All is Quiet!!!

Hello to all fellow Don Juan owners.

There has been no new posts for a while now so I thought I'ld drop a quick note to see how many people are still using the site.

Has anyone had any contact with EH hotels recently? If so, any news or updates to share.I had family over in October and they said the hotel was extremely quiet but the service from all the EH team was very good . Lets hope things are set to improve.

Has anyone any further news on the community charge or has anyone paid to date?

Our next visit will be early January, hope to meet anyone else who is there then. Whilst we are at the Don Juan I was going to get a TV with hopefully english channels eg) sky.Does anyone have any advice on how or were to go to obtain this.

Look forward to hearing from anyone

Regards

Paul

Hello Paul

Agree this has been very quired.

We were there with entire family in October and rented 3 additional appartment. This was not completely a sucess due to things missing in the apprtments and power failure several times. We are going there first week in Febuary for a week.

We have not paid anything yet, and has not been contacted by EH either.

Just hope EH will get the entire Hotel in operation for next year including the outside restaurant.

Ole

Just come back from a very pleasant few days at Don Juan. Very quiet there, although we really loved it.

Director told me that power supply problem was now resolved. Building and gardens well looked after, and all EH staff very helpfull.

 

I was also told that a big effort was going into marketing to travel agents around Europe, and they expect that next year will be much better.

No contact from E H Hotels. Maybe in the New Year ????

 

 

I was also there last week it was extremely quiet. I am taking advantage of the current situation and advertising hotel for rent with apartment - how goods that. I had am email 3 months ago containing community charge (around £300) but they charged from when the hotel opened not from when I officially signed. My solicitor said they cannot set the charge officially until a community meeting takes place. Does anybody know if they have there habitation license as I know not all the apartments have completed as some solicitors are saying you shouldn't sign until you have the license in place.

Its great news that the electrical issue is solved at last. Does anyone know who was to blame for the issue?

Did anyone who rented their apartment through EH have a reasonable return during the hotels first few months trade?

Anyone reconsidering about allowing EH to use their apartments for 2007?

On this site there appears to be a number of apartments for sale. Has anyone had any interest or does anyone know of successful sales?

Paul

Hello there, here is Juan, you have not got rid of me yet!!

As you know I not longer work for Sierra, but I feel the duty to tell you as follows...

There is habitation license since March 2005, legally obtained and so apartments were signed at Notary..... the fact that Sierra got the license in such a difficult time when nobody dared to sign a piece of paper is a tribute to people that did things in the best possible way.... It suffices to say that 6 months passed since it was asked for until it was granted.... tying everybody´s hands as the hotel could not possibly take any reservations as the license, in spite of all "kosher" did not come...

With regards to the electricity drama.... apparently and off the record, an undersexed inspector ordered the rewiring of the whole building when and apparently again ( it is gossip) it was perfectly well by Spanish standards and the job was done by a reputed chartered electricity Co.  They suffered like slaves during the summer trying to service all the apartments and also the comunity areas while the contractor rewired the whole building that included hiring a generator to serve as bac up in reconection, work that to my undestanding have been finished and all is working...since months ago, they have really worked their backs off there and perhaps sometimes the load was too high...and some tempers broke, it was just the excess of responsability and the sense of urgency which is not very much appreciated over here sometimes...... one can go mad...

A few days ago, I went to DJBR with some clients for te State Agent I work for now and all was inmaculate, and my friend P Wilcox ( was it you?) was  kicking back around the swimming pool and looked as happy as a duck in a pond !

I just heard the official figures for tourism to Spain in 2006, 58 million people visited the country..... I think things HAVE to go well.... it is justa a question of catching that part of the market.

Receive you all my best regards and you all have my phone number in case you need anything, obviously my SD e-mail accounts are not longr operational, and so you must contact me on my private address. I still see Sierra Developments and I am in contact with them, I advise them sometimes, they are good people, they have delivered.

I was happy to see Mandixon´s apt for sale in "my"State Agency, I assure you they are serious people and we will allways push hard for Don Juan, and we know it better than nobody and we know how to sell it, the market is slow, yes..... but we work our backs off in spite of what most people say about agents, ours is a very hard job with long hours and very litle rest........

Cheers,

Juan Mielke.

Juan, your right it was me in the pool having a great time at the Don Juan. It was good to see you whilst we were there and I'm glad you've found work that still takes you  there despite not working for Sierra dev. I enjoyed our chat about the hotel and the local area and would appreciate it if you can pass on any further news. Do you know what is happening to the beach hut as no work seems to have completed or power installed?

We were extremely lucky with the weather whilst we were in Spain and despite it being January we still were sunbathing in the gardens. The hotel and grounds were immaculate and the service from EH was exceptional. I'll be back for 10days in early March and it can't come soon enough!

Further along the road by Aldea Beach there is more building work going ahead. I was informed that this was to be another hotel, does anyone have any information? As you travel towards Duquesa, at the first roundabout  you come too, on the mountain side of the road, is a new shopping complex under construction. Its going to have a Carrefor Express and a Plus supermarket along with up to 30 other retail outlets. Its due to open for trade sometime in April. That will be very useful for the Don Juan!!

Does anyone else have any news about the hotel, the local area or the formation of the community?

 

Regards

Paul

Just back from Don Juan. Weather was terrible. Sierra have not sold all the apartments and are now advertising them in reception for long lets from 700 euros per month. I also believe the hotel now have 35-37 apartments signed up.

Has anybody received any payments so can we work out the cost element. (can be upto 50%) Has anyone paid the community charge as I have been informed that a community meeting is the only way the charge can be approved and set.

Just back from Don Juan.

I can only confirm the number of apartments sold is 37 to 39.

We have not paid community fee, as we are waiting for the community meeting.

I spoke to David (Manager), and the Beach Club has not been approved yet, so nobody knows if this will be open this summer.

It seems to be Sierra who has to get he approval and not EH.

We start to pay electricity and water. It seems they will charge Euro 5 per week for electricity. This is a fee for the installation only, and the water will have to be paid as a fee as well. Consumption for the above will be charges additionally.

We took a trip around the area and I was surpriced so much new development is being build both to the east and west of Don Juan

Ole and kirsten Oxboll

Many apartments have been advertised but does anybody know if any have been sold. I have a feeling this investment is turning into a significant burden. Cant sell , (who would buy ,I wouldn't based on the facts?) cant rent out myself and the guaranteed rental doesn't touch the mortgage. No wonder Interealty went bust. I have just gone through the sales the info supplied by them.

4* resort -  wrong. On a par with Las Dunas - wrong.

"A typical apartment of this type currently being rented out for 800 euros per week "- wrong

"Don Juan Beach Resort is the best off-plan investment on the Costa Del Sol and it offers the lowest risk to any investor whether they are looking to resell and take the profit".

I was sold a Rolls Royce and received a Mondeo.

I would be interested if anybody else feels the same and does anybody think it was a good investment.

Paul, I totally agree with you regarding the Don Juan as a quality investment. I made a decision in July 06 that I would not be signing with EH as returns were basically only 20% of the yearly outlay . I started to look then about the possibility of resale and that seems to be extremely difficult with a stagnent property market on the CDS. Some of the apartments advertised last summer are still up for sale now. Hopefully this year there will be a positive announcement from Disney regarding their project and the market will change.

I do enjoy the Don Juan and the local area and have resigned myself to keeping the apartment for the next 2-3yrs. Maybe then I'll get a reasonable capital return that will compensate for the potential cost of owning the apartment for 4yrs. My crystal ball is very cloudy and I can not see anything other than Disney making a diference to the market.

If EH come up with €9-10k I would sign up for 2 years before selling but the hotel has been very quiet since september and I can not see them at this stage even covering their costs. Nobody appears to have paid for the community charge and no-one seems to be arranging a community meeting so EH must be digging deep into their pockets to keep the hotel running. How long for could be a worry for us owners!

Hi Paul are you going to leave it empty and just use for friends and family. The contract with EH is for 5 years which is a little tying and as you say doesn't promise any realistic return. I also like Don Juan and the environment and cross my fingers regarding Disney. On my last visit Sierra were advertising for long stays as they haven't sold all the apartments (from 700 euros per month for studio). They have obviously done a deal with EH. Maybe it is something worth looking at.

Hi Paul, i anticipate that with family, friends and ourselves the apt will be used for maybe 20wks this year, so if EH were willing to strike a deal I would be interested in listening to what would be on offer. One of my isues with the contracts that EH have is the inflexibility of it. ie you need to tell them, I think in Feb as to when you wish to use the apt and hand it over them for the rest of the year. The main periods EH want the apt clash with the times I want use of it (June/July/August/september). So for me to reconsider giving the apt in those summer months the sum i'ld want would be €400-€500 a week. I just can't see that happening.

Reading some of the other forums on this site there appears to be some doubt on whether disney will have any project in or close to manilva, if true that news would be a disaster.

Can you think of any reason why EH have not sought the community creation and a fee from the sold apts? If 67 apts are sold then EH are missing out on nearly €27k a quarter. Thats a sum of money that if you've budgeted for and are not receiving, you miss!

Paul I did receive a community charge notification but my lawyer said they cannot fix a rate until a community meeting has taken place. They also charged me from when the hotel opened and not from when I signed for the apartment. I am in limbo a little as I do not intend spending more than 1-2 weeks a year at Manilva and family already have an apartment in Benalmadena which they prefer. I also have another apartment completing at Arenal Golf mid year so 2 mortgages to service. Do I sign offer and receive something, do I try for a long let with EH, or do I sit and wait until returns from EH are understood. I still dont know what the overall costs are for EH, 50% max makes a big difference and by the time you have paid tax probably better to leave empty and save on wear and tear. I think it will be my expensive week-end retreat. This was my first investment and many lessons have been learnt from buying off-plan.

Sorry for a delay in replying Paul, i've been working and haven't been on the website for a week.

Personally, I can not see EH striking any deals with owners for long lets. The main reason being I think they have limited resources and lack ambition. If you look at their website they now appear to have only 5 hotels, last year it may of been 12-15. They have either sold out to another hotelier or have closed them down due to running costs exceeding income.

Hotel occupancy raised last year to above 75%, I think EH might deliver 40% at the Don Juan. I see very little in the marketing of the Don Juan and think they are happy now to have 35 odd rooms available to them as this is a 100% increase in what they had last year. If they have a better year this year then they may wish to expand the room numbers in readiness for next.

Lets hope i'm wrong. Next saturday i'll be at the Don Juan for a couple of weeks and will speak with David about the progress of their business an ask him if there are any improved deals on offer to us owners.

I've been checking out the donjuanbeachresort-spain.com website and from there you can see how many apartments are for sale and at what prices. This site must of been updated quite recently. From the sales info i got from interealty back in 2003 the prices of some units have been reduced by €50k. Not good news!!!!!!

The EH Hotel website now shows them having only 2 hotels. Whats happening to EH? Could we find a new hotel company running the Don Juan? Does anyone have any news on whats happening as I'm not due a visit until August.

Paul they are obviously still struggling to sell Don Juan although I was told some time ago that somebody had bought the balance - obviously not.

EH Hotels website says it all for me - poor. I suggest they will not continue with Don Juan if current apartments available to let doesn't increase. My apartment remains solely for personal use as I still cannot get any idea what the variable rental will be and I will not sign up for 5 years blind.

The last time I was there no gym equipment was installed and the place was like a ghost town. Never saw anybody use the restaurant. I think something has to give.

They asked for a community fee nine months ago but I have not paid (based on solicitor feedback) as no community has officially been set-up, are you paying community.

In hindsight not a good investment but it looks like I will have to take the longer term view as we seem to be in negative equity and I dont see that position changing for a number of years.

Hi Paul - to date i've not paid any community fee to EH. I emailed them in september asking for information as to why they included reception costs in the charge when they are their responsibility. I'll gladly pay towards the general maintainance but I see receptionists as an integral part of their business and they should brunt the cost. Would you believe - i never got a response.

My parents returned yesterday and said they had a great time there. They were there for 3wks and commented that the hotel was busy. During their stay the hotel hosted a wedding party and 26 rooms were hired out for a number of days. For general holiday use they estimate that 20 rooms were occupied. They were extremely happy with the service from EH staff and paid particular compliments to David (i wonder if its a different fella).

As they were leaving David handed them a stack of post that has arrived there for me. I'll pick it up when I see them next, but i'm wondering if it will contained a request for community charge payments.

Looking at the Don Juan website i consider, including iva and other costs incurred, that negative equity is going to be faced for several years. I'm 1yr into a 15yr mortgage and think i'll struggle to cover costs if I sell before 2012. Prices in spain are on the decline and with the ECB  interest rate on the increase, EH rental contracts are worthless so I'm planning on sitting tight and hoping EH have to sell out to a proper hotel company.

Paul I am in the same position I will have to sit on it.

I hope EH sell out or Manilva becomes the place to be.

My next investment will be in commercial property - lessons have been learnt.