Ocean City, MD in early May for Springfest

[Seaport104]

First time to OC and the annual Springfest event looks interesting.

Which would be better - St. Tropez or Ocean High? Is beach time possible for early may?

TIA!

 

[bluehende]

I cannot answer which time share. However beach time in early may is possible. The water will be way too cold for swimming, but the air temps should be ok as long as their is no onshore breeze. Of course temps vary. If you hit warm temps it will be great. If it is cold for that period you would need to bundle up.

 

[Seaport104]

I cannot answer which time share. However beach time in early may is possible. The water will be way too cold for swimming, but the air temps should be ok as long as their is no onshore breeze. Of course temps vary. If you hit warm temps it will be great. If it is cold for that period you would need to bundle up.

Thanks for the info!

 

[tschwa2]

I've never stayed in st Tropez but I believe it is ocean front so I would take that one over Ocean High. May can be nice in ocean city or it can be rainy. I own a mid May week and often it is (all day) rainy 4-5 out of 7 days but then still 2-3 beautiful days.

 

[RLS50]

First time to OC and the annual Springfest event looks interesting.

Which would be better - St. Tropez or Ocean High? Is beach time possible for early may?

TIA!

The Ocean City Boardwalk is easily one of the best in the country for walking, biking, sightseeing, etc. And the beach is wide and well maintained. Springfest, Sunfest, and many of the other events held throughout the year are usually a lot of fun. We have enjoyed Sunfest in the fall.

However ironically many of the timeshare properties there suffered from neglect and poor management for years. In recent years new management has taken over some of the resorts and needed upgrades and improvements have started to be made, but there is still a ways to go.

In my opinion the best combination of "quality / beach location" might be St. Tropez. It is directly oceanfront...most of the timeshare properties in Ocean City are bayside…and the units have recently been upgraded. For Ocean City, MD it's probably one of the better choices if you want to be on or near the beach and stay in a unit that looks like it has been upgraded since 1995.

There are 2 potential downsides to St. Tropez. (1) First your unit location will very much impact your views. You want to be located on the North end of the building because the views on the lower floors are blocked by a building sitting in front of St. Tropez. You can see this on Google Earth. So you want units ending in 01 or 02 on any floor. If you are in units ending in 03, 04, or 05 you want to be on the highest 4th floor, at worst no lower than the 3rd floor. (2) The second problem is that on 81st Street you will be a good distance away from the action on the Boardwalk and the main Springfest event setup (at the Southern tip of the Boardwalk). This means you will have to take your car down and park every day or take the bus.

There are 2 other resorts I think any traveler to Ocean City should consider. Neither are perfect, just as St. Tropez isn't perfect, and just as no timeshare resort in Ocean City, MD is perfect. They all have their own Pros and Cons. But the 2 other resorts to consider...

Pointe on the Bay - Located directly on the Bay on 24th street (much closer to main boardwalk). The resort has recently had improvements and upgrades and is kept very clean. If you get a Bayside unit overlooking the Bay the views and sunsets can be every bit as enjoyable as oceanfront. And again you are closer to the Boardwalk and Springfest events. This property has made a big comeback compared to what it was 10 years ago.

BoardWalk One - The main advantage of this property is that it offers the best location of any timeshare resort in Ocean City. It sits directly on the Boardwalk on 1st street. You can walk to the Springfest events. The downside is that the units are all Studios. So you would need 2 units if looking for something equivalent to a 2BR/2BA (and even then no guarantee they would be together). And while the units are clean, the building and units are older. Again the main reason to consider this property is that the location can't be beat, you are in the middle of everything, and you can walk to the main Springfest event area. You won't really need your car unless you want to drive out to specific restaurants at night.

It can not be stressed enough that unfortunately in Ocean City, MD, you have to use a relative scale judging the timeshare resorts there. The scale is how they compare to each other and the functionality or amenities they provide while staying there. You can't compare to other cities or regions. Virtually none of the timeshare properties in Ocean City, MD are Silver or Gold in RCI or Interval International. The lone exception is that The Quarters at Marlin Cove is ranked Silver Crown in RCI. Again it's a shame really that the timeshare properties in Ocean City almost all collectively suffered from incredibly poor property management for so many years. As mentioned things seem to be improving recently, but still there is a ways to go.

 

[tschwa2]

Even the best of timeshares in Ocean City probably have a 7-10 year major refurbishment schedule and although most are virtually unused 4-5 months per year, they probably take a beating like no other vacation property 3 months per year. Most of the timeshares in the area are 30-45 years old.

It's the seasonality of the area that is the problem with timeshare management. State law prohibits timeshare week owners from being charged different MF's based on the season. Nicer hotels survive because they can charge $50 per night for the same room that they rent for $150-200 per night during shoulder season and $300+ per night in season. No one wants to own an off season timeshare week because it is easy to get a week for around $250-$300 through extra vacations and getaways vs paying $600-900 to own the week. On the other hand summer owners even at run down resorts can command $1600+ to rent out their units or want to use vs paying that much to rent out even an equally run down hotel/motel room. Since most OC timeshares have 15-35+% non performing weeks the MF have to go up to cover those deficiencies which means more off season and some shoulder season owners start defaulting which leads to more increases and more defaults. While some summer owners might be willing to pay a little more to increase the reserves and make improvements it really is to the point where an increase of even $20-50 for improvements lead to more non prime owners defaulting which leads to higher costs and no improvements.

 

[RLS50]

Even the best of timeshares in Ocean City probably have a 7-10 year major refurbishment schedule and although most are virtually unused 4-5 months per year, they probably take a beating like no other vacation property 3 months per year. Most of the timeshares in the area are 30-45 years old.

It's the seasonality of the area that is the problem with timeshare management. State law prohibits timeshare week owners from being charged different MF's based on the season. Nicer hotels survive because they can charge $50 per night for the same room that they rent for $150-200 per night during shoulder season and $300+ per night in season. No one wants to own an off season timeshare week because it is easy to get a week for around $250-$300 through extra vacations and getaways vs paying $600-900 to own the week. On the other hand summer owners even at run down resorts can command $1600+ to rent out their units or want to use vs paying that much to rent out even an equally run down hotel/motel room. Since most OC timeshares have 15-35+% non performing weeks the MF have to go up to cover those deficiencies which means more off season and some shoulder season owners start defaulting which leads to more increases and more defaults. While some summer owners might be willing to pay a little more to increase the reserves and make improvements it really is to the point where an increase of even $20-50 for improvements lead to more non prime owners defaulting which leads to higher costs and no improvements.

I completely agree with your insights that the seasonality of Ocean City, MD presents the biggest challenge for the timeshares here. However I do believe the seasonality issue common with all timeshare properties in the Mid-Atlantic region and even northern parts of Southeast region has been greatly exaggerated in Ocean City, MD specifically by the following factors...

- Poor management. In the past there were certain managers and / or management companies at some of the properties did not properly manage funds, did not have any plan or strategy for reserve funding, did not really offer, promote, or manage effective rental programs, were not responsive to owner concerns, etc. Some even bungled and poorly managed past special assessment projects that were levied on owners. In short they were almost completely useless and probably contributed to problems more than they prevented them. In recent years these poor property managers and management companies have been getting the boot and the new management companies have come in and have been improving the properties (albeit slowly). St Tropez and Pointe on the Bay are two properties specifically that come to mind that I have seen noticeable improvements at. Hopefully this momentum shift continues.

- Location of properties. Some of the timeshare properties are weirdly / poorly located, almost none of them provide ocean views, or even bay / water views. In fact most probably provide something closer to what might be described as parking lot views. This might be partially explained by the fact that Ocean City property zoning and development in general for decades seems poorly planned with properties and buildings and strip malls just thrown wherever there was an open lot. But what might be acceptable to guests and owners during the summer doesn't help in the offseason. Contrast this to Virginia Beach just 2 1/2 hours south where offseason guests and owners may experience similar weather but can at least stay in a much nicer unit, at a nicer property, and be oceanfront, sitting right on the boardwalk.

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Just as a side comment, it really is crazy what prime summer weeks and rooms can demand in Ocean City, Md. Even ratty rooms at mid to low end hotels can go for $250-$300+ per night not including additional taxes and fees. I remember one summer we wanted to get away at the last minute for a weekend in Ocean City. And we wanted to be within walking distance to the boardwalk and events down near the inlet. There was almost nothing available that met that criteria, the hotels and timeshares were all sold out, etc and we didn't want to stay 100+ streets away closer to Fenwick Island than the Boardwalk and Inlet. We did find literally one room left on Booking.com at a place on 8th street for $300 per night plus taxes. The place didn't look too bad on the outside so we booked. When we arrived the room we were assigned had no windows and obviously had been recently built and poorly constructed in the interior of the building. In fact there were still some unpainted drywall patches on the walls where they were either installing or repairing electric or plumbing. And the mattress and box spring were low end and just placed on a fold up frame you practically get for free if you purchased a mattress set at a store. We stayed since we had just driven 3 1/2 hours and it was late at night. Great location for what we wanted to do that weekend but terrible room. We won't make the mistake again.