GoBeach Vacations - Reservations Agent for Club Orient
Note: These updates are outdated. Club Orient is currently back to normal, or better than it was before. The resort and the beach is back in full swing. All units are brand-new since they have been rebuild from the floor up. For more information, including prices and floorplans of the new units, check out our Club Orient mainpage: http://www.gobeach.com/orient/orient.htm.
Gina send us the update below in order to let everyone know that Club Orient is back! The original letter was in Dutch, which we translated into English for your convenience. Enjoy, Annemariek.
Subject: Club Orient, St.Martin - We did it! *-*-* Open for business *-*-* We did it! On November 1 we welcomed our first guests with a glass of champagne. Everything went even smoother than expected...the people were just so very happy to be back again! So far we have met all deadlines. At the moment 22 mini- suites and 30 studios are finished. And they are all rented out. Right now people are standing in line to stay with us! All mini-suites have air-conditioning as well as most of the studios (installation will be finished soon). The restaurants served it's first dinner on November 1. The boutique and grocery store are also back in business. The building is already getting too small for them. Martin is helping Mom with the store, and his girl-friend is helping us out in the reception. A few big trees have been planted at the entrance, and we will soon start planting 300 palmtrees all around the resort. We are fully booked between X-mas and New Years. Partly due to strikes in Guadeloupe (again!) most of the chalets won't be ready until January. Greetings from Club Orient, Gina Wip-Brink
August 21, 1996 Dear friends of Club Orient, Some of you have already asked us again for a second progress report on the reconstruction of Club Orient. Well, here it is! A lot has been accomplished since the first report in June. Restaurant: The Papagayo restaurant is looking great with its high roof. It now has to be painted inside and out. We are still working on the rest of the building, i.e. kitchen, showers, bathrooms, etc. The tables and chairs of the "open air" restaurant (on the foundation of # 46) were moved into the new building. The restaurant is still expected to be in full operation by November 1. Chalets: As of today 17 beach chalets have been poured (# 78 - # 47). All crews - carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians - are working 6 days a week to get their job done. The forecast is to have all chalets poured by November 1st. Beach chalets # 80 - 94 and garden chalets # 42 - 44 are scheduled to be built last. This will limit the disturbances of the reconstruction to the two extreme ends of the resort. Our aim is to have the middle of the resort - the most popular units - ready for rent first so that our guests are exposed to the least amount of noise. However, please be advised that not all construction will be over in November and December, in order to prevent surprises or disappointments. Mini-suites: Work on the mini-suites is progressing well. All but two buildings are under their roofs. We are now working on the finishing touches on the carpentry work inside these buildings. Most furniture is already in stock. New couches are expected to arrive this week from France. Studios: All studio buildings have been sanded on the outside to show their natural color, and they have been stained the same pine color as the mini-suites. All of the studio buildings have the roofing boards on and we plan to have all roofs finished by the end of August. Please note that we will no longer have Beach Studios available. L'Orientique: Truus Brink has already ordered many new items for the new l'Orientique. She is very anxious to get started. It will be a few more weeks, however, until the building is ready to be occupied. Tennis: Our aim is to have the tennis courts ready for use in November. The materials for the new courts have been received and the work will start in September. Horseback Riding: The stables at Bayside Riding Club have been totally rebuilt and all services including beach rides are offered again. Landscaping/shade: All landscaping throughout the resort will have to be redone. We will take care of this task section by section. Because there will be no high trees, bushes or vegetation for the first few years, and thus not much shade, Club Orient will offer one complimentary umbrella per room to our guests. Reservations/Sold-out dates, etc.: As you know we are partially re-opening on November 1 of this year, and we have been already taking reservations for a few months. We have had a great response - most rooms are reserved already during the month of November and in the last week of December. We would like to give the following information on AVAILABILITY and SOLD-OUT dates (until further notice): * November 1 to 7 - 10 rooms AVAILABLE (studios+mini- suites). * November 8 to December 4 - ALL types of rooms SOLD- OUT. * December 4 to December 28 - ALL types of rooms AVAILABLE (Chalets not guaranteed yet). * December 28 to January 4 - Only mini-suites AVAILABLE * After January 4, 1997 - ALL types of rooms AVAILABLE With best wishes to you from Club Orient Resort, The management.
recovery update June 7, 1996
Dear friends, We are aware that you have been waiting for an update on what is happening here in Saint Martin and in particular at Club Orient. Until now there were too many uncertainties to give a true picture, but know we have a good idea where we stand. <snip> We too have finally received our [insurance] settlement, and have started reconstruction in March. The biggest job has been the removal of large amounts of debris from our property. The beach is now clean, wider, and better than before and people are coming in droves to enjoy the sun and the freedom. Art Brink has re-opened the Papagayo bar and restaurant service from his home, which miraculously survived almost unscathed. He also started a new water sports operation from a new small building near the restaurant. Chair/umbrella service, snorkel equipment, paddle boat, and kayak rentals are offered. Art built two beautiful large floating rafts for people to gather on. The Green Key Taxi service is in full operation utilizing a new raft. The Nude Cruise started operating on April 12 with a beautiful new catamaran, TIKO-TIKO, under the supervision of captain Guillaume who is well known by all Club Orient Resort regulars. The new Papagayo restaurant building has reached its highest point as we finished the construction of the roof; we are now working on the utilities installation. We expect the restaurant to be in full operation by November of this year. Matha and Ana, our faithful masseuses, are doing a brisk business in their temporary setup in the old water sports building at the end of the beach. All chalets have been taken down tot he foundation to be replaced with buildings of the same size and shape in form-cast concrete to create a protective buffer along the waterline. Construction of the chalets started on May 30 with a planned final delivery date of February 1997. Rebuilding of the mini-suites in the original, but reinforced, wood style is well under way. They will definitely be finished by November 1, 1996 - our scheduled re-opening date. All studios should also be ready by then. They will be repaired in the original, but reinforced, style with all-new roofs in Finnish pine with new double glazed vinyl doors and windows - all with screens. The studios will have all-new kitchens, electrical wiring, and hot-and-cold water plumbing. All wooden furniture that could be salvaged is being restored. Siebrand and his crew are repairing or replacing all service buildings and technical installations. Most cables, water pipes and sewage lift stations have been repaired by now and a brand new large-capacity generator has been put in place. A new building for L'Orientique, twice the original size, will also be ready in November and Truus is busy ordering and organizing her new collections while operating from a temporary store located in one of the old office buildings. The Resort's office is operating temporarily (and through the coming season) from the cafeteria building with computer systems up-and- running. An order to rebuild the tennis courts has been signed. Reint is busy designing, ordering supplies, and overseeing construction projects. Presently, he is enjoying a well-deserved rest in Holland with Truus. We will start working on a new office and reception building soon. A new telephone switchboard has been installed this month giving us all the lines we will need to handle the many bookings which have already started to pour in for the upcoming winter season. As mentioned above, we will re-open on November 1, 1996 with most of the units available. Reservations are accepted starting with that date. <snip> ...[Gina] is sorting out the housekeeping goods and even helps out varnishing the new buildings with her lovely little daughter Nina at her heels. Nina and Jacquelyn were the first ones to have a new chalet- playhouse completed - courtesy of the Finnish wood supplier. The new landscaping will be a big challenge, but a few areas in the mini-suite circle were already planted to give the morale a boost. More new plants and trees will be purchased this summer in Florida where Truus and Reint recently established contacts with several growers. The Bayside Stables are being rebuilt and Tracie and her staff are once again busy with riding lessons and beach rides. Warm greetings from Saint Martin from the Brink family and the staff of Club Orient Resort.
for more information and reservations
e-mail orient@gobeach.com or call 1-888-71BEACH (1-888-712-3224)
GoBeach Vacations
Agent Club Orient
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