Thoughts on longer term impacts of the remodel

It will be a tricky balance to keep the current vibe. Besides price, there are two dynamics that will make or break the place after reconstruction. The first is any new customers. If new, upscale customers can be lured away from the resorts with much better beaches and further from the rest of the traditional resort row with the upscale shopping, restaurants, etc. all within easy walking distance they may not appreciate the party quite like us regulars do. That is a big if. You could build the Taj Mahal on the current site and it's still in a rather undesirable location with very little around it.

The second factor that will come into play is the resort design itself. We've all been to big, beautiful venues that appeared rather empty and dull even when there were a lot of people on hand. They were simply too big to reach that critical, intimate mass that started the party chain reaction. At TTR the location for that critical mass is the sexy pool during the day, and Paty-O's at night. Adding a little extra area to both would be nice, but spread out the chairs too far around too big a pool and you lose the intimacy that gets the party rolling. You don't interact with the neighbors often if the lawn is too big. When you see them in the apartment stairs every day though you establish a bit of a relationship with something in common. Too big of an area around the pool will actually work against the party atmosphere. We do love the naked woman on the pool bottom though, and even if the upscale crowd is lured in it will be fun to see their reaction when one of us yells - "Shots at the Ass!" as a tower of shots is delivered there, or a round of Slippery Nipples is eagerly swilled down over her chlorine bathed tits. We might not exactly be the upscale crowd, but we can definitely keep it real.

 

Let’s face it folks, Building 2 around PadyO’s was the original hotel in Cancun. Rooms were small, noisy and old looking. No amount of “preventative or routine” maintenance was going to fix that. Hotel costs are continuing to go up: salaries (although not fast enough for those we love), electricity, taxes, food, booze, everything. So prices have to go up to match.. it’s a business.

So upgrades were required. And if you’re going to shut down for your first major upgrade of the original building in 40 years, well shit, go for it and make something that will serve for another 40 years.

Wasn’t everyone complaining about there not being enough chairs at the pool? Well looks like they are going to fix that too.

So they are taking TTR from a 3 Star hotel in the “backwater” are to a new shinny 5 Star hotel where people won’t care about the “backwater”. From a business sense, makes perfect sense.

And remember, as much as we love TTR, it’s a business first. If they don’t make money, they don’t stay open and then we have no options as to wither we go or not cause it won’t be there.

So you go from a 3 Star to a 5 Star and spend, I’m figuring by the time it’s done, $60 million to do it. Prices are going to rise. At the current rates I’m thinking, since the member rates are going up 50%, that the referral rates I go on will go up at least 50% too. For me that’s another $100 a night at least. Yeah, I’ve heard people say that they have paid $400 a night for just a room so adding in all-inclusive makes that a value. Personally I don’t stay at $400 a night hotels, at least not when the company is no paying for it. Will I pay $300-$400 a night for TTR? I guess in 2018 I will. I said I would be back to see what the new place is about. Once I’ve seen it with my own eyes and see how the vibe is, I will then decide if I will continue or not. Simple as that. Not going to get an ulcer between now and then wondering what is going to happen. I can’t change it, so I won’t waste time fretting over it.

And to let you know, we are a single income family. So an annual vacation for 2 weeks at around $9,000 including hotel, air and spending money is not a given for us. Especially since I usually try to do another vacation in the fall. So I’m really going to have to like it to come back.

For those who bought recently, and I know several that did in May, you had to know 3% price increases were a salesman’s pitch. I even had one tell me prices wouldn’t increase for members at all. I told her I thought she was full of shit at the time and had no idea what she was talking about because even the owner didn’t know the full outcome price of the remodel and didn’t know his baseline price point for staying in business. So salespeople lie to get the sale.. been that way forever there, we all know it. And for those that don’t know, Premiere is owned by the same people as TTR.. one big family.

So they have announced preliminary prices for post opening.. they may hold, or you may see lots of “Sales” to drum up business. The family is smart. They will not go out of business. They built the largest following of repeaters in all of Cancun and have the highest rate of occupancy almost of all the time. Will they push the envelope? You bet! Will they cut their nose off to spite their faces? Absolutely not.

So everyone should take a deep breath and see what the future brings. If you bought in, you’ve really only got three choices at this point. Default and have them sue you. Sell for what you can and possible take a loss and then miss out on a great resort on the other side. Or ride the wave and keep making payments and see what happens. Yeah you may not like it and still want to sell, but maybe the prices will be higher on resales then. Can be much lower than the panic prices out there now. Might be a fantastic resort that they settle on affordable prices for rooms once the dust settles. Who knows.. I certainly don’t.

Jamie

 

Probably around the 2nd or 3rd week of April.