We too are members and just returned from Club Intrawest Whistler.
I think Intrawest is an outstanding company. I think they really understand customers, and their needs, and do an extraordinary job creating great experiences for their guests.
Similarly, I think Club Intrawest is a very credible organization, with lots of strengths, and some, well, lets say, opportunities.
We noticed many equipment/maintenance/furnishing opportunities at Club Intrawest, Whistler on our most recent visit. We were in the Bridge Building, which was part of Phase One.
I was unimpressed with the maintenance and engineering. I am also unimpressed with the frequency by which certain hard goods have been replaced/updated. Many of the staff are very good, and one of the Club’s greatest resources.
In our Vacation Home: there were very shoddy sheetrock repairs in the master bathroom , much of the wood trim in the bathroom and kitchen area showed excessive wear, and no evidence of recent repairs or maintenance, the appliances in the kitchen are the original appliances (now app. 12 years old), and they too showed signs of shoddy repairs, the lighting was awful; with one exception (a lamp with the one three way light bulb), all light bulbs were of the low wattage, energy saving variety - - great for the energy conscious, but not functional for entertaining, reading, or for that matter, daily living on gray days. Also in the bathroom, decorative trim in and around the sinks showed excessive wear and no maintenance.
In the common areas we saw much evidence of excessive wear and very poor maintenance. The wood trim in the elevator of the Bridge Building was damaged, showing much wear, and no recent evidence of maintenance. Doors and door frames were damaged and worn (not of the variety that you would expect at a Ski Resort, where wear is expected when people lug sports equipment around. In this case, there was no evidence of routine maintenance or of on-going touch-up work). Even the finish of the Club Intrawest signage over the Front Door was peeling. One observation that surprised me were two pair of skis that remained outside the Bridge Building locker room entrance for eight days - - obviously abandoned by their owners, and just beneath, and in direct view of the video surveillance camera. Did no manager walk the property for eight days? The skis did not move once!
We own with Marriott, Disney, and Four Seasons, and as you may know, Club Intrawest, in many aspects was modeled off of the Disney Vacation Club model. Disney's maintenance and upkeep is far superior to that of Club Intrawest.
Questions raised: while each year into the aging process produces new evidence of aging and wear, the poor up-keep that I noticed raises the question of (1) management complacency, (2) poor management, (3) a shortage in the Operating Budget to support maintenance and repairs, (4) a potentially flawed hard goods replacement budget/timetable, and (5) to my surprise, evidence that the Management Team is not walking their own property.
I took some notes, with the intent of communicating my observations with the Club's Leadership, who I have often found to be responsible and responsive.
Finally, I will stand on the same soap box that I have stood on for years. To me, these findings can potentially be attributed to a Board that is under-represented by Club Members who are not employed by the Club, and at least one member on the Board who has served multiple terms, and who without term limits, has not himself determined the need to vacate his position on his own accord, and afford some new people, with new ideas the opportunity to occupy the position that he has occupied for close to ten years.
My advice for those with similar concerns: write to Jim Gibbons, the President of Club Intrawest.
