Ocean 22 Rooms

[escanoe]

You should ask for an X09 room rather than an X10 room as a 1BR+.

Thanks! Very helpful.

 

[dayooper]

Broadway Grand Prix. Seven tracks, and some serious fun!

Kurt

FYI - As part of the HGVC experiences card, we get a free day here. We had planned on going here anyway, but it’s a bonus that it’s free!

 

[escanoe]

You should ask for an X09 room rather than an X10 room as a 1BR+. We found the balcony on the X09 better as it was open on one end to look down the beach. X10 has a divider to the balcony on one side and the balcony on X11 juts out a little bit farther than X10 blocking some of the view up the beach.

I called a week before we arrived (on Saturday) and requested the highest X09 unit we could get. Then on Wednesday, the portal allowed me to add an extra day at the end of our vacation taking us from 6 nights to 7 (looked like someone canceled a week.) I called the next day after modifying the reservation to make sure they still had our room preference down, and they did.

We get here Saturday and what we have is a 16th floor X10 unit. Oh, well -- higher than I thought we might have and we are having a blast. OMC is right, I will have a slight preference for X9 over X10 in the future, but my first preference will be for height.

This is our first real HGVC vacation (DW and DS had an earlier weekend stay in W 57th studio). What has come as a real surprise to me is how many people have paid for the fancy eee (elite) wrist bands. I'll bet 80% of the people on the elevator floors above us (16th floor) are wearing them. I wonder if that is always the case or if if this being a July 4th "event week" here is driving more of them? This resale commoner got an event week here just fine and only sweating it a little by walking a reservation.

DW asked me what the deal was with the wrist bands and I told her how much they cost .... she's just fine amassing resale points instead. The discussion here makes me feel like an informed guest. Three days in, my family is mostly in to the beach and pools, though.

Joshing aside about being a resale commoner, the staff here treats everyone equally well.

 

[Chop999]

The elite wrist band is free at check in if you are an elite status owner. Easier than keeping up with a card and pretty convenient. I bought resale direct through Hilton in Scotland and have elite status. Didn’t cost what you are assuming. I can thank TUG for that! It was the same wristbands at Elara and Ocean 22. Anderson didn’t have them but they said they are changing to them eventually. I’m not sure if Elite matters that much but we usually get what we ask for at the front desk or when we call the Elite phone line. It just so happened what we bought qualified through Hilton. An unintended advantage.

 

[escanoe]

I bought resale direct through Hilton in Scotland and have elite status. Didn’t cost what you are assuming.

I am familiar with that from TUG as well. And know some other types of resale purchases from developers were grandfathered. No survey, but I doubt a single one of the wrist bands I have seen here were purchased that way. I am glad developer purchases are there to keep all this going for the rest of us. I cannot think of anything the staff here could do to be more responsive to the few requests our family has made.

 

[Chop999]

No survey, but I doubt a single one of the wrist bands I have seen here were purchased that way.

I guess my point was that we were there at O22 two weeks ago and that’s how we got Elite to qualify for the bands they gave us there. Likely in minority, but I’m sure there were others and most of those were probably Tuggers.

There was a miscommunication when we first checked in and I can tell you they definitely treated us better when they found out we were Elite including phone calls and text message apologies. Totally unnecessary but for some reason they felt it was. To see a total demeanor change in the lady checking us in when her coworker (maybe manager) walked over looked at the screen and said “they’re elite” makes me think that maybe there is value in it outside of the reduced fees. Other than that slight hiccup we had a wonderful experience at both O22 and Anderson.

 

[Chop999]

Broadway Grand Prix. Seven tracks, and some serious fun!

Kurt

Great recommendation! We had 8 people with us and all rode go karts and played their miniature golf course for free. I think it was around $40 for someone off the street wanting to buy the unlimited band that we got for free.

Also enjoyed the small mini golf course across the street from Anderson. And the 10% off the Grand Experiences card gave us a discount at many restaurants. We didn’t get a chance to use the water park but now it’s actually two water parks that we have access to for free.

Overall, first time to Myrtle Beach and we had a great time. This is our first year and we are loving our HGV ownership so far. Thanks to all the Tuggers for recommendations!

 

[dayooper]

A couple of restaurant recs from our trip.

1. Soho bar and grill - Took my daughter and 9 year old son and had some really great sushi and tempora appetizers. The menu looks expensive at first glance, but the sushi was priced very well. We got a combo platter with 4 different types. It was very good. Only a couple minute walk from the resort.

2. River City Cafe - Great burger selection and the fried pickles were excellent. It’s a smaller place, but we got seated pretty quickly. Very tasty and only a couple minute walk from the resort.

3. Hook and Barrel - This was a pretty expensive seafood place, but it was very good. The service was phenomenal and we really enjoyed our meal. The Caprese Salad was a hit as was the paella. It’s a drive from Ocean 22.

4. Little Pigs BBQ - Their motto is “ I like pig butts and I can not lie.” It’s simple bbq, but we enjoyed it thoroughly. We all got the pulled pork sandwich and applies our own sauce. The hush puppies, onion rings, mac and cheese and slaw were top notch too.

 

[Chop999]

A couple of restaurant recs from our trip

We really liked River City too. Also enjoyed Hot Tomato and Dirty Dons right beside it. The true gem was Sugar Life across the street. I think I had like 8 out of 10 days with ice cream/milk shake from there. Lol

For an activity to add to previous list, TopGolf was a short drive away and you can book through the app. My wife is a teacher (God bless her soul) so Monday’s are 1/2 price and for anyone Tuesday’s are 1/2 price (as of today’s promos, could change for someone reading this in the future). Combine that 1/2 price with early bird pricing by going in the morning and it’s pretty reasonable.

 

[dayooper]

We really liked River City too. Also enjoyed Hot Tomato and Dirty Dons right beside it. The true gem was Sugar Life across the street. I think I had like 8 out of 10 days with ice cream/milk shake from there. Lol

For an activity to add to previous list, TopGolf was a short drive away and you can book through the app. My wife is a teacher (God bless her soul) so Monday’s are 1/2 price and for anyone Tuesday’s are 1/2 price (as of today’s promos, could change for someone reading this in the future). Combine that 1/2 price with early bird pricing by going in the morning and it’s pretty reasonable.

Wait, teachers get a discount at Top Golf on Mondays? Why didn’t I know this? I need to look into this.

Dirty Don’s was one place I wanted to try that we didn’t get an opportunity to.

 

[Chop999]

Wait, teachers get a discount at Top Golf on Mondays? Why didn’t I know this? I need to look into this.

It’s a summer promotion valid through August 26th. I just now read the fine print.
https://topgolf.com/us/promo/teacher-mondays/

Here is the link to all promos
https://topgolf.com/us/promo/

In Myrtle, they actually messed up and discounted the entire price of golf off the bill. I told the attendant and she said that’s our mistake, let’s just roll with it. Probably because we had such a large food and drink bill. They weren’t as organized or efficient as the one in Vegas. The one there is a well oiled machine.