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Latest From Club O

I just received this in an email. The news isn't good.

Dear Friends,

For those of you who have been following our postings online or read the emails we have previously sent, what we’re about to say should not come as a total shock. But, please read it carefully and understand the following only affects Orient Beach Club (OBC), which employs all of the staff and operates the resort. The Copropriété (Copro) which owns the land on which Club Orient is built and is similar to an HOA is responsible for the vast majority of structues.

OBC received its insurance money in full on October 31, 2017, which included business interruption insurance. It has now been over a year that OBC has been waiting for the Copro to receive its money, so the rebuilding can begin.
OBC has had to pay “chomage partiel”, which is similar to unemployment in some countries, but different in that the company must pay out 85% of an employee’s actual wages and is reimbursed at only a percentage of minimum wage rates. This form of unemployment has been a very expensive proposition.

We were comfortable doing this as the Copro believed we would have at least some of our units ready for the high season starting in November/December. This prognostication, unfortunately, has proven not to be the case.

Even if the Copro was to receive their money in October or November, they could not complete any of the necessary rebuildings and repair until Summer or even longer. OBC cannot afford to continue to operate while missing two full high seasons, last year and this coming year.

OBC expects to be legally closing its doors over the next thirty days with the assistance of a government liquidator. We have just about completed contacting all the people who still had advance deposits on hold for a future stay. To all of you who were kind enough to donate them or delay asking for their return, you are a big reason why we have been able to continue to survive this long. Thank you very much for your help.

Now, does this mean Club Orient is finished? NO. It merely means the management company OBC, which is the employer and operator of the revenue-producing areas is closing.

Once the Copro receives its funds and the re-building commences, a new management company would have to emerge to operate Club Orient. Hopefully, most of the same staff will still be available and return.

Once again, the only reason OBC must close is they have no resort to manage and no way to continue to pay the staff without revenue being generated.

So, this is a very sad time for all of us, many of us have given years and often decades of our lives to Club Orient as employees. Most of us have never felt like employees, but more like being a part of an extended worldwide family.

We cannot predict what will happen next, as we will not be involved. We know the Copropriété is continuing in its efforts to re-build Club Orient and has contracts in place, once the legal and insurance issues are resolved.

Our website and Facebook page will remain up for at least the next few months, and we have listed an email address to be able to contact a representative of Club Orient who is on the island.

Thanks to all of you for your support over the years and we have missed seeing you this last year. We are heartbroken this mess has not yet been rectified and hope that the Copro will be able to rebuild very soon, so we can once again welcome all of you back to paradise.

Au Revoir
Replies

Well I guess that means this is the beginning of the end.

It is my opinion that the owners of the land will hold out for the highest bid and there will be a mega complex built there. I can only hope that the owners will come to be reasonable and rebuild what was there pre-Irma but more modern.

Based on the posting that Christa put on the forum, I can understand the management company having to close their doors because they are not getting any revenue. I don't understand why, though, the Copro wouldn't want to rebuild ASAP unless there were some underlying issues between the OBC and the Copro in regards to finances. I really have no idea because we have never stayed on the property but everyone we have spoken to that has stayed there said it was the greatest place to vacation. As you can see my prior trip report, this past year was our first time going to the C/O beach and we were really hoping the club would be rebuilt.

This is really a sad situation all around.
It is a sad situation.

The issues are with a very small number of owners, not with Orient Beach Club.

The Simpsons

The Simpsons
Last edited by thesimpsons October 04 2018 12:50
Latest from Club O is that the beach concessions will remain. That means we are OK for next year, unless something changes.
Originally posted by Christa Latest from Club O is that the beach concessions will remain. That means we are OK for next year, unless something changes.



That's great news--we'll be there in 78 days!. Still pretty sad overall. I was hoping to be able to stay at Club O one day. We've always enjoyed the beach but regret never staying in the cottages.
It was truly the best place to stay. After our first stay 9 years ago, we didn't want to go anywhere else. My wife didn't like to walk the property au naturel and always wore a sarong at Papagayo, Perch, and the Boutique...but nobody cared. It's the most nonjudgemental place on earth. I'm sad.
More bad news. I just noticed this on the Tiko Tiko facebook page:
"I am sad to say the Tiko Tiko has been sold. The good news though is Captain Philippe is currently in negociations to purchase a hotel to be able to welcome his guests back to the island...we will keep you posted.. "
Sounds like the end of an era.
Originally posted by bc9913 More bad news. I just noticed this on the Tiko Tiko facebook page:
"I am sad to say the Tiko Tiko has been sold. The good news though is Captain Philippe is currently in negociations to purchase a hotel to be able to welcome his guests back to the island...we will keep you posted.. "
Somewhere I read about a floating hotel that was in the planning stage. I wonder if that is what Capitaine Phllippe is involved in?

Paragraphs Are A Reader's Best Friend.
Now that sounds like a plan. One can hope.
We have wheels down in four days. Staying in the French lowlands and posts will include Marigot,Happy Bay, Mullett Beach and Orient (most of the time). Special thank you to Christa for her informative posts and recent trip update. We will be together in spirit.
Yes, we will all be together in spirit, but you will be in better spirits than us. You will be there.

Enjoy your trip and let us know how it goes.

Paragraphs Are A Reader's Best Friend.
The one thing we can control is our continued nude use of Orient Beach. This maintains Orient Beach as a traditional nude beach in the French legal system which likely further reduces the appeal for an outside acquisition. If the nude use of the beach is not continually maintained then that privilege might be removed.
We arrive Saturday and will be using the beach in front of former Club Orient as intended for the next two weeks. I suspect that as more places to stay, open up, and flights increase, the beach will get more usage.
Originally posted by bigjiminsc The one thing we can control is our continued nude use of Orient Beach. This maintains Orient Beach as a traditional nude beach in the French legal system which likely further reduces the appeal for an outside acquisition. If the nude use of the beach is not continually maintained then that privilege might be removed.
That's the way I see it also. Not knowing anything about French law, however, I'm not sure how accurate it is. But accurate or not, we will continue using Club O Beach as long it stays as currently constituted.

Paragraphs Are A Reader's Best Friend.