TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Belair Bummer

Timeshare owners at Belair were just notified of an additional $600/week increase to maintenance charge (currently $1,400/week) due within a couple months.

Not a 600 increase.
One time assessment
Still not popular with owners.

What is the assessment supposed to be for?

Supposed to be explained with invoice that goes out in several months

Tom,

It sounds like you got out just in time. 🙂🙂

Like all timeshares there is no real value except in winter weeks.
At Belair that would be 51 52-53 and weeks 1-13.
Otherwise you can always get a unit for the maintenance fee or less.
The assessment has owners threatening to sell but there really is no value for most.
There are a large amount of unsold units given back to Belair.
Suspect the assessment is mostly to cover that loss of income but sure they will sugarcoat the truth.

Yes, Pat
We did. But, over the 30+ years we went to Belair we made lots of friends that did not deserve this surprise. It's always been tough for the great staff that run the Belair to justify the decisions made by the NYC attorneys that own it. Some think that this "one time assessment" is an effort to make necessary improvements so the Belair can be sold. Some remember the last "one time assessment" that was to update the "infrastructure improvements" that were needed. All units were supposed to be scheduled for complete remodeling over several years, only a few were.

Wow. You said it was currently 1,400 plus a 600 increase. That's higher than Flamingo is.

Not an increase.
An assessment.

I hear you, Tom, and I get it. We loved our Towers timeshare and while we NEVER suffered an assessment I kept waiting for it to happen. But it’s funny how things work out - we only discovered BSV a few years before Ansary and his band of thieves destroyed the Towers after Irma. We also had thirty plus years of twice a year stays there and didn’t think anything else could compare and now we love BSV and its owners and staff. Things do often work out for the better and in this case for us, it certainly did.

CLIFFTOPS
Maybe you appreciate the difference between a "one time assessment" and an addition to a maintenance charge as I stated. . Both result in a $2,000/week payment.
Since I remember the last Belair "one time assessment" a few years ago that was to fund an upgrade to all apartments, which never happened, I'm inclined to doubt any significant difference.

"Since I remember the last Belair "one time assessment" a few years ago that was to fund an upgrade to all apartments"
That is what MFs and reserve funds are supposed to cover.

No the $2000 total cost for one week is only for this year.
The maintenance fee for 2024 will be decided in Dec.
Since you know longer own there understand your confusion as you did not get Belair notification to owners.

Scuba
Agree 100%!!!!!

Wonder what those rooms would rent for a night regular hotel price plus taxes and service? Probably still a bargain with inflation and island prices going up every month. I’m surprised hotel rates haven’t gone up a lot more considering what other tourist destinations are getting.

It looks like the rates for stays over the next few months range from $165/night to $235/night PLUS taxes, resort fees and service charges. A 7-night rental in May at $235/night ends up totaling just under $2000 for the week.

Go to their website, click on "BOOK NOW" and you can see the rates. BELAIR BEACH LINK