[2007] Multiple Signs of Big Problems at Palace View/Spinnaker

[kcirbodmot]

There seems to be something rotten in Spinnaker's Denmark.

For one thing, the circumstances described in the thread titled, "Palace View, Branson - RCI Status" smell fishy. It seems nobody can come up with a positive plausible explanation. I'm no conspiracy wingnut, but even the most naive must admit Spinnaker has a great opportunity to tell all just how innocent a situation this is, yet they are strangely mute on the subject.

Then see my earlier post/thread regarding the pathetic customer service we received at Palace View this summer.

And yes, I realize one must take this with a grain of salt, but:
When we took the sales tour at Stormy Point, we had a pretty frank discussion with our sales rep. He had many years of TS sales experience, and we have almost 20 years of timesharing/exchanging experience (and 10 years' worth of TUG membership and research), so we chatted a lot about the state of things. The sales rep mentioned that Spinnaker's French Quarter, which was right next door to Stormy Point's sales floor, was "about to go under" and was scrambling like mad to boost sales. For what it's worth, every time we came in or out of the Palace View property - or even looked out the windows of our units, for that matter - one of those French Quarter sales vans was cruising through the area, presumably to pick up more suckers to go theough their sales pitch.

Of course, you can make up your own mind, but all in all we wouldn't touch ownership at a Spinnaker resort with a proverbial ten-foot pole. Suit yourself.

 

[JLB]

Well, shucks, every time me and the missus go into town, we see them timeshare husksters all over the place. Not to mention all of the full-ownership projects under way. I have listed all the huge projects going on several times, and commented how I would be amazed if there is enough (interest in investing in the area) to go around.

There's a bazillion places for outsiders to leave their money when they visit this area. I would guess all/most/many of them are just a failure of sales away from failing entirely.

None of them will succeed without sales, and it seems like just common sense that some of them will not have the sales they need to succeed. I have already commented on a few that seem obvious.

 

[dougp26364]

Going under? I think you're just ticked off because you had issues getting the room location as an exchanger that you wanted and you're into wishful thinking. French Quarter recently bought more land in order to further expand their resort. That's hardly going under IMO.

French Quarter also owns a second resort in Branson called Grand Regency at Thousand Hills. Now Grand Regency HAS had some serious financial issues and the story is somewhat convoluted but I'll try to lay it out as best I understand it.

The developer of Grand Regency essentially did go belly up. There was something of a bidding war for that property (if that story is to be believed) with French Quarter winning the bid. However, there were additional probems other than money. Land title, description and boundry's were not clear and they were disputed. It's takens quite a while to get it worked out.

Further compounding the problem is the persistant rumor that the two developers were father and son with the son disagreeing with pop and splitting his resort off on it's own. Problem was son didn't have the capital or buisness sense his father had and went under, leaving a rather big mess.

Back as French Quarter, the developer initially jumped into RCI points, only to decide it wasn't in his best interest. Only one building, building 2 is an RCI points building. All the rest are weeks units.

Grand Regency is an I.I. resort, Palace View is a dual affilitated resort and French Quarter is an RCI resort. RCI has really pushed the points program at what is preceived to be the expense of weeks owners. If Spinnaker has an issue with RCI and their weeks exchange program (or perhaps having their units rented out by RCI), I can see them switching affiliation. I can also see RCI in retaliation dumping their RCI status. It could be as simple as a disagreement between developer and exchange company and nothing more.

BTW, every tour we've taken in Branson has some other competing developer in financial straits. Most of the salesman in Branson seem to have worked for more than one local developer. What do you think they're saying about Sunterra's project now that it's been bought out by DRI? For that matter I've heard of "financial" difficulties of competing projects almost everywhere we've ever toured.

We know Palace View is not your favorite resort and I can understand why. If it were me I'd be upset as well but, I also understand that when I exchange into any resort, I'm not going to have any priority what-so-ever despite what my needs my be. Excepting of course those that require a handicap unit. Then it seems to me that they'd have to comply with that request.

Don't let it get personal with Spinnaker. I don't believe they're going under and I don't believe you're going to ever get something out of them saying what and/or why Palace View and RCI seem to be on the outs. A Festiva salesmans statement from a resort trying to sell you a timeshare is the LAST place you should get any information that you think is believable.

but hey, most of what I've been able to put together is more or less rumor and word of mouth that I can't independantly confirm. So I wouldn' take anything I've written as gospel but, I'm pretty certain it's a bit closer to the mark than a Festive TS salesman

 

[kcirbodmot]

I knew without a doubt you 2 guys would be incapable of letting this pass without posting lengthy responses explaining your personal disagreement, but that's the nice thing - people can make up their own minds based on the evidence. What evidence I see, I use to form my own opinion.

And, having owned at one resort that did "go under", I am speaking from the heart when I say that I feel for Palace View owners, but there's no way anybody could pay me to get involved with a property showing such signs. As I said, suit yourself.

 

[dougp26364]

It's not that I don't understand that you're upset with Palace View and I tend to agree that you were not treated as well as one would hope in your situation with a special needs child. It's just posting an unfounded rumor about one of the better resorts in Branson based on what a Festiva salesman told you is hardly responsible reporting IMO.

There apparently is something going on with Palace View and RCI if the one and only post about RCI's information from one of the VC's is correct but, we ALL know just how accurate RCI VC's can be with their information. Maybe just a little more accurate than a competing timeshare salesman's information (IOW, not very accurate).

Since we've heard very little about this other than that one post and since RCI still lists Palace View as a Gold Crown resort in their online directory, any rumor of financial difficulties must be taken with a grain of salt for now. You're having an axe to grind with them and the fact your information is essentially unfounded rumor at this point doesn't help your case.

 

[JLB]

My reply was neither lengthy nor critical.

Guess you just lumped me in with Doug, who is probably right on but said too much for my ADD.

Succinctly, it would appear that you have found a horse you like to ride, since, as I tried to point out, there a bazillion similar projects going on here that could have received similar comments.

But, I will be on guard for the imminent demise of Spinnaker.

 

[JLB]

Oh, Hi Doug.

Guess we're on the same schedule today.

Morning necessities.
Coffee.
More morning necessities.
More coffee.
Defend ourselves on TUG.

 

[dougp26364]

Oh, Hi Doug.

Guess we're on the same schedule today.

Morning necessities.
Coffee.
More morning necessities.
More coffee.
Defend ourselves on TUG.

You know how it is with to much free time on my hands. Coffee, a couple of ill advised donuts and now I've been out to get my hair cut, eat lunch and look at flat panel LCD TV's.

I'm very proud of myself since I resisted the tempation of spending $2,000 on a TV, instilation and other additions only because it would be around $56/month for 36 months on interest free financing.

Maybe there is hope for me yet.

Oh yea, and I didn't take a TS tour and buy from the developer (again) while we were out in/around Denver. I did LOOK at the Worldmark location in Estes Park but didn't try to find a tour. The therapy MUST be starting to work.

 

[JLB]

Ooh, my ears are burning, Doug. How about yours?

 

[JLB]

If there are any Palace View owners who have become alarmed at this recent spate, and would like for me to drive by every couple of weeks and see if it is still there, I'd be glad to. Or anything else I can do to calm whatever fears might have be raised . . .

 

[dougp26364]

Ooh, my ears are burning, Doug. How about yours?

My ears are always burning. But I guess that's just because of my wonderful personality and the fact that I'm loved by one and all......or maybe not.

In the FWIW column, we have ownerships at both French Quarter and Grand Regency resorts. There are no signs of financial hardship other than the relatvively slow developement of the resorts. But slower developement in Branson vs locations such as Vegas and Orlando seems to be pretty normal. For instance, Horizon's by Marriott has only had buildings 1 & 6 up for what seems to be an eternity to me. They have finally started building a third building, which I belive is building 2. Reports have been that Marriott has reduced it's sales force and it's presence in Branson considerably from what it started out being. Yet no one questions whether Marriott is in financial straights. Well, except for competing TS salesmen I'm sure.

Now Grand Regency gives a person reason to pause when thinking about it. There are two buildings up, developer ownership was in question for some time, the pool has been promised for at least two years now but all that is there are color coded stakes (I suppose one could pretend to be swimming or put lounge chairs by where the pool is suppose to be) and there had been no sign of life as far as addtional developement for many years now. Since I purchased resale I'm not to worried about it but if I would have bought retail from the developer based on promised developement I'd by hopping mad and concerned about the financial position of this resort. There is a loose tie in with Spinnaker at Grand Regency so I guess you could look at that as evidence that Spinnaker is not on as firm of footing as other developers in Branson. But then you have to go back to my previous paragraph and read about Marriott's extremely slow pace in developing their Horizon's project. While they at least put in the pool and club house their progress isn't a lot faster than Grand Regency's.

We will be checking into Palace View South in another couple of months. I'll get to see first hand how good/bad the resort is. I'm not looking forward to hearing footsteps above my head. On the other hand, it can't be much worse than what we experienced at Westgate Branson Woods. No insulation (bad timing on my part being there in July), room was given to another couple as well as us (thank God their key didn't work but that didn't keep her from trying and trying and trying some more to open our door) and having our camera stolen off our dining room table while we were out in Mansfield, MO touring the Engles/Wilder farm and museum. If it's just the noise we have to deal with we'll be reasonably happy compared to how things went at Westgate Branson Woods.

Hey, what ever happened to that Disney amuesment park that TS salesmen have been telling people is going to be announced any day (year, decade) now? Just one more example of TS salesmens ability to make stuff up with hopes of closing a sale. We heard that rumor repeated as little as a year ago come this November.

 

[falcon]

If there are any Palace View owners who have become alarmed at this recent spate, and would like for me to drive by every couple of weeks and see if it is still there, I'd be glad to. Or anything else I can do to calm whatever fears might have be raised . . .

This is a very old thread but I am having concerns about palace view Spinnaker. They first did not allow deedbacks. Then they had a secret program that they didn't advertise. They offered to deedback for $500 and when I didn't jump on that offer, they were willing to very easily waive that fee for me. Which leads me to believe that something is indeed rotten in Denmark! Why do they all of a sudden want back a very useless deed?

 

[bnoble]

Apparently they do not think it is useless. My guess: they think they are able to recycle the inventory into new sales.

 

[dougp26364]

Hmmmm, I guess I need to make a phone call and ask about this secrete deed back program. I’d love to deed back our French Quarter Resort week in Branson if they’ll take it.

There are a few resort groups that prefer to take deed backs for sales inventory bs building anything new. It’s an easy way to churn old inventory for new profits without the expense of acquiring land and building new resorts. It’s not so much a sign of financial instability as an easy way to churn profits without the expense of building something new.