Resort Expansion

[mfay]

Ah- expanding the existing pool(hopefully heated and with a swim up bar) and creating a new restaurant in the same area as the others while using the new area basically for rooms.
That seems to make sense ! We just hope they also have a new or at least renovated disco somewhere in the plans !

[Ron]

And whom do you think is going to pay for all these improvements? I know. It's going to be Poor Russell in Alaska where the money flows like the oil lines. I predicted it two years ago that sooner or later Desire will be pricing itself out of the vacation market. Unfortunately with the economy being as it is, only the well healed will be able to afford the luxuries of such a resort and that is a shame. Maybe the "anointed one" will offer a tarp or bail out or subsidy for resorts in Mexico as that country is on the verge of bankruptcy. This way, the worker folks will stay south of the border. Once tourism goes down more than the 30% it already has in Mexico, what next? Goodness sakes, 7 night cruises are being advertised for $179 p.p. and for those of us that live near a departing port i.e. New York, Bayone, NJ, Philly, Boston & Baltimore there's no air travel required. The vacation dollar will be spent very, very wisely now. No more, hay baby, whatchah doin next month? Wanna go to Desire or Vegas for the week? Those days are long gone. Have to prioritize now. On one hand Eagles and Phillies season tickets and on the other hand Desire for a week. Ummmmmmmmm. Easy choice. 10 Eagles games and 17 Phillies games , club boxes, reserved parking and under cover seats vs. almost the same money as Desire for a week and RT air.

[Burnt-enz]

We were there from Jan 16 to the 26th. We met with the owner for the "return guests" party too. He was a nice guy and told us that the expansion might have a Polynesian theme.

I have to admit, with the economy the way it is we have to prioritize too. So we will visit Claudia as soon as we get our bags unpacked. I forgot who made the suggestion that you see Claudia first, but it was a great idea. Then make sure R gets her body painted on both nights its offered. You won't believe the extra attention she got when we went to Suki................... And the paint didn't come off right away in the hot tub later that night. Oh yeah, we love the priorities.

[TwoDV8s]

I don't know how much a bigger pool is needed, seems like its never crowded now. That said, if this comes about I hope they announce the construction schedule or at least warn travel agents. We are 100 percent pool people and would want to avoid the resort if the pool is closed.

[Powderfinger]

We're more beach people, but if they were "expanding" the pool, we wouldn't want to be there during any of the construction period either....kind of be a big mood killer having all that goin' on.....

[mudflap]

Don't count on any warning and they don't notify travel agents. I ended up at Temptations during construction and they had whole patio bar closed off and you had to walk under scaffolding to get in the front door with guys setting stone. They don't have OSHA down there.

[2batdesire]

Think you are probably right about that - we were there in 2003 when the original gym burnt down and they were rebuilding - RIGHT NEXT TO - some of the units on the far side. We first were assigned 1811 and the jackhammer noise was sooooo bad, we couldn't even hear each other talk. We ended up nearer the pool (in building 13, I think) and that side has been our preference in all our visits.

During the gym rebuilding in 2003, they offered free roundtrip transportation to Blue Bay (now Temptations) in Cancun for those that wanted to use gym facilities.

I can't imagine shutting down the pool for a long period of time, since there is only ONE pool - don't you think that they will probably build everything ELSE FIRST (like the new rooms on the far side) before tearing down the buildings that make room for the pool expansion? They have to keep their capacity up, since they are booked solid for most of the upcoming year!

By the way, has anyone thought about the rooms/buildings that they will tear down for the pool expansion - probably buildings 13 & 14 don't you think? 12 is too far back, and they surely wouldn't remove the new passion suite building or the jacuzzi building?

[mfay]

As far as the pool expansion goes- yes I'd think eliminating buildings 13 and 14 would give them the space they need ( what they are after is more
space around the pool as opposed to more room in the pool itself- and I would hope a swim up bar.)
Have to wonder though where they would put the new restaurant ? Assuming they want to utilize the central kitchen with the other restaurants, where else besides building #10 (hot tub building) could it go ?

[Darcy]

Does anyone have a heads up on when they will begin construction? Wondering how it will be when they expand the pool and take down buildings, will they close the resort or just the pool and that area. Could be lots of jack hammer noise. Thanks.

[2batdesire]

I thought about Building 10 for a restaurant also, but WHY did they just complete an overhaul of the bathrooms and retiling of the floors if they were going to demolish in the next 6 months?

[TwoDV8s]

Building 14 is our favorite and we would hate to see it go, but 13 and 14 are the only ones that would make sense.

I still don't understand a need for a bigger pool. With all the beach beds half of the resort stays on the beach all day. A swim up bar in the pool would be nice. A larger hot tub would even be better.

[CokeMann]

Just a FYI

I met with the Desire GM on our last trip to see if there was anything happening in the upcoming year that would affect our annual May YNOTS trip.

He did mention they where considering the acquisition of the lot to the north side of the current Desire property and also revealed what their thoughts where for how they could use the additional property

Note - their thoughts DID NOT include changing the existing pool or eliminating any of the existing buildings or restaurants

What is being considered for construction on the new property is:
- the addition of some new buildings that will add 45 to 50 additional rooms.
- a new smaller "quiet" pool
- a new bar / snack area there to service the new pool

As to time frame - this is any ones guess - what with the economic climate and Original Resorts scaling back on some of their other expansion plans, I don't think this will happen any time soon

As to affecting occupancy during construction - the plan described to me takes this into account as construction will only happen on the new area and then the last thing that will happen is that the wall between the properties will be taken down as they are ready to bring the new space on line.

[2batdesire]

IF they don't add additional rooms, they are going to lose a LOT of business over the next year - everyone that used to go to Cabo will be trying to book in Cancun. Looks like they would lost more $$ by not expanding.............

I remember the small pool just outside the lobby with the walkway over it, it was a shady spot in the late afternoons, and used on many occasions. Adding a smaller pool seems like a nice idea!

[mfay]

It will be interesting to see if the plans have changed from August until now, or if perhaps they are still floating ideas to see what draws the most positive comments.
Either way, it does seem a little unlikely that anything would happen this year with the economy in it's current state.
Maybe that gives us all time to lobby for what we'd like to see !

[Ron]

Being Desire chose to remove their forum from the main site, unless they are reading this forum, how could they possibly get any feed back? I am a member of the "time share" forum which consists of very, very, very unhappy members who purchased time shares. That was the main reasoning for removing the original forum from their site as it was killing sales. OFW!!!!!!

Just a word of advise for the newbees that are new members of this forum. DO NOT ACCEPT THEIR OFFER OF A "FREE" BREAKFAST GET TOGETHER and that there have been many changes to the resort that they would like to bring to your attention. They will attempt to sell you one zillion points which if you break it down will cost you more money then if you purchase a vacation from DennyP or any of the other agents that specialize in Desire trips.