# Diamond Resorts/Sunterra stops accepting reservations at Marquis Villas



## T_R_Oglodyte (Jun 13, 2007)

with the implication the resort did not meet Diamond's quality standards:


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## PeelBoy (Jun 14, 2007)

Received the email 2 minutes ago.

What does it mean?  I feel like receiving an email from Human Resources "someone is no longer with the company".


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## fnewman (Jun 15, 2007)

I am probably one of the few Sunterra members who have stayed there so can make some 'half-educated' guesses.  As is the case with a number of Sunterra resort locations,  they own (or have the right to use)  only a relatively small number of the units  in the complex.  We stayed there not too long after Sunterra acquired their "ownership" and found that the rooms were very spacious and as well done as most other Sunterra locations. In addition, we had a beautiful view of the mountain from the patio and were within easy walking distance to downtown, etc.  However, the location is more 'hotel' than resort-like in that you have underground parking (not necessarily bad) and little or no 'facilities' on site except for the pool and tennis courts.  If I had to guess, I'd say it was probably originally built as condominiums.

Having said all that, I suspect they have been experiencing low reservation traffic and, consequently, low sales opportunities.  Facing facts, Palm Springs is not exactly one of the most popular T/S destinations, and there are quite a few other resorts in the area with more to offer.  Just a guess, but I'll bet they have just decided that it is not profitable to even keep a staff there.  As the new owner digs into the details of some other locations, I would not be surprised to see some similar announcements in the near future.


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## Spence (Jun 15, 2007)

fnewman said:


> I am probably one of the few Sunterra members who have stayed there so can make some 'half-educated' guesses.  As is the case with a number of Sunterra resort locations,  they own (or have the right to use)  only a relatively small number of the units  in the complex.  We stayed there not too long after Sunterra acquired their "ownership" and found that the rooms were very spacious and as well done as most other Sunterra locations. In addition, we had a beautiful view of the mountain from the patio and were within easy walking distance to downtown, etc.  However, the location is more 'hotel' than resort-like in that you have underground parking (not necessarily bad) and little or no 'facilities' on site except for the pool and tennis courts.  If I had to guess, I'd say it was probably originally built as condominiums.
> 
> Having said all that, I suspect they have been experiencing low reservation traffic and, consequently, low sales opportunities.  Facing facts, Palm Springs is not exactly one of the most popular T/S destinations, and there are quite a few other resorts in the area with more to offer.  Just a guess, but I'll bet they have just decided that it is not profitable to even keep a staff there.  As the new owner digs into the details of some other locations, I would not be surprised to see some similar announcements in the near future.


I'm not so sure about all that... but I've not been there as you have.  While I assumed that there were few units in inventory there because of what I perceived as limited availability (most times when I checked, there was nothing to be had).  I would doubt there would be any sales presence there anyway.  When I visited Villas de Santa Fe where most of the units are Sunterra with the balance having been sold to Sunterra Pacific (now/again Vacation Internationale) I was surprised that there was no sales presence there!


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## Bill4728 (Jun 15, 2007)

How about Sunterra not wanting a resort which it doesn't manage?  On the resort website www.marquis-villas.com  it says proudly  managed by Trading Places International. 

In some ways this maybe a good thing. Most TS developers probably aren't that happy about having a resort in their system which isn't managed directly by them.


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## tigerdog (Jun 15, 2007)

There's probably no correlation, but it is interesting that Hotel Zoso, the former Marquis Hotel next door which was foreclosed on during the same period of time that Epic Resorts was losing its properties (including Marquis Villas), is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.



> *Hotel Zoso owner files for bankruptcy*
> 
> A Las Vegas bankruptcy case involving nearly $1 billion owed to investors stretched to Palm Springs late last week when USA Investors VI, owner of the 163-room Hotel Zoso, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
> 
> ...



There's more if you're interested in reading about it. http://www.pe.com/business/local/stories/PE_Biz_D_zoso04.3b1d572.html


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## fnewman (Jun 16, 2007)

For sure, my 'guesses' above are not much more than that - maybe just wishful thinking that the new ownership will result in more business-like decisions that will put Sunterra on a more substantial footing.


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## opozarks (Jun 16, 2007)

*I too have stayed there under Sunterra's "partial" rule.  Sunterra purchased from Epic announcing total purchase but ultimately they simply have a minority interest in this "hotel".   I was disappointed with the resort; it has potential, but two companies in the same location does NOT work.  The location is fabulous. 

The "value" of Sunterra's Sun Option value in this location was very much OVERRATED.  The decision from Diamond was correct and impressive.
*


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## opozarks (Jun 16, 2007)

Spence said:


> When I visited Villas de Santa Fe where most of the units are Sunterra with the *balance having been sold to Sunterra Pacific (now/again Vacation Internationale)* I was surprised that there was no sales presence there!



FYI - Sunterra Pacific was the name for the Sunterra Management Company that was contracted by VI to manage VI resorts.  Sunterra was fired!


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## Spence (Jun 16, 2007)

opozarks said:


> FYI - Sunterra Pacific was the name for the Sunterra Management Company that was contracted by VI to manage VI resorts.  Sunterra was fired!


Sunterra Pacific was the name for that group of resorts when it was under SRM-Sunterra Resort Management,  Vestiges of Sunterra Pacific still remain as some VI members did convert to Club and that's why you still see Club Sunterra advertise the VI resorts as having availability and in VI you can see some Sunterra availability in their exchange weeks.


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