Downgrade in Views and Occupancies?

[suzannesimon]

I recently closed on a Grande Ocean (Oceanside) week and made my first reservation. It came in my email as a courtyard view. I called back and said it was Oceanside. He resent me the reservation again. It was still courtyard. I called again and the third person said the resort changed all Oceansides to Courtyard Views but they would note on the reservation that it should be Oceanside.

In addition, the occupancy on the 2 bedroom reservation is listed as 5 people. I ran into this a couple weeks ago on my Frenchman's Cove 3BR reservation listed as 6 people when it used to be 12.

Has anyone else run into this? It seems to me they shouldn't be messing with the view categories since that is deeded.

 

[tschwa2]

The view categories listed on the hotel site and through Marriott.com are different then how they were sold as timeshares. The buildings and units are the same. The downgrade is in name only as not all of the Ocean side units especially lower units actually have any views of the oceans (which ocean side does not claim a view but a location). In response Marriott.com started listing the views as courtyard view. I believe this is not unique to MGO but has happened at other resorts as well with the ocean side category.

In terms of the occupancy, again I think this is just how they are selling them on the hotel side and your occupancy is unchanged when reserving through the vacation club.

Just curious are the confirmations when you put the reservation info in your marriott.com or are they from my-vacationclub.com?

Sorry, I see you said you called and they sent the email. I think they just have the info from the email linked with the info from the hotel part of the reservation systems, thus you get the same info that has been inputted into that system. Unfortunately this can cause confusion when renting but calling should verify the view category and occupancy limits as originally described through the timeshare side.

 

[suzannesimon]

That makes some sense but, you're right, it causes a lot of confusion with renters. My Aruba Surf Club reservation came thru as partial ocean view. Previously it was ocean view.

 

[GreenTea]

The Grande Ocean views are, or were, misleading. Everything was either Ocean Front (but not always actually OF) or Oceanside, which was everything not OF. With that class you might see the water, or nothing but trees. Everything from the beach to the highway was OS. It should have been called Courtyard. I am guessing though that they still only have 2 levels since they were sold that way....ocean front and whatever they call the rest of the resort

 

[SueDonJ]

It's always been very common with Marriott timeshares for them to be legally-declared as one thing and termed in the reservation system as another. At Grande Ocean what was declared as Oceanfront is termed "close to ocean" and what was declared as Oceanside is termed "courtyard view." It doesn't represent a downgrade in what was purchased, which would be against timeshare regs and something for which Marriott could be held legally liable.

 

[SueDonJ]

I recently closed on a Grande Ocean (Oceanside) week and made my first reservation. It came in my email as a courtyard view. I called back and said it was Oceanside. He resent me the reservation again. It was still courtyard. I called again and the third person said the resort changed all Oceansides to Courtyard Views but they would note on the reservation that it should be Oceanside.

In addition, the occupancy on the 2 bedroom reservation is listed as 5 people. I ran into this a couple weeks ago on my Frenchman's Cove 3BR reservation listed as 6 people when it used to be 12.

Has anyone else run into this? It seems to me they shouldn't be messing with the view categories since that is deeded.

Suzanne, just in case you or your renter think that "oceanside" at Grande Ocean means a guaranteed view of the ocean, you should take a look at this post. It might be you already know this and I apologize if that's the case, but there's a good chance your renter won't be seeing the ocean and it won't be because Marriott is downgrading what you own.

 

[dioxide45]

I believe that still the Marriott International reservation system is still the master reservation system of record. When you get a confirmation after making a weeks reservation, the confirmation comes from and looks like that of a Marriott.com reservation. If they resend them, it is the same thing. However that unit is setup on Marriott.com is how it will show when you make a reservation. MVCI is still using MIs reservation system and probably will be for as long as they are carrying the name.

 

[cory30]

That makes some sense but, you're right, it causes a lot of confusion with renters. My Aruba Surf Club reservation came thru as partial ocean view. Previously it was ocean view.

This can get confusing with renters that are unfamiliar with the resort. I try to explain this upfront for both my Grande Ocean and Surf Watch units to limit concerns. I will explain that my unit is deeded as Ocean Side which correlates to Courtyard or Ocean Front which correlates to close to the beach in the reservation system. I will also share which buildings these units are in and provide a resort map.

 

[m61376]

That makes some sense but, you're right, it causes a lot of confusion with renters. My Aruba Surf Club reservation came thru as partial ocean view. Previously it was ocean view.

The reason your Aruba unit was listed as partial ocean view is that it is a3BR. The master side is ocean view- both from the main balcony and from the second bedroom. But the lock-off units are all island view. Hwnce, the partial ocean view designation.

Higher floor lock-offs have some gorgeous views, some clear to the other side of the island.

 

[Wally3433]

I agree with Suzanne. It should be the same no matter what. It makes NO SENSE for there to be a difference from what is deeded to what is printed.

And, quite honestly, to take it a step further, this brings something to mind.

Why can't there just be a recorded panoramic view of every single unit in every single MVC location. You could click on the Surf Club building, then click on a specific unit and see the view. Thus, if you had Oceanside, you could see what your possible view would be from every room classified as Oceanside. This would take two interns about a day to record the views, and another day to load them.

The view is WHAT YOU ARE PAYING FOR....why not show it?

No reason this crap has to be a mystery - it's stupid and unacceptable.

 

[AlmostRetired]

When I first purchased resale at the Monarch in 1995, I did so from the resale department over the phone. I was sent a sheet with 20 units that showed season, week and view. The Monarch has only 13 oceanfront units and 109 garden units. All oceanfront are fixed weeks as are 80% of the garden views. Can it be more straight forward than that.

Wayne Williams was my sales person and he educated me on his view of views. He told me that unit view is the direction you face and does not always equate to what you see. He said some garden view units have great views of the ocean while first floor ocean fronts may have little or no ocean view. It is what you see from the unit that matters. The reason I mention this is his explanation has always stuck with me over the years. I used it for purchasing my two units at the monarch and I found it accurate in setting expectations on what trade confirmation/reservations might say on trades. It is all about expectations.

All bets are off for trades but you should have 100% clarity of what you own. What you see from the balcony or unit leaves no doubt.

 

[SueDonJ]

I agree with Suzanne. It should be the same no matter what. It makes NO SENSE for there to be a difference from what is deeded to what is printed.

And, quite honestly, to take it a step further, this brings something to mind.

Why can't there just be a recorded panoramic view of every single unit in every single MVC location. You could click on the Surf Club building, then click on a specific unit and see the view. Thus, if you had Oceanside, you could see what your possible view would be from every room classified as Oceanside. This would take two interns about a day to record the views, and another day to load them.

The view is WHAT YOU ARE PAYING FOR....why not show it?

No reason this crap has to be a mystery - it's stupid and unacceptable.

It's not a mystery for owners, or it shouldn't be if they look over the governing docs when making a purchase. The buildings and unit numbers are identified as to their designations and the docs make clear that no specific placement is guaranteed unless you're purchasing a fixed week/fixed unit interval. Same thing when exchanging - it's made clear that exchangers get no guaranteed placements and no priority.

I can't imagine how much worse the room assigners' jobs would be if everyone visiting the resorts had access to videos showing the view from every unit! IMO that's a bad idea, would lead to even more complaints and demands to be moved.

 

[bogey21]

He told me that unit view is the direction you face and does not always equate to what you see. He said some garden view units have great views of the ocean while first floor ocean fronts may have little or no ocean view. It is what you see from the unit that matters.

I used to own at Monarch and the above is 100% correct. One day, just for the heck of it, I stood on the patio of every garden view unit. Many of the garden view Units have great views.

George

 

[Wally3433]

It's not a mystery for owners, or it shouldn't be if they look over the governing docs when making a purchase. The buildings and unit numbers are identified as to their designations and the docs make clear that no specific placement is guaranteed unless you're purchasing a fixed week/fixed unit interval. Same thing when exchanging - it's made clear that exchangers get no guaranteed placements and no priority.

I can't imagine how much worse the room assigners' jobs would be if everyone visiting the resorts had access to videos showing the view from every unit! IMO that's a bad idea, would lead to even more complaints and demands to be moved.

I know this is the reason they do not do this. But is that a good reason? Are we children? This information is easy to gather and disseminate, and soon customers will demand it. I would not expect many on the board to agree - but trust me, it's coming.

 

[SueDonJ]

I know this is the reason they do not do this. But is that a good reason? Are we children? This information is easy to gather and disseminate, and soon customers will demand it. I would not expect many on the board to agree - but trust me, it's coming.

I've seen more than a few folks acting like children at the check-in areas - haven't we all?

 

[suzannesimon]

Thanks everyone! I'll be careful how I advertise it in the future. Luckily my renter is an owner and knows the situation.we had a lovely view from our 3BR in Aruba last time. I haven't been to Grande Ocean yet. The Courtyard view on the reservation threw me because I had never seen that view category anywhere. It's a quandary as to how to advertise it since everyone calls their Oceansides "Oceanview" on Redweek, when they really should be "Varies". I always try to manage expectations as much as possible.

 

[Superchief]

I've always been confused by the terms 'oceanview' vs 'oceanside'. Intuitively, I would think 'oceanside' location would be preferable because I would expect the villa to be on the side that faces the ocean. However, this is often not the case at all. I believe calling these 'courtyard view' is more clearly indicative of what they really are.

Most 'oceanview' rooms I have stayed do provide at least a glimpse of the ocean, and this description is a clear distinction vs 'oceanfront'.