Bent Creek and 2010 Maintance Fee... We are in SHOCK!

[xnavyss Member Find all posts View Profile Close xnavyss]

Title Should read, 2010 Maintance Fee.

Received the 2010 Maintenace Fee yesterday for a 2 BR at Bent Creek in Gatlinburg, TN and I am still in Shock.

Wife is calling me name's for buying Sunterra - now Diamond

For 2010 it's $1,016.90.

What makes it so bad is:

In 2007 it was $572.00.

We actually own an EOY - Odd. Tried to paid the Maintenance Fee's so that I could bank 2011 week and was told, Bent Creek does not allow to bank 2011 weeks until 2010. But they will allow me to pay what ever I desired to towards the fee's.


Joe

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Title Should read, 2010 Maintance Fee.

Received the 2010 Maintenace Fee yesterday for a 2 BR at Bent Creek in Gatlinburg, TN and I am still in Shock.

Wife is calling me name's for buying Sunterra - now Diamond

For 2010 it's $1,016.90.

What makes it so bad is:

In 2007 it was $572.00.

We actually own an EOY - Odd. Tried to paid the Maintenance Fee's so that I could bank 2011 week and was told, Bent Creek does not allow to bank 2011 weeks until 2010. But they will allow me to pay what ever I desired to towards the fee's.


Joe

Joe,

I've fixed the thread title for you.

and...YIKES!

[jackio Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close jackio]

Oh man, that's terrible! If you intend to use it, you can still tell yourself it's still cheaper than nice hotel rooms in that area.

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

But Diamond rents it for $1454.48, that's not much of an advantage for the commitment.

[xnavyss Member Find all posts View Profile Close xnavyss]

About 2 months I received an email offering nights at Bent Creek for about $85.00 per night. I realize that these extra nights were limited and not always available.

After I received the email, I called Diamond and asked how they could, with a straight face, rent nights for less than what the owner's maintance fee's were, then say those same fee's are being increased some Huge amount. I was given the Corporate 2 step.

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

Bent Creek - Fees For 2010 it's $1,016.90 - WOW!


Did you buy the cabin or the condo style lock out unit at Bent Creek?

We visited (formerly Sunterra) Bent Creek just outside of Gatlinburg
back in 2007 - It looked like a nice (golf) resort - too far from town.
We really liked the brownish color log cabins & almost purchased one.

Two Bedroom Cabin
Two-bedroom with queen bed in each bedroom. Queen sleeper sofa
in living room. Two bathrooms. Hot tub and grill on deck.

Two Bedroom Lock Off
Two-bedroom features two lock-off accommodations. 'A and B' side
one-bedroom (750 sq. ft.)


Bent Creek Golf Village - Gatlinburg, Tennessee

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

Title Should read, 2010 Maintance Fee.

Received the 2010 Maintenace Fee yesterday for a 2 BR at Bent Creek in Gatlinburg, TN and I am still in Shock.

Wife is calling me name's for buying Sunterra - now Diamond

For 2010 it's $1,016.90.

What makes it so bad is:

In 2007 it was $572.00.

We actually own an EOY - Odd. Tried to paid the Maintenance Fee's so that I could bank 2011 week and was told, Bent Creek does not allow to bank 2011 weeks until 2010. But they will allow me to pay what ever I desired to towards the fee's.


Joe

IMHO, you're a victim of Sunterra's failed policy of keeping everything on the cheap. Sunterra had many complaints and, in the end, went belly up.

DRI has higher standards than Sunterra and is using realistic accounting for both today's needs and future needs. Sunterra appears to have carried deficits in their accounting. DRI now wants those deficits errased and, rather than whack all owners with large SA's, has choosen to accelerate MF's to meet todays needs, tomorrows needs and erease any deficits created by underfunding in past years.

Painful yes but necessary if owners want their resorts to continue into the future.

THe problem I'm having is this, I'm now paying Marriott like MF's but, DRI's quality lags behind Marriott's. On the other hand, Marriott didn't have to bring older resorts up to their standards. So you get to the point of an old saying. A fireplace won't put out heat until you put fuel in it to burn. So the question becomes how much fuel do we have to put in and when we'll we start feeling the heat. Every pump needs to be primed and there's a certain amount of time and work that goes into it before water starts to flow. But once the water flows it's a lot easier to keep in going so long as you keep the well primed.

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

Just received my MF bill - shock, shock and shock.

2009 2010 Increase
MF $564.09 $738.25 31%
Reserve $161.83 $252.86 56%
Club dues $235.00 $235.00
Total $960.92 $1226.11 28%

MF increases by 31%, Reserve by 56% and total by 28%, assuming Club dues remains the same, which is highly unlikely.

Now, my Ridge at Sedona two bedrooms costs me $1,226.11.

[idofabric Member Find all posts View Profile Close idofabric]

We bought there years ago, and used to stay every Labor Day intill 3 years ago... no matter what time of year I tried to get into Bent Creek, or ANY of the DRI/Sunterra properties we haven't been able to book... For a while I was checking a few times a day!
We were trying about 9 months out at first, then I waited till 6 months and then I just kept on checking! Haven't tried to get in for months now.
I hate paying fees for a resort I can't get into, esp. when they rent the units. And yeah, I know the rental units come from a "different " group of units. Don't care...

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

We own 2 Floating weeks at Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort. Hope I am not in the same boat as you. Our maintenance fees do not include taxes, they are billed separate by the county in CA and they keep creeping up each year.

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

We bought there years ago, and used to stay every Labor Day intill 3 years ago... no matter what time of year I tried to get into Bent Creek, or ANY of the DRI/Sunterra properties we haven't been able to book... For a while I was checking a few times a day!
We were trying about 9 months out at first, then I waited till 6 months and then I just kept on checking! Haven't tried to get in for months now.
I hate paying fees for a resort I can't get into, esp. when they rent the units. And yeah, I know the rental units come from a "different " group of units. Don't care...

I got in there . . . but it was through RCI. When we finished with their comments request, we had to add a separate page. I liked the golf course, tricked up as it was, but I would not recommend this "resort".

Unfortunately I am a member of The Club and am constantly reminded that The "Club" is a WEAPON and not a social group. DRI's MF's are only exceeded by Marriott and the average quality of their resorts are average at best.

I did stay at Grand I last week and this was a great resort . . . but, again, I acquired this through RCI as it was NOT AVAILABLE through The Club.

P.S. Trading RCI points (and comparing RCI Points cost) and RCI's fee is about ONE HALF the overall cost of "The Club" IF I WOULD HAVE BOOKED THROUGH DRI (which was not available).

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

BentCreek Golf

We have Bent Creek Golf as well and are shocked by the large jump in Maintenance fees, dues etc. (for 2009 and 2010!) We purchased our timeshare through Sunterra, who kept things reasonable, not Diamond Resorts! Should have demanded a cap on maintenance fees or not made the purchase. What can we do about it? Other than try to sell?

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

We have Bent Creek Golf as well and are shocked by the large jumps in Maintenance fees, dues etc. (2009 and 2010) We purchased our timeshare through Sunterra, who kept things reasonable, not Diamond Resorts! Should have demanded a cap on maintenance fees or not made the purchase. What can we do about it? Other than try to sell?

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

What I did . . .

We bought there years ago, and used to stay every Labor Day intill 3 years ago... no matter what time of year I tried to get into Bent Creek, or ANY of the DRI/Sunterra properties we haven't been able to book... For a while I was checking a few times a day!
We were trying about 9 months out at first, then I waited till 6 months and then I just kept on checking! Haven't tried to get in for months now.
I hate paying fees for a resort I can't get into, esp. when they rent the units. And yeah, I know the rental units come from a "different " group of units. Don't care...

I am also (unfortunately) an owner at Bent Creek. We stayed there in July but had to trade through RCI as DRI didn't have availability (although our next door neighbor was there on a 3-day $99.00 total package WITHOUT any requirements}. We then went to Williamsburg and the place with the geese poop EVERYWHERE - also available through RCI and NOT DRI.

We did get FREE comment paper from DRI - and used it, with our own pen, because their pen was out of ink, to report TWO pages of complaints at EACH location.

PS: Trading RCI points with RCI - plus RCI fee - was CHEAPER than if we had used points from "THE CLUB".

ALSO: The 25% INCREASE in MF in 2008 and the 18.5% INCREASE in 2009 was allocated to ADMINISTRATIVE FEES.

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

What I did . . .

We bought there years ago, and used to stay every Labor Day intill 3 years ago... no matter what time of year I tried to get into Bent Creek, or ANY of the DRI/Sunterra properties we haven't been able to book... For a while I was checking a few times a day!
We were trying about 9 months out at first, then I waited till 6 months and then I just kept on checking! Haven't tried to get in for months now.
I hate paying fees for a resort I can't get into, esp. when they rent the units. And yeah, I know the rental units come from a "different " group of units. Don't care...

I am also (unfortunately) an owner at Bent Creek. We stayed there
in July but had to trade through RCI as DRI did'nt have availability (although our next door neighbor was there on a 2-day $99.00 package WITHOUT any requirements}. We then went to Williamsburg and the place with the geese poop EVERYWHERE - also available through RCI and NOT DRI.

We did get FREE comment paper from DRI - and used it, with our own pen because their pen was out of ink, to report TWO pages of complaints at EACH location.

PS Trading RCI points with RCI - plus RCI fee - was CHEAPER than if we had used points from "THE CLUB".

The 25% INCREASE in MF in 2008 and the 18.5% INCREASE in 2009 was allocated to ADMINISTRATIVE FEES.