This was posted on the club orient Facebook page tonight

Dear Friends
We’ve been busy since we last updated you. We’ll try to cover some of the most important events which have occurred in the last few weeks,
The good news is that on Monday afternoon the employees were finally able to receive your generous donations. You have no idea how much it was needed and how grateful the people were receiving it. It took much longer than expected to get it into their hands, due to a huge amount of red tape and the difficulty in giving out cash, which because of tax liabilities could not be seen to have had any involvement by Club Orient. In addition, security concerns needed to be addressed to do our best to insure everyone’s safety.
Most of the staff is back on the island even if staying with friends, family or in houses with only temporary roof fixes. In addition, much of the French side is still with sporadic utilities. Phone and internet service remains spotty.
But, as a group we remain positive and have even leased a space for temporary offices in Orient Village starting (we hope) on November 15 and will then have access to land line phones, our servers and the files we were able to salvage. Most importantly, Anne the Finance Director, Florence the Rooms Division Director, Gaelle the Human Resources Manager and Stephen the Resort Director will be in one place for the first time.
A special thank you to all of you who donated your advance deposit. This was a huge help and once we are re-opened we have made a note of everyone who did this and will do our best to reward you for your help when we needed it. For those of you who could not do this we understand and as soon as the insurance money is in our hands we will begin crediting your cards.
Progress on the island with clean-up has been slow, but steady. The roads are open and even with so many of our cars being severely damaged, the traffic is heavy during the day.
Part of this is because with so many of our businesses still closed, especially hotels and restaurants there are many who remain without a job. But, some of the hotels, particularly on the Dutch side which were not destroyed, have begun to re-open, even though some amenities are limited. There are a handful of restaurants on both sides open with limited menus.
Near Club Orient, Rancho del Sol is open for lunch on a limited basis where you order when you walk-in on the steps and they bring your food to you outside. The Italian restaurant, Al Dente suffered almost no damage and is offering a mostly complete menu.
With the supermarkets which were not destroyed, they’re open but with limited choices and availability for the most part. Most of the beaches have been approved for swimming, by the health department.
So, it’s a process we are having to go through and it will be some time before the island is what it was pre-Irma. So much of the French side, especially Grand Case is almost totally destroyed.
Please do not plan a visit to the island without checking with us first. Services of any kind are extremely limited, especially on the French side. While we appreciate the offers to help clean up, it is not realistic. It would be like offering to clean up after the World War 2 bombing of Dresden. In addition, with so many out of work, it is important to hire locally.
Club Orient has had representatives of the Copropriété (similar to an HOA) and the OBC (the resort management company) visit over the last 10 days and both are committed to bringing Club Orient back as quickly as possible.
We have submitted all our insurance claims and are awaiting payment from them, which will allow us to move more quickly. We are also awaiting French Prime Minister’s visit and his plans to assist us. We along with other French side hoteliers have been in meetings with his representative and we have also met with him one on one. At the moment, they have not committed to anything, so we shall see.
Finally, we await the decisions from Paris on the new building requirements and how they may affect us rebuilding. There have been many suggestions put forward by them at various meetings, but nothing definitive has yet to emerge.
Thank you again for your kind emails and concerns about our Club Orient family. Many of you have commented in your notes, how special all of the staff are at the resort. We would say that we have the most special and caring guests in the world!