October 2022
Dear Fellow Owners,
The Board of Managers of the Coral Vista Vacation Owners and Coral Vista Condominium Associations met on September 14th to review resort operations and address the 2023 draft budget. Here is a recap of the board meeting, the budget workshop, and an opportunity to share information with you about what is happening at the resort.
Budget Workshop
Every year the boards meet with management to discuss the finances of the resort and the associations. We give input on the budget throughout September and October, with a target date of finalizing the budget by the end of October. Maintenance fee statements are sent out in early December, and 2023 maintenance fees are due in early January.
There are a number of challenges with this year’s budget. As we review the budget proposal, our goal is to provide you with the same level of services as you have known at The Westin St. John Resort Villas in years past. Understaffing challenges in key operational areas and retention of current staff is our primary concern. Anticipated hotel openings in St. Thomas will put additional pressure on the pool of available workers and on wage increases. Our resort runs at a very high occupancy rate. The Management Company, therefore, has needed to add additional staff. St. John is at a disadvantage as there is a significant shortage of affordable housing on the island. As a result of the 2017 hurricanes, many former long-term rental sites have converted to short-term, higher priced rentals. This puts pressure on where our associates can afford to live and has impacted the entire service industry in St. John. Many of our associates live on St. Thomas and commute to the resort and home each day by ferry service.
Insurance costs continue to increase year over year. As a result, we expect double-digit premium increases again this year, putting additional pressure on our operating budget.
Accounts receivable are also a challenge. Even a small percentage increase in delinquent maintenance fee accounts has a negative impact on resort revenues of tens of thousands of dollars. Please make every effort to pay your maintenance fees on time.
Utility costs are another driver of increases. Electricity costs in the Virgin Islands are extremely high. You can help all of us by closing your villa doors while the air conditioning is running. Don’t let air-conditioned air escape. This helps reduce usage and lower the cost of operations.
Pool towels are a significant expense item as well. Towels do wear out from normal usage. However, we experience a significant volume of towel loss each month. Please return towels that you take to a beach, on boat excursions, and transport in rental cars or taxis. This is an area, like electric costs, where we can all be part of the solution to help to control costs.
The Board and Management team are working hard to keep maintenance fee increases to a reasonable level in consideration of the significant challenges we will continue to face in 2023.
Overall, we are facing an anticipated increase of approximately 9.8% for 2023. This is the average increase and will vary depending on the points package you own. We are living through a time of high inflation and island life is more impacted than life at home. We appreciate your understanding of the context in which the budgets and maintenance fees are set.
Resort Operations
COVID-19 Update – It is nice to write that COVID-19 is not currently the predominant issue facing the U.S. Virgin Islands. Travel restrictions have lessened. Cases are at very low levels. But this can change at any time, so please check for updates from the USVI as your travel dates approach.
The resort is no longer seeking an external food service vendor for Lemongrass. Staff shortage challenges impact our ability to move from buffet service to ala carte menus. Lemongrass is open daily for buffet breakfast. It offers themed buffet dinners two nights each week and is planning to expand its offerings in the fall. Snorkels will continue to be open for lunch and dinner every day. As more staff becomes available, the menu will expand there as well. The Mango Deli continues to offer its variety of food throughout the day. We are happy to report that the Lemongrass bar will be reopening soon.
The spa is scheduled to reopen this fall. The workout facility is fully open. The Westin® Family Kids Club has also reopened.
Guest satisfaction survey results continue to show a high level of owner satisfaction. Room readiness is a continuing area of improvement. Our management team understands the frustration of arriving after a long day of travel and not having your room ready. They appreciate your patience. Staffing challenges continue to impact room readiness, as mentioned above. Please check out on time so that the housekeeping team can get into the villas and start the cleaning process as early as possible. Midweek tidies have returned.
Recycling has come to St. John! There are new recycling bins that have been available for use since April. The program started at the pool area and the Main Lobby area and will expand to outside the villa areas in the future. More containers are on order. Please take advantage of this opportunity to help lower costs and do good for St. John and our planet.
Supply chain issues continue to make it difficult, and management seems to have a good handle on dealing with these issues.
As was previously communicated to all owners, two board seats for Coral Vista Vacation Owners Association and one for Coral Vista Condominium Association are up for election at the next Annual Meeting. The nominating committee will review applications and interview candidates who may then be placed on the ballot for the annual meeting next March. Please review the application communication for details if you are interested in applying.
Coral Vista Vacation Owners Association, LLC and Coral Vista Condominium Association, LLC, will hold their next meeting in late October and we will report to you again after that session.
Other Items
We have asked management to look into the ferry service and the possibilities of more service in the middle of the day to St. Thomas to reduce wait times at the airport. Also, the management team is exploring using a port location closer to the airport to reduce the ground transportation time to transfer to the ferry. We will let you know what we learn.
We have also asked management to look into adding more umbrellas around the pool deck.
There is concern over the amount of sand that is getting into the pool. Please use the showers between the beach and the pool to rinse off both yourselves and beach toys.
We, your owner-elected Board of Managers of Coral Vista Vacation Owners Association, LLC and Coral Vista Condominium Association, LLC, are honored to serve you and happy to answer your questions and concerns. | Sincerely,
Sharon Brumley
Sharon.coralvista@gmail.com
Mark Schultz
Mark.coralvista@gmail.com
Jim Miller
jimmiller@virginc.net
Nancy Gerding
Nancy.coralvista@gmail.com
David Futransky
David.coralvista@gmail.com |
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