UPDATE ON THE RENOVATIONS

The renovations are about to begin. The architects have been hard at work over the past few months to create the finished design plans following an exhaustive process in which many of you, our owners, participated in providing your valuable input.

The Board of Directors have reviewed the final Design Plans and met with five General Contractors to discuss the plans and the bidding process. Final bids are due March 19, and the Board will meet on March 25-26 to choose the General Contractor for the renovations project.

The actual work on the renovations project is expected to begin the first week in May. Each Phase will be under a strict timing guideline to be completed in 14 weeks. All the General Contractors felt that this schedule would be achievable.

To ensure an on-time launch of the renovations project the Board has approved the pre-purchase of time-sensitive materials that will be needed onsite for the General Contractor to proceed with the work.

The Board has also hired a Project Management company to provide full-time oversight and manage the renovations project on a daily basis on site. Board members will also be on property to provide additional oversight during the renovations.

As we near the beginning of the actual renovations work, we will endeavor to provide you with the details of the current status of the renovations project. Here are the latest details.

Following a review by the Board of Directors, and after final changes and adjustments, the Design Plans were submitted to five General Contractors for bidding on the renovations project. Four of the five General Contractors bidding on the renovations are respected companies based in Aruba. One is an equally respected company based in the United States, but with prior experience in Aruba and throughout the Caribbean.

A pre-bidding meeting was held in early March with the Board members and the five General Contractors, plus engineers, architects and the design planning team. Contractors asked questions of both the architects and the Board as well as the Beach & Racquet Club Management Team.

A site tour of the resort was conducted for all the General Contractors pointing out the staging areas, the various phases and other important details.

Following this pre-bid meeting, an addendum to the design plan was sent out to the General Contractors. The date of March 19 has been set for these General Contractors to submit their final bids.

The Board will review the bids and meet on March 25-26 to discuss the details of all the bids and agree on which General Contractor should be awarded the contract for the renovations project.

An announcement of the winning bid will be made during the first week of April. Once the winning bid has been announced the Board will draw up a Contract Agreement that will include all pertinent related information and responsibilities. All General Contractors have already been given strict instructions that each Phase of the renovations is to be competed in 14 weeks.

Also, once the General Contractor has been identified and the Contract agreement signed, the final dates of each Block will be posted on the website with floor plans and specific dates when units will be taken out of use. We have communicated with all owners affected by the first Block and will communicate with all owners in the Second Block planned for renovations at that time.

In addition, the Board has identified and hired a Project Management company to provide full-time oversight and manage the renovations project on site. This company will have a full time Manager on site at all times to supervise and monitor the project's progress and the quality of the work being done. The company is a well-respected firm that is based in Coral Gables, FL and has worked on similar projects in both the U.S. and the Caribbean; most recently the Divi Links project in Aruba.

The Board will also have at least one of its members on site at all times to monitor the renovations progress.

To ensure that the renovations work begins on schedule, the Board has approved and authorized the pre-purchase of time sensitive materials to be delivered on property. These time sensitive materials will include HVAC units, cabinetry, granite counter tops and other materials that would otherwise delay renovations if not available on site.

We've redefined what it means to have "sweet dreams" in bed thanks to the fact that our new king-size mattresses are here! At this point in time, most units have their new "Dynasty Plush" mattresses in place. Since the beds were replaced while guests were staying in their rooms, we want to thank all those who were inconvenienced during this process.

The B units will not receive the new mattresses until the units are remodeled since that's when the Murphy beds will be removed from those suites and replaced with a real queen-size bed.

With the installation of these new mattresses, we're proud to be able to cross off the number one complaint owners have had on the guest comment cards. Currently, we're about to place an order on new pillows and we're in the midst of testing a special mattress cover so the new mattresses will be protected during the renovation. Here's to a good night's sleep every night in paradise!

Pictures of the staging area and the first Phase will be available in May on the website.