Royal Palm & Flamingo update

Just received this email from Diamond Resorts
"We know you have many questions about our Royal Palm Beach and Flamingo Beach resorts in St. Maarten and want to thank you for your patience as we worked to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Irma. Our building consultants, insurance adjuster, industrial hygienist, and electrical and mechanical engineers recently had the opportunity to assess both properties, and as we initially witnessed, the hurricane caused widespread destruction.

Royal Palm Beach and Flamingo Beach resorts will need extensive repairs to bring them back to the quality destinations you have grown to cherish.

While not ideal, we have determined it is necessary to cancel all reservations at both resorts through 2018. At this time, we will not be accepting new reservations until further notice. This will allow our professional teams the time they need to make repairs.

We sincerely apologize for the disruption this has caused and greatly appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through the necessary steps.

Based on the feedback we have received from the expert assessment teams, we are currently estimating your 2018 maintenance fees and will have additional information for you in the coming weeks.

As an alternative vacation option, we are offering you the opportunity to join Destination Xchange®, our new internal exchange program for deeded week owners, providing you the option to exchange your week into a wide variety of resorts worldwide. Membership and exchange fees apply, but upon enrolling in Destination Xchange®, Diamond Resorts will provide deposit credits for owner weeks impacted during the time the resort is closed.

To learn more about Destination Xchange®, visit DestinationXchange.com or contact Owner Services at 1.800.463.7256 (toll fr­ee) or 1.407.226.9500 (international access).

We will continue to update you on the status of both resorts as we know more. Please contact Owner Services with any questions.

Sincerely,
Diamond Resorts International®"

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Wow, OK, all reservations cancelled through 2018? I would think they should be able to be operational before then... Hope so.

I can’t help but wonder what this does to the full owners. Anyone know? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

What I understand from my contact is that any usable furniture and appliances will be made available to the employees. After that all units will be redone and refurnished new. Will take a lot of time and I'm just hoping it doesn't go beyond that time frame.

I question how anyone can make plans to go there when the opening date is so in doubt. I guess we can make the plans and hope they are fairly accurate in their opening date. But it leaves us in quite a quandary for plane and car reservations, etc.

Do you interpret this as through the END of 2018?

While not ideal, we have determined it is necessary to cancel all reservations at both resorts [color:"red"]through 2018[/color].

I received the same email from an owner/friend and I would read it as all of 2018. Perhaps they are being cautious but it does not sound favorable.

Yes. We received the same email from Diamond. We absolutely think they mean it. Whether they are ready for 2018 or 2019 or not, they seem to feel the damage is worthy of that date.

I wouldn't be surprised that that projected date gets extended. Especially for the Royal Palm. From what I've learned, Royal Palm had far more extensive damage than Flamingo. Not to say Flamingo fared any better.

I agree with Scubaman - I had several friends who sheltered at Flamingo and took numerous pictures of the damage in the rooms they were staying in. Interior walls completely stripped out in some places, windows and doors completely ripped out. Hopefully, Diamond will do a nice renovation and keep as many employees as busy as possible but I can't imagine what the staff is doing for income - along with thousands of other island residents.

Based on some things I have read and also from people who were actually at Royal Palm, most of the damage is to the interior. While the outside of the building appears to be pretty sturdy and has withstood numerous hurricanes in the past, the interior did not fare as well. One engineering theory was the sliding glass windows, while heavy and strong, many gave way during Irma and this lead to substantial interior damage. Considering all rooms face the water, add the extreme wind and rain and you have a recipe for disaster if the sliding windows gave way.

Yeah, the basic structure at RP is poured concrete. I doubt it was significantly affected, but the interiors could be more or less gutted. And the timing is almost certainly going to be affected by two important considerations (actually three) that go beyond simply how much work there is, and how long would it take to perform it. One, availability of materials. Two, availability of skilled labor. Three, $$$.

Correct. Special assessment coming?

Our friends have been staying at Royal Palm since they arrived back on Oct. 10th, they own year round and their unit had no damage to speak of.
As for Diamond, they may want fixed week owners to just walk away so they have more units for the points people. A big assessment will make that happen. I checked into their Xchange program and found that there are no vacancies in any of the warm places during prime time.