Just to let the group know a lawsuit is being finalized if you or if you know of any other owners that would like to participate please email Rick Mitchell at the following:

        mitchell_ home@yahoo.com

no one disputes that the people at someplace else are extremely nice, but our opinion is that this flagship development, which we are sure will be fantastic, has been a huge learning curve for them and as a result us the investors have had to suffer for it.  Due to open in Dec 05, it is only this month finally opening (we are told), so we have all lost 2 years worth of rental income and use, although it has, on paper, gone up in value considerably but the proof of the pudding  of that, will be when owners start selling to see what the actual sale price will be.  Our main gripes are not receiving our guaranteed rental income as promised and also that they have increased the management fees to 50% from the 20% quoted to us at the time we committed to buy.  We cannot comment on the build quality as we have been delaying visiting the resort until it opens.  Only recently have we been contacted with regard to finalising and signing our management contract, although we as yet, have not seen a draft of it.  If you are looking at investing in another development of theirs, I would recommend that you insist your lawyer protects you with good penalty clauses in your contract.

Good Luck everyone and Happy Christmas

Problems with this resort are -as mentioned - the huge delays. Problems with Someplace Else aside from the huge delays, are their poor communication and a succession of stalling tactics and unkept promises.

Discussion has died down and I have not heard privately from many people despite emailing them, but I can't believe that anyone is satisfied. After years of patience I am engaging a solicitor to deal with the developer over a broken contract. What about anybody else?

It would be good for the members to discuss issues mentioned by flcpl. Please e mail me with any comments or observations as this is best discussed off the message boards.

Thanks

Hi all

I notice from the Belmonte residence board that some of the members are considering joing togetther to employ an independent lawyer. We have located a lawyer in Belmopan (in Belize) who is happy to represent us. I think it is prudent to employ an independent lawyer who has no other interests in the property. To reduce costs I wondered if anyone might be interested in joining together, as title searches etc will all be the same. Please private mail me if you are interested and we could move forward from there.

Hi all, we have just started down the same path as you with Someplace Else's Belmonte Resort and Residences, now up and running on the message board. Having read the postings for Bella Maya I see that lack of communication and delays seem to be the main gripes. Both are starting to present in the Belmonte developement headed up by the very nice Mike Holwill. Whilst delays are common to most projects do you feel some were avoidable and maybe the lack of information sent out was self serving?  What were the problems with the contracts.

  I hope that all progresses well and that you get the investment / enjoyment you wre looking for. Someplace Else are certainly marketing new projects on the back of Bella Maya, suggesting high re-sale values.  Any comments on this considering no actual  sales yet?

Hi All,

I spoke to Paul yesterday, I sent him an e-mail a few weeks back but had no reply so I called him. He is due to send out an e-mail in the next few days answering all common questions i.e. When the apartments are going to be ready etc. He is also due to send an update on progress.

The main reason I called him was to talk to him about selling the 3 apartments as I am getting desperate to sell them. I must admit he e-mailed the sales team in London within minutes from me getting off the phone from him, so I believe he is trying to help.

Paul mentioned an example of a delay where he was importing  door and window frames from the U.S. When they finally arrived 20% where not the right size. These "small" problems add up and create big delays, he is fully aware that we are anxious to get these apartments finished.

I think the timescales for completion were unrealistic from the start due to Bella Maya being one of Someplaceelse's first developments.

Here's hoping they finish soon!

Regards

Arvi

Hello ALL

I just came across this message board.  I am seriously considering a purchase at this resort.  Just trying to find out how well the transaction went down.  If there are any leads on financing.

It seem like, other than the slow progress, that this is a legit resort.

Thanks in advance

Has anyone contacted an independent lawyer for the sales transaction? We are working on this at present and would appreciate it if anyone has contact details. You can mail me privately with the details.

Thanks.

Hi everyone - I've been reading, not because of an investment here, but the purchase of a plot in Someplace Else's new venture inland at The Reserve. 

We will be buying one of the first cabanas to be built there, but after seeing your comments, am now thinking 3 years might be a better timetable for completion of the boutique hotel and  some cabanas, rather than the ballpark 2 quoted?  I understand it's being designed right now, and construction staff will move to that site after completing Bella Maya.  I'm not sure who the project manager will be.

We're still really excited about it all though and would welcome any advice or information that you could all share.

Thanks and good luck with all your properties.

Thank you Duggan, that is very helpful.

Elaine

After spending four nights at Bella Maya Building A, my wife and I are convinced that our investment is sound and worthwhile; buildings A and B will be open within the next two weeks to catch the overflow Easter crowd.  It is very obvious that quality materials have been used throughout the project and Paul's last report and pictures were accurate representations of the status.

The Lagoon side will take, in our opinion, about another 4-6 months even with the more than a hundred workers on site.  The views from the resturant and the lagoon buildings toward the mountains are absolutely spectacular.

Without going into great detail in an open forum, there have been some logistical problems that have delayed the project.  Belize is a friendly, developing country but unaccustomed to the faster pace and schedules of other areas. 

I also think that Paul recognizes that more frequent updates will be helpful and I believe more positive news is forthcoming.  He now has a great cadre of Someplace Else staff who are helping him move things along.  Someplace Else has also hired some great service staff:  Joerdy (concierge); Nasri (chef) and Maneyon (bar tender) who made our stay very enjoyable.

We plan on spending Thanksgiving weekend to enjoy the entire resort.

Tavidart

I completely agree with you. However our original contract had mistakes in it and we had to have a new contract written. The new contract does not offer to pay the rent before the development is finished. It didn't seem to be a problem at the time.There are various other complaints we have, like our queries about various things are not answered. I agree that being a 'nice person' does not absolve someone from business commitments, but it's hard to know what to do; to try and put more pressure on or wait and hope that it all comes together soon.

Paul assured us that visitors will be staying from Easter, but we'll see. The development was originally due to be open in winter 2005!

If anyone has ideas or info I would be grateful to hear it.

We have changed from the original contract and we do not have rental income now until the resort is open, However, we do have various queries which we have put to Paul. Like you, we have received an update, but none of our queries have been answered.

Elaine

Yes - I have just checked the contract which says the vendor guarantees that the apartment will be completed 7 months from the contract date, and that if the apartment is not finished at this time, then the rental income will be paid to the purchaser regardless!

I will email him now.

Yes, I have just checked my original contract, and it does say the guaranteed rental income would be piad 12 months from the date of the contract. Has anyone challenged Paul about this? perhaps we are all being too easy-going.

Elaine

     The trip I had planned for last week had to be delayed because of a family emergency.  Paul forward some pictures to me and this is my take.

     The ocean side to built but not furnished.  Landscaping is not complete.  On the other side , work is progressing but the main building for check-in and the restuarant is far from ready.  This is extremely disapointing when I was there last March the basic skelton was almost complete.  From these pictures there is no way the complete resort will be open in May.

     I plan to rescheldual again in April to check out the property.  

Hi Elaine,

Yeah I think that's probably my best shot. I have 2 units and I was hoping to keep one and like yourself generate some rental income and sell the other one and make a profit.

Sounded like a good plan at the time :)

Arvi

Hi Elaine,

Yeah I think that's probably my best shot. I have 2 units and I was hoping to keep one and like yourself generate some rental income and sell the other one and make a profit.

Sounded like a good plan at the time :)

Arvi

Hi Arvi

I think you'll stand a better chance of selling the apartments after the resort is up and running. We haven't tried to sell, but are hoping we will generate a small income and be able to visit as well.

Elaine

I am new to this forum so Hi to everbody!

Has anyone tried to sell their apartments. I have been trying to sell my apartments for the last 6 months thruough someplace else without any luck. I am thinking now I should wait untill they are ready or sell them at a heavy discount. I would appreciate your thoughts.

The latest is that they're now opening in April. Apparently the resort is finished but they want to make sure everything's running smoothly. Easter and the summer apparently fully booked.

Elaine

We are just waiting for the resort to open. I agree it's frustrating it's taking so long. It's over a year late now, but can understand how difficult it must be to finish the project in such a remote location. I know they had floods on the road to the peninsular for quite a long time last year and were unable to get building materials down to the peninsular.Anyone been there yet?

We are just waiting for the resort to open. I agree it's frustrating it's taking so long. It's over a year late now, but can understand how difficult it must be to finish the project in such a remote location. i know they had floods on the road to the peninsular for quite a long time last year and were unable to get building materials down to the peninsular.Anyone been there yet?

We are buying a beach front apartment. We have not yet visited. Has anyone been yet?

Hoing to get over there before too long.