Kaatskill Mountain Club

[suenmike32]

Has anyone out there purchased or stayed at Hunter Mountain's
new resort? I had an opportunity to briefly visit there yesterday and the building was very impressive. It is pretty much sold out excepting for a few studios, but even they were impressive, but relatively small and very expensive.
You are buying quarter shares which will give you 13 weeks ownership. Unfortunately, there was no time for a presentation. I believe it may be handled by RCI. Anyone have any comments?

 

[DanM]

I haven't been to the resort, but I have skiied at Hunter and visited the area in four seasons...although I would not generally go back except in winter. There is not all that much to do for more than a few days at other times. As for winter, Hunter's main advantage is its proximity to NYC. That's also the main disadvantage. It gets very crowded. It is also not worth a week of skiing, now that I think about it. I am sure that holiday weeks at Kattskill would be very valuable and would rent or trade great. With a quarter share, however, you'd probably be paying for ten or eleven dog weeks and one to three good ones.

That said, if you lived in the City and could take off ten weeks a year or at least wanted to spend ten long weekends in the country it might make sense, as long as you bought resale

 

[steve b]

I own 4 quater-ownership interests in the same unit making it a whole unit. I live in Texas although grew up in the NY area and had read of Hunter's scheduled improvements and developments and had purchased on the very first day during pre-construction. The property has more than doubled in value during the construction phase and the rental numbers are good eventhough mostly weekend rentals. I feel the resort is still a good value at current prices. Good luck
steve b

 

[rjc1976]

I too am an owner at the KMC, and I've been very happy with most aspects of it. The rentals and appreciation are both better than I thought it would be (purchased in 2003), RCI trading power is good (got 3 good trades already), the units are nice, and it's in a good location. During the off season, it's nice if you like the outdoors. The hiking in the area is great; probably better than the Adirondacks in my opinion. There is tubing, horseback riding, kayaking, and golf nearby. Hunter Mountain is also planning on building a very high quality golf course, which I look forward to, though it sounds like it's several years away.

As for skiing, you'd get bored skiing just Hunter for a week, but luckily Belleayre, Windham, and Plattekill are all nearby. These 4 mountains give enough terrain for most folks. I tend to ski up in VT personally, but I really do enjoy the several days a year I spend at Hunter or Plattekill. Most people tend to really like Windham because it has a lot of cruisers.

My only disappointment with the KMC has been that costs have gone up a quicker rate than expected. Maintenance fees are going up 13% this year mainly due to fuel cost. I believe the following year is capped at a max of 5% though. Also, cleaning costs have gone up as well ($10 more for a 2 bdr unit). Neither of these have gone into effect yet, but the will. That said, it's still cheaper to purchase and maintain than similar places throughout the country. The GSH in Killington charges about double the maintenance, and the properties are not as nice. I looked into the GSH at both Killington and Mount Snow before purchasing at the KMC. Jackson Gore in Ludlow, VT (Okemo) is very nice though, and it even has heated underground parking. Those units have easily more than doubled in price and are very pricey though!