# New photo's of French Quarter Resort Branson, MO



## dougp26364

I've put up a new album for our recent stay at French Quarter Resort in Branson, MO. We have a 3 bedroom penthouse/loft unit. Click on the photo bellow and it should take you directly to the album. If that link doesn't work, use the link in my signature below to access all our timeshare and travel photo albums.


----------



## ace2000

Doug, 

As usual, great photos!  These are great for anybody coming to the resort.

I've stayed a few times on the floors below, and it was very average.  Looks like you made a nice purchase to get the penthouse level... a big difference!

They do have one of the better outdoor pools in the Branson area.

Thanks,
Scott


----------



## Miss Marty

*dougp26364 - Nice Photos!*

French Quarter Resort 

Were the mattresses & linens comfortable?
Bedding appeared to be old - not the new 
plush pillow style with down comforters

Nice patio furniture  

Did anyone at resort say anything about 
when they will be getting new televisions


----------



## taffy19

Great photos but where are the people? I didn't see anyone in the pool or at the play area or where the barbeques are. Did you photograph these picture before anyone is up?


----------



## dougp26364

iconnections said:


> Great photos but where are the people? I didn't see anyone in the pool or at the play area or where the barbeques are. Did you photograph these picture before anyone is up?




Since I post photo's in a public album, I always try to get photo's when the fewest people are around. The pool was extrememly busy and crowded the entire time we were there. Even up until closing time at 11:30 PM. I had to sneak in with the maintenance people early in the morning before the pool was open, kids play area, grilling area et... were open.


----------



## dougp26364

Marty Giggard said:


> French Quarter Resort
> 
> Were the mattresses & linens comfortable?
> Bedding appeared to be old - not the new
> plush pillow style with down comforters
> 
> Nice patio furniture
> 
> Did anyone at resort say anything about
> when they will be getting new televisions



The beds are the older non-pillow top beds. However, I slept well on them as they were of decent quality. I was a little worried since we have a very nice pillow top mattress at home.

The Patio furniture in the majority of the buildings is the iron type and not the wicker furniture this unit had. The patio furniture was old and uncomfortable to sit on. Plus, there was only a view of the neighboring theater parking lot. I did not spend much time on the patio this trip. The alternative would have been a pool view of a view of another building. The pool view would have been very noisy and I'm not certiain a view of another building would have been all that great. 

No mention of new televisions. Based on the MF's at this resort (a little over $500 for a 3 bedroom unit), I wouldn't think that replacing the TV's with newer, more expensive flat screen TV's will be much of a priority anytime soon. There are several larger projects that need to be done (like rebuilding the burned down activities center/sales floor), adding a second pool, building the clubhouse et.... The developer doesn't seem interested in doing any of those things and the HOA seems more inclined to keep MF's low (I assume it's a developer controled HOA wanting low MF's as a sales edge) and the resort seems to be beginning a decline in quality because of it. The chairs in the living room were getting to the point of replacement. If they were in my home, they'd have been replaced by now. 

I'm NOT very happy with how the HOA is maintaining this resort or the fact that there is almost nothing in the reserve fund to pay for upkeep which will need to be done over the next few years. It appears to me this resort is on the verge of either getting a big jump in MF's, a moderate SA or beginning a decline which will lead to a necessary larger SA just to bring the resort back up to standards. 

With last years MF billing there was an ominous sounding warning that reserves were not adaquate for this resort. The management had been turned over to South Wind (Spinnaker) and they were reviewing the reserves et..... but they were obviously to low. Reading between the lines, it sounds like a good size increase in MF's will be coming with next years billing. Just ball parking it I'd say it would need to be a 20% or $100 increase over what I paid last year and another good sized increase the following year, just to get things back on track. I suspect that will need to be coupled with a small SA in the neiborhood of $200 to $400 just to bring things up to where they should have been kept IMHO.


----------



## dougp26364

ace2000 said:


> Doug,
> 
> As usual, great photos!  These are great for anybody coming to the resort.
> 
> I've stayed a few times on the floors below, and it was very average.  Looks like you made a nice purchase to get the penthouse level... a big difference!
> 
> They do have one of the better outdoor pools in the Branson area.
> 
> Thanks,
> Scott



The problem with that pool is it serves the 7 buildings at French Quarter and the 2 buildings at Grand Regency at Thousand Hills plus, they get univited guests that aren't guests at either resort. There are no locks on the pool gates so people just walk right in. 

There are 112 keys at French Quarter right now and probably another 64 at Grand Regency. That's an awfully small pool for around 176 keys and it was VERY crowded all week long. It's probably fine anytime but the very busy summer months but, it was far to crowded IMO unless you enjoyed getting splashed by all the kids who love to play in the pool.

Now, if you had little kids, they'd love it. It was one big splash party from 09:30 until it closed at 11:30 PM. I'd have liked to see an adult swim time early in the morning when were a person could get in a little exercise without having to dodge all the floaty toys and kids just being kids. I have no problems with kids having a great time in the pool but, this resort needs a bigger pool for the number of units they have. Of course, IMO this is a common problem for a lot of timeshares and most timeshares in Branson.

As for the penthouse unit, it seems to me the biggest difference is the vaulted ceilings adding space. When I really looked at the unit, it's just a two bedroom unit with a loft. There is still a lock-out door so this unit could have been a 4 bedroom loft unit. 

If all the room layouts are similar, I'd never accept a 1 bedroom exchange into this resort. The 1 bedroom units would be little more than a studio with a door seperating the bedroom from the living area. They have a very small "full" kitchen in the 1 bedroom units. Something I hate that they do for exchange purposes since it makes it harder to tell what you're getting for an exchange (Master suite of a 2 bedroom LO of glorified studio unit). 

It appears to me that all units have a 2 bedroom master suite with a 1 bedroom LO or 3 bedroom loft master suite and a 1 bedroom LO. Still, we enjoy the guarentee of being on the top floor and the feeling of extra space afforded by the vaulted ceiling, even if we do rarely use that loft bedroom. On the other hand, having that third bathroom came in handy at times. 

The salesman did say that the newer buildings have a 2/2 set up rather than the 2/1. I guess in the newer buildings they've found a way to put two 2 bedroom units side by side to make one large 4 bedroom unit similar to how Greensprings Plantation did it in Williamsburg, VA.


----------



## deeshelton

*RE: Frenchquarter Units*

I would like to add to these posts. We bought our timeshare in 2001 and I will say we have enjoyed staying at Frenchquarter. However, we were told that they would be completely renovating the units every five years, which meant that they would replace carpet, window treatments, furniture the works. We bought when there was only building 1 and finishing up with building 2. We haven't stayed in either of those units so I don't know if they have been remodeled or not, but I have stayed in buildings 3 and 5 and as far as I know and from looking at the pictures, they haven't renovated any of them. They also told us they would be building an indoor pool and fitness center. I don't believe they have done that either. You are right the pool is too small, the last time we were there you could hardly move in it. Does anyone know if they are going to do any of the things they said they were going to do? 
Dee


----------



## dougp26364

deeshelton said:


> I would like to add to these posts. We bought our timeshare in 2001 and I will say we have enjoyed staying at Frenchquarter. However, we were told that they would be completely renovating the units every five years, which meant that they would replace carpet, window treatments, furniture the works. We bought when there was only building 1 and finishing up with building 2. We haven't stayed in either of those units so I don't know if they have been remodeled or not, but I have stayed in buildings 3 and 5 and as far as I know and from looking at the pictures, they haven't renovated any of them. They also told us they would be building an indoor pool and fitness center. I don't believe they have done that either. You are right the pool is too small, the last time we were there you could hardly move in it. Does anyone know if they are going to do any of the things they said they were going to do?
> Dee



I take it you're not getting the semi-annual newsletters? In the last few years, management has changed to Southwind management and the developer of French Quarter has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy. I'd say there's little chance anything else is going to be built in the near future. 

The thing is, the salesman lied. They all lie. I don't know of any resort that works on a 5 year renovation schedule. It seems to me most work on a 10 year cycle. Yes there are things that get done in 5 year increments but, not the "works." 

French Quarter's HOA does not collect nearly enough for cash reserve funding for a five year refurbishment cycle. In 2007, the last year I have the financial records, they only collected a little over $27 for cash reserve funding on a 2 bedroom loft unit. By comparison Marriott and Hilton collect between $150 and $225 and have a 10 year refurbishment cycle. Granted they have more amenities but, you can see the disparity. 

IMHO, either the HOA needs to significantly increase the cash reserve funding in the MF's or, owners will be looking at a significant special assement in the next 5 years to bring the resorts units back up to standards. I'll be there in a few weeks so I'll be able to get a good look at the unit conditions and see if anything has been done. If not, I'll have some pointed questions for the HOA as to what their plans are and how they intend to fund those plans.


----------

