Morritt's owners- what's the latest?

[Subiej]

Hi all – this is a great forum! I'm so glad to have found it, and have learned a ton so far.

My husband and I are new to the world of timesharing, and are considering the purchase of a two bedroom-two bathroom week at the Morritt's Grand, on Grand Cayman. Resale, of course!

We are super excited, but are proceeding with a dose of caution, as is recommended here. We spent a week at the resort just this month, and loved it, but I thought I would do some due diligence, and ask if any Morritt's owners if there's anything we should really know about, prior to purchase.

Do owners seem reasonably pleased with management these days? Any big increases in maintenance fees planned, especially for the Grand? Any big changes in the works that would impact us? I'm sure everybody, has their minor quibbles with the place (hello, karaoke?!?)- I am really just looking for the bigger issues which a new buyer should be aware of.

FYI, I feel the price for the week we are planning to pay is very fair, and we will probably recoup the principal in the first two years, from rental savings. I'm not sure whether we will enroll in Interval and try to exchange – right now we just want to stay there, I think.

Many thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

[theo]

Fwiw, there is a Caribbean Timesharing forum here on TUG, where your inquiry would likely get seen by many more knowledgeable Morritt's owners than might see your post in this particular Buying, Selling & Renting forum. Perhaps a moderator will move your post over there for you...

 

[TUGBrian]

Welcome to TUG!

Ive moved your post to the caribbean forum, hopefully some other morrits owners will chime in to answer your questions!

 

[Subiej]

Great- thanks so much! Any Morritt's owners, I would love your feedback. Thank you!

 

[shorts]

We own several weeks at Morritts and have been owners since 1994. We love it there and go every year. Our kids and grandkids love it too. There have been some recent changes, like the towel policy, that has some people grumbling, but we're okay with it. I think the change in the internet is a positive one.

A lot of owners don't like the use of the wrist bands and the distinction between Golden Turtle Club (those that bought from resort) and resale and everyone else. They feel as though they are being treated as 2nd class citizens. (We have both resale and developer purchased). We have never had anything but great service at Morritts!

Maintenance fees did increase this year but that was to fund the reserves. They have done a good job at keeping expenses in line. They are working very hard at updating a lot of the units. The Grand units were done not too long ago.

There is a Morritts Grand Facebook page and I'm not sure how much you're paying for your week but there is someone selling 2 penthouse units for very little. If you haven't committed yet, you might want to check it out. Actually I think she posted on the Morritts Tortuga Club Facebook page. A lot of owners join both for information.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. Maybe we will see you at the resort sometime.

 

[pedro47]

Welcome to the TUG's Family!

 

[Subiej]

Thanks so much, Vicki and pedro47! People here are so nice, it's wonderful.

Vicki, your note was very reassuring- thanks especially for that. I had a good impression of the resort this month, so everything you said seems in line with what I saw too. It's totally unpretentious and everybody is very friendly. We are also kitesurfers, and it's one of the only places to stay near the best kiting spot on the island (which is just upwind of the Grand). A huge plus for us!

Yes, I am hoping to purchase one of the two penthouse units. They are definitely a good value, it seems to me, and the seller has been very patient with us. I believe the other one has already been sold. Many thanks for your feedback!

 

[Westfort]

Morritt's annual booking

Hi we're in the process of purchasing a resale unit at the Grand. It'll be 6-8 weeks to close and we'll have a week in 2016. What are the chances of getting a week later this year (Nov early Dec) to use or rent. We have not had a good experience with Interval banking that late in the year. Also what could we expect booking late Jan or Feb. 2017. Any information would be helpful.
Thank You

 

[Subiej]

Hi,

Since I'm going through this process myself, I happen to have spoken with one of the people at the company which handles the reservations (L & M Solutions, 727-447-5344) the other day with a similar question. If you're already involved in a transfer, you've probably dealt with them already.

I'd been asking about Feb-March of 2017. Someone at L&M told me that there was pretty much no chance of using our week at the Grand during those months at this point, because the units are often booked solid by people who have multiple weeks.

Aparently, when the booking window opens for the first week of February, let's say– which happens, I think maybe on like Feb 1– someone with 4 floating weeks can book them all together and take up the whole month, even before the booking window for the end of Feb opens! Seems totally unfair, but... Someone else, please correct me if I'm wrong here.

She said I should have no problem using my week in the Tortuga, but I'm not a fan of that part of the resort. Bottom line, apparently the Grand is not easy to get into during those months, even if you call a year to the day in advance. Something to keep in mind. If you have your heart set on going in Feb or March every year, you might be a bit disappointed.

There were, however, a couple of weeks left in Jan, 2017. As for Nov-December, 2016, I'm going to assume this would be more open right now, since I believe Jan, 2017 would be in higher demand, but you should call them and just ask. Not sure how much they'll tell you, since you're not technically an owner yet, but they were very helpful to me, once I explained that our transfer was in progress. Best of luck!

 

[Westfort]

Our agreement stated we could pay fee ($50 I think) to book a week while still in escrow. We were at the Grand The week of Jan.31st did not seem completely booked if you go to Expedia you can book a room at the Grand Feb/17 ($3,800) which I don't understand how they can rent out rooms but don't have space available for owners (or soon to be owners) having a room in the Tortuga side oceanfront maybe ok but poolside would not. I guess we'll have to work thru this and hope it works out. At this time we have 2 weeks booked with RCI but will have additional weeks to deal with not a bad problem to have I guess.

 

[esk444]

There's a big thread at Morritt's that talked about the poor finances there and the difficulty of replacing the building that were damaged due to Hurricane Ivan. You should read it. It scared me off of the Morritt's. The Morritt's family didn't seem like the people I really wanted to invest a lot of money with long term.

The developers have all the control and there are very little owner protections in the Cayman Islands. You should look into what happened to the Indie Suites: http://www.grandcaymantimeshare.com/indiessuites.htm

 

[Subiej]

New 13-month booking window... but not for resale owners

Thanks esk444- good to know. When you say there is a thread "at Morritt's," where exactly do you mean? I know there is an area at the L&M Solutions web site where owners can log in- is this where you saw it?

I also discovered this week that, in the future, Morritt's owners who purchased their unit(s) directly from the resort (those in the Golden Turtle Club) will be granted a 13-MONTH booking window, while resale owners will retain the same 12-month window, giving those who bought from Morritt's a month's head start on booking up the best dates. Awesome.

I heard from both their sales team and from L&M that this is "in the works"– it seems like it is something the board is considering, or which may have already been passed, but has yet to go into effect.

It sounds like it's hard enough already to get weeks in Feb-March. I would think this would make it even harder for those who bought resale to get decent weeks. Is there anything to prevent this from getting worse in the future?? Unclear to me.

 

[esk444]

Thanks esk444- good to know. When you say there is a thread "at Morritt's," where exactly do you mean? I know there is an area at the L&M Solutions web site where owners can log in- is this where you saw it?

I also discovered this week that, in the future, Morritt's owners who purchased their unit(s) directly from the resort (those in the Golden Turtle Club) will be granted a 13-MONTH booking window, while resale owners will retain the same 12-month window, giving those who bought from Morritt's a month's head start on booking up the best dates. Awesome.

I heard from both their sales team and from L&M that this is "in the works"– it seems like it is something the board is considering, or which may have already been passed, but has yet to go into effect.

It sounds like it's hard enough already to get weeks in Feb-March. I would think this would make it even harder for those who bought resale to get decent weeks. Is there anything to prevent this from getting worse in the future?? Unclear to me.

Meant to say about Morritt's. That thread is on TUG.

 

[Htoo0]

There is an 'unofficial' forum for morritts owners who are very helpful should you be interested. http://morritts.fr.yuku.com/ Visitors are welcome but there is a separate owners section too. (Resale or developer purchase)

 

[RMitchell]

never mind....

 

[hammerhammer]

There's a big thread at Morritt's that talked about the poor finances there and the difficulty of replacing the building that were damaged due to Hurricane Ivan. You should read it. It scared me off of the Morritt's. The Morritt's family didn't seem like the people I really wanted to invest a lot of money with long term.

The developers have all the control and there are very little owner protections in the Cayman Islands. You should look into what happened to the Indie Suites: http://www.grandcaymantimeshare.com/indiessuites.htm

What happens if a person defaults on paying maintenance fees at Morritt's. Do they come after them?

 

[Tia]

What happens if a person defaults on paying maintenance fees at Morritt's. Do they come after them?

Really??

 

[Htoo0]

Despite the contracts (at least at one time) stating that all disputes had to be settled in a Cayman court, they have been reported to come after anyone who defaults on their M.F.s.

 

[hammerhammer]

Really??

Do you have any information on this. Any law I can read? I have been looking for this information for a long time and have had people post up that offshore timeshares do not have the ability to come after a owner like a US timeshare.

Just trying to be a informed buyer, sorry :-(