Donna and Richard,
I agree with you about not wanting this to become a bad habit on the part of Festiva management. I guess we were more trusting than perhaps we should have been but, the bill has been paid so I guess we'll just wait and see what happens. Good luck.

Dear Douglas and Ester,

You can get all of the information that you would need by going to AtriumOwners.com

Riptide

If anyone has knowledge about a class action against the Pelican Resort in St Maarten,kindly let us know. Due to the new marina building construction, our views are NOW GONE and our units are practically worthless. It is not fair to do this to 20 (units) owners X 52 weeks. We need a class action soon.

Victoria Harlow
Pelican Timeshare owner

Why stop with one or two resorts? I found this message board by googling "festiva resorts class action law suit." I figured, if I'm this angry, surely somebody else is as well. I cannot believe my husband and I were so insane as to buy into a Festiva Resort (Wachasaw in South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach). For whatever reason -- high pressure sales tactics that caught us in a moment of weakness comes to mind -- we believed the lie about making money off of it, ie. it was an investment. To sell a timeshare this way is a federal offense in the United States, we have since learned. We paid the fee,are angry and want out. We can't figure out how to GET out, how to sell it ourselves. Recently, Festiva sent somebody who wanted to charge us $3,000 to convert our week to a point system. The point system sounded great, the $3,000 did not. Any other owners from other resorts out there?

Just got the visit today. My wife and I purchased into a points system in 1999. The timeshare company (EQUIVEST - poorly managed) switched hands twice since then before landing with FESTIVA. We figure that it should get better under new management. Nope, all we got was the same pitch. For $2,990 (I assume it is the same $3,000 you speak of in your e-mail) we can become a FESTIVA owner. No deal.

I purchased a MARRIOTT time share a few years ago that I make good use of and provides me with good exchange power and I use my EQUIVEST points to flexchange with Interval Internations. Sure it costs $139 but with enough research on the internet we get to stay at posh resorts using our EQUIVEST points and the FLEXCHANGE FEE. Would I buy into a points based system again? Not unless it was DISNEY!

Hello,
I have two floating weeks studio ( 2 pers.) in the Atrium resort in St Maarten and i want to sell them . If you know anybody who could be interested by this or how it's possible to sell them, thanks a lot to answer me !
Maryline Lemercier
(french résident in St Martin)

Well, I dont know what planet these people are living on. The average timeshare 2BR runs about $600-700 per year. They obviously dont own multiple timeshares or realize the cost of running a resort and actually paying people what it takes to keep staff consistently. I have owned for 13 years and have been on multiple presentations and these are average numbers. When you consider that this property is in the caribbean, these fees are phenomenally low. Beach front timeshares usually run a little higher in non-hurricane areas it seems, so I cant imagine timeshares in hurricane alley what they should cost for maint fees!

People who dont own...dont listen to the negativity. You cant touch a second home for what it takes to buy a timeshare from a reputable company. You must realize that maint fees are due because you actually own the property...deeded. How much would a condo cost new plus how much yearly for upkeep and maint and taxes? People who are smart with their money own timeshares and reealize it is for using...not to resell for a profit. We were told last year that owners upgrading accounted for over half of all new business written yearly by resorts. Disney is charging up to $1000/night for a 2br condo in season...unbelievable! We know because we stayed there for $139 for a week!! How does that NOT make sense?

Some realities:

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Let's see if this makes sense - you spend around 20K to first own the timeshare for 40 years. (Man I wonder how much interest would be accrued on it during that time period?) Very roughly, that is 500 dollars a year already spent per week on your vacation. Then you add the yearly maintenance on top of that. 700 + 500 = 1200 for the week. Then if you exchange it's another 150. That makes 1350 for the week (didn't count in the membership fees to RCI or II). So, I think I could find some decent accommodations for 200 a night, ya think?

So where the heck did you come up with 139.00 - was the gas for driving there or the exchange fee and you forgot to factor in the maintenance fee and initial outlay?

And NO, you don't own the property.