Spinnaker French Quarter Branson Owners should be on the lookout for communication from resort!

[TUGBrian]

This was just posted to the TUG facebook page:

Just a heads up to anyone that has a TS through Spinnaker at French Quarter in Branson.  Make sure to check your emails. We just received an email from Spinnaker saying that the property needs a lot of updates and they’re going to be using a company called Lemonjuice Solutions to start managing the resort. They are giving owners different options to either switch ownership to Palace view resort in Branson or upgrade to something else, option number three is to exit your vacation ownership which I am hoping they are doing cheaper than they had originally told me when I inquired about that. the fourth option is to stay on as a French Quarter owner. Which says it will have special assessments and other charges. 

 

[Gophesjo]

Wonder if they'll need Palace View weeks for French Quarter owners. I'd love to be able to deed mine back to them.

 

[dioxide45]

Doesn't Lemonjuice come in to consult with properties to find ways to repurpose the properties? I've watched several videos where an executivie with Lemonjuice was talking about what they do. The goal is to identify all the owners, get clean title for all the deeds and ultimatly, if in the best interest, have the property sold or repurposes. In some cases the units are renovated and sold as whole ownership.

This is not a quick or easy process and can take many years. I think there are a lot more small independent properties that could utilize such a service.

 

[TUGBrian]

yes, they use a variety of methods to help a timeshare recover from insolvency. not all of which result in the timeshare completely closing, though it does happen! Ive seen one or two where they keep "part" of the resort as a timeshare if they have enough owners to support it and the rest are converted/sold/etc.

i dont think any of the options are truly wonderful choices for a resort to pick from, but all seem to be better than bankruptcy/sale/etc.

 

[dougp26364]

 

[dougp26364]

Sent them our request exit our vacation ownership. We’ll see if there’s any cost past next years MF’s.

We’ve owned an EOY Week at FQ since 2006. It’s been through a fire (possibly arson by the original developer), had the hotel side raised and has been through a bankruptcy with the last building that was built taken and turned into full ownership condo’s. In the years we’ve owned the resort very little has been done to update the interiors, only replacing what breaks and recovering the very old, worn out furniture instead of replacing it. Some exterior work and work around the pool deck was done, but other than that…..nothing noticeably different. Of course the MF’s never really went up much either. I think our last MF for our 2 bedroom penthouse (top floor with a loft bedroom) was still less than $700.
When they affiliated with II a few years ago, we kept our II membership and used the resort week for an exchange. To say I was disappointed in what it would pull would be an understatement. The best we could do was a May or early June week at the Marriott’s in Park City. While a nice exchange, May/June is really week times formPC exchanges and I could have gotten that exchange with nearly any studio week we own.

My hope is they’re not going to want to charge us the $2,000 exit fee they had reportedly been asking. Even so, considering this will be a MF due year, if they include the current MF In that total, it might not be so bad. Spinnaker has three resort phases at the Palace View site. We’ve stayed in the middle phase. While the units were nicer and more update, the insulation was non-existent. Fortunately we’re old enough traveling in Blue Hair season would be an option, so we could possibly avoid the children running, who sound like elephants playing soccer in the unit above you. I really have NO desire to own a Palace View unit and absolutely NO desire to upgrade to a Palace View Heights unit for a “reasonable fee”. We definately don’t want to stick around for any special assessments.

Here is a video review from our last stay in May 2022 at FQ. As you can see, it wasn’t in great shape then. From the correspondence we’ve received about resort updates, nothing much has really changed.

 

[TUGBrian]

someone reported today they were told that there is NO fee to surrender. though that was just told to them over the phone and ill hold my breath till I see that in writing somewhere!

 

[Pennytx]

If it’s at all helpful I’ll be in Branson for 6 weeks starting November 15
I’d be happy to go by
Ask any ? Etc

 

[Art]

When the Longboat Bay Club Resort used Lemonjuice for a similar reason last year, one of the alternatives was to sell their week to Lemonjuice for $1000. Lemonjuice paid all the legal fees and took over the responsibility for paying a $3000 special assessment. Owners had the right to using their existing 2024 reservation. However, Hurricane Milton got in the way of using our reserved week.

Be patient, a similar offer may become available for French Quarter.

 

[dougp26364]

So far I’ve sent an email and called the number listed. No response.

Given the relatively short timeframe to respond by Oct 1st I wonder if they’ve been a little overwhelmed? At least an auto reply that they’ve received the call or the email would’ve been nice

 

[TUGBrian]

agreed, that seems to be a very short window to expect a response from every owner at the resort.

 

[dougp26364]

I just heard back from Spinnaker/lemonjuice. I am to receive my paperwork to deed back our week between 10/27 and the first week of November (she gave a date. I just forgot it already). When I asked about fees to complete the transfer I was told there would be no fees. She also made certain I understood I would relinquish all rights to any compensation. This was either standard language meaning I wasn’t selling the week back or covering them because they already have plans and know they will be selling off the property.
Whatever they do I’m not in a position to risk tossing good money after bad on the chance I might get a bigger return. I’m more than willing to let them have the week back for nothing. We’ve made good use of it for 19 years and feel we have received decent value for our purchase.

 

[dioxide45]

I just heard back from Spinnaker/lemonjuice. I am to receive my paperwork to deed back our week between 10/27 and the first week of November (she gave a date. I just forgot it already). When I asked about fees to complete the transfer I was told there would be no fees. She also made certain I understood I would relinquish all rights to any compensation. This was either standard language meaning I wasn’t selling the week back or covering them because they already have plans and know they will be selling off the property.
Whatever they do I’m not in a position to risk tossing good money after bad on the chance I might get a bigger return. I’m more than willing to let them have the week back for nothing. We’ve made good use of it for 19 years and feel we have received decent value for our purchase.

Let us know who the deed is conveying ownership to. Is it the HOA or is Lemonjuice taking ownership. I think taking back deeds can help in multiple ways. First it consolidates deeds into a single entity making tracking individual ownerships easier. It also consolidates voting interest to parties trying to wind down the property. They can also try and discover any issues with clouded title and clean those up early in the process. Then if it is Lemonjuice who takes ownership, then they get paid the residuals when the property is sold to help cover their costs and profit.

 

[rickandcindy23]

@MichaelColey Owns some weeks in Branson, I think Spinnaker. I wonder what he is doing with his weeks. Maybe it's a different resort. I know his lock off.

 

[dougp26364]

@MichaelColey Owns some weeks in Branson, I think Spinnaker. I wonder what he is doing with his weeks. Maybe it's a different resort. I know his lock off.

Spinnaker has essentially 4 resorts in Branson, although 3 of those 4 are just different subdivisions of one. They have French Quarter, Palace View, Palace View South and Palace View Heights. PV Heights as some sort of internal exchange with other Heights resorts. The only only other Heights resort I’m aware of is a newer build on HHI.