responses on TUG have always been a class act.

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I agree with this. After reading this new Morritt's stuff and previous things written about the management I'd look elsewhere to purchase.

Anything that inhibits trading can negatively affect the value of ownership there as well.

posted 04-29-2005 15:26               

The current owners are taking more than a passing interest in the BOD and the actions of David. Everything he does from now on will be watched very closely. There will not be a repeat of IVAN debacle.

Cheers,