[2008] Festiva is now managing my resort, how bad is it going to get?

[Kozman]

Festiva

Festiva is involved at Peppertree Atlantic Beach as well. I too was invited to a high pressure sales (informational) pitch for Festiva points. Basically, they said if I got into points my maintenance fees would be reduced about $100 per year and if I didn't my fees on my fixed week would go up at least 10% per year. How they would know that without justification is beyond me. Perhaps they have figured out a way to have fixed week folks to subsidize the points people? They also said they were going to add new buildings that would be gold crown standard....big screen, granite counters, etc. I basically told them I had NO interest and the salesman was rather rude and said obviously he had failed in his job since he didn't convince me of the merits of converting. I do not have a good feeling about this whole adventure.

 

[tombo]

If you search Festiva through the TUG threads I don't believe you will find a single positive Festiva post other than the one by the employee. It is a shame to own at a sold out resort and have a group like Festiva come in with threats of higher MF's if you don't swap to points for 1000's of dollars. I bought a fixed week, I like my week, and I wouldn't swap it for points if they paid me. They either are low on capitol or poor resort managers because everywhere they go they have to raise the costs of owning. Who knows if Festiva and their vacation club will even exist in the next few years. They have only been in existence for a few years and seem to be amassing a lot of hate mail in a short period of time.Poor mgt and poor customer service will kill any business. Out of all the timeshare salespeople I have dealt with, the lady at BRV was by far the rudest. She actually called me and yelled at me because my wife refused to come to the sales presentation which I was told was an owners meeting detailing the changes at the resort. Hopefully Festiva will go broke and have to sell out to a company that cares about the owners.

 

[rickandcindy23]

This is very worrisome. If Peppertree owned the amenities, then I guess they can "sell" them to Festiva. It looks like this resort owners need to get organized and amass votes and hire a lawyer and see what you really own. This is a scary thing, having this developer step in without owners' consent.

The deeds/ documents for your resort, like by-laws and covenants, that paperwork, should have information as to who owns what. If the amenities belong to the owners, then this company has no right to come into the resort and force people out. Makes me so mad.

You have a right as owners to ask for a full owners' list. This might be your fight to start, Tombo. Perhaps others will join in on the expense of a mailing or phoning owners.

 

[tombo]

We supposedly have a lawyer hired by the board to make sure that the amenities and common areas are ours. To secure that will be a big plus. I just can't see how they can buy a sold out resort and end up with 80% of the vote. I also don't know how they got so many Festiva employees on the 2 boards (phase one and phase 2) in less than 1 year.

This is a great (older) resort that was never built or designed to have high dollar flashy amenities. It is rustic by design. Replacing furniture and repainting every few years is needed to maintain the units, granite counter tops are not and simply add to the wow factor when taking the uneducated on a tour of the rooms. They will say that all units are being renovated to look like the model units they will show and we will pay for the renovations so they can sell more points for higher prices.

Festiva is being sued on St Maarten (the atrium) for allegedly adding an assesment equal to one years MF's and increasing MF's by 10% as soon as they obtained control against the majority of owner's wishes. Church Street Inn in Charleston had huge MF increases as soon as festiva took over. Festiva appears to make money from managing and renovating resorts on top of the money they make off of selling units they get from running owners off by using assessments and high MF's.It appears to be Festiva's game plan at all resorts they acquire. We need to find out how several resorts which were purchased by Festiva are somehow managed by companies other than Festiva. If we can get that done at BRV everything should be fine, if not Festiva might run a lot of owners off on their way to getting the resort renovated to their standards at our expense.

All of these problems plus they are going to build something like 80 new cabins on undeveloped land and put in an outdoor pool at a mountain resort with an altitude of 4100 feet. An outdoor pool might be swimmable for 2 months a year. The rest of the time the new people will get access to our indoor pool if Festiva has their way. Adding all those people to our pool, tennis courts, and lake for fishing and paddle boats will crowd up our amenities that weren't crowded before.

You would think a sold out resort would be free from the developers, but Festiva has somehow found a way to mess things up

 

[somerville]

Your board may want to consult with the boards of Outer Banks Beach Club. OBBC was able to get a new management company in the resort after Fairfield acquired Equivest/Peppertree. SPM is the management company. OBBC had to sue Equivest and Fairfield to obtain title to some of its common properties and to force the issue over who had the right to vote in elections, where title was held in the name of an individual owner, but beneficial interests were assigned to Equivest.

 

[JLB]

I had not known that an official Festiva comment had been made here, until someone PMed me. You have to take things posted on the Internet with a grain of salt, to look beyond the words and try to ascertain the motive.

All it does is muddy the water, as it contradicts what an actual active employee at Stormy Point has posted on the Branson forum. If I was an owner, and read both, I would certainly not feel comfortable.

It also seems to be pointing a legal finger at Summerwinds, suggesting it is them who has gotten in trouble with the MO AG, since they were supposedly selling for Festiva the last five years.

All those links are provided in this thread, so everyone can review it themselves.

I have already said my 2 cents, which is information I have garnered from people who have had contact with Festiva since they came to town, primarily existing owners when they took over Cabins, and they say they have not been treated well by Festiva. When they have gone to their own resort in their own weeks they have been high pressured by salespeople to fork over large sums of money just to be able to keep doing what they were previously doing.

In this day and age you cannot treat people poorly in business and have it not become well known.

It is stuff like this that puts a black eye on timesharing with the general public. They don't care who did what . . . they just know to stay clear of all of it.

JMHO.

 

[TUGBrian]

Yikes...lets try not to kill the developer representatives that do decide its a good idea to interact with the community.

Do you seriously think its his or her fault for all your issues with Festiva?

While I am not saying dont post your opinion, you dont have to bite his/her head off...or they have no reason to stay and participate.

 

[bnoble]

"Convert to points or die" is hardly new, and hardly unique to Festiva.

I've got a couple of prime season weeks at a was-Peppertree is-Festiva resort that I like using myself, and happen to trade well. I also own a little FSP, which has better or similar resorts in many of the areas Festiva now has fingers in. So, I have absolutely no interest in converting at any price.

I can imagine that some folks who own offseason weeks might see some value in moving into points, depending on the precise details.

You have to admire the general approach. After all, many of those owners were already bamboozled by some developer once, so unless they've learned from the experience, they're ripe for the picking!

 

[gravityrules]

I certainly hope that the developer rep doesn't take things personally. Everything I see in this thread is directed towards Festiva business practices not towards the rep. An official voice is appreciated and welcomed. I encourge FestivaRep to address the other concerns/issues raised in this thread.

 

[rickandcindy23]

When a company like Peppertree goes out of business (or whatever happened to them), what gives them the right to turn over their operation to another company like this? When a resort is older and sold out, certainly the owners should be in charge???? How did this come about without knowledge of the HOA?

I am asking this question as a member of an HOA board that is looking for possibilities for different management, and we definitely don't want a company with ulterior motives for our owners. This is a frightening trend, and a really disappointing move on the part of someone who instigated this change to Festiva.

I am concerned as a prospective owner, but I am also concerned as a timeshare owner that is seeing increasing fees all over the place. It's quite negative for the timeshare industry in general.

Tombo, time to join the board.

 

[bnoble]

The Peppertree resorts were generally already manged by Wyndham. Many of them also had assets that were developer-owned (including, at some, land and/or the rights to build and market more units.)

It is not clear to me how the management contracts moved from Wyndham to Festiva. I consider the move neutral so far. Regarding fees, etc., I'm willing to wait and see. The owner-controlled board at my specific resort seems to be saying the right things. Saying and doing are different of course, but I have no reason yet to believe Festiva will be qualitatively worse than Wyndham, and in some ways has been better.

 

[timeos2]

A sale can uncover unpleasant facts

Not referring specifically to this situation but to common areas in general it is of utmost importance that owners - but especially the BOD- understand what exactly the Association owns vs what may remain under the use/control/ownership of the Developer or their successors. All too often a close read of the resort documents can reveal that what the owners assume belongs to them actually remains the property of the Developer and can in fact be sold or use by owners restricted. It can also be that easements or dedicated use rights may apply that can restrict owner control of areas of the resort. Often times it is not easy to sort out. And a change in Developer can have unexpected repercussions.

To best serve the individual owners ideally the Board (hopefully made up of representatives from those owners) will research the documents and have a clear picture of the Association property. Then they will take steps to enforce the rights or to "fix" areas that may not have been dedicated to the use of all so going forward the amount of surprises by sale/transfer will be minimized.

It is another reason those who think serving on a timeshare Board is a free vacation every few months for the members are in for a rude awakening should they take on the job. Done correctly Board members should be proactive for owner rights and always looking for the best results for the Association as a whole. Never take what a Developer or a Management company says as gospel. A good Board researches and acts on its own for the good of all owners.

 

[JLB]

As far as this being a real developer rep, I'm skeptical. I have dealt directly with a lot of people in the industry over the last ten years, people who really are what they try to appear to be, and they wouldn't be caught dead on Internet forums.

Let's face it, we claim to pass on information here, but really, really important people don't waste their time on what often amounts to a timeshare gossip mill, not all that unlike Timeshare Beat in that respect.

My guess is that this developer rep has no more standing than the Stormy Point employee saying opposite stuff on the Branson forum.

Real Festiva will have their day in court in Missouri, unless they settle beforehand.

 

[TUGBrian]

As far as this being a real developer rep, I'm skeptical. I have dealt directly with a lot of people in the industry over the last ten years, people who really are what they try to appear to be, and they wouldn't be caught dead on Internet forums.

Let's face it, we claim to pass on information here, but really, really important people don't waste their time on what often amounts to a timeshare gossip mill, not all that unlike Timeshare Beat in that respect.

My guess is that this developer rep has no more standing than the Stormy Point employee saying opposite stuff on the Branson forum.

Real Festiva will have their day in court in Missouri, unless they settle beforehand.

and your guess would be wrong.

 

[tombo]

I tend to believe it was a Festiva rep from the response. I am not shooting the messenger, simply stating what I am worried about and giving them plenty of opportunity to respond. I told the rep that I eagerly awaited their rebuttal (which hasn't happened) because if they can show me that my fears and feelings are misguided then I would be very happy. I do not feel that I should give them a pass or sugar coat my questions or statements on a forum where we have the opportunity to expose things developers don't want us to know about. I wouldn't know about the 2 law suits, the assessments, or the raised MF's at resorts they have taken over if it wasn't for TUG.

The representative has plenty of reason to clear up misinformation or misconceptions to make Timeshare owners and Buyers here on TUG want to own at a resort they own or manage. I feel there has been no response for the same reason that many timeshare reps have nothing to say when we call their hand with real hard evidence, their smokescreens and mirrors don't work well with hard facts. The reason they came here is because it was announced at the annual meeting that there were negative posts about Festiva on TUG. I would love to hear his response , but it needs to be filled with facts rather than more of the typical developer's double talk.

Cindy, I am considering running for the board next year, but if 3 of the 5 board members remain Festiva employees, what's the use? They will decide everything by a 3 to 2 vote. If Festiva does control 80% of the vote there doesn't seem much reason to spend my time and effort trying to watch out for the owner's rights as it can just be voted down by Festiva.

Somerville you said:
"OBBC had to sue Equivest and Fairfield to obtain title to some of its common properties and to force the issue over who had the right to vote in elections, where title was held in the name of an individual owner, but beneficial interests were assigned to Equivest."
Who ended up with the ownership of the common properties? What does it mean that the beneficial interests were assigned to equivest? Also who won on the issue of who has the right to vote in elections? The outcomes of these issues could be relevant to our situation at BRV.

 

[jercal10]

These internet boards serve as a vehicle for people with a common cause to share information that is beneficial to each other.

For instance I've already saved $300 on the Nov 30 sailing of the Celebrity Solstice, which most travel agents still don't know exists.

I'm interested in knowing how Festiva is treating other resorts, to be prepared for what will happen @ Tamarack. Frankly I've never seen the bylaws of the resort, and don't know how Festiva ended up with the common areas and a "management fee". They also changed many of the categories in the budget from prior years , and didn't give us a prior year actual.I'm attempting via the board of dir. to get info. My fixed week is already "PIC'D" into Wyndham points , so I don't need Festiva points. I don't need higher MF's for Festiva management fees , nor do I need more spl assessments.

 

[TUGBrian]

The reason they came here is because it was announced at the annual meeting that there were negative posts about Festiva on TUG.

also not true. (the reason the rep is here that is)

 

[JLB]

Wow!!!

Truly impressive then, that a really, really important person would take time out of his or her busy schedule, and spend it here instead, answering gossip.

Other self-serving really important people from the industry have not fared too well here.

But, how has it cleared the muddy water, that being stirred by the other Stormy Point really, really important developer employee on the Branson forum, and by this really, really important Festiva developer person?

I don't mean to sound totally discrediting, but you have to admit that the first two posts from a complete stranger sound pretty self-serving. If it were me, serving me, I would expect some skepticism.

But, then, it is not uncommon for really, really important people to post on the Branson forum, answering questions about shows, attractions, resorts, restaurants, etc., amidst all the gossip.

 

[gravityrules]

A Public Relations spokesperson will state and possibly clarify the 'company line' released statements (exactly what's happened here) but may not offer much in the way of new information. There may be some limited value in that, but the invitation here is for this forum to be a 2 way dialog, i.e. more like an informal town hall meeting. JLB, I believe dialog is in the best interest of Festiva; refusing to discuss matters on a forum populated by folks passionate about TSing (I'm impressed by the # of TUGGERs who serve on HOA boards) just leads to further distrust.

 

[Jya-Ning]

If it is like what my commuity, general, the common area was set up to own by a psedu entity and benefit to that entity. Than depends on the local government law, after the home sold out at certain %, it turn over to become under the HOA and all home owners will start their board.

I could be wrong, but at the last stage, I belive Equivest create a club that similar to WorldMark and put a lot of units in that club, so that club can be the owner of all the psedu entities. Usually, they set up it so it has the similar or same name. However, in this case, one problem is after a few pass through (Equivest to Wyndham to Fiesta), and with Club never be open to its member, none can figure out the actual % of the ownership, and the devloper can claim it is always under the % to turn stuff over, and claim they should enjoy the benefit.

Jya-Ning

 

[caribbean]

For what it is worth, I have visited two other Festiva resorts in the past two years and I have to say I WAS NOT impressed at all. We were at Windjammer Landing fall 2006. We were in a 4-5 year old unit that was in bad repair. There was a terrible leak in the roof rrunning all over the Living Room area. I called repeatedly over the 2 weeks we were there, but no one ever even bothered to come look, much less clean up the mess. The AC didn't work properly; they did come work on it, and it was better, but still didn't really work correctly. The stove in the basically new unit looked a refugee from a 20 year old travel trailor and I couldn't even use it because the knobs were missing. Not real impressed with the maid service. Left there with firm impressions to never return. Too bad becasue it could be a really nice place. But with bad management, it was gong down hill fast.

We just returned from SandyPort Beach in Nassau. VERY POOR. I understand that the ownership has recently kicked Festiva out. Never could get a straight answer on why, but since it appears that many of the same employees are still working there, I am not sure how much good it will do. SandyPort has really gone down hill FAST. They have too many maintenance issues to address here. Management was absolutely non-responsive. The fire alarm system went off repeatedly, at least 1-2 times every day over a 14 day period. Management was completely unconcerned, made no effort to have it repaired or even determine if there really was a fire or not. FD never responded, so I can only assume the alarm did not connect to the FD. Then when I kept complaining and called RCI, they simply cut the system off completely. How safe is that? The kitchen needed to be completely ripped out and replaced. I am used to seeing a few ants in the Caribbean, but the utter filth in the kitchen had the entire kitchen over-run with ants. Lots of other maintenance issues as well.

Can't help but wonder if this is representative on all Festiva Resorts. At this point I will not trade into any of their resorts in the future.

 

[TUGBrian]

Wow!!!

Truly impressive then, that a really, really important person would take time out of his or her busy schedule, and spend it here instead, answering gossip.

Other self-serving really important people from the industry have not fared too well here.

But, how has it cleared the muddy water, that being stirred by the other Stormy Point really, really important developer employee on the Branson forum, and by this really, really important Festiva developer person?

I don't mean to sound totally discrediting, but you have to admit that the first two posts from a complete stranger sound pretty self-serving. If it were me, serving me, I would expect some skepticism.

But, then, it is not uncommon for really, really important people to post on the Branson forum, answering questions about shows, attractions, resorts, restaurants, etc., amidst all the gossip.

I dont make a point to correct incorrect information without knowing the facts. I met this person at ARDA...they contacted me about participating on TUG..and are now doing so with my blessing.

Continue to be skeptical all you want as it doesnt change the facts.

However look how this person has been treated in their brief tenure here.

Tombo has basically spit on Festiva and expresses his extreme distaste for the company and resorts as have a few others (now it may or may not be truthful and valid...thats not the point)

then we have both of you claiming you dont even believe this person holds any water with Festiva at all.

No wonder we cant get anyone to represent these developers on TUG given their treatment when they try to participate. Its just not worth their time to come here and put up with that. (I certainly wouldnt)

If you truly want to try to change things...here is your chance to have direct involvement...dont make an enemy when you could make a friend.

 

[jercal10]

I ,like Brian, welcome facts and help. I'm on another Festiva board on Yahoo and activity is nil as a couple of very negative posters have ransomed it as their personal place to rant & rave.

I was @ Tamarack , Wis Dells this winter , and didn't notice any decline in maintenance. Certainly our HOA budget doesn't reflect any planned cut in maintenance.

I also visited the Atrium in St. Maarten for a few hours from a cruise ship stop, and it looked ok to me. My neighbors have stayed there twice this year and loved it.

I would welcome Festiva spokesman giving us insight as to future plans.

 

[Holly]

I second that

I own a summer fixed week in Atlantic Beach, and I'd sure like to hear from Festiva as well.

I ,like Brian, welcome facts and help. I'm on another Festiva board on Yahoo and activity is nil as a couple of very negative posters have ransomed it as their personal place to rant & rave.

I was @ Tamarack , Wis Dells this winter , and didn't notice any decline in maintenance. Certainly our HOA budget doesn't reflect any planned cut in maintenance.

I also visited the Atrium in St. Maarten for a few hours from a cruise ship stop, and it looked ok to me. My neighbors have stayed there twice this year and loved it.

I would welcome Festiva spokesman giving us insight as to future plans.

 

[tombo]

Tombo never said he didn't believe it was actually a Festiva Rep, please re-read. According to Brian I was wrong for the reason he came here, if so I stand corrected, that was my opinion on why they were here. I have not "spit" upon Festiva. I have direct questions and concerns about Festiva's actions at MY RESORTwhich they are now operating in a way that is unacceptable to many owners. I have welcomed a response from them on specific issues (which I am still waiting on). If they don't want to come here unless they are welcomed with open arms then they must not be used to handling customers. I deal with customers every day and I don't have the option to not interact if I feel they are being too hard on me or the company I work for. If my customers have complaints I listen, then I try to solve any problems they have to make them a satisfied customer.

If there was a web site where my customers were expressing concerns and problems about my company I would gladly interact taking any grief (within reason) to listen, respond, and hopefully if it was within my power resolve their issues. I would at least explain my companies policies and hope they understood why we did what we did that upset them. I would try to use the forum to improve relationships with my customers and resolve disputes.

My business complaints and customer's problems are handled on the phone, or face to face, and I have been yelled at and even called names, but I try to calm the people down and retain them as customers.I don't have the luxury of answering only the nicest customers and ignoring any customer that is upset. I am trying to grow my business through satisfied customers who refer me to friends and family. I never of ignore complaints and problems because I need all of the customers I can get, and I need to keep them as my customers until I die or retire.

I have not said one bad word about a Festiva resort, only the things that Festiva does once they take over ownership or Mgt. I am now told that because of the way myself and a couple of other people treated them that they may not come back. I never said anything negative about the rep responding, in fact I said I look forward to his rebuttal. If he doesn't like my facts and questions and doesn't want to answer, that is not my fault. I started this thread and he is welcome to join it any time. As I said in another post, I would love for him to respond informing me that I am wrong and put my mind at ease. Whether what I am saying is truthful or valid is exactly the point. I own at over 20 resorts and have only had a complaint about one other developer or management company ever, and I discussed it with people here on TUG also.

If developer reps only want to come here to hear warm fuzzy responses and refuse to participate if the questions become things they don't want to answer, then they are not here for a true dialogue and no real help. If all they want to do is spew company rhetoric without answering any questions, I can go to a sales presentation and get $100 to hear the same thing. I welcome dialogue from any representative, but they need to address the problems this forum was started to address, otherwise why bother coming at all.