# At Surf Club now...



## tomandrobin (Aug 12, 2011)

Any questions?


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## Wally3433 (Aug 12, 2011)

If you are in Aruba.

How is the beach - any seaweed?

Does the Marriott Resort have any construction?

Thanks,


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## m61376 (Aug 12, 2011)

And the most important one-are you and your family/friends enjoying yourselves?


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## Wally3433 (Aug 12, 2011)

I read in another post that there is now wifi at the pool area.  Can you confirm please.

Also, if you have used it, does it extend out to the beach?


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## Pens_Fan (Aug 12, 2011)

Wally3433 said:


> I read in another post that there is now wifi at the pool area.  Can you confirm please.
> 
> Also, if you have used it, does it extend out to the beach?



It's definitely in the pool area.  Didn't try it at the beach.


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## tomandrobin (Aug 12, 2011)

Wally3433 said:


> If you are in Aruba.
> 
> How is the beach - any seaweed?
> 
> ...



Yes....We leave in the morning. 

There is no seaweed , beach is very nice.....but busy.

The only major construction I saw was the adult only pool, between the Ocean Club and The Hotel. Off property, there is construction at the Ritz and another high rise just past the Surf Club. I saw a lot of "normal" maintenance stuff going on....cleaning, washing, etc.


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## tomandrobin (Aug 12, 2011)

m61376 said:


> And the most important one-are you and your family/friends enjoying yourselves?



We are having a freaking blast!!! 

If they were still selling three bedrooms, we may be owners......that good!


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## tomandrobin (Aug 12, 2011)

Wally3433 said:


> I read in another post that there is now wifi at the pool area.  Can you confirm please.
> 
> Also, if you have used it, does it extend out to the beach?



Wifi is availble poolside...I did not try the beach.


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## m61376 (Aug 12, 2011)

tomandrobin said:


> We are having a freaking blast!!!
> 
> If they were still selling three bedrooms, we may be owners......that good!



 :hysterical: 
So nice when a plan comes together!!

I know- that 3 BR is pretty incredible. After we bought the 3BR Gold we were sorry that our Plat. was a 2BR.


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## GregT (Aug 12, 2011)

tomandrobin said:


> We are having a freaking blast!!!
> 
> If they were still selling three bedrooms, we may be owners......that good!



Wow!!

I'm very happy to hear that -- I know you're a Starwood enthusiast who has spent time at Harborside, WSJ and Cancun -- can you contrast the pros/cons of the different Starwood Caribbean properties versus the experience at Marriott Aruba for those of us stuck at work slaving over a keyboard?

Thanks very much and enjoy it!!

Best,

Greg


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## tomandrobin (Aug 12, 2011)

GregT said:


> Wow!!
> 
> I'm very happy to hear that -- I know you're a Starwood enthusiast who has spent time at Harborside, WSJ and Cancun -- can you contrast the pros/cons of the different Starwood Caribbean properties versus the experience at Marriott Aruba for those of us stuck at work slaving over a keyboard?
> 
> ...



When Starwood first talk about adding a timeshare on Aruba, I was patiently waiting for them to build. But as you know, the lot is empty and the timeshare is not ever going to happen now. 

Surf Club is a complete vacation experience. The weather is perfect....not too hot with the trade winds blowing all day. Harborside is great becuase of Atlantis....take away acces to Atlantis, Harboside is pretty blah. Here, everything is right outside your door. The pools don't equal Atlantis....but no resort anywhere does. 

We all felt the resort was most similar to Westin Maui, except the Westin pool area is half the size. 

I felt there were a lot more activities and little touches, more so then the Starwood properties mentioned above. One example is a ice and water dispenser pool side for all guests to use. There is even an adult only pool. 

I only saw one area where ther resort was lacking and that were the grills. There is not enough, they are too small and are not cleaned or maintained very well. A few cabannas would have been nice, but I'm just being greedy. Other then that, Surf Club beats most of the Starwood resort properties.


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## Wally3433 (Aug 13, 2011)

Grills are not real popular at the surf club because there are so many awesome restaurants in aruba that are easy to get to and reasonably priced.  Now when we stayed in maui laat year the grill area was packed....because dining out in Hawaii is expensive.  Grills get little use in aruba because of the abundance of reasonable dining options


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## m61376 (Aug 13, 2011)

They were replaced about two years ago. If there is ever a problem (need to be lit or cleaned) the maintenance people will come in a couple of minutes. We always grill 2 nights just to break up the eating out, and I think there may have been once that my hubbie had to wait. Sounds like you had a popular grilling week. Even though there are a lot of reasonable restaurants, increased grilling may be a sign of the times.

Interestingly, although the Sc h been at full or almost full occupancy when we've been there, the hotels have been much emptier and saw lots of empty tables at restaurants. I saw a lot more people with pizza boxes last time. Maybe more people are grilling to stretch those vacation dollars, especially during time periods with families. 

It may be that they need to add more grills to the area by the Spyglass building at some point. The other set of grills by the Compass building tend to get less use, even though they have picnic tables by those.


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## tomandrobin (Aug 14, 2011)

m61376 said:


> They were replaced about two years ago. If there is ever a problem (need to be lit or cleaned) the maintenance people will come in a couple of minutes. We always grill 2 nights just to break up the eating out, and I think there may have been once that my hubbie had to wait. Sounds like you had a popular grilling week. Even though there are a lot of reasonable restaurants, increased grilling may be a sign of the times.
> 
> Interestingly, although the Sc h been at full or almost full occupancy when we've been there, the hotels have been much emptier and saw lots of empty tables at restaurants. I saw a lot more people with pizza boxes last time. Maybe more people are grilling to stretch those vacation dollars, especially during time periods with families.
> 
> It may be that they need to add more grills to the area by the Spyglass building at some point. The other set of grills by the Compass building tend to get less use, even though they have picnic tables by those.



I talked to all the other people at the grills when we were grilling. Everyone I talked to were owners and over half of them were not aware of the grills until their current trip......which seemed surprising. Also, none of them ever heard of Tug and were surprised that I had made a "private" exchange into Surf Club. 

We used the grills by the slide. I don't recall the name of the buildings, only the Lighthouse Building.


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## tomandrobin (Aug 14, 2011)

By the way, our friends who were also at Surf Club with us....our travel buddies, were equally impressed with the resort. If we do end up buying at Surf Club, they are going to buy a unit also.


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## MOXJO7282 (Aug 14, 2011)

One of my biggest regrets is not buying multiple Surf Club units when we bought our 2 BDRM OV preconstruction unit in 2003. 

We're pretty happy with all our purchases but the Surf Club is definitely at the top when you consider the purchase price $20.9K, the MAR points received 465K and the tremendous rental income we get when we don't enjoy using the resort.

We own OV and think it may be the besy OV units available in Marriott because most have a 180 degree view. With the pool and lazy river it adds up to the nicest Marriott amenties we've experienced.  

I don't see alot of them on the market so it hard to say what a resale will cost you but I would imagine $16-17K for a 2BDRM OV and probably 21K+ for a 3BDRM OV


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## tomandrobin (Aug 14, 2011)

MOXJO7282 said:


> One of my biggest regrets is not buying multiple Surf Club units when we bought our 2 BDRM OV preconstruction unit in 2003.
> 
> We're pretty happy with all our purchases but the Surf Club is definitely at the top when you consider the purchase price $20.9K, the MAR points received 465K and the tremendous rental income we get when we don't enjoy using the resort.
> 
> ...



During our tour, at no time was rewards or extra perks thrown at us. Maybe cause we were so set on a three bedroom unit, which there are none. The salesman did try to push buying two 2 bedrooms as an alternative. When that didn't work, he switched to pushing "points" and booking (or trying) to use the points to book a three bedroom at 12 months. But I no the value of buying resale and the fallacy of trying to book a unit with points.....it doesn't work in the Starwood system, I know it would not work with the 3 bedroom.


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## m61376 (Aug 14, 2011)

Joe-
There have been several Gold weeks but very few Plat. weeks on Ebay. 2 years ago one of the resellers all of a sudden got several Gold weeks and that, along with the economy, lowered the market for Gold weeks. I'd guess that your guesstimate would be very good low pricing on 2BR Plat. weeks, but I am not sure that the 3BR's would be that low for a Plat. but you may be right. I haven't seen any on Ebay and the few listed on Redweek are considerably higher asking, but ya never know. 3BR's had gone for about 1.5 times the price of 3BR's on the resale market a few years ago, but I know for Gold weeks today the difference is closer to double the price for good buys on each, mostly due to a significant decrease in the pricing of Gold 2BR weeks.

Tom-
I also highly question the availability of point reservations for 3BR units. The reality is that the DC point allocation for the Aruba weeks is out of sync with the rental market (for some reason, Marriott categorizes timeshare users differently than renters, such that less points were awarded to Aruba weeks than awarded to some weeks which Marriott itself charges half the rent for). A savvy owner is better off either trading in II, trading privately, or renting, and since there are no Aruba units in the trust, the only units will be if week owners trade for DC points, or if owners trade for MR points and Marriott decides to make that week available to the DC rather than renting. Otherwise, getting a reservation on points will depend on an owner having deposited the 3BR in II and Marriott taking it to fulfill a point request. Getting a summer peak week on points will not be easy, esp. since there are only 20 units that are 3BR's. So you are right to surmise that they are selling a dream but there isn't the inventory to make such requests an easy reality. 

Oh- the reason why they didn't offer points is that they are now offering special discounts in lieu of points, but will be happy to offer some MR points if you are willing to pay several thousand more.


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## rosepointe (Aug 14, 2011)

tomandrobin said:


> When Starwood first talk about adding a timeshare on Aruba, I was patiently waiting for them to build. But as you know, the lot is empty and the timeshare is not ever going to happen now.
> 
> Surf Club is a complete vacation experience. The weather is perfect....not too hot with the trade winds blowing all day. Harborside is great becuase of Atlantis....take away acces to Atlantis, Harboside is pretty blah. Here, everything is right outside your door. The pools don't equal Atlantis....but no resort anywhere does.
> 
> ...



This is probably the most crowded month at the Surf Club...especially this week pre college and after the college age group quit their summer jobs so I suspect there might be more people grilling now.  Most units have entire family groups this time of year and it is busy!!!!

I agree that grills are usually available and not as busy as they were in Maui.  We also grill once or twice and try to eat left overs from restaurants in between and sometimes go for a salad before our leftovers....

So glad you are enjoying our property!

Sue


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## Wally3433 (Aug 14, 2011)

Did you notice if there were any restrictions on the use of palapas or covered chairs?

Random post from trip advisor said they could only use palapas on a certain number of days on thier trip.

Sounds bs to me.

I've never once had a problem getting a palapa, and never had to reserve anything ahead of time or pay.


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## tomandrobin (Aug 14, 2011)

Wally3433 said:


> Did you notice if there were any restrictions on the use of palapas or covered chairs?
> 
> Random post from trip advisor said they could only use palapas on a certain number of days on thier trip.
> 
> ...



Chair tags and wrist bands were actively enforced. On a daily basis, I saw people being asked to get out of the pools if they were not wearing a wristband. And chair tags were also monitored. I think the early chair taggers were up and out by 5:00-5:50am, most came down 6:15-6:45am. 

Same with the Palapas....I saw no issues or problems.....or limitations.


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## rosepointe (Aug 15, 2011)

Wally3433 said:


> Did you notice if there were any restrictions on the use of palapas or covered chairs?
> 
> Random post from trip advisor said they could only use palapas on a certain number of days on thier trip.
> 
> ...



Yes there are rules for Palapa rentals and use at the Surf Club and have been for years due to the overbuilding of the resort.

One can get a free Palapa if you wait in line in the afternoon for the next day.  I think they release them (a certain number per day) at 4PM and the line begins usually at 3PM.  They have put chairs and benches to sit and wait these days.  The line in May started later and people were still able to get one for the following day as it is not as crowded then.

One can also get one the same day by going down early morning...don't know the time but the same routine and a certain number given.

One can also rent for 2 days on and 2 days off.  So I can rent for 2 days in a row and then wait online for the other days.

We have never had a problem getting one but one needs to learn the rules and strategy.  

Bimini chairs are not a problem but they are not permitted in front of the first few rows of the beach I believe.

We did however see a new vendor who will rent umbrellas and put them beachfront for $25 per day (one can negociate a weekly rate with him.)  He has the beach rights and you use the Marriott chairs.  The problem with this is he sets them up early morning and then others think they can park themseleves there and you have to ask them to leave when you get out.  This happened in front of us in May/June this year.

The property is overbuilt and this is how they have been able to make things work.  The extra adult pool has also alleviated some of the crowding at the pools.  And one can always get a bimini chair which helps if there are no Plalapas left.

The resort is also watching to ensure the palapas that are taken are used and not left empty all day.  I think there is a 2 hour rule.

We own at the Surf but also stayed at the Ocean Club this year where we were able to rent a palapa for the week.  They do not have the same spacing issues.

So it is not untrue....

Sue


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## ilene13 (Aug 15, 2011)

rosepointe said:


> This is probably the most crowded month at the Surf Club...especially this week pre college and after the college age group quit their summer jobs so I suspect there might be more people grilling now.  Most units have entire family groups this time of year and it is busy!!!!
> 
> I agree that grills are usually available and not as busy as they were in Maui.  We also grill once or twice and try to eat left overs from restaurants in between and sometimes go for a salad before our leftovers....
> 
> ...



If you think it is crowded now come weeks 51 and 52!


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## dms1709 (Aug 15, 2011)

We were in Aruba last Christmas and walked past the Marriotts.  It was so crowded and for some reason the area smelled.  I have a Marriott and have stayed at both the complexes, during other weeks in the winter and it was okay, crowd wise, nothing like what I saw at Christmas.   

donna


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## rosepointe (Aug 15, 2011)

ilene13 said:


> If you think it is crowded now come weeks 51 and 52!



You could not give me those weeks for free.....



Sue


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## flyboy0681 (Aug 15, 2011)

Wally3433 said:


> Grills are not real popular at the surf club because there are so many awesome restaurants in aruba that are easy to get to and reasonably priced.



During my last stay in Aruba, December 2009, restaurant prices were anything but reasonable. I took my wife and two teens to one of my favorite spots on the island, Cuba's Cooking, and couldn't get out of there for less than $160. 

Even the nearby Friday's cost me over $100.


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## m61376 (Aug 15, 2011)

Like most things, "reasonableness" is in the eye of the beholder. Compared to other resort destinations, I find that the pricing at Aruba restaurants is reasonable and that there is a good array of restaurants in all price ranges. Of course, the bill depends on what you order- but that is true whether in Aruba or at home. Eating out is not inexpensive regardless of where you are. Grilling a few nights makes it easier on the pocketbook and the waistline.

I agree with Sue- I too have never had an issue getting a palapa, but I know the rules and reserve ones in a way so as to minimize any inconvenience. Unless you routinely go to very expensive resorts or take top of the line cruises, inevitably there is waiting or a system for getting lounges and/or shade, Many nice resorts do not even offer lounges or umbrellas free of charge, and at many places there is a substantial fee if they are available at all. People complain about crowding, yet the beach is empty relative to many other world-famous beaches that people flock to. I was recently at another very coveted and popular resort where the chaises were one on top of another, and in some areas was actually hard to maneuver around.

I guess it comes down to whether the cup is half empty or half full. Certainly, there is room for more convenience and pampering, and they will be opening a Ritz next door to the Marriott for those who need/want/can afford those amenities. I love the Aruba vacation that we enjoy at the SC, but it may not be for everyone. Nice to have choices.


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## mcm21078 (Aug 15, 2011)

$160 is a lot for dinner for 4 while on vacation??? 

I'll be leaving Thursday for one week at SC.  Can't wait.  Raining cats & dogs here in MA.  Good to hear they have wifi at the pools.  Also looking forward to the adult pool...they were building it last time we went. 

So far just reservations at Madam Jeannette's and Flying Fishbone. Looking to add one more "off-site" place and then grill / eat local the other nights.


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## tomandrobin (Aug 15, 2011)

We choose to grill so much cause there were 17 in our group, with 10 of them kids aged 12-24. 

We ate at Champions on our arrival day.....quick and easy. We ate lunch at Hadicuri (not sure of spelling) and we ate dinner at Moomba on the last night. Other than a quick bite at the pool bar/restaurant.

Oh....One day for lunch, we did order 8 pizzas too.


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## ilene13 (Aug 15, 2011)

mcm21078 said:


> $160 is a lot for dinner for 4 while on vacation???
> 
> I'll be leaving Thursday for one week at SC.  Can't wait.  Raining cats & dogs here in MA.  Good to hear they have wifi at the pools.  Also looking forward to the adult pool...they were building it last time we went.
> 
> So far just reservations at Madam Jeannette's and Flying Fishbone. Looking to add one more "off-site" place and then grill / eat local the other nights.



If you haven't tried Yemanja Grill or Chef's Table they are both excellent.  In response to Sue who wouldn't come weeks51and 52 even if they are free---I am a high school assistant principal so we do not have many choices when it comes to travel dates.


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## rosepointe (Aug 15, 2011)

ilene13 said:


> If you haven't tried Yemanja Grill or Chef's Table they are both excellent.  In response to Sue who wouldn't come weeks51and 52 even if they are free---I am a high school assistant principal so we do not have many choices when it comes to travel dates.



I am chuckling as my husband just retired after teaching 39years at Penn State and we have been limited to those "holiday weeks" for years.  We are free today and can go year round.  I am certain you will welcome that too someday.

And if it was free????  I might have to reconsider.  But we are finally free of those high end vacation weeks and can finally travel is less crowded times.  The resort is still always great.

Sue


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## ilene13 (Aug 15, 2011)

rosepointe said:


> I am chuckling as my husband just retired after teaching 39years at Penn State and we have been limited to those "holiday weeks" for years.  We are free today and can go year round.  I am certain you will welcome that too someday.
> 
> And if it was free????  I might have to reconsider.  But we are finally free of those high end vacation weeks and can finally travel is less crowded times.  The resort is still always great.
> 
> Sue



This is my 39th yr as an educator.   My husband who is a physician  does not know when he will retire so I will continue doing my thing!!


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## Wally3433 (Aug 16, 2011)

m61376 said:


> Like most things, "reasonableness" is in the eye of the beholder. Compared to other resort destinations, I find that the pricing at Aruba restaurants is reasonable and that there is a good array of restaurants in all price ranges. Of course, the bill depends on what you order- but that is true whether in Aruba or at home. Eating out is not inexpensive regardless of where you are. Grilling a few nights makes it easier on the pocketbook and the waistline.
> 
> I agree with Sue- I too have never had an issue getting a palapa, but I know the rules and reserve ones in a way so as to minimize any inconvenience. Unless you routinely go to very expensive resorts or take top of the line cruises, inevitably there is waiting or a system for getting lounges and/or shade, Many nice resorts do not even offer lounges or umbrellas free of charge, and at many places there is a substantial fee if they are available at all. People complain about crowding, yet the beach is empty relative to many other world-famous beaches that people flock to. I was recently at another very coveted and popular resort where the chaises were one on top of another, and in some areas was actually hard to maneuver around.
> 
> I guess it comes down to whether the cup is half empty or half full. Certainly, there is room for more convenience and pampering, and they will be opening a Ritz next door to the Marriott for those who need/want/can afford those amenities. I love the Aruba vacation that we enjoy at the SC, but it may not be for everyone. Nice to have choices.



Very well said!


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## flyboy0681 (Aug 16, 2011)

mcm21078 said:


> $160 is a lot for dinner for 4 while on vacation???
> 
> I'll be leaving Thursday for one week at SC.




We just returned from a week at Hilton Head and was surprised to see just how reasonable it was to feed all four of us. Our dinner check was routinely around $75, so yes, I consider $160 for the four of us a lot.


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## rosepointe (Aug 16, 2011)

Wally3433 said:


> Very well said!



Yes yes and yes...

The French Rivera where you can breath in the air the person is breathing out next to you.

I think that many who have gone to Aruba before it was on the map remember empty beaches and I do understand that.  However most beaches throughout the world are very crowded.

Sue


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## rosepointe (Aug 16, 2011)

ilene13 said:


> This is my 39th yr as an educator.   My husband who is a physician  does not know when he will retire so I will continue doing my thing!!



Enjoy enjoy enjoy and grab any date you can to get away.  

My motto is travel, travel, travel whenever one can.  Retirement for us makes a nice difference in pricing which we have never been able to take advantage of.  I still have a part time practice but I am able to get coverage and always took 6 weeks in the summer when he was off.  I am very grateful we were able to do this.

Sue


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## jerseygirl (Aug 16, 2011)

We've been there at the end of August/beginning of September -- wonderful, no crowds, beautiful weather (well, except for that hurricane that got too close).  We've also been there Easter week ... way too crowded for me.  Give me August/September (and the hurricane) any day of the week!!


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## Weimaraner (Aug 16, 2011)

rosepointe said:


> Yes yes and yes...
> 
> The French Rivera where you can breath in the air the person is breathing out next to you.
> 
> ...



and there are other Aruban beach spots to explore with a car.


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## mcm21078 (Aug 25, 2011)

Was just there Weds-Weds.  Did the sales presentation on Monday.  Brought our 7th month old daughter with us even though my mom could have baby-sat in hopes that she would get fussy and cut the presentation short. He saw that we had an "out-of-market" SC timeshare.  He only tried to sell us an Ocean Side Gold season worth 3500 pts for $23K. I told him I paid around $8K for our garden view. He said that we won't be able to trade it, but I bought it for the purpose of going to Aruba every year anyway.  Later that night I was playing poker at the Holiday Inn and talked to a guy who also went on the presentation that day and bought a platinum ocean side for $41K. They gave him 2 free weeks and the money he paid for the preview package as incentive.


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## jont (Aug 25, 2011)

mcm21078 said:


> Was just there Weds-Weds.  Did the sales presentation on Monday.  Brought our 7th month old daughter with us even though my mom could have baby-sat in hopes that she would get fussy and cut the presentation short. He saw that we had an "out-of-market" SC timeshare.  He only tried to sell us an Ocean Side Gold season worth 3500 pts for $23K. I told him I paid around $8K for our garden view. He said that we won't be able to trade it, but I bought it for the purpose of going to Aruba every year anyway.  Later that night I was playing poker at the Holiday Inn and talked to a guy who also went on the presentation that day and bought a platinum ocean side for $41K. They gave him 2 free weeks and the money he paid for the preview package as incentive.



hope that guy did better at the poker table then he did at the presentation.


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## tomandrobin (Aug 25, 2011)

Curious....Once Surf Club is sold out, is there plans for another Aruba timeshare?


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## tomandrobin (Aug 25, 2011)

jont said:


> hope that guy did better at the poker table then he did at the presentation.




we all buy direct once.....then find Tug.


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## Lee55 (Aug 25, 2011)

tomandrobin said:


> we all buy direct once.....then find Tug.



How true...


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## m61376 (Aug 25, 2011)

tomandrobin said:


> Curious....Once Surf Club is sold out, is there plans for another Aruba timeshare?



Don't know if it is true or not, but was told a few years ago that there was a moratorium on any new timeshares so that none would be built in the future. Of course, as with everything else, the laws can be changed.


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## tomandrobin (Aug 25, 2011)

m61376 said:


> Don't know if it is true or not, but was told a few years ago that there was a moratorium on any new timeshares so that none would be built in the future. Of course, as with everything else, the laws can be changed.



Westin was suppose to build a timeshare on Aruba, on the empty lot next to their hotel. The story on why it got canceled was that the Aruba government stop giving developers big incentives to build on the island. Once Aruba took them away, building the timeshare resort was no longer financially feasible. 

On another note, when I did the tour for the Surf Club, the "gentleman" kept bringing up the Ritz that was being built next to the Marriott. Insinuating that somehow, through association of close proximity to Marriott hotel, would help the value of Surf Club. Made no sense to me.


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## Weimaraner (Aug 25, 2011)

tomandrobin said:


> Westin was suppose to build a timeshare on Aruba, on the empty lot next to their hotel. The story on why it got canceled was that the Aruba government stop giving developers big incentives to build on the island. Once Aruba took them away, building the timeshare resort was no longer financially feasible.
> 
> On another note, when I did the tour for the Surf Club, the "gentleman" kept bringing up the Ritz that was being built next to the Marriott. Insinuating that somehow, through association of close proximity to Marriott hotel, would help the value of Surf Club. Made no sense to me.



there goes the neighborhood Actually the positive thing of Ritz is its owned by Marriott too and we can use Marriott Rewards to stay there. Or possibly if they add it as option to Destinations Club, it would be another option.


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## m61376 (Aug 26, 2011)

I think the rationale behind the Ritz upping the value is that it makes that end of Palm Beach "the" place to be, and it brings more upscale clientele and Ritz services such as restaurants, spas, etc., which will be available to others. It was felt that although there is the Marriott Stellaris and the Hyatt of course, there was no super premium brand for the clientele that demands that luxury.

So, the "enhanced value" is the proximity and the inference that the north end of Palm Beach will be "the place to be."

Needless to say, I am just being the messenger here, and not necessarily buying the logic. However, how many posts have there been about Lakeshore Reserves, for example, being such a great destination because of the Ritz next door? So I guess whether or not it is an issue for me, it holds attraction for others. Now of course if it attracts one of the better jewelry stores that are downtown to open a branch there, that might be an attraction for me (although not for my darling hubbie) :hysterical:


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## rosepointe (Aug 26, 2011)

m61376 said:


> I think the rationale behind the Ritz upping the value is that it makes that end of Palm Beach "the" place to be, and it brings more upscale clientele and Ritz services such as restaurants, spas, etc., which will be available to others. It was felt that although there is the Marriott Stellaris and the Hyatt of course, there was no super premium brand for the clientele that demands that luxury.
> 
> So, the "enhanced value" is the proximity and the inference that the north end of Palm Beach will be "the place to be."
> 
> Needless to say, I am just being the messenger here, and not necessarily buying the logic. However, how many posts have there been about Lakeshore Reserves, for example, being such a great destination because of the Ritz next door? So I guess whether or not it is an issue for me, it holds attraction for others. Now of course if it attracts one of the better jewelry stores that are downtown to open a branch there, that might be an attraction for me (although not for my darling hubbie) :hysterical:



Id rather have the kite boarders and surf sailers next door.  I love to watch them.  Forgot what they are called but it is my understanding the Ritz is taking over their beach.....how sad    

Sue


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## m61376 (Aug 26, 2011)

rosepointe said:


> Id rather have the kite boarders and surf sailers next door.  I love to watch them.  Forgot what they are called but it is my understanding the Ritz is taking over their beach.....how sad
> 
> Sue



I heard that it would not interfere with their turf. I think that was a big issue actually, because that is a world renowned destination for the sport.

btw- I agree- I love to stroll and watch them!


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## rosepointe (Aug 27, 2011)

m61376 said:


> I heard that it would not interfere with their turf. I think that was a big issue actually, because that is a world renowned destination for the sport.
> 
> btw- I agree- I love to stroll and watch them!



I don't see how it does not but I hope you are right.  We were at the OC and SC in May and from the ocean it looked like they were building right in front of some of their entry space.  While driving I saw there was entry further up.

Hope you are right.

Sue


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## m61376 (Aug 27, 2011)

rosepointe said:


> I don't see how it does not but I hope you are right.  We were at the OC and SC in May and from the ocean it looked like they were building right in front of some of their entry space.  While driving I saw there was entry further up.
> 
> Hope you are right.
> 
> Sue



I hope so too. I agree that it looks like it should, and it bothered me so I had asked some questions and also read something (don't remember what/where) and supposedly it won't. I think that was a big issue in giving them permission to build on the site, such that the construction supposedly will not interfere with the wind/kite surfing. I remember reading that it was world renowned for these sports, and reportedly the Ritz will not interfere with it. The area is actually N of the Ritz when you walk to the site. I hope the engineers were right in that the construction won't impede upon the air flow in the area that makes it so ideal for these sports.


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## rosepointe (Aug 28, 2011)

m61376 said:


> I hope so too. I agree that it looks like it should, and it bothered me so I had asked some questions and also read something (don't remember what/where) and supposedly it won't. I think that was a big issue in giving them permission to build on the site, such that the construction supposedly will not interfere with the wind/kite surfing. I remember reading that it was world renowned for these sports, and reportedly the Ritz will not interfere with it. The area is actually N of the Ritz when you walk to the site. I hope the engineers were right in that the construction won't impede upon the air flow in the area that makes it so ideal for these sports.



Me too.....


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## flyboy0681 (Aug 28, 2011)

ilene13 said:


> If you haven't tried Yemanja Grill or Chef's Table they are both excellent.



Yemanja was one of my favorite restaurants during my last visit. You have to be persistent with them however. When I called in an attempt to get a reservation at 7:00 they said they fully booked and said we were free to stop by in case there were any cancellations. Long story short, we arrived at 6:45 and the place was empty. They seated us immediately and when we left at 7:30, it was still mostly empty. This really puzzled me. But it was a great meal.


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## ilene13 (Aug 28, 2011)

flyboy0681 said:


> Yemanja was one of my favorite restaurants during my last visit. You have to be persistent with them however. When I called in an attempt to get a reservation at 7:00 they said they fully booked and said we were free to stop by in case there were any cancellations. Long story short, we arrived at 6:45 and the place was empty. They seated us immediately and when we left at 7:30, it was still mostly empty. This really puzzled me. But it was a great meal.



We have had the same experience!!


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