wabid--My personal feeling is that their longterm goal is to become basically a hotel. They can make a lot more money out of hotel properties than timeshare. Timeshare is the past, at least in SXM. There have been too many problems over the years with various resorts going under, trying to scr*w the timeshare owners out of their units like Alegria, hurricane damage, etc. It is so much easier to be a hotel. Timeshare owners in SXM in general are getting to be a little long in the tooth, in general. There are not many younger people who want to buy into timeshare in SXM. They stay closed for three years and the vast majority of timeshare owners get out, so they don't have to worry about them. They also get rid of the whole owners at Royal Palm, as well as the restaurant and bar leaseholders at Royal Palm, which they literally have been trying, both in court and out, to get rid of ever since Diamond took it over.
I agree that timeshare is definitely past it's prime on SXM (though I'm an owner of eight weeks at SBR, which I continue to enjoy). However, if Diamond doesn't charge annual maintenance fees to their owners for the full time they are closed, the majority may not get out since there's really no advantage in just walking away when it's costing you nothing to stay. Having said that, I agree with you that Flamingo has some motive.
