[QUOTE=CharlesPooter;1740017]Only Oxygen Retreat is worth that sort of money, eh Manny?[/QUOTE]Well, they did have much nicer facilities. But still not 2. 5 million worth.
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[QUOTE=CharlesPooter;1740017]Only Oxygen Retreat is worth that sort of money, eh Manny?[/QUOTE]Well, they did have much nicer facilities. But still not 2. 5 million worth.
I think the only way they directly profit is an exit fee for outside customers.
BB is not blatantly illegal, I guess it's kind of grey area.
Hotel can not be shut down, but authority can scare away chicas.
I wonder how BB's arrangements with doctors testing the chicas work. Some time ago chica told me that sometimes doctors come to the hotel for STD and safe sex lections.
[QUOTE=CharlesPooter;1739988]They don't.
You forget one major outgoing. For a decade Blackbeards has been carrying on a business which is blatantly illegal, namely pimping. Either someone high up is a significant shareholder (in which case Tim would not be purchasing 100% of the equity), or Blackbeards are paying out major bribes every month. I would guess at least a third of the profits.
Also, those girls are not on contract and, even if they were, contracts for pimping cannot be upheld in law. It would only take one scare with the police or the health department and all the chicas would vanish overnight. It happened at Field of Dreams and Passions in different circumstances.[/QUOTE]
There are many empty lots and houses in Costambar, many of those are on sale for many years.
[QUOTE=Frannie;1739933]It is not in the middle of nowhere. The location is fairly good in gated outer suburb with beaches close to major city with international airport, hospitals, schools, etc. Site could maybe be redeveloped as luxury condos.[/QUOTE]
And I've seen trucks unloading beer many times, they probably sell hundreds of bottles of beer every day.
Your average daily room plus food and drinks sold at US $80 is probably low and occupancy rate is too high.
[QUOTE=Parkinsons;1739724]I've never been to BB, but I was curious to see if US $2. 5 million is an outrageous amount. So I did some quick math.
I'm guessing the sales price would include the land, hotel, furniture, inventory, etc. For a hotel with quite a bit of amenities (pool, restaurant, bar) and its size, I'm lowballing all the "hard assets" at US $900,000. Again, not an expert in DR real estate, so that's just a guess.
That'd leave a business value at US $1,550,000. Normally businesses are sold between 2 and 3 times their annual revenue. Not an expert in the hospitality industry either, so I'm guessing a 2. 5 multiple, which would be fair for an established business that's still in its prime.
That means the business has to have an annual revenue of US $620,000 - break that down to 365 days per year, equals to US $1,698.63 daily. Lowballing an average daily room plus food and drinks sold at US $80, the place has to have a minimum of 22 guests per day, to justify the sales price. (I'm pretty sure they make more than $80 per guest per day, the guys there are captive and spend loads on alcohol. Also BB might take a cut from the chicas' take?
So I think while US $2. 5 million sounds like a lot for a business in DR, it can make sense. The previous owner may be doing some seller-financing, allowing the buyer to pay back a portion in installments. Assuming the seller bought the place a while back at a much lower price, he may have recouped all his investment from the buyer's down payment, and then the monthly installment the buyer pays him back is nice gravy.
How many rooms does the place have? Generally on any given day how many are filled?[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Bliadun;1740104]And I've seen trucks unloading beer many times, they probably sell hundreds of bottles of beer every day.
Your average daily room plus food and drinks sold at US $80 is probably low and occupancy rate is too high.
There are many customers in their restaurant from all over Costambar.[/QUOTE]Sometimes, yes. But I have been there twice this year to meet and chat with friends. Each time for about two hours and the place was quiet as the grave. Couldn't have sold more than eight to twelve drinks (half of them cokes) and four light meals in those two hours. Very hard to keep up the sort of consistently high sales you are writing about all round the clock.
[QUOTE=Bliadun;1740098]There are many empty lots and houses in Costambar, many of those are on sale for many years.[/QUOTE]True. Costambar was created as a gated estate for rich Dominicans and for gringos. It has steadily deteriorated. There are reasons why it has failed. It's "off the map" location and the scruffy beach must be among them and one constantly reads completes about the electric, water and garbage services on DR1.
Don't get me wrong. It is still one of the better areas to live on the North Coast, but that is not saying a lot. I think the new money is going to the Cabarete area.
To be fair, in listing its good points, Frannie omitted the 9-hole golf course. Though of mediocre quality, it must still count as a real attraction to have a golf course on your doorstep.
Sometimes in the day time place looks empty for hours, and in the evening you may need to wait for table to become available and you can see waitresses carrying another box of beer every few minutes.
I don't know what kind of sales volume they have, but beer truck re supplying the stock is one of indicators.
[QUOTE=CharlesPooter;1740107]Sometimes, yes. But I have been there twice this year to meet and chat with friends. Each time for about two hours and the place was dead as a dodo. Couldn't have sold more than eight to twelve drinks (half of them cokes) and four meals in those two hours. Very hard to keep up the sort of consistently high sales you are writing about.[/QUOTE]
And I remember several apart hotels within walking distance.
If any of those are for sale, it would be a good way to determine a unique value (girls on site) in dollars.
[QUOTE=Parkinsons;1739731]
[URL]http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/Property-Types/Hotels.html[/URL]
A hotel in Caberete is listed at US $2. 7 mill. Sea Breeze (my spot haha Grownman) in Sosua just sold for US $1,175,000.
BB as a business has a unique value (girls on site) that other hotels don't.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Frannie;1739933]It is not in the middle of nowhere. The location is fairly good in gated outer suburb with beaches close to major city with international airport, hospitals, schools, etc. Site could maybe be redeveloped as luxury condos.[/QUOTE]I regards to being a hotel it is absolutely in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do but sit on a dirty beach or pay the taxi mafia ransom money to take you elsewhere. Luxury condos? Have you driven or walked through Costamar lately, it is a waste land of abandoned buildings and unkept properties. Sure there is some money still in Costambar but it looks to me to be going down hill big time.
[QUOTE=Bliadun;1740089]I think the only way they directly profit is an exit fee for outside customers.[/QUOTE]Yes, I had forgotten that bit of income.
[QUOTE=Bliadun;1740089]BB is not blatantly illegal, I guess it's kind of grey area.[/QUOTE]If you look at the sort of prosecutions going on in the DR these days, with the government trying to clean up the country's image (no doubt under pressure from the USA and its satellites), you would understand that they would have no difficulty getting a successful prosecution for pimping or, as they curiously term it, "trafficking".
When I first went there, I asked about this, and was told they were not pimping because they received no money from the girls and were not employing the girls. This would not let them off the hook nowadays, as they are clearly facilitating prostitution. Indeed, as our current discussion shows, they could not survive without it. Furthermore, by charging salidas for chicas who they claim are not employees, and imposing fines for lateness and other reasons on chicas who they claim are not employees, they have blown a hole in their own flimsy defence.
I like Blackbeards and long may they flourish. At least we don't have to worry about Tim being some gullible newbie being sold a pig in a poke, as so often happens here. He probably knows as much about the wheels within wheels there as John, and maybe more about the current situation with John having been away so much.
No doubt there is a lot more to the story which we don't know. I have no inside knowledge about Blackbeards, but I did have about Field of Dreams and used to laugh about the rumors and assumptions posted on the internet.
[QUOTE=Parkinsons;1739956]Haha Pueblo Viejo in the DR is the world's third largest gold mine. Very well informed you are.[/QUOTE]Okay, okay. I'll give you $2. 5 million for the gold mine. That seems fair.
[QUOTE=CharlesPooter;1740166]Yes, I had forgotten that bit of income.
If you look at the sort of prosecutions going on in the DR these days, with the government trying to clean up the country's image (no doubt under pressure from the USA and its satellites), you would understand that they would have no difficulty getting a successful prosecution for pimping or, as they curiously term it, "trafficking".
When I first went there, I asked about this, and was told they were not pimping because they received no money from the girls and were not employing the girls. This would not let them off the hook nowadays, as they are clearly facilitating prostitution. Indeed, as our current discussion shows, they could not survive without it. Furthermore, by charging salidas for chicas who they claim are not employees, and imposing fines for lateness and other reasons on chicas who they claim are not employees, they have blown a hole in their own flimsy defence.
I like Blackbeards and long may they flourish. At least we don't have to worry about Tim being some gullible newbie being sold a pig in a poke, as so often happens here. He probably knows as much about the wheels within wheels there as John, and maybe more about the current situation with John having been away so much.
No doubt there is a lot more to the story which we don't know. I have no inside knowledge about Blackbeards, but I did have about Field of Dreams and used to laugh about the rumors and assumptions posted on the internet.[/QUOTE]Which Spanish word are you translating as trafficking. Proxetenismo or "pandering" seems to be the key word, which means setting up prostitution encounters for someone else, not necessarily trafficking. Trafficking in contraband and trafficking in people are slightly different senses of the word.
Is it likely that both Field of Dreams and Blackbeards are shut down within the next 18 months? That would leave only TAV AFAIK. Of course there is Facebook and Dominican Cupid but as far as compounds that is it.
This can happen tomorrow or 10 years from now.
I would hate to see any of these places going down. Damn politicians can fuck up any business, even if it's beneficial to everyone-hotel, chicas and customers. BB creates directly or indirectly over a 100 jobs.
[QUOTE=Lou32;1740308]Is it likely that both Field of Dreams and Blackbeards are shut down within the next 18 months? That would leave only TAV AFAIK. Of course there is Facebook and Dominican Cupid but as far as compounds that is it.[/QUOTE]
If no employee of BB takes money from customer for anything directly connected with chicas, proving facilitation or trafficking will be close to impossible. That does not mean that authorities can't find a reason if they want a place to shut down.
I hope BB has some sort of back up plan for such case.
[QUOTE=CharlesPooter;1740166]Yes, I had forgotten that bit of income.
If you look at the sort of prosecutions going on in the DR these days, with the government trying to clean up the country's image (no doubt under pressure from the USA and its satellites), you would understand that they would have no difficulty getting a successful prosecution for pimping or, as they curiously term it, "trafficking".
When I first went there, I asked about this, and was told they were not pimping because they received no money from the girls and were not employing the girls. This would not let them off the hook nowadays, as they are clearly facilitating prostitution. Indeed, as our current discussion shows, they could not survive without it. Furthermore, by charging salidas for chicas who they claim are not employees, and imposing fines for lateness and other reasons on chicas who they claim are not employees, they have blown a hole in their own flimsy defence.
I like Blackbeards and long may they flourish. At least we don't have to worry about Tim being some gullible newbie being sold a pig in a poke, as so often happens here. He probably knows as much about the wheels within wheels there as John, and maybe more about the current situation with John having been away so much.
No doubt there is a lot more to the story which we don't know. I have no inside knowledge about Blackbeards, but I did have about Field of Dreams and used to laugh about the rumors and assumptions posted on the internet.[/QUOTE]