I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about the opening of the occidnetal? What are they doing with the timeshare owners that already made reservations and they are NOT ready???

__________________
*´¨) *Ally*
¸.· ´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·'

Hi,
I just received my maintenance statement and they said that it was opening on January 31, 2006. Hope they can do it.

thanks! We have not gotten our maintainance fee yet for next year. Has it gone up much? I email allegro/occidental today. I have not heard anything back yet. I will let you know if I do.

__________________
*´¨) *Ally*
¸.· ´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·'

I think the yearly fee is different for the type of unit you own. The AI fee is $120 for members and $130 for non-members,

I Am Not A Timeshare Owner But Go To The Occidental Grand Every Year. I Was Just Notified Last Evening That I Have To Pick Another Place To Stay Because They Will Not Be Open. Our Trip Is Planned For Jan. 30th To Feb. 10th.

did they give you options on where to stay? How do you know there will be availability at these reorts? Can you pick a resort that is comprable?

We have a 2br timeshare and I wonder what they are going to do if they are not ready!

Thanks for the info.

__________________
*´¨) *Ally*
¸.· ´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·'

We Are Booked Through A Tour Company And They Did Offer Us The Same Room Type At Either The Riu Aruba Grand Or The Wyndham. We Are Waiting To See Availability And If They Will Offer Us The All-inclusive Package We Had. I Tried Booking For My Dates Directly On Occidental's Website And It Gave Me A Quote. So I Just Called Them This Morning And They Said They Are Not Opening Unitl March 1st.

Did they say when they expcet to be open?

March 1st - 2006

We had a week booked in Feb. and are picking a new location to go to within the Occidental resorts. I called the hotel directly on Jan 4, and spoke with Carlos. He said that the resort is open, and still under construction...the pool and tiki bar are open, the restaurants are closed and there is a construction crew still working. He said that we could still come down for our original week in Feb., but he said he wouldn't recommend it since the amenities aren't available yet.

The new date for everything to be opened is March 1st...we're banking on it being later than that though!

Thanks for the info. We have also heard through the grape vine the opening is for March 1st We have reservations for mid july. We can only hope for it to be open them!

__________________
*´¨) *Ally*
¸.· ´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·'

Occidental is where I have my vacation share - and when I called it seemed the person just came back from rudeness school, tried to pawn me off to one of their other places in the Dominican Republic, etc. Dates they gave me seemed odd, sad part was that I had to find an alternate place on my own since I already had air tickets. When I saw the place in Nov of '05, there was no way they could complete when they said they were - Dec ' 05, then I talked to one of the security guys, he said early '06.
There was a lot of construction going on in Aruba, Marriott had the bulk of the construction laborers, gee, wonder why.... Then they have a mall going up across from Holiday Inn, as well as major renovation at Holiday Inn. I saw more demolition than renovation at the Allegro - now Occidental - in Nov. One would have thought Occidental would have set up an attractive booth in front of their place where they could have solicited sales and answered questions honestly, but no cigar. If everyone recalls, the renovation was to have started in 2004 and completed in 2005. There has virtually been no communication about the progress from Occidental to their share owners, that's sad. My bro/sis inlaw own at LaCabana, they get news all the time on what takes place there.

THe word is March 27, 2006 official but you never know with construction delays... visit this site for timeshare owners and guests to share thoughts info etc etc
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArubaOccidental/

__________________
Ken

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArubaOccidental/

__________________
Ken

We just returned last night from Aruba. We ended up staying at the Aruba Grand. (Which is closing for 2 years for renovations and upgrading). Nice place great rooms, food and staff. Very quiet!! Anyway we went up to the Occidental, well to say they wil be finished by any time in March is a treetch. I think they are programmed to say March 1st. becasue no matter who we asked around the grounds that was the answer----there is absolutely no way. There were actually people staying there, I would have been very upset. They must have some rooms with the old setups and people are atyaing in them with all the banging and clatter. We spoke to several cabbies who told us the workers hadn.t been paid for 2 weeks so they walked out and then they had to bring in new crews. Now there was more construction activity going on the last week than there was the first week we were there. They are working throughout the both towers and it doesn't seem like any one section is complete, they are scattered all over the place. Papayas istotally being redone they had been plastering and working on that, but if you did know what is was you would have no idea it was a restaurant. what we did see in the lobby looks fantastic. they would not let us in any further. if i had to guess (and I am not expert) unless they worked night and day from now until the end of March they may -- open by the 31st. the weied part is they seem be working on the things that wouldn't matter to me as a guest at this point anyway. New signs are up in the from and by the beach, the landscaping is coming along and the walls around the property.

I just got back from Aruba, last night 2/17. The Occidental is no where near ready. We were suppose to be there for week 7 and its so bad, we cancelled and gave back the week to use next year. They will be lucky if they are ready by June. That's no exageration.

Dear Friends:





Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have been forced to delay the
Soft Opening of the Occidental Grand Aruba to April 15 , 2006 and
the Grand opening to May 1 , 2006 .





As part of our ongoing efforts to provide the best vacation
experiences at Occidental Hotels and Resorts, we would like to remind
you of some of the wonderful features that your clients will
experience with the transformation of this Grand Resort. They include
the following:





· Re-branding the resort as an Occidental Grand product,
including our VIP services at

the Royal Club with Luxury, Junior Suites and Master
Suites room categories and

ALL with ocean view and a Royal Club lounge.

· Complete renovation of all 391 rooms from floor to ceiling,
including all new room

amenities and new bathrooms.

· Carefully selected color and design schemes for all rooms,
projecting a

warm, distinctive, sophisticated style.

· Physical upgrades to common areas and renovated restaurants,
including

L'Olio (Italian cuisine), Zen (Asian cuisine), El
Olvido (Tex Mex cuisine).

· All restaurants, food and beverage areas will be upgraded,
including a Lobby Bar

and Piano Lounge.

· Wi-Fi internet access in all rooms.

· Meeting facilities.







We thank you for your understanding and cooperation. We look forward
to your continued support in promoting this magnificent new
Occidental Grand resort.







Best regards,







Andres Pan De Soraluce

EVP, Sales and Marketing

Occidental Hotels and Resorts

__________________
Brian And Tina
2000,2001,2002 Caribbean
2003,2004,2005,2006 Aruba

Go Packers!!!!!!