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

Belair Hotel continues to get some bad press.
AC problems that were supposed to get fixed with the last couple add on payments to the annual maintenance bills for timeshare folks.
Now there is mold in 1st floor rooms as well as water temperature and pressure problems.

Tom--are you there, or do you have a reservation to go back? I remember that you surrendered your t/s there.

No, we are not there now but have arranged to rent 2 weeks there later this year. Obviously, that may change. Lisa contacted BSV for availability in December but they did not get back to her.

I don't know why, but often you have to be patient and wait for an answer from BSV. I wouldn't blame you for cancelling. Sounds like they have still not got their stuff together.

But it’s so very much worth the wait if they have availability for your dates!

That's too bad. Belair was our first official stay on the island. Nice Resort at the time but happy we found the Flamingo and stuck with it.

Oh no... curious what that means for my family members who are doing an RCI exchange in to Belair for a week in July.

I am told that the Harris family (owners of the Belair) have been informed about all of the problems. Many promises made, especially to timeshare owners but sadly no significant improvement or permanent repair to the property. It is a great location and many SXM visitors have appreciated that it is a small, secure resort with a friendly, dedicated staff.

Tom - What is your source of these complaints? In our many stays at the Belair I have only experienced one problem with A/C and that was that it was TOO cold. Maintenance got right on it and all was good. The Belair is not perfect, no resort is, but it is perfect for us. We love everything about (except the mosquitos occasionally). We're back again this coming October.

The source would be the folks staying there now and since March. Check out the friends of belair site and read real comments from people staying there.

There are others on that site who express their happiness with Belair. The nay sayers are the same ones who always are complaining about Belair but continue to show up every year. As I recall several years ago you sold your weeks due to your displeasure with Belair but now you saying you are going back in Dec and renting and now you are unhappy as a renter.
Go figure!!

You missed my point. We were very happy to have timeshares at the Belair like many others. We even went there during the hurricane years and had understandable inconveniences. It's hardly "naysaying" to expect promised repairs and remodeling from the property owners to be done. People show up every year because most of them already paid for their time at the Belair via timeshare. They fairly expect the maintenance and additional charges they pay to be used properly.
I already stated that the location, dedicated staff, and security are what we like about Belair but no air conditioning, water temperature/pressure problems, and unhealthy mold are unacceptable conditions that have gotten worse. Timeshare or renters deserve better.

Tom, try calling the phone number on the BSV website. That worked for us last fall. Drew always answered the phone.

Here's an update to Belair Beach Hotel's situation.
Owners have acknowledged the problems that have been building for months (AC, water pressure and temp. and mold). They have begun repairing the AC but as expected by many, ran into additional leaks and breaks that prevent even temporary fixes. They have offered timeshare owners the option delaying their stay until later this year or roll to next year. Some current guests have gone to other resorts. Others scheduled soon will cancel or change booking to a later date when AC will return.

Tom, any word on if they’re reaching out to RCI exchange guests who are booked soon? I have family planning to stay there starting July 20.

Not a good situation.

It's my understanding that RCI has been informed of the situation and is cooperating with members. More information is available on Facebook via "Friends of Belair". We are no longer timeshare owners but hope to stay as renters in December if current problems are resolved because we love the location and the staff. This is another resort where serious problems were identified long ago and additional charges were assessed to timeshare clients but this money was not used to fix the problems as promised. As expected, the GEBE outages have made things worse.

That mold will be hard to get rid of and very unhealthy to be around. Leads me to believe that they really didn't spend the time and money to fully clean and reconstruct after Irma like other resorts did.

That is a bummer to hear. Hopefully they can fix things by October when we arrive.

With GEBE not at 100% I would look for another resort with an adequate generator since Belair has been having this trouble for awhile. October isn't that far away with repairs governed by island time. Would not want to be out of AC at anytime on island.

I haven't heard of any emergency power issues.

Unless Belair has an adequate functioning whole resort generator you'll have issues especially if they don't get the issue with their AC fixed by October. I don't see GEBE getting their act together in the near future or by October.

I am only acting as messenger but am being told that the mold is tied directly to the failed air conditioning system and is primarily affecting the 1s floor rooms. I can't help but agree that inadequate action after Irma also added to the mold problem. Easy to suggest looking for another resort but for some with Belair timeshares that's not an affordable option. The owners have announced a plan that includes placing units on the roof to service 24 of the total 72 units to reduce the load on the main system currently being installed. This plan has a completion date of July/August timeframe.

We will not cancel or change resorts even if we could. Plus I doubt RCI would care.

Significant announcement made today by Belair management. Belair will close from today until August 16, 2024. They will be under construction to replace air conditioning and water supply systems. No reservations will be taken for this time period.

Probably a good move to get ahead of the AC problem and with what is going on with GEBE as long as there is adequate power to do the work. 🤞

Tom--Wow, that is pretty big. I wonder what will happen to those with reservations during this time?

I think it's good news. And I think it is a bold move. Hopefully they'll have everything done by October when we get there.

Carol, Lots of unknowns at this point. Most with reservations during the "under construction" period have been asked to postpone timeshare for later dates. Only a handful of people there now that are living with fans and portable AC units in bedrooms. No central AC and little or no hot water along with the mold issue. Remains to be seen if they are compensated as well as those that have decided to spend vacation at other resorts such as Divi, next door to Belair.

Tom--OK, sounds like a tough situation all around, but sounds like they made the right decision to close and try to get things right.

We stayed at Belair many years ago and thought it was nice back then. From staying at many other SXM properties over the past almost 3 decades I can better understand how challenging it is to keep everything looking good, clean and working and even more so in the salt air environment. We don't go on vacation to make property detailed property inspections but If you really look , many places have mold issues but with cleaning and treatment can be resolved. I can just image the nightmare of trying to keep guests happy and everything working. Hotel business on SXM can't be a lot of fun. Now with GEBE on going labor ,etc problems a lot of business are struggling to stay in business and maintenance is the first to suffer when you are not making enough money. Seems odd that they would close without notice ,,,hopefully they can regroup and really be able to reopen asap.

I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. We first stayed at Belair in the mid 80s. We bought timeshares there in the late 80s early 90s. It was our family vacation every year for almost 40 years. The Belair weathered hurricanes better than most XSM resorts during all those years. We went every year , even when inconveniences caused by Luis and other storms, affected A/C, water temp and pressure, electrical outages happened we understood. We saw increases in maintenance much like other resorts and paid them faithfully. We also saw accessments and paid them in good faith since we were promised that they would be applied to infrastructure improvements such as A/C and water temperature and pressure as well as apartment remodeling. This was promised in writing. When we learned that monies were not applied as promised we decided to sell our timeshares. We still love Belair's location and a staff that is beyond fantastic.

The current situation at Belair is directly tied to the owners not using accessment money to improve infrastructure and remodeling as promised. It was inevidable that an outdated airconditioning system and water supply system would eventually fail if necessary improvements were not made and they were not. Add to that the mold problem that is very serious and a predictable effect of the outdated and failing AC.

Recent decisions are meaningful. In fairness, we hope that the actions proposed will meet all expectations. Hopefully, we will see a return for the Belair to the level it once was.

We stayed at Belair for 10 days back in '99. It was dated then and I can't imagine what it is like now.

Has anyone heard any news about plans or progress on the repairs?

As per a newsletter published yesterday, 7/2, the hotel is closed to new reservations, except owners and RCI, until September 1. Work has started on the Divi side, tearing out old ductwork and preparing for installation of new a/c units with rooftop mounted compressors. A new compressor is due in mid July for the existing chiller system which will continue to supply a/c for the reception side, as well as domestic hot water for the entire hotel.
The Friends of Belair Beach Facebook group is the best source of information from owners, current guests, and management.

My family who was supposed to be checking in to Belair on the 20th was informed by RCI today that they’re being moved to Royal Palm.

Hooray for them!! That's a total win-win, in my estimate!

I agree. Seems like some folks have begun to be properly treated by Belair and RCI.
Also, recent report states that construction, especially for those apartments on Divi side of Belair, have begun ductwork replacement and more.

You are lucky!

They are! We’ll be at Divi as usual. Only downside now is that there is a car ride between us instead of a walk.