[2008] New Construction at Cypress Pointe

[svwoude]

How about A.L.I.C.E. ?

You know, All Laundry Items Cleaned Excellently.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Then the 2 of them together could be called the Honeymooner's.

I guess I am showing my age.
Steve

 

[Stu]

Gaston's midweek update photos!

With the exception of the picnic area concrete (oops!), things are proceeding nicely and beginning to take recognizable shapes. Here are GM Gaston's latest pics.

http://www.cypresspointe.net/Graphics/061808/Cafe0601808.htm

Best regards,
Stu Schwartz

 

[Stu]

Cypress Pointe Resort Business Center

First off, sorry no pictures this time!

There is now a Business Center open in the CPR Clubhouse. All owners, guests and exchangers may use the PC, Printer and FAX. Those who've signed up for the CPR (not CPGV) internet service will now be able to use remote printing from the in-room WiFi to the Business Center printer. Remote printing with WiFi is NOT currently available at Cypress Pointe Grande Villas.

The site of the Business Center may move to a different permanent location within the Clubhouse after the Cafe Pointe and Gift Pointe construction is completed.

Best regards,
Stu Schwartz

 

[AwayWeGo]

Cypress Pointe Just Keeps Getting Better & Better.

There is now a Business Center open in the CPR Clubhouse. All owners, guests and exchangers may use the PC, Printer and FAX.

Outstanding. Thanks, Stu.

The resort just keeps on improving, thanks to the oversight & efforts of you & John & Chris & Don & Gaston & the whole gang.

Keep it up. We owners appreciate it very much.

Thanks again.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Stu]

More progress and more photos...

Check out this week's progress:

http://cypresspointe.net/Graphics/062908/Cafe0602908.htm

Best regards,
Stu Schwartz

 

[JT62]

Hello,

We'll be art CPGV's in mid July........will the construction be a big bother?

We are checking in July 19.

Thanks for any info you can give me

JT

 

[timeos2]

Hello,

We'll be art CPGV's in mid July........will the construction be a big bother?

We are checking in July 19.

Thanks for any info you can give me

JT

While there are 4 construction projects underway, spread out over the two resorts, all are on the edges of the properties or in a confined area away from the units in the case of the Cafe. There should be minimal impact on your stay.

 

[AwayWeGo]

They Do A Good Job Of Minimizing Construction Impact On Guests.

will the construction be a big bother?

We stayed a week at Phase One when they had major serious roof construction going on in October 2006.

Even that involved no serious inconvenience -- just a few pieces of equipment & some 18-wheeler-size storage containers here & there in various far corners of the parking lots.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[timeos2]

CPGV Posts updates on tennis court/laundry construction

The Cypress Pointe Grande Villas web site has some updated photos of the new tennis court area and the laundry building construction. Click on the photos to see a slightly larger view.

 

[Stu]

More concrete improvements!

Today's pics show the concrete for the professional shuffleboard courts being poured and leveled, as well as the fencing for the new tennis courts. Much more to come, just keep checking this thread.

http://cypresspointe.net/Graphics/070208/Cafe070208.htm

Best regards,
Stu Schwartz

 

[Stu]

Things are beginning to take shape at the recreation area

Here are this week's construction progress photos:

http://cypresspointe.net/Graphics/071208/Cafe071208.htm

Best regards,

Stu Schwartz

 

[pedro47]

Will are the new projects be completed by Feb 2009.

 

[timeos2]

2009 is a quiet year

Will are the new projects be completed by Feb 2009.

Barring any more permitting delays all the projects at CPR should be completed before year end. For 2009 there is nothing big planned - just the regular ongoing maintenance and upkeep. The CPGV projects are really just getting started as they just had the special assessment to fund it all. I would assume that will be ongoing for at least a couple years, although I haven't seen any actual plan or timetable.

The next big project at CPR will be in 2010 when the next full unit renovation will begin.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Outstanding Resort Management -- I Could Use Some Of That Right Here.

What would it take to persuade the CP1 HOA-BOD to come up to Virginia & take over maintenance & renovations at my house ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[pedro47]

Question ? What would it take to persuade the CPY1 HOA - BOD to come to Virginia and take over the Greensprings and the Powhatan Resorts ?

 

[timeos2]

Question ? What would it take to persuade the CPY1 HOA - BOD to come to Virginia and take over the Greensprings and the Powhatan Resorts ?

Sunterra's (now Diamond's) worst nightmare I'd guess!

 

[luv2vacation]

What a shame - we stayed at Greensprings Easter 2007. I really liked it there.

I own at Royal Dunes, also a Sunterra resort, but I don't think they became part of Diamond. That resort, luckily, used a local HHI management company, even when owned by Sunterra. They also seem to have a very good HOA.

 

[Stu]

Recreation area nearer completion; latest pics

From Prez John Chase:

"The final finishes on the court surfaces are scheduled to be done
within the week. Meanwhile the landscaping is looking great!"

From GM Gaston, the pics:

http://cypresspointe.net/Graphics/072008/Cafe072008.htm

Best regards,

Stu Schwartz


P.S. I look forward to seeing any owners who'll be able to make this weekend's Fri @ 1 PM Budget Meeting or Sat @ 9 AM Board meeting. (The meetings will be held off-site at the nearby Central Florida Hotel & Motel Aass'n located at 7380 Sand Lake Rd - Suite 300, Orlando, FL. I'm hoping there'll be a construction sites tour sometime on Fri or Sat so we can see the progress to the new Cafe Pointe and the new recreation area in person.

 

[pedro47]

Mr. Pres. can you recommend to Diamond Resort International to have a meeting for Resort Managers only to discuss best practices on running a timeshare resort? Thanks

 

[AwayWeGo]

V. R. I.

Mr. Pres. can you recommend to Diamond Resort International to have a meeting for Resort Managers only to discuss best practices on running a timeshare resort?

It's not that Diamond & the other timeshare companies don't know good resort management practices or don't care. It's more that timeshare companies across the board have different interests & motivations from those of owner-controlled & independently managed timeshare resorts.

Diamond is in business to make big bux for the benefit of whoever owns the company -- either Mr. Diamond personally or all the various stockholders in Diamond Timeshare Co. That means Job 1 is Sell Timeshares. Job 2 is also Sell Timeshares. Ditto Job 3 & Job 4 & so on & so forth right on down the line.

While the timeshare company is calling the shots with Selling Timeshares as the main goal, they also have to operate the timeshares -- but only just well enough to keep people from complaining, & also as cheaply as possible so that the maintenance fee amounts won't scare off the customers.

Who cares if the Reserve Fund has enough money in it? By the time Reserve Fund money is needed for scheduled renovations, etc., resort management will be somebody else's problem.

By contrast, independent owner-controlled timeshare resorts are in business to provide a quality resort-interval ownership experience to each owner at the resort, & to do so as economically & efficiently as they are able to manage, seeing to it that every dollar due is collected & that every dollar spent returns value to the regular, walking-around timeshare-week owners.

Those 2 aims are not mutually exclusive, but they don't overlap 100%, either.

I hear some timeshare companies run their own resort management operations, either as corporate divisions or as wholly owned subsidiaries. Plus, there are professional timeshare resort management companies out there that work under contract to independent owner-controlled HOA-BODs.

Both Cypress Pointe timeshares -- Phase One & Phase Two -- are out from under resort management companies run by timeshare companies & both have resort operation & management contracts with VRI (Vacation Resorts International), an independent resort management company that's been doing a good job at both phases for as long as I've had any connection with Cypress Pointe.

Full Disclosure -- I am not the prez. I'm just a regular walking around doofus who's owned resale units at various Cypress Pointe phases since 2002.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[timeos2]

Free courses in management?

Mr. Pres. can you recommend to Diamond Resort International to have a meeting for Resort Managers only to discuss best practices on running a timeshare resort? Thanks

Alan covered it rather well. Our history with developer based management resulted in the disaster we suffered through back in 2000-2001.

At the time we had the management firm supplying the manager for the resort. He/she was employed by the management, not the resort. The result was a never ending turnover with, as I recall, the longest term being 18 months - most lasted 6-9 months. Needless to say there was no continuity and we were always "training" a new manager. They always had the excuse that they hadn't had time to get things right. Some were most likely highly qualified but they never really had a chance.

When we changed management in September 2001 the first thing we did was to make the manager our employee. We stopped sharing the position with CPGV. We hired Gaston Correa that October and to this day he is in that spot. It was one of the key moves that turned the resort around. His loyalty is to the resort/Association and he is not afraid to butt heads with our very qualified and well performing independent management firm (VRI). But as an independent resort whats best for us may not be best for VRI. Not our problem. And its (so far) never been a problem. We (the Association/Board) run the show. VRI suggests things but we are under no obligation to do it their way.

So I have no doubt that Diamond still has qualified resort managers - some highly regarded - but they have kept them as Diamond employees. You can guess where the number one loyalty lies. I can't blame them - satisfy whoever writes your check. I doubt they need training on resort operations. But they may not have the free hand we grant our manager to operate things his way with our oversight. While we're happy to share his expertise I don't expect that they would welcome that offer.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Corn Pone Opinions.

I can't blame them - satisfy whoever writes your check.

Or as Mark Twain put it, Show Me Where A Man Gets His Corn Pone & I'll Tell You What His 'Pinions Is.

We hired Gaston Correa that October and to this day he is in that spot.

I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Correa face to face once or twice, & even had a memorable sit-down conversation with him in his office when Cypress Pointe Phase One was re-doing the main lobby & check-in area of the clubhouse. Gaston was specially proud of the polished granite he had picked out, & he showed me a sample in his office. (Oddly, I have not [yet] met John Chase face to face.)

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Stu]

Big August Update on Rec area, Cafe and Clubhouse!

OK, management has been busy on many things as you may have read elsewhere, but it's been about 2 weeks and we now have, courtesy of GM Gaston, new progress photos of the Recreation area, the Cafe and the Clubhouse.

With new permits now in place, the Cafe is really progressing now.

And I do mean LOTS of photos, so please be patient and allow time for this link to fully load!

http://cypresspointe.net/Graphics/081608/Cafe081608.htm


Yours for exellence at Cypress Pointe Resort at Lake Buena Vista,

Stu Schwartz

 

[pedro47]

Exellence update!!! You have an outstanding Resort Mgr at CYP I.

Will see you in Feb 09.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Storm Warning.

Cypress Pointe is getting ready for some heavy weather.

Check out these pictures (posted at the resort's web site).

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​