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Westin Lagunamar Annual Meeting

Snowonbeach

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We are planning on attending the Lagunamar Annual Meeting January 20, 2020. Do any other owners have issues that we might be able to address?
 

DannyTS

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Overall I am a very happy Lagunamar owner, the management does a great job. I have a few questions though:

1) what exchange rate was used for the 2020 budget? I noticed the peso has come down from the last budget but that does not seem to have helped to lower the MF. How do they determine the average exchange rate for the year? I hope they do not charge a 2.5% exchange fee or something similar.

2) why are the internet expenses 6 times higher than at other comparable Vistana resorts (approx USD 300,000 per year!). What can they do to limit and possible lower them? I have to point out that according to reputable sites, the high speed internet is cheaper in average in Mexico than in the US.

3) the insurance went up 3 times from last year, it is almost 1 million dollars now. Has the risk really gone up 3 times? Given that Lagunamar is a solid concrete building and that few years ago it has bought a special fabric to cover vulnerable areas, is that justified?

4) Vistana owns approx 15% of the resort and it uses its units to rent through normal travel channels and for promotional packages. A unit owned by their renters is probably cleaned 7 days a week while the units we own are cleaned 3 times. A simple math shows that Vistana is utilizing 30% of the number of cleanings for the resort. Is Vistana actually paying 30% of the housecleaning costs?

edited and added:
5) the annual budget also shows USD 514,505 credit card fees. It is not clear to me what revenues has the HOA that are associated with those fees. The normal incidentals for a hotel are: restaurants, spa, phones, etc. If I am not mistaken, those are run by the developer and both the costs and the revenues go to Vistana so why are the owners responsible for these charges?
 
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SMHarman

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And 300,000 of Internet. That's $1k a unit a year.
That is quite spend. Even if the WiFi equipment is leased and there is a service contract.
 
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DannyTS

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Lagunamar internet 300k a year, Svv Bella 50k per year, about the same number of units. It does not make sense to me.
 

DannyTS

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And 300,000 of Internet. That's $1k a unit a year.
That is quite spend. Even if the WiFi equipment is leased and there is a service contract.
1k per unit is close to 100 USD per month per unit. The price for high speed internet in Cancun is about 20 USD per month but please do not forget that the resorts buy wholesale, they do not pay per unit, right?
 

SMHarman

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1k per unit is close to 100 USD per month per unit. The price for high speed internet in Cancun is about 20 USD per month but please do not forget that the resorts buy wholesale, they do not pay per unit, right?
I agree. But then someone is responsible for the switching and distribution in the buildings.

They may pay wholesale for the pipe to the site but then they also need to pay to build and maintain the infrastructure throughout the site to distribute that pipe.

They are using Ruckus WiFi equipment which is high spec equipment. And it shows in the quality of their site WiFi.
 
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DannyTS

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I totally agree with you, the internet is great throughout the resort and I do not want that to change. At the same time, 250,000 USD extra (comparing WLR with SVV Bella) can pay for a lot of things in Mexico so I am wondering if there is not something else going on.
 

DannyTS

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I agree. But then someone is responsible for the switching and distribution in the buildings.

They may pay wholesale for the pipe to the site but then they also need to pay to build and maintain the infrastructure throughout the site to distribute that pipe.

They are using Ruckus WiFi equipment which is high spec equipment. And it shows in the quality of their site WiFi.
Lagunamar is not the only one using Rockus WIFI, others (including Marriott) use the same system. Do you think that Marriott pays for the internet 300k per year for each hotel?
 
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SMHarman

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Lagunamar is not the only one using Rockus WIFI, others (including Marriott) use the same system. Do you think that Marriott pays for the internet 300k per year for each hotel?
No I don't.
 

DannyTS

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We are planning on attending the Lagunamar Annual Meeting January 20, 2020. Do any other owners have issues that we might be able to address?
one last thing, they are planning to update the villas in 2021 and they will probably show a model unit. Can you please take pictures and post them? Thanks!
 

byeloe

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one last thing, they are planning to update the villas in 2021 and they will probably show a model unit. Can you please take pictures and post them? Thanks!
they were updating, unit 811( I think) this week. Couldn't see much, but they did paint the cabinetry white. New appliances also but not sure the specifics, they were still in boxes
 

DannyTS

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they were updating, unit 811( I think) this week. Couldn't see much, but they did paint the cabinetry white. New appliances also but not sure the specifics, they were still in boxes
thank you
 
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dioxide45

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5) the annual budget also shows USD 514,505 credit card fees. It is not clear to me what revenues has the HOA that are associated with those fees. The normal incidentals for a hotel are: restaurants, spa, phones, etc. If I am not mistaken, those are run by the developer and both the costs and the revenues go to Vistana so why are the owners responsible for these charges?

The credit card fees you see in the annual budget are the fees to cover the costs of owners paying their MFs by credit card.
 

DannyTS

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The credit card fees you see in the annual budget are the fees to cover the costs of owners paying their MFs by credit card.
Given a budget of about 20 million dollars, the 515,505 represents about 2.5%. As a large merchant I doubt that Marriott/Vistana pays over 1% in transaction fees. Of course some owners (though a minority I assume) pay the MF through direct bank transfers. Moreover, Vistana owns 15% of the units and there should be not cost when they transfer the money internally.

Do you know for sure that these are MFs associated credit card fees?
 
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SMHarman

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Given a budget of about 20 million dollars, the 515,505 represents about 2.5%. As a large merchant I doubt that Marriott/Vistana pays over 1% in transaction fees. Of course some owners (though a minority I assume) pay the MF through direct bank transfers. Moreover, Vistana owns 15% of the units and there should be not cost when they transfer the money internally.

Do you know for sure that these are MFs associated credit card fees?
They are merchant fees.

And with the majority of owners and visitors / guests paying with loyalty cards like the AX or Chase Bonvoy cards the merchant fees will be on the higher end. You don't think you bank awards you those points at a loss!

This will be a well known number. The budget VS actual on this number should be pretty on point and they can base this budget line on prior year history with great certainty.

Sent from my H8216 using Tapatalk
 

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