TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Any new news on Club O owner stalemate?

Now that OBC is shutting down, have the owners gotten anywhere in the last month?

Two days with many views and no comments on a usually vocal topic, hoping no news is good news.

Unfortunately, it probably means that no one has any new information and frankly since this issue appears to be in the courts now, my feeling is that it will be a LONG time before something is resolved enough to allow them to rebuild. It's a shame..

Its a bleak outlook.

Club O Beach by Cedrick is updated and you can post on this facebook page...

https://www.facebook.com/clubobeach/

No news from the owners but the former employees 96 in all had a meeting at the Club Orient Office on the property.
I am not sure what that is about but it could be a sign that their jobs may return soon?

I actually doubt that they were meeting to discuss getting their jobs back soon. More likely they are meeting to make sure everyone knows that there are still HUGE problems with getting anything resolved and about the possibilities of retiring or taking other action under St. Martin law. The fact that Willie is retiring is as instructive in that respect as most anything else I have heard.

Hard to get jobs back with no structures to house guests in.

Willie was planning to retire before any of this happened.

OK, I didn't know that. Thanks. You haven't heard anything new about the Club O owner's situation, have you?

The owner I talked to said his chalet was in repairable shape till the looters stole his roof and ripped out all his wiring.
The first employees to be hired back would be security and the painter who has been there forever.
Management next and the two story building that has permits... UGH

P.S. The chair rentals are raking in 1,500 a day that is 10k a week. IMHO the owners are going to want that revenue back!

Yes, Willie actually told us she was planning to retire when we were there during our last SXM trip before Irma. She was quite excited about it too.

Willie certainly has earned her retirement. She was absolutely the best bartender in the Caribbean, imho... She was always polite, helpful, friendly and happy.

Calm seas and following winds, Willie...you were the best of the best...!

We miss you!

Bill and Linda

Yes, everybody loved Willy. It was hoot the last two years we were there in April. Everyone waited for the happy hour bell to ring and sang happy birthday to her. She would kinda blush and say merci, then back to work.

"P.S. The chair rentals are raking in 1,500 a day that is 10k a week. IMHO the owners are going to want that revenue back"


-Truer words were never spoken!

At $20.00 a set that 75 sets a day. Every day. 150 chairs seem like a lot each day for club o.

It was more like 100-150 sets per day last week..

Let's get back on topic...any news on the dispute between owners?
If anyone knows any of the opt out group, please ask them what their plan is to restore Club O. There is no place like it in the world, and is probable that their actions will/have doom(ed) the Club.
I know several Opt Outers used to tell tales on the beach and have guests for lunches.

Ask, please.

The Club needs plans and help if it is going to come back!

How many "opt outers" are there? I know for certain of two in the studios and one waterfront. Just curious how many there are.

It's not just the rebels that will prevent Club O to rebuild. Several owners just want to cash out and move on and not reinvest in Club O. Property title resolution and new capital are essential to the rebuild and they're a major obstacle to overcome.

As I understand it, property title resolution is a huge problem..

Property title resolution can only come from one place -- the French Parliament. There is no way the French Courts will ever be able to resolve this.

Jim--is that a viable possibility, that the Parliament will actually resolve it?

Carol:

I seriously doubt there would be any interest in such a resolution. I wish that were not true.

In the US, a land purchaser would have a viable suit against the seller for breach of the warranty in the deed, or at least a title insurance claim. Brink brought the property from Madame Fleming. Her son Louis-Constant Fleming is a senator. He is a Beauperthuy heir. If anyone could get this going, he is the one. If there was ever a time it is now.

When the Dutch were faced with a court decision saying the missing Beauperthuy heirs, from the missing child of Daniel B... who died in the 1860s, had a claim to lots of Dutch land, including the airport, they did what they had to. They passed a law that reversed the court decision and wiped out the interests of these countless heirs. The English system (as in the US) is a lot more logical. If you are out of possession of property for a period of time (21 years in some states, 10 in others) and someone else is in open, visible, hostile, exclusive possession for the time period required, you have no right to evict them. In France, for some God unknown reason, even though the heirs have been out of possesion since the 1860s, they have rights to the ground (but not the buildings).

Jim

Carol:

I seriously doubt there would be any interest in such a resolution. I wish that were not true.

In the US, a land purchaser would have a viable suit against the seller for breach of the warranty in the deed, or at least a title insurance claim. Brink brought the property from Madame Fleming. Her son Louis-Constant Fleming is a senator. He is a Beauperthuy heir. If anyone could get this going, he is the one. If there was ever a time it is now.

When the Dutch were faced with a court decision saying the missing Beauperthuy heirs, from the missing child of Daniel B... who died in the 1860s, had a claim to lots of Dutch land, including the airport, they did what they had to. They passed a law that reversed the court decision and wiped out the interests of these countless heirs. The English system (as in the US) is a lot more logical. If you are out of possession of property for a period of time (21 years in some states, 10 in others) and someone else is in open, visible, hostile, exclusive possession for the time period required, you have no right to evict them. In France, for some God unknown reason, even though the heirs have been out of possesion since the 1860s, they have rights to the ground (but not the buildings).

Jim

On an earlier post you were speculating that a meeting with the Club O employees might mean they were getting their jobs back - this after it was publicly announced that OBC would be filing for bankruptcy (or whatever French equivalent). Of course we all know they lost there jobs. Now you are suggesting that Cedric is renting 150 chairs a day at $10 per chair if an umbrella is included and extrapolating that to $10,000 per week and that the “Owners are going to want that revenue back”. Well firstly the owners never got the beach chair rental revenue - this was revenue to OBC, the hotel operation and the employer of all the staff. Secondly, 150 people per day at Club O is a big big stretch. I’m here now and have been for more than a week and we have not seen those numbers yet.

I for one am thrilled that Cedric has taken the initiative and made chairs and umbrellas available at this very special CO beach. There is an inference in your post that Cedric is making lots of money and that is clearly not the case. There are a lot of SXM people working their butts off to keep this little piece of paradise somewhat close to what we have all enjoyed in the past - people that lost pretty much everything - people that are trying to make a living - people that so many tourist know and love from all their visits to the island. None of them are getting rich but the people visiting are glad they’re here. Let’s stick to the facts.

Amen

That is why when I did the math it really didn't jell.

If you want to hear about their lives ask Alain if he is still there helping with chairs about his family's adventures with Irma at Sandy Ground. We paid extra for chairs in our 3 weeks in January.. We were so happy to be able to be there we even flew delta through Atlanta because all nonstop from Toronto were a no go. I was overwhelmed with how grateful they were . Kudos to Cedric & the group for taking a chance!

Thanks for your reply and setting the facts straight.

I was at Orient from 11/4 - 12/3. I was surprised that no one had any "news" of any sort about Club O, factual or baseless rumor. It's just a dark hole right now, as the OP suggested.

On the somewhat pointless side discussion here, beach attendance varied a lot during November, In the first couple weeks, there were far more people (250-300) than the second half of the month (125-175). Unfortunately, the first two weeks were windy and rainy, while the last two weeks were fantastic! Roughly 80-90% used Cedric's umbrellas, so I hope we can mostly agree and appreciate that it's great that Cedric has picked up on this opportunity to serve us loyal Club O patrons. On 12/2, he was putting out buoy markers and lines to designate the beach swimming area, like was there before. Much appreciated.

Around 11/12, Cedric invited everyone to meet up in the middle of the beach for some rum shots in celebration of his birthday but far more importantly, to thank everyone for coming back and to express his appreciation. While he choked up for a bit, so did many others.

Also, around 11/20, the road into Club O was graded and smoothed, one fantastic improvement after the "moon craters" left from the rainy season!

One of the most common statements I heard from others on the beach, was "There's no other place like this."

Cant wait to get under a yellow umbrella and give him a 20 and pound a carib.