Westin St John Master Thread - Part 3 [Dec. 2017 and forward]

[cubigbird]

Ouch, 9.8% is quite a hefty proposed MF increase.

 

[GrayFal]

Please see Coral Vista on page 64...

October 2022 Dear Fellow Owners, The Board of Directors of Virgin Grand Villas – St. John Condominium Owners Association met on September 14 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 board meets with management to discuss the finances of the resort and the association. We give input on the budget throughout September and October, with a target date of finalizing the budget in early November. 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. Staffing is a major area of concern. Hotel openings on St. Thomas will shrink the pool of available workers and will put upward pressure on wages. 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 over the past several years. As a result, we expect double-digit premium increases again this year. 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 in this area 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. Overall, we are facing an anticipated increase of approximately 10.4% for 2023. The Board and the Management team are working hard to keep maintenance fee increases to a reasonable level. 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 budget 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. If we don’t have enough staff to provide service in a timely manner, we will not be providing the service you expect. 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. There is one board seat 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. The board holds its next meeting in early November, and we will report to you after that session. Other Items The board approved a motion to adopt the provisions of a change to the Virgin Islands Timeshare Act. This allows us to utilize non-judicial foreclosure to enforce liens applicable to unpaid assessments. This will reduce greatly the time it takes (and the costs) of the current procedures, which have taken many years of uncollected fees before we could take action on delinquent units on behalf of the association. This will have a positive financial impact over time, but we are still better off if everyone pays their dues on time. 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. 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 Directors of Virgin Grand Villas – St. John Condominium Owners Association, are honored to serve you and happy to answer your questions and concerns. Sincerely, William Bolton bill.virgingrand@gmail.com John F. Hilbert john.virgingrand@gmail.com David Futransky david.virgingrand@gmail.com You have received this message as part of your vacation ownership. Please do not reply directly to this system-generated email. Contact Vistana Management, Inc. online or at 9002 San Marco Court, Orlando, Florida 32819. ©2022 Marriott Vacation Club International. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement | Terms & Conditions | 10587 | 20A | 22-409-1871167

 

[SandyPGravel]

Please see Coral Vista on page 64...

​ October 2022 Dear Fellow Owners, The Board of Directors of Virgin Grand Villas – St. John Condominium Owners Association met on September 14 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 board meets with management to discuss the finances of the resort and the association. We give input on the budget throughout September and October, with a target date of finalizing the budget in early November. 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. Staffing is a major area of concern. Hotel openings on St. Thomas will shrink the pool of available workers and will put upward pressure on wages. 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 over the past several years. As a result, we expect double-digit premium increases again this year. 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 in this area 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. Overall, we are facing an anticipated increase of approximately 10.4% for 2023. The Board and the Management team are working hard to keep maintenance fee increases to a reasonable level. 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 budget 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. If we don’t have enough staff to provide service in a timely manner, we will not be providing the service you expect. 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. There is one board seat 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. The board holds its next meeting in early November, and we will report to you after that session. Other Items The board approved a motion to adopt the provisions of a change to the Virgin Islands Timeshare Act. This allows us to utilize non-judicial foreclosure to enforce liens applicable to unpaid assessments. This will reduce greatly the time it takes (and the costs) of the current procedures, which have taken many years of uncollected fees before we could take action on delinquent units on behalf of the association. This will have a positive financial impact over time, but we are still better off if everyone pays their dues on time. 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. 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 Directors of Virgin Grand Villas – St. John Condominium Owners Association, are honored to serve you and happy to answer your questions and concerns. Sincerely, William Bolton bill.virgingrand@gmail.com John F. Hilbert john.virgingrand@gmail.com David Futransky david.virgingrand@gmail.com You have received this message as part of your vacation ownership. Please do not reply directly to this system-generated email. Contact Vistana Management, Inc. online or at 9002 San Marco Court, Orlando, Florida 32819. ©2022 Marriott Vacation Club International. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement | Terms & Conditions | 10587 | 20A | 22-409-1871167

Yep, MF are going through the roof!!

 

[DavidnRobin]

Yep, MF are going through the roof!!

10.8% for VGV !!!
Plus the BS $25/nt “Environmental” Fee.
Plus Property Tax that is paid separately.

And the increased costs overall to travel and vacation there…

We miss StJ and WSJ, but makes us feel better about our tough decision to give our villa up.


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[cubigbird]

Yep, MF are going through the roof!!

At what point do owners just walk and the whole house of cards collapses? Maybe that’s what Marriott wants?? ‍Those kind of increases are not sustainable….

 

[SandyPGravel]

At what point do owners just walk and the whole house of cards collapses? Maybe that’s what Marriott wants?? ‍Those kind of increases are not sustainable….

I'm wondering the same... I've noticed A LOT of weeks up for rent on FB. More than I have ever noticed before.

 

[cubigbird]

I bet this pushes many WSJ weeks MF well over the $4,000/week range.

 

[LisaRex]

Quick WSJ question for Tuggers in this thread. Has anyone rented a dingy from WSJ? Do you know how far you can go with it? Specifically, can you visit the beaches on the north shore if it has the range? Thanks

Yup. When I rented from WSJ, you could go to Waterlemon. I wouldn’t rent a dinghy again because you weren’t allowed to beach the dinghy, which made going to different beaches a PITA. We brought along a nice picnic and a cooler and getting them to the beach in 4 feet of water was no fun.

 

[RLS50]

I would like to solicit some opinions if anyone is willing to weigh in...

We are already owners at WSJ, but potentially interested in purchasing a 3BR/3BA Virgin Grand Villas unit (mostly for personal usage). Considering the rapidly increasing pace of Maintenace Fees, what do you think a fair market value is generally to purchase one? The current decision is just to rent from another Owner vs purchase. Especially since so many Owners seem willing to rent for not much more than current MF. Some of the prices I see listed on Redweek appear to be divorced from (financial) reality.

I have a general idea of what I might be willing to pay, but I would be curious to hear from some here. I have broken it up into 2 categories. Platinum and Summer seasons.

Weeks 1-17, 51, 52 - ???
Weeks 24-32 - ???

 

[DavidnRobin]

I would like to solicit some opinions if anyone is willing to weigh in...

We are already owners at WSJ, but potentially interested in purchasing a 3BR/3BA Virgin Grand Villas unit (mostly for personal usage). Considering the rapidly increasing pace of Maintenace Fees, what do you think a fair market value is generally to purchase one? The current decision is just to rent from another Owner vs purchase. Especially since so many Owners seem willing to rent for not much more than current MF. Some of the prices I see listed on Redweek appear to be divorced from (financial) reality.

I have a general idea of what I might be willing to pay, but I would be curious to hear from some here. I have broken it up into 2 categories. Platinum and Summer seasons.

Weeks 1-17, 51, 52 - ???
Weeks 24-32 - ???

Without consideration to buying prior August 2022 due to potential value of Abound (as VGV is VSN Mandatory) and MVC use (depending on associated MVC Points - likely very season dependent…). The Plat+ (pre-August) have increased in value due to conversion rates to trade into MVC.

Time of year is extremely important at VGV and STJ (depends on what kind of vacation you enjoy). Also, the four 3Bd pool villas have different layouts (moving wall that at some point will be corrected - likely on island time).

As to value? be careful to also to consider property taxes (likely rising) and USVI ‘environment fee’ of $25/nite.
Also fixed weeks including checkin day.
Saturdays can be busy at STT. With Friday the best.

I have no idea of prices for the pool villas - I gave up our 2Bd TH June weeks.

IMO - Rent from Owners… don’t take on the commitment - less so as it won’t be part of Abound - so there will be VSN a fee ($160)

Seasons are not aligned with other resort phases.


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[sharr7]

I would like to solicit some opinions if anyone is willing to weigh in...

We are already owners at WSJ, but potentially interested in purchasing a 3BR/3BA Virgin Grand Villas unit (mostly for personal usage). Considering the rapidly increasing pace of Maintenace Fees, what do you think a fair market value is generally to purchase one? The current decision is just to rent from another Owner vs purchase. Especially since so many Owners seem willing to rent for not much more than current MF. Some of the prices I see listed on Redweek appear to be divorced from (financial) reality.

I have a general idea of what I might be willing to pay, but I would be curious to hear from some here. I have broken it up into 2 categories. Platinum and Summer seasons.

Weeks 1-17, 51, 52 - ???
Weeks 24-32 - ???

Caveat is all the Abound drama creates a bunch of uncertainties but just speaking to the WSJ/Vistana system in expectations that will continue to operate fairly similarly:

The "Platinum" weeks come with more than twice as many SO and it looks like those weeks rent for more $$ and more regularly over MF. I would target those and be willing to put in $10-$15k on a purchase. Obviously it's frustrating that MF keep going up (+$1000 from 2020 to 2023 for 3BR), but still far under what you would have to pay to rent prime weeks. I can also still recoup MF value since I have 257,700 SO to play with - e.g., used SO last year to do multi-room family trip to HRA, got about $10-$12k value from that for sub $5k MF+taxes.

If you knew you wanted to travel in the summer to WSJ every year, you just have to weight the risks of the MF creeping up with the headache of renting (variable prices, availabilities, renters). I'd say you could make an argument for either but given the close proposition and the fact you don't have a large buffer of SO to recoup value, I wouldn't pay very much at all up front to take on those weeks.

Because the seasons are "off" at WSJ-VGV, it's actually a sweet spot for trading into with SO. You could buy a mandatory VSN resort with lower MF and use the points to get into WSJ (assuming that's still a thing post-Abound?). If you're a bit flexible and can book at 8 months, I've found summer availability pretty good.

At least for the 3BR, the Abound conversion value does NOT appear to be great. So I wouldn't worry about that too much. It would be extremely bad conversion in summer season.

 

[MOXJO7282]

Caveat is all the Abound drama creates a bunch of uncertainties but just speaking to the WSJ/Vistana system in expectations that will continue to operate fairly similarly:

The "Platinum" weeks come with more than twice as many SO and it looks like those weeks rent for more $$ and more regularly over MF. I would target those and be willing to put in $10-$15k on a purchase. Obviously it's frustrating that MF keep going up (+$1000 from 2020 to 2023 for 3BR), but still far under what you would have to pay to rent prime weeks. I can also still recoup MF value since I have 257,700 SO to play with - e.g., used SO last year to do multi-room family trip to HRA, got about $10-$12k value from that for sub $5k MF+taxes.

If you knew you wanted to travel in the summer to WSJ every year, you just have to weight the risks of the MF creeping up with the headache of renting (variable prices, availabilities, renters). I'd say you could make an argument for either but given the close proposition and the fact you don't have a large buffer of SO to recoup value, I wouldn't pay very much at all up front to take on those weeks.

Because the seasons are "off" at WSJ-VGV, it's actually a sweet spot for trading into with SO. You could buy a mandatory VSN resort with lower MF and use the points to get into WSJ (assuming that's still a thing post-Abound?). If you're a bit flexible and can book at 8 months, I've found summer availability pretty good.

At least for the 3BR, the Abound conversion value does NOT appear to be great. So I wouldn't worry about that too much. It would be extremely bad conversion in summer season.

I'm considering a 4315 unit for week 26 which I know is one of the best 3BDRM units with pool and hot tub. The list pricing for the 3BDRMs are all very high, even for summer weeks, especially for these prime units. I really like travelling to the USVI in early summer so this is a perfect fit for my 3BDRM Gold MFCs I own. I wouldn't be so eager if it wasn't a prime 3BDRM summer unit, a good holiday week, and fits well into my MFC portfolio.

So knowing this I thought $10k was a fair price and a number that wouldn't be outbid. So my questions are, it is realistic to think I can find a prime unit with pool and hot tub for plat season at $15k or less? And if so, how easy is it to get a summer reservation, a week or 3 or 4 day reservation?

Thanks for any insight. The deal hasn't been consummated so I can still back out if I thought I could realistically find a platinum, prime 3BDRM unit or a prime unit early summer week for less than $10k.

 

[sharr7]

I'm considering a 4315 unit for week 26 which I know is one of the best 3BDRM units with pool and hot tub. The list pricing for the 3BDRMs are all very high, even for summer weeks, especially for these prime units. I really like travelling to the USVI in early summer so this is a perfect fit for my 3BDRM Gold MFCs I own. I wouldn't be so eager if it wasn't a prime 3BDRM summer unit, a good holiday week, and fits well into my MFC portfolio.

So knowing this I thought $10k was a fair price and a number that wouldn't be outbid. So my questions are, it is realistic to think I can find a prime unit with pool and hot tub for plat season at $15k or less? And if so, how easy is it to get a summer reservation, a week or 3 or 4 day reservation?

Thanks for any insight. The deal hasn't been consummated so I can still back out if I thought I could realistically find a platinum, prime 3BDRM unit or a prime unit early summer week for less than $10k.

There's definitely a premium (and/or less availability) on the building 43/44 units, so that was a good find.

I would never tell someone to back out of a reasonable resale deal they were excited about and planned to use almost every year long term. You'll have the prime unit and you'll know your schedule and won't have to work at all to reserve. That has value. The upfront cost will be almost negligible if you use it to travel for 10-15+ years. St John as a destination is worth it in my opinion to spend a lot to stay there.

I haven't followed the market extremely closely since buying in 2020. After negotiating a bit I paid $16k for a week 51 (sometimes with Christmas break, sometimes too early) in building 44.

2022 St. John Sales History | Cruz Bay Realty

www.cruzbayrealty.com

scroll to the bottom and see actual sales for fractional ownerships by year
nothing at WSJ in the last few years sold for over ~$25k until this year a couple have; however, vast majority of sales are in the 0-15k range

 

[Watford]

We are travelling to St Thomas for a few days next week and then on to the WSJ for a week. I've read that cabs only take cash...does anyone know the availability of ATM's/Banks on the islands? Or is it better to load up before arriving?

 

[SRG53]

There is a convenient ATM in Cruz Bay at the bank. I am sure there are others, buy don't recall exactly where

 

[GrayFal]

We usy

We are travelling to St Thomas for a few days next week and then on to the WSJ for a week. I've read that cabs only take cash...does anyone know the availability of ATM's/Banks on the islands? Or is it better to load up before arriving?

We usually bring cash with us. I don't know where the bank is in Cruz bay to be honest. And remember these are not private taxis on St John at least, they are shared so it's not like them would take you to the ATM and wait for you. On St Thomas many people use a private taxi and just arrange transport with one person. You could check on the Marriott board for suggestions. Depending on the number of people you are if could be cheaper. Taxi fares are fixed on St Thomas St John and are per person. You might want to googled that info. I will see if I have it. They just went up for the first time in 15 years in October. Used to be $10 for two people from Westin to Cruz Bay, now it is $14

 

[cubigbird]

Here we are into December but Sunset Bay has not posted 2023 maintenance fees due yet. Seems late?

 

[GrayFal]

Dear Fellow Coral Vista Owners, As addressed in our October communication, your owner-elected Board of Managers committed to reporting to you after our October 31 budget meeting. Therefore, while recognizing our responsibility to provide updates on key areas of operations that are of interest to owners, we can now bring you up to date on the Coral Vista 2023 Budget and The Westin St. John Resort Villas property updates. 2023 Budget and Related Maintenance Fee The 2023 Maintenance Fee is budgeted to increase an average of 10.2%, with the actual percent increase dependent upon the points package owned. The 10.2% increase represents a reduction from the initial September Maintenance Fee proposal of 13.3%. Maintenance Fee assessments are targeted for distribution in early December, with a due date of January 6, 2023. The Maintenance Fee increase is primarily driven by several uncontrollable factors/challenges addressed in our October communication – U.S. inflation continues to run at a 40-year high Staffing challenges due to a labor shortage in the hospitality industry Retention of staff by increasing wages to a competitive level as hotel openings in St. Thomas impact the pool of available workers Double-digit insurance premium increases Increasing electric costs in the Virgin Islands Default or late payment of annual Maintenance Fee negatively impacting Resort revenue Several initiatives are underway to address two key drivers of the 2023 budget. Resort management is undertaking an initiative to place stickers on patio/balcony doors, reminding resort guests to keep doors closed when the air conditioner is running. We hope this gentle reminder aids in conserving electricity and, over time, assists in stabilizing this tremendous expense. The towel tracker project has been delayed until 2024 and will be implemented once approved by all Westin St. John Boards. Resort Updates We are pleased to share with you the Westin Ferry has added an additional midday ferry service to transport guests from The Westin St. John Resort Villas to Red Hook. Many owners have commented on the need for an additional departure time to reduce lengthy wait time at the St. Thomas airport. We hope the additional ferry service will help alleviate the frustration of arriving at the airport five or more hours prior to your flight’s departure time. However, please note that the 10:00 am checkout time remains in place. The Resort Spa and the Lemongrass bar are targeted to reopen prior to the end of the year. The Spa will be operated by Arch Amenities Group, a part of WTS International with over 47 years of resort spa operations experience. Resort owners and guests will be able to charge spa services to their Resort account during the stay. Recycling efforts continue. There are now, or soon to be, over 20 recycling containers throughout the Resort. 2023 Annual Meeting The 2023 Annual Meeting of Coral Vista Vacation Owners Association is scheduled to occur on March 9 and will be held at the Resort. Similar to 2022, owners will be able to listen virtually. Materials and details, including log-in information, will be provided to you closer to the Annual Meeting date. We thank you for your continued investment in The Westin St. John Resort Villas. We appreciate receiving feedback and recommendations to ensure the Resort provides a wonderful vacation experience for you and your family for many years to come. We look forward to seeing you in 2023! Sincerely, your owner-elected Board of Managers of Coral Vista Vacation Owners Association, LLC and Coral Vista Condominium Association, LLC. Sharon Brumley Sharon.coralvista@gmail.com Mark Schultz Mark.coralvista@gmail.com Jim Miller Jimmiller@viginc.net Nancy Gerding Nancy.coralvista@gmail.com David Futransky David.coralvista@gmail.com You have received this message as part of your vacation ownership. Please do not reply directly to this system-generated email. Contact Vistana Management, Inc. online or at 9002 San Marco Court, Orlando, Florida 32819.

 

[jschmeling]

Owner’s Update yesterday, they are sharing the Marriott Abound points updates and have a book with the conversion and the useage throughout that network. They are selling Sunset near the main pool and a few leftovers in Bay Vista, Coral Vista, and Hillside. Also claimed that all inventory still available early next year will convert to Marriott’s currency and prices (Club Points?) and there won’t be deeded time share available anymore. Pitched how hard it is too trade into WSJ as a reason to buy more now. We did not buy, we don’t own a lot, but plan on continuing to travel in the latter part of the year resort season in Coral Vista. We bought in 2015, still love going.

 

[cubigbird]

TWENTY EIGHT PERCENT FEE INCREASE!!!!!!!

Westin St John Sunsey Bay Diamond Season Home Options 176,700 EOY

2022 Fees: $1998.19
2023 Fees: $2564.62

These are the fees for just the HomeOptions. No club dues or anything else added.

YOY Increase $566.53 or 28%.

Since that’s EOY paid half annually that puts a week well over $5000 for a full week. A substantial jump!

I understand inflation and Island costs but 28%?!?!?!?

 

[Red elephant]

TWENTY EIGHT PERCENT FEE INCREASE!!!!!!!

Westin St John Sunsey Bay Diamond Season Home Options 176,700 EOY

2022 Fees: $1998.19
2023 Fees: $2564.62

These are the fees for just the HomeOptions. No club dues or anything else added.

YOY Increase $566.53 or 28%.

Since that’s EOY paid half annually that puts a week well over $5000 for a full week. A substantial jump!

I understand inflation and Island costs but 28%?!?!?!?

Omg!!! That’s exactly what I own. What does one do? This is ridiculous

 

[cubigbird]

Omg!!! That’s exactly what I own. What does one do? This is ridiculous

I’m not sure there is anything we can do. Owners are at the mercy of what the BOD (ahemmm Marriott) decides. The last association newsletter posted is from 2019 so there isn’t any information about it. I’m sure they just want to keep it quiet. Other than that we would have to compare the budgets line by line. Since Marriott took over, the maintenance fees have largely going straight up. No slight increases…..

 

[DavidnRobin]

In the past - various phases of WSJ had lower MFs for those that were being actively sold due to subsidies by VSE (and SVO). Once active sales were ended - the subsidy ended and MFs increased.

This is stated at the bottom of the budgets for the various phases.

It looks like the subsidy ended for Sunset Bay.


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[cubigbird]

I was FINALLY able to get access to the statements and compare to last year. I was unable to until now because of IT login issues. Surprise? Anyways it looks like the two largest factors according to Eugene Martin are a one time $950,000 funding to replace the stucco facade on villa buildings that apparently is an urgent matter. Secondly the increase is due to increases in compensation to existing staff and retention because of competition of labor with the new Westin that is replacing Frenchman’s Reef. I guess many staff members live in St Thomas and commute to St John via ferry and they are afraid of losing staff due to that hotel opening.

I’ll be curious as to if that one time stucco need results in a decline in fees next year or will they find another “urgent matter?”

 

[melclark1]

It’s been a while since we have visited WSJ. We have a 3 bedroom Virgin Grand villa. We have friends that will be renting a house at the same time we will be on the island. Is there any problem with them coming to visit with us at our villa? In the past there hasn’t always been someone manning the entry to the Virgin Grand villas, but not sure if that has changed. Since we will have our own pool and it’s more private I wasn’t sure if this would be a big deal or frowned upon. Thanks!