Since this is such a long posting I am setting up a separate 'Thread' for responses. Thanks
I have thought long and hard and read the traffic on ‘Eye on Spain’ intently for quite some time before writing this…… please bear with me.
Why did I buy on Roda?
Because of the location.… no problems there.
Because of the Golf Course…. no problems there in general
Because I was told it would be a completely secure site....not entirely sure about that one yet
Because I was told it would be a ‘Five Star Resort’.
What induced me to buy into this as a ‘Five Star Resort’?
It was all about Facilities, Amenities, Quality and Service, Standards.
It was all about the Calidona and De Vere ‘names’, their ‘brands’, their ‘reputations’.
Let us hope the Commercial Centre is now on its way.
The ‘Five Star Hotel’ with its promise of Spa, Gymnasium and other leisure facilities run by De Vere was a major attraction as it gives the resort the external stamp of quality, service, reliability, experience.
The joint announcement of 13 January 2009 stated: ‘ The Directors of Calidona and De Vere Hotels have reached an agreement to delay until 31st December 2009 the decision of commencement works to construct the hotel at Roda Golf & Beach Resort which is to be managed by De Vere.’
This is not to say that the hotel will not be built.... but we simply don’t know.
It is difficult to complain about a business decision to defer the hotel build in this economic climate but the prospect of the Five Star Hotel with the De Vere name has provided Calidona with a premium within the price we have paid for our properties. Some of us will have suffered exchange rate losses and there have been falls in property prices as a result of the market – those are mainly our problems. Delivering the value that was promised when we return to some economic normality is a Calidona issue but it is also a De Vere issue. I am not suggesting they will, but they cannot even contemplate walking away and expect their reputation to remain intact; they lent their name to the project willingly and they have to share the responsibility for delivery. In short, as things stand at the moment, they both owe us.
What should we expect from a company with the reputation of Calidona? At the very least, Quality Build, Quality Fittings, Quality Finishing and Timely Completion. I have read claims on this website about some deficiencies in each of these. On the build, fittings and finishing fronts, things will go wrong from time to time in any building scenario. What marks out the Quality Company is the low level of incidence and the speed and efficiency of the response when things do go wrong. It is not beyond any company like Calidona to respond quickly, effectively and fully; they just need the will, the right resources and the right processes. You might regard these as being issues which should be dealt with by individuals but I believe anything that damages the reputation of the Resort damages us all.
Some issues will be the responsibility of the individual ‘Community Administrators’ and to ensure proper management of our interests it will also be necessary to demand performance; this will be dealt with at a local Community level.
I am not buying a phase 4 apartment but have a genuine sympathy for those who are. We are told that the issue has been a problem with the Los Alcazares authorities and their tardiness in issuing licences. That may well be the case but what is the problem with issuing regular bulletins on the basis: The licences were applied for on ‘X’ date, they have been followed up on ‘Y’ dates and the issues we are dealing with are ‘Z’. This brings everything right out into the open. The communication has been very poor and this has been to the detriment of all concerned, Calidona and Owners.
Customer Service, and I am not talking about the ladies in the office doing a job in difficult circumstances, does not seem to be high on the agenda.
So is the situation hopeless? Absolutely not, I still believe in the potential of the Resort and am convinced that it still can deliver the value we placed on it when we decided to buy. My wife and I think the location is great, have enjoyed our time at Roda and have met many like-minded people there.
I am looking forward to twelve months time when we are climbing out of the recession, when Calidona and De Vere have announced the dates for the start and finish of the Five Star Hotel, when the Commercial Centre is complete, and when we can reflect on positive improvements both in communication frequency and standard, and in responses to identified problems.
I do believe, however, that we have to engage with Calidona at a senior level on a regular basis. By ‘we’ I mean appointed representatives of us, the 1400 or 1500 property owners who currently make up the ‘Roda Community’. By ’engage’ I do not necessarily mean that we have to enter into conflict with Calidona, that hopefully will not be necessary; engaging in frank and honest dialogue should do the job. We have separate Community representatives with a specific brief but we do not have an ‘Umbrella Group’ – a ‘Roda Owners Association’ representing our overall interests to Calidona.
Why should Calidona come to the party? Firstly, I do not know the reason for their apparent underperformance on this development but I have been informed that their reputation hitherto was sound and that they are basically a good company. I am convinced they will be prepared to talk, particularly to a properly constituted body with the power behind it of representing the majority of Roda Owners, but secondly Roda is not their last project and current and prospective purchasers in Corvera and other future locations will be watching our experience with keen interest.
Setting up and running such a ‘Roda Owners Association’ will not be easy, especially on a multi national basis, and it may require some admin funding, but I see that as our best option……..
Do you agree with my comments?
If so:
Do you agree that a ‘Roda Owners Association’ should be set up?
Or:
Is there a better alternative?
Please post your responses on the separate thread I set up for this purpose.
If the overall response is positive, I will post again with a series of practical questions.
There may be some Owners who are reticent to post responses directly on the website but only PM me if it’s an absolute must since, if possible, it would be preferable to keep your responses open so everyone can benefit from your thoughts.
I agree with ‘hevs’ and think that ‘together’ we have a major part to play in “Protecting the Value of our ‘Investment’”.
And that’s more than enough from me.