Divi Resorts

[cayman01]

Anybody have any information pro or con about this company? I thought they were just resorts but apparently have timeshares, a point system, and very desirable, to me, locations. But there is soooo little info about them here or anywhere. Well managed? Poorly?

 

[stmartinfan]

We've owned at Divi St. Maarten for about 20 years. The resort is in a beautiful setting and is generally well maintained. It isn't Marriott or Hilton quality but the units are very spacious and have great views. The resort was badly damaged by the big hurricane 20 years ago, but to Divi's credit they worked hard to redo timeshare buildings, tore down and rebuilt the restaurant building, etc. and generally brought the resort back to great condition. We had a special assessment five years go or so to renovate our unit, but the redo has been worth it.

One of the issues for Divi SXM is that they originally sold with a contract that didn't require owners to pay a maintanence fee if they didn't use their unit that year. It worked fine at first, but became an issue when many of the original owners aged and didn't want to travel every year. The special assessment did push some of them out, but there are still some of those contracts around.
Divi is an RTU resort, so we have a 40 year ownership, with the ability to accelerate the use of the last 10 years, if we want to stay for 2 weeks. They are now selling a points or club type system, I think, but we haven't gone to an owners' update for a few years because we aren't interested in changing our contract.

We have traded within the Divi system to Aruba, where Divi owns two resorts and is the manager for a third (Divi Phoenix). The internal trade works well, and if you call as soon allowed it seems units are generally available. We belonged to RCI for a while, but our week is in a lower season for SXM so our trade value was crummy. We got a couple of decent trades but decided we're mostly interested in going to SXM for at least a week every year. Divi just switched to II, so we just got a free year's membership from II.

Let me know what other questions you have. There is a Divi timeshare owners group on Yahoo as well. Not sure if you can join as someone interested, but the group publishes a list of owners looking to sell or rent units, which might be helpful if you're interested in purchasing or visiting one of the resorts to check them out.

 

[SciTchr]

Yea, one can join the Yahoo Divi group without being a Divi owner. I am a member and I see the rental offers and discussions.

 

[rboesl]

My wife & I are owners at Divi Beach & Golf Resort in Aruba. We have also traded to Divi St. Maarten and to Divi Southwinds on Barbados. We both love Aruba and are very happy with our ownership. The rooms are clean and spacious and, on Aruba, you also get to use failiities at sister resorts on Aruba (Tamarin, Dutch Village, & All Inclusive) giving you lot's of options for dining and activities.

We enjoyed Divi Little Bay on St. Maarten. Beautiful resort, just a short drive from Phillipsburg an lots of activities on the island. Divi Southwinds is a different story. It's an older property that's in need of upgrading. While I would classify Arub & St. Maarten 3.5 - 4 star. Southwinds is more in the 3 star range. Comfortable, clean, but worn.

We purchased when Divi was still with just RCI and got good bang for our buck for trading as well. We bought a studio and get 49,500 points on RCI which has givien good trade flexibility.

 

[Gaozhen]

We stay next door to the Divi St. Maarten at the Belair with family every year, and have been looking to buy at Divi for a couple years now. (Just waiting for the weeks that match the family, and have lost a couple eBay auctions )

While we haven't stayed, we often walk by the Divi facilities from next door and they seem very nice, and have befriended quite a few owners that have owned for years that love it.

 

[TnJ]

We've owned at Divi St. Maarten for about 20 years. The resort is in a beautiful setting and is generally well maintained. It isn't Marriott or Hilton quality but the units are very spacious and have great views. The resort was badly damaged by the big hurricane 20 years ago, but to Divi's credit they worked hard to redo timeshare buildings, tore down and rebuilt the restaurant building, etc. and generally brought the resort back to great condition. We had a special assessment five years go or so to renovate our unit, but the redo has been worth it.

One of the issues for Divi SXM is that they originally sold with a contract that didn't require owners to pay a maintanence fee if they didn't use their unit that year. It worked fine at first, but became an issue when many of the original owners aged and didn't want to travel every year. The special assessment did push some of them out, but there are still some of those contracts around.
Divi is an RTU resort, so we have a 40 year ownership, with the ability to accelerate the use of the last 10 years, if we want to stay for 2 weeks. They are now selling a points or club type system, I think, but we haven't gone to an owners' update for a few years because we aren't interested in changing our contract.

We have traded within the Divi system to Aruba, where Divi owns two resorts and is the manager for a third (Divi Phoenix). The internal trade works well, and if you call as soon allowed it seems units are generally available. We belonged to RCI for a while, but our week is in a lower season for SXM so our trade value was crummy. We got a couple of decent trades but decided we're mostly interested in going to SXM for at least a week every year. Divi just switched to II, so we just got a free year's membership from II.

Let me know what other questions you have. There is a Divi timeshare owners group on Yahoo as well. Not sure if you can join as someone interested, but the group publishes a list of owners looking to sell or rent units, which might be helpful if you're interested in purchasing or visiting one of the resorts to check them out.

Quick question - My parents also have an original 40-year contract with a pro-rata share of building ownership (ie. 1/52) & no annual maintenance fee. It seems advantageous (at end of 40yr term) do you still have your original contract or did you receive any incentive from Divi to amend/adopt the current agreement? Thanks!

 

[stmartinfan]

We bought our contract 26 years ago and they were no longer offering the “no annual fee if you don't use” feature. I have never heard what happens to those owners when their contracts expire, so I can't help you with that question. Like most timeshares today, I’m sure their current prices are crazy.

You could try calling the North Carolina office to see if they have any info, but I'd guess there aren't too many of those old contracts still around, given the age of the original buyers now. (We figure our contract will expire about the time we're too old to travel any more!)