Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Hanalei resort speaks out
Management company shares its side of dispute
By Coco Zickos - The Garden Island
HANALEI — In the management battle brewing over a picturesque location on the North Shore, condo owners have drawn their weapons while Hanalei Bay Resort’s management company pulls out its shield.
Timeshare and full-time condo owners lobbed multiple allegations at Celebrity Resorts in a July 5 business section article entitled "Hanalei Bay Resort owners battle management," but attempts to oust the management company have gone unanswered until now.
The Florida-based company says owners have “misstated facts and provided false information to the owner base,” according to an e-mail from Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Guest Experience for Celebrity Resorts Melissa Van Dine.
“This has been done even though Celebrity Resorts has at all times taken diligent and appropriate actions since becoming the management company of Hanalei Bay Resort,” she says. “Celebrity Resorts’ goal has been and continues to be to resolve this matter amicably so that it can continue doing what it has wanted to do all along — assist owners at HBR in bringing the property back to the first-class quality they deserve.”
After taking over Quintus Vacation Management’s contract last August, Celebrity has faced turmoil as the property’s condition continues to apparently decline and concerns over the resort’s future have been raised by residents and visitors alike.
Van Dine retorts that Celebrity has “continued to focus on improving experiences at HBR, despite the inaccurate reports that have been published.”
The company has reportedly “advanced hundreds of thousands” of dollars on behalf of the Vacation Owners Association, maintaining that they are doing their due diligence as far as improvements are concerned.
“The association’s financial circumstances were far less than favorable when Celebrity Resorts became involved with the resort property,” Van Dine says.
The funds have allowed the VOA to continue operations through the end of 2008 and Celebrity has since made improvements with the resort’s finances and condition of the property, Van Dine said, adding that updates have already occurred in common areas and nine association resorts were renovated since 2004.
Celebrity is also ready and willing to undergo entire renovations, but will not move forward without the association’s approval, according to Van Dine.
In a unified approach, both the unrecognized VOA and the Association of Apartment Owners seek to terminate Celebrity’s contract partly due to its alleged inability to acknowledge board members of the VOA, elected prior to management transitions. Instead, three senior officers of Celebrity were appointed.
Celebrity responded by asserting that the former VOA did not follow election guidelines and documentation, so “with the exception of one member (Gary Grottke, principal of Quintus and resort developer), were not properly elected or appointed in accordance with VOA bylaws.”
Later this year, an election is slated for the nomination of new board members, where all VOA members will have the opportunity to become candidates and vote, according to Van Dine.
Full-time owner and AOAO President Kent Oehm, along with timeshare owner Peter Somerville, both expressed the desire for a management company which reports to board members, rather than the other way around.
To that, Van Dine replied, “... there are so many false accusations swirling around insinuating that Celebrity Resorts is trying to ‘take control’ of the property, that rather than ignoring the voting mechanism set out in the governing documents, the validly appointed VOA Board is the board that properly polled all timeshare owners earlier this year in anticipation of the AOAO annual meeting to properly vote these timeshare owners’ interest in the AOAO.”
Another concern raised by several individuals in the community was the prolonged closure of Happy Talk Lounge and Bali Hai restaurant, both of which were recently purchased by Celebrity.
In a “gesture of good will,” the company announced last week the reopening of Happy Talk Lounge on Saturday.
Previous employees were contacted and re-hired, while new positions are currently being filled, Van Dine said.
Although a few months ago 10 HBR employees were laid off because of “financial circumstances and a higher rate of delinquency among owners of the association,” Van Dine said additional cuts are not expected to occur.
• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com
Timeshare and full-time condo owners lobbed multiple allegations at Celebrity Resorts in a July 5 business section article entitled "Hanalei Bay Resort owners battle management," but attempts to oust the management company have gone unanswered until now.
The Florida-based company says owners have “misstated facts and provided false information to the owner base,” according to an e-mail from Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Guest Experience for Celebrity Resorts Melissa Van Dine.
“This has been done even though Celebrity Resorts has at all times taken diligent and appropriate actions since becoming the management company of Hanalei Bay Resort,” she says. “Celebrity Resorts’ goal has been and continues to be to resolve this matter amicably so that it can continue doing what it has wanted to do all along — assist owners at HBR in bringing the property back to the first-class quality they deserve.”
After taking over Quintus Vacation Management’s contract last August, Celebrity has faced turmoil as the property’s condition continues to apparently decline and concerns over the resort’s future have been raised by residents and visitors alike.
Van Dine retorts that Celebrity has “continued to focus on improving experiences at HBR, despite the inaccurate reports that have been published.”
The company has reportedly “advanced hundreds of thousands” of dollars on behalf of the Vacation Owners Association, maintaining that they are doing their due diligence as far as improvements are concerned.
“The association’s financial circumstances were far less than favorable when Celebrity Resorts became involved with the resort property,” Van Dine says.
The funds have allowed the VOA to continue operations through the end of 2008 and Celebrity has since made improvements with the resort’s finances and condition of the property, Van Dine said, adding that updates have already occurred in common areas and nine association resorts were renovated since 2004.
Celebrity is also ready and willing to undergo entire renovations, but will not move forward without the association’s approval, according to Van Dine.
In a unified approach, both the unrecognized VOA and the Association of Apartment Owners seek to terminate Celebrity’s contract partly due to its alleged inability to acknowledge board members of the VOA, elected prior to management transitions. Instead, three senior officers of Celebrity were appointed.
Celebrity responded by asserting that the former VOA did not follow election guidelines and documentation, so “with the exception of one member (Gary Grottke, principal of Quintus and resort developer), were not properly elected or appointed in accordance with VOA bylaws.”
Later this year, an election is slated for the nomination of new board members, where all VOA members will have the opportunity to become candidates and vote, according to Van Dine.
Full-time owner and AOAO President Kent Oehm, along with timeshare owner Peter Somerville, both expressed the desire for a management company which reports to board members, rather than the other way around.
To that, Van Dine replied, “... there are so many false accusations swirling around insinuating that Celebrity Resorts is trying to ‘take control’ of the property, that rather than ignoring the voting mechanism set out in the governing documents, the validly appointed VOA Board is the board that properly polled all timeshare owners earlier this year in anticipation of the AOAO annual meeting to properly vote these timeshare owners’ interest in the AOAO.”
Another concern raised by several individuals in the community was the prolonged closure of Happy Talk Lounge and Bali Hai restaurant, both of which were recently purchased by Celebrity.
In a “gesture of good will,” the company announced last week the reopening of Happy Talk Lounge on Saturday.
Previous employees were contacted and re-hired, while new positions are currently being filled, Van Dine said.
Although a few months ago 10 HBR employees were laid off because of “financial circumstances and a higher rate of delinquency among owners of the association,” Van Dine said additional cuts are not expected to occur.
• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com
 |
 |
|
| Clean record eases sentence | Student chefs prep for judges |
Related headlines
- Hanalei Bay Resort owners reach agreement with management
- Hanalei resort speaks out
- TOMORROW'S NEWS Hanalei Bay Resort management company speaks out
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of kauaiworld.com.
wildbill wrote on Jul 13, 2009 5:49 PM:
" After having worked in the engineering department at Hanalei Bay Resort for 3 years under both quintus and celebrity management I can see why the owners want celebrity out.Hbr is a 30 plus year old property that is beginning to show its age both in the structures and facilities systems (water,electrical,sewage and mechanical).During the latter part of 2006 and through 2007 the chief engineer Shannon Watt and myself continually walked the property inspecting structures and facility systems to determine the best course of action to remedy any substandard conditions.Shannon was continuously updating proposals for capital projects to present to the respective boards for approval on expenditures.Shannons untimely death in December of 2007 brought a complete halt to any planning for capitol improvements with the exception of projects planned By the general manager Jim Bramen,who tried to stay ahead of any problems that he was aware of.When celebrity took over management they promptly fired JIm and Lucy Mehta who was the personnel director leaving no one at HBR who was aware of all the issues regarding day to day maintenance and both critical and renovation capitol projects that were already planned.The new chief engineer Wayne proceeded on his first day to throw out all of Shannons paperwork on everything from written procedures to planned capitol improvements and repairs,It is my considered opinion that this guy is a good electrician and that is his entire resume.He will not listen to anybody who tries to educate him regarding the peculiarities of this property.If my continued disability had not kept me from returning to work prior to a mandated date before being layed off I would have found it extremely difficult to work with Wayne due to his arrogant attitude towards fellow employees and "know it all attitude".I would opine in closing that celebrity cares nothing about Hanalei Bay Resort and its employees other than what affects their bottom line.This management company has no concept of aloha let alone how to live it.
wildbill555@gmail.com "
wildbill555@gmail.com "
gin123 wrote on Jul 14, 2009 6:40 AM:
" My wife and I own both a timeshare week and a condo at the still very beautiful Hanaeli Bay Resort. I feel I must comment on your article in yesterday's Garden Island News, "Hanalei Resort Speaks Out". While it is appropriate that both sides of an issue should be reported, I feel that statements of the parties at odds should be challenged and examined critically in any newspaper reporting rather than merely relaying what each party has said. While Celebrity may argue that it is not trying to control Hanalei Bay Resort, it seems odd that the VOA board elected at the annual meeting in May of 2008 was not immediately invalidated at the time of the election, but only many months later, after Gary Grottke owner of Quintus sold the management contract to Celebrity. And if Celebrity is not trying to control the resort, why did Mr. Grottke appoint only members of Celebrity management and their relations to the VOA board? Why did Celebrity Resorts refuse until recently to provide financial reports to the duly elected AOAO board of directors? And finally, while the owners of Hanalei Bay Resort are glad to see the Happy Talk Lounge reopen, please do not leave your readers with the false impression that this was a magnanimous act by Celebrity Resorts benefitting only the owners of Hanalei Bay Resort. Celebrity owns the Happy Talk lounge.
John Mullen "
John Mullen "
You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here: |
Become a Registered User |
RSS
sunkauai wrote on Jul 13, 2009 6:20 AM: