aruba, bad news

[pointsjunkie]

just spoke to starwood and the aruba property is on hold. they are not breaking ground anytime soon. 2010 is not happening . i am so glad i didn't wait for the property to become 5*. i listened to my gut and i was right.

 

[Transit]

I won't shed any tears on that one .Hopefully they will pursue a better caribbean local.

 

[DavidnRobin]

I won't shed any tears on that one .Hopefully they will pursue a better caribbean local.

Aruba is considered by many to be the best Carribean location.
(there was a TUG thread on this a while ago - and Aruba was by far the winner. I argued for STJ.)

 

[Transit]

I have family and friends who own TS there and they rave about it .Highrises and packed beaches is not my vision of a great caribbean vacation. If they build it they will come. I will go when they build but it's just not my first choice.

 

[Weimaraner]

Frank - we own in Aruba and love it but we are exploring other islands as well and going on our first cruise next month. What locations do you enjoy? I have a feeling we're going to fall in love it STJ since we enjoy Hawaii.

 

[Transit]

Frank - we own in Aruba and love it but we are exploring other islands as well and going on our first cruise next month. What locations do you enjoy? I have a feeling we're going to fall in love it STJ since we enjoy Hawaii.

I responded with a long page and lost it my favorate has been Antigua.Working on the southern islands now.

 

[london]

Carribean Islands

The islands will always generate various opinions as to which locale is the best...

Individual preferences will for the most part influence which island is favored by many.

High air fare costs as well as on island costs may deter some people from leaving warmer locales in the lower 48.

 

[LisaRex]

This is one of the few properties I was really excited about.

Sigh.

 

[pointsjunkie]

me too. so i will have to go using starpoints.

 

[SDKath]

me too. so i will have to go using starpoints.

Bummer! But my favorite is St. Lucia. Aruba reminds me of Santa Monica (in LA) but with warmer water. St Lucia is a true tropical paradise without highrises. The waters are crystal clear and you can see down to the bottom of the ocean about 70 feet sometimes! It's incredible.

Getting there is a bit tougher but there is jet service from Puerto V.

I also loved te BVIs. And St. John is priceless.

We stayes at the Ritz on the tip of St Thomas and took the ferry to St John every when we were there last. It was spectacular.

Katherine

 

[GrayFal]

This is one of the few properties I was really excited about.

Sigh.

Me, too!

 

[Transit]

Bummer! But my favorite is St. Lucia.

Now if they built TS there next to the new Westin it would get me dancing

 

[SDKath]

Now if they built TS there next to the new Westin it would get me dancing

OMG, I AM IN HEAVEN!!!

I think I'll start a letter writing campaign for a TS there!

K

 

[tomandrobin]

I could not understand why they are not offering timeshares at the St Lucia location either. I do recieve weekly updates on that resort, I also get my monthly phone call from them on the St Lucia resort. I think the condo sales are slow, considering how much they have been pushing sales to me.

Hopefully, if sales are slow enough they will decide to covert a buildnig or two into timeshare. The resort will have it all......golf, marina, dining, beautiful views, water front and a protected cove.

 

[Transit]

Hopefully, if sales are slow enough they will decide to covert a buildnig or two into timeshare.

I wish they would do the same with the Westin residences across from the Westin Key West hotel.

 

[tomandrobin]

I hear you! We would probably buy at at least one of the above resorts!

Aruba, Key West or St Lucia, especially St Lucia.

 

[grgs]

Found this online posting regarding the Westin Aruba:

http://www.arubabeaches.net/westins-luxury-timeshare-project-halted/351/

Glorian

 

[Westin5Star]

According to this article, "Today I learned that Starwood has stopped all developments altogether." So does that mean that no other developments will be planned for SVO in the near future?

 

[SDKath]

According to this article, "Today I learned that Starwood has stopped all developments altogether." So does that mean that no other developments will be planned for SVO in the near future?

I think that is a grammatical error. They mean stopped all development (at this site) all together. Some of the sentences have grammar errors later in the article too. Not many facts presented either -- plus writing in the first person is not typical of true journalism unless it's an op/ed piece.

I wouldn't read much into this article -- aside from what we already know, that they pulled the plug on Aruba (for now).

Katherine

 

[grgs]

I think that is a grammatical error. They mean stopped all development (at this site) all together. Some of the sentences have grammar errors later in the article too. Not many facts presented either -- plus writing in the first person is not typical of true journalism unless it's an op/ed piece.

I wouldn't read much into this article -- aside from what we already know, that they pulled the plug on Aruba (for now).

Katherine

I agree with Katherine--I think they're only referring to the Aruba project. I think this is just somebody reporting what they've heard, but it's more than we've heard from any other source. I'll be curious to see if we ever get official word from Starwood.

Glorian

 

[LisaRex]

Here is a copy of an email I just sent to Starwood. The more I know about Starwood, the more I wish I had bought with Marriott.

***

I've heard through the grapevine that the Westin Aruba project has been scrapped. This is very disheartening as the Aruba project was one of the few developments that I was excited about.

What is equally disheartening is the utter lack of communication from Starwood to its owners about Starwood's decision to pull out of this project. It's sad that we owners have to read about it via internet message boards as there is not a word about it on MyStarCentral.com. I see that you did finally remove it from the list of resorts, but without a word of explanation on the "news" section. Nor did you choose to mention it in your e-mailed newsletter. You do realize that the scrapping of a proposed development is newsworthy, don't you?

One of the reasons I purchased at the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resorts Villas was its participation in SVN. What good is having an internal trading system, and being forced to pay for membership in this trading system, if Starwood keeps pulling out of, or delaying, new developments?

I am continually amazed at the unprofessional way Starwood treats its owners. There is no excuse for this type of treatment.

 

[tomandrobin]

We were really looking forward to Aruba being built. There has not been any new Starwoods on the East Coast since Atlantis. All the "new" resorts have been out west - Cabo (1), Arizona (1), Cancun (1), Hawaii (2), California (1), Colorado (1).

I hope that development has been just put on hold. I can deal with that, but cancelation of the project would be disheartening for us.

 

[LisaRex]

We were really looking forward to Aruba being built. There has not been any new Starwoods on the East Coast since Atlantis. All the "new" resorts have been out west - Cabo (1), Arizona (1), Cancun (1), Hawaii (2), California (1), Colorado (1).

I hope that development has been just put on hold. I can deal with that, but cancelation of the project would be disheartening for us.

It's been taken off the list of resorts on MyStarCentral and the SVO public site. If they're not marketing it, I doubt they're going to build it.

http://www.starwoodvacationownership.com/salesgallery/expansion.jsp

But, of course, what truly ticks me off is the fact that they haven't said a word to the owners about it. Very, very bad form.

 

[tomandrobin]

It's been taken off the list of resorts on MyStarCentral and the SVO public site. If they're not marketing it, I doubt they're going to build it.

http://www.starwoodvacationownership.com/salesgallery/expansion.jsp

But, of course, what truly ticks me off is the fact that they haven't said a word to the owners about it. Very, very bad form.

DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!! (And I am trying to be nice about it!)

 

[formerhater]

While I wasn't excited about this property since Aruba isn't my favorite island in the Caribbean, it's a big blow to the SVN as it seems to take them longer and longer to develop and open new props. Add in the discussion of how poorly Cabo is going and I'm not sure what they have going for us to get excited about after Princeville and Cancun open. Another CO resort? There were rumors about Oahu (north shore) and TBI, but we haven't heard much about those lately and even if they were to push forward, it would likely take them 5 years to make it a reality.

I'm a bit surprised by the slow expansion considering the amount of money they make off of SVO.