Doug,
As usual, great photos! These are great for anybody coming to the resort.
I've stayed a few times on the floors below, and it was very average. Looks like you made a nice purchase to get the penthouse level... a big difference!
They do have one of the better outdoor pools in the Branson area.
Thanks,
Scott
The problem with that pool is it serves the 7 buildings at French Quarter and the 2 buildings at Grand Regency at Thousand Hills plus, they get univited guests that aren't guests at either resort. There are no locks on the pool gates so people just walk right in.
There are 112 keys at French Quarter right now and probably another 64 at Grand Regency. That's an awfully small pool for around 176 keys and it was VERY crowded all week long. It's probably fine anytime but the very busy summer months but, it was far to crowded IMO unless you enjoyed getting splashed by all the kids who love to play in the pool.
Now, if you had little kids, they'd love it. It was one big splash party from 09:30 until it closed at 11:30 PM. I'd have liked to see an adult swim time early in the morning when were a person could get in a little exercise without having to dodge all the floaty toys and kids just being kids. I have no problems with kids having a great time in the pool but, this resort needs a bigger pool for the number of units they have. Of course, IMO this is a common problem for a lot of timeshares and most timeshares in Branson.
As for the penthouse unit, it seems to me the biggest difference is the vaulted ceilings adding space. When I really looked at the unit, it's just a two bedroom unit with a loft. There is still a lock-out door so this unit could have been a 4 bedroom loft unit.
If all the room layouts are similar, I'd never accept a 1 bedroom exchange into this resort. The 1 bedroom units would be little more than a studio with a door seperating the bedroom from the living area. They have a very small "full" kitchen in the 1 bedroom units. Something I hate that they do for exchange purposes since it makes it harder to tell what you're getting for an exchange (Master suite of a 2 bedroom LO of glorified studio unit).
It appears to me that all units have a 2 bedroom master suite with a 1 bedroom LO or 3 bedroom loft master suite and a 1 bedroom LO. Still, we enjoy the guarentee of being on the top floor and the feeling of extra space afforded by the vaulted ceiling, even if we do rarely use that loft bedroom. On the other hand, having that third bathroom came in handy at times.
The salesman did say that the newer buildings have a 2/2 set up rather than the 2/1. I guess in the newer buildings they've found a way to put two 2 bedroom units side by side to make one large 4 bedroom unit similar to how Greensprings Plantation did it in Williamsburg, VA.