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PK,

Did you rent the condo through White Sands Cove, or through a private owner of a particular condo?

I am up at The Melting Pot (Restaurant/Bar at WSC) on a regular basis, several times a week, as I am very good friends with the bartender. He was a bit discouraged to see the resort-side shut down, but says there's a bit of hope remaining. That it may not be entirely inoperable.

I've had a chance to meet Marilyn, as well as several of the owners, and the dispute seemed very petty at first. As time revealed itself, I started noticing more and more details that made the situation extremely hairy, and I really do hope that a resolution is reached soon; WSC is one of the most gorgeous resorts/condo places I've seen on the island, and their pool-side and beachfront areas are absolutely gorgeous. Not to mention the GREAT Belizean Hot Wings at the restaurant ha.

I'll try to find out more info tonight and relay what I hear directly from the horse's, err, cowboy's mouth.

They make a damn fine banana colada there. We stayed right next door and were a little put off that the sing out front said they opened at 11 am, but we had to wait until 11:30 to get our banana colada. After we tasted it we decided it was worth the wait.

Seemed a stand up place to me. Looked clean and nice.

So -- I wonder, what happens to the resort if the property manager can't make some extra cash from renting the condos? Does life go on as usual for the people that own condos there, except they don't have to deal with guests? Or do the property managers bail, maintentance fees go through the roof, and the whole thing implodes? I'm just curious how this plays out, since it sounds like condohotels have had this type of situation happen before. Seems odd owners can't rent their own units directly....

The places where this has happened before tend to have the same feature --- management company that owns the lobby and possibly other common facilities.
BYC, Pink Place - both had rough times over this issue. MAyan Princess had the same problem but instead of declaring war the owners bought the lobby hired their own team and the place works great.
It's a shame when one side or the other (or both) decided on war rather than negotiation. I have no idea who is more right than the other on WSC, but the potential for problems was always there due to the structure of the project.
Buyers should spend a little time playing devil's advocate when reviewing the structure and management of any development. Not to be overly negative, but to explore whether adequate plannning for a win-win-win long-term scenario has been established. There are plenty of places where things are well planned and do not have huge pitfalls. An honest and experienced broker should be able to help you evaluate whether a project is good for you.

The Palms had this issue. Resolved eventually but painful for all.

To address another question ...... about owners renting on their own ---- the answers vary, but in general here is the story:

When you rent for periods less than 6 months in duration you need a hotel license. This is issued by BTB. BTB sets certain standards and these standards are meant to help the tourist/customer have a good experience. BTB has a general policy of issuing only one hotel license to a location (aka condo project or villa site). So - if the management company has the license, the owner has to operate under it.

Reasons - in places where two or three management companies have tried to operate in one place in the past you have confusion galore ------ you are a tourist in unit a and you get a nice reception in an office, daily maid service and some soap and toilet paper ---- another person is in unit b with no go-to person, no soap no services ....... The tourist does not see WSC or whatever as a group of individual homes - to them it is a hotel and there should be uniform expectations and services. If those services are not present, consistent and uniform the customer is unhappy and everybody looses.

So - that is one reason why an owner might find it impossible to rent their unit independently - another reason is that they may have signed a binding contract with the management company and be expected under law to honor it.