Condo Owners Page

There has been no change in our process other than we no longer house all of our supplemental staff. In the past we have utilized J1 Visa students (primarily) from Thailand and the Philippines in the springtime, and from (primarily) Jamaica and eastern European countries in the summer and fall. We will continue to supplement our staff in that manner, but will also use a local agency as well.

The current agency, which we have been using since last summer, draws the majority of their workforce from the local Hispanic community. This move is to our associates’ benefit as it allows us to keep our team members whole during times of low occupancy by keeping the size of our core staff in line with off peak season occupancy levels. We then use this approach to supplement our core labor pool. It is difficult to recruit a local workforce for temporary and/or seasonal spikes, even a two week long spike such as Spring Break. We are committed; first and foremost, to our long term core employees and ensuring that we manage their workload appropriately to accommodate our business demands. By being able to bring in additional staff to assist due to temporary spikes in occupancy we lessen the threat of turnover and the loss of seasoned employees. We also have hired some full time employees who first came to us via this arrangement. We have three room’s department managers that are fluent in Spanish. The staff is instructed to contact them immediately if they are asked questions by guests and do not feel that they can adequately answer them.

Does the temporary housekeeping staff have knowledge of working for a Four Diamond Resort? The agency that we use supplies workers to the Williamsburg Lodge and the Williamsburg Inn. These workers have more experience as housekeepers than a student who is here during their school break. The housekeepers are given orientation, as well as three days of training on Kingsmill’s specific standards. The quality of work is inspected by core leadership – many who have been here for over a decade.

The process in place to accommodate R/V’s, campers, and boat trailers has not changed. In fact, we have just completed, at our expense, a change in our main parking lot to ensure these vehicles can be easily accommodated away from the condo parking. We will instruct guests to park in the main resort parking lot and then offer transportation as needed within the resort. There are times when host groups bring in a large number of vans and small buses. We hosted the Ladies’, and then the Men’s, William & Mary Golf Invitational that was attended by college and university golf teams from all over the East Coast. The majority of these players came by van or bus and occupied whole buildings and/or multi-room suites. Many parents then also came as spectators, and stayed at the Resort. While there were small buses, vans and even some RVs it was a great piece of business for the resort.

During the summer months, and anytime when parking is tight, we notify guests of the parking process and enforce it by involving KMPD as needed. We certainly understand, first hand, the guest concerns about limited parking. You could greatly assist us by encouraging your association to clearly mark the parking spaces in front of your condos. This would greatly improve the parking situation for our guests. When the parking spaces are not clearly identified we cannot maximize the available space needed to accommodate our guests. The CCCA, to its credit, restriped the parking spaces in both the Anderson’s and Richmond’s Ordinaries this past summer. That process greatly reduced the number of parking issues and guest complaints in both of those ordinaries.

At this time our biggest pest concern centers around the seasonal return of the carpenter bees. As you may be aware, these bees create a considerable amount of damage to the wood trim on the exterior of your condo buildings. They are particularly bad in Padgett’s. The resort helps to maintain an effective pest control program by partnering with your association property management company for the interior of the condos. It is, however, focused on the pests that affect the interior – ants, and mice for example. Insects that are clearly only affecting the exterior of the buildings are the responsibility of the association. This is the case in the treatment for the carpenter bees. The damage these carpenter bees are inflicting by burrowing into the trim around the entrances and the balconies is significant. In addition to the property damage, there is also a revenue loss to owners when we have guests request to be moved away from the buildings with carpenter bee activity. A more vigorous approach by the association to eliminate this yearly infestation would be helpful.

NO. Bedbugs are not a problem at Kingsmill. Bedbugs do not just materialize; they are brought in by guests. Whether you stay at Kingsmill, The Williamsburg Inn, or the Waldorf Astoria there will always be a possibility – once the room is occupied. It is a risk inherent in renting rooms as we cannot “screen” our guests and/or their luggage. It would also be incorrect to “assume” as some do, that bed bugs would come from a certain type of clientele. In fact, well-traveled guests have a higher probability if he/she travels internationally or stays frequently in urban properties such as New York City. The important thing to note is that we have proactive inspections in place to identify and immediately treat to minimize any threat. We have also placed Soft Cover, bed bug certified mattress encasements on our mattresses at the resort. With that said, we have had exceptionally few incidents over the past few years. To, in any way, imply that we have a chronic issue is simply incorrect and potentially damaging to our reputation.

For obvious reasons, grills and hibachi’s are not allowed to be used at the condos. This is never a problem with our resort guests, however, from time to time, condos with monthly renters do not follow this rule. When this occurs, the resort asks the renter to remove the grill but the ultimate enforcement must come from the condo owner and the Association. For everyone’s safety, health and well-being, we would appreciate your support on this matter.

Currently we are working on providing you with the soft goods estimate then a schedule for the hard goods upgrade so that you can factor in these costs when making the decision to renew your contract with Xanterra Kingsmill Resort. We hope to have this completed by the end of this month. We would hope to continue this relationship and thank you again for allow us to address your concerns.

We are making good progress on all of our current projects. The James Landing Grille is framed in and due to open sometime in early to mid-June. We have broken ground for the pool complex, most of the underground infrastructure is complete slated for a Grand Opening in July. Additionally, we have purchased new vehicles to transport our guests, new furniture spa furniture, Sports Club furniture and state of the art fitness equipment. We have just completed a major upgrade to our existing pool. We have also installed back of the house equipment such as air conditioners, pumps and freezers to better support our operations. We are moving forward on an expensive property management migration to enhance and simplify the booking process. This is all above and beyond the significant capital investment in a new restaurant and family pool complex. These items show little to no return on investment however, a commitment to remain competitive in today’s marketplace has been established by Xanterra Parks & Resorts. It is a necessity to invest capital dollars and maintain the product for any business to remain relevant and successful.

All plans are full speed ahead for the September 3-9, 2012 golf tournament. Sponsorships are being secured, staff has been hired, a website has been designed and all volunteers have been recruited. There is great excitement and energy surrounding this event which is likely to be our best ever LPGA tournament.

It is an annual charge for interior pest control treatments that are performed quarterly. Due to the small amount, it was billed 100% in January.

It is for quarterly treatments of the interior by our 3rd party pest control company. It is not performed by M&E. Our contract is performance based so if they have to repeat treatment, there is no extra charge. However, if some “extreme issue” comes up, we could be charged and would then pass it on.

Exterior treatments that are performed also treat the exterior quarterly. However, we have found that exterior treatment alone will not control the ants, etc. without interior as well. Also, there are lots of variables that cannot be controlled on exterior barriers (i.e. rain washing away the barrier, trees touching roofs providing a path across the barrier, pests already in the building before the barrier was sprayed, etc.) Both exterior and interior are needed to get the best performance.

For the past 4 years we only charged pest control costs back to the condo associations. The amount charged was the same for the last 4 years without any updates to adjust for contract changes, prices increases, etc. By this past year what we were billing the Associations did not cover the total cost for the contract. This past year we rebid the pest services contract. We asked that they provide a quote that splits the costs up accordingly for each condo association based on number of buildings in that association (for exterior pricing), as well as for the number of bedrooms in that association (for interior treatments). Our Vice President of Maintenance and Engineering then communicated the 2012 proposed costs to the Property Managers so each could budget for 2012 accordingly. When they saw a price listing “interior treatment” costs, they replied that interior costs are not “common elements” of the Association so they could not pay them. As a result, we had to split the bill into an Association bill for exteriors and breakup the interior bill amongst the Condo Owners.

As far as the viability of the charges, it is in the Rental Agreement that Rental Participants will have a pest control program in place – and that the Resort will “assist” with the program. I would hope it is perceived that we are in fact doing far more than just assisting. We submit the RFPs, qualify all quotes, issue out the contract, coordinate as needed with the Property Managers, manage the vendor services, and pay the bills. However, we have no problem doing this as it benefits both Owners and Resort Guests to have pests under control and us managing day to day works well in achieving results.

The Resort will be moving forward with a soft goods upgrade and the furnishings included in that upgrade will be required by all those who wish to participate in the Rental Program moving forward. If a condo does not have the furnishings specified it will no longer be eligible for the program in 2013. The new furniture specs will be shared with all the current Rental Participants as stated earlier; however the specs themselves will be determined by the Resort. The Resort is working to ensure it is able to receive the best possible pricing for the furniture and the installation. The requirement for continuing, ongoing upgrades to remain viable as a competitive lodging product will not end with this renovation. Xanterra has made significant capital investments in the Resort itself and fully expects to continue to make those investments. Those who wish to participate in the Resort Rental Program should only do so fully understanding that furniture upgrades are inherent in this industry and will be a recurrent expense for those participating.

The Resort will continue to offer our Rental Program to all eligible condo owners that are interested and that commits to maintaining the requirements as set out in the program. That decision has to be made by each individual. That being said, the determination as to who will be in the Rental Program for 2013 will actually be made by the end of this summer, not January of 2013. The reason we cannot wait until January of 2013 is solely due to the significant lead time required to secure this amount of furniture and be in position to install it during our traditionally slow rental period. To have the furniture produced and ready to install in early February we need commitments in place to order by the end of August – financial commitments. So, by the end of August, we will know how many, and which ones, of the current Rental Participants will be on the Program for 2013. By early September we would have our final furniture order submitted. We would give notice at that time. While we technically could provide the minimum requirement of 30 day notice to remove those from the program, that is not our intention. I fully expect that there will be some current participants who have been on the program for many years who opt not to purchase the new furniture spec. Participants that we have had very positive relationships with yet, for various reasons, will decide not to continue on the program if that requires a furniture upgrade. There is no need to “kick them off” the minute they decide they will not remain on the Rental Program. However, we have to balance that with the fact that there is no need to carry excessive inventory well into the winter. We will, instead, provide a 90 day notice in September once we are clear on everyone’s decision. That way rental participants will have adequate time to make arrangements to transition off the Resort’s Rental Program. The Resort will, of course, be agreeable to accelerating that time frame to the 30 day minimum if requested. Another reason to provide the notice in September, rather than wait until the final days, is to ensure no one is misled to presume a lack of formal notice on the part of the Resort implies a potential to remain on the Rental Program without meeting the standard required due to the upgrade.