Welcome to My Blog!

Welcome Club La Pension Owners and Friends to the first ever Bluegreen Club La Pension blog! I created this blog in hopes to keep you up to date on the every day events at La Pension and to keep you in the loop on the constant progress we are making to your investment.I look forward to interacting with you all through this blog on a regular basis. I will use this blog as a tool to post improvement pictures, update you on maintenance projects, city events and anything else La Pension. However, this will be my first attempt at “blogging” so bear with me…

Lenten Season Begins

Each afternoon when I walk out of our front doors there is a constant reminder of how lucky Bluegreen is to have such a prime location in New Orleans: the smells of local cuisine (especially on Mondays when the whole city smells like Red Beans), an impromptu jazz band around the corner and the flashy lights of Harrah’s Casino across the street. Carnival Season and Mardi Gras day are the embodiment of the value of our location. This year was colder than ever and unfortunately rain was present for many parades. However, that did not stop our owners from participating in the Mardi Gras revelry. The majority of parades make their final turn off Canal directly in front of our resort (corner of Canal and Decatur). For many of our owners this means watching parades in the comfort of their unit or from their balcony.

The spirit of Carnival was alive as ever at La Pension this year. We had individual sized King Cakes made for all of our owners and their guests and placed them in their units upon arrival. A door and balcony decorating contest filled the halls with competition. Winners from Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras week received a 2 night complimentary stay at Bluegreen Club 36 in Las Vegas. Second place winners received gift certificates to our neighboring restaurants and third place winners received gift baskets from Southern Candy.

The Spirit and commotion of Carnival Season is starting to wind down this week. The streets are quieter and hoteliers and restaurateurs throughout the city are worn out. It is the beginning of the Lenten Season. The Spirit of the Saints however, is still alive and boisterous throughout the Big Easy. In fact, there was a Second Line last Saturday night in celebration of the death of the “Aints”. This is a relief for me as I am never quite sure what to do with myself as football season comes to a close…until next time…

Refreshed

I have just returned from a fabulous long weekend at Solara Surfside.

Resort in Miami. I needed a girls get away and the team at Solara was happy to oblige. They certainly are at the top of the list for customer service providers in my book! The resort is located right on the beach in Miami Surfside. Volleyball courts, grills, shuffle board and beach chairs are all available for your enjoyment. The location is a short cab ride from the high-end shops and sophisticated clubs in South Beach, but far enough away to provide a relaxing get away for even the most stressed souls. The rooms are spacious with full kitchens and comfortable beds and the view of the blue ocean simply transports you to another place. I have returned refreshed!

Now, it’s back to the grind of continued progress at La Pen. We wrapped up the month of February by completing a six month project of transferring all of our paper owner documents into an electronic system. This should make it much easier for us to access your file at the resort and in our Owner Services departments throughout Bluegreen as all of your information is right at our fingertips. We also completed a waterproofing process on buildings 6 and 7. This included making stucco repairs, applying two coats of an elastomeric product to all walls and then painting the stucco and trim. The cosmetic difference from the street is incredible and so far we have not had any more water intrusion through the walls in these buildings.

In March, we look forward to warmer weather, adding to our maintenance team, “wayfinding” activities throughout the resort and our city, and the start of crawfish season!

Until next time…Laisssez Les Bons Temps Rouler!

Has Spring Sprung?

What a beautiful weekend. I had my first taste of Crawfish and Abita Strawberry for the season. That’s a combination to make it feel like Spring! The bugs were small to medium, but that didn’t stop me from finishing off two and half pounds. It was a great way to whet my appetite for the prime bugs that I imagine will be available by French Quarter Fest.

The resort was busy through the weekend as we had the American Academy of Orthopedics Surgeons conference in town. This was the biggest conference of the year and New Orleans was glad to welcome its participants with open arms. We booked available rooms to help out some of our oversold neighbors. Most that we accommodated were pleasantly surprised to be relocated to a property with more room than they are used to and a prime location where they could still walk to their meetings in the beautiful Spring weather.

We expect the next few weeks to be calm as we prepare for French Quarter Fest and 2 weekends of Jazz Fest. We still have some rooms available so book your trip if you haven’t already!