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Re: Ka'anapali Beach Owners Check Here (by Kristen K.):

I didn't know about this forum until I ran into another Sacramento based owner last weekend at KBC, but am honored to have been mentioned so often in such a favorable way!

There is tremendous confusion, especially with long-time owners who have lived through Embassy to Sunterra to DRI. Three companies, three completely different systems. So I'm going to pose the most common questions that I hear, and if anyone can answer with authority you would be doing a huge service for so many!

1. Definition of terms - what is a deeded owner, what is a trust owner? And The Club owners? Are these different from points owners?

2. Can you be both? Using our history as an example: when we purchased through Embassy in 2001 and 2002, we were deeded and owned by the week. When we purchased in 2003 that was Sunterra and The Club. Our friends purchased the first two the same as us, own in Arizona, and in 2008 bought into points at DRI to join their Arizona and Maui properties under one umbrella. We are deeded, to the best of my knowledge, but are our friends part deeded, part trust? All trust? All deeded?

3. If our property is all deeded, and our home resort is the Hawaii Trust, will buying more points through DRI cause us to forfeit the deeds? Similar to our friends' situation in #2.

4. Can all of us post rentals on Red Week? Our friends were told no - but is that trust points? The Club points? I don't recall signing anything that prohibits that (but then I'm deeded in The Club) In fact, that was a sales pitch - buy more, rent out what you can't use to cover the fees. (And yes, how many of us also got the deluxe ocean FRONT pitch? LOL)

5. Why are there deadlines on making decisions about how to use points, and why are they so early in the year? We are Silver Elite, but have to pretty much lock in all our plans by June. Those who really complain are not at Silver Elite and must know what the future holds by March.

Similarly, we can't use current year left over points for next years reservations unless we push them forward by June, and not all points that are unused in June can be pushed into the next year. So when we had 12,000 points that we couldn't save into 2011, we also couldn't use them in June 2010 to book a stay in early January 2011. And by learning in June that we couldn't push them forward, we were also past all the deadlines for other benefits, such as airline tickets, and too early to know how to apply any points to 2011 maintenance fees.

If the owner of a benefit that can't be used then loses the benefit, it's not really a benefit at all.

In my experience as a marketing communications professional for many, many years, I find that most often conflict could be lessened significantly with better communication. Perception is reality, and most often true reality lies somewhere in between the two conflicted parties. Knowledge is, therefore, power - but in a really positive way for all.

Most owners I know have asked one (or all) of the questions above at some point. Reminders of key deadlines would help. A primer of some sort that lays out options, terminology and tips for maximizing points would help. A monthly email alerting us to exciting changes on the property would help (the quarterly update is better than what we didn't have, but it's not that timely.) And a means of offering suggestions that are responded to would help. In the absence of proactive communication, fires are fueled.

Here's an example of something very non-combative that could have generated warm, fuzzy feelings: we were told at the owner's meeting that food and beverage is a money loser. In 2001, breakfast for four for a week was $70. Today it's that much for one meal, which is way more than inflation would run. Happy hour used to be free, now it's half price - but the drinks have gone from $7 to $10, and the 2009 "buy this glass and get refills cheaper" has already disappeared. The menu didn't change for years, and wasn't that good. We used to have nightly music that made it an inviting place to hang out, drink prices were more favorable, and the bargain breakfast made us feel at home - and therefore lunch and dinner were more popular (until the menu got stale and the music was cut!)

I loved the Friday 11-2 poolside BBQ and music, with happy hour pricing at the bar! But I knew nothing about it until I got down there. I'd read in the quarterly newsletter that there was a new menu coming, but not when. I was thrilled to see the new menu - why not eblast it out when it's brand new? Food and beverage is a simple, non-controversial thing. Communicating the detail might make it more profitable, or just asking why people don't eat there as much might yield some great solutions.

My two cents about the positive outcome that proactive communications can yield. The people who were elected to the Board were those that already served. My only question is this: how many votes did DRI have to cast? Or the Board themselves, via proxy? Interesting that the incumbents each received over 12,000 votes each, and all the more interesting if Board/DRI votes were in the 12,000 range or more...again, being up front with information like that can significantly reduce the speculation.

Kristen Kirkpatrick