Morritts

Edited By : scubachar Sat, 08 Jul 2006 13:57:52 -0400

I need to do a trip report. Anyway, here's a quick synopsis:

I spend three weeks at morritt's tortuga club from dec 17th to jan 6th (three weeks) with my family. We've been owners there for about 15 years. Long story short, we sold our ownership there this past trip.

The resort is in decent shape as of our vacation - the biggest difference is that the dock, and two buildings on either side of the main building are gone.

They have started construction on what will be called tortuga seaside - built in the same construction as the grand, which faired very well during the hurricane. The dock should be done by mid summer, with lockers for dive gear (yay!) and a bar on the end (bigger yay!).

The beach is clean - i've heard stories about glass and debris - its not true, at least not anymore. The center of the beach activity has shifted down towards the grand, since that's where most people hang out. The grand pool is terrific.

I guess i'll get back to the story about selling our ownership in the tortuga club. We passed on buying into the grand when it was first built. We didn't find any reason to change from our two story townhouse, which we love. We looked at buying into the seaside, because they are incorporating some two story townhouses into the seaside. The dimensions are exactly the same as the tortuga club, for legal reasons (since it is a replacement for the destroyed tortuga club buildings). We owned week 51 and 52 in the tortuga club - upgrading to the two story seaside would have been a substantial chunk of change for not much difference. Granted, the furnishings would be nicer, but we didn't feel it was worth the money.

However, included in the rebuilding, are a first for the island (at least according to the morritts staff): Three bedroom units. There are only 4 available, and they are in the replacement for the small building where only studios and one bedrooms were located, right next to the restaurant. They are directly above the dive shop. The reason that we sold our two weeks (fixed, 51 and 52) was to buy two weeks in the seaside, upgraded to the new three bedroom units. The penthouse was gone, but we bought the 4th story unit for weeks 51 and 52. The view will be amazing, we'll be right above the dive shop, be able to walk out to the dive boats, and the bar on the end of the dock. The total preconstruction price for those two weeks ended up being somewhere in the $85k-90k range total, if i remember correctly. We were assured that the price was only going to go up after construction, and we jumped at the chance. The units include amenities such as lcd tvs, upgraded furnishings, and an extra 600ish square feet (including the balcony, which we'll definitely use, as opposed to the one we had in the tortuga club), with substantially more useable space than our tortuga club unit. Additionally, there are studio units in the same building, so that we can trade other rci weeks if we want to bring additional people.

You can see the location of our unit, with arrows pointing to it

We're very excited, it should be done by late this year or early next year.

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 3:21 pm Post subject:

tigerboy - Welcome back and thanks for that extensive update. Very Happy

I'll look forward to seeing your trip report and pictures when you have time.

Edited By : L.A.S.T. Mon, 13 Feb 2006 15:37:22 -0500

Thanks Tigerboy for the note and update! Eagerly awaiting your trip report and pictures.

Im confused with the Seaside, is it an addition to Tortuga or a replacement for one of the buildings that the hurricane destroyed. Currently I see Tortuga has one building with 2 BR floorplans that can be locked off to a 1 BR and studio.

L.A.S.T. Jump

Frequent Flyer Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 54

More info please on the Morritts!!! dance1

Tigerboy I've been waiting patiently for your trip dance1

report.

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:53 pm Post subject:

Ok, I promise I'll post pictures tonight. I'll have to sort through the 400 or so I took.

The seaside is the replacement for buildings 1000, 2000, and 4000. The 4000 building is the very small one that the arrows are pointing to. Inside will be the dive shop and the three bedroom units. The other two buildings are the replacements for those buildings destroyed by ivan.

On the floorplans: Take a look ******

The floorplan is the same as the tortuga club. Note that the seaside three bedroom floorplan is not the same one that we saw when we bought it. The webpage needs updating, but iirc, the total floorspace was around 1800 square feet, there is another bathoom, and the dining and living rooms are swapped from what is shown there.

Sorry Tigerboy, outside links are not allowed: Captain Jack

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:41 pm Post subject:

interesting, i guess i should have read the rules a little more closely.

Well, here's a hint, if you want to see the floorplans. Go to morritt's website (i won't tell you what it is, but I'm sure you can figure it out with one or maybe two guesses). Click on the seaside link. There are floor plans there.

Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 5:12 pm Post subject:

From Cayman Net News:

Morritts Tortuga waiting on insurance claim

David Morritt, Developer for

Morritts Tortuga Club and

Resort

With no insurance settlement in sight for the $20 million in damages from Hurricane Ivan, Morritts Tortuga Club and Resort has gone into arbitration with its insurance company, Lloyds of London.

The developer of the resort, David Morritt, said the insurance company has been underestimating the figure and the resort is now negotiating for a figure it believes is more appropriate.

?We have had professional people advise us on the figure and it is too low,? said Mr Morritt.

?Over the last 16 years, I have never missed an insurance payment and 16 months after the hurricane we still don?t have a settlement.?

In spite of the lack of insurance funds the resort has been rebuilding with a priority on its four ocean front buildings. One oceanfront building just needed renovations and is expected to be opened in April.

The foundation for another building has started while the other two are expected to get started over the summer. These three buildings will have two additional floors to make up five floors. Construction has also started on the dock.

Morritts Director of Operations, Rick Lohr, said the shopping centre is almost completed and is expected to open in late March or early April. Tenants will include Foster?s, Red Sail Sports, Ye Ole English Bakery.

The shopping centre is a positive step and will make an economic impact on the North Side and East End districts, he said.

?We are doing this without a settlement of insurance,? said Mr Lohr.

?Nothing has stopped as far as the progress of rebuilding the resort. Our sales have been good and people are transitioning from the old buildings to the new type of buildings.?

Nevertheless, the owners of the popular resort could still face going to court as numerous timeshare owners are disgruntled about how they say the Morritts Tortuga has been running its finances.

A special assessment fee of US$5.74 million had been charged to timeshare owners to cover the 15 percent deductible on the $20 million claim to the insurance company. Although most of those fees have been paid, numerous owners are claiming that actually the fee is not their responsibility as part of their purchase agreement and should be paid by the developer.

Furthermore, it was the developer?s responsibility to carry adequate insurance coverage. And since the industry standard throughout the Caribbean is 5 percent, this is a sign the property may be underinsured, which they say is a clear example of financial mismanagement.

An attorney with Appleby Spurling Hunter is trying to get the resort to hand over financial and insurance records as well as details of the building plans.

Timeshare owner Frank Woodruff said that so far Morritts has not come up with any information.

?Without an insurance settlement yet, our concern is what are they doing with the money that has been paid in maintenance and special assessment fees,? said Mr Woodruff.

?And with US$20 million in damages what are they going to do if an insurance settlement goes through and there is not enough to finish rebuilding? If they are using the money from sales and transitions fees and the money has already been spent then we are going to have a shortfall.?

He said another major concern is that many timeshare owners have elected not to upgrade to the new oceanfront buildings and pay the transition fees. That leaves too many timeshare owners to use the remaining building that was renovated but not rebuilt. Consequently, they will not be able to use their timeshare in a timely fashion.

Mr Woodruff said the situation is exasperated because the resort was closed for most of 2005 so many timeshare owners have banked their weeks to be used for another year, which will only increase the backlog.

According to some timeshare owners, the attorneys for Morritts Tortuga have said any substantial legal fees that it accrues will be passed on to the timeshare owners in another special assessment fees.

However, some of the disgruntled timeshare owners have said they are not going to back off. Some have sought advice from timeshare owners involved in the Indies Suites case.

Mr Woodruff added that many have visited the resort in the last few months and had a great time.

?But after they have returned home, a few weeks later they realise they are going to be stuck with more special assessment fees. We need some answers and if we have to go to litigation then that is the way it has to go,? said Mr Woodruff.

Mr Lohr said the issues with timeshare owners are being addressed through their attorneys.

?There are always going to be people who have a negative attitude, but for the most part our owners are behind us. They have been supportive. The whole process is a good thing,? said Mr Lohr.

Newbie Joined: 08 Dec 2005 Posts: 11

My husband and I just returned from celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary at Morritts. I rented a 2bdrm poolside Penthouse and was blown away at the size of the thing! Morritts has long been a favorite of my husband and mine for over 10yrs and it has yet to dissapoint. Even after Hurricane Ivan blew threw the complex, they've done a great job of starting the recovery. Our biggest dissapointment was the loss of the pier and vegetation on the beach, but, a cat 5 hurricane will do that! My husband made a comment they should have prioritized recovering the pier before they began work on the new cement building, but, oh well. Cayman is a bit more expensive than I remember, but well worth every cent. We weren't sure what condition to expect from Morritts. It was fantastic!

Newbie Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Posts: 5

This message was posted to: jerseygirl63 -

"We have a lot of recent discussions and recent pictures for Morritts but they are scattered around a little. If you use our search feature and enter Morritts you will find a lot of current information" -

I am trying to use your search future on Morritts and cannot find any information on it - Any idea where ? - Thanks

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:51 am Post subject:

sonrisa50,

I ran a search under tortuga and came up with multiple results, one of which is this thread with pictures: CLICK HERE

Hope this helps!

Newbie Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Posts: 5

Hey Susan

This is the email my friend sent . When we were vacationing there last month--the place was still really bad and all the other parts of the island were back to par. They didn't tell me that they didn't have enought insurance to fix Morritit's back and upgraded me and Carol to the new Seaside. Now all we own is airspace and we don't know when it will be done. I personally think they are out of money. I did not enjoy vaction there this time. I spent most of the time at Rumpoint and next door at the Reef's . The manager at the Reef's was who told me that he didn't have enought insurance money to rebuild. There is no more dock, no more beach(all broken glass and coral rock) no more restraunt and bar downstairs just a little restraunt in the office. No more watersports unless you go to RedSail.and it has been since 2004.They told me the Seaside would be done in May 2007(Now they don't know when and since I upgraded I don't own anything until they are done. So keep what you bo ught and trade it for someplace else!!! Sorry.

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 3:32 am Post subject:

Now I am getting really worried, due to go to Morritts next week, I know you only sleep there and thanks to you lot I will have a great time whatever, but reading this and seeing the current weather conditions.

tantrum

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:40 am Post subject:

sonrisa50,

I'm a little confused..... Rolling Eyes

....is this your trip report, or is this the experience of someone else? I don't understand the "Dear Susan. This is the e-mail my friend sent".

I know that you just returned from a week at Morritt's a few weeks ago, so I'm thinking that this is written by you, expressing your feelings, but I just wanted to confirm that.

Char

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 8:33 am Post subject:

TheresaWhite.........STOP worrying! First of all, the water is perfect and close and the pools look wonderful there. You'll be in paradise, with wonderful restaurants close by....The Lighthouse, Portofinos........I've read many reports that there are clean areas of beach. There WILL, no doubt, be glass on the beach, but we've walked it shortly after Ivan was there and you just watch were you walk, that's all.......or wear those water shoes, and they're constantly going over the sand to eliminate whatever debris is left.

As for the weather......we were there during Wilma last year, and the snorkeling was sad but everything else is still WONDERFUL....just wet! Now, you KNOW it won't be as bad when a hurricane is visiting and the weather system changes so quickly.......AND, there's nothing any of us can do about it anyway. Just go and pack that sunscreen and go have the time of your life.....and you can always go to the Reef Resort bar next door and get a LOT of rum punch and you'll THINK it's sunny, even if it isn't! sun

Celine

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 9:04 am Post subject:

Celine

Thanks for that, I know your right I will have the time of my life there, at the end of the day I am going with the man I have been in love with for the past 15 years and married to for 10, so what if it rains we wont be working and you get wet in the sea anyway. water

.

Its just when you see a bad review of where you are staying until you remember all these things panic hits in. ottahere

Hopefully we will bump into each other at the reef bar. wine

Theressa

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