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Westin St John Master Thread - Part 3 [Dec. 2017 and forward]

DavidnRobin

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I will look at mine again when I get home and PM you the info. I don't remember if it has a specific code on the letter for each owner.

It does have a specific code for each ownership. You need to contact VSE/WSJ VGV HOA.


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SandyPGravel

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Yes you will need to call. The letter has a specific member Id & pw. Sorry I couldn't help more.

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SandyPGravel

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Received today:

February 2018

Dear Fellow Virgin Grand Villas Owner:

We recently participated as your representatives in a special conference call meeting of the Board of Directors that was convened to approve the construction contract with Cotton International Inc., the company that has been working to clear the debris at the resort and that will repair the damage to our buildings and to the resort’s common areas.

As you know, Hurricane Irma brought the greatest damage that St. John has suffered in many decades, causing enormous destruction on the island, which is still limping back. Tourism remains at a very low level. Each airline has only one flight a day to St. Thomas, and transportation and communication to and from St. John remains limited. A few restaurants have opened in Cruz Bay, but Caneel Bay remains closed indefinitely, and much of the island’s infrastructure remains to be rebuilt.

As you know, our resort was badly damaged. We did not have roofs blown off as Sunset Bay did, but most or all units and their contents suffered water damage. In nearly every unit, drywall and wet contents have been removed and will be replaced.

Fortunately, the Westin St. John, and all the Vistana properties affected by the hurricane, had a very substantial property insurance policy, with a 5% deductible, and our condominium association has for many years been laying away money in a special hurricane contingency fund. That fund currently has about $2 million in it, and of course our Association has additional reserves as well. The maximum deductible amount that we would have to pay for reconstruction of the Virgin Grand property is $2.34 million (5% of the $46.7 million total insured value of the Virgin Grand buildings), but management assures us that most likely the amount will be less than that. In addition to what we will have to pay for work on our own buildings, we will have to pay our share of the deductible portion of the cost for repair of certain common areas, such as landscaping, the pool and pool pumps, and the tennis courts. The final amount cannot be determined until later in the reconstruction process, but because of the funds we have reserved, we do not anticipate the need for a special assessment. We will, of course, have to rebuild the hurricane contingency fund because of the possibility of storms in the future.

After reviewing the contract with Cotton, the Board unanimously approved it, as did the boards of the three other condominium associations on the property of the resort.

All four boards have also retained environmental consultants to inspect the buildings, both before and after reconstruction, to detect mold and assure that the buildings will be safe for occupancy. Our consultant is Environmental Analytics, a reputable firm based in Tucson, Arizona. The firm will inspect every unit and take and analyze samples. Cotton has committed to following its recommendations or, if it disagrees with a particular recommendation, to report the disagreement to our Board of Directors for such action as the Board wishes to take. The resort remains on schedule to reopen in January 2019, and Vistana is accepting owners’ reservations of their units for weeks beginning January 4, 2019.

The next meeting of the Board will take place following the Annual Meeting on March 5 in Orlando.
Philip G. Schrag
phil.schrag@gmail.com
Robert H. Werbel
robert.werbel@yahoo.com
 

cubigbird

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Not a peep from Sunset Bay. Has anyone seen or heard or seen any updates? Who would I contact and how would I obtain such contact info? It is not known whether they also self insured that deductible. It would be nice to know more of what is going on and get an owner report.
 

Helios

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I haven't heard anything from SB.
 

Jayco29D

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I agree. I also believe it depends on the WSJ Phase and the individual situations of the Owners.

WSJ will be closed for 2018 (and has been since Sept) - and Caneel is destroyed. That is a lot of people that are not going to StJ until 2019. This situation will eventually change - but I would suspect that this will not be quick enough for some.

I predict that VSE will end up with a lot of forfeited VOIs over next few years. (I have good record on predictions...). IMO YMMV

I am so sad to hear Caneel Bay has been destroyed. We stayed there for 8 nights in 2011 and it was one of my most favorite places in the world, up there with French Polynesia and Istanbul.
 

SandyPGravel

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I threw mine out! Without opening it. Darn. Maybe we can vote online as well ???

Check your email, I just received a voting reminder email with all the pertinent information included for voting. :banana:
 

DavidnRobin

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Here are the VGV Candidates' profiles...
(Good to see that there are no VSE Reps. I wonder if VSE will use their votes? They did not when Bob and Phil were elected, and they have vote control over the HOA.)

Marilyn R. Barke
Mari and her husband have been owners at Virgin Grand Villas - St John for over 15 years. In addition to their two weeks of ownership at The Virgin Grand, they also own at Princeville, HI and Desert Willow, CA. Mari is passionate about travel with St. John as her favorite destination. Strong Board leadership will help maintain this slice of paradise for everyone to enjoy into the future. Mari would welcome the opportunity to be an advocate for the owners as a representative on the Board.

Mari Barke earned an undergraduate Finance degree graduating Cum Laude from California State University Northridge. In addition she holds several Finance and Insurance designations including:
ChFC - Chartered Financial Consultant
CLU - Certified Life Underwriter
CPCU - Casualty Property Commercial Underwriter CIC - Certified Insurance Counselor

She oversaw a $30 million commercial territory for The Hartford Insurance Company after spending over 5 years as an Underwriter with The Travelers Insurance Company. She also served 20 years as President for a multimillion dollar retail business overseeing the day to day operations including sales, purchasing, accounting, human resources and finances.

She has managed both large and small teams in business and truly enjoys being a team player as well as helping others succeed by being a mentor and leader. Her extensive board of directors experience on non-profits and community chambers will help her effectiveness in advocating on behalf of the owners of The Virgin Grand Villas.

Since she has recently become an empty nester and has retired from business. She is looking forward to spending more time using her Vistana properties and helping to maintain and improve the experience for other owners.

Laurence J. Pelletier
Larry Pelletier is a commercial real estate investor, owner and operator based in Boston. Larry has over 30 years of hands-on experience with a variety of commercial property types around the United States including a fractional-share resort development where he served as the owner’s representative to the condominium association board of directors. He has been an owner at the Westin since 2006 and intends to retain his ownership for future generations. He currently owns a one-week share in a 2-bedroom hillside villa and uses it with his family every year, including part of his stay on the island in 2015 when he was married on Trunk Bay! Larry is most passionate about the integration and compatibility of our existing condominium association with the three new associations created from the conversion of the remaining hotel rooms at the resort. In addition, with last year’s damage to the resort from the hurricanes, he intends to be hyper-focused on future contingency plans and the strength of the operating and reserve budgets towards the goal of normalizing annual fees and minimizing potential special assessments. He would like to see our resort continue being a coveted destination and will strive to keep the quality of reporting and guidance that Philip Schrag and Robert Werbel have shown over these past years. Larry holds a BS degree in Accountancy, a MS degree in Finance and will complete the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Financial Planning from Bentley University in May 2018.

Michael P. Ranauto
Michael Ranauto is currently the Director of Compliance Program Management and Corporate Secretary at Barclays Bank Delaware, the US-based retail banking subsidiary of Barclays. Previously, he served as the Vice President of Internal Audit at MBNA America, and also worked for the CIGNA Corporation as well as Dun & Bradstreet. He has over 29 years of accounting, compliance and internal audit experience (including 17 years supporting the Board of Directors for his current company) and hopes to be able to pass on to the Virgin Grand Board much of the knowledge that he has acquired. Michael has an undergraduate Accounting degree and an MBA in Finance from the University of Delaware, and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of Delaware. He and his wife Beth have been Vistana owners since 2006, including Virgin Grand and Coral Vista in St. John. Michael would like to help the Board meet the needs of the owners that it serves by providing clear and complete information about their ownership, as well as keeping maintenance costs at a reasonable level over time and ensuring that there is no degradation of quality at the resort given recent catastrophic events and corporate changes.

Edward C. Watson
Edward Watson is Vice President and Chief Audit Executive at PHH Corporation, a publicly traded mortgage company headquartered in Mount Laurel, NJ. Mr. Watson, a CPA, has over 30 years experience in senior financial and risk management roles in the financial services/mortgage banking industry.

Mr. Watson has owned a two bedroom villa since 2004 and he and his family regularly visit the resort. His skills as a CPA would provide the Board financial expertise, while his experience in real estate finance would provide additional value. If elected, Mr. Watson would strive to ensure that villas and common areas continue to be appropriately maintained and updated in order to provide owners with an optimal vacation experience while also protecting the value of their investments. At the same time he would work to ensure that operating and capital costs are smartly managed in order to keep maintenance and assessment fees at reasonable levels.
 
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okwiater

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Reminder that the deadline to vote for Mr. Pelletier and/or your other representative of choice is 6:00pm EST TONIGHT!
 

bobpark56

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[This new WSJ Master Thread (#3) covers December 2017 and forward]

Here is link to original WSJ Master Thread #1 (pre-June 2014):
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111510

Here is link to original WSJ Master Thread #2 (June 2014 to November 2017):
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...r-thread-part-2-june-2014-and-forward.213071/

OK - as mentioned in the previous WSJ thread (#2) - time for Part 3!
Amazing that WSJ Threads Part 1 and 2 are not the only the most viewed threads in the Vistana Forum, but also for TUG overall when combined (>400K views with >4000 replies).

This thread will cover WSJ-VGV (Hillside), WSJ-BV, WSJ-CV, and the new WSJ-SB - as well as info related to St John and surrounding area.

If you own WSJ, plan on buying WSJ, visiting WSJ, or a StJ lover - please participate with info you may want to share, or stuff you may want to discover. Be sure to tell others that may be interested in this great resort and spectacular island.

Enjoy!
David (DavidnRobin)
Why cover just the Hillside portion of Virgin Grand Villas? Some of us are Pool Villa owners.
 

SandyPGravel

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I don't think he was excluding the pool villa owners. VGV has been referred to as Hillside in VSE publications i.e. the SO charts in the past.
 

DavidnRobin

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VGV has been referred to as Hillside for years...
You just noticed this?

It was probably easier than ‘across the road’ LOL



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SandyPGravel

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Can anyone share what the approx property tax is on a VGV studio in Plat+ season?
 

sachia007

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Can anyone share what the approx property tax is on a VGV studio in Plat+ season?
Hi,

It is exactly $156.18. We own in bldg. 33. I'm hoping a plat. + studio villa in VGV taxes are the same price no matter what season or location (bldg. 31 and 32 vs. 33/34), but I have no idea.

Does anyone know the answer?
 

SandyPGravel

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Hi,

It is exactly $156.18. We own in bldg. 33. I'm hoping a plat. + studio villa in VGV taxes are the same price no matter what season or location (bldg. 31 and 32 vs. 33/34), but I have no idea.

Does anyone know the answer?

Thanx for the info.

The season does matter. My Plat + 2 BR townhouse taxes ($280-ish) are almost twice what the low season is.
 

DavidnRobin

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Taxes are part of MF thread.
Our VGV 2 Bd TH Gold+ (June) is ~$155
plus that wonderful $175/wk USVI corruption fee


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okwiater

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Doesn't Hawaii basically do the same thing?

Similar, but the fee is based on unit size and a 2-bedroom is only around $17/night (IIRC). That compares well to a WSJ 3-bedroom at $25/night, but DnR's beef has been that the fee is applied irrespective of unit size.

Not sure I would go so far as to call it a "corruption" fee, though.
 

DavidnRobin

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I have 2 ‘beefs’ - the unit size, and that we already pay a disproportionately high property tax (not unlike Maui).

The ‘corruption’ fee was meant because it was/is the corruption (and incompetence) by the USVI Gov’t that lead to this fee in the first place
(Search what caused the USVI to be in financial troubles in 1st place - too long to post).

I predict this fee will not survive the challenge in court due to the ‘environmental ‘ fee being charged equally regardless of unit occupancy.

We will also see impact on HOAs as studios start to bail due to major increase in vacation costs. And the potential for increasing MFs and SAs.

Maui’s fee is also BS (along with their unfair PropTax) - one doesn’t make the other right.

Go ahead and defend and normalize.... seems to be the way nowadays.


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canesfan

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When I was talking to a Vistana rep this weekend she said the 2019 reservations didn’t have the $25/night fee warnings on it. We both wondered if they dropped it after the hurricanes.


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SandyPGravel

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When I was talking to a Vistana rep this weekend she said the 2019 reservations didn’t have the $25/night fee warnings on it. We both wondered if they dropped it after the hurricanes.


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Mine does. I was able to confirm my week 9 2019 rez this week.

THE WESTIN ST. JOHN RESORT VILLAS
SAINT JOHN, US VIRGIN ISLANDS

Check-in Date: Fri, March 1, 2019

Check-out Date: Fri, March 8, 2019, (7 nights)

Villa Type: 2 Bedroom Villa , Virgin Grand Twnhse

A $25.00 per night occupancy fee applies to this reservation.

Guest Name:

Reservation Type: Home Resort Reservation
 
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okwiater

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I have 2 ‘beefs’ - the unit size, and that we already pay a disproportionately high property tax (not unlike Maui).

The ‘corruption’ fee was meant because it was/is the corruption (and incompetence) by the USVI Gov’t that lead to this fee in the first place
(Search what caused the USVI to be in financial troubles in 1st place - too long to post).

I predict this fee will not survive the challenge in court due to the ‘environmental ‘ fee being charged equally regardless of unit occupancy.

We will also see impact on HOAs as studios start to bail due to major increase in vacation costs. And the potential for increasing MFs and SAs.

Maui’s fee is also BS (along with their unfair PropTax) - one doesn’t make the other right.

Go ahead and defend and normalize.... seems to be the way nowadays.


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I agree with everything you're saying, except for the characterization that it is a "corruption" fee. The territory's financial woes are certainly extensive -- and may even be due in part to corruption -- but this fee is not tied to such corruption in any significant way. It was implemented along with many other revenue measures in an attempt to shore up the territory's finances. And many of those financial challenges are due to economic realities rather than corruption.

But the main takeaway that I certainly agree with is that to the extent a locale wants to tax a timeshare, it should be done through the property tax mechanism rather than through arbitrary usage fees, especially when timeshares are already their own class of property.
 

DavidnRobin

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Sorry - I thought IMO (and experience) was applied to my posts.


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canesfan

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Mine does. I was able to confirm my week 9 2019 rez this week.

THE WESTIN ST. JOHN RESORT VILLAS
SAINT JOHN, US VIRGIN ISLANDS

Check-in Date: Fri, March 1, 2019

Check-out Date: Fri, March 8, 2019, (7 nights)

Villa Type: 2 Bedroom Villa , Virgin Grand Twnhse

A $25.00 per night occupancy fee applies to this reservation.

Guest Name:

Reservation Type: Home Resort Reservation

Guess she was wrong :( Hopefully they will rethink that considering how much they have been pushing tourism to return to the USVI.


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