When the Annual General Meetings of Morritt’s Tortuga Club and Morritt’s Grand Resort take place tonight, General Manager Dutch Hoffmann believes the minds of those worried about the post-Hurricane Ivan events at the property will be put at ease.
Mr. Hoffman, who just took up the General Manager post 1 August, said Morritt’s has absolutely nothing to hide.
Work continues on the Morritts Tortuga Club. |
‘Everything that has been done is above board,’ he said.
However, Mr. Hoffmann does understand the frustration of some of the timeshare owners.
‘[With regard to] the frustration the owners have, believe me, those frustrations are shared by me,’ he said. ‘Everything would be a lot easier if [all the reconstruction work] was complete.
‘But absolutely, our No. 1 priority is completing the buildings.’
The two adjoining timeshare properties sustained some $20 million of damage during Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. The Grand, because it was made of concrete, was less damaged and re-opened in September 2005. But only part of the Tortuga Club opened because two of its old wooden buildings were damaged too extensively and had to be torn down and rebuilt.
Instead of rebuilding the two three-storey buildings in wood, the decision was made to replace them with five-storey concrete buildings similar to The Grand.
The rebuilding process has been slow.
‘We’re farther away from materials, people, etcetera,’ Mr. Hoffmann said.
In addition, Morritt’s is still awaiting its insurance settlement with Lloyd’s of London.
‘We are in the arbitration process and have confidence in our claim and the experts who have helped us,’ Mr. Hoffman said. ‘We are hoping for a settlement sometime next year.’
One of the new buildings is scheduled to be completed by April of next year, while construction on the other building has not yet commenced. It is expected to start by the end of this year, with completion in the late summer of 2008 Mr. Hoffmann said.
The new dock, which contractors had much difficulty in building, is scheduled for completion next month, and the restaurant David’s, will open sometime next year.
The long delay in rebuilding has meant some unhappiness for some of Morritt’s 10,000 or so owners. Even if their units are not rebuilt yet, Morritt’s owners are required to pay their annual maintenance fees, and some owners do not think it is fair to pay for something that does not yet exist.
Mr. Hoffmann said owners who bought in a building that has not yet been rebuilt can still book another week at the resort, subject to availability. He admitted, however, that with its current room availability, not all of the owners could actually stay at the resort this year.
Owners do have other options. They can trade a week for a week at another RCI resort somewhere else in the world, or they can bank weeks for usage in the future – with some restrictions.
As for the maintenance fees, Mr. Hoffmann pointed out that the resort still has fixed labour costs and that the maintenance fees applicable specifically to the two unopened buildings would not amount to a great deal of money.
‘You still need people at the front desk,’ he said, noting there were many other people who had to be paid as well.
In addition, Morritt’s must maintain the pools and landscaping and other common facilities on the resort.
Some owners are also upset that the maintenance fees increased in 2005.
Mr. Hoffmann said the increase was a measure of the inflation in Cayman after Hurricane Ivan.
Utilities costs, labour costs and material costs have all risen substantially over the past two years.
‘Look at the insurance premiums everyone is paying now,’ he said.
Morritt’s changed insurance brokers since the hurricane and its new insurance is costing much more than before the hurricane. Some owners question why Morritt’s would change brokers.
‘Why stay with the same insurance company when they haven’t paid us [the Hurricane Ivan claim]?’ Mr. Hoffman said, adding that Morritt’s intends to shop the policy again next year to find a better rate.
After Hurricane Ivan, Morritt’s owners were given a special assessment fee to cover the insurance deductible. There have been rumours that another special assessment is coming.
‘That’s all that it is – a rumour,’ said Mr. Hoffmann. ‘I don’t see any need – in any way, shape, or form – for a special assessment.’
Another thing fuelling the rumour mill is the fact that several of Morritt’s top executives have left since Hurricane Ivan, including the resort’s former Head of Sales, Steve Cummins, and former Chairmen of the Board of Morritt’s Properties (Cayman) Limited Robert White and Steve Minotakis.
Even the new general manager hired after Hurricane Ivan, Rich Lohr, did not stay for a full year.
Mr. Hoffmann said Mr. Lohr just was not a good fit for the resort or the island. Mr. Cummins, he said, would not have had anything to sell in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ivan.
Mr. Minotakis, who Mr. Hoffmann said hired him, was not happy with being so far way from his home in Florida.
Mr. Hoffmann could not speak about the situation with Mr. White because it is subject to legal actions in Cayman and Florida.
Other management at the resort have been with the company for a long time, Mr. Hoffmann pointed out, including Caymanian Harding Watler.
Another point of contention concerns the lack of financial statements since Hurricane Ivan. Audited figures for 2004 and 2005 will be released tonight at the AGM. Mr. Hoffmann said the audited finances will not reveal any surprises.
‘There have been absolutely no monies misspent or misappropriated,’ he said. ‘The books will reveal that there were times when there was not enough maintenance fee money to cover operating expenses.’
Mr. Hoffmann said that when that happened, developer David Morritt covered the shortage himself.
Shortages of maintenance fees were subsequently deducted from the homeowners’ accounts.
‘Almost every business has due to/from accounts,’ Mr. Hoffmann said, saying there was nothing out of line in the practice.
‘It’s not like someone took the money,’ he said. ‘There is nothing wrong or out of the ordinary from normal business practices.’
Mr. Hoffmann said Morritt’s has never had a lawsuit from a timeshare owner, something he called phenomenal considering the number of owners at Morritt’s.
When complete, Morritt’s will be bigger and better, Mr. Hoffmann said.
‘It’s designed to fulfil [David Morritt’s] dream to be the best timeshare resort in the Caribbean,’ he said.
Mr. Hoffmann said the vast majority of owners at Morritt’s have been understanding during the rebuilding process.
‘A lot of people are thanking us for how far we’ve come,’ he said. ‘Most people are happy.’
Mr. Hoffmann said he believes in the resort. His sister visited him from the United States recently and has decided to buy a week at Morritt’s.
‘If I doubted at all the financial status at Morritt’s, she wouldn’t be buying here,’ he said. ‘The job is one thing, but she’ll always be my sister.’
Related Videos
