Club Members
Newsletter
September 2009
As predicted the 10% drop in tourism for 2009 has hit us hard during this year and it has been particularly noticeable amongst our British guests. As you know the club is made up of 60 % British, (of the rest, 35% being Serbian, Hungarian, Czech Republic, Croatian and the last 5% being Spanish, Dutch, American, French, Russian.) With the poor pound complicating further the British tourist we lost out to a growing Turkish holiday offer. Our rental pool suffered and we had to cancel it for this year, being unable to guarantee any bookings at all, so only the members who own in peak time have had their weeks rented out this year and have maintenance credits. Everyone else has had weeks deposited into the exchange bank so it has not been a total loss for you. We will see how things look over the next 6 months and maybe start up the rental pool once the demand returns again.
The swimming pool terrace was eventually finished in June after 6 months of living on a building site but it has not sorted out the problem as water is still seeping through into the garage below; the inner bowl of the pool itself is going to have to be relined this winter, with new the installation of pipe work and skimmers. Please avoid us during the winter period if you like to swim.
We have had a fantastic sunny summer with temperatures in the 90º F well into September. Hot sunny days with only 2 rain bursts since June. There are plenty of sunny days left before Christmas so don’t forget if you want to come and Christmas shop for something a bit different we have usually got space and you have 15% off our usual prices. If you can escape at the last minute there is 25% off our usual prices for anyone who books and arrives within 7 days.
Check out our website for last minute deals, Club information, and if you have a minute, fill in the travel advisor link there and review your Palm Beach holiday experience to help us generate more clients.
Rachel
www. palmbeachclub.com
Tel: 00 34 952 370339 U.K. 0871 284 4664 Fax: 00 34 952 382727
Email: palmbeach@mercuryin.es membership@palmbeachclub.com
Edificio Palm Beach Calle Miami s/n, La Carihuela, 29620 Torremolinos Málaga. Spain
Club Members Newsletter
September 2008
The European downturn means we are all suffering from a drop in disposable income. Palm Beach offering as it does, great value for money will undoubtedly benefit both from the above and from our latest innovations.
We have taken the opportunity during a slack early summer to renovate and personalize your apartments and hope you will be delighted with the results.
The air conditioning to all apartments has now been professionally serviced and continues to be one of the most appreciated major expenditures of your club.
We now have a comprehensive WIFI hotspot covering the whole of the newly furnished reception lounge together with a full internet service in the library lounge for the benefit of all our members.
Another popular capital expenditure and welcome edition relates to the new sun beds for the pool area already in great demand.
These together with other minor improvements reinforces the value and appeal of your club and with the prediction of continued good weather prospects for the rest of this and next year will insure that palm beach remains increasingly good value as your holiday destination and we hope very much that of your friends and relations. You know we will make them very welcome, whether accompanying your good selves or on their own.
We look forward to seeing more of you in the coming years.
Rachel
www. palmbeachclub.com
Tel: 00 34 952 370339 U.K. 0871 284 4664 Fax: 00 34 952 382727
Email: palmbeach@mercuryin.es membership@palmbeachclub.com
Edificio Palm Beach Calle Miami s/n, La Carihuela, 29620 Torremolinos Málaga. Spain
Club Members Newsletter
September 2007
Volume 1, Issue 9 October 1st 2007
A Year in the life of…..
Dear All,
Please find enclosed the formal notice of the meeting for Thursday, November 8th. We are already almost full up that week so if you want to come, book quickly or if you have anything you want bringing up at the meeting, please mention it on your proxy form when you return it and I will see that one of the committee members receives it.
Park
We have a beautiful new park on the hill behind Palm Beach. Some of you may remember a fort like structure on the hill behind, well this is the area that the new park is set around. There are lovely walks, fantastic views and a boating lake to top it all off. At the moment you have to go up the hill by the train station to enter, but I am assured all this will change soon and an access from Carlotta Alessandri (the main top road) will be opening during the winter months which will make it easier for us to get in. open from 11 am daily except Monday.
Internet
We have installed a stand alone internet station in the library room. It is a pay as you go but with very cheap prices. 1 Euro gets you 25 minutes. As opposed to 3 euros for 10 minutes that you get charged in neighboring hotels! We have had a request to install WI FI in the hotel. Please let me know how you feel about this proposal and I will collect estimates.
Library books
I would be very grateful if you could leave behind any paperbacks you have finished reading for us to restock the library.
Tourism during 2007.
We are reliably informed by the tourism board that this year has been the busiest yet with more foreign visitors than ever passing through the Malaga airport and the hotels here, odd really as we had a very quiet May and June when we were able to install the new laminate flooring throughout the phase 1 timeshare units and repaint all the apartments.
New Flooring
The laminate flooring is gorgeous! It changes the whole feel of the place! Cozy! Not as noisy! … These are just some of the comments we received from members after they had stayed in the rooms this summer. I had to repaint all the rooms after laying the floor due to the damage caused to the paintwork which was not budgeted for nor expected.
Air conditioning
All the apartments and the studio are now fitted with air conditioning and the remote controls are available free of charge for all of our owners when they holiday in their own weeks. You will be asked to pay a 30 Euro deposit for the remote control which will be returned when you bring it back. Owners coming outside their own weeks or on banked, rental or exchange weeks will be asked to pay 30 euros per week rental as well.
No Smoking.
The new law, introduced in January 2006 in Spain, means that all public areas such as the reception, lifts, TV lounge and passageways are smoke free zones. Smoking is still permitted in open areas however like around the swimming pool and on the sun terrace and in the Bar (here under the new law, a bar could choose to be a smoking or no smoking!) although it has to be well advertised with signs.
Mobility scooters
We have secured a contract with Mobens (supplier of mobility scooters) for all our guests who require a scooter during their visits to Palm Beach. We have a charging area available just off the reception where the scooters can be left overnight. They are collected and delivered free of charge.
The prices are:
Wheelchair 36 euros per week Standard scooter 75 euros per week Extended range scooter 95 euros per week.
For anyone needing a disabled taxi transfer from the airport, please leave your flight details with us in Palm Beach and we will book a pick up to meet you. Everyone else can use the normal taxi company based in the airport which doesn’t require advance booking. We also have various aids available for members e.g. Bath seats, commode etc
Flexi-time
After 3 years promoting the flexi system in Palm Beach we are introducing a fee for swapping the weeks over to flexi from fixed. The cost to swap permanently will be 100 pounds per week. Flexi means you give up your fixed week and apartment in exchange for a week’s holiday. You can request either studio or apartment and can come and go on whichever day of the week you choose, and stay as long as you like thereby splitting up holidays into various breaks. We now have a huge base of owners who have swapped over to this flexible way of holidaying. Any one wanting more information can call the resort.
Laundry
We now have a laundry area set up in the building with a washing machine and a dryer which are coin operated. There is a possibility of installing more if we see the need.
Explanation of this year’s maintenance proposal
Option A - That Maintenance fees increase by 4% per annum. This is inline with inflation and is our base rate for budgeting. Whenever option B is chosen i.e. when we proposed the air conditioning installation last year or for the fund proposal for this, we always revert back to the previous option A base figure for the purpose of calculating the next year’s maintenance fee. This is why one year you may pay a higher figure for maintenance and the following year the figure has gone down again. By choosing an option B one year does not necessarily mean that the fee will go up and stay up!
Option B. You will see from the Agm proxy form included with this newsletter that there is a proposal for an additional 40 euros charged as maintenance to be set aside in a fund to replace furniture which is outdated. If you choose this option, the money will be used to replace coffee tables, sideboards, chests of drawers, bedside cabinets, chairs, carpets etc. This is part of a 2 year plan. Rather than take it in one go we have decided to take it over 2 years to spread it out so if you vote for this option be aware that it is a 2 year project that the 20 euros extra will be applied both this year and over the base rate next year too.
New staff
We have 2 new staff members this year. Both of which are well liked by everyone. A great English chap called Andrew filling in for Pépe (Maintenance man) whilst he takes a 2 year sabbatical. He will be with us until October 2008 and may even stay longer should Pépe decide he wants to give up altogether, and a new Spanish girl called Lorena working full time in reception to replace Manolo whose contract came to an end in January. We are very happy to have them both who are now fully settled in and part of the team.
Swimming pool
We seem to include this every year in the newsletter so I ought perhaps to explain exactly what the suspected problem is. There is a leak permanently come rain or shine into the underground garage beneath Palm Beach. (Though it has to be said rather more after a rain storm and in the height of summer when the floor around the pool is wet) We know it is not from the tubes that supply the swimming pool, nor is it from the skimmers as we have had them all replaced. The estimates we have tried to get have all come back with no fixed cost as all the experts conclude that until the flooring/tiling around the pool is taken up and the earth under this removed we cannot know the extent of the leak or even where it is coming from, So, The community of owners of the 117 units that make up Palm Beach, have set up a monthly collection of 20 euros per apartment, we own 24, making our monthly contribution 480 euros. As we don’t know what the eventual bill will be we are saving up first. There will be little chance of starting it this year now as we are already into September and have not enough funds saved up as yet to launch the reform. The time of year which would disturb as least members as possible would have to be November and December so it will have to wait another year.
Coming or not 2008 Please inform us early of your plans for the next year’s holiday. The holiday booking form is sent out to you in November and the sooner you let us know your plans the better (for us!).
Well I think that’s about all the news, if you want to know more - come and see for yourself! Rachel
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