Daily Herald story

It's been nice to not see these stories about fires at the dump lately..

2021 starts off with a bang and a Dump fire. Not a good start.

Just think how nice it would be if the people of Sint Maarten could live the reality of no fires instead of no stories.
Sadly, while there are few dump fire stories printed of late, good island sources say the absence of articles about them does NOT mean there have been no fires.
Having been awakened in years gone by in the wee hours of the morning a few times to the stench of the dump fires while vacationing at the Towers, it's criminal that people of the island have to put up with this on such a regular basis.

Does anyone know the status of the The Towers at Mullet Bay?

As far as most of the former owners know, there is no status. Consider it more island history just like the original Mullet Bay Resort and Casino.. And I say that with a sad heart.
We drove up the driveway last month and were barred from going beyond the guardhouse. There are two guards on duty on the property and all other employees have been let go.
The building itself is still in the same condition it was immediately after the few repairs done post-Irma which means it is still missing doors and windows and there is question as to whether the roof was ever totally and properly repaired. In their infinite wisdom, they started to do repairs which basically meant they gutted the 7th and 8th floors and then everything came to a stop and the real shenanigans began.
Between the Irma damage and insurance questions coupled with Mr. Ansari and company’s mismanagement, COVID-19 seems to be their perfect storm scenario.
They’ve walked away as have most owners at this point but please note, these are our personal observations and opinions and their approach seems to be to say nothing and let us draw our own conclusions. .

Has any progress been made on cleaning up the dump per the ruling in the lawsuit that was filed?

Thank you very much for that feedback. We had the timeshare since 1989 so I guess we got our moneys worth. Still a shame. How is the rest of the island doing and is there any particular resort that has come back really well.

Most all of the resorts that sustained damage came back or are on the verge of doing so, some almost immediately and a few never really seemed to skip a beat. The Towers’ issues mostly all stemmed from poor management and many of us might be inclined to think total mismanagement on the part of people who were clueless when it came to dealing with construction issues and should never have been allowed to be in charge - Kind of like asking the dishwasher in a French restaurant to be in charge of making the dessert soufflés. And in all honesty, the dishwasher quite possibly knew more about soufflés from seeing them done every day. And in fairness, much as it kills me to say this, in the very beginning Mr. Derby had my sympathy because he was like a fish out of water. That sympathy didn’t last too long..

Like you, we were pre-construction owners and we absolutely loved our units and our weeks. We gave one unit back pre-Irma because the timing wasn’t working anymore for us but we did end up losing the other three weeks which really broke my heart.

Other resorts such as LaVista and Royal Islander came back well and fast while other resorts seemed to make this the perfect opportunity to revamp and completely up-date their properties as the Royal Palm and Flamingo Resorts did. I am not very knowledgeable about any of the other properties beyond the Ocean Club and the Summit which were totally destroyed.

The only really good thing that came out of Irma’s devastation for me was finding another island location I’ve come to love as much and in all honesty perhaps even more than I loved our Towers #709 and it’s actually more flexible to book and not as time sensitive.

Would you be kind enough to let me know privately on my email the location you are referring too. I would love to get back to the island.

StMartinFan,

When we were on island last month our curiosity got the best of us and we asked a few people about the dump and the fires and the lawsuit settlement status, and we were surprised to learn there are still people living in hovels scattered around the dump. And some of them are actually paying rent to be there. I wonder how that works?

rpyounker,

We’ve stayed at a lot of different places over the years besides the Towers and since Irma we’ve stayed at a few more. We rented a two bedroom Royal Islander Club Le Plage unit that was very nice and I would go back there for the airport and plane viewing but I wasn’t wild about the parking situation there since you had to pay to park in the garage under La Terrasse. But other than that, we thoroughly enjoyed the place.

The property we’ve fallen in love with is Beachside Villas on White Sands Road. Your front door looks out at the airport and your back door leaves you about a half a dozen steps down to the sand and that beautiful Caribbean water as far as you can see. Very easy to deal with the owners and they take extraordinary care of the property. Everything is provided from beach towels to bbq grills, tv and internet and free parking along with nighttime security. Google their website as everything you need to know is there and I’m sure if you are ready to make the transition from a high rise to a one story condo/villa style property you will love the place and the people.

Thank you very much. Have a great New Year.

Thanks Pat. Sounds like not much has changed, and unfortunately, fires will continue.
Stmartinfan