Original Message:
Re: Diamond Resorts raises maintenance fees again! (by David K.):
I have a floating week at Los Abrigados and just received my bill for 2014. It is $959.52, which is an 8.94% increase over this year. I was up there for a couple of days at the beginning of Aug and when I got there sent them an email complaining about the lack of improvements since DRI took over, while drastically increasing the annual fee.
Their SW regional mgr happened to be there and he invited me in to discuss these issues. His explanation was very enlightening. In essence, as he explained things to me, the members of Sedona Vacation Club (deeded owners) have to cover the cost of maintenance/improvements to the property. DRI only covers this to the extent of the portion of the deeded property they own, Also, when an owner walks away from their TS and stops paying maintenance fees, this is also covered by the remaining owners. Thus we, the deeded owners, are paying for fixing what ILX neglected for years. This does not seem entirely fair to me, inasmuch as DRI still uses the property as a hotel and as a resort for their points-based members to use.
The $959 annual fee for 2014 comes out to $137 a night. For this amount one could go down the street to a Hampton Inn and get a room where your bed would be made every night and you would receive a nice breakfast every morning. It also computes to some small change less than $50,000 annually for the upkeep and expenses connected with what is essentially a 600 sq. ft efficiency apartment. In today's market you could almost buy a condo of that size for that much.
Companies marketing timeshare properties should be required to disclose that the property may have little or no resale value and that the annual maintenance fee can be raised without limitation by the HOA, which is almost always majority-held by the management company.