Major shareholder demands sale of Sunterra

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Chapman Capital, a hedge fund that owns 8.4% of Sunterra's stock, is demanding that Sunterra auction itself off, saying that would bring $14 per share as opposed to the current market price of less than $9.

[dhill67 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dhill67]

Support of Sunterra Sale

We purchased a timeshare at Powhatan Plantation many years ago before Sunterra bought them out. The unit had free firewood, live plants, beatufiul decor and was well maintained. Since Sunterra has taken over maintenance fees have doubled, the free firewood is gone, plants have been taken out of the units and the free "activities" have dwindled to nothing. Our unit still has knife marks in the wall from five years ago when an exchange family allowed their child to stab the kitchen wall about 50 times with a steak knife. DO NOT buy into anything Sunterra owns!!! Powhatan was a Gold Crown resort when we purchased. I don't think it's even rates as a Resort of Distinction any more. Sunterra does not look out for shareholders OR owners. They've tried (high pressure) techniques to get us to buy into the points system so they can "inflate" my cost of using my week each year. They are working hard to get more and give less but owners and shareholders are not seeing the pay-off. SUNTERRA should be SOLD to a responsible company that can MANAGE a property soundly for ALL stakeholders!!!

[dimples Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dimples]

Sunterra problems

I also own a Sunterra Resort in Williamsburg -- Greensprings. It's a Gold Crown resort and my biggest complaint is how Sunterra mandates that maintenance fees must be paid for any weeks you want to spacebank. For instance, I have paid my 2006 and 2007 maintenance fees and those are the only years I can spacebank. If I know I am not going to use my 2008 week, I cannot spacebank it until I pay 2008 maintenance fees. At $715 a year, who wants to pay these fees years in advance.

Sunterra places their owners at a disadvantage within the RCI system because of this policy. I do feel as though they are trying to beat us down.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

I also own a Sunterra Resort in Williamsburg -- Greensprings. It's a Gold Crown resort and my biggest complaint is how Sunterra mandates that maintenance fees must be paid for any weeks you want to spacebank. For instance, I have paid my 2006 and 2007 maintenance fees and those are the only years I can spacebank. If I know I am not going to use my 2008 week, I cannot spacebank it until I pay 2008 maintenance fees. At $715 a year, who wants to pay these fees years in advance.

Sunterra places their owners at a disadvantage within the RCI system because of this policy. I do feel as though they are trying to beat us down.

This is not a Sunterra issue. It's a weeks exchange issue. It makes sense to require that you pay your MF for 2008 before you deposit it because if you don't pay it, then the exchanger into that unit is SOL. That's unfair to the other exchanger.

The reason it's a weeks exchange problem is that there is no way you should have to deposit anything more than 1 year in advance of checkin to get a good exchange. That is an artifact of a flawed system.

[Ryne08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ryne08]

Powhatan Plantation poor maintance issues are not totally Sunterra fault.
When owners were paying low maintenace fees there was not enough money taken in to cover the total number of units to maintain Gold Crown standards or owners standards. Under the old system at Powhatan Plantation not one unit was every upgraded. No new furnitures were every purchase. Powhatan was a dream that change the timeshare industry in Virginia.

Do you remeber the A & B units. The B unit had a hot plate as the only item to cook with. The B unit had a opening whereby you could look down into the A unit living room. Also the B unit was a sleep six unit. Two bedrooms with a loft. These are not Sunterra problems. But Sunterra inhert this and many more problems from the orginal owners. What about the indoor pool and it's size for the total numbers of unit at Powhatan.

Also Sunterra do not develop or build new timeshare resorts. They acquire resorts that are in financal trouble. The only resort that they have build was Cypress Pointe in FL.

As a owner you need to ask the orignal owner how many new auto's, boats, over seas trips were given out as bonuses from the sell of t/s at this resort.