TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Flamingo/ Royal Palm update

With permission from Yvonne Mendenhall here is an update:

Here's an update on the rebuild at Flamingo and Royal Palm.

Although Diamond wanted to get the lovely new room designs out for people to see, it’s very important to remember that this is not a redecorating project. It is a rebuild of the buildings severely damaged by Hurricane Irma. With the need to rebuild and repair the damage came the opportunity to make updates, replacing 30+ year old equipment and construction with newer and improved materials and designs. And, very importantly, to rebuild stronger. Hurricane Irma (after Bertha, Luis, Debby and a couple of others in the past 30 years) the resort structures showed some weaknesses that could be made stronger. Diamond Resorts, with encouragement from Mervin and contractors, decided to make the improvements now to ensure a more secure future for the resort, its owners and guests.

Just walking by, we can see people working throughout the buildings. They have over 120 dedicated, skilled construction workers housed on the Flamingo property now (more on the way) and in addition have local workers working onsite. Combined, there are about 380 units at Flamingo and Royal Palm of varying sizes and amenities spread out among all floors and all the buildings. Plus, there are the common areas like lobbies, housekeeping spaces, mechanical rooms, elevators, stairs, entries, hallways, public spaces, etc. A little quick arithmetic and we won’t often see a dozen people in each room working away—even if we could see both sides of the building at once, plus all the common areas and the mechanical spaces. This is a huge job on large properties.

Construction is currently focused on getting all the doors and windows replaced to secure the interior for the important work to come. That part of the project is very close to completion--nearly all the sliders are in at both resorts--still a few to go, but they are getting done. All the “guts” will be new after this rebuild. The buildings were taken down to the bare concrete. So, we will have new plumbing, HVAC, wiring, etc. and much more. Think of what that means--more efficient, and new features that didn't exist when the buildings were constructed. Plus, all new furnishings, finishes and fixtures. And, oh, yes, major roofing repairs and structure rebuild. The contractors worked with structural design and hurricane experts to make the newly rebuilt Diamond resort buildings on SXM stronger and better, more efficient, more comfortable and more attractive! The best is yet to be!

Mervin reported that the next Diamond Newsletter for the Sint Maarten properties has had its final reviews and is in production--Diamond has a lot of resorts and web presence, but we hope our newsletter is near the top of the queue for our report! I checked yesterday, and it's still not there....but coming!

120 workers is not 200 like they have been alleging.

120 are "housed" workers with more on the way in addition to the locals hired. I presume they aren't bringing in those specialized workers, like electricians, plumbers and interior finishers until ALL windows and doors are installed.

But Diamond is who threw out the "200" number initially. Did they mislead people as they implied there were 200 workers there?

In fact, the same person you are re-posting from also said 200 workers were there.

"The 200 workers are busy...."

Could be 200. Reread my post. 120 housed not counting the locals hired.

Hey, it was Diamond and the timeshare owners throwing out the 200 number, just trying to get clarification. When I was there I March, Lee's had more workers than Royal Palm.

And Lee's, which is a fraction of Flamingo or Royal Palms size, is yet to open. Get over that 200 number. There are many workers there now doing work on both resorts. Much can't be seen from the road through the fences. There could very well be 200 there now.

Hey, it was you owners and Diamond spewing about the 200 workers. I didn't just pull it out of thin air.

Not saying you "just pull it out of thin air" but your not there to see what's actually going on now. That report was from someone currently on island and in the know with connections to Flamingo management.

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I sure wish you two would quit bickering.

Yes, children. Stop it!

Nothing to stop. Just stating facts and trying to correct misconceptions. I only posted an informative update for people to read and digest. People can take it for what it is but it is from someone very close to knowledgeable information.

While I agree with JD that Diamond is full of cr*p, yes, it is time to end this one.