TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin any info on Club O

Any word on the Club O staff? Would it be feasible to set up something whereby donations could go directly to the staff members who have lost their jobs and quite possibly their homes. The staff is so wonderful I would like to see some targeted donations to them as a way of giving back. Anyone with ideas on how to do this?

Any thought given to selling shares to raise some money for the rebuild?

Still can't believe what were seeing Our hearts and prayers go out to all of the people on SXM! All we have is the sweet memories of the Club O we once new,loved and enjoyed. Unfortunately the friends we always met with year after year will be sadly lost if ClubO does not rebuild. Beach Chalet 70 was the very first placed we stayed many years ago...we are crying for all the people of SXM....please rebuild!!!!

As an architect in a flood and hurricane zone the main thinking in rebuilding needs to be to elevate. The storm surge should leave good clues as to how high on the remaining buildings. We use a lot of break-away construction that limits damage to the main structure. Since Orient village was built, the concrete methods used seemed to work well since those buildings, and those concrete structures at Club O seemed to weather this worst of storms with damage but potentially salvageable. This needs to be the thinking. Wood roofs can be replaced and so can fixtures and finishes. Out of the box? Not by international standards but maybe by island standards. Won't be cheap but it'll be worth it after the next hurricane.

Friends of mine were able to send some pictures. Club O is destroyed. Papagayo is gutted. The gatehouse is gone. Most of the cottages are gone. Perch Bar is gone. Watersports building is collapsed. It was completely devastated.

Roadking, can you post or send a link to the photos of Club O?

Here's some more. What a mess.
The first two are apparently of where Pedro's once was.














This might be the only concrete minisuite 158/159, originally wood like the others, it had burned at one time and was rebuilt out of concrete, and was painted to match it's wooden neighbors.


I think this is the back side of the Club O Villa unit.


Papagayo's


Papagayo's

[img]http://oi63.tinypic.com/fn5v8g.jpg[/img]
Papagayo's

[img]http://oi67.tinypic.com/2e21qxk.jpg[/img]
Pretty sure its the southern side of Papagayo's

Modi,
You have always had the best pics of all things Club O.........in this case we dont want to see it but doing so helps us grasp the truth

More standing than the first batch showed.....

Mother nature wins

well if this does not prove that they have to rebuild out of concrete block...nothing does.

But i am a bit more encouraged that there are at least some things to build upon?

Hi Cathy,

My concern is how unified the current owners are in rebuilding compared to 95', when the Brinks were resolute in reconstructing the club. There was a schism with the current owners the past several years and I fear disagreements on how to rebuild, whether to rebuild or sell off the land could drag through the courts for many years before decisions are made. I hope for the best for all concerned.

Thank you for posting!

Looks like Waterfront Chalet 46 is standing, it had been reported it was gone.

The last image is of the maintenance building.

PAN....

I have the same fears....and concerns. Time will tell I guess.

We started coming in October 1999....and on our first visit we had hurricane Jose October 20... which was a category 2...and we got 20 inches of rain in 48 hours. There was one death from a mudslide. We stayed at St. Tropez on Orient beach.

And then the sun came out....and it was unbelievable how fast the folks started repairing everything. I know that it cannot compare to the devastation that occurred during this hurricane Irma ...but I keep seeing in my minds eye the way the people pulled together and worked so diligently to get things up and running.

Willy was the first Club Orient person we met...because Papagayo was the first restaurant to reopen...and she waited on us. It was her kindness that won us over and we came back that very next April and have been doing so ever since.

It is not just the beauty of St. Martin...it is the beauty of her people...that draw us back year after year.

It is my understanding that Club Orient employs the most people on the French side...I cannot help but think that for economical reasons alone...it so needs to be rebuilt.

I pray all of the owners of Club Orient...will unify with the same spirit We have seen displayed year after year...and do what is best for St. Martin.

I know in my heart...that spirit will rebuild this beautiful Island and we will return again.

When we looked into buying a studio, there was clearly a collective insurance requirement...........and of course you had to put "your" unit into the rental pool

I'm sure this will scare off some of the owners as any storm does to Florida condo owners who head north having enough

But I would describe "owner" as really "financial supporter" who gets to make decorating decisions and leave items behind in storage............owning at club o was clearly described to us as something you do with "throw away money" because there are so many ways to lose it ----- a hurricane being chief among them

That said, there will be new owners.......who will be able to buy in at a new lower price than it was in august.



We were there in June and it was sold out as it was the June 16 and January 16 before that.......chairs were sold out every day too

If they get it cleaned up to any degree and visitors can get to the island, they will get back to Club O.

Hey I'll buy them two chairs and an umbrella right now...............at some point, that could/will be one way to get the cash infusion going for the Business.

Anyway, they will get to all these bridges and hopefully make all the right moves to rebuild stronger

Does anyone know if the new structures (Orange Crush) survived? The picture of where Pedro's was doesn't show them, but it could just be the angle.

I'm curious about the same.....I distinctively remember when they were building them having a discussion about the lack of headers above openings. Seemed like they could have build them right so that the water/wind could go through them but the structure would survive. Instead, it seems they opted for a more disposable structure.

I imagine you mean Orange Fever. Reports are all of the beach bars/restaurants are gone.

All of the new ones?! OMG <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Unfortunately, yes.

There is a 180 degree click and drag to pan image on Facebook that shows Orient clearly without any of the beach restaurants remaining. Only Papagayo, though badly damaged, is left. Everything else all blown/washed away. I'll add the FB url but don't know if it will work.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...eater&ifg=1

Wow... worst fears is right. I know that area like the back of my hand, and it's almost unrecognizable to me.

Great photo --Shows the construction of Orient Village was well done/

Modi's photos show everything from Pedros and beyond gone. The 6th photo is unit 55 (Blue on left) belonging to Bob and Gretchen Morrison. Photos 10-12 show the road from where unit 50 used to be, toward the Papagayo. The studios would have been on the right and units 49 to 47 on the left. The yellow edged building is 46.

Yes, I agree.. but as CNN is reporting in Florida, the storm surge could be a real problem and it looks like Orient Village suffered immensely from that. It's just unbelievable what I have seen in the few photos available of Orient Village. La Playa and area is almost unrecognizable.

If the buildings housing Orange Fever, which were built to modern French standards, didn't survive, what can be built that will survive? And remembering the conflicts between what the Collective wanted for rent and what the renters were willing to pay, how contentious will future negotiations be?

Its a lot easier to build against wind then waves. It's the waves that undermined may of the beach facing structures the wind was then just icing. Not much you can do against waves as the chalets, poured concert failed when undermined.

Looking at the 360 picture and that pic of the glass door on the ground at CO got me thinking, its going to be years before I'd feel safe walking barefoot in that sand. All the glass and nails that's most likely buried in the sand to who knows how deep.

Here's another of Papagayo's Restaurant at Club Orient.


And some were asking about the new structures by Orange Fever, Chez Leandra, the old Baywatch etc. that were built after Hurricane Gonzalo
came through in Oct. 2014.
Looks like their walls gave out before their roofs had a chance to be detached... Here they be...