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[2019] Newport Coast -- Mystery of the Top Floor

b2bailey

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I'm an early owner at NCV. Have reservation for June 9 arrival. Thankfully the grandkids are out of school. This will be first year we have managed to get all grandkids together there -- after nearly 20 years of trying.

When I received room preference I selected "topfloor" and mentioned in comments I had never been assigned same floor as owner with many years of trying.

Today I received confirmation of 'high floor ' but not top floor. I am beginning to wonder...
 

Mlvnsmly

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I think MVC made several mistakes when they opened NCV. First, is no view categories. Everything is just a 2 bedroom Villa. So you have all guests in a huge resort vying for the same few rooms with a good view. Second is the season breakdown. The majority of platinum season owners try to squeeze in the first 10 weeks of the season. This makes it difficult to get a good Villa plus it makes reserving your Villa very stressful. So basically, if you're going in the summer and dont own at the minimum 3-4 weeks, you stand very little chance of scoring one of the coveted villas.

Once you're there, parking is always atrocious, to the point where you don't even want to go out at night for fear that you'll have to park in the garage when you get back.

Then you try to go to the pool. In the summer months, it's absolutely packed at prime time, with seat savers everywhere.

We loved the area, and went for a long time, but it just got to the point where it didn't even feel like a vacation anymore.

Also, we had 2 different villas with ant infestations the last year we went. Ants crawling on my face at night waking me up was a deal breaker for me haha.
 

VacationForever

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We have stayed in NCV three times.
- Top floor of a side ocean view from the balcony, through II exchange.
- High floor of a building towards the back with most of the view blocked by the buildings in front, through II exchange.
- Top floor with no ocean view, mainly facing the mountain, one week through II and one week using DC points.

We have another stay coming up next week using DC points and the email came in to say no top floor but we will see the ocean.
 

MOXJO7282

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I always got the impression the really good top floors are reserved for multi-week owners that are there for many weeks making it less likely anyone else gets them. I think the same about the Grande Ocean in HHI.
 

BJRSanDiego

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To make things more complicated, the last time I was there I was told that I was on the "top floor". It turns out that in was (IIRC) a 4 story building. But I was on the 3rd floor. The building layout was such that there was no one above me. So I was almost on the top floor. Or perhaps, technically, I was on the top floor for that part of the building. Ha ha. Nice view though.
 

mjm1

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To make things more complicated, the last time I was there I was told that I was on the "top floor". It turns out that in was (IIRC) a 4 story building. But I was on the 3rd floor. The building layout was such that there was no one above me. So I was almost on the top floor. Or perhaps, technically, I was on the top floor for that part of the building. Ha ha. Nice view though.

IIRC that would be an end unit on the 3rd floor. Is that correct? That sounds like a good spot to be.

Best regards.

Mike
 

4Sunsets

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I always got the impression the really good top floors are reserved for multi-week owners that are there for many weeks making it less likely anyone else gets them. I think the same about the Grande Ocean in HHI.

I can attest that the really good top floors are NOT necessarily reserved for multi-week owners. Not sure what the heck the selection is. We're chairmans club with oodles and poodles of points, but view alternates between bad, worse, and so-so. Never had a "good" view once.

Someone mentioned ants? YEP, little buggers were everywhere multiple times in multiple units.
 

b2bailey

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To make things more complicated, the last time I was there I was told that I was on the "top floor". It turns out that in was (IIRC) a 4 story building. But I was on the 3rd floor. The building layout was such that there was no one above me. So I was almost on the top floor. Or perhaps, technically, I was on the top floor for that part of the building. Ha ha. Nice view though.
Do you remember building number?
 

b2bailey

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I've come up with a theory, but couldn't confirm because I have forgotten marriott.com password. Wondering if those rooms go to cash customers paying as 'hotel guests' rather than owners.
 

gregloucks

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I agree that it is indeed a mystery. We spent the winters at NCV for many years and were always in the same unit, which was on a top floor and arguably the best view unit on the property. Our neighbors on either side of us (also excellent view units) changed at least weekly, sometimes more often. So those two data points seem to conflict.
 

Big Matt

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I've been three times. First time I got one directly overlooking the golf course and had good views. Second time I got one in a similar unit, but down at the end and had no view at all (blocked by trees). Third time, I had someone with us who had mobility issues and asked for a unit up near the main pool and check in area. They put us in a building near a very steep stairway to the pool. I asked them if we could get a unit up on the top level or the resort and didn't care about view, etc. They said no. They said that they would send someone to pick up my guest and drive him up to the top level. First time I called they told me to drive him up myself. Completely agree about the parking situation.

NCV is in one of the best locations in the world IMO with beautiful landscaping, but they totally miss on so many simple things like customer service. If you've never been there pay attention to the topography. Any mobility issues make resort impossible. It is tiered from low to high on a steep slope.
 

rickandcindy23

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We sometimes get the units off to the side on the floor below the top floor at Cypress Harbour with no one above us. That is my goal in my requests, no one above us.

At Newport Coast, we loved having a ground floor unit next to our kids' ground floor unit. That was kind of nice because we were in the buildings to the left as you drive in. There was a path and a nice walk to the pool from there. Beautiful view, too, even from the ground floor. Gosh, that was a long time ago. Our little Oliver was just a toddler and now he is 9.
 

gregloucks

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Parking used to be a nightmare, especially in the evenings. But if you haven't been in a while, you'll be glad to know that they helped that situation slightly by getting additional spots permitted alongside the interior roadways. Makes for many more parking spots, not exactly in front of the units, but better than walking all the way from the garage. The trade-off is that now the roads are frequently crowded with cars parked alongside them.
 

BJRSanDiego

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Do you remember building number?
Sorry, no I don't remember.

It was something on the SE end - - perhaps the 5000 building.

When we put in our location request, we always ask for that end as it gives us the greatest chance of having an ocean view. Also the higher floors also increases out chance of a nice view.

The negative of being on the top floor (or having no one above you) is that the lanai is very sunny. No shade. So if it is a warm day, you don't want to be out there until the sun is low. On the lower floors, the lanai of the unit above you shades you.
 

Bill4728

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We stay at NCV at least twice a year. We never request the top floor because that means the balcony is not covered.

An uncovered balcony is really hot and sunny, we spend a lot of time on the balcony so we always ask for a 3rd floor room.

We also find that the 4xxx blds ( except 47xx) have great views from all 2nd and 3rd floor units so we don't give up the view to get a covered balcony.
 

Steve Fatula

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I always got the impression the really good top floors are reserved for multi-week owners that are there for many weeks making it less likely anyone else gets them. I think the same about the Grande Ocean in HHI.

I believe I had one of the best view rooms possible, and am not an owner there at all. Posted in view thread. Parking was definitely challenging.
 

4Sunsets

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I believe I had one of the best view rooms possible, and am not an owner there at all. Posted in view thread. Parking was definitely challenging.

Lucky you Steve, I guess the mystery is solved. Don't own Marriott and stay there. :whooopie::wall:
 

EZ-ED

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We traded our Summit Watch studio into NCV back in 2002. Don't recall the view or floor but do remember the parking problems and ants. Never went back.
 

hajjah

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***Sorry for the double post. I don’t know what happened. I was trying to edit my post.
We checked in last Friday (6/7/19) and could only get into the 4000's if we accepted a ground floor, which I declined. I was at check in about 25 minutes trying to find a good unit and finally accepted 1700. This is our 3rd time here, but it was always during the winter. This time of year the resort is packed, so I am not complaining. We were supposed to attend a promotion last Saturday, but they were short staffed. We were out of there in 5 minutes with our $150 each American Express gift cards. The second night of our stay we had ants everywhere in the kitchen. An exterminator had to be called, so the resort gave me $150 in my account to spend on property. Let me just thank the Tugger who posted about using Terro Ant Baits, some 10 years ago! I brought a pack with me from home. The next day, there wasn’t an ant to be seen in this kitchen! Sorry, for going off the topic.
Oh parking this time of year is definitely a challenge if you get in late at night.
 
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Bill4728

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RE Parking problems at resort

The parking as always a little tight but is better since they now allow some parking spaces on several of the resorts main roads.
 

Steve Fatula

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We had room 4536, technically not top floor, however, there was no room above this villa. So, same as top floor. Standing at the rail corner, you could see 270 degrees. And the tub was fantastic, made for a corner room with windows around 1/2 of it.

 
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gln60

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We were in building 3900..late October 2019..we were on the 3rd floor in a 4 floor building but there was no unit above us...we had a fantastic full view of the ocean with beautiful manicured grass..shrubbery and assorted small trees sloping down the hill..we were there on DC points for the first couple of days combined with a week exchanged through II..parking was a breeze.
 
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