I've seen the photos of the renovated Marina Building at Simpson Bay Resort and can't wait to see the changes in person this June. Just wondering what other resort changes have been made. When we were there last June, they were working on moving the fitness center to the lower level in the Villas' Building and the Sales Office to the location where the fitness center was. I haven't seen any photos on their web-site and was wondering how things turned out for the new fitness center. Also what about the Marina? Was the "sample" villa unit removed from the Marina plaza, has the marina plaza been renovated, any new stores, etc.?

Construction is going on now where the old sales office, model villa and the old restaurant were located. Looks like the removed the model villa and gutted out the rest of the area. I was told they are constructing a Mexican restaurant and a small casino with slots only.

Seems like a coffee/donut shop in that area would do great in the mornings and then switch to ice cream in the evenings when boat trip arrive back. Always so many people there early for boat trips.

I would think coffe and donuts I in the morn would be great but ice cream after all the booze cruises come in not so good.

The move is complete. Looked through the door into the health club. It didn't seem as nice as before but as I said I didn't go inside. The sales office is very nice. We went for the annual sales pitch. Yesterday they took the sign off the F building that said administrative offices below. There is activity in the space next to the casino maybe they are moving there in anticipation of the renovation.

Arrived today and staying in the Marina building. It is big improvement. They are working on the Marina Plaza; removed the model unit; moved the sales office. New gym is ok but the locker rooms are not nearly as nice as the old ones. All in all, it is coming along nicely.

I just received this via email today. Big changes to the Flamboyant building! I haven't gotten any info on what all this will cost though. I'm bracing myself.
Dear Simpson Bay Resort Members,

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your support and for the great reviews you have posted in online forums and on travel websites. We share your enthusiasm for the resort and for St. Maarten, and though we have made great strides we believe there is always room for improvement. We will continue working hard to improve the resort facilities and service, until Simpson Bay Resort is universally recognized as one of the finest resorts in the Caribbean, ensuring you will always be proud to call Simpson Bay Resort your “St. Maarten home.”

Recent news proves that your continued faith in the resort and its dedicated employees was not misguided. As you might have heard, Simpson Bay Resort won what we expect is the final case challenging the foreclosure and sale of the resort in 2011. An appellate panel of 3 judges upheld the validity of the foreclosure auction and sale of the resort, making this the fifth time a court has validated the auction and sale. The decision brings absolute certainty regarding the rights of our members to continue to own and use their timeshare intervals and Royal Resorts Caribbean Club points, and ensures continued continuity and stable management going forward. It is hard to express how much we appreciate your decision to support the resort through some turbulent times, and we could not be happier that we can move ahead to complete the renovations and improvements without any further uncertainty or unwarranted distractions. From now on, we plan to maintain a single-minded focus on improving every aspect of Simpson Bay Resort until it is the jewel of the Caribbean.

To that end, we are happy to report that the Marina building renovation was completed at the end of 2015 as scheduled. As with our earlier phases of the project, the renovated Marina building has met with great reviews from members and renters. Perhaps the most striking renovations were made to the three-bedroom “penthouse” units, which were completely reconfigured, and changing the bedroom and bathroom units. These units have always been some of the largest on the property, and now boast more dramatic views and interiors befitting their location overlooking both Simpson Bay and the Caribbean Sea. If you get the opportunity, be sure to take a tour of these new villas as well as the other completely renovated Marina building units.

If you have visited the resort recently, you may have noticed some new activity in the ground-level space adjacent to the Villas pool. This is because we moved the gym down to that formerly empty space along with the administrative offices, which are now located behind the gym. The former gym space on the third floor was reconfigured into a new sales office. Stop by and say hello to the familiar faces on our sales team who are now more conveniently located to answer your questions and help you ensure that you enjoy the best possible vacation experience in the future.

We also continue to refine resort operations to ensure that excellent service is a hallmark of your stay at the resort. Therefore, as part of our continuing commitment to improve your vacation experience, we recently took control of all of the bars on the property. We believe this will allow us to provide an improved product and improved service to our members and guests.

Finally, we have closed the old sales office, demolished the model villa, and are currently in the process of improving the Marina Plaza to create a new entertainment and dining hub in one of the best waterfront locations on the island. We plan to open the area up so our members and guests can enjoy expansive views while partaking in fine food, entertainment, and a new malecón (also known as an esplanade) that will run along the waterfront, connecting the Marina Plaza to the Flamboyant beach.

In addition to those improvements, we also plan to complete the following renovations in 2016:

Refurbishment of the B-Pool.
Refurbishment of the Marina Pool.
Construction of a new Member's Lounge in the old lobby, which is located next to the Hollywood Casino entrance.
Construction of a new concierge area in the lobby in the area currently occupied by the car rental desk.
Expansion of the Splash Jewelry location in the lobby.
Transformation of the lobby bar into a gourmet coffee shop featuring the renowned Costa Rican coffee brand, Cafe Brit.
We also plan to completely renovate the Flamboyant building in 2016, with plans to complete the work before the end of the year. The plan calls for completely upgraded, top quality accommodations in line with the other renovations we have completed over the past four years. Some of the high points of the Flamboyant transformation will include expanding all first and second floor bedrooms to include a new sitting area, creating a new “sun deck patio” overlooking the beach at all third floor bedrooms, and eliminating the arches from all balconies for better views and a clean, more modern look. We thank all of the members with intervals in the Flamboyant building for their patience, and we plan to reward that patience with renovations and upgrades that will transform the Flamboyant units into some of the most desirable beach-front units on the island.

One project that will not be moving forward in the immediate future is the planned construction of a beach in front of the Villas building. While we have obtained the permits required for the construction, finding the materials necessary and sorting out the logistics of the project have proved to be challenging, as well as prohibitively expensive. In line with our commitment to control costs, we have put this project on hold for the time being, but we will continue searching for viable ways to get this project accomplished. We thank you for your patience.

We hope you are as excited as we are about the recent improvements, and about the many positive changes that lie ahead. Our commitment is to ensure that we provide our members and guests with the best vacation value and experience possible. Once again we thank you for your continued trust and support, and look forward to welcoming every one of you to your St. Maarten home at Simpson Bay Resort & Marina.

Best Regards,

Mark Miller
Director

I didn't think constructing a new beach in front of the Villas was going to fly. Every thing else sounds like positive improvements are in the works.

Thanks for posting that email. Should be interesting to see what happens with the Flamboyant building.

Also very interesting that the beach deal is not moving forward for the time being. Several people here stated that it seemed like it would be a monumental task, and it appears the SBR has found that out..

We are at SBR now. We were told the renovations will be in the $3000.00 to $4000.00 range. Since we own a two bedroom with the jacuzzi we are bracing for $4000.00 if not more.

Usually MF and reserves are designed to cover the refurbishing of units.

Not at SBR. They claim this won't happen again. This reno started 5 or 6 years ago with one building a year being done. A lot of people either sold or walked away before their building came up. I guess everyone left is in it for the long haul.

AMF covers maintenance of the unit and costs associated with it

Sorry to hear about the beach project not going forward. But there's plenty of other great things happening.

Aren't "special assessments" sometimes levied to cover what AMF doesn't cover?

Depending on the resort I guess special assessments can be levied for most anything but maintenance fees are usually reserved for routine upkeep of the unit and the resort in general. They would NOT cover a complete tear down of a unit and replacement of everything inside (as suggested)

From SBR:

We stayed there on a swap late Oct./2015. Renovated units are very appealing. Re: Assessments , every annual MF should have a percentage included to be used for Reserves. This is, if nothing else, Common Sense. Said reserves help with larger expenditures of appliances or roof repairs. I "assume" the bankruptcy fiasco consumed any reserves there were. Let's hope the fees continue to be used for upkeep and repairs as needed and not roll into another major assessment in 10-12 years when it will be time again to update and renovate again. Best wishes to All Owners

Not sure why people are talking about this issue in the esoteric, as if all the other units there haven't been totally renovated (except for the Villas). What did the resort do in the other buildings? I think I remember reading here that there was a special assessment in the other buildings? I assume that they will probably be doing whatever they did in the other buildings, which is, I think, a special assessment.. And the only question is then, as leems said, how much??

SBR has been charging a special Assessment to each unit owner as their unit is renovated. We're in the upper B building. My recollection is that we paid about $2000 per week. So glad we did. Renovations were great. We love our unit. Very spacious and a great view.

Yes, there was no issue re: special assessment for the renovations as it was done for every other building. The discussion veered off because of:



which did not apply to a complete trashing and total replacement of a unit

OK.

Depends on the resort. When they completely gutted out the units in building seven at the Flamingo there wasn't any special assessment for those units. Our MF and reserves took care of it.

How do the AMF/MF at Flamingo compare to the other places that have undergone extensive renovations? We rent at Royal Palm and often hear complaints from owners about how high the maintenance fees are.

Yes, MF's are higher than others but to me its nice that the resort looks to the future needs for remodels and refurbishments so as not to put surprises on the owners with exorbinent special assessments. I like it that way as the Flamingo resort has the funds on hand to keep improving my vacation experience.

I guess it comes down to whether you pay up front or when it's needed...probably a wash