Stole our resort and closed it down!
Complaint
Judy Beyer
Country: United States
I am a owner at the Simpsons Bay Resort, formerly Pelican Resort, who is one of many being taken advantage of by the closure of our resort. These people are crooks, who basically stole our resort and have closed it leaving us all stranded. Not only did they strand thousands of members, but they are also devastating the entire island of St. Maarten! This type of scandal is uncontitutional and should never be able to occur. The government needs to step in immediately and stop the closing of the resort!
Below are the letters we received from the new owners:
First letter received from our timeshare The Pelican Resort.......
December 18, 2010
Dear Pelican Owners,
On December 16, 2010 the resort was sold at auction for US$30.5 million. Despite more than a month of advertising, the only bidder at the auction was the lender, Quantum Investment Trust. This means that the Tenant's Association of Pelican Resort Club (TAPRC) will no longer be the owner; however, your usage rights are protected and are NOT at risk. You continue to have the right to occupy your exact villa during the interval week(s) you own.
The resort is fully operational and these days a great sigh of relief was felt by many owners and employees. A representative of the new owner contacted Royal Resorts Management to continue in its capacity as resort manager until a new agreement can be executed. Royal has agreed in order to avoid disruption of resort operations.
Payments for AMF are due no later than January 15, 2011 and will be collected by Interval Servicing Company (ISCO). Payments will be collected in the name of the new owner and by next week ISCO will be able to answer all billing questions toll-free from USA & Canada at 800-550-7088 and elsewhere at 954-485-5400.
The last 9 months have been very trying for every Pelican owner and employee. More updates will be provided in the week ahead. The entire staff is working diligently on your behalf and we look forward to welcoming you back very soon to your home on The Friendly Island.
Sincerely,
Richard A. Corso
C.E.O.
Royal Resorts Caribbean
www.royalresortscaribbean.com
Phone USA 954-707-0782
Second letter received......
February 11, 2011
Dear Timeshare Member,
Thank you for your continued patience and support through this transition period. The resort formerly known as Pelican Resort Club and Pelican Marina Residences was sold as of January 26, 2011. The new name of Pelican Resort Club is Simpson Bay Resort & Marina. The new name of Pelican Marina Residences is The Villas at Simpson Bay Resort & Marina.
One of the most important priorities is the protection of the value of your St. Maarten timeshare purchase. In light of also changed circumstances, several important issues must be resolved to establish a new responsible and viable long-term operating plan. Examples of these important issues include (i) ownership of movable assets and (ii) labor issues.
As previously advised, the new investor/prospective owner retained the services of Royal Resort Management to seek a continuance of operation upon gaining the physical possession and legal ownership of the resort. Unforeseen circumstances have caused the new owner to incur significant unbudgeted expenses and judicial liabilities that require a massive financial injection in order to be able to responsibly operate the resort. Management is looking at tangible solutions, also considering correspondence to you including those dated December 18th, 2010 and January 27, 2011, wherein it was communicated a preference to operate without any immediate increase in fees or a special assessment.
Diligence, responsibility, long term viability of the resort, consideration of the interest of stakeholders and as stated in particular the protection of your timeshare rights for the long term, compels management to close the resort as of Sunday, February 20, 2011, until solutions are found. Please note that no check-ins will be possible as of Saturday, February 19, 2011 (interval #8 on the resort occupancy calendar).
Please accept the deepest apology for this inconvenience and know that every responsible effort has been made to avoid this circumstance. Please be advised that Management will continue to do its utmost efforts to ensure that you as a member will have your usage rights protected. You will be promptly updated with relevant information and details.
If you paid your 2011 AMF and are unable to use your interval with the resort due to the closure you will receive an occupancy adjustment for future use without any additional fee. Details of this program will follow.
Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your support. All effected members will be contacted as quickly as possible. You may also address questions to info@simpsonbayresort.com
Sincerely,
MANAGEMENT
Simpson Bay Resort & Marina
The Villas at Simpson Bay Resort & Marina
Billy Folly Road #37 ♦ Cole Bay, St. Maarten ♦ www.simpsonbayresort.com
Can you help us???
Below are the letters we received from the new owners:
First letter received from our timeshare The Pelican Resort.......
December 18, 2010
Dear Pelican Owners,
On December 16, 2010 the resort was sold at auction for US$30.5 million. Despite more than a month of advertising, the only bidder at the auction was the lender, Quantum Investment Trust. This means that the Tenant's Association of Pelican Resort Club (TAPRC) will no longer be the owner; however, your usage rights are protected and are NOT at risk. You continue to have the right to occupy your exact villa during the interval week(s) you own.
The resort is fully operational and these days a great sigh of relief was felt by many owners and employees. A representative of the new owner contacted Royal Resorts Management to continue in its capacity as resort manager until a new agreement can be executed. Royal has agreed in order to avoid disruption of resort operations.
Payments for AMF are due no later than January 15, 2011 and will be collected by Interval Servicing Company (ISCO). Payments will be collected in the name of the new owner and by next week ISCO will be able to answer all billing questions toll-free from USA & Canada at 800-550-7088 and elsewhere at 954-485-5400.
The last 9 months have been very trying for every Pelican owner and employee. More updates will be provided in the week ahead. The entire staff is working diligently on your behalf and we look forward to welcoming you back very soon to your home on The Friendly Island.
Sincerely,
Richard A. Corso
C.E.O.
Royal Resorts Caribbean
www.royalresortscaribbean.com
Phone USA 954-707-0782
Second letter received......
February 11, 2011
Dear Timeshare Member,
Thank you for your continued patience and support through this transition period. The resort formerly known as Pelican Resort Club and Pelican Marina Residences was sold as of January 26, 2011. The new name of Pelican Resort Club is Simpson Bay Resort & Marina. The new name of Pelican Marina Residences is The Villas at Simpson Bay Resort & Marina.
One of the most important priorities is the protection of the value of your St. Maarten timeshare purchase. In light of also changed circumstances, several important issues must be resolved to establish a new responsible and viable long-term operating plan. Examples of these important issues include (i) ownership of movable assets and (ii) labor issues.
As previously advised, the new investor/prospective owner retained the services of Royal Resort Management to seek a continuance of operation upon gaining the physical possession and legal ownership of the resort. Unforeseen circumstances have caused the new owner to incur significant unbudgeted expenses and judicial liabilities that require a massive financial injection in order to be able to responsibly operate the resort. Management is looking at tangible solutions, also considering correspondence to you including those dated December 18th, 2010 and January 27, 2011, wherein it was communicated a preference to operate without any immediate increase in fees or a special assessment.
Diligence, responsibility, long term viability of the resort, consideration of the interest of stakeholders and as stated in particular the protection of your timeshare rights for the long term, compels management to close the resort as of Sunday, February 20, 2011, until solutions are found. Please note that no check-ins will be possible as of Saturday, February 19, 2011 (interval #8 on the resort occupancy calendar).
Please accept the deepest apology for this inconvenience and know that every responsible effort has been made to avoid this circumstance. Please be advised that Management will continue to do its utmost efforts to ensure that you as a member will have your usage rights protected. You will be promptly updated with relevant information and details.
If you paid your 2011 AMF and are unable to use your interval with the resort due to the closure you will receive an occupancy adjustment for future use without any additional fee. Details of this program will follow.
Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your support. All effected members will be contacted as quickly as possible. You may also address questions to info@simpsonbayresort.com
Sincerely,
MANAGEMENT
Simpson Bay Resort & Marina
The Villas at Simpson Bay Resort & Marina
Billy Folly Road #37 ♦ Cole Bay, St. Maarten ♦ www.simpsonbayresort.com
Can you help us???
Comments
Statements that have been made paint a picture of an HOA where the management company under Pelican, controlled a large voting bloc on the board, agreeing to sweet heart deals. Tt is alleged, that this gave the old lender, now owner, a great incentive and benefit to foreclose. It also left the same management company in control, while shifting the debt to the defunct resort. Now Royal Resorts wants the capitulation of the union empolyees as well as the furniture and fixtures that were not included in the foreclosure. Meanwhile, vacations have been lost, and there are many timeshare owners dreading what is to come instead of anticipating a long awaited vacation. The PCIP Pelican Owners who invested 3.2 million dollars should be the first in line in any asset transfer. By the way reportedly Corso invested $500,000 dollars in the PCIP progam. He reportedly was the only PCIP investor to get his principal and interest back. I believe that there will be numerous court cases against Mr Corso CEO and Mr. Sutton chairman of Royal Resorts, (over the foreclosure debt transfers and closure of the Pelican Resort..) The new company Simpson Bay Resort now wants the furniture and fixtures for free. Simpson Bay Resort should not receive anything for free. I believe that they could care less about the timeshare owners. They already have a sweet heart deal by paying 30.5 million for a 100 million dollar resort. Royal has stiffed 150 owners out of 3.2 million dollars owed to them as well stiffing 12000 timeshare owners out of thier units by closing the Resort. Royal Resorts accepted maintanance fees of over 20 million dollars. Let Corso and Sutton buy the furniture for 3.2 million dollars and lets take them to court for breach of contract. My own opinion is that Royal Resorts will be seeking huge maitenance fees to cover their legal fees. They also have an incentive for owners to walk away so they can foreclose on non-paying units. On the bright side, the longer the resort is shut down the better the chance that the St Maarten Government will legislate timeshare owner protection laws. St Maarten is going to have a black eye if it allows the Simpson Bay Resort to pillage the timeshare owners. Maybe St. Maartens Polititions and Judges don;t care, maybe they are corrupt, who knows?
I purchased a 7 night vacation package on June 09,2011 and cancelled in writing by fax on June 14,2011 after returning home to find out I had been charged double the rate to stay at The Royal Cancun. Royal Resorts customer service department is Interval Servicing Co in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. They have an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau for running this scam. The Federal Consumer Protection Commission (profeco) clearly states that any timeshare or vacation package purchased in Mexico and cancelled in writing within 5 days is to be fully refunded regardless of any fine print. Royal Resorts does obey or honer this law and should be locked away in Mexican prison!!
I recommend you to read this article, hope this helps:
http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/61-timeshare-fraud/