With the occupancy levels of the hotels if I were Atlantis I too would be loath to approve HRAIII.
Can you elaborate upon Atlantis' occupancy levels? I've see all discounts they put out on the hotel rooms, but I've never seen anything concrete that say that occupancy is suffering. The news bytes I've seen say this:
According to marketing materials for the loan proposal, the Atlantis withstood the downturn well, with revenues dropping less than 15% from the peak in 2008 to the market bottom in 2009. The occupancy rate has increased each year since 2009. The net operating income grew by 11% in the 12 months ending in May, but was still 23% below peak level.
Marriott owners in the Destinations Club are hoping to be able to use points to stay at Atlantis. There is little doubt it will cost a LOT of points, though.
Is Marriott's Destination Club like Starwood SPG system in every night has the same point value, regardless of the time of year?
I'm asking because I've always though that was a flaw in the SPG system. It seems silly that a room during peak spring break week (at the Swan/Dolphin at Disney, for example) is 10,000 points a night when it is around $350 a night, but is also 10,000 a night in the fall doldrums when that same room could be $130 a night.
Atlantis is very much the same in that the same room room can range from $400 to $99, depending on the season.
Which is another way of saying, yes, it will be points rich for Marriott's DC if they work this way, but could be much cheaper of the point cost floats with room pricing.
It's a fantastic resort, but has some serious financial issues to deal with.
With this restructuring and recapitalization, I think Atlantis has moved from 'having issues' to being pretty typical.
Yes, the competition with Bahamar could be an issue, but I think a revitalized Cable Beach will be good for Nassau and Atlantis in the long run. The analogy I would use is Orlando when Universal built a competitor to Disney. The result has been
annual record levels of visitors to Orlando (
and record attendance at the individual parks), a much higher quality experience for visitors, and increased airlift into Orlando's airport. Getting more flights into Nassau could make visiting Atlantis much more economical. Right now, I'd bet people have to spend around a third of their vacation budget just getting there.
