Marriott to resume construction at Grand Chateau

[dougp26364]

In this article from the Las Vegas Sun http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/feb/22/marriott-moves-forward-timeshares-resort/ Marriott has said they'll break ground on tower 3 of Grand Chateau sometime this year. Apparently Marriott does feel that, at least in some destinations, the worst of the downturn may be over. Either that or sales remain strong in Vegas despite the economy.

As a Grand Chateau owner, if they do actually break ground on tower 3 that's welcome news. The second and larger pool won't be completed unless/untill tower 3 is built. Not that the second pool will be anything to write home about but, it should at least be bigger than the tiny-almost-worthless pool they have on the roof of tower 1.

The article does indicate that Marriott intends to finsh the project by building tower 4 after tower 3 in completed but, I'll take it one step at a time. At one point sales were so strong for Grand Chateau they had plans to build out towers 3 and 4 concurently instead of seperately. There was also plans for towers 3 & 4 to be more upscale like the newer projects Marriott has built in recent years and that owners in towers 1 and 2 would have to exchange back into the resort in order to stay in either towers 3 or 4. I have no idea if that's still the plan.

Our plans for Vegas and the Grand Chateau are to return there sometime next March. Unless the manager sends out some form of correspondence about any new construction I guess I'll have to wait for someone else to take the tour and update us that aspect of their plans.

 

[kjd]

Good news! Thanks for the post. I'm am wondering if the new City Center project is giving MGC a boost in anticipated sales now that CC is open. This news trumps the notion that because LV is overbuilt and is in an economic recession, it will never be what it was.

Every time that I have vacationed at MGC there was between 80-100% occupancy. LV has a history of re-inventing itself time after time. This time will be no different. While there are certainly some negatives for LV, the positives for LV more than outweigh it. It's the number one FF award travel destination; it's the top convention city in the US; it's one of the favorite destinations of foreign visitors; it's one of the top five cities for retirees; etc.

This news bodes well for MGC. If anyone is thinking of purchasing at MGC it might be a good time to buy. If Marriott starts the third tower they may also bring back ROFR. They may need more rooms for the hotel rental program and also for preview guests. They can be sold later to new buyers at a substantial profit if the demand for LV picks up.

 

[SueDonJ]

Another step in the right direction, giving an indication that Marriott is confident enough that the worst of this recession's effects might be over for them.

So far Las Vegas hasn't been on our radar but we'll be watching this construction closely for the future ....

 

[thinze3]

WAIT!! This article is over a year old. How accurate can it be? MGM almost went bankrupt since then.

 

[kjd]

You're right. Now I'm confused. The article has two dates. March 22, 2010 and Feb 2009. The three comments below the article are all from
Feb 2009. Last time I was at MGC was May 2009 and they had cut back their sales operation but nothing was mentioned about tower 3.

Still stand by previous post regarding LV. It has always been able to re-invent itself. It will again. MGM is not broke (MGM total revenues are just about what they were in 2005.) but is suffering with the downturn in LV plus a near default on financing when their 50% partner Dubai World missed a loan payment for City Center. MGM stock that sold recently for more than $100 now is around $12. However, the stock is up 12% since the opening of City Center.

The company's future hinges to a large extent on the success of City Center which opened its' first phase last month. If CC is successful and with MGC being in the immediate area, the idea of building a MGC tower 3 is not
a stretch of the imagination.

 

[taffy19]

I see the Grand Chateau in Las Vegas as the ideal resort to start selling the new point system in the United States plus the drawings and permits are in place already and it is the right location for short stays and not a whole week. JMHO.

 

[Dave M]

I think the article is from February 2009. The date at the top of the page - March 22, 2010 - will likely change tomorrow to March 23.

 

[dougp26364]

Opps. I saw Febuary but missed the '09. Obviously Marriott did not break ground on tower 3 last year. So much for my optimism.

 

[thinze3]

I see the Grand Chateau in Las Vegas as the ideal resort to start selling the new point system in the United States plus the drawings and permits are in place already and it is the right location for short stays and not a whole week. JMHO.

I believe they already are selling MGC as part of Marriott's Asia Pacific points system.

 

[taffy19]

I believe they already are selling MGC as part of Marriott's Asia Pacific points system.

I know Terry but what would stop them from selling a system like that here? Las Vegas would be a good resort to start but they are not building the third tower yet as I asked them today at the update.

 

[thinze3]

I know Terry but what would stop them from selling a system like that here? Las Vegas would be a good resort to start but they are not building the third tower yet as I asked them today at the update.

Marriott's Grand Chateau is part of the Asia Pacific points program.

I believe they already are selling Marriott's Grand Chateau as part of Marriott's Asia Pacific points system.

Sorry for the abbreviations.

 

[amisco]

At the Grand Chateau Owners Meeting today

I am writing this from the Marriott Grand Chateau... I went to the owners update meeting today where the Marriott representative stated that they are NOT going to be building for the next "year or two" until the economy improves. She also said that when the new towers were built the current owners will be given some sort of priority to stay in building one which would have better views of the strip and City Center.

I asked her if she had heard any news about changes to the Marriott program such as the addition of a "points and internal exchange" option but she had nothing to announce at this time. I asked if Marriott had any plans to increase the number of Marriott Rewards points given to adjust for the increased points now required to stay at Marriott properties...(I am getting 110,000 pts for my Newport Coast but needed 100,000 for five days at the Residence Inn in San Diego...not exactly a comparable property)... no plans for any improvement for Marriott Rewards points. I told her that the Hilton program increased the points a year or so before they inflated their points program this year.... sorry to say no improvement on this front.
:deadhorse:

 

[BocaBoy]

Here's the real scoop. They are converting the sales offices in the second tower to timeshare units because they no longer need the sales space. Also, they told me that they probably won't start tower 3 for another 2-3 years. This was a week ago.

By the way, the plan for towers 3 and 4 is NOT for more upscale units. Rather, the units may be a little smaller and not as close to the decor of other Marriott TS's as towers 1 and 2. Also, towers, 1 & 2 face the Las Vegas Strip. 3 & 4 will not.

The reason that towers 1 & 2 will reserve together and 3 & 4 will reserve separately from 1 & 2 is because it was thought not to be fair to 1 & 2 owners to maybe have a non-Strip view. Kind of like mountain vs. ocean views in Hawaii.

 

[timeos2]

Not likely anything new to be built soon

Here's the real scoop. They are converting the sales offices in the second tower to timeshare units because they no longer need the sales space. Also, they told me that they probably won't start tower 3 for another 2-3 years. This was a week ago.

By the way, the plan for towers 3 and 4 is NOT for more upscale units. Rather, the units may be a little smaller and not as close to the decor of other Marriott TS's as towers 1 and 2. Also, towers, 1 & 2 face the Las Vegas Strip. 3 & 4 will not.

The reason that towers 1 & 2 will reserve together and 3 & 4 will reserve separately from 1 & 2 is because it was thought not to be fair to 1 & 2 owners to maybe have a non-Strip view. Kind of like mountain vs. ocean views in Hawaii.

Makes far more sense than more new construction. In the current state of the overall economy and specifically timeshare betting any big money on more inventory requiring high priced sales is insane. I'd be very surprised to see any more new timeshare construction in LV - especially on the albatross across the street PH Tower of Terror which may never be completed as originally planned - for at least 5 more years. Way too much there already and far too costly and risky to move forward on anytime soon.

I haven't heard anything recently about the (to me at least) poorly located Wyndham property they were pushing a couple years ago on the opposite side of the Interstate from the strip. My guess is that is dead as well. No one will bemoan that one never happening.

 

[dougp26364]

Makes far more sense than more new construction. In the current state of the overall economy and specifically timeshare betting any big money on more inventory requiring high priced sales is insane. I'd be very surprised to see any more new timeshare construction in LV - especially on the albatross across the street PH Tower of Terror which may never be completed as originally planned - for at least 5 more years. Way too much there already and far too costly and risky to move forward on anytime soon.

I haven't heard anything recently about the (to me at least) poorly located Wyndham property they were pushing a couple years ago on the opposite side of the Interstate from the strip. My guess is that is dead as well. No one will bemoan that one never happening.

The latest Wyndham property was cancelled completely rather than postponed.

I had noticed that, when I made my reservations for MGC this year, it was for MGC 1 & 2. That keeps me hopeful that they still plan on building towers 3 and 4 at some point in the future.

It's to bad that when I was searching through the archives at the LV Sun I didn't see the article I was reading was from last year and not this year. I guess that I was taken in by the thread where a Marriott salesman (I should konw better) was claiming strong sales were pushing big price increases. That led me to see the article and think maybe Marriott's sales were stronger than I thought they were and they were cranking up production of new inventory again.

I had read in the MGC newsletter that the sales offices, which were just finished in the last year or so, were being converted to villa's already. That's made me concerned that towers 3 and 4, which are clearly not promised in the owners documents, will never be built. A part of me would really like to see them get started on at least tower three to get that second pool in place. I jumped the gun on when I read that article. Goes to show it can happen to anyone I suppose.

 

[kjd]

Now that it is established that MGC tower 3 and 4 will not be built in the near future and that the second PH tower seems to be also delayed, when will the surrounding infrastructure be brought back to normal condidtions? (If anything can be called normal in LV)

With City Center being finished I am hoping that all of the construction mess will be taken away on LV Blvd and that the sidewalks will be fixed between MGC and LVB. There was a large metal plate covering a hole in the middle of the street at the intersection of Harmon and the street that runs in front of the MGC entrance. There was also an unsightly empty lot on the corner of Harmon and LVB which was used for construction waste and materials. I believe the lot is owned by the city.

Have any recent visitors to the area seen any improvements? When PH, City Center, MGC and the Westgate tower were all under construction at the same time it was hazardous to be a pedestrian.