Posted on October 22, 2025
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Fed-up Pinellas County time share owners say there’s been little progress made to repair their beach resort on Belleair Beach, since last year’s hurricanes.
Not long after 8 On Your Side told their story, owners of another timeshare property, under the same management, contacted us, saying it’s happening to them, too.
That was at the Nautical Watch, where owners are continuing to pay dues without any plan or timeline for repair over a year later. But it’s also happening to the Grand Shores West. They’re all left wondering: what are they paying for?
For the past 12 years, the Chapmans’s had some memorable moments.
“Our daughters and our grandkids have been here, and their families have been here with us several times and it’s just it’s a great place,” said Ron Chapman, Grand Shores West fractional owner. “We love it here.”
Last year’s hurricanes left the Grand Shores West on North Redington Beach in rough shape. The time share was deemed substantially damaged dated in letters to the property owner on February 24, 2025.
Jay Daigneault, town attorney of North Redington Beach, wrote: “About three weeks prior to that determination, the property owner applied for a building permit to re-roof the structure. That permit application was placed on hold pending the substantial damage determination.. On May 22, 2025, an application was filed to acquire an interior demolition permit. The property owner has not yet paid the $364.78 plan review fee associated with that application. When the fees are paid, the application will be routed for floodplain review and building official review. On August 1, 2025, a stop work order was placed on the property after the building official observed workers performing roofing work without a permit.
“In a way, it’s kind of caused more damage by not doing any work to it,” said Chapman.
Ron and Lillian Chapman are left paying their annual dues of $800 for their one week, despite it being left sitting and deteriorating.
“Where did all this money goes that went in there on January 1 of this past year?” questioned Chapman.
Chapman claims that over 1,700 owners have been left in the dark.
“They won’t give us any true numbers or of where they even stand on if you know the permits or if they’re getting anything from FEMA or how much we’re getting from insurance,” said Chapman.
The Grand Shores has elected board members and the management company, Vacatia, serves at its direction.
“They keep saying they want to have a vote, but we still haven’t seen any vote,” said Chapman.
In a statement to 8 On Your Side, Scott Weber, Vacatia’s senior vice president of hospitality, wrote: “As Grand Shores West’s management company, Vacatia’s role is to provide the board with guidance, but ultimately we serve at their direction and discretion. It is not Vacatia’s place to decide Grand Shores West’s future. With the resort’s remediation and reconstruction costs expected to exceed insurance funds, the board has decided to put the decision — to rebuild at a potentially significant cost to all owners or terminate the timeshare — to an all-owner vote, rather than restrict it to board members only. This will be a difficult decision for Grand Shores West owners, and Vacatia has been working with the board to ensure they have all the information needed to cast an informed vote.
“We would like to see it rebuilt, not torn down,” said Chapman. “We would like to see it fixed.”
It sounds all too familiar to those living out this nightmare on Belleair Beach.
“We are paying into something that we don’t know what or if ever will be able to be rebuild,” said Lily Esposito, Nautical Watch fractional owner.
The Chapmans reached out to investigative reporter Brittany Muller after seeing our story about the Nautical Watch timeshare, which is also under the management of Vacatia.
“I thought for sure when this first happened, I thought within a year that we all be back in here using it again,” said Chapman.
“In the aftermath of last year’s hurricanes, which left Grand Shores West severely damaged and uninhabitable, Vacatia and the resort’s board of directors have worked continuously with engineers, adjusters, appraisers, and the Town of North Redington Beach to chart a path toward recovery,” said Weber. “Throughout this lengthy process, Vacatia has also kept owners abreast of progress made, as well as obstacles encountered. In all, 15 updates have been sent to owners over the past 12 months; these communications are also available in our owner portal, vacatia.com/clubhouse.”
But the Chapmans want to see the numbers before taking a vote, numbers that have not yet been made available to the owners.
They said they would ultimately like to see the Grand Shores rebuilt so they can continue making good memories with their family and friends.
