Diamond Resorts Hawaii during COVID - what are our options

[judell]

I own TS at Diamond Resorts Kaanapali Beach Club in Maui. Because of COVID 19 and State of Hawaii quarantine policy, Diamond chose to close the resort. It has been closed for 6 months.


I have reservations for Christmas and I hope and pray things will be ok for everyone. But, what if it isn’t?

What are our options?


Clearly if the resort has been closed there are cost savings. Are they passed on to owners? Diamonds reply has been “go to one of our other properties“ or put the points with their system (like RCI) ......and by the way they charge for that! Seriously!
Clearly my maintenance fees in Hawaii are higher than on the mainland. Shouldn't we be getting a rebate or credit to the next years fees?

Looking to see what you and others suggest.

Thanks

Jigger

 

[mjc775]

I agree we should get a modest rebate on MFs after things return to normal. They’re currently not paying much of the staff, power and water usage has gone down substantially, etc. However I suspect they’re still making mortgage payments, property taxes, limited maintenance, etc.


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[VegasBella]

We don't own in Hawaii, we own a legacy week in California. But it's not our favorite place and we own elsewhere so we decided not to risk it with COVID at this resort and we deposited into Destination Exchange.
We also deposited a Wyndham week into RCI. Do you have an exchange company? Maybe deposit your week to ensure some value for it.

 

[VegasBella]

Also, I would not assume there are a ton of cost savings if the resort is closed. Lots of maintenance still needs to occur (due to ocean air, age of buildings) as well as landscaping etc. Taxes still need to be paid and key staff must be retained. There's no income when it's closed. There might be cost savings you'd expect to be passed on to owners but there might not be any savings. And if there is, it's likely to simply be added to reserve fund or used for improvements.

 

[judell]

I appreciate your reply. Since the majority of owners pay their maintenance fees early they have the big chunk of $ up front. One of the biggest expenses other than taxes is labor. With a skeleton staff that is a huge savings. Sure, there are expenses but they are less than 25% of the overall normal ones. Somewhere along the line the savings need to be passed on to the owners. Hawaii is probably one of the most expensive (if not the most) to own from a maintenance fee standpoint. I own in New York, Orlando and Vegas. All of those TS companies are taking steps to “lessen the impact“ of me being unable to use the unit.

 

[GeorgeJ.]

I don't recall if Diamond is with II or RCI...anyone who had deposited a week that fell in the last 6 months, did the exchange company try to get back the points or week that you got for your deposit? (Since the resort was closed and the exchanger couldn't use the week they got)

 

[NiteMaire]

I don't recall if Diamond is with II or RCI...anyone who had deposited a week that fell in the last 6 months, did the exchange company try to get back the points or week that you got for your deposit? (Since the resort was closed and the exchanger couldn't use the week they got)

Diamond is with II corporately through December 31, 2020, but owners can still have individual accounts with II after; not sure if Diamond owners can use RCI. I've heard nothing about any exchange company trying to get back anything...and I seriously doubt any will. I would imagine something is buried somewhere in the T&Cs, but I haven't read through all of it.

 

[geist1223]

My first stay at Point at Poipu was through RCI.

 

[csalter2]

I don't recall if Diamond is with II or RCI...anyone who had deposited a week that fell in the last 6 months, did the exchange company try to get back the points or week that you got for your deposit? (Since the resort was closed and the exchanger couldn't use the week they got)

Like some properties in the Marriott system, Diamond has some properties that are linked to RCI. However, starting January 2021, Diamond is starting their own exchange system. They have informed owners that Interval International and RCI will not be associated with their Diamond memberships. Diamond owners must now pay for their own memberships with those two exchange companies.

 

[pedro47]

Like some properties in the Marriott system, Diamond has some properties that are linked to RCI. However, starting January 2021, Diamond is starting their own exchange system. They have informed owners that Interval International and RCI will not be associated with their Diamond memberships. Diamond owners must now pay for their own memberships with those two exchange companies.

I did know that Diamond was also, leaving RCI; starting in January 2021.Thanks for that information. DIiamond is going to need to upgrade all their resorts. IMHO.

 

[winger]

Also, I would not assume there are a ton of cost savings if the resort is closed. Lots of maintenance still needs to occur (due to ocean air, age of buildings) as well as landscaping etc. Taxes still need to be paid and key staff must be retained. There's no income when it's closed. There might be cost savings you'd expect to be passed on to owners but there might not be any savings. And if there is, it's likely to simply be added to reserve fund or used for improvements.

I would think energy cost is a decent chunk of the annual MF as well. Isn't that line item listed on the MF breakdown? With the resort shut down, I expect no AC is being run, thus a decent cost savings.

 

[winger]

...However, starting January 2021, Diamond is starting their own exchange system. They have informed owners that Interval International and RCI will not be associated with their Diamond memberships. Diamond owners must now pay for their own memberships with those two exchange companies.

So, does this mean our CLUB dues will decrease now since II membership is no longer included?

 

[csalter2]

So, does this mean our CLUB dues will decrease now since II membership is no longer included?

Now, I know you’re being facetious with this question, when it comes to money that comes to us owners, what goes up ,does not come down.