The "SXM: Part III - Orient Village/Club O, Now!" Story

Photo from Google Earth taken pre-Irma of Club Orient Resort.

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished walking the length of the Club Orient property and snapping a few photographs.  Photographs are usually frowned upon on this clothing optional beach, but most everyone walking the beach with me were also taking  photographs of the devastation away from where the bathers were seated.  

Same location post-Irma.  Click on images to enlarge.

I found some souvenirs of happy visits long gone as well as document- ing my visit to the beach today.  As I stood and stared at what used to be a beautiful resort on the island of St. Martin, I wondered if it will ever look the same again.  Probably not in my lifetime!  I stood in the gruesome Papagoya's Restaurant and Bar, looking out at the beautiful aqua colored waters and thinking back to a year ago when Carol and I sat in the same spot enjoying a tropical lunch and a BBC drink.  

The entrance leading into Club Orient as seen today.

During the past couple of weeks on the island we talked to so many people who told us so many different stories about what is going to happen to the Club Orient resort.  Seems that there are two entirely different entities that control the future of Club O.  First is the Orient Beach Club (OBC) which employs all of the staff and operates the resort.  

An old and weathered beach chair with umbrella.

They are the managers of the resort.  Second is the Copropiété (Copro) which owns the land on which Club Orient is built and is similar to an HOA which is responsible for the vast majority of structures.  There were many properties on the grounds with chalets and studios that were owned by people from all over the world.  As far as I understand it, the Copro can't speak for them.  OBC received its insurance money in full on October 31 of 2017, which included business interruption insurance.  

The resort still looks like what you see in this photograph.

OBC has now been waiting over a year to get money from Copro so that they can rebuild.  All along they have had to pay 85% of their employees salaries which is the same as unemploy- ment in the United States.  But, while we were on the island it was reported that OBC has now given up and has pulled out as the management company leaving Copro with having to find a new management company to rebuild the resort.  

Photo taken inside the Papagoya Restaurant.  Carol and
I ate many lunches sitting along stone wall in the distance.

They really don't want to do that, but they can't afford to continue to pay the employees without generating revenue from the rental of the units.  A vicious cycle.  Does this mean that Club O is finished?  NO!!  It merely means the management company is leaving.  Once Copro finally receives its funds and the re-building begins, a new management company will have to emerge and operate the resort.  So, who will now be responsible for paying the employees their 85% salary?  Wow, doesn't seem that anyone knows what's going on!  

The front row of orange chairs and yellow umbrellas are still there.

All hasn't been negative, though.  Seems that one of the long-time employees who worked the beach for many years managed to get permission to continue renting the iconic orange beach loungers and bright yellow, with a few red, green and orange, beach umbrellas for all to use on the beach.  Cédrick had worked at Club O since we began to visit the beach in the early 2000s.  He is a big guy who demands respect, but as gentle a guy as there can be.  

Cédrick is responsible for keeping the
beach chairs and umbrellas on the
beach.  He is the savior for Club Orient.

He stops to visit with beach patrons a few times a day, answering questions I'm sure he has already answered many times before.  He runs the rental business and employs a few other young men who place the umbrellas and chairs in position early in the morning and collect them late afternoon.  Tough and physically demanding job, but I never saw anyone complaining.  They are some of the residents of the island that actually have work.  Cédrick is so well loved by the patrons and workers alike that he recently was asked to visit with French President Macron during a visit he made to see the devastation that still exists in St. Martin.  What will happen next?  I believe no one really knows.  Will Club Orient survive.  Everyone who has ever been to the resort is hoping they do, but hope doesn't pay the bills.   Tourists do!  So, if you care enough, plan to spend a few weeks on the island and bring an influx of funds to those in need of your help.  I'm positive they will appreciate it.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

He and his workers distribute and collect the chairs everyday.

True bliss on the beach!

At the end of the day Carol and I pose for a self-portraiture as the sun sets yielding long shadows.