Repairs at Palm Beach Shores Resort and Vacation Villas

[CanuckTravlr]

We have a one-week RCI exchange at this resort on Singer Island for the week of March 17th to 24th. We just got a notice from RCI that repairs will be starting on February 5th for "emergency waterproofing and stucco repair", including some balcony repairs. It will be conducted 6 days a week from 9 AM to 5 PM and involve a boom crane and scaffolding. Also, if your balcony is repaired you will not be able to access it for 24 hours after the completion of the repairs. The repairs will involve chipping, scratching, patching and painting and will cause some noise.

I am concerned that the use of the balcony and any views could potentially be hampered by scaffolding and/or repair work for the full visit, since I suspect they will probably not be finished in the six weeks prior to our arrival. Also, I'm concerned just how noisy it might get, so that even being around the pool or out on the beach might be affected. The resort's website gives no more information than that from RCI, concerning the degree of disruption or estimated time of completion.

Anybody have any experience with this type of repair? Trying to decide whether we are better off just cancelling. The week before we will be staying at HGVC Tuscany Village in Orlando, so we were looking forward to a quiet week on the beach. Unfortunately at this late date there is very little alternate accommodation available in the area on RCI.

 

[moonstone]

Have you called RCI (speak to a supervisor if necessary) to see if they can place you at a different resort nearby. It might be worth a try even though it is still peak (Snowbird) season there. Don't just rely on availability found on their website.

We arrived at a resort in Daytona Beach a few years ago to find the whole resort under renovations that they neglected to tell RCI about. The parking lot was closed as were all balconies. We were given our week back at full trading power and exchange timeframe was extended since there were no other available units between Cocoa Beach & St Augustine for our week.


~Diane

 

[CanuckTravlr]

Have you called RCI (speak to a supervisor if necessary) to see if they can place you at a different resort nearby. It might be worth a try even though it is still peak (Snowbird) season there. Don't just rely on availability found on their website.

Thanks, Diane. Very helpful. Your experience described exactly what I am afraid could transpire. We only got the notice yesterday. The RCI notice did indicate there was very little alternate accommodation in the region, so recommended keeping the reservation. However, your advice is very welcome and it certainly can't hurt to ask someone at RCI. I will also call the resort directly to get their input. Since we will be driving down and back, we don't have to limit ourselves to the immediate area or even to RCI. Even if we had to pay for a week somewhere on the beach, we would be happy. We are also looking at what is available if we took a short hop out of MCO, FLL or MIA to the Bahamas or Jamaica for the week, for example. Again, we would be fine, even if we had to pay for the stay and just bank the points with RCI for a future holiday. But I assume we then eat the reservation fee at RCI.

 

[silentg]

Contact RCI. You sound flexible as to where to stay. They should accommodate you. Under the circumstances. We stayed at Calini in Siesta Key. Weather was nice, but during our stay the whole resort was powerwashed. We came back from the beach to a dripping wet building. We stayed the whole week.
Also, we stayed at Village of Winnipauswkee in NH..during a drought and water was polluted in the whole area of Wiers Beach. RCI refunded our exchange and we got our week back. Also, I became sick and needed to go home.
Not sure if the resorts report things like this to RCI, that is why you should.
Silentg

 

[5finny]

Contact RCI. You sound flexible as to where to stay. They should accommodate you. Under the circumstances. We stayed at Calini in Siesta Key. Weather was nice, but during our stay the whole resort was powerwashed. We came back from the beach to a dripping wet building. We stayed the whole week.
Also, we stayed at Village of Winnipauswkee in NH..during a drought and water was polluted in the whole area of Wiers Beach. RCI refunded our exchange and we got our week back. Also, I became sick and needed to go home.
Not sure if the resorts report things like this to RCI, that is why you should.
Silentg

Work is scheduled to go through June
No idea how intrusive it would be

 

[CanuckTravlr]

Work is scheduled to go through June
No idea how intrusive it would be

Thanks for that info, 5finny. Do you own there? I suspected it would be more than just 6 weeks since we got the notice from RCI, but 5 months would seem to indicate it is a significant project!! And that's assuming they finish on time. Have contacted PBSR guest services to see if they can provide more details on how they are staging it and the expected noise level. Meanwhile we are exploring other alternatives, including any suggestions by RCI, just in case we decide to cancel and do PBSR another year. Thanks again!

 

[5finny]

I do own there and called to get a report
The person I talked to could give me times but no detailed info
I was given the option of taking different weeks--I decided to keep my spring weeks (11 & 12)
Good Luck

 

[CanuckTravlr]

I do own there and called to get a report
The person I talked to could give me times but no detailed info
I was given the option of taking different weeks--I decided to keep my spring weeks (11 & 12)
Good Luck

Thanks, 5finny. Still evaluating our options. I am sure the resort staff really have no idea how the work will be done, since it will not commence until Feb 5th. Once the contractor starts, the staff may have a better idea of how it will proceed and how intrusive the noise and scaffolding might be. Unfortunately, if we wait until then, we will probably have few if any alternatives.

If we do keep the week at PBR, we will be there the same time as you. We are there for week 11. We are scheduled to arrive on the Saturday (St. Patrick's Day). Seems like a nice resort. Will be disappointed if we have to go elsewhere, but would probably try again in a future year.

 

[5finny]

I was now told that it would likely only effect the unit for a day
Prudence says take that with a grain of salt
I actually have a family member using the unit so I don't expect to go (but who knows maybe they will cancel )
They did offer to let me exchange my week for another one
I certainly like sitting out on the balcony--but the real reason I go is the ocean, beach and weather--none of that will change
The resort is older and a little tired
That said it is clean and I think you will enjoy it
I think the pool area is small for the resort (so chairs fill up) but I prefer the beach

 

[CanuckTravlr]

I was now told that it would likely only effect the unit for a day
Prudence says take that with a grain of salt
I actually have a family member using the unit so I don't expect to go (but who knows maybe they will cancel )
They did offer to let me exchange my week for another one
I certainly like sitting out on the balcony--but the real reason I go is the ocean, beach and weather--none of that will change
The resort is older and a little tired
That said it is clean and I think you will enjoy it
I think the pool area is small for the resort (so chairs fill up) but I prefer the beach

Thanks for the update. My first reaction was to ask "Who is Prudence?" (LOL). Agree, that any info at this point, before the contractors have actually started, needs to be taken with a grain of salt and "prudence". Did our research, so aware RCI exchanges don't always get the best views and that the resort is older and a bit tired, but clean and generally good reviews. Having said that, we are both a bit older and sometimes "tired", so it might be a good match. I need to make a final decision by the middle of next week, if I want my HGVC points refunded without penalty, but we have pretty much concluded we are going to keep the reservation.

We chose the resort mainly for the beach. We will be spending the week before at HGVC Tuscany Village in Orlando, so will have had the "pool" experience. When we head south in the winter we want to spend some time on the beach, so that's where we will be mostly at PBSR. We are also keeping our fingers crossed that the water might be just warm enough to take the occasional dip. Our home resort is on the beach in Myrtle Beach where the water is definitely too cold in March, even for us Canadians!

So as long as there isn't a lot of hammering or banging we should be fine on the beach. We do enjoy our morning coffee and sometimes breakfast on the balcony, so that is really the only concern. I suspect the contractors will be working vertically on a section of the resort at a time. So if the unit we get happens to be in the section they are working on that week we could conceivably have scaffolding in front for the full period, even if not working on our actual unit for more than a day. That is just luck of the draw, so we will just have to take our chances.

Too bad you won't be there yourself that week. We enjoy meeting with fellow Tuggers and would have been happy to buy you a drink for your help and advice. Much appreciated and thanks.