MARRIOTT RIPPING OFF ARUBA OCEAN CLUB OWNERS

To all Marriott Ocean Club owners. I am not sure if you are aware but you are about to be hit with 2 assessments that could be $1,000 for each of the next 2 years. The reason is Marriott has to completely replace the roof and some of the supports due to poor construction.

How many of you realize that the building was bought by Marriott after it was partially completed? Of course you were never told that. Did you ever wonder why when ever it rained the building flooded? It seems there were problems to the roof from day one and Marriott ignored the problems until they could get the owners to pay a portion of the repairs. Marriott is requiring the Owners to pay a major portion of the repairs. So therefore the roof repair and regular refurbishing projects will costs us additional funds over our already high maintenance.

I have been in touch with the board and have gotten the details of what is taking place. A board member said to me if you find a lawyer who would like to take on a class action suit there would be many people who would be willing to be part of the suit.

I have been in touch with Marriott but they have refused to give me a satisfactory response except to agree to what I have mentioned here.

If you are unhappy about this you should contact customer care. Maybe if enough people speak up Marriott will do the right thing.

Let me know if you are interested in pursuing a class action suit against Marriott.

See other posts concerning such in the Exchange Forum.

Sorry for the delay for further postings. I want to let everyone know I will be posting additional information over the next week or so. After being at the general meeting and hearing how the owners are being ripped off with over 30% increase for the maintenance and the assessment I am having further conversations regarding the class action suit.

A key question will be disclosure; did Marriott disclose to the attorney generals of all 50 states and numerous countries the status of the building they were purchasing? How many of you bought knowing that Marriott was building over a poorly constructed shell, that is now going to cost the owners million of dollars to repair? Included in this is the cost to owners to repair the damage to the ocean front rooms which were damaged by Omar. I have heard over 200k do to the fact that Marriott did not properly maintain the building (more details to follow).

Also speaking with owners who attended the meeting a majority have decided it is time to sell their units.

Please stay tuned there will be more information posted as I put together all the info I have gathered from the meeting.

If you know other owners please share this with them and let’s start accumulating contact information. I will be speaking to an attorney shortly and will post more data from him as well.

Dear Fellow Aruba Ocean Club Owner:

The Board of Directors is writing you to address a very serious rumor that has recently appeared over the internet. This untrue rumor concerns ongoing issues at the Ocean Club and the Board’s relationship with our management company – Marriott International.

It has been almost 10 years since the Ocean Club opened. As with any high use resort facility located in the hot, humid Caribbean climate, the facility is starting to show signs of its age. As a result, the need for maintenance and repairs has increased over the past several years. While the Board has been faced with a number of challenges related to the aging facility, we have been primarily focused on the replacement of the existing roof. As many of you know all to well, we experience leaks in many parts of the resort during heavy tropical rains. The roof replacement is needed to prevent water intrusion in and damage to the building. We are pleased to report that the roof replacement is on schedule and should be complete in early December. The Board also recognizes and thanks Marriott for contributing its fair share to the necessary repairs.

The Board has been working hand in hand with Marriott to resolve these and other related challenges. In the past year, the relationship between the Board and Marriott has grown stronger because of a renewed sense of cooperation, mutual understanding and improved communications.

The false rumor found on some websites alleges that the relationship between the Board and Marriott has deteriorated to the point that the Board has suggested that owners consider pursuing a class action lawsuit against Marriott.

The Board categorically denies making any such inference. The Board is working collaboratively with our on-site management team and with Marriott. With the arrival of Corey Guest, our own dedicated General Manger, the Board has never been more confident in the staff’s ability to provide the owners the very best vacation experience possible while at the same time, effectively and efficiently managing our property.

The hard work is not yet done… especially with the challenges brought on by hurricane Omar. However, the Board and Marriott are moving forward together to meet those challenges with a sense of mutual respect and cooperation.

It is nice to see the AOC board posting here. What you posted is on the AOC website and was mentioned in the meeting as well. No one wants a lawsuit, but how else can we the owners be treated fairly unless we step up and let our voices be heard. It is obvious to me that the owner’s best interests are not being taken in to account. I do believe the fiduciary duties of a board are to protect the owners, then please step up and protect the owners. I know the board has tried to get results, but Marriott is not supporting the owners and it appears to me telling the board to do it their way. It is great that the board did get 43% of the costs of the roof and about 1.6 million of other concessions but that is just a drop of the bucket in terms of the overall costs to the owners. In the meeting the board said they are still talking to Marriott but at this time and listening to the Marriott representatives speak I doubt we the owners will be satisfied.

Let's get an accounting of all the costs of repairs, owners have had to pay for, since the AOC opened, due to the poor construction. I have observed the leaking since I purchased in 1999. Let Marriott then reimburse us for all those costs and I would bet we would be saving a tremendous amount of money. Why is it 120 rooms are out of service due to Omar and the owners are paying for the damage? The surf club lost a couple of rooms and that building was built by Marriott. Seems to me we have not had proper maintanece on the Ocean Club building.

The increase in maintenance for a 2 bedroom in the surf club has gone up a reasonable amount from 1098 to around 1250, I don’t have the exact numbers. Why should a 1 bedroom in the Ocean club go from 886 to 1198 and then the assessment on top of that? That is a 35% increase. Then the assessment is on top of that 540 for year 1 and 421 for year 2, for a 1 bedroom.

The 2 bedrooms are going from 1172 to 1616 and the assessment is 774 for year 1 and slightly less for year 2.

I can certainly appreciate some of the increase but this is outrageous.

Everything I have posted here is public information that Allan, Steve, Michele all spoke about at the meeting.

I would love to stop these posts and be able to post Marriott has done right by us, but that will not happen until an equitable solution is reached. Come on Marriott step up and do the right thing. Right now you have so many upset people that the Marriott reputation is taking a major hit.

I am an owner at the Ocean Club and very upset about what is happening there. What options do we have to refute what the board has approved? I would support legal action at this point it appears to be our only recourse. Is their away for all owners ocean club owners to communicatte?

Thanks

Any update from your original message. I has sent several messages to Marriott and have not received a satisfactory response. Are you going to pay your maintenence fees? Have you spoke to an attorney?

Thanks

Please send me an email at live4sonnj@aol.com. If you want give me your phone number and I can discuss with you what is happening. thanks

To: Marriott Aruba Ocean Club Owners Re: Concerned Owners Group