Bluebeards Castle, S. Thomas

[bea]

Any body know anything about this resort?
A good place to own, known problems, etc?

 

[hvsteve1]

We took a tour there in March. We were the far side of town from our ship and the excursion we were supposed to take was cancelled due to rough seas. Some guy approached offering us a free taxi ride to Bluebeard's Castle, free gifts and a taxi back to town afterwards. Under the circumstances, it was too good to pass up. We took the tour and, when the closer found I was in TUG, gave up the hard sell and talked time shares for a while before sending us on our way with gifts in hand and a free cab ride (love that TUG T shirt). The place is a legitimate tourist attraction with an old "castle" and one of the primo views of the port area. The accommodations are kind of an old motel type setup. Fairfield is NOT selling Bluebeard's, which has not yet...except for the lobby, a nice restuarant and sales offices... had any work done. What they will discuss with you is the points program for their other resorts, including one on the island. The reason for using the castle is, because so many vistors are on cruise ships and don't have much time, Fairfield has to give them a reason to get in a taxi and see something with a sales talk added in. The gifts were two bottles of pretty good local rum and a gift certificate for the stores downtown. My wife used the certificate for a designer handbag and we gave the rum to the matre d' for the crew as we already had all the booze we could drink on board and were taking a few bottles home.

 

[Carolinian]

While I wouldn't mind trading into this resort, I would be very careful about buying there. There is an all out war in progress between the HOA's (each section has its own HOA) and Fairfield. Fairfield tried to ride roughshod over the HOA's and owners, and the HOA's are fighting back. The whole mess is in court, where the HOA's have asked for mediation or arbitration and Fairfield refuses.

The absolutely thuggish behavior of Fairfield toward the HOA's at Bluebeards Castle, which has included agressive campaigns to try to put their own flunkies in control of the HOA's rather than homeowner control. is a big reason IMHO never to even consider owning any Fairfield week.

 

[bea]

bluebeards castle

Carolinian,
I thought I had heard of something going on there!! Thanks for the info and I totally agree with you too about Fairfield and RCI. They are horrible with the owners they are trying to move out of the traditional weeks systems into the points system.
I recently visited the Shawnee Resort in the Poconos and they are now a Fairfield property. I feel bad for those owners, the resort is quite run down and RCI/Cendant is so greedy, I wonder what will become of the place down the road. It seems they aren't interested in the owners, just their own interests.

 

[kdrew]

FF in trouble........

Good news is the courts have set a trial date so FF can delay no longer. The courts also allowed the HOA to seek treble (3X) damages. We are talking about a huge settlement here. Add to that that the HOA's have uncovered more dirt like:

FF never gave one association $90,000 when they switched management companies

:annoyed: FF owes over $10M in back maint. fees (this is separate from the lawsuit but will be rolled in).

Judge has ruled that FF cannot vote in elections for Directors nor appoint!

FF has now decided to leave the property and let it further decay. Nice.............:annoyed:

Anyway, it is a great location and eventually someone will make it nice. Maybe FF, maybe not. Time will tell but FF's time to pay up is coming soon (March 2008)

 

[lvhmbh]

Felt I needed to make a statement here. We have been owners at Bluebeards since the mid-80's. It was once a wonderful resort. We are paying more for maintenance for a studio and 1 br than we pay for Costa Linda 2 br. but..... we had problems at Costa Linda with the developer and the maintenance was going up - we threw them out and became our own HOA and things have been wonderful. I digress. What I'm trying to say is that we have no intention of abandoning Bluebeards. We KNOW it will once again be one of the premier resorts and rather than sell out or give in we stand behind our BOD's (Hilltop I and II). Sometimes you just have to stand up and tell these unFF people that they can't get away with it and you'll hang in til they're gone. We WILL prevail and our resort will be the best on the island. JMO (notice I left out H for humble lol!!!!). Linda

 

[shagnut]

I stayed there once a few years back and it is one of my best/worst vacations I've taken. ( I had the roomie from hell) What I did like was all the activities they had planned so I didn't need to rent a car. I'd go back for a visit any old time with Kelli ( my daughter and my best traveling companion.) shaggy

 

[haycat]

"We WILL prevail and our resort will be the best on the island."

The view from The Castle is awesome, but I think that The Castle will perhaps be the best on the island, second only to Bluebeard's Beach Club.
:whoopie: :whoopie:

 

[Tia]

I'm not so sure my Beach Club's view is better than the one I have at the Castle. They both have their strong points, and we like them pretty much equally for different reasons.

 

[Carolinian]

SPM Resorts now managing part of Bluebeard's

I just saw an updated list of resorts managed by SPM Resorts, a management company headquartered in Myrtle Beach, SC, and they list three of the Bluebeards sections as now managed by them:

Bluebeards CAstle Hilltop VIllas
Bluebeards Castle Hilltop Villas III
Bluebeards Castle Villas I

SPM manages Outer Banks Beach Club I and II on the Outer Banks, and is very well regarded. They are very owner-oriented and try to work with rather than dominate the HOA's.

Trading unFairfield for SPM is a major plus for at least these portions of Bluebeards.

 

[lvhmbh]

Pirate's Pension has also taken on SPM as their management company. L