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[2014] Quarter House maintenance fees remain the same 6 years in a row

ronparise

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This is amazing to me

from a recent Quarter House newsletter

Good News On Maintenance Fees!

We are happy to report that, despite a substantial number of improvements to the Quarter House during the year (see attached list in this Newsletter), we have been able to accomplish these improvements with no increase in maintenance fees. The maintenance fees will be the same in 2014 as they were in 2013. This will be the 6th consecutive year that maintenance fees have remained at the same level, which is practically unheard of in the timeshare industry.



either this HOA is setting their owners up for a Special Assessment or they really know what they are doing
 
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JudyS

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...
either this HOA is setting their owners up for a Special Assessment or they really know what they are doing
If only we knew which!

Ron, did this resort get any insurance money after Hurricane Katrina? Maybe that has helped them with upkeep/repairs.
 

Saintsfanfl

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I think QH is independent so the difference here is there is no management company to suck the HOA's dry. There is no management fee or money being funneled to partners or shareholders. Everything is on the budget including all employee benefits like health insurance, 401K employer matching, and rental commission. I love that they pay rental commission to the employees. That has to pay for itself several times over.

Cap Reserve Bal 10/1/13 - $335,608.27
Cap Reserve Bud 2014 - $268,338.00
Bad Debt Est 2014 - $243,257.00 (8.4% of assessed maint fees)

I think the cap reserves are adequate for this type of "resort". The bad debt seems low which is but the resort actively rents out unused rooms and seems to have a good internal exchange program. I believe they closed for a while post Katrina but everyone was still assessed maintenance fees with no usage. I can't find that post but I remember reading it unless I am thinking of another NO resort. I do not believe a special assessment was needed because the Quarter House did not have any real damage from Katrina.
 
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ronparise

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If only we knew which!

Ron, did this resort get any insurance money after Hurricane Katrina? Maybe that has helped them with upkeep/repairs.



Sorry I dont know the answer,

I should have mentioned in my post that Saintsfanfl sent me a copy of his Quarter House newsletter...I dont own there. But I was so taken aback by their 6 year record of no mf increases, I had to post it
 

Saintsfanfl

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I am only a recent owner and haven't even stayed there yet so my knowledge is relatively new but so far I have no complaints.
 

klpca

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Very interesting. It made me go back and look at my Club Donatello unit. The HOA has held maintenance fees steady for the past 5 years. It helps to have an active HOA with a clear vision. From the Club Donatello newsletter:

The CDOA Financial Plan and its Goals, as adopted by your Board of Directors, is updated to reflect the ongoing improvements we have been working on since its adoption. Those Goals are:

1. That our Dues and internal income amounts would fully cover all annual operating costs for a full year, without any advancing of funds from future year Dues, the Reserves, or external lending entities. That any surplus of revenue over expenses, other than Dues during the year, goes directly into our Reserves at the end of each year.

2. That our Reserves funding level would be at the highest level recommended by our external Reserves analysis company, which is the Component Funding Model, as compared to the lowest level, which is the Current Assessment Funding Model.

3. That our Annual Dues would still be in a competitive position with other comparable timeshare properties in San Francisco, including the Donatello units currently owned by Wyndham in the same Donatello building


The delinquencies are very low at this property. I could bore you with the details but I don't want to derail the OP. While I believe that the primary reason that the maintenance fees are low and the reserves are fully funded is due to the well run HOA, I do wonder if the urban locations aren't part of the success of these properties (Club Donatello and Quarter House). The unused rooms are easily rented out, both to owners and to the general public. There are little maintenance costs other than building upkeep, and I would imagine, lower payroll costs as well. We bought this timeshare to use and rarely trade it (although it trades fairly well through RCI and even better via SFX).
 

Saintsfanfl

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Under funded reserves is one of the biggest problems with timeshares. Even if the timeshare is in a 52 week high demand area, under funding will still lead to big problems down the road. Once that snowball starts it can be hard to stop.

Even most Marriott fees are kept artificially low due to having reserves not properly funded.
 
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ronparise

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Very interesting. It made me go back and look at my Club Donatello unit. The HOA has held maintenance fees steady for the past 5 years. It helps to have an active HOA with a clear vision. From the Club Donatello newsletter:

The CDOA Financial Plan and its Goals, as adopted by your Board of Directors, is updated to reflect the ongoing improvements we have been working on since its adoption. Those Goals are:

1. That our Dues and internal income amounts would fully cover all annual operating costs for a full year, without any advancing of funds from future year Dues, the Reserves, or external lending entities. That any surplus of revenue over expenses, other than Dues during the year, goes directly into our Reserves at the end of each year.

2. That our Reserves funding level would be at the highest level recommended by our external Reserves analysis company, which is the Component Funding Model, as compared to the lowest level, which is the Current Assessment Funding Model.

3. That our Annual Dues would still be in a competitive position with other comparable timeshare properties in San Francisco, including the Donatello units currently owned by Wyndham in the same Donatello building


The delinquencies are very low at this property. I could bore you with the details but I don't want to derail the OP. While I believe that the primary reason that the maintenance fees are low and the reserves are fully funded is due to the well run HOA, I do wonder if the urban locations aren't part of the success of these properties (Club Donatello and Quarter House). The unused rooms are easily rented out, both to owners and to the general public. There are little maintenance costs other than building upkeep, and I would imagine, lower payroll costs as well. We bought this timeshare to use and rarely trade it (although it trades fairly well through RCI and even better via SFX).

Ill derail it for you
I thought the Donatello was a Shell Resort. (Shell is now one of the Wyndham managed systems) That the Donatello is an independent is new info to me ...thanks for posting
 

klpca

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Ill derail it for you
I thought the Donatello was a Shell Resort. (Shell is now one of the Wyndham managed systems) That the Donatello is an independent is new info to me ...thanks for posting

The top three floors of The Donatello are "Club Donatello" and are an independent timeshare property. They share the building with the Shell Property. I had no idea of this when I bought it. They share common area expenses with the other timeshare via a master association.
 
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klpca

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Under funded reserves is one of the biggest problems with timeshares. Even if the timeshare is in a 52 week high demand area, under funding will still lead to big problems down the road. Once that snowball starts it can be hard to stop.

Even most Marriott fees are kept artificially low due to having reserves not properly funded.

I agree with this. I don't think that it's just a timeshare problem though. I'm actually more concerned about this with a condo that we own and use as a rental. I think a lot of buildings have insufficient reserves. I wouldn't be surprised to have a substantial special assessment down the line.
 

Maple_Leaf

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Club Donatello is very well run

Very interesting. It made me go back and look at my Club Donatello unit. The HOA has held maintenance fees steady for the past 5 years. It helps to have an active HOA with a clear vision. From the Club Donatello newsletter:

The CDOA Financial Plan and its Goals, as adopted by your Board of Directors, is updated to reflect the ongoing improvements we have been working on since its adoption. Those Goals are:

1. That our Dues and internal income amounts would fully cover all annual operating costs for a full year, without any advancing of funds from future year Dues, the Reserves, or external lending entities. That any surplus of revenue over expenses, other than Dues during the year, goes directly into our Reserves at the end of each year.

2. That our Reserves funding level would be at the highest level recommended by our external Reserves analysis company, which is the Component Funding Model, as compared to the lowest level, which is the Current Assessment Funding Model.

3. That our Annual Dues would still be in a competitive position with other comparable timeshare properties in San Francisco, including the Donatello units currently owned by Wyndham in the same Donatello building


The delinquencies are very low at this property. I could bore you with the details but I don't want to derail the OP. While I believe that the primary reason that the maintenance fees are low and the reserves are fully funded is due to the well run HOA, I do wonder if the urban locations aren't part of the success of these properties (Club Donatello and Quarter House). The unused rooms are easily rented out, both to owners and to the general public. There are little maintenance costs other than building upkeep, and I would imagine, lower payroll costs as well. We bought this timeshare to use and rarely trade it (although it trades fairly well through RCI and even better via SFX).

The only reason I don't own there is it is west coast, too far away. Much of the usefulness of Club Donatello is breaking the week up into shorter stays in the city.
 

VegasBella

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A bit of serious googling can find the owner newsletters for a few years back. I found and read through them last year when that Mardi Gras week was for sale on eBay. They do seem to manage their money well. It was the first TS we bid on and we were nervous about paying too much so we lost it. Husband and I still think of it as the one that got away.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

pedro47

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Question.. How does this resort look overall and are the resort ratings still very good ?
 

Saintsfanfl

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Question.. How does this resort look overall and are the resort ratings still very good ?

http://quarterhouse.com/

It is the only II Premier Resort in New Orleans. They allow small pets and smoking so if you are hyper sensitive to either it's probably not the best. The 1BR basic units with a $466 fee are very small while the lock-off and penthouse suites are extremely large. No two rooms are identical either in sq ft or in decorations. There are 111 units at the resort but 13 are lock-offs. All units are fixed weeks but week 9 floats with Mardi Gras.
 
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BigRedOne

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I have been an owner at Roark Resort in Branson since the mid 80’s and although our maintenance fees have gone up they have stayed very reasonable. This year’s fees are well below the $600 mark for a two bedroom. I don’t remember what we started out paying since initially they were part of our monthly mortgage payment and we also upgraded to the two bedroom but I don’t think they are anywhere close to double the 80’s fees. The HOA, however, has been really conservative and has kept the resort very well maintained and clean. Several of the management staff that was there in the 80’s is still at the resort. The resort doesn’t have some of the amenities that the newer resorts have but, hey, you’re in Branson.
 

Greg G

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Resort looked in good shape when we were there Feb 15-22 2013. The 2 bedroom unit we exchanged into (room 421) was in very good shape, nicely decorated, and looked to have been refurbished just recently. They had a really nice "Taste of New Orleans" dinner buffet one night and great breakfast buffet one morning. Staff was very helpful. So I'd say they're doing pretty good.
Not sure how much damage they had from Katrina as the FQ was much less affected than other areas from my understanding (anyone can correct me if I'm wrong).

Greg
 

Saintsfanfl

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Resort looked in good shape when we were there Feb 15-22 2013. The 2 bedroom unit we exchanged into (room 421) was in very good shape, nicely decorated, and looked to have been refurbished just recently. They had a really nice "Taste of New Orleans" dinner buffet one night and great breakfast buffet one morning. Staff was very helpful. So I'd say they're doing pretty good.
Not sure how much damage they had from Katrina as the FQ was much less affected than other areas from my understanding (anyone can correct me if I'm wrong).

Greg

Not much damage but they were closed for a couple months which was unavoidable due to the surrounding area.

"Updates on Hurricanes Katrina & Rita !!!
We would once again like to share with you information about the Quarter House Resort and how things are going at the Quarter House and around New Orleans since hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Quarter House came through both Katrina and Rita very well. We did not receive any damage from floodwaters. As you may already know, the Quarter House is located in the French Quarter, which was part of the original settlement founded some 350 years ago on some of the highest land in the city. The French Quarter was spared from some of the strongest winds and rains from the hurricanes, and the Quarter House did not rece4ive any catastrophic damage, meaning no roofs or walls were destroyed.

We have been successful in completing an enormous clean up effort thanks to all our staff members who were able to return shortly after Katrina. The staff within the resort is completing the clean up and repairs so we can move on to other projects that were underway before the hurricanes.

The Quarter House reopened October 7, 2005 to our owners and guests. The French Quarter is coming back very rapidly. Many businesses have reopened and are waiting for tourists. A list of restaurants and music clubs already opened and operating, are outlined for you on page 1 of this newsletter.

Come and celebrate with us a new beginning. New Orleans needs you. We are a people of great resilience with a great spirit of friendship and joyfull exuberance. We are ready to celebrate and we want you to share with us. We hope to see y'all soon."
 

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maintenance fees

I had this for many years (12) at my TS, Palm canyon resort in Palm Springs, and from time to time They reduced the fees until this location was bought out by Diamond Resorts. the Original was Monarch Grand Vacations. The increase has been approximatly 50%.
 

Saintsfanfl

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How does a timeshare get "bought out" by a management company? The owners are the ones who own the resort. Wouldn't they have to hire the management company?
 

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How does a timeshare get "bought out" by a management company? The owners are the ones who own the resort. Wouldn't they have to hire the management company?

I think what happens is that the first management company is in control of the board by virtue of the unsold intervals, foreclosed intervals, intervals in default and intervals personally owned by board members. So a change in management companies is an easy thing to accomplish.

I know management control of the board is complaint at WMowners.com At Worldmark the board is made up mostly of folks with ties to Wyndham, so there is never any consideration of hireing a different manager. I cant imagine the board at one of the Marriott resorts ever voting to change management companies either. But if thats what Wyndham wanted at Worldmark (or any of the various Wyndham resorts) or what Marriott wanted at one of their resorts, Im sure the board would do their bidding
 

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I own at the Quarter House - it's excellent

I own a 2-bedroom fixed week unit since 1998. It was the first timeshare I ever bought and did we ever luck out. I had recovered from a major health issue and we decided to buy it to 'make' us vacation more. It was still in development stage at that time and we bought a pre-construction unit. However, the difference between the QH and so many other resorts under development is that they only had a FINITE number of suites. No room to add more buildings in the French Quarter. Once all were sold, that was it. And that didn't take long.

How do they hold the line on maintenance fees? A number of reasons. They are extremely well managed. They maintain a resale office to move the returned units. New Orleans is one of the top year round locations in the world. They have a rental office and make good money renting units that are not currently owned AND all owners can request the QH to rent their weeks for them. It works. I haven't used them to rent my unit as I have easily rented my week on my own numerous times. I get great exchanges if I deposit it with any exchange company. They also have a exchange office where they work hard to handle owner requests in house.

Katrina was a bad event for the city. The QH was fortunate that their street is about the highest elevation in the French Quarter. Flooding stopped a block or so away. The QH suffered only wind and rain damage. They communicated with owners right after - and there first concern was to take care of their staff who were effected by the storm. Good people.

I believe that they still have not settled with the insurance company for storm damage. They don't want to settle for anything less than what they believe is due us. They manage their budgets very well. Many improvements have been done over the years I have owned. All the bathrooms have been redone, Lobby and courtyard upgraded. And a lot more.

It's a great place to own. My wife and I couldn't be happier (and luckier!)
 

ronparise

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I own a 2-bedroom fixed week unit since 1998. It was the first timeshare I ever bought and did we ever luck out. I had recovered from a major health issue and we decided to buy it to 'make' us vacation more. It was still in development stage at that time and we bought a pre-construction unit. However, the difference between the QH and so many other resorts under development is that they only had a FINITE number of suites. No room to add more buildings in the French Quarter. Once all were sold, that was it. And that didn't take long.

How do they hold the line on maintenance fees? A number of reasons. They are extremely well managed. They maintain a resale office to move the returned units. New Orleans is one of the top year round locations in the world. They have a rental office and make good money renting units that are not currently owned AND all owners can request the QH to rent their weeks for them. It works. I haven't used them to rent my unit as I have easily rented my week on my own numerous times. I get great exchanges if I deposit it with any exchange company. They also have a exchange office where they work hard to handle owner requests in house.

Katrina was a bad event for the city. The QH was fortunate that their street is about the highest elevation in the French Quarter. Flooding stopped a block or so away. The QH suffered only wind and rain damage. They communicated with owners right after - and there first concern was to take care of their staff who were effected by the storm. Good people.

I believe that they still have not settled with the insurance company for storm damage. They don't want to settle for anything less than what they believe is due us. They manage their budgets very well. Many improvements have been done over the years I have owned. All the bathrooms have been redone, Lobby and courtyard upgraded. And a lot more.

It's a great place to own. My wife and I couldn't be happier (and luckier!)

Norm

I was surprised to read here that the quarter house allows smoking in the rooms. is that the case? and if it is, does the place smell of stale smoke.
 

Saintsfanfl

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Perhaps I am wrong on the smoking being "allowed". I am basing it off of online reviews which some complain of the smoking being allowed. The units for sale on Redweek have the smoking flag as "no".
 

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Smoking

We have stayed 3 times at the Quarter House and I don't remember any smoking allowed inside the rooms. Now there where some folks by the pool and the small quart yard smoking.
 
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