Sapphire has gone way down hill in my opinion...I just returned and found the resort to be in the worst condition ever. I visited in Oct of 2005 and found issues with common areas such as broken toilets in the lobby shower/restroom, rotting deck boards around the pool.....upon returning in May 2006 none of these were repaired just further deteriorated.

My unit has problems from the start....Arrived 5-6-06 keys did not work due to a malfunctioning lock on the door - this had to be reported via four trips to the front desk before they believed the keys did not work. Finally got into the room and found burned out lights in the hall, kitchen and hot tub. TV remote control did not work...All reported, not fixed until the second week of my trip.

I had no power in the bathroom for at least five days...this issue was reported daily but not repaired until I became a screaming maniac in the lobby...the end of week one. The problem was a short circuit, they just kept resetting the breaker and leaving...consequently every time I turned on the lights the circuit blew...Hello, why not fix the problem???? The screaming maniac act did work, after a week in the dark, they removed the fixture with a short and I got lights in the bathroom...

I tried to call the front desk on Saturday morning 5-13-06, I received no answer after several tries...I finally went to the lobby and found an endless line of customers, one untrained, new hire at the front desk and hordes of upset people trying to check out or check in...The person working the desk was not trained on checkout issues, such as billing errors!!! His response to a customer's issue with incorrect charges was "I don't know how to take them off the bill", This is the way they man a front desk at a timeshare on Saturday!!!! As usual no managers were available....

Other Issues this trip:

Beds are like rocks, sheets do not fit the bed, they pop off constantly and are so worn they look like rags...

A broken blender was replaced....with a dirty one that was so corroded the bottom could not be unscrewed for cleaning...

I tried to get in touch with Phillippe Verdier,the man in charge, but alas he was "off island" and the front desk has no idea what his e-mail address is (so they say)....the on site general manager was missing in action week one and when I finally saw him week two at the bar, my complaint about 5 days with no power had been relayed to him by housekeeping...his response to me was a laugh...then he said "you could buy candles in the Superette"....then he went on his merry way, not to be seen again for days!!! What is he being paid to do?

I have paid thousands of dollars in maintenance fees since I purchased at Sapphire....the fees have more than doubled. Where has it gone Phillippe???

OUCH! I'd be a very unhappy timesharer if I efver experienced any of the stuff you brought to light. Is this the norm at this property or is this just a very bad day at the saphire?

We own 2 wks also at Sapphire (wks 49 & 50). When we were there in Dec '05 the place looked good. Our Villa and room (bldg 3) were in good shape. Maybe because it is the Villa and the room is in the newest bldg they are in good condition.
Philippe is of no use to anyone. Even if you did get his e-mai address I do not think he would give you a courtesy of a reply. You would think that since they were removed from the RCI Gold Crown status, and that Wyndham Resorts is part of them that they would want to take care of the issues brought forward to them. I did write to Wyndham a few years ago about the conditions at Sapphire but didn't get a response other than.....'we don't get involved in timeshares'.....
So Philippe has us all over a barrel. I, too, would like to know where all the maintenance fees are going.
Have you contacted Bill Olliver of the Sapphire Beach Club Tenant Assn? Don't know if it would help or even get a response. His e-mail address is or was president@sbcwi.com

Wyndham is just a name, paid for by Sapphire. They have nothing to do with resort management. Sapphire's staff informed me that they just pay to use the 800 number for reservations under the name of Wyndham....other than that Wyndham could care less. I spoke with them recently, got the same "we don't get involved" attitude. Thanks for your response...

In response to: Is this the norm at this property or is this just a very bad day at the saphire?

I've owned since day one when Sapphire was new....maintenance has slipped to an all time low. It is becoming the norm((

Wow, we had the exact opposite results as far as maintenance issues.
We were at Sapphire 5/13-5/20 on an internal exchange. When we arrived
check was very speedy and courteous. When we got to our room we noticed
one of the halogen lights over the bathroom sink was broken and that
there was not a corkscrew in the kitchen so we reported these issues
Sun. morning on our way to the beach and when we returned that afternoon
both defeciencies had been corrected. The next day the sink in the kitchen
and bathroom were both draining slowly so on our way out to the beach we
reported the problem to the front desk and when we returned the afternoon
the issue had been resloved. On the other hand I have to agree 120% with
the other poster the beds are beyond belief hard and uncomfortable and the
beddding both sheets and comforter have gone past their useful life. The
same is true for the rest of the furnishings in the unit.

Sad to say its the truth. I'm embarressed to bring company or even sell the week to someone I may see again. All the little things have added up to an overall apperence of neglect. When it hits rock bottom (not far away)it will take a major renovation to repair the place. I have to seriously consider selling our weeks before I have to give them away.

In response to Terry "Wow, we had the exact opposite results as far as maintenance issues."

You may have checked in after the morning fiasco with all of the check outs and a lone clerk. You were lucky with maintenance, the issue with my bath in the dark was due to a short circuit, not a burned out bulb...believe me I've had many of the bulbs replaced over the years and it never took long. In this case, it took almost a week for them to understand that the short had to be fixed instead of resetting the breaker....

You said were there on a trade and I don't know if you were ever there in the past...the difference and degree of deterioration is very noticeable to myself and other owners who visit every year....I am glad you had a good experience....all in all I still love SXM, I am just frustrated and disappointed with Sapphire.

I have emailed president@sbcwi.com twice now with no response and I am on the Sapphire's Timeshare board. Not that they ever contact me about issues or votes. I was hoping if I was accepted on the board I could help make some changes but how can you make changes if you are unable to talk to anyone?

I will be heading to Sapphire on June 18 hopefully I can get some answers at that time.

Thanks for your reply JJC. I tried contacting president@sbcwi.com too. I've had no response....while I was at Sapphire I overheard other guests complaining about the same issue. One man said he sent four messages and heard nothing.

I did file a formal complaint with Wyndham and received a response last week. They promised to follow up, but some how I feel they will face the same arrogance that I did when I tried to speak with a manager....

I hope you have a pleasant trip, please share your findings....

Unfortunately, the Sapphire isn't the only TS going downhill on SXM.

Spike.....care to expand on that???

Sure...in a nutshell...and in my honest opinion...there's been a decline in quality (management, service, cleanliness, mainteneance, etc) at The Towers. It's not the same place that I purchased 10 years ago !! Like the Sapphire folks..."I'd like to know where my annual maintenance fees are going". Cheers, spike.

Spike,

It's an unfortunate reality, I'm afraid, but we will never see any kind of financial accounting from The Towers hierarchy. Unfortunately, they don't have to provide that info but the good news, if one can view it that way, is that at least we have the AMF escalation clause in our contracts which holds our annual increases down, which is probably the only protection we have or have ever had.

Many of the other island timeshare properties don't have this clause and they really get hammered each and every year with AMF increases. Each fall theres a lot of grousing about how high some of the other properties fees have gotten and they have all the same complaints you mentioned, ie (management, service, cleanliness, maintenance, etc.) so I guess things could be worse. I, too, would like to see some of the issues addressed - more chairs and umbrellas at the pool, the finish on the building restored and other things as well.

I have to say, in fairness to The Towers, we have never had a problem with the management staff or service staff at The Towers and certainly never a dirty unit or noticed any decline in cleanliness and as much as I'd like to see all the units redone, mine has been and given our location we were fortunate enough to have been among the first units redone. Sadly, by the time another year or two passes, they'll need redoing again.

Respectfully,

pat

Pat...I was a bit out of line on the staff and cleanliness...a bit of a cheap shot !! It is never unclean...it's more the wear and tear without the preventative fix-ups I'd like to see...eyesores if you will. The staff...I need to remember they're always on SXM/island time...they are never in a hurry yet on arrival Saturday I haven't yet slowed down...thus, I'm easily irritated waiting in line at the check in desk when I'm overwhelmed with get-to-the-beach-itis !!! And the antiquated computer system and printers in use...it's time to step out of the 80's...get a web-site...or at least get on-line and electronically communicate with us and the world !!