posted 03-28-2005 07:56               

There has been a lot happening at Christmas Mountain Village since the last time we were there (which was last summer, 2004) that surprises us.

First of all there is a "concierge" at the reservation desk. We joked about the need for concierge services, i.e. obtaining tickets to hard-to-get Tommy Barlett Water Shows or Noah's Ark admission passes. We're not talking about New York city, are we? Well, Bluegreen must have something in mind when they create a concierge for users.

Second, the use of a box to drop your accommodations keys so you don't have to wait in line to check-out. As long as they have your credit card on file when you check-in, you can check-out any time you want by just dropping the keys in the box. I don't know if they have a system of reading the electronic keys to determine which room was checking out.

Third, when we make our future reservations we will not be given the room number. We were told the resort itself will determine what room to give us when we check-in. One of our reservations was made before this policy was implemented and when we checked in we were given another room, albeit closer to our other reservation. This worked out well this time, but what happens when the resort places two rooms at opposite ends of the resort at check-in? This is not a small resort so walking from one end to the other is very, very inconvenient.

... and Fourth, I noticed our maintenance fees did NOT increase this year from last year.

Putting everything together I figure Christmas Mountain is going on a huge expansion plan (the Fourth observation shows me Bluegreen is buying owners' silence when the growth problems surface later) and they've geared up for it on the management side.

posted 03-30-2005 14:31               

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Originally posted by Tom52:
When I visited CMV in February the pool was a buzz of activity, you know the pre teen type. I was looking forward to using the new pool but after seeing how small it was and the number of people in it, I decided that was not for me. I think they have limited hours early in the morning and late at night for adults only. I guess my expectations were set too high.

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I agree with what you wrote. The pool itself is not small, but for the number of visitors to the resort I know it will be too small and it will be packed!!!! We're talking about Wisconsin Dells, the home of the indoor/outdoor water parks. If visitors to Christmas Mountain expect a large enough indoor pool that mimics an indoor water park on lilliputian levels, they will be sadly disappointed. It's hardly large enough to hold the visitors now, during the spring season and in advance of the summer vacationing period.

posted 03-30-2005 14:34               

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Originally posted by rapmarks:
They have had a concierge desk in the past. Thinly diguised body snatcher to register you for tours. will probably only be on duty during check in times.

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So, they used the concierge-in-waiting-routine, again, heh? Well, I do recall the concierge was pretty tenacious about getting us to an owner's "update" meeting. We at first politely declined, and when the discussion became a bit louder we then used other tactics to remove ourselves from the tentacles of the evil concierge.

posted 03-30-2005 22:52               

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Originally posted by PA:
I guess a $1 million assessment doesn't go as far as it once did.

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I had forgotten how much that rebuilt pool cost us. Thanks for the reminder. AND this is after the insurance settlement paid to the resort after the previous building burnt down. Makes me wonder why they underinsured and saved on the premiums.

posted 03-31-2005 08:55               

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Originally posted by RonaldCol:
... Makes me wonder why they underinsured and saved on the premiums.

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Why not, they've got us, and we're rich, remember?