St. Maarten Private Eye

January 12, 2007

Mr. Steve Heyer
CEO of Starwood Hotels
1111 Westchester Avenue
White Plains, New York 10604

Dear Mr. Heyer,

My husband and I are long time frequent Westin Hotel clients .

I’m writing to you today as a concerned resident and owner of properties in Dawn Beach St. Martin N.A. , where there is a Westin Resort, Spa and Residences coming into it’s final stages of construction . I would like you to go to this website where you will find a chronological account from ground breaking to present, of the happenings of the Hotel that bears your name. It is not a flattering account. http://sxmprivateeye.com/node/7907

I’m not sure that you are aware of the fiasco and problems that have occurred and are presently occurring at the site of this new Westin , but that link above will show you, in detail, many of the environmental issues as well as many of the issues dealing with sewer systems , topography , code and plan, beach , road usage and employee and laborer issues.

I'm sure that U.S. publications and Westin users as well as Environmental Groups would frown upon the "Westin" ( which is a recognizable U.S. brand name ) being accused of being an environmental polluter, beach encroacher, user of illegal/ undocumented/alien workers as well as a lousy neighbor. That is all very negative and could be harmful to the Westin name and reputation .

Perhaps you should contact the franchise owner, Columbia Sussex, and ask them why they are continually breaking laws and rules put forth to them by the Netherlands Antilles Government and tell them that they need to adhere to these or you will pull your sponsorship of the “Westin” brand that they fly their flag under. I would like to know what you can do to remedy this situation and I would appreciate a follow up by you to this terrible and unfortunate situation .

The valley of Dawn Beach was too small to accommodate such a huge project like this . It is an eyesore that is reminiscent of a Costo warehouse . The Residences ( 99 condos ) at The Westin Dawn Beach are out of place and far too dense for the area . The Westin has claimed that the main road going over Naked Boy Hill ( which is called Oyster Pond Road ) is private and that they own it . This road has been the main road to private villas in the Dawn Beach Estates, Tamarind Hills and Red Pond Estates area for more than 25 years. The Westin continually take their container trucks and park them across the road so that no one may use it . (including Firetrucks and Ambulances) Local workers have twice now for an entire day , blocked the entrance to The Westin as a show of protest because they were not allowed to use Oyster Pond Road per The Westin. So they boxed in the Westin and did not let taxi’s / trucks / cars / hotel guests in or out etc. They have now constructed a metal fence in the middle of the Oyster Pond road to prevent trucks from using it . This is a hazard . It is at the bottom of a 100 ft. steeply graded hill and at night you cannot see it because they have no lights there . It comes out of the night like a panther. I have almost run into the damn thing. It is a liability and I hope the Westin has huge insurance incase someone runs into in and gets a metal pole thru the heart. I cannot tell you how dangerous this is .

The Septic System for the Westin Hotel, which is supposed to be underground, is sitting on top of the ground up the hill from the resort on the side of Oyster Pond Road . Dawn Beach Estates residents have a wonderful view of it , can smell it and hear it all day, everyday . When they were transporting this huge metal tank to that spot , it fell off the 18 wheeler and landed on the road and an emergency vehicle could not pass because it blocked the entire road . What a mess.

It appears that the Westin property has encroached on the public beach. They have brought in dirt to make it look like they aren’t on the beach and they spread woodchips and trees around , but they have without a doubt encroached on the beach about 30 feet . I have pictures and video of that beach from before they started construction and from 20 years ago and you can clearly see the difference . There is a sea turtle population that lays it’s eggs on Dawn Beach and Red Pond , I guess those sea turtles will have to go to another beach or have their eggs risk getting destroyed. You will see the concrete mixers where they would wash their huge buckets it the sea when they were finished for the day and you will see that the mangroves and retention pond that they filled in, is gone. This was crucial to the ocean . They built a culvert from a retention pond uphill from the Westin directly into the ocean . ( which is a no-no ) When the water runs off the mountain area into the valley , it runs into the retention pond and flows into the culvert which directly empties into the ocean . If you look at the ocean on a rainy day, you will see that it fills up with sludge and darkens the ocean water .They are presently making that retention area longer and larger to accommodate the run off from the 800 ft. mountain behind them. Flooding will be huge in this area now and the ocean will be getting additional sludge in it from whence it did not.

The Dawn Beach Estates/ Tamarind Hills area residents believe that the up tick in crime and related break-ins in the immediate area ( up the hill from the Westin ) are a direct result of the undocumented/illegal workers and laborers the Westin hired. The feel that those laborers work at the Westin at night and watch the houses on the hills and prowl at night . Though, this is not proven , it is the talk amongst residents . Most residents pull down their hurricane shutters at night and lock them because these brazen criminals, enter the house at night whilst the residents are sleeping and steal from them . A babysitter up at Atlantica Condo’s was brutalized/raped on New Year’s Eve night . It is getting scary living in what used to be the most serene, pleasant , non violent place on St. Martin . It has become a paranoid and hostile battleground . Surely not he paradise we all bought into so long ago .

I’m asking for your help in resolving some issues , afterall , it is your name on this product and you wouldn’t want people to go around thinking or writing about your product as an environmental polluter, beach encroacher, user of illegal/ undocumented/alien workers as well as being a lousy neighbor.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

(name withheld from sxmprivateeye)
Owner - Dawn Beach/Oyster Pond
(email address withheld from sxmprivate)

cc: Mr. Ross Klein - CEO Westin Hotels
comsumer.affairs@starwoodhotels.com