Greetings from Fort Myers Beach.  I hope this newsletter finds everyone enjoying the spring months.  Season has definitely gotten off to an unusual start for us this year as occupancy and average rate have been fluctuating much more than in the past.  Some of the slower times have allowed us to work on a few projects for the association, while also planning a new refurbishment for this year. 

You may recall that we had to put in a new monument sign due to code restrictions from the town of Fort Myers Beach.  After the new sign was put in, we had the landscaping surrounding it redone to increase its visibility.  This whole process has turned out rather well, and I think the smaller sign is now more visible and nicer looking than our old sign. 

The maintenance team has also been busy with a few of their own projects.  The poolside lobby received a fresh coat of paint, a new light fixture, and a couple of owners helped pick out some new art work for the lobby (a big thank you to the owners for their help).  Overall it has really dressed up the lobby and improved its appearance.  In addition, the maintenance team has repainted about 50% of the trash room floors, and removed about 80% of the unit lanai fans. 

The insurance claim for damages related to Hurricane Charley is continuing to progress.  Last month the legal counsel hired by the insurance company spent three days at GullWing completing a document inspection.  An examination under oath is scheduled to be completing in April after they have had a sufficient time to review the information they have gathered.  This process will most likely continue to progress rather slowly. 

Over the past couple of months, a site survey was completed for the new Direct TV system that will be installed this summer.  Everything looks to be in fairly good shape at this point.  Overall the building will see a slight reduction in the number of channels provided to the units, but the picture quality will improve slightly, however it will not be changing to a high definition picture quality due to the upfront costs and equipment requirements at this time. 

I am sure many of you are already aware of the effects the current economy has had on the travel industry.  For the first two months of the year, we continue to see occupancy fluctuating more than normal and a lower price point is needed to convert reservation inquiries.  This has led to a slight reduction in occupancy, but a larger reduction in the average rate we are able to obtain for the property.   

It is now more important then ever before to retain our repeat guests, and to market promotions to them in the most cost effective way.  This has lead to the implementation of a new computer program that will provide database management, automatically generated confirmation letters, pre-arrival letters, thank you letters, and a new comment card tracking system.  The system interfaces with our property management system and automatically generates these letters at predetermined intervals.  In addition, the system stores all guest email address as soon as they are entered and tracks preferences such as when they are most likely to stay.  This system will also allow the marketing team to more effectively put together promotions and email them to our current database of over 23,000 people.  The system will also track the results and tell us how many individuals opened the email, clicked on certain links inside the email, and much more.   

The marketing team will also be installing a new web cam on top of the building looking out over the beach.  SunStream currently has one web cam at DiamondHead, and it is the most popular site in our collection, so the addition of a beach camera for GullWing should help drive some additional traffic to our web site. 

I am sure many of you have noticed that the refurbishment committee has been working hard to keep the annual refurbishment cost down for the property.  Over the past three years we have only put about $1,300 per unit into the refurbishments.  Unfortunately this has caused some projects to stack up, and we are going to be looking at a couple of larger than normal refurbishments for the next couple of years.  It is very unfortunate that this has occurred during the current economic conditions, but due to the same conditions, it is more important then ever before to reinvest into the units to retain our very loyal base of repeat guests that the property has worked hard to create. 

The focus of the first round will start in the kitchen with new microwaves and refrigerators.  The current appliances are going to be replaced with LG products.  The refrigerator will be a side by side unit on the top with a pullout drawer freezer on the bottom.  The microwaves will be very similar to what is currently in the units just a newer version. 

This summer I will be meeting with the refurbishment committee again to select carpeting for the units and fabrics for the couches and sectionals.  The goal will be to accomplish this project in the fall when occupancy is at its lowest point. 

Next year the committee will be focusing on mattresses in the guest bedrooms, and flat screen televisions for the living room and possibly some or all of the bedrooms as well.  The flat screen televisions were originally being considered for this year but were postponed due to more pressing issues, and the committee also wanted to wait and see what kind of picture we would get from DirectTV before committing to the change out.  The current plan includes replacing the TV with approximately a 46 inch flat screen which will also require a new stand.  As with most large projects like this, a sample unit has already been completed.  If you would like to see this in person on your next visit, please let me know and I will be glad to show it to you if the unit is available.

As you can see even with season upon us, we are still committed to improving the products and services offered throughout the property to our guests.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank those volunteers currently participating on the refurbishment committee, and all of the owners for your commitment to maintaining GullWing as a first class facility.  I invite you to share with me any questions or concerns regarding any of the items mentioned in this newsletter.

Sincerely, 

Curt Brenner
General Manager