Kauai Beach Villas--new management company coming

[linsj]

I went to the owners update this morning. The shocking news is that yesterday the board signed a three-year management contract with Grand Pacific Resorts, effective January 1, 2017. (Yes, they can do that without a vote of owners.) Orin, the relatively new manager, has no information about how that will play out specifically; and he didn't want to speculate.

He has already told the board he will not stay once the management changes and may leave before January. It's too early to know who else might leave. Orin said the staff here is a great working team, and he hopes they all stay. But Wyndham will probably try to cherry-pick people for other properties.

The board has not been happy with Wyndham, including how they handled--or didn't handle--rentals and foreclosures. In fact, a year or so ago, the board asked Grand Pacific to take over rentals. And the board refused to consider another management contract with Wyndham, which wanted to submit one.

The change is complicated by the fact that Wyndham owns the maintenance and housekeeping buildings. Again, Orin didn't elaborate, so I don't understand why those buildings belong to Wyndham other than the company must have provided the money to build them.

Another complication is that roughly 20% of owners have converted to Wyndham points, and Wyndham owns about 20% of units (I assume from foreclosures).

I hope some of you other owners will take time to go to the owners update when you stay here this year to get more details even though the board will be sending a letter to owners later.

 

[DeniseM]

WOW - that's a shocker!

 

[presley]

That sounds very complicated. If any non-owners want to stay there without paying a daily resort fee, they need to do it now before GPR gets on board.

 

[DaveNV]

Seems odd they can just dump Wyndham without asking Owners what they want.

Didn't GPR already take over management of one of the other Pahio resorts? How is that working out?

I'll be there in the Fall. Hopefully there will be some more news before then.

Thanks, linsj. Appreciate the head's up.

Dave

 

[ronparise]

thats why you elect a board, to make decisions like this

It sounds like the same thing that happened at Fairfield Harbor where I own several converted fixed weeks. The board dumped Wyndham in favor of another management company>> I can reserve my owned week10 to 13 months head of check in, or I can r opt out of the points system altogether and Ill still own my weeks, or I can leave my weeks in the Fairshare trust where the points are good anywhere in the wyndham points system
I do believe however that the inventory available for other wyndham owners to book here has been reduced

 

[bnoble]

Of course, most boards at Wyndham resorts are majority-Wyndham employees, particularly at the newer resorts. Because so few owners actually read the proxies that they (don't) vote, once the board is Wyndham-controlled, it generally stays that way. And, as CWA grows at established resorts, more of the voting interests backing those contracts will be retained by Wyndham.

 

[DeniseM]

Of course, most boards at Wyndham resorts are majority-Wyndham employees, particularly at the newer resorts. Because so few owners actually read the proxies that they (don't) vote, once the board is Wyndham-controlled, it generally stays that way. And, as CWA grows at established resorts, more of the voting interests backing those contracts will be retained by Wyndham.

I don't think that's true at this resort - most owners (80% per OP) have not joined Wyndham/converted to points.

 

[bnoble]

Right---older resorts that were sold largely before Wyndham took over have a fighting chance to stay owner-controlled. I'm just pointing this out for anyone who might be fearful/hopeful that "their" Wyndham resort would change management companies.

 

[presley]

They may not stay with GPR for long. There were a couple other Kaui resorts that hired GPR for management and then dropped them when the contracts were over. That happened pretty recently with a resort in Montana, too.

Full disclosure - I love GPR. I own several of them and they have excellent activities, great resort staff, comfy beds, etc. And, you pay for what you get.

 

[jacknsara]

I went to the owners update this morning. The shocking news is that yesterday the board signed a three-year management contract with Grand Pacific Resorts, effective January 1, 2017. (Yes, they can do that without a vote of owners.) Orin, the relatively new manager, has no information about how that will play out specifically; and he didn't want to speculate.

He has already told the board he will not stay once the management changes and may leave before January. It's too early to know who else might leave. Orin said the staff here is a great working team, and he hopes they all stay. But Wyndham will probably try to cherry-pick people for other properties.

The board has not been happy with Wyndham, including how they handled--or didn't handle--rentals and foreclosures. In fact, a year or so ago, the board asked Grand Pacific to take over rentals. And the board refused to consider another management contract with Wyndham, which wanted to submit one.

The change is complicated by the fact that Wyndham owns the maintenance and housekeeping buildings. Again, Orin didn't elaborate, so I don't understand why those buildings belong to Wyndham other than the company must have provided the money to build them.

Another complication is that roughly 20% of owners have converted to Wyndham points, and Wyndham owns about 20% of units (I assume from foreclosures).

I hope some of you other owners will take time to go to the owners update when you stay here this year to get more details even though the board will be sending a letter to owners later.

Aloha,
I attended the Wednesday KBV resort manager meeting 12/30/15. Much of the conversation focused on Orin's idea's for potential site improvements and the hotel's re-imposition of a resort fee for KBV residents. Orin stated more than once his intention to be there for many years. I'm guessing this development was a recent surprise for him.
I'm under the impression that most of the rest of the KBV on-site "management team" are locals - not folks transplanted to Kauai by Wyndham. Unless there are openings at the few other Wyndham properties on Kauai, I would not worry about Wyndham doing excessive cherry picking.
One detail I would be interested in getting clarified is whether the two 20% numbers are additive. For instance, does Wyndham retain title to 20% of the units and just sell their membership points against those without transferring title for the week to its new client? I am under the impression that about 20% of KBV owners paid to join the Wyndham system but retain their title to ICN for their ownership.
Jack

 

[linsj]

They may not stay with GPR for long. There were a couple other Kaui resorts that hired GPR for management and then dropped them when the contracts were over. That happened pretty recently with a resort in Montana, too.

Full disclosure - I love GPR. I own several of them and they have excellent activities, great resort staff, comfy beds, etc. And, you pay for what you get.

Do you know why the resorts dropped GPR?

Your last sentence: Do you mean the MFs are high?

 

[linsj]

Aloha,
I attended the Wednesday KBV resort manager meeting 12/30/15. Much of the conversation focused on Orin's idea's for potential site improvements and the hotel's re-imposition of a resort fee for KBV residents. Orin stated more than once his intention to be there for many years. I'm guessing this development was a recent surprise for him.
I'm under the impression that most of the rest of the KBV on-site "management team" are locals - not folks transplanted to Kauai by Wyndham. Unless there are openings at the few other Wyndham properties on Kauai, I would not worry about Wyndham doing excessive cherry picking.
One detail I would be interested in getting clarified is whether the two 20% numbers are additive. For instance, does Wyndham retain title to 20% of the units and just sell their membership points against those without transferring title for the week to its new client? I am under the impression that about 20% of KBV owners paid to join the Wyndham system but retain their title to ICN for their ownership.
Jack

I think this change surprised Orin. He stated more than once that he's a Wyndham guy, which probably accounts for him not staying with a new management company. I'm sad that he's leaving since I am impressed with his desire to be sure all his people are taken care of, his desire to regain RCI gold status (we're .1 away in one category: maintenance), and his plans for improvements. He's impressed with how well the board has handled the budget and the fact that there are ample reserve funds for several projects.

People who converted to points still own their deeds at KBV. I'm guessing that the 20% Wyndham owns are units for sale that they took with foreclosures. I didn't think to ask for clarification at the time since questions were coming at a rapid pace, and the conversation was bouncing all over. Orin gave us all his business card and encouraged us to call or email with any other questions, so I may ask him this. I also didn't think to ask if the GPR contract is less than the current one we have with Wyndham.

I did an owner's update with Wyndham (aka sales presentation) the day before the KBV owners update. (Yeah, I know most people here won't do them, but I had specific reasons for going that I don't need to get into.) Both the sales rep and the manager who came in were from Pahio sales. The manager's final offer included waiving the conversion fee and some other financial concessions; he was pushing hard to bring Pahio owners into Wyndham. After the KBV owners meeting, I started wondering if he knew about the management vote that day.

 

[linsj]

Seems odd they can just dump Wyndham without asking Owners what they want.

Didn't GPR already take over management of one of the other Pahio resorts? How is that working out?

Like Ron said, making management decisions is part of why we have a board. Someone asked about this; and Orin pointed out that if it took an owners' vote to make a change, there would never ever be a change since many people don't even vote for board members. I've owned condos for 30 years, so I understand how this works; and it doesn't bother me.

Makai Club switched from Wyndham to GPR, and GPR manages Hanalei Bay. I don't remember reading anything here about how that's working out.

One thing Orin mentioned is that GPR is a mainland company with only a few resorts in Hawaii. Wyndham corporate has finally learned to let the Hawaii managers do their jobs without telling them what to do but letting them use the resources (like buying power) when they ask for them.

 

[DaveNV]

I did an owner's update with Wyndham (aka sales presentation) the day before the KBV owners update. (Yeah, I know most people here won't do them, but I had specific reasons for going that I don't need to get into.) Both the sales rep and the manager who came in were from Pahio sales. The manager's final offer included waiving the conversion fee and some other financial concessions; he was pushing hard to bring Pahio owners into Wyndham. After the KBV owners meeting, I started wondering if he knew about the management vote that day.

Would be interesting to do another Owner's Update, and pin them down about GPR taking over. I wonder if they'd change their pitch any.

Dave

 

[massvacationer]

i wonder if this will be a good thing or a bad thing for KBY owners - in the long run.

I realize that wyndham tends to have sales folks that give many people a rash, but they do tend to manage most resorts pretty well, from my experience anyway.

I know nothing about Grand Pacific Resorts, so maybe this will be good for KBV owners? On the other hand, I do think wyndham manages resorts pretty well - they are not real cheap but the quality is usually good.

 

[DaveNV]

I also wonder if this will give KBV owners an inside track to exchanges within GPR's family of resorts? There are some great ones in Southern California I'd like to visit.

Dave

 

[presley]

I also wonder if this will give KBV owners an inside track to exchanges within GPR's family of resorts? There are some great ones in Southern California I'd like to visit.

Dave

It will. You will have full access to the internal exchange company. I don't know if/how it will affect the 1 in 4 rule in RCI.

 

[ronparise]

FWI and for what its worth, I own 4 every other year weeks and 1 annual week at Kauai Beach Villas all these have been converted to points in the Club Wyndham system ( 959000 points in even years and 490000 in odd years)

In the period 10 months to 13 months before check in Im able to reserve my deeded week or I can use the points too reserve at any Club Wyndham resort 10 months before check in> Which is how I use them. It doesnt matter to me who manages the place, except that I worry a mew management company wont be able to keep maintenance fees under control

I could, if I wanted to, opt out of the Wyndham points system, and just own the weeks.

 

[slabeaume]

Does that mean that VIP discounts won't be honored at KBV for KBV Wyndham owners once management changes?

 

[DeniseM]

Does that mean that VIP discounts won't be honored at KBV for KBV Wyndham owners once management changes?

If you are talking about Wyndham Points reservations, the first post said that about 20% of the units have been converted to Wyndham points - that won't change. Wyndham points inventory, and deeded weeks inventory is in 2 separate pools.

 

[slabeaume]

If you are talking about Wyndham Points reservations, the first post said that about 20% of the units have been converted to Wyndham points - that won't change. Wyndham points inventory, and deeded weeks inventory is in 2 separate pools.

So it'll be like when Wyndham took over Pahio. Some stayed with Pahio, some of us converted, and now GPR will try to convert for more of a mix within the resort?

 

[DeniseM]

So it'll be like when Wyndham took over Pahio. Some stayed with Pahio, some of us converted, and now GPR will try to convert for more of a mix within the resort?

GPR is going to be the management company - they won't own the resort. I am sure they will offer sales presentations, and offer GPR memberships, but hard to say exactly what the offer will be.

 

[LynnW]

Being an owner at Meadow Lake I never did find out why they dropped them but I do know there were a lot of unhappy long time employees.

 

[DaveNV]

I don't generally attend Owner Updates, but next time I'm at KBV, (October), I will make a point of attending. I was thinking of selling my KBV oceanfront unit week after this next stay there, but now I may hang onto it, if I can get into GPR resorts.

Dave

 

[ronparise]

Does that mean that VIP discounts won't be honored at KBV for KBV Wyndham owners once management changes?

If you are a VIP owner and reserve there with wyndham points your discounts will apply, but realistically how many units will be available 60 days before checkin.

What you wont get are the t VIP benefits at the resor, like a free newspaper and early check in