9 October 2023
Dear Members,
On Thursday, October 5, 2023, your Board of Directors unanimously approved a Maintenance Fee increase of 10 percent for 2024, the first such increase since 2016. The Board has also authorized an increase in menu prices at the Cascadas Grill, which is operated by the Club’s wholly-owned subsidiary Bellavista.
There are three reasons the Board found it necessary to increase maintenance fees and the restaurant prices:
First, like in the U.S. and around the world, Mexico has experienced inflation every year, which has increased our operating costs and capital expenditures. We could not go on forever without adjusting for this inflation in our expenses.
Second, the Board and Management expect that there will be a very significant change to Mexican labor laws effective January 1. 2024. This popular proposed law reduces the standard Mexican work week from six days to five. The Club, including Bellavista, will need to add staff to comply with this law, using overtime pay as permitted, until enough staff can be hired and trained.
Third, your maintenance fees are paid in U.S. dollars, but most expenses are paid in Mexican pesos. The dollar cost of pesos has dramatically increased during 2022 and 2023, and in 2024 and beyond we will need more dollars to pay our Mexican expenses than in 2023. We sincerely believe that both our maintenance fees and restaurant prices will continue to be moderate and reasonable compared to other resorts and restaurants in the Los Cabos area.
In addition to these reasons above, the municipality has imposed a new sanitation tax of 33 pesos per room per night which adds about $13 cost to each membership.
We have been very fortunate not needing to raise fees annually like most of the timeshare world does, while paying for extensive remodels, but raising them in 2024 is indeed necessary.
Larry Greenberg, President