I'm starting this blog as a hugely disillusioned Owner of an apartment at Arc 1950, Intrawest's supposed "flagship" first resort development in Europe.
You will read report after report of what a great success this award-winning brand new Village has become in the last 5 years, carved out of the French Alps in the massive and beautiful Les Arcs/Paradiski skiing domain. And it is a great physical success, testament to Intrawest's planning and project management skills. The Village is built in local Savoyard style, superbly designed and located, with breathtaking views across to Mont Blanc in the distance and upwards to the scary and closer Aiguille Rouge peak.
If you're lucky enough to go to the Village as a visitor, either in winter or summer, I'm sure you'll have a fantastic holiday. But as an "investment" it sucks, to use our North American friends' lingo. And that's why this blog has been born.
At the time of writing this first article, an increasing number of Arc 1950 Owners have completely lost patience with Intrawest ("ITW"). Many more details will follow, but we believe very strongly that Intrawest "misled" (and I've chosen that word very carefully!) us about many aspects of our investment. We are hoping that in the next few weeks they will finally listen to our representations and take decisive corrective action...although frankly this is unlikely based on the performance of their senior management team in Europe over the last few years.
We have escalated our concerns to ITW executive management in Canada. I won't post any more details of those concerns at this stage, in case it jeopardises any possible progress. But if you've stumbled across this blog as a potential investor in an ITW property in Europe, perhaps you might like to bookmark this blog and keep up to date with our progress over the coming weeks and months.
I would just advise you at this stage not to fall for the slick sales and marketing driven hype. ITW create great resorts to visit but based on our experiences at Arc 1950, they create even greater expectations and hype for potential investors. Do NOT believe a word of the glossy sales pitch to potential investors. Check every single word of the contract and do not accept any promises that are not enshrined in the contract. I could give many examples....as could potentially hundreds of other angry owners in Arc 1950, all of whom will be invited to post their own thoughts on this blog if ITW continue to ignore us.
ITW are aggressively selling their latest new European developments in Flaine Montsoleil (skiing) and St Emilion Haute Gardegan (golf and wine). There will be many others to follow, but unless they adjust their tactics to make sure that the reality of ownership is much much closer to the sales pitch....don't do it, don't buy the false Intrawest dream!
