does anyone have any info on the resort at Club O. How did it make out?

This was just posted on the Club O FB page.

Dear Shareholders,

It's ugly!

Steve and Bert just returned to GCBC from a visit to Club Orient.
Their findings include the following:

All wood units are gone. Presumably the slabs are left, but the buildings are gone.

Gatehouse is gone. In its place is a huge pile of debris that landed there from the winds.

Pedro concrete wall … gone

Concrete buildings survived. Roofs gone or damaged.

Except for the waterfront chalets 46-52 … They are gone. No sign of where they went.

The new beach goes from the water's edge back to where the studios used to be. It's about 200 feet.

Hurricane shutters on units left are gone as well as the contents of all the houses … presumably sucked out by the wind … no sign of where the furniture, cabinets, appliances, etc., went.

The units' contents have been stripped by the hurricane.

The villa is standing … no further detail.

Papagayo is standing but may not be sound structurally. All the contents are gone.

The utility plant is covered with debris so Bert and Steve could not get a close look at the generators, switch panel, etc. It looks like there was about 5' of water in that area, which means salvaging the electric plant is in doubt.

The reception building is still standing. The front desk and other furnishings are gone.

The tennis courts are gone.

Steve and Bert drove through Orient Village where most of the buildings are standing but the contents of the first floors that they could see into are gone.

Looters beat Steve and Bert to the resort. They were clearing out the Boutique. We let them take the contents because presumably they need the stuff worse than we do!

I will continue to keep you updated as new information comes in.
Steve took about 100 pictures but has no way to transmit them until Internet service is restored.

According to Frédéric Lecomte, our Paris attorney, the French media are reporting that 95% of the island is destroyed.

We have a huge job in front of us. We will need a lot of out-of-the-box thinking to reinvent Club Orient … better than ever.

Thank you for the update. This is so sad and sobering to read. Such loss for so many people on the island and a loss for those of us who support SXM, Orient Beach, and Club O.

Awful, just awful!

Wow! Thank you for the update.

We ae devistated upon hearing this... So terrible...

Crying here...big time!

This is truly devastating news. I feel terrible for all the owners, wonderful employees, and guest who loved what so many called a piece of heaven. Hopefully everyone is safe and they do rebuild in due time.

This is so depressing and sad. Club O has been a part of my life for 25 years. I pray this is the beginning of a new path to a bigger better Club Orient. I hope our friends, Willy, Carlos, and Victor are safe as well as their families and the families of all the wonderful people at Club Orient.
Mario and Cindy

I don't see this report on their FB page.

Look in the comments from their Sept 5 post. it wasn't post by Club O, but by another person.

Who is Steve and Bert? Could that be Steve Wright from GCBC?

I would imagine it's referring to Steve Payne.

A very sad day for yellow umbrella aficionados..............the place always will be vulnerable. With insurance the units should be easy to replicate.

At this point concerned for the people and their loss of livelihood.

At first thought the chair and umbrella enterprise would provide cash but to who

Surprised guard shack didnt make it but checkin and boutique did.

Possibly more concrete block in the rebuild.

The beach also will be reset...........and the fate of papagayo

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

Hoping the rebuild is quick

I understand Hurricane Luis leveled Club Orient in early Sept. 1995. Does anyone recall how long it took for it to bounce back after that disaster?

I am so sad for the entire staff and the owners. My hope is that everyone is safe. Our hearts are with all of the people who consider this a home away from home and those whose home it is. We will wait for advice on how to help.
Club O Strong.
doctorj

I believe it was at least a year or so till they had a limited number of guest arriving. In some instances they where better off back then, the office was OK, the generators were functioning and I believe they provided fresh water to the island as the reverse osmosis plant was running. Perhaps they'll now connect to the local water and power grid.

Club O bounced back so quick! Barry was serving us lunch on the patio of a beach chalet that was gone. It was a makeshift Papagayo dining area till they did repairs. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />

It wasn't more than 2 years because I have a Sep 97 photo of the front of Studio 25/26 as occupied that I downloaded from somewhere - background is noticeably devoid of any trees

Article about Steven Payne. Hope I don't get in trouble for forwarding this.

http://www.kesq.com/news/former-palm-spr...artin/617720771

This is so sad for so many. Our hearts go out to the wonderful staff at Club O who have made our visits so special. Obviously, they need assistance and we all feel so helpless right now. We will continue to have them all in our thoughts and prayers.

Yes, we went to Club O in early December after Luis had hit in September 1995...they had set up a barbecue on a patio and had restrooms working, a picnic table set up and 1 or 2 rafts were out. Was very eerie but on the other hand it was exhilarating to see things rebound even in a small way so quickly.

A friend suggested that maybe they won't even rebuild this time? It was something I hadn't considered but seems possible.

Getting the resort significantly damaged every few years and now utterly demolished every 20 years or so, makes me wonder if it is feasible to rebuild? Their insurance rates have got to be ungodly!

Not to mention the daily battles with the encroaching sea... i.e. hauling in sand, seaweed battles, building a seawall in front of Papagayos and all.

Lastly as Orient beach relentlessly seems to be encroaching onto their property, expanding towards that lagoon out back seems to have its own limitations.

Could the Eden known as Club O be over?

When I read this sentence at the bottom of the update...."We have a huge job in front of us. We will need a lot of out-of-the-box thinking to reinvent Club Orient … better than ever." It told me these are strong people willing to go forward and re-make Club O. I'm betting on them and looking forward to walking that beautiful beach and sitting in our orange chairs again.

Just saw this on SXM or Bust Facebook. Worst fears.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...ype=3&ifg=1

Expired??? What was it?

Link didn't work for me.

As an owner of ClubO and also a villa on the hill above the village, which status is uncertain but seen a view from distance and not good, I have some thoughts. As for ClubO rebuilding up and running soon, Luis and this are not comparable. Especially if generators are toast, they might be. We had water and power and some structures in 95. The beach front units are not there, not even foundations. So assume there is absolutely nothing down there. Picture surf hitting units 3-9 or at least where they were. Luis actually filled in the corner of bay, you could almost walk to Green Key. Even if we had a Home depot ship with a crew to start from scratch, there will be no lodging until 18mos. There will be a lot of issues that need to be sorted out, the least of which will be money, Insurance? for what? ?? . French Government will be a big one, and they will be a huge problem. They do not understand the island at all and what makes it go IMHO, never have. Tourism on Martinique and Guadeloupe..?
. Guadeloupe wanted their share of taxes in 1995 and everything had to go there first...this time?? Then you get to employees, unions, both of which may not be so happy to wait for 18 mos, may sabotage any rebuilding, would be shocked if they didn't to be honest....there is just so many variables so who knows?? Some owners may not want the fight or can't afford to...Brink had his personal fortune locked up in this in 95, no one does now. One hopes but one needs to be a realist. Going to be a tough place to be able to visit for years..I hope I'm wrong. Just being honest

SXM or Bust is a closed FB group so the link may not work until you join. It has 10 pics of Club O. So very sad.

These are the pics from that closed FB group. Link is safe and will expire in 2 days. not sure how else to post pics.


https://volafile.org/r/dpgf5ewm

This site cannot be reached error...

Thank you for posting. This is aweful. I was standing there six weeks ago.

Rebuild at Happy Bay!

Here are the Club Orient Hurricane Irma aftermath pictures you posted a link to above... now in a place that should last for a long time and make their display easily viewable.

Luis was much worse... really not so bad!

I like your positive thinking SXMmartini

At least someone who saw the old place can see a ray of daylight

Hope the owners managers can too.

Looking at the slab with patio.....perhaps the under sand infrastructure is salvageable............just some new chalet kits manufactured in europe and shipped in containers and as Vanessa would say Voila!

Lets hope so. Mother nature was pushing them back anyway on its eventual crawl.

They were asking for outside the box thinking.............more concrete...........easy in/out kitchen stuff.....portable induction tops instead of stoves........ grills........can be moved to higher ground

It will happen again, so build that into the plan

How about luxury tenting like Mombo Camp in Africa..(rated by some as best hotel in the world).....storm cometh take it down until it passes.

Does anyone remember the old map that Club O had on their website which showed all the units from overhead so you could see where you were booking? I haven't seen that in awhile just curious if anyone knows if it still exists.

Here's A Club Orient Resort Map that should display here.

Still on the Club O web page, but you have to drill down. Go to Menu in upper right corner (3 lines) and select Resort...then select Resort Map on right...takes a few moments to load...then small Map drop down menu appears on upper left of page.

Still can't believe the utter destruction...was just there in Jun. Heart goes out to the Club O staff and employees...and everyone on island! Hopefully the respective governments can move quickly on disaster relief and recovery.

Ahhhh thanks guys, I have been to the resort pictures but never saw the map up there.

We are also in a state of shock with all this happening, it's been 3 years since we've been there and just last month I booked 4 weeks for family month next summer. Looks like it's going to be a wait and see over the next few months to see how things start moving along.

Any word on the Club O staff? Would it be feasible to set up something whereby donations could go directly to the staff members who have lost their jobs and quite possibly their homes. The staff is so wonderful I would like to see some targeted donations to them as a way of giving back. Anyone with ideas on how to do this?

Any thought given to selling shares to raise some money for the rebuild?

Still can't believe what were seeing Our hearts and prayers go out to all of the people on SXM! All we have is the sweet memories of the Club O we once new,loved and enjoyed. Unfortunately the friends we always met with year after year will be sadly lost if ClubO does not rebuild. Beach Chalet 70 was the very first placed we stayed many years ago...we are crying for all the people of SXM....please rebuild!!!!

As an architect in a flood and hurricane zone the main thinking in rebuilding needs to be to elevate. The storm surge should leave good clues as to how high on the remaining buildings. We use a lot of break-away construction that limits damage to the main structure. Since Orient village was built, the concrete methods used seemed to work well since those buildings, and those concrete structures at Club O seemed to weather this worst of storms with damage but potentially salvageable. This needs to be the thinking. Wood roofs can be replaced and so can fixtures and finishes. Out of the box? Not by international standards but maybe by island standards. Won't be cheap but it'll be worth it after the next hurricane.

Friends of mine were able to send some pictures. Club O is destroyed. Papagayo is gutted. The gatehouse is gone. Most of the cottages are gone. Perch Bar is gone. Watersports building is collapsed. It was completely devastated.

Roadking, can you post or send a link to the photos of Club O?

Here's some more. What a mess.
The first two are apparently of where Pedro's once was.














This might be the only concrete minisuite 158/159, originally wood like the others, it had burned at one time and was rebuilt out of concrete, and was painted to match it's wooden neighbors.


I think this is the back side of the Club O Villa unit.


Papagayo's


Papagayo's

[img]http://oi63.tinypic.com/fn5v8g.jpg[/img]
Papagayo's

[img]http://oi67.tinypic.com/2e21qxk.jpg[/img]
Pretty sure its the southern side of Papagayo's

Modi,
You have always had the best pics of all things Club O.........in this case we dont want to see it but doing so helps us grasp the truth

More standing than the first batch showed.....

Mother nature wins

well if this does not prove that they have to rebuild out of concrete block...nothing does.

But i am a bit more encouraged that there are at least some things to build upon?

Hi Cathy,

My concern is how unified the current owners are in rebuilding compared to 95', when the Brinks were resolute in reconstructing the club. There was a schism with the current owners the past several years and I fear disagreements on how to rebuild, whether to rebuild or sell off the land could drag through the courts for many years before decisions are made. I hope for the best for all concerned.

Thank you for posting!

Looks like Waterfront Chalet 46 is standing, it had been reported it was gone.

The last image is of the maintenance building.

PAN....

I have the same fears....and concerns. Time will tell I guess.

We started coming in October 1999....and on our first visit we had hurricane Jose October 20... which was a category 2...and we got 20 inches of rain in 48 hours. There was one death from a mudslide. We stayed at St. Tropez on Orient beach.

And then the sun came out....and it was unbelievable how fast the folks started repairing everything. I know that it cannot compare to the devastation that occurred during this hurricane Irma ...but I keep seeing in my minds eye the way the people pulled together and worked so diligently to get things up and running.

Willy was the first Club Orient person we met...because Papagayo was the first restaurant to reopen...and she waited on us. It was her kindness that won us over and we came back that very next April and have been doing so ever since.

It is not just the beauty of St. Martin...it is the beauty of her people...that draw us back year after year.

It is my understanding that Club Orient employs the most people on the French side...I cannot help but think that for economical reasons alone...it so needs to be rebuilt.

I pray all of the owners of Club Orient...will unify with the same spirit We have seen displayed year after year...and do what is best for St. Martin.

I know in my heart...that spirit will rebuild this beautiful Island and we will return again.

When we looked into buying a studio, there was clearly a collective insurance requirement...........and of course you had to put "your" unit into the rental pool

I'm sure this will scare off some of the owners as any storm does to Florida condo owners who head north having enough

But I would describe "owner" as really "financial supporter" who gets to make decorating decisions and leave items behind in storage............owning at club o was clearly described to us as something you do with "throw away money" because there are so many ways to lose it ----- a hurricane being chief among them

That said, there will be new owners.......who will be able to buy in at a new lower price than it was in august.



We were there in June and it was sold out as it was the June 16 and January 16 before that.......chairs were sold out every day too

If they get it cleaned up to any degree and visitors can get to the island, they will get back to Club O.

Hey I'll buy them two chairs and an umbrella right now...............at some point, that could/will be one way to get the cash infusion going for the Business.

Anyway, they will get to all these bridges and hopefully make all the right moves to rebuild stronger

Does anyone know if the new structures (Orange Crush) survived? The picture of where Pedro's was doesn't show them, but it could just be the angle.

I'm curious about the same.....I distinctively remember when they were building them having a discussion about the lack of headers above openings. Seemed like they could have build them right so that the water/wind could go through them but the structure would survive. Instead, it seems they opted for a more disposable structure.

I imagine you mean Orange Fever. Reports are all of the beach bars/restaurants are gone.

All of the new ones?! OMG <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Unfortunately, yes.

There is a 180 degree click and drag to pan image on Facebook that shows Orient clearly without any of the beach restaurants remaining. Only Papagayo, though badly damaged, is left. Everything else all blown/washed away. I'll add the FB url but don't know if it will work.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...eater&ifg=1

Wow... worst fears is right. I know that area like the back of my hand, and it's almost unrecognizable to me.

Great photo --Shows the construction of Orient Village was well done/

Modi's photos show everything from Pedros and beyond gone. The 6th photo is unit 55 (Blue on left) belonging to Bob and Gretchen Morrison. Photos 10-12 show the road from where unit 50 used to be, toward the Papagayo. The studios would have been on the right and units 49 to 47 on the left. The yellow edged building is 46.

Yes, I agree.. but as CNN is reporting in Florida, the storm surge could be a real problem and it looks like Orient Village suffered immensely from that. It's just unbelievable what I have seen in the few photos available of Orient Village. La Playa and area is almost unrecognizable.

If the buildings housing Orange Fever, which were built to modern French standards, didn't survive, what can be built that will survive? And remembering the conflicts between what the Collective wanted for rent and what the renters were willing to pay, how contentious will future negotiations be?

Its a lot easier to build against wind then waves. It's the waves that undermined may of the beach facing structures the wind was then just icing. Not much you can do against waves as the chalets, poured concert failed when undermined.

Looking at the 360 picture and that pic of the glass door on the ground at CO got me thinking, its going to be years before I'd feel safe walking barefoot in that sand. All the glass and nails that's most likely buried in the sand to who knows how deep.

Here's another of Papagayo's Restaurant at Club Orient.


And some were asking about the new structures by Orange Fever, Chez Leandra, the old Baywatch etc. that were built after Hurricane Gonzalo
came through in Oct. 2014.
Looks like their walls gave out before their roofs had a chance to be detached... Here they be...