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Hurricane Sally’s Impact on Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Area

NOLA47

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It may be a bit premature to ask but after seeing the Gulf Coast get clobbered and knowing there are many timeshares in that area, does anyone know first hand or has anyone heard about specific properties? We own at Escapes to the Shores in Orange Beach but have not yet heard about the extent of damage to the property. There are some who underestimated the strength of Sally and did not evacuate. Hopefully there are no loss of lives.
 

chellej

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dd is in the coast guard and is stationed in Mobile. They were propositioned near the NOAA office prior to the storm hitting. She was released today to go home (she lives in Pennsacola) Can't speak to the damage but she said the traffic heading that way was really heavy this afternoon and it looked everyone that was evacuated was heading home. She was released early......they did not need the staff they anticipated which I think is a good indicator that there was not as much damage as expected
 

tony_i

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It may be a bit premature to ask but after seeing the Gulf Coast get clobbered and knowing there are many timeshares in that area, does anyone know first hand or has anyone heard about specific properties? We own at Escapes to the Shores in Orange Beach but have not yet heard about the extent of damage to the property. There are some who underestimated the strength of Sally and did not evacuate. Hopefully there are no loss of lives.

I recently acquitted an Escapes to Palm Beach in a orange beach and there was damage to the buildings. Some balcony walls, railings, windows, and corners on the roofs came down with the wind. Some units appear to have gotten water inside from the rain and wind, not from surge. They are estimating 7 days without power and are currently assessing damages.

I would recommend you search for a escapes to the Shores group on Facebook and see if they are providing updates. Yours should be a larger resort with more owners and units, so hopefully more info.


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NOLA47

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thanks for the suggestion. I'm not on social media but my daughter can check. Thanks again.
 

lb8inred

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As an owner are you happy with your purchase? We're looking at adding to our portfolio (Hyatt) and we're not familiar with Festiva.
 

tony_i

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As an owner are you happy with your purchase? We're looking at adding to our portfolio (Hyatt) and we're not familiar with Festiva.

I own at Palm Beach, and I am happy so far, but I have not yet used my week. I am booked for August 2021. I booked at the beginning of January, 2021, when my deed was transferred and registered with festiva. There was a lot of availability for summer, so that made me happy, but August worked better for me this year.

There was a lot of damage to the property. They have not opened yet, and are pushing for April. Looks like it will be done by then, per the last update. Maintenance fees for 2021 did not include special assessments, and was about the same amount from 2020, but not sure if something is coming for 2022. Insurance has covered and approved a lot of the work. The units will be fully refurbished. Colors, material used will make these better than before, by looking at the renders.

The Palm Beach at Orange Beach property has an interesting history. This resort did not start as timeshare, it started as a condominium and many units were sold 100% as apartments. There are still many owners. Something happened that escapes acquired the property and started selling as timeshares. Some units sold as fixed units at the very beginning. Then they started converting some owners fixed weeks to escapes weeks (ETC - their vacation club), as well as all unsold units. ETC could only be removed from these deeds by amendment, and ETC carried over when sold resale. So, these converted weeks have to be part of the club.
Something might have happened at some point that they stared bulk removing ETC on some owner's deed, maybe they offered a club opt out at some point?
In 2013, Escapes bulk removed the ETC to their remain unsold deeds by amendment.
After that, Festiva acquired and became the new developer.
So I was able to put this together by looking at court documents and deeds, but I still don't know about units sold, or currently being sold by Festiva.

I remember reading, and asking owners, about deeds with added escapes club fees, others without, and deeds that were fixed and some that float in the system. I still do not completely know or how these are implemented today. I know that some Escapes to Stonebridge in MO owners are able to trade into Palm Beach using the scapes vacation club, so those deeds are still out there. I can also confirm that my unit, which is a fixed week with no ETC, has no ETC fee attached and festiva is letting me use it in their system to choose any available week. A Festiva owner also confirmed to me that his fixed November unit is able to trade in the summer, so I am not sure if festiva has different seasons for this resort, but if there are, there might not be a lot of implementation... It is a little bit of a mess, with lots of information, but make sure you research what you are buying to future proof your investment.


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NOLA47

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Overall we have been pleased even though there were obviously some maintenance issues at the property over the past years. Also, the maintenance fees have increased substantially over the past couple of years. This past year, after Hurricane Sally, there was a special assessment of $700 per unit in addition to the increased maintenance fees but, to be honest, with all the devastation I expected them. However, we were notified that many issues would be addressed while the renovations from Hurricane Sally were being addressed including changing out the furnishings. We were looking forward to seeing the much needed upgrades during our week 29 this year in the two units we own for the same week. But on February 27, 2021, we received the following message:

We see you have a week coming up checking in on 7/16, two different units for the same week.
Unfortunately, due to damages sustained from Hurricane Sally the resort is currently closed.
We are aiming for reopening on August 1st.
We are unable to honor your reservation.
Due to the large number of timeshare weeks we are unable to reschedule all of them. This results in a loss of your week due to an Act of God.
We are sorry for the inconvenience,
Thank you for your understanding.
Have a wonderful day!

Heather Smith| Front Desk Services

Escapes! To the Shores
24060 Perdido Beach Blvd. Orange Beach, AL 36561
(O) 251.224.8500
Palm Beach Resort
22984 Perdido Beach Blvd. Orange Beach, AL 36561
(O) 251.974.5020

Needless to say, we were a bit caught off guard by the notification. We are just waiting to see what's next
 
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