Club Orient Resort has a great deal to celebrate this year in spite of what Irma inflicted upon us. All of our family made it through the worst hurricane ever to cross the Atlantic and even though our beloved resort was almost completely destroyed, our resolve to return Club Orient to you has not wavered. In addition to having no casualties, we have the opportunity to come back better than ever with the same family members and hopefully the same guests we have been blessed with for many years. As bad as it was, it could have been much worse and we are looking forward with great anticipation to the challenges ahead of us and a revitalized new home.
It would not have been possible to have even gotten this far without your help and support. We are very thankful to have such a great group of people behind us offering not only words of encouragement, but also the financial gifts to our employees and the rebuilding fund. As most of you know, the majority of the units are individually owned and they are governed by the bylaws of the Copro, similar to an HOA in the States or Canada. Orient Beach Club manages those units for the owners and provides all of the infrastructure and employees, as well as owning about 30 units through a company called SCI. I mention this because OBC is meeting with the Copro Board and its President, so that we stay on the same page as we look to the future.
Club Orient Resort is attempting to open as many units as possible next year. When? It depends on a host of things, some of which are beyond our control. Considering the magnitude of what needs to be accomplished to make that happen, I don't want anyone making reservations just yet. But it is our goal. I know for many of you it seems like we are proceeding at a snails pace. As an example, the last time we wrote three weeks ago, we said we hoped to have the servers up and internet by that Friday. Finally, just this week it became a reality!
We still have to use a hotspot connection, but we can finally access our reservations, records and other things necessary to function. For those of you who have not received answers to your questions, comments or requests we apologize because we often went days with no reliable phone service or internet. Our staff of four would fan out on the island and try to find internet or phone service wherever we could find it. Hopefully those days are almost behind us.
We previously said that when we are ready to announce that we will begin welcoming guests again that we would do something special for all of you who have donated to our employees, the rebuilding fund or donated your deposit. We will start, even if in a small way, to begin to do something for those special people. Once we announce our re-opening, even on a limited basis, we will give advance notice of one month to all of you who helped us through this time. During that month only people who have donated their deposit, given to the employee fund or the rebuilding fund will have their reservations accepted. It's not much, we know, but it's a start.
As you enjoy the holiday season this year, know that we are also are enjoying this period, even with the continuing challenges and the disappointment that we will not be able to share it with all of you who usually visit us during the winter months. Please understand we continue everyday to do our best to move quickly, but without basic services, limited access to supplies and the lack of help from the government in Paris, it is often a very frustrating experience.
But, we are energized, positive and looking forward to a great New Year and the rebirth of a great new Club Orient.

I know many have already done so, but I just donated my 500 Euro deposit to their recovery effort. Seems small, but may help. I would encourage others to consider doing same.

Keeping our fingers crossed for November 2018!

Hearing about the lack of help from Paris is so upsetting but not surprising. Its hard enough to get government assistance when in Paris never mind over 4000 miles away on a tiny island. Bravo to all the islanders who have the drive/resilience to get back on their feet and keep moving forward like the Club O team. If everyone waited for Paris to help, nothing would get done!