# Margaritaville Timeshare St Thomas



## madduag (Mar 9, 2013)

Big fan of Jimmy Buffett, and why of course I would love to stay at this place when it gets up and running! What could this man do next, old folks home Margaritaville style!! :rofl:

Not sure how well this sell though.... Developer prices that is. 


http://stthomassource.com/content/n...margaritaville-club-approved-buffett-way#skip


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## GregT (Mar 9, 2013)

Very interesting - thanks for posting this.  Will be curious to see points requirements and access restrictions when they come out. 

Best,

Greg


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## Sandy VDH (Mar 9, 2013)

Finally, they have been sitting on this property for some time.  They were going to start it a few years ago.  But with the economy they put on the brakes. 

Nice to see a theme Margaritaville.


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## amycurl (Mar 9, 2013)

Interesting that they are promising to try and track down the people who used to work at the hotel....five years ago. I certainly hope that many of those former employees have already found work.

Still, even if it's window dressing, it's nice window dressing....

Jimmy Buffet is one hell of a businessman. Every person who gets more than 1 top ten hit should take business classes fron him.

I can only begin to imagine the possibilities...


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## JanT (Mar 10, 2013)

Holy heck!!!  Love Buffett - have traveled all over hitting Margaritavilles and concerts for years.  We took our one and only trip to St. Thomas a few years ago, liked it, and intended to go back.  Well....we definitely will be going back now.  Can't wait for this to open!  Don't know what prices will be like but oh boy......it would be tempting.


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## Bruce W (Mar 10, 2013)

*One more for you to sample soon.*



JanT said:


> Holy heck!!!  Love Buffett - have traveled all over hitting Margaritavilles and concerts for years.  We took our one and only trip to St. Thomas a few years ago, liked it, and intended to go back.  Well....we definitely will be going back now.  Can't wait for this to open!  Don't know what prices will be like but oh boy......it would be tempting.



http://www.margaritavilleatlanticcity.com/press-release.html


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## madduag (Mar 10, 2013)

JanT said:


> Holy heck!!!  Love Buffett - have traveled all over hitting Margaritavilles and concerts for years.  We took our one and only trip to St. Thomas a few years ago, liked it, and intended to go back.  Well....we definitely will be going back now.  Can't wait for this to open!  Don't know what prices will be like but oh boy......it would be tempting.



Jan, like you, wherever we travel we always hit up Margaritaville if close by. We are set to go to St John next year and I was hoping all the construction would be done but it doesn't look like it. Guess we will have to go back sometime. 

We have been to St Barth and as a fan you probably are well aware this is JB home away from home. What a beautiful island that CAN be done on a budget!


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## GrayFal (Mar 10, 2013)

Bruce W said:


> http://www.margaritavilleatlanticcity.com/press-release.html


Just stayed at the Wyndham Skyline TS which is right near this property, also Bluegreen at Atlantic Palace. Both resorts are within walking distance.

Hope the St Thomas property actually happens this time, we have been hearing about it for 4-5+ years.


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## JanT (Mar 10, 2013)

Bruce,

Yes M'villes are popping up everywhere.  JB has built a serious empire.  The man is a financial genuis.  From one song he has built a career and a lasting legacy.

Jan



Bruce W said:


> http://www.margaritavilleatlanticcity.com/press-release.html


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## JanT (Mar 10, 2013)

Maddaug,

Well now you will have a reason to head back the to VI's in 2015.  It would be fun to meet up there!  

We have not been to St. Barth but it's on our list - hopefully when JB is there but his travel plans are always elusive.  LOL

We are planning to hit the two new M'villes in Australia later this year.  Looking forward to that.  Our plan is to hit every M'ville but not so sure about the ones in Jamaica.  It's so crazy there that they might be the ones we miss.  Will have to see.

Fins up!

Jan



madduag said:


> Jan, like you, wherever we travel we always hit up Margaritaville if close by. We are set to go to St John next year and I was hoping all the construction would be done but it doesn't look like it. Guess we will have to go back sometime.
> 
> We have been to St Barth and as a fan you probably are well aware this is JB home away from home. What a beautiful island that CAN be done on a budget!


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## Sandy VDH (Mar 11, 2013)

Was just in St B's for NYE.  JB was there with his yacht.  He did go into town and sing at a local bar just past New Years.


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## Carolyn (Mar 11, 2013)

JB also owned a small hotel on St. Barth which burned down in the early 80's, Autor de Rocher, which he wrote a song about....of course! I believe David Letterman bought the property from him but nothing is built there yet. We will be heading back to St. B in May. It is our favorite island. Since there are no timeshares, we usually rent a small villa :whoopie:


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## MuranoJo (Mar 12, 2013)

I understand he is Warren Buffet's cousin and gets some business consultation from him.


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## beach.bar.bob (Mar 12, 2013)

muranojo said:


> I understand he is Warren Buffet's cousin and gets some business consultation from him.



Just finished reading a new Warren Buffet book called "Tap Dancing to Work". 
The book describes the Warren and Jimmy relationship.  While they know each other well and over the years have spent time together joking about the possibility of being related...a couple of years ago they under went DNA testing which proved conclusively that there is no family relationship...they remain friends. 

bbb


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## madduag (Mar 12, 2013)

Carolyn, Sandy wish I were in SB now!!

NYE St Barth, our friends went, we did not 

They saw Jimmy play at Baz and of course loved it. We all made the trip for Le Select 60th anniversary for the celebration with Jimmy and CR and had such a great time. Nothing tops that, except an impromptu performance of JB singing all my favorites. LOL

Autour is always on our list to visit. The views are amazing. I can't believe nothing has been built there, but happy that we can still go up there and toast to the ghosts of Autour. 

We usually stay at Petit Morne when we first get to St Barth before a villa stay. Nothing fancy but amazing staff and fits our needs wonderfully. 

St Barth is one of most favorite islands. Traveling all around the island, the hikes to untamed and beautiful beaches just can't be matched. 

Jan, it would be fun to meet in Margaritaville St Thomas. I wish now I could get our friends to push this trip ahead to 2015 but I think we are set for next year. Don't think we will make it 2015. I know there is a wedding or 2 in our future by then.


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## MuranoJo (Mar 12, 2013)

beach.bar.bob said:


> Just finished reading a new Warren Buffet book called "Tap Dancing to Work".
> The book describes the Warren and Jimmy relationship.  While they know each other well and over the years have spent time together joking about the possibility of being related...a couple of years ago they under went DNA testing which proved conclusively that there is no family relationship...they remain friends.
> 
> bbb



Interesting.  I'll have to tell my source.    What's funny is he's a broker, so should know a heck of a lot about Warren.


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## Sandy VDH (Mar 12, 2013)

It was fun to be a tradewinds yacht over New years, hanging out in Gustavia outer harbor. There were at least 600 boats in St Barts.  It was really crazy fun.


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## Carolyn (Mar 13, 2013)

madduag said:


> Carolyn, Sandy wish I were in SB now!!
> 
> NYE St Barth, our friends went, we did not
> 
> ...



Love P'tit Morne. We have also spent some time there. Best value on the island for sure!


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## Carolyn (Mar 13, 2013)

Sandy VDH said:


> It was fun to be a tradewinds yacht over New years, hanging out in Gustavia outer harbor. There were at least 600 boats in St Barts.  It was really crazy fun.



When we did the St. Martin Tradewinds Cruise, the Captain said it was too rough for the sale over to St. Barth. We were with another couple plus my son and DIL. We were so bummed because we kept telling them St. Barth was going to be the highlight of the trip


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## Sandy VDH (Mar 13, 2013)

Sorry to hear, we had good weather on NYE and the days around it.  The wind did begin to howl some days  later.  It did pick up later in the week and we had to scrub Anguilla.  Prickly Pear was way too rough to anchor overnight, we had to find shelter behind one of the other smaller islands.

I am sure the captain did was they thought was going to be comfortable.  Sorry you did not get to go.


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## Sullco2 (Mar 19, 2013)

*From Lawrence Welk to Jimmy Buffett*

with Wayne Newton in between.

I think that covers the music icons in the timeshare business--although perhaps Dolly Parton did it too.

But I think it's interesting that Welk continues in business.

Wayne Newton had a failed venture in the Poconos decades ago--I remember seeing their sales room.  It looked like a casting call for The Sopranos.

Buffett might do well, although I am a firm believer that St. Thomas is the Caribbean's least appealing destination.  I always felt like I was in the middle fo a crime scene.  

St. Bart's, on the other hand....but it's a budget buster.


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## siesta (Mar 19, 2013)

GregT said:


> Very interesting - thanks for posting this.  Will be curious to see points requirements and access restrictions when they come out.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Greg


 yes, hopefully they will be reasonable points considering elysian and bbc's point totals, and the likely casual theme at Margaritaville.

Additionally, I forsee this being open to all wyndham owners via points.  There isnt a single wyndham timeshare that has restrictions excluding points owners, even ones with only presidential reserve units. It really doesnt facilitate the system to take that route.


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## ronparise (Mar 19, 2013)

Heres what Steve Holmes said about it in the recent earnings call

_"The creative approaches adopted by WVO are not limited to inventory procurement. As you know, marketing and tour generation is the lifeblood of the timeshare business. In this regard, we have some great long-term marketing affiliation partners, and we are pleased to add another to the mix. We have entered into a relationship with Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffett's lifestyle brand to create MARGARITAVILLE VACATION CLUB by Wyndham. The demographics of his customer base is a great match for our product, and we will have Margaritaville resorts starting with the conversion of a 34-acre property we control in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. This represents a great new source of owners for WVO."_


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## amycurl (Mar 19, 2013)

http://bit.ly/WTPbkL

Includes pic of Buffett holding a picture at the unveiling on the 15th.


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## siesta (Mar 19, 2013)

ronparise said:


> Heres what Steve Holmes said about it in the recent earnings call
> 
> _"The creative approaches adopted by WVO are not limited to inventory procurement. As you know, marketing and tour generation is the lifeblood of the timeshare business. In this regard, we have some great long-term marketing affiliation partners, and we are pleased to add another to the mix. We have entered into a relationship with Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffett's lifestyle brand to create MARGARITAVILLE VACATION CLUB by Wyndham. The demographics of his customer base is a great match for our product, and we will have Margaritaville resorts starting with the conversion of a 34-acre property we control in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. This represents a great new source of owners for WVO."_


 thanks for posting this and affirming my suspicion. And to you too Amycurl.

From amycurls link:

"Rather than a traditional timeshare system, in which owners have a deed for a set number of weeks per year for a specific unit, owners can purchase points, which can be used at any of the Wyndham's timeshare properties."

Looking forward to cheeseburgers in paradise.


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## JanT (Mar 19, 2013)

Well.....we don't own Wyndham so what are the chances we will be able to exchange in there?  Probably slim-to-none because every Parrothead (Buffett fans) that can, will be wanting to go there.  Hmmmm....perhaps time to divest our portfolio a bit and think about buying Wyndham points.  I know absolutely nothing about their system.  Time to start reading those boards as well, I guess.

And Jimmy Buffett does nothing without a serious plan in mind.  It does not surprise me that there will be several "Margaritaville" timeshares and based on his past experience in business ventures, they will be a huge success.


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## siesta (Mar 19, 2013)

JanT said:


> Well.....we don't own Wyndham so what are the chances we will be able to exchange in there?  Probably slim-to-none because every Parrothead (Buffett fans) that can, will be wanting to go there.  Hmmmm....perhaps time to divest our portfolio a bit and think about buying Wyndham points.  I know absolutely nothing about their system.  Time to start reading those boards as well, I guess.
> 
> And Jimmy Buffett does nothing without a serious plan in mind.  It does not surprise me that there will be several "Margaritaville" timeshares and based on his past experience in business ventures, they will be a huge success.


you know its pretty early to make an assessment on difficulty trading in since the resort is yet to be started or completed.  However, its fair to say it should have high demand not only because of the location but because of the affiliation.  I would think that it would be easier to exchange in before the resort makes significant sales, since majority of the weeks will be rented out, gobbled up by wyndham owners, and space banked with rci.  After awhile, I would expect it to be one of the resorts that require booking at or close to 10 months for wyndham owners.

Obviously you probably want to experience the resort before you consider buying wyndham points, but I would encourage you to check out the system, its a cheap buy in, has reasonable MF if you do your hw (and can be paid monthly), is very flexible, and has many nice resorts and the list is continuing to grow. Hope to see you on the wyndham boards


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## madduag (Mar 20, 2013)

siesta said:


> you know its pretty early to make an assessment on difficulty trading in since the resort is yet to be started or completed.  However, its fair to say it should have high demand not only because of the location but because of the affiliation.  I would think that it would be easier to exchange in before the resort makes significant sales, since majority of the weeks will be rented out, gobbled up by wyndham owners, and space banked with rci.  After awhile, I would expect it to be one of the resorts that require booking at or close to 10 months for wyndham owners.
> 
> Obviously you probably want to experience the resort before you consider buying wyndham points, but I would encourage you to check out the system, its a cheap buy in, has reasonable MF if you do your hw (and can be paid monthly), is very flexible, and has many nice resorts and the list is continuing to grow. Hope to see you on the wyndham boards



Jan, we know nothing about points either. I would think it would be tough to trade into and expensive to rent given the excitement of the "Margaritaville" brand. Hopefully that will die down. I won't get there for a number of years since we have our St John trip all set for next year.

Off topic, but first day of spring and we will only reach 29 degrees!! Ugh, my concoction maker looks so sad in the corner..... lol 
I'm ready to fly to St Somewhere!!


Siesta, I might have to check points out too.


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## Sandy VDH (Mar 20, 2013)

siesta said:


> since the resort is yet to be started or completed.



Well actually the resort already exists.  It is going to go through a major overhaul and conversion from closed down hotel to timeshare.

So more of a renovation for existing and no doubt some additional construction to "Margaritaville" it, like adding a seaplane hanging in a restaurant or lobby.


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## Beaglemom3 (Mar 23, 2013)

JanT said:


> Maddaug,
> 
> Well now you will have a reason to head back the to VI's in 2015.  It would be fun to meet up there!
> 
> ...




 St. Barth's/Bart's is my most favorite island. www.wimco.com has great villas for rent. Alas, no timeshares there.  Getting there can be interesting; you have the hair raising flight from SXM or the bouncing ferry from SXM. It's worth the trip, though.

 Love the beaches, scenery, the French influence and driving on the right !


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## madduag (Mar 25, 2013)

Beaglemom3 said:


> St. Barth's/Bart's is my most favorite island. www.wimco.com has great villas for rent. Alas, no timeshares there.  Getting there can be interesting; you have the hair raising flight from SXM or the bouncing ferry from SXM. It's worth the trip, though.
> 
> Love the beaches, scenery, the French influence and driving on the right !



Love the flight to St Barth!! Coming over the hill, then the steep decline, then up with the nose to make the landing, then yikes there's the beach. 

Beaglemom, I would also have to say SB is my favorite also. 

We know the costs are higher with the euro/dollar but SB can be done without breaking the bank.


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## Sullco2 (Apr 4, 2013)

*Margaritaville demographic????*

Forgive me, but I don't understand the logic of WVO teaming up with Buffett to sell timeshare.  Parrotheads are old, aren't they?

If I am a serious Parrothead, I already have some liver issues (LOL) so my lifespan is limited. 

When the salesperson actually asks you to buy, which you know they will multiple times, and you think real hard... you are going to come up with:

1.  How many more vacationing years do I have?
2.  My kids and grandkids don't have an affinity for J. Buffett.
3.  My ownership, despite the points stuff, will be on a very expensive island where all things must be brought in.
4.  How long can J. Buffett himself live?  (Sorry, this is a cult of personality, unlike Disney where, once Walt kicked the bucket, his characters lived on.)

To me, this spells "No sale."

On the other hand if I am Buffett, do I really want to upset my fans by subjecting them to WVO's notorious fire-breathing, lying sales operation?

I think this is a bad deal all the way around.

Please tell me why I am wrong.


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## JanT (Apr 4, 2013)

Sullco,

Fan demographics of Buffett?  They are not all old - there are plenty of young ones.  Parents have turned their kids onto Buffett and they love his music and the concerts.  And not all of them drink.  I know alot of Buffett's fans that don't.  I don't.

The bottom line is Buffett sells a lifestyle - not himself.  He's selling a lifestyle - escapism.  Something most people want.  And that desire will last long after he's gone.  The resorts won't be all about him and his music.  Those will be included but the overall theme of Buffett's music is to get away from it all.  I think that's going to be enduring as long as the world goes 'round.

As for alienating his fans due to pushy timeshare tactics?  Well, they want a piece of that escapism.  My guess is the timeshare people aren't going to have to push really hard to sell it to them.  



Sullco2 said:


> Forgive me, but I don't understand the logic of WVO teaming up with Buffett to sell timeshare.  Parrotheads are old, aren't they?
> 
> If I am a serious Parrothead, I already have some liver issues (LOL) so my lifespan is limited.
> 
> ...


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