The Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort has announced plans to host the Tasting Village event at the 3rd annual Cancun-Riviera Maya Wine & Food Festival.

As a member of the Palace Resorts timeshare group, Moon Palace is a five-star, all-inclusive resort in Cancun-Riviera Maya. This year’s event will welcome celebrity chefs, culinary experts, and VIP guests to the resort.

The Wine & Food Festival will be held March13–16, 2014 across a variety of popular destinations in Cancun. The Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort will host the Tasting Village, one of the festival’s most anticipated events.

This year will celebrate the theme “Europe Meets the Americas”, a global infusion of different traditions and flavors. The Tasting Village allows guests to enjoy a variety of food from visiting celebrity chefs. Notable chefs for 2014 include Chef Guillermo Gonzalez Beristain (Mexico) and Chef Daniel Boulud (France). 50 additional chefs from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Brazil, Columbia, Chile, Guatemala, Venezuela, and Peru will also participate.

Executive VP for Palace Resorts Gibran Chapur said,

“As the largest property in Cancun, both in size and meeting and event capabilities, Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort offers an idyllic backdrop for the third annual Wine & Food Festival Cancun-Riviera Maya’s main attraction, the Gourmet Tasting Village. We believe the Festival provides an unmatched showcase of the destination’s varied cuisine and is in line with Moon Palace’s mission of providing our valued guests with a variety of gastronomic flavors including authentic Mexican fare, Asian fusion, classic Mediterranean and more.”

Moon Palace will host the 3rd Annual Tasting Village with the help of 15 of Cancun’s most popular restaurants. To accompany the food, a variety of international wines will be served. Many of these wines will be presented by the winery’s owner to explain the taste and origin.

On Saturday and Sunday, March 15–16, the featured chefs will compete in a special “Iron Chef” themed competition. The competition is sponsored by GE Monogram who will outfit the kitchen with appliances and tools.

For more information visit, PalaceResorts.com

Throughout this past week, The Timeshare Authority blog has tried to compile as much information as possible about the status of timeshare resorts and hotels impacted by Hurricane Sandy. For the most comprehensive overview, you may wish to check these posts published this week:

• Hurricane Sandy Hotel, Travel, and Timeshare Updates
• Updates on Hotel and Timeshare Resorts Closed by Hurricane Sandy
• Hurricane Sandy Update for Marriott Hotels and Marriott Timeshares
• Caribbean Timeshare and Hotel Guests Feel Impact of Sandy

Today’s blog post addresses only resorts not previously covered or resorts where there has been a change of status.

Ocean Villas Nags Head, North Carolina reports that it sustained only minor damage (giving credit to precautions taken by its Board). Units 1 and 8 had some water problems and the owners were relocated to Units 2 and 3. Otherwise, the resort lost a few shingles, gained a lot of sand (that it has been busily relocating) and expected to be in good shape as of this weekend.

Oceans Villas II was closed but was scheduled to reopen yesterday.

The Golden Strand in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina has posted updates on its website at (www.goldenstrandobx.com/). They note that while their levee was breached, it will not be necessary to close any of their units. They have even posted great photos on their website so you can see how much sand was moved around during the storm.

To the best of our knowledge, at the time this blog was written, the following resorts remain closed:

• Bluegreen’s Atlantic Palace in Atlantic City,NJ;
• Legacy Vacation Club Brigantine Beach, NJ;

West 57th Street by Hilton Club is still closed because of the safety hazard presented by a damaged crane in close proximity to the property. Work to remove the crane is scheduled to begin today, Sunday, November 4, 2012.

If you have any news or updates about the status of these or other timeshare resorts, we encourage you to leave comments on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SellMyTimeshareNOW

The following information is based on the most current updates available at the time this blog was published. Travelers, vacationers, and timeshare owners and timeshare resorts guests are always advised to check directly with their timeshare resorts or hotels for further updates.   

• At the Four Seasons New York, all 368 rooms were sold out for Tuesday, with rooms for Wednesday night still available starting at $995/night.
• The Westin Times Square is sold out, occupied by stranded out-of-towners and local families whose homes are flooded, without electricity or both.
•  As noted in Tuesday’s The Timeshare Authority blog (Hurricane Sandy Update for Marriott Hotels and Marriott Timeshares), some of the New York City hotels that are closed include: the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park and New York Marriott Downtown. Additionally, the Courtyard by Marriott in Lower Manhattan is closed due to lack of electricity.
• Marriott Vacation Club timeshare owners and guests can receive resort updates by calling:1-800-845-4226.
• Two hotels that belong to Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ system remain closed. These are W New York Downtown in Lower Manhattan that flooded but was fully evacuated at the time and Le Parker Meridien, which was forced to evacuate guests after a construction crane on a neighboring skyscraper partially collapsed, posing a threat to pedestrians below.
• Hilton New York (1335 Avenue of the Americas) is open for business. Restaurants currently open near the hotel include: Carnegie Delicatessen & Restaurant, Old Castle Pub and Restaurant, Benash, Astro Diner, Premiere Deli, Olivieros Cafe, Rosy O Grady’s and Bistro Milano.
• Hilton Grand Vacations is advising its upcoming West 57th Street by Hilton Club guests: “If you have a question about your reservation in light of current conditions, please call 1-800-932-4482 or 1-407-722-3141 for Owners and all others call central reservations at 1-972-770-6100 or 1-800-445-8667.”
• Bluegreen Timeshare reported this on Tuesday evening: Hurricane Sandy Update, and all is well at our resorts. Power is still on at The Breakers, The Soundings, Suites at Hershey, Atlantic Palace, Patrick Henry Square, and Shenandoah Crossing. Manhattan Club is functioning fine but have been without power since 5pm yesterday. Guests and Owners stayed in every resort except Atlantic Palace, which was evacuated yesterday.
• Festiva’s Coconut Malorie resort in Ocean City, Maryland reopened on Tuesday at 12 noon. There was no major damage, just a few leaks to repair.

Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa in Orlando, Florida has announced plans to add some 300 additional timeshare units over the next 12 months. The estimated project cost of the Westgate Resorts timeshare expansion is said to be some $6 million or roughly $20,000 per timeshare unit.

Mark Waltrip, Chief Operating Officer at Westgate Resorts timeshares made the announcement of the planned Orlando timeshare expansion earlier this month at a Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) luncheon held at Orlando’s Citrus Club. Waltrip explained, “Timeshares are a great economic engine because people [who vacation in timeshares] will travel more often and spend more at that destination.”

In Florida, Westgate Resorts timeshares include seven Orlando timeshare properties, one in nearby Daytona Beach (Westgate Harbor Beach Resort), and one in River Ranch (Westgate River Ranch), which is roughly 80 miles away.

The Orlando Westgate Resorts timeshares include: Westgate Blue Tree Resort, Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa, Westgate Leisure Resort, Westgate Palace, Westgate Towers, Westgate Town Center; and Westgate Vacation Villas.

As Mark Waltrip pointed out, new timeshare expansion brings much-needed jobs to the construction industry, while timeshare units themselves help attract more tourists, and generate the need for more jobs in the service industries.