Any updates on Ocean Oak

[audirt]

I know several people have noted the total lack of availability at Ocean Oak (Hilton Head) through the end of 2020. Did anyone ever get an answer from HGV why this is the case?

(I've tried to read through the threads... I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere.)

 

[GT75]

None that anyone has figured out. There is availability again starting in 2021.

 

[audirt]

I just got off chat with HGV and they are claiming what some have suspected: that the developer has monopolized all the availability for the rest of the year, loading it into hilton.com for cash reservations. The only chance you'll nab a reservation at Ocean Oak is if you pay cash or the stars align and you can grab an existing reservation made by another member. Ocean Oak might as well not be on HGV's page for the rest of 2020. I'm not happy and I let HGV know it.

Here's HGV's response (through Facebook chat):
audirt, we were able to look into this further. Please know there are several reasons why you may see HGV availability somewhere else (such as hilton.com). HGV Club Members only have access to inventory that has been sold. Any inventory owned by a developer or an affiliated resort that has not been sold may be made available for rental. This revenue contributes to annual maintenance fees for weeks that have not been sold. With this being said, a Member who has confirmed the same dates you are looking to book may cancel their reservation, freeing up space for another Club Member. I urge you to keep checking for your desired dates and let us know if you have additional questions.

 

[CanuckTravlr]

Thanks for that audirt. So basically HGVC management have confirmed exactly what we suspected. Strand Group appears to therefore have pulled almost all of the inventory of at least Phase 2 for the second half of 2020 and rented it to Hilton Hotels, leaving virtually none available for Club members.

Maybe they have discovered that non-owners are easier targets for their sales weasels than existing owners, despite the HUGE (kidding) benefits of upgrading to Elite membership?!?

 

[ljmiii]

I can't speak directly to HGVC but for DVC inventory at new resorts is phased. They can only make villas which have been sold accessible to timeshare owners - every other room has to be rented for cash (or used for promotions, etc.). So it's a great time to stay at Riviera using cash...not so much via points since new owners want to stay at their newly purchased resort. Similarly, I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that new HGVC Ocean Oak owners will be making and using home week reservations.

 

[audirt]

I can't speak directly to HGVC but for DVC inventory at new resorts is phased. They can only make villas which have been sold accessible to timeshare owners - every other room has to be rented for cash (or used for promotions, etc.). So it's a great time to stay at Riviera using cash...not so much via points since new owners want to stay at their newly purchased resort. Similarly, I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that new HGVC Ocean Oak owners will be making and using home week reservations.

Others can speak to the inner workings of HGV better than I can, but it looks like no member -- even new owners -- can make a reservation in 2020. The developer has basically unilaterally declared that all of the nights owned by club members had to be used during the Covid months :-/

 

[SmithOp]

Others can speak to the inner workings of HGV better than I can, but it looks like no member -- even new owners -- can make a reservation in 2020. The developer has basically unilaterally declared that all of the nights owned by club members had to be used during the Covid months :-/

Thats not necessarily true, Ocean Oak owners would have been able to book during their Home Resort week preference a year ago, long before Covid.

It appears the developer kept all the Club Season vacancies from the rest of the HGVC club members.


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[audirt]

It appears the developer kept all the Club Season vacancies from the rest of the HGVC club members.


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Calling up and voicing my displeasure with HGV is on my to-do list. Maybe I'm naive, but it seems that a certain number of nights per year are owned by Club members. The developer has basically issued a decree that those club-owned nights (minus existing reservations) occurred during the Covid lock down.

 

[GT75]

I talked with the front desk last week about inventory at Ocean Oak. I was informed that Ocean Oak is 60% sold out so only 60% inventory is in the club. Also, Ocean Oak has the highest owners booking in the HGVC system. In addition, HGVC has rented an additional 15% inventory from the developer for club use. Staff was also surprised that Ocean Oak had 100% occupancy on the second day after opening up.

 

[CanuckTravlr]

Thanks for that update, Gary. What that indicates to me is high demand for HHI. Hopefully, HGVC may take that to heart and look for another location on HHI to do a second (or even third) property as they have done in other popular locations, such as Myrtle Beach and Orlando. They obviously seem to be able to sell them. We certainly enjoyed our stay at Ocean Oak last year.

 

[dayooper]

Thanks for that update, Gary. What that indicates to me is high demand for HHI. Hopefully, HGVC may take that to heart and look for another location on HHI to do a second (or even third) property as they have done in other popular locations, such as Myrtle Beach and Orlando. They obviously seem to be able to sell them. We certainly enjoyed our stay at Ocean Oak last year.

One can only hope. I wonder how much ocean front room is available to build there. Doesn’t HHI have some rules against building resorts over 6 floors in or something like that?

Hopefully, they can purchase an older resort and either refurbish or demolish and build new. Not holding my breath, though.

 

[Pathways]

FYI - I am going to be releasing an Ocean Oak 3 day reservation in the next couple of days. For this Friday/Sat/Sun, 26-29 I can coordinate with someone if interested.